Just off victory

[Crusin Kelly]

I will be putting together a more complete review... but to summarize - we will never sail Carnival again.

 

-We NEVER saw our room steward after the first day when he cleaned the cigaratte butts/coke bottle from our daughter's next door balcony and combined our beds together. There was an ice bucket? never saw that. We know he was there - the bed was made, new towels were delivered and a new towel creature arrived daily.

-Bartenders and Waiters were WAY understaffed ! 30 min plus to get a drink at the pool unless you walked up and got it yourself Lido pool Port side bar fastest place.

Some nuts or hordourves would be nice at the bars?

-The late night comedians (listed in earlier posts) not funny

-Food was average - nothing stands out

-Jamaica - first trip there... been there - done that - no need to return again

-Grand Cayman - one MUST go to Stingray City at least once in their lives ! !

-Miami - took a city tour from the hotel - saw lots

-BEST part of the whole trip was the Airport check-in ... we walked right up to an -agent and withing 10 minutes had our sign/sail cards. . .

-Cheers program - broke even would have drunk more IF there were more waiters

-Serenity area (forward deck 12) - nice... got a hammock on first afternoon and yes there were kids in the hot tubs, until security made them leave.

-only 2 production shows... both good...

-other entertainment - guitar player, piano player, piano bar, karioke - average to bad

 

I'll detail more in a few days.

[azdesertcruiser89]

Crusin Kelly, We didn't have an ice bucket either, we asked our room steward for one and he told us they are only given out if asked for. He did keep it filled with ice the whole trip.

[vzarah84]

Hah oh wow, I read that a little too quick eh?!

 

I took it the same way. Thought it was a review of someone who just got off the Victory. LOL

[Daddyfto]

The serenity area and adult only pool are 2 different areas.. Pool is at aft.

 

 

Sent from my Galaxy 3S

 

This was quoted a few months back on the Carnival site...also I just got back from Carnival Victory and families were welcome to use the aft pool

 

 

Just got back from Carnival Victory and had only previously sailed on Carnival Valor, which designates its Aft pool as adult only. I unfortunately figured it was the same on the Victory, but that's not the case since Guest Services told me all pools allow children. There are 4 pools and 4 hot tubs on the Victory, and only 2 hot tubs are adults only, on the Serenity deck. No one was ever in it since sitting in the hot tub in 90 degree weather is redundant. It would be great to see just 1 of those 4 pools be adult-only. It would be great to see all Aft pools be for adults-only.

[Bashlin]

This was quoted a few months back on the Carnival site...also I just got back from Carnival Victory and families were welcome to use the aft pool

 

 

Just got back from Carnival Victory and had only previously sailed on Carnival Valor, which designates its Aft pool as adult only. I unfortunately figured it was the same on the Victory, but that's not the case since Guest Services told me all pools allow children. There are 4 pools and 4 hot tubs on the Victory, and only 2 hot tubs are adults only, on the Serenity deck. No one was ever in it since sitting in the hot tub in 90 degree weather is redundant. It would be great to see just 1 of those 4 pools be adult-only. It would be great to see all Aft pools be for adults-only.

 

The staff are wrong and will be corrected.. The aft pool on the victory is still adults only unless roof is closed. John is writing the CD and operations managed of the Victory today to clarify.

Thanks

 

Sent from my Galaxy 3S

[Daddyfto]

The staff are wrong and will be corrected.. The aft pool on the victory is still adults only unless roof is closed. John is writing the CD and operations managed of the Victory today to clarify.

Thanks

 

Sent from my Galaxy 3S

 

No Iwas there and the staff are correct and I'm sure your freind John will soon bring that to your attention

[MNMom1000]

I was just on the Valentine's Day sailing. Cruising is not my first choice of vacations, but this was actually my fifth, usually due to family reasons. (Been on RC, Princess, Disney, and Lindblad/NG.)

 

I try to go with reasonable expectations. We are frequent travelers, and I am a little bit of a foodie. I did not have high expectations, and actually was mostly pleasantly surprised.

 

Cabin: we had one of the aft wraps. LOVED that giant balcony. Yes, the decor is dated, but the cabin was very clean and comfortable and our steward was very good, and I was absolutely happy with the cabin.

 

Dining: We had anytime Atlantic, and, contrary to many others, we actually had very good service. (It was sometimes hard to get bar service. Not that important to me, though.) For example, when I had the jerk pork - pork only okay, jerk sauce VERY tasty - it only came with fried string beans, so I requested some steamed vegetables, and probably had them in under two minutes.

The flatiron steak was decent, lobster/shrimp pretty good. Thought most of the buffet food was really NOT good at all (though I did have one good dish from the Chinese section, the others were pretty bad) but it's so easily avoided. I'd be happy to eat the mushroom/roasted garlic/goat cheese pizza anytime. Did the captain's table the last night, and completely enjoyed the experience. My salmon was a bit overdone, but in general the whole thing was wonderful.

 

Entertainment: hmm. I was a little bored on sea day, too. Saw the first production show; they work really hard, was happy to watch it, but I don't like the mix of live/recorded vocals. There was a Latin trio that sounded pretty darn good; the guitar guy was entertaining because he was also sort of a music trivia game. The rest that I heard weren't so good, but I didn't hear everything. The comedians: Roman was okay. Happy Cole's adult show was hilarious, the family-friendly less so. Superstar karaoke is pretty fun. Lots of venues seemed quite empty.

 

Lines: check in was very quick. Lines long enough to be annoying: to get back ON in Key West, to get OFF in Cozumel. And to get off the ship (it really didn't take that long, but they didn't seem to know how to manage the line; ended up right in front of the elevators, clogging things up.) There WERE buffet lines, but there are so many options/stations, etc. it's pretty easily avoided, I thought.

 

Key West: the time there is VERY short. Would have liked more; just did the hop on/off city tour.

 

Cozumel: were supposed to snorkel, cancelled because of winds. (We had booked privately with ChiChiCharters; I can't vouch for the actual trip, but they were super responsive and professional in booking and dealing with the cancellation.) Grabbed a cab for an island tour; the cab guy was nice, enjoyed the tour, but it's kind of beside the point to be in Cozumel and not in the water. <shrug> Things happen.

 

I wouldn't go out of my way to book it again - but as I said, not really My Thing - but, if the circumstances came up again, I'd certainly go ahead and do it again.

[vzarah84]

FWIW, Past Guest parties only occur on sailings of 5 days and longer.

 

According to Carnival, it doesn't matter the number of nights you're sailing. It's just that it's now only available to Gold members, whereas before, you got it if you were at least Red. And now, they go by the points system. Each night on a ship is equal to one point.

Blue is for first time cruisers.

Red is up to 24 points

Gold is 25-74 points

Platinum is 75-199 points

Diamond is 200+

[Bashlin]

No Iwas there and the staff are correct and I'm sure your freind John will soon bring that to your attention

 

Who made this decision? Not management.

 

Sent from my Galaxy 3S

[hollygirl2004]

This was quoted a few months back on the Carnival site...also I just got back from Carnival Victory and families were welcome to use the aft pool

 

 

Just got back from Carnival Victory and had only previously sailed on Carnival Valor, which designates its Aft pool as adult only. I unfortunately figured it was the same on the Victory, but that's not the case since Guest Services told me all pools allow children. There are 4 pools and 4 hot tubs on the Victory, and only 2 hot tubs are adults only, on the Serenity deck. No one was ever in it since sitting in the hot tub in 90 degree weather is redundant. It would be great to see just 1 of those 4 pools be adult-only. It would be great to see all Aft pools be for adults-only.

 

dang it... that is gonna bum me out... I like having 1 adult pool.. I hate being splashed... :(:( I was on the Valor too and the AFT pool never had any kids in it because it was an adult only... I thought that was going to be the same on the victory..... looks like I am not going to be in any of the pools :(

[Bashlin]

dang it... that is gonna bum me out... I like having 1 adult pool.. I hate being splashed... :(:( I was on the Valor too and the AFT pool never had any kids in it because it was an adult only... I thought that was going to be the same on the victory..... looks like I am not going to be in any of the pools :(

 

Carnival management says it's still adults only.. Waiting to here from Victory CD on the issue.

 

Sent from my Galaxy 3S

[hollygirl2004]

Carnival management says it's still adults only.. Waiting to here from Victory CD on the issue.

 

Sent from my Galaxy 3S

 

I hope your right.. :) we cruise in 11 days and I am sooo looking forward to hanging out in a pool with an ice cold beer.. :cool:

[gargoyle999]

According to Carnival, it doesn't matter the number of nights you're sailing. It's just that it's now only available to Gold members, whereas before, you got it if you were at least Red.

 

Will be on the Victory March 4th so reading these comments with interest. But wanted to point out that the actual party does seem to be on 5+ day cruises per the benefits page on Carnival though you do have to be at least Gold to go.

[gtalum]

According to Carnival, it doesn't matter the number of nights you're sailing. It's just that it's now only available to Gold members, whereas before, you got it if you were at least Red. And now, they go by the points system. Each night on a ship is equal to one point.

Blue is for first time cruisers.

Red is up to 24 points

Gold is 25-74 points

Platinum is 75-199 points

Diamond is 200+

 

Check the benefits page. The party is only on 5-night or longer cruises. It's been that way for a long time.

[sachmo9085]

We recently sailed Victory out of San Juan (Jan 13-20). I was going to write a review, but I got the flu and then life just keeps coming, so we'll see if that happens =)

 

I would say she is starting to show her age in places. We had a group of 8 together, with 4 of us in 2 ocean view rooms and the other 4 in two interior rooms all right next to each other on deck 1. I really disliked the pink of the bathroom, but it was mostly clean. In all our showers there was mildew stuff on the grout in between the tiles, but I still felt like the shower was clean (if that makes sense. It's like it's just old and the mildew just is not coming off anymore). Our room steward, Kevin, was amazing. Two of our rooms had Kevin and the other two had some other gentleman they only met once. We ran into Kevin all the time and he always greeted all of us, so he ended up taking care of all our extra needs.

 

Other places she shows her age are just general wear and tear. The carpet just looks like it's been there fora while in the hallways, but then again there are 3,000 people walking all over it every day, so you'll have that. Otherwise, other than the decor of this ship just not being my style (particularly hated the wannabe bronze/turquoise painted finishings) it was always clean.

 

Food was good for me. I am a picky eater and have a gluten allergy and they were AMAZING at accommodating me. When I ate in the Lido, I just asked for the chef and they would make me something separately. I honestly can't say enough nice things about their staff. Between my best friend and her boyfriend, they're allergic to everything: peanuts, shellfish, tree nuts, soy, dairy, tomatoes, etc. and the staff was great for them too, asking the chef whenever they weren't sure of ingredients. We ate in the dining room for breakfast because there isn't too much I could have eaten at the buffet with my allergy.

 

We never had an issue finding chairs together. We frequently found 6+ chairs together, but of course that was up above the pool deck, which we didn't mind. The guys watched our stuff when the girls went to swim for a bit.

 

Biggest issue: We missed St. Thomas =( We woke up Monday morning, still in San Juan no thanks to propulsion issues she was having. After that, they said we'd be in St. Thomas by 2pm, then it changed to 4pm, then we didn't get off the ship there until 5pm, which turned out to be a waste of time. We didn't think it through, so we got off with everyone else just to wander around and be off the ship for a bit. The line getting back on was ridiculous, because of course we all wanted back on the ship to eat. The line for the dining rooms were obscene that night (they didn't do assigned time dining and had everyone do another night of anytime dining). It was over an hour wait in both MDRs and the line at lido took over half an hour to get through because they only had one side of the buffet open. So, alas, we should have just stayed on the ship and avoided all that drama. Live and learn. We still had an amazing time on her and I LOVED the itinerary (which I know she is no longer doing).

[bbohbbneedacruise]

I read a post in Funville and the OP stated that one of Lido pool broke and flooded Deck 8.

Can anyone confirm this?

[San_Antonio_Ex]

According to Carnival, it doesn't matter the number of nights you're sailing. It's just that it's now only available to Gold members, whereas before, you got it if you were at least Red. And now, they go by the points system. Each night on a ship is equal to one point.

Blue is for first time cruisers.

Red is up to 24 points

Gold is 25-74 points

Platinum is 75-199 points

Diamond is 200+

 

Actually, it does matter. You are correct about who it is for, but they simply don't have the past guest party any longer on sailings less than 5 days in length.

[bbohbbneedacruise]

According to Carnival, it doesn't matter the number of nights you're sailing.

 

From the VIFP page

http://www.carnival.com/loyalty/benefits.aspx

Gold, Platinum and Diamond VIFP Party

on 5+ day sailings

(featuring complimentary drinks and appetizers)

[nitab99]

FWIW, Past Guest parties only occur on sailings of 5 days and longer.

 

 

Ok, I didn't know that, so I won't hold it against them anymore :)

[nitab99]

I read a post in Funville and the OP stated that one of Lido pool broke and flooded Deck 8.

Can anyone confirm this?

 

There was an issue with the pool and I noticed crew members working in it, but I didn't realize it had flooded deck 8. The aft pool was closed the last 2 days of our cruise :(

[Daddyfto]

Carnival management says it's still adults only.. Waiting to here from Victory CD on the issue.

 

Sent from my Galaxy 3S

 

I just got a message from CD Goose Neumann and he said all pools are open to all people with the exception of the Serenity area

[cruzn buckeye]

I just got a message from CD Goose Neumann and he said all pools are open to all people with the exception of the Serenity area

The question is then.... are they supposed to be? According to JH... no

I have this booked for September. One of the reasons we chose aft cabins are because of the adult aft pool. My friends are going to be a little upset with me... and propulsion issues?? Please ... say it ain't so

[Bashlin]

I just got a message from CD Goose Neumann and he said all pools are open to all people with the exception of the Serenity area

 

Can you post a screen shot of the message, as his boss knows nothing of the change.

Thanks

 

Sent from my Galaxy 3S

[cruzn buckeye]

Can you post a screen shot of the message, as his boss knows nothing of the change.

Thanks

 

Sent from my Galaxy 3S

Please post the answer you get from JH about the pool and him notifying the cd about the fact that it is supposed to be adult only. Are you seeing this on his fb page? I don't do fb...

[Migee]

I was on The Valentine's Day sailing too.

We did the Chef's Table. AWESOME. it was set up in the library. We got a galley tours where we got a couple of tastings with champagne. The 7 course meal with wine or cokes flowing. The head chef gave us the tour and was with us to introduce every course. the magician came in to entertain us. We had done the Chef's table on Emerald Princess and were happy that this one didn't disappoint us. I had read on CC that you could sign up on line but we waiting until we got on the ship and went to dining room to sign up.

 

I have no idea what our cabin Stewart looks like. I called customer service to tell them our Stewart was not answering our call. They said he didn't come on until 6 PM. They had me call room service for an ice bucket. It never came until we call again that evening.

 

The dining room waiters were OK. Not really sure which was ours but the food came and we were happy with our choices.

The buffet food was not good. But the pizza and burgers were so good.

The clean comedians were funny.

 

If anyone gets on Victory would you please look for the money I lost in the casino!!!!