Detailed Carnival Victory Wedding Review - July 8, 2013

[rollissaria]

Hi everyone! I’m finally back in the saddle again after being away for three weeks for what I’d like to think of as the world’s best vacation, wedding, honeymoon and more! As you’ll gather from my review, we packed a lot of activities in a very short amount of time. I tend to be quite wordy…so bare with me; I’ll be writing this in installments as I have time, but please feel free to ask questions as you think of them. I really want to write a detailed review, especially on the Carnival Victory, because I struggled for months trying to find past brides or information on this ship...there simply is none. Overall, GREAT SHIP, GREAT WEDDING, GREAT CHOICE! Here’s a little back ground information on myself and family to help you understand the choices we made for our wedding.

My hubby and I are both in our early 30’s, were previously married, work full time plus some, and have three daughters between us – I have two from a previous marriage ages 10 and 7, and together we have one rowdy toddler aged 20 months. We are both very laid back people, though he’d like to tell you I’m a little more tense than he is, lol. Our thoughts going into this wedding were that we wanted to do something fun and different – we had both done the big wedding blow outs before in the past, and neither of us wanted that again, and our #1 requirement was that it was something the kids would enjoy too.

A cruise wedding actually wasn’t our first choice…We made the mistake of trying to make everyone else happy, and wanted to do something easier for them. So, I found a beach house (really, it was a 10 bedroom McMansion…it was HUGE) for rent in Virginia Beach at a great price and were going to invite all of our friends and family to come there for the wedding, have a simple ceremony on the beach, and a BBQ at the beach house when we returned. Everyone was all for it….at first. Then, the complaints started rolling in….the dates didn’t work, what if it’s cold, what are we going to do, blah blah blah. So, I cancelled it (luckily, no penalty) and we decided to do what we wanted to do (which is what we should have done in the first place), and picked a cruise and told everyone – we’ll be happy to have you, and hope you can make it…but if not, we understand, and we’ll see ya when we return. We lost a lot of people, but the ones who wanted to celebrate with us, definitely made it, and that’s all that mattered to us.

So, we decided to make this not only our wedding, but also our family vacation, because we were travelling with our three kids, and we packed as much stuff as we could in during our trip! It was awesome!

So, let’s get to the good stuff!

Miami

We sailed out of the Port of Miami, and after much debate, settled on the Intercontinental Hotel, right downtown Miami on the port. We didn’t do a block of rooms….we didn’t meet the minimum requirement. We did however book all 8 of our rooms and held them on our credit card for our guests. All they had to do was change their name and switch it over to their credit card (the good part is…since we booked them, we still got the reward points! Score!) – some called before they arrived to do the switch, others did it upon check-in. Overall the check-in process was very easy for everyone, the rooms were great, and the hotel was gorgeous.

We arrived on Friday, July 5th because our guests were going to start arriving the next day. This hotel was awesome! We were on the very top floor, corner room, with a view of the port. I was able to watch all the cruise ships come in and out of port and see all of the boating action on the water. We had told the hotel when making the reservation that it was for our wedding, so our first night there, they delivered a complimentary bottle of champagne and chocolate covered strawberries for us…and a plate of cookies and milk for the kids!

The pool area at this hotel was great….it wasn’t ever that crowded, plenty of towels and seating, and a great view. I think the pool was on the roof of the 15th floor, off of the Spa area (you walk through the spa to get outside to the pool). There was also a little bar off the pool area that we used a lot (it does close early though…I think 6 or 7 pm).

The hotel also has 2 restaurants and a Starbucks on site. We used the Starbucks of course, but only ate at the one restaurant for breakfast on Sunday…it was very pricey at $25pp for the buffet, but absolutely delicious. Valet parking is a must (downtown Miami isn’t the best) and it came in at about $30 per day with unlimited access.

We were within walking distance to almost everything we needed…a CVS was 2 blocks away to buy bottled water, soda, wine, and anything else we might have forgotten. There was also a little play area and fountain right outside the hotel that we used a lot with the kids. Bayside Market, the outdoor mall, and all of the restaurants were also within walking distance, and that’s where we spent most of our time. There’s a lot of tiny bistro type café’s and restaurants within walking distance as well downtown We found a nice French one (I can’t remember the name now of course) for breakfast one day and it was fun to have the kids try something a little different (even if they did stomp their feet at first). There was also a Starbucks, Pizza Hut and I believe a Subway down there as well.

If you’re looking for a place to make reservations for dinner….skip Bayside Marketplace. There are a TON of restaurants there, we ate at a lot of them including Bubba Gumps, Hard Rock, Tradewind’s, and a few of the smaller food stands. There was pretty much anything and everything food wise that you could want here – from burgers to seafood, Italian, hotdogs, smoothies, Cuban, and more….but it was simply TOO crowded, service was slow, and it was very loud. If you’re looking for a more intimate place to have a rehearsal dinner, go someplace else. If you’re looking to have a good time, grab a bite to eat, and aren’t in a time crunch…this is a good stop for you. Either way, definitely go check it out…lot’s of stores to browse, little stands, boats galore, music and dancing – great for people watching, too!

 

I'm having problems posting pictures....so once I figure that out, I'll be back with more! (any tips?? secrets I'm missing on how to post them??)

[tranquilreign]

Thank you for this review. Great start!

[jaxie001]

Yeah!!!! Congratulations!!! Wishing you all the happiness in the world!!!! Cant wait to see more pics!! I uploaded mine from photobucket, i could not for the life of me get them uploaded from my comp. Let me know if you go photobucket route and i'll try to help you out

Jackie

[Carnival_Brides]

Oh yea, A Carnival Victory Wedding Review! I'm super excited to read yours since there aren't any recent ones. Congratulations!

[lightskinedgyal]

SO excited!!

 

Click on manage attach at the bottom of the screen under the icons choose

[rollissaria]

Miami, continued…

Continuing from where I left off on Miami…here are some other things that might be of interest to you.

While we were there, we walked almost everywhere. Since we had driven from Michigan to Florida, we did have our car, if necessary. There are always cabs right out front of the hotel, even the morning we departed for port. There never seemed to be a wait for one. We drove our car to port, as did one guest who had a rental, and my parents who also drove. The rest of our guests asked the front desk to arrange a taxi van to pick them up in the morning at 10 am. The van was there, right on time, and nobody had any issues getting to port, and only $6 pp. In hindsight, I'm happy I didn't make the decision to try and arrange a shuttle, and deal with that hassle in advance. Just asking for a taxi-van worked great for us! (6 people and a crap ton of luggage fit in the one van, 3 others took a yellow cab for $15 total, the other 9 of us had cars)

Everybody in our group arrived 2 days prior to departure, and like us, mostly walked around, spending the day at Bay Side, out by the pool, etc. The guests that had a rental car did take Sunday morning to go visit South Beach – but after driving for an hour and a half, and not being able to find any parking, turned around and came back.

On Sunday, we took the older two girls to go visit the Miami Seaquarium for the day. If you have the chance to go here when sailing in or out of Miami – do so! It was great! It’s obviously no Sea World, but for the price, we got to do and see so much. We splurged and did a Dolphin Encounter while we were there – so awesome! We also caught one of the Dolphin shows, the killer whale show, petted the sting rays, hung out by the manatees for a while (that was incredible…reading how they were rescued and saved was great as was seeing them up close), played on the playground and went to the splash pad. Really, a lot to do there that is pretty low key. But the dolphins were by far the highlight of all of our day.

We also needed to go to a real mall (I needed to get a mani and pedi), so we drove over to the Miami International Mall – it took us about 15-20 minutes on the highway to get there. This mall was huge…had all the stores you could want, a decent food court, lots of restaurants nearby, etc. According to the woman who did my nails though, this mall is for the locals of Miami. They don’t get very many tourists (I could tell…barely anybody, including the workers, spoke English). She said all of the tourists go over to the Dolphin Mall, which was right down the road and that it was even bigger and an outlet mall. We never made it over there, but thought I’d pass that along to those of you looking for information on Miami!

Also, the Intercontinental is right by a people mover, which is free to use to get around downtown. We hopped on it once and just rode it all the way around without getting off anywhere, just to see everything in Miami. That was pretty cool....the kids enjoyed it. It reminded me a lot of the people mover in Detroit and would seemed easy enough to figure out how to navigate the stops. There is also the public busses for you to use, but we did not try those out this visit, but there were multiple bus stops along the main drag there within walking distance, with map routes on signs.

Okay, now we’re getting to the good stuff…up next, Wedding Day, starting with hair and make-up! I'll also work on uploading my pictures to Photobucket and see if I can't go that route! Thanks for all the interest so far!

[rollissaria]

But first...I figured out pictures!!! Yahoo! So here's a few from Miami that go along with my review so far.

 

Here's the view from our room on the 34th floor over looking the Port of Miami

 

 

 

Not to mention our complimentary champagne and strawberries :)

 

 

Here's our hotel! This is a view from the fountain you walk by to get to Bayside Marketplace. It was VERY WINDY while we were there.

 

 

And here is the pool area.

 

[rollissaria]

Hair and Make-up

After stalking these boards for a while, I decided to do a little research on Natalie with Hair and Make-up I Do. Every review I read on CC and other boards dedicated to weddings were 5 star ratings. I honestly couldn’t find one bad review. So then I did a little wedding stalking (come-on…you know you have too) to find brides and look at their pictures that had used her before. I also went to their Facebook website to check out their work and read all the comments and posts I could find.

https://www.facebook.com/#!/hairandmakeupido

After I felt like I had did enough…ahem…research, I emailed Natalie with my wedding date and location, and the number of us that wanted our hair and make-up done, and she responded right back. That always seemed to be the case…she’d respond to my emails normally the same business day, very promptly, and answering all of my questions.

Pricing was very reasonable and she does normal make-up or airbrush.

The week before the wedding, we touched base over the phone and she let me know how final payment would work, what time she’d be there, and what to expect. All I had to do was shoot her an email or text when we arrived to Miami so that she knew what our room number was…so that brings me to our WEDDING DAY!!!

5:45 AM – Time to wake-up! Natalie from Hair & Make-up I Do came to our hotel room promptly at 5:45 just as promised. She set everything up on the desk in the hotel room and starts with make-up. She did mine first since I had requested airbrushing, and then my mother, who had traditional. Ladies – I highly recommend the airbrushing!! Well worth the extra money – it lasted all night long! Up next was hair – we did my mom first, then me, then my good friend, and last my two older daughters. She was done exactly at 10:00 AM just as I promised. Side note: for our hair and make-up, she was able to do it alone, if we would have had one more person, she would have had to of brought an assistant. Our room would have been a smidge too small for that…just something to keep in mind for your bridal party planning.

Here are a couple pictures of our hair.

10:00 AM – I asked everyone to meet in the lobby, completely dressed and ready to go, by 9:45 am. And by some miracle…it worked! Everyone made it! A few of them who had never cruised before (or read any info I sent them) had a few questions, but we were out there door by 10:05 am and on our way to port. Port literally took us 7 minutes to get to. My hubby to be dropped me, the kids, and the luggage off and then drove across the street to park.

Here is something that annoyed me a little…everyone else that cabbed it…they walked right into the terminal, went through security, got checked in, and put into the special holding area for weddings. Not one of them asked me if I needed any help or wanted them to wait with me. I stood out in the heat, sweating with the three kids, guarding our carry-on’s, alone. If this is you – please, assign somebody to stay with you!

While I was standing there sweating to death, our Wedding Experience coordinator walked up and introduced herself to me (of course, I swore to remember her name for the review…and now I can’t!). She told me I should go inside in the AC to wait, but I declined (I’m stubborn when angry) and she went in to go find my friends and family and get them settled.

Getting through security was easy, even with all of our carry-on’s (there were 5 of us, including the kids – the wedding dress, suits, the girls dresses, our wedding suitcase, stroller, etc.) and the wedding coordinator greeted us on the other side and escorted us right to the check-in counter to get our sail-and-sign cards.

While we were getting our SS pictures taken and all that jazz, the officiant also came up and introduced herself, and asked to go over a few things there, right at the counter, because she didn’t want anybody to overhear and have anything spoiled or ruined for them, not to mention, have us be interrupted. My DF was busy chasing the baby around, so he didn’t get to hear any of it, but she assured me she’d fill him in during the brief rehearsal.

11:10 AM – we were taken to the special holding area where the rest of our family and friends were. Basically, it was just a big open room with a ton of chairs. Nothing too special about it, it’s really just over flow seating. I didn’t see how a bride and groom could be kept apart from each other there though….that part didn’t matter to me, so I was fine with it, but if you’re worried, definitely ask your coordinator in advance what the plans are.

And then the wait to board began…our ship had a surprise inspection, so boarding was delayed. Our wedding coordinator did her best to keep us informed of the time and kept checking in with us to make sure we were all okay.

So, we do what most normal people do...take a selfie to pass the time!

 

 

12:15 PM – We hear the magical voice come over the speakers – special events guests are able to board! Wahoo! The bad rush begins. We all grab our bags and the kids, and start making our way to the ship!

I’m not sure what everyone else does….but since we were travelling with our kids, we had booked 2 adjoining rooms – one for us, one for them. As you know, you can request to have two rooms ready for your embarkation wedding…so I just asked for both of them to be ready and opened up for us. Since it was kind of a mad dash at this point, everyone just followed us to our rooms (we were on deck 2, ocean view, port side, mid-ship) and threw their carry-on’s in our rooms. The groom got ready in the girls room, and I got ready in our room.

The groom was ready in about 10 minutes of course, lucky dog, and he and his best friend took off to the lounge to make sure everyone else was there and ready, and were there by 12:35 pm. Everyone else was there (the wedding coordinator escorted them). Myself, the girls and my two friends stayed in my room to get me and the girls dressed. We got the kids in their dresses first, then me. At this point, I sent them all away so they could be a part of the rehearsal….then after about 30 seconds, it hit me. I am alone! LOL I kind of just stood in my room, twiddled my thumbs, and flipped through the Fun Ship flyer thingy. I tried sitting down, but my dress had a corset, so I literally…just stood there. It didn’t feel like it took that long though…it flew by!

12:55 PM – knock knock….the wedding coordinator was at my door! It’s time to go. I hand her my phone and sail & sign card, she hands me my flowers, and we are on our way to the Adriatic Lounge!

[tinkerbell_82]

Thank you so much for your informative review! Can't wait to read the rest. I agree with you- there is no info out there for us cruise brides! You and your daughter looked beautiful btw!! :)

[rollissaria]

Thank you so much for your informative review! Can't wait to read the rest. I agree with you- there is no info out there for us cruise brides! You and your daughter looked beautiful btw!! :)

 

Thanks for the feedback! Writing a review takes a TON of work and now I appreciate the ones I have read in the past a lot more. I am still working on the wedding part and have a ton more pictures to post....I've just kind of lost my thunder with the lack of interest in what I've wrote so far :( this board isn't like the others when you post a review and get a ton of questions and encouragement, that's for sure. Just a bummer...but I will get there!

[tinkerbell_82]

Thanks for the feedback! Writing a review takes a TON of work and now I appreciate the ones I have read in the past a lot more. I am still working on the wedding part and have a ton more pictures to post....I've just kind of lost my thunder with the lack of interest in what I've wrote so far :( this board isn't like the others when you post a review and get a ton of questions and encouragement, that's for sure. Just a bummer...but I will get there!

 

Aww I know it's a lot of work!! I know this board is really slow- I have the same issues! Please don't lose your thunder! If no one else you're helping me. :)

[lightskinedgyal]

Don't give ! I love reading it!

 

 

Sent using the Cruise Critic forums app

[cruise luvr]

Keep going! Love reading it and the pics are great too! :)

[caro1998]

Hi,

 

I would TOTALLY put this review on the regular Carnival Board as well. I know a lot of people would appreciate such a detailed Victory review because there aren't too many out there!

 

Congrats again,

Caro

 

Thanks for the feedback! Writing a review takes a TON of work and now I appreciate the ones I have read in the past a lot more. I am still working on the wedding part and have a ton more pictures to post....I've just kind of lost my thunder with the lack of interest in what I've wrote so far :( this board isn't like the others when you post a review and get a ton of questions and encouragement, that's for sure. Just a bummer...but I will get there!

[dawnie216]

More More More!!! Loving it so far!!!

[Shatima]

Your So beautiful.. I'm soooo Happy You went with your Heart, and everything worked out.. Thanks SOOOOO much for taking time out and Sharing Your Day with Us.. Cant wait to here more.........................

[morenadivine]

Can't wait to read your review. i am getting married on the Carnival Victory in OCt. and was not successful finding brides that got married on the Victory. Could you share pictures of your ceremony. I am still deciding if I want to bring any additional wedding decorations. Could you share your thoughts on the wedding decorations by Carnival as well as the flower quality?

 

 

Thank you!

[Melanie_]

Please keep going! It is helping me... I'm getting married June 9th 2014 aboard carnival victory. i would love to see picture of the wedding and reception.:)

[cjankowski]

Hey Lady,

 

You need to update and keep going on this post :) Let's see more!!!

 

Carol

[c&b love]

Hi!

I'm sitting on the edge of my seat to learn about what happened next! LOL

[rollissaria]

Hey Lady,

 

You need to update and keep going on this post :) Let's see more!!!

 

Carol

 

Hey, I recognize this name!!! :D I know, I know...I need to get it going again, just got so busy! I'll finish it this weekend!

[2preschoolers]

Waiting for more!!! Your hair is beautiful!

[beckyk329]

BUMP!

 

Where has she gone! I was really getting into it and ready to see the wedding pics... and uh oh.. it was over :(

[Gingee]

I wanted to see the pictures also.

[cjankowski]

Hey, I recognize this name!!! :D I know, I know...I need to get it going again, just got so busy! I'll finish it this weekend!

 

HEY - I know I have seem most of the photos, but have enjoyed your review and your trip telling :)