My Carnival Victory review 4/1-4/8/2012 (Long with lots of pix!)

[Godiva5]

 

 

Dang! Auntie's been working out!!! heheheheh Don't mess with her. :D

[Poorplaya]

Bummer i cant see any of the pics this review is so popular, great review though, i will be back in a day or 2 to see if the pics are up and running.

[FL Naturelover]

Love the review so far. Great pictures.

[gizzie]

Can't see the pictures either...It says "exceeds bandwidth..popular"???

[BettyPC]

I can't see the pictures either - and I do love food porn:(

[beerman2]

Scraphappy

 

Still checking in once in awhile. Will be visiting some friends we met on the Freedom 3 years ago, and trying to plan another cruise.

 

 

Thinking of the the 5 day one that does Key West and Cozumel out of Miami.

 

Was very nice meeting you and your family.

[scraphappylady]

Told you all I took a lot of pix! Apparently, Photobucket DOES have a limit as to how many you store on their website! Had to actually pay for space now.:mad:

 

The review should be back to normal soon, or I'm gonna want to know why. Guess for any future reviews, I'll use another online storage system. :rolleyes: Have patience!

[scraphappylady]

Scraphappy

 

Still checking in once in awhile. Will be visiting some friends we met on the Freedom 3 years ago, and trying to plan another cruise.

 

 

Thinking of the the 5 day one that does Key West and Cozumel out of Miami.

 

Was very nice meeting you and your family.

 

We really enjoyed meeting you and your friends, as well! I wish I could say we're planning another cruise, but in just a year we will be looking at a long 8-10 years of college payments, first one kid then the other. :(

 

With luck, we'll be able to squeeze something in here or there, but it's hard to say. That's why we tried to do everything with this cruise. Needed to make those memories that will last! :p

[pbmsmile]

Excellent review..looking forward to more :)

[pcrum]

We really enjoyed meeting you and your friends, as well! I wish I could say we're planning another cruise, but in just a year we will be looking at a long 8-10 years of college payments, first one kid then the other. :(

 

With luck, we'll be able to squeeze something in here or there, but it's hard to say. That's why we tried to do everything with this cruise. Needed to make those memories that will last! :p

 

I loved your other review and I am loving this one. Wow, the kids have grown! I hear you about the college payments...my twins will be seniors next year and we just had our "rising senior meeting" and just the expenses for sr. year are pretty high (when I was in high school, there was no senior trip!!, lol), without even factoring in college. DD is looking at a FL college, which will be pretty reasonable, but DS will most likely attend a performing arts college out of state, so I think our cruising days are behind us for a while unless we get a great bargain!!

[BCcruzer2]

Loving the review and the pics! We're going on this cruise (our first) in March 2013 on the Valor. We're already so excited and it's still 10 away :)

[Celandine]

Love your review! Love your pics!!

 

I am headingto St. Thomas, and have been to Coral World before, but this time I want to do the Helmet dive... I'm just a little nervous... as I am a 'fluffier' woman, and that ladder didn't look awesome...

 

I'm also scared I'd freak out if a fish touched me... (didn't do to well the one time I was in a butterfly enclosure- but was fine with lorikeets landing on me)

 

 

any advice?

 

 

Also, one thing I loved about Coral World is that they also raise local sea life into adult hood and then release them back into the wild.

 

While I was there I was able to join in the feeding of the sting rays, and talking to one of the scientists who works there. Even if I chicken out on the helmet dive, I'm going to go back to Coral World.

[scraphappylady]

I loved your other review and I am loving this one. Wow, the kids have grown! I hear you about the college payments...my twins will be seniors next year and we just had our "rising senior meeting" and just the expenses for sr. year are pretty high (when I was in high school, there was no senior trip!!, lol), without even factoring in college. DD is looking at a FL college, which will be pretty reasonable, but DS will most likely attend a performing arts college out of state, so I think our cruising days are behind us for a while unless we get a great bargain!!

 

Hey, yeah, I remember you from my other review! Thanks for following this one as well. Yeah, looking back I guess the kids have done a bit of growing. :rolleyes: I really notice it more with how tall DS is getting - he tends to slouch, but is about as tall as his sister now. And it looks like her upcoming senior year will be $$$ for us as well. Yearbook, senior trip to Disney (like you, I never got one either!), band trips, etc. At least DD has a part-time job and we told her she has to pay half the senior trip cost! And state college for us as well, at this point, unless she can come up with some of those elusive scholarships. But, whew! You have twice the whammy in costs at all stages. I would be pulling my hair out! :eek:

 

Loving the review and the pics! We're going on this cruise (our first) in March 2013 on the Valor. We're already so excited and it's still 10 away :)

Hard when you have that long to go, I know! Hang in there! Hope you like the Valor. I don't know anything about her - you'll have to write a review and tell us all about the ship as well.

 

Love your review! Love your pics!! Thanks, take a million photos, a few are bound to turn out. Lol!

 

I am heading to St. Thomas, and have been to Coral World before, but this time I want to do the Helmet dive... I'm just a little nervous... as I am a 'fluffier' woman, and that ladder didn't look awesome... You will be fine! The ladder is nothing, just go slowly. Once you are in the water, you are almost as light as air. Really! The salt water is very buoyant! The helmet itself is almost 70 lbs, and you hardly feel it in the water. And once you're down, you actually have to hold on to the provided railing, or you could start to float a little.

 

I'm also scared I'd freak out if a fish touched me... (didn't do to well the one time I was in a butterfly enclosure- but was fine with lorikeets landing on me) Believe me, the fish want nothing to do with you! I had a hard time TRYING to touch one!

 

any advice?

Also, one thing I loved about Coral World is that they also raise local sea life into adult hood and then release them back into the wild. I had heard that and love it! I guess that's why they can do the turtle encounter like they do. Apparently, these turtles were injured as youngsters and would not have been able to survive on their own. They are used to being in captivity (or as used to it as I guess they can be.) It's not like they capture adult wild turtles to use.

 

While I was there I was able to join in the feeding of the sting rays, and talking to one of the scientists who works there. Even if I chicken out on the helmet dive, I'm going to go back to Coral World. If you can feed a stingray, you should be fine. But if you don't want to do the helmet trek (which I would still recommend), get your own Coral World tickets online ahead of time. If you haven't tried before, it's very easy to get taxi over there yourself, without going through the ship.

[scraphappylady]

Tuesday, April 3 – Our Sea Day

Ah, finally a chance to sleep in, take it slowly, right? Nope. This was the day for the Behind the Fun tour, where passengers get to see some of what goes on behind the scenes on a ship like this. Our group (minus me) had signed up once onboard ($55 per person), and had to meet in the library at around 8:30 am.

 

I had done the tour during my last time on Victory, so I opted out, and was looking to forward to sleeping in, but it was not to be. (Guys make an awful lot of noise when they get ready sometimes!)

 

By 7:30 am, the others were on their way to the Lido for breakfast, since the dining room didn’t open until 8 am. They were traveling light, since Carnival does not allow cell phones, cameras or anything like it on the tour. They even go so far as to have a security guard waiting to wand you down before the tour begins.

 

I reveled in having the room all to myself and it was so nice not to have to rush to get ready for an excursion! After another enjoyable breakfast in the dining room, I picked up a few things from the room and headed to the Serenity Deck.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Some of the various ways to keep yourself wet!

 

 

 

 

[scraphappylady]

The Serenity Deck was new for me, since I had not seen it when we sailed on the Victory the year before. I worried I wouldn’t find a spot, since it was around 9:30 am, but after walking around the area a bit, I managed to snag one of the beds, complete with pillows.

 

I read my Kindle for a while, but even with the bit of breeze coming from the ship’s moving, it was very hot in the sun. After an hour and a half, I needed a break. I grabbed a drink on my way through the Lido (1/2 lemonade, 1/2 ice tea – very good!) and went back to the room.

 

While I was waiting for the rest to come back, room service came by and dropped off a treat as part of their tour. Each room got one of these (as well as a few other goodies.)

 

 

 

 

 

 

Everyone gathered for a group shot on the bridge.

 

I hung out on the balcony when Jeffery and his assistant came by to clean the room. They were done in just under 20 minutes, by which time the rest of my group had come back. We spent a few minutes comparing what I had remembered with what they saw on their tour this time. Apparently it was pretty much the same tour and all agreed it was definitely worth the money. Even the kids enjoyed it, and they are notoriously picky to please sometimes.

 

We ordered room service, more for the novelty than anything else, since we were just a few floors away from the Lido. It came in about 15 minutes, and we tipped generously since it was a lot a food to carry.

 

 

 

 

Tim chose the peace and quiet of our balcony.

Since it was in the sun, it wasn't too long after he finished eating that he was back inside.

[scraphappylady]

Afterwards, we again split up, with the guys going to the arcade and the three women checking out some of our photos.

 

At this point, let me pause for a moment. If I have to complain about anything during this cruise, it was the way the ship photos were handled. And I know I’ve heard this complaint many times before on CC. It was time consuming to scan through hundreds of photos just to find ours each day. Then you actually had to purchase the photos right away, or group them together and pray the ship’s employees would keep them together where you put them. Most of the time that was not the case.

 

By the time we made up our minds which to buy, a few were the worst for wear, after being pawed over by the rest of the passengers. I’m sure we did our share of pawing as well, since most of the photos were tightly wedged in and not easy to take out. In the end, we ended up buying far less than we had intended, simply because we couldn’t find out where many ended up. It was very frustrating. The technology exists to do all of this electronically – Carnival should seriously invest the money and bring their photo department into the modern age.

 

(Ok, getting off my soapbox now. Even feeling the way we did, we ended up buying a few, mostly formal ones. We always got our photos taken early enough to avoid most of the crowds, and with no sitting fee and the photographers willing to take as many poses as you wanted, it was still a good deal.)

 

We had another meet and greet scheduled for 2 pm, but even though we had a fairly active roll call ahead of time, only a few couples actually showed up. We hung out for a while, then Tim and my DH headed back to the pool, while we ladies went to tea. (are you sensing a theme here? Guys vs. girls?)

 

I had planned to take more food pictures at tea, but everything was just so good, and we were so involved in talking with others seated at our table, that it slipped my mind. Among the treats we were offered, though, were slices of cake – a four layer lemon one and a chocolate one – several types of finger sandwiches, including salmon and cucumber, and a very elaborate looking fruit torte type of thing. Yumm! If you come away hungry from this cruise, you just are not doing something right! Oh, and the tea was good, too! I was amazed, though, when I saw how few people actually attended the tea. I had been expecting more of a crowd. I just hope this doesn’t end up being one of those things Carnival eventually does away with.

 

We all ended up taking a short nap before getting ready once again for supper. This was the first of our two formal nights, and we wanted to get some formal pictures taken before the show at 7 pm, so it was a good thing we had two showers to use.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Our own attempt

 

[scraphappylady]

Afterwards, we found good seats in the Caribbean Lounge. The last time I had been on the Victory, we had sat in the upper tiers, and while that offered a good view, the railings along the front of the seats caused a blind spot for my aunt. She was just short enough that they blocked her view of the stage. So we ended up on the bottom level this time. The seats were just as good and we had a great view of the stage, but I did notice that the temperature down below was about 10 degrees cooler. We were glad we had brought our sweaters. The guys were fine in their suit jackets.

 

While waiting for the show to begin, my DH took part in one of the games they were using to pass the time and won one of those elusive ships-on-a stick! My hero! It was a deceptively simple game where the hostess would ask a series of quick questions, and you could not answer using “yes” or “no.” Sounds easy, but try it at home. By the seventh or eighth question, your mind really wants to use the easy one-word response. But, hey, do you know how long I’ve wanted one of those silly plastic trophies to bring home? Cruises do weird things to people!

 

 

 

 

The show this night was called “City Lights,” based on songs from various parts of the United States. I think it was the same one we saw a few years ago called “Coming to America.” Regardless, we all enjoyed it, except for Tim, who fell asleep on my shoulder halfway through. (Although he will swear to you now that he was just “resting.”) All worn out, poor thing!

 

After the show ended, we had to fight our way through the mobs of people waiting to get pictures taken, near the casino, just to get to our dining room. With the way the photographers set up their stations, and the narrow hallways, you are almost guaranteed to get stuck. One of the reasons we tried to get our pictures taken as early as possible.

 

Once again, we didn’t have any problem finding good things to eat. First, the bread (yep, couldn't resist this time), then our appetizers.

 

 

Stuffed mushrooms

 

 

Strawberry bisque

 

 

Caesar salad

[scraphappylady]

And the "didja" food for tonight - alligator fritters. Again, a lot of breading without a lot of unique taste. Spicy, from the sauce they rested on. The chips that accompanied them, though, were great!

 

Next, on to the main dishes:

 

 

 

Prime rib au jus (DH and DS chose this). I had a bit of DS's and it was absolutely melt in your mouth, it was so tender!

 

 

Lobster tail and jumbo shrimp (DD, my aunt and I had this, as well as DH - he just couldn't decide between the two.)

 

 

And finally, dessert.

 

 

Cherries jubilee - most of us chose this

 

 

But I opted for the cheese platter - port salut, brie, gouda, imported swiss, and danish blue cheeses.

 

(DD just came in just now as I was writing this and said that the food pictures were making her want to go back right now! Drool!)

[scraphappylady]

 

Boring people that we are, shortly after dinner we were out for the night.

Next up: Barbados and turtles!

 

[navybaby1113]

Loving your review. The food porn is making my mouth water.

[saq wine guy]

Bummer i cant see any of the pics this review is so popular, great review though, i will be back in a day or 2 to see if the pics are up and running.

nice review but go-leafs-go has to be removed from your post. they are the worst pro sports team in north america (now that the la clippers are in the playoffs) just be a cruise fan and a bruins fan and all will be well. ps we have been twice on the victory out of san juan and are booked for august 12th of this year... by the way great review!!!!

[funinthesun1964]

I am really enjoying your review. It is bringing back memories of my not-so-long-ago Victory cruise. Loved it, and love seeing your photos also!:)

[beerman2]

It was an enjoyable cruise. Food probably being the most subjective subject but I will say we only had 1 person out of the 4 who had 1 meal that was bad (IT was cold as was the second plate). Our waitress FELT SO Bad she insisted my wife get something. But being it was the last night and we had all over indulged most nights she chose not to.

[maxamuus]

Enjoying your review. Looking forward to the rest of it.

[LLAKER]

Loving this one :) just as much as I did your last Victory review...I love to see how others choose to spend their time on the ship and in the ports, and reading your review really helps pass the time until our turn on the Victory in October. Thanks for taking the time to put this all together for us! :)