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

[bookcat]

we've booked this cruise for Sept. and I really want to do the Cosol tour but I prone to carsickness and really a little hesitant. It really looks great!

[scraphappylady]

we've booked this cruise for Sept. and I really want to do the Cosol tour but I prone to carsickness and really a little hesitant. It really looks great!

 

There was a lot of driving, but the most we were in the van for at any one time was about 45 minutes. Then we would get to our next stop and get out and move around.

 

If that much time in a car would bother you, or you would get sick from all the hills up and down, then this might not be too good for you. Is there any medicine you could take to help with carsickness? It would be such a shame to have to miss it!!

[scraphappylady]

After brunch, we stopped several times at overlooks for those photo ops.

 

 

The Pitons in the distance. We would get to them soon.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

One of the many roads throughout the island. Further down, school children in uniforms make their way to or from school (we weren't sure which.)

 

 

[scraphappylady]

Next up was the botanical gardens, a stop that hadn’t been on the itinerary when DH and I took the tour.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[scraphappylady]

 

 

 

 

 

 

Coffee beans

 

 

Cocoa beans

[scraphappylady]

Next, we took speed boats from a dock in the town of Soufriere over to Jalousie Beach, right next to the Pitons.

Beach area near dock

 

Soufriere

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Pitons are two gigantic twin (dormant!) volcanoes on the southwest side of the island. Pictures cannot do the view justice.

 

 

 

[scraphappylady]

We had about 45 minutes to relax on the beach here and snorkel. The snorkeling was decent, and the area is roped off for safety from the incoming speed boats. Although all beaches on the island are public, part of the beach area near where we landed was also used by a nearby hotel. We could use any of the beach area, but only certain designated chairs and shelters. The rest belonged to the hotel, and apparently they get nasty if you aren't a guest of their hotel and try to use their chairs.

 

 

Our designated area

 

We lucked out and grabbed two chairs under the shelter. In the background, you can see where the hotel's chairs are.

 

I would recommend fins or water shoes. The ground here was pretty rocky.

 

Say "cheese!"

[scraphappylady]

Next we headed through another fishing village, Canaries, (pronounced Can-er-eez) on our way to Sulfur Springs, or the “drive-in volcano.” This is a seven-acre volcanic crater that is still very active today.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It's quite something to see the hot, bubbling mud right there on the surface!

 

Immediately upon getting close to the area, you notice the strong sulfur smell (hence the name, I’m sure!). We also got a 15-minute mini tour and lecture on the volcano itself, which was quite interesting and informative.

[scraphappylady]

At this point, we started making our way back to port, driving back through Canaries on our way.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Baptiste made a quick stop in town for lunch – fresh baked bread and cheese sticks. It was right out of the oven hot and very good!

 

 

[scraphappylady]

Coming back we had a few more photo ops,

 

 

and then finally saw our ship in the distance.

 

 

 

We arrived back at the port area with about 45 minutes to shop, before having to be back on board. I dropped Mandy off in her room and headed down the hall. The rest of our group was gathered on the balcony of the aft wrap, enjoying the breeze.

As I waited for Mandy to join us, the others recalled their day of ziplining:

 

 

[scraphappylady]

Their tour didn’t begin until 10 am on the dock, so they had a leisurely breakfast in the dining room again. On the way back to the rooms to grab their stuff, they came across ship workers doing maintenance on the hallway lights. All the panels were off down the entire length of the ship, at least on our deck. So that’s what they do when no one is on board!

 

 

Although I don’t specifically remember the tour description online mentioning close-toed shoes, DH said he was glad they wore them, if only just for the walking they had to do.

 

When they got off the ship and met up with their tour guide, they were given paperwork to fill out, then again waited for the rest of the group to show up. DH said you could definitely tell this one was a Carnival tour, since there were three busses lined up to take them to the ziplining site, each one containing around 50-60 people.

 

Apparently, Tim was very quiet on the ride over, being a lot more nervous than he let on. Once he got there, though, and it was explained to him that there were triple redundant safety measures in place, and the lines could hold up to seven tons, then he was okay. The logical part of his brain took over once more.

 

 

 

He had another down moment, and was initially not a happy camper, when he was given one of those shower cap thingys to wear under his helmet.

 

Again, once he thought about it, though, and realized just how many people had worn the helmets ahead of him, he was fine. The “ick” factored triumphed over any notion of how he might look.

 

 

[scraphappylady]

Although the excursion was quite crowded initially, with even more people at the site when they showed up, DH said that for the most part the operation was run smoothly. Some people were finishing up, while others were part of the way through. The only problems they encountered were that his group and several others had to wait awhile to begin, and that the facility quickly ran out of lockers for their stuff. They had to have their stuff locked in a utility room in the office.

 

To begin their excursion, they were broken down into groups of 20, and outfitted up with their gear, and then further divided into groups of about 7-8 people per guide, for the platforms.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

They received a detailed explanation as to what to do in various situations, such as putting their hand behind the pulley in order to brake, (although DH said much of the time gravity stopped them just at the platform without much need for braking). They also learned the various hand signals used on the course. Apparently, more of a challenge was not to stop too far away from the platform. One time DS ended up just short, and had to turn backwards and go hand over hand to get there.

 

 

[scraphappylady]

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[scraphappylady]

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[scraphappylady]

Not all of the excursion was ziplining, though. At one point, DH said you had to swing Tarzan-style to go from one platform to another. His advice - just get on and go, and don’t think about it. And a few stops from the end of the course, he said they hooked you up to a rope and more or less let go, sending you shooting straight down 50 feet or so, down to the next platform.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Most platforms were up about 50-60 feet high, with the first one or two about 20-30 feet up, and the last one a couple hundred feet high over the concrete entry courtyard. As they progressed through the course, and got more comfortable with the ropes, they were encouraged to do more fun twisting moves, and hang their arms out in air as they went.

 

 

 

 

 

[scraphappylady]

Overall, this was the excursion the three of them had been looking forward to the most, after snorkeling with the turtles, and they all said it was a lot of fun and did not disappoint.

 

By 1 pm they were done and back on the bus, and on their way back to the ship.

Don't tempt me, kid!!

 

Must . . . . resist . . . . urge . . . to . . . push . .

 

 

 

 

When they arrived back at a fairly empty ship, they had lunch, then all of them, including my aunt, hit the waterslide for a while. An hour or so in the pool rounded out their day, interspersed with a few trips for DS to the ice cream machine!

 

When I came upon them out on our balcony, at the end of our trip, both my aunt and DH were enjoying the specialty drink of the day, this time in the infamous whale tail cups. I joked that with the blowfish cup, we now had a nice pair. Thought about getting another whale tail drink for myself, but never got around to it.

 

 

[scraphappylady]

Since this was our other elegant night, and it was already getting late, we decided not to take naps this time, and instead joined other passengers up on the top deck, to wait for sailaway.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I'd be careful backing out of that garage!

 

Some of the port shops.

 

More shops. The cruise ships leave and the whole area closes down right afterwards.

 

 

[scraphappylady]

If I remember correctly, we actually left port when we were scheduled to this time (5 pm), for the first time the whole trip.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[scraphappylady]

As soon as the ship was well on her way, and we were sick of taking pictures, we headed back to our rooms to begin getting ready for the night. We had gotten formal pictures taken already, but there were a few that we wanted to try and re-take, as well as trying out another background.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Because we had extra free time before supper, we also tried to stage a few of our own more casual "elegant" photos. (translation: free; I'm still glad we bought the ones the Carnival photographer took as well!)

 

 

 

 

[scraphappylady]

The kids also commandeered the camera for a few self-portraits.

 

 

 

And a few by our favorite statue.

 

 

 

 

Fortunately, the show for the night (Vroom) was scheduled for 8:15 pm and 10:15 pm, so we had plenty of time before supper. We never did really find out why the show times moved around like they did, but made sure to check the Funtimes each day so we knew how to plan our evening.

 

[scraphappylady]

My aunt and I were really looking forward to the appetizer portion of the meal this night - escargot!

 

 

A little butter and garlic and they taste just great!

 

Other choices included caesar salad and

Chilled bing cherry soup

 

Then for our main dishes, most of us chose either:

 

Grilled jumbo tiger shrimp with marinara sauce

 

Or chateaubriand with sauce bernaise.

 

 

And we were pretty boring for dessert tonight. There were the standards of warm chocolate melting cake, strawberry ice cream and lime sherbet, as well as tropical fruit.

[scraphappylady]

Since Tim was once again proclaiming his tiredness this night (I was beginning to get the idea that he just didn’t really like a lot of the shows), and I had seen Vroom already on my last cruise, he and I ended up heading back to the cabin after supper, while the rest took in the show.

It was mostly songs and dancing, incorporating music from the 60’s-80’s. DD said all three of them really got into it, singing along at various points in the show – very multi-generational!

 

 

 

 

Kiss me and I'll turn into a prince, I promise!

Next: St. Kitts and our island tour

 

[Jules7226]

Thanks for the amazing review. Love all of the pics. And thanks to your input on Calabaza, we decided to book them for our September cruise. Can't wait to read the rest of your review and find out what you did in the rest of the ports. Thanks for taking the time to post soooo much. :)

[jrwadman]

Thank you for all the info and pictures. We are booked on this cruise in December, and can't wait. Did anyone wander over to the airport on St. Maarten?

[scraphappylady]

Thanks for the amazing review. Love all of the pics. And thanks to your input on Calabaza, we decided to book them for our September cruise. Can't wait to read the rest of your review and find out what you did in the rest of the ports. Thanks for taking the time to post soooo much. :)

 

Glad you're enjoying it so much! Always glad when people take the time to read my reviews. It means I can potentially help that many more people who might want to do the same things we did. (plus, I'm pretty chatty and who doesn't like having people waiting to see what you might say next?:p)

 

You're gonna love Calabaza! And I really am trying to get my review done as fast as I can! Real life intruding today included a track meet, getting DD to work on time, and a boy scout court of honor. Never a dull moment!