Carnival imagination-carnival victory "back-to-back" review (pics) 4-12-2013

[bitofun]

SO happy to help you... you are going to LOOOVE Half Moon Cay. Paradise on earth. This is coming up shortly. I'm going to get started posting on my review again here in a minute.

 

Oh, you know only too well we are going to LOVE Half Moon Cay, as I was the 4th person to book a Cabana back in September!!! Truly looking forward to visiting Paradise on that day :D

[SunnydayKim]

Hi Kim! Thanks for the kind words!

 

I think for MOST of it you could do with a stroller. However, you would not be able to walk up the Queen's staircase with a child in a stroller. The climb is somewhat steep. We made it fine, but I heard others huffing and puffing when they got to the top. I would say it's about 1/2 mile or so from the ship, but it's all sidewalks. There is a hill to climb to get there (or the road inclines... however you want to describe it). You want to go down Bay Street to Elizabeth. We never saw it marked, but if you see a sign for the Hospital, it is situated literally right AT the hospital. You will also see buses that go up there as well.

 

When you get to the top of the Queen's Staircase, to the right is where you'll go to get to Fort Fincastle.

 

I hope this helps. I didn't feel it was a bad walk for us and thinking back, I think the only part you'd have to be careful about would be the stairs themselves simply because you wouldn't want to do that with a stroller any way. :)

 

Thanks! Yes, one of us will most likely carry the stroller down and the other carry our son if it is that steep!

 

Great pictures! Getting so excited to go on this cruise next week!

 

Kim

[valancy1]

This is one of my favorite sugar-free desserts. I am always happy when they offer a sugar-free cake or something on the menu in the dining room...

 

GRAND TURK:

 

 

We have visited this island so many times, and every time we come into port, I am enthralled with the incredible colors of the water.

 

 

Carnival Liberty was in port with us:

 

 

Just down the way is Jack's Shack...it's just to the left of the iceberg toys in the water.

 

I didn't take pictures of the Islander (hard ginger beer) or the jerk chicken, but it's highly recommended. YUMMY.

 

If you go to Jack's, you can rent an umbrella (chairs are free), snorkel equipment, and run a tab for food and drink. It's a very laid-back place and when we return to Grand Turk in October, that's where we'll head again. Loved it.

[valancy1]

 

 

 

 

 

[wahooslayer]

Great reports, great photos, thanks.

[BenjiRodney]

Thanks for sharing, Love both of those ship, been on Victory twice out of San Juan and once on the Imagination in Jan to Key West and Cozumel.

[caro1998]

Hi,

 

Thanks so much for posting your review; I am finding it extremely helpful since I am sailing this summer on the Victory to the same ports. Your pictures are just BEAUTIFUL!!!! My question is: what is "Jacks?" Is it a beach? A club? Similar to Margaritaville in Grand Turk? Thanks in advance because I have never been to these ports before...

Caro

Edited April 24, 2013 by caro1998
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[Pellaz]

Great review! Imagination was my first Carnival cruise and I've booked a 5-day on Carnival Victory for October.

 

Really amazed that the cabanas weren't all sold out at HMC and that the dining rooms weren't full on either ship. I'm wondering how full the sailings were.....

 

My question is: what is "Jacks?" Is it a beach? A club? Similar to Margaritaville in Grand Turk? Thanks in advance because I have never been to these ports before...

Caro

 

Jack's Shack is like a smaller, more laid-back version of Margaritaville at Grand Turk. It's not far past it on the beach, either. Less commercialized and many people speak highly of it.

[msolberg]

Thanks for the great review and wonderful pictures.

 

We will be on the Victory in two weeks and then getting on the NCL Sky when we get back to Miami. How late were you able to stay on the Imagination before heading to the board the Victory? What was the bus that brought you from one ship to the next? Thank you very much.

 

Diane

[kybluecruiser]

Before we "leave" the Bahamas, I wanted to show a picture... there were a LOT of ships in port that day:

 

 

It was formal night after we got done at the Bahamas. It was also the night we got to meet the Captain. We'd never done that before, so that was fun to do.

 

We also ran into Goose a LOT on this trip. I don't know if he knew we were the Platinum people (our issues with that) or if it was coincidental, but he was very attentive. One night, he bought Barry and I drinks as we listened to Life Line out on the Promenade, even! (THEY WERE DELICIOUS TOO)

 

 

Don't think I have ever noticed the tower on the pier at Nassau

[cruzn buckeye]

Loving reading you review. We will be on Victory in Sept., and also love your pics. Just a couple of quick questions... does the Victory have the DJ on the lido deck? Are the hot tubs hot? And how much does it cost to rent the umbrellas at Jacks? thanks!

[msolberg]

Oh I also forgot to ask, did you receive your platinum gift? Curious to know if the Victory has the new bags and what they look like if you happen to have a picture. :) Thanks again for the great review - it certainly does get my excitement up for our B2B in two weeks. :)

 

Diane

[valancy1]

Hi,

 

Thanks so much for posting your review; I am finding it extremely helpful since I am sailing this summer on the Victory to the same ports. Your pictures are just BEAUTIFUL!!!! My question is: what is "Jacks?" Is it a beach? A club? Similar to Margaritaville in Grand Turk? Thanks in advance because I have never been to these ports before...

Caro

 

Caro,

 

Jack's Shack is a small business to the left of the cruise port. You can get there by walking down the beach to the left. In one of the pictures of us still on the ship in Grand Turk, you can see it. If you look in the water and see some iceberg floating "toys" (you can climb on them and such), that is where Jack's is. It is nothing fancy, but it's free to hang out and you can run a tab for food and beverages while you're there. They rent snorkel equipment, umbrellas and have AMAZING jerk chicken (usually ready around 11 a.m.)

 

We are cruising to Grand Turk again in October, and will make Jack's our itinerary for the day. Margaritaville is fancier; Jack's is more low-key and quieter. We loved it.

[valancy1]

Thanks for the great review and wonderful pictures.

 

We will be on the Victory in two weeks and then getting on the NCL Sky when we get back to Miami. How late were you able to stay on the Imagination before heading to the board the Victory? What was the bus that brought you from one ship to the next? Thank you very much.

 

Diane

 

Diane, we stayed quite a long time on Imagination because they kept stopping the line in customs. It was very frustrating. LOL. They like you to go when your number is called. If you said in your fun pass information that you weren't leaving on an early flight, there's a very good chance your numbers on your luggage tags will be high, which means you can stay on longer.

 

Having said that, though, they usually ask everyone to be out of their rooms by 8:30 and completely off the ship around 10:30 (at least that is what Goose (cruise director) told me when we were there last week).

 

Hope that helps!

 

Oh, and the bus had the name "American" in it.. Like "American Transportation" or something. Ask a porter or someone directing traffic how to get to that terminal for NCL. That's what we did and he told us. We hurried over there so fast, I didn't really pay attention--we were getting drenched in a horrible downpour. (We tipped the guy a couple of dollars for taking us and loading our luggage in his trailer.)

[valancy1]

Loving reading you review. We will be on Victory in Sept., and also love your pics. Just a couple of quick questions... does the Victory have the DJ on the lido deck? Are the hot tubs hot? And how much does it cost to rent the umbrellas at Jacks? thanks!

 

No. I LOVED the live band Life Line. I heard DJs are coming and I am not overly thrilled with the idea after listening to these guys LIVE. I have to finish my review and I have pictures of them. THEY. WERE. FANTASTIC.

 

The hot tubs... up on Serenity they were hot, but I wasn't comfortable with the angle of the seats so we didn't stay in them. The others were rife with kids, so we never went in them on Victory. On Imagination, the hot tubs on Serenity were AHHHHHHHHHHHHHH... wonderful.

 

The umbrellas were $15 and the guy dug a hole for us and secured it... it was a really windy day. We were glad to have it! I would get there early, though... they don't have a ton of them.

[valancy1]

Oh I also forgot to ask, did you receive your platinum gift? Curious to know if the Victory has the new bags and what they look like if you happen to have a picture. :) Thanks again for the great review - it certainly does get my excitement up for our B2B in two weeks. :)

 

Diane

 

Diane, not sure what you mean about "new bags". :confused:

 

I got a Platinum gift... picture forthcoming. :) I had to visit Guest Services a couple times to get it. I was more concerned about the pin that had the ship's name on it.. I wasn't even thinking about the gift, but it was fun to get! I was not impressed with the peeps in Guest Services on the Victory. Not happy with them at all. But they didn't ruin or "make" my vacation one way or another. I will handle that by writing to Carnival... and I also noted it in my survey.

[CruzerDeb]

Marking my spot for the rest of this great review! Can't wait to visit Grand Turk! Haven't decided if we'll got to Margaritaville or Jack's Shack yet; first, we're renting a golf cart and touring the island on own.

[msolberg]

Diane, we stayed quite a long time on Imagination because they kept stopping the line in customs. It was very frustrating. LOL. They like you to go when your number is called. If you said in your fun pass information that you weren't leaving on an early flight, there's a very good chance your numbers on your luggage tags will be high, which means you can stay on longer.

 

Having said that, though, they usually ask everyone to be out of their rooms by 8:30 and completely off the ship around 10:30 (at least that is what Goose (cruise director) told me when we were there last week).

 

Hope that helps!

 

Oh, and the bus had the name "American" in it.. Like "American Transportation" or something. Ask a porter or someone directing traffic how to get to that terminal for NCL. That's what we did and he told us. We hurried over there so fast, I didn't really pay attention--we were getting drenched in a horrible downpour. (We tipped the guy a couple of dollars for taking us and loading our luggage in his trailer.)

 

This information is very helpful to me. Normally we catch a flight out and get priorty debark with our platinum status so we are part of the first ones off the ship. We have never had time to waste like we will on the Victory. :) Thanks.

[msolberg]

Diane, not sure what you mean about "new bags". :confused:

 

I got a Platinum gift... picture forthcoming. :) I had to visit Guest Services a couple times to get it. I was more concerned about the pin that had the ship's name on it.. I wasn't even thinking about the gift, but it was fun to get! I was not impressed with the peeps in Guest Services on the Victory. Not happy with them at all. But they didn't ruin or "make" my vacation one way or another. I will handle that by writing to Carnival... and I also noted it in my survey.

 

Sorry for the confusion with the gift. I had read yesterday that the gift to replace the Tervis cups will be a tote bag so I was anxious to see what it looks like. When it comes to the platinum gift Im like a kid at Christmas. I really have enjoyed them all. :)

[wrigley80]

wonderful review...thanks for sharing. We had Goose as a cruise director a few years back...it was his first contract then. He is still as cute as ever :p

[valancy1]

Marking my spot for the rest of this great review! Can't wait to visit Grand Turk! Haven't decided if we'll got to Margaritaville or Jack's Shack yet; first, we're renting a golf cart and touring the island on own.

 

We've done that before... this is the first time in Grand Turk that we didn't get a golf cart. When you get one (if you haven't done this before) it is less expensive to fill it back up on your own than pay him $15.00... AND you want to go and see the lighthouse. It's nice and the views are GREAT.

[Pooh72]

 

 

 

Wow !!!! There was alot of people in Grand Turk that day.

[valancy1]

I wanted to bring my "John Heald" head along and forgot him EVERY TIME so Freddy had to suffice:

 

 

More Grand Turk... I hope this is not a repeat, but the water is SO gorgeous there:

 

Good ol' Topher. He's Jack's. He loves to dig in the sand. No, REALLY loves to dig in the sand. And take volleyballs. :)

 

 

 

Oh and for those that don't know, on Grand Turk, there is free wi-fi at Jack's as well as the Smoothie place (Frootz or something like that) that offers free wi-fi, too. You can't be on the beach at Jack's surfing the web, though--it doesn't go that far.

[cruzn buckeye]

No. I LOVED the live band Life Line. I heard DJs are coming and I am not overly thrilled with the idea after listening to these guys LIVE. I have to finish my review and I have pictures of them. THEY. WERE. FANTASTIC.

 

The hot tubs... up on Serenity they were hot, but I wasn't comfortable with the angle of the seats so we didn't stay in them. The others were rife with kids, so we never went in them on Victory. On Imagination, the hot tubs on Serenity were AHHHHHHHHHHHHHH... wonderful.

 

The umbrellas were $15 and the guy dug a hole for us and secured it... it was a really windy day. We were glad to have it! I would get there early, though... they don't have a ton of them.

Thank you so much! I hope they stil have the band in September. I really don't care for the DJs.

[valancy1]

I don't know what happened, but I had my entire review finished and a big chunk of it is gone. :(

 

I loved the "sea glass" on the Promenade:

 

 

This was funny... I took the above picture and another guy wanted to get in on the action. SO FUNNY:

 

 

This is the bar outside the Casino: