Extremely Long Victory Cruise Report (8/14 to 8/21)

[cathyoo]

Incredible review. Please share some more.

[mathgal]

I apologize for starting this report and then stopping right in the middle of the cruise week! :( I have had a hectic week at school and now this weekend is Turkey Day here in my hometown! (Big deal you say?...Yes it IS a big deal around here!!) ;) I will have a houseful of college age kids here over the weekend so am trying to gear up for that.

 

I do promise to get back to this report SOMETIME! My notes aren't very good, but I've consulted with my sister and have a few more details to share for the rest of the week. I even forgot to describe the Past Guest Party that we went to on Wednesday night so that is where I will pick up the story. I will also include reports of our Nativeway tour in Grand Cayman and tour with Phil Lafayette in Jamaica. Stay tuned....

[mathgal]

Sheesh call me blind ... I see now where you posted about the vending machines ...

 

Would be interested in the cost ... I am a big soda drinker, but can limit myself when need be ... lol ...

 

Candy

 

 

BTW ... thanks for the review ... I am so anxious to be going ...

 

I checked with my sister...the cans from the vending machine are $1.50. She also bought a bottle (20 oz maybe?) from the bar and said it was $2.50. The canned soda was not very cold and the bottle was completely warm.

[EnglishRose05]

Hi Kytten cat, do you work for Pfizer??? Me too!!!:cool:

[mathgal]

I've been bad about getting this report finished :( , but I did get some pictures and the Capers from the cruise posted on Webshots...I also have the Spa prices too!

 

http://community.webshots.com/user/mathgal55

 

Hopefully this will be something all you future Victory cruisers might enjoy! :)

[kelz66]

The wife and I were on the Victory in June. Fantastic ship and fantastic crew!!!

 

We took the Eastern trip. Pics of our trip are at the link below!!:)

[Flytanya]

Please get back when you can. This is a wonderful review and I'm looking forward to hearing more! Thanks!

[Joannfla]

Hello to all:) I see that some people say you can bring soda on board in your luggage is that true? We plan on bringing one bottle of champagne( I was told I was allowed one bottle) and a 12 pack of pepsi...we just wanted to save some soda for our room...is that allowed?

I also enjoyed the info about the laundry detergent..I will bring some and leave the rest for the steward..or whomever wants it! How much is it to use the iron or washing machines? I normally bring enough clothes to use the whole week and not have to wash, but you never know, when youll need the clothes clean! Thanks ahead of time for your help~ Joannfla:)

[mathgal]

I've never tried to take on any soda or liquor so I'm not a good one to try and answer this question. I do know my adult son did bring on a couple of bottles of liquor in his checked luggage and no one said a thing.

 

As far as the laundry room, the iron is free...but depending on when you go you may have to wait in line (I did.) I didn't do any wash so not sure on the price...maybe someone else can help you on this.

 

I did fill a very small bottle (probably 2 oz.) with some laundry detergent just in case we had any spills. I used it once to wash out my husband's shirt in the bathroom sink.

[kytten_kat]

This is what Carnival says ... Liquor and Beverage Policy

 

Bringing Alcohol On Board - Embarkation

 

Guests are prohibited from bringing alcoholic beverages on board.

 

Fine wine or champagne may be brought on board during embarkation only. If the wine and/or champagne is brought to the Dining room for consumption, a $10 corkage fee per bottle will be charged to the guest; otherwise, the guest may only drink the wine and/or champagne in the privacy of a stateroom. The wine and/or champagne may NOT be brought into any other public lounge or area.

 

Guests may bring a small quantity of non-alcoholic beverages. Excessive quantities, to be determined at the discretion of security and/or the embarkation personnel, will be confiscated and discarded.

 

I did see a couple of people carrying 12 and 24 pks on board so am sure that you can carry some soda ok ...

 

 

Candy

[Joannfla]

Thanks to all for the response..I am not bringing anything but one bottle of champagne my mother gave us for a honeymoon present, to drink in our room! I am going to bring on one bottle of pepsi and one bottle of ginger ale ( 2 liters) I am sure I wont have a problem..thanks again for your posts 39 days for me to go I cannot wait!!!~ Joannfla

[mathgal]

This report was started over a month ago. I almost decided to not finish it, but I wanted to record my memories. I know it is long (hence the title of this post) but maybe someone will find a little tidbit of information that might be helpful. Mostly I wrote it for myself....

[mathgal]

After writing Wednesday's report I realized I had left out the Past Guest Party information. I will include that before resuming the remainder of the report:

 

Wednesday night was the Past Guest Party on the Victory which reminded me that I need to back up and explain about our room situation. Carnival’s policy is that kids can not be booked in their own cabin…someone over the age of 25 must be included in that room. The only exception to this rule was if guests are married…that meant DS1 and wife could at least be together even though neither one is yet 25. However it meant that DS2 (aged 21) and DS3 (aged 17) could not be booked together. So…for booking purposes only, DH and I split up and each was booked with one of the boys. This really doesn’t make much sense since the first evening on the ship we went to the Purser’s desk and they cheerfully made new key cards for DH and DS3 so they could change rooms. That meant they each had to carry two cards for the week…one was strictly a door key and the other was the Sail & Sign card that got swiped for purchases or getting on & off the ship. However it also meant that now the two boys were together like we had wanted in the beginning!

 

The day before the Past Guest Party, the room steward delivered invitations to the cabins. Sister and I each got our invitation but DH didn’t get one. I just assumed it was an oversight so went to the Purser’s Desk again and they printed out an invitation for him without any questions asked. That night at dinner the topic of the Past Guest Party came up and DS3 announced that he planned to go since he had gotten an invitation! Turns out since DH was really booked in that cabin, his invitation had been delivered there. DS just “assumed” that since he had an invitation in his possession he was going and going to take his older brother as his guest!

 

Neither boy was happy, but I made it clear that they were “not” invited to the party! We had checked and found it was OK for DS1 to attend with his wife so the five of us went on Wednesday following dinner…and I do mean “immediately” following dinner. The party was held in the Adriatic Lounge and when we arrived there was a very long line waiting to enter. By the time we handed over our invitations and got into the lounge, the only available table was waaaaaaay in the back of the room.

 

DH and I had skipped the Past Guest Party on our Paradise cruise last summer since our traveling companions were not previous cruisers. I felt bad knowing we had missed out, but after attending this party I realize it wasn’t such a big deal. There were plenty of free drinks and hors d'oeuvres but since we had just eaten we didn’t even try the food. During the “party” they gave away a bottle of champagne as a door prize and then showed a movie showcasing all of Carnival’s ships. The guests would cheer when they saw one of the ships that they had sailed on. Not being big drinkers, I’m not sure if we would attend this party on future cruises or not. The fact that they try and squeeze the party in between dining times really makes it inconvenient for the earlier diners.

[mathgal]

Thursday – Grand Cayman

 

The tender situation in Grand Cayman had me worried. On our previous cruise DH had stood in line alone to get tender tickets for the four of us traveling together. Things were different on the Victory…each person had to show up at the Caribbean Lounge to get a ticket. (Only those who had NOT booked a Carnival tour had to go through this ritual to get off the boat.) I had made arrangements with Nativeway to do an 8:30 a.m. Stingray tour. To complicate matters even further, the island was an hour behind ship time so that meant our tour was to start at 9:30 “ship time”. I had visions of waiting and waiting to get off the ship and then missing our tour.

 

Only five of us were to see the stingrays…DH and DS1 were going scuba diving again. Their plan was easy…get off the ship whenever and walk to Eden Rock Diving Center. Since they are both certified they were just going to dive alone without a guide.

 

Being nervous about getting to shore on time, I made sure everyone was up early for breakfast. Around 7:30 the announcement was made that tender tickets were ready to be given out. We all went down to the lounge just to “check” on the situation and they were still giving out tickets for the first tender. Taking the tickets would mean that we would have to go to the tender immediately and none of us had brought our “stuff” for the day with us.

 

Getting off the ship at 7:30 seemed a bit early so we trudged back to the cabins to get our gear. I figured this would chew up enough time so that by the time we made it back to the lounge we would get a later tender number and be right on schedule for our tour. What do you know…back at the Caribbean Lounge we got the last seven remaining tickets for tender ONE!! I had envisioned long lines and we just walked right up and got the tickets with no wait whatsoever!

 

There were only three other ships at Grand Cayman that day…two RCCL ships and the Conquest. Still the dock area was a mob scene when we got off the tender. After all of my worrying about missing our tour, it was only 7:00 a.m. island time and we had an hour and a half to kill!! DH & DS1 left us and headed off for their scuba dive. The day was incredibly hot and humid and none of the stores were open. I spotted a couple of benches across the street in the shade of a store awning and that is where we went. Just sitting there was miserable…my youngest son is very sensitive to the heat and I truly think he was about to have a “melt down”! Eventually some of the stores started opening and the “kids” left to seek some air-conditioning. I made a couple of trips across the street and eventually located the guy from Nativeway to let him know we were there.

 

Around 9:25 we went to our designated spot to meet up with our tour, but then we waited another 15 minutes or so till everyone else showed up. There wasn’t any place to sit down and by this time I think we were all just ready to head back to the ship and cool off. Once the group was all assembled, we were lead down the street and around the corner to some waiting vans. Part of the group was doing the Stingray tour with us and the others were doing a tour that combined the stingrays and a trip to Rum Point Beach.

 

At this point we weren’t separated by tours…we just were told to get in either van. Finally being able to sit down and get cool was wonderful and the day started to improve! The ride through the island was interesting…there were many signs of the hurricane that had ravaged the island the previous year.

 

The vans arrived at a marina area and at this point the two tour groups were split according to destination and loaded onto separate boats. Our boat had 19 people headed out to visit the stingrays. Ah…the sea breeze felt great. Besides three Nativeway staff, there was also a photographer on board who explained she would be taking still pictures that we could purchase at the end of the trip. On our first visit to Stingray City back in 2002 a videographer had accompanied our tour and we bought the VHS tape as a souvenir of our day. The video was set to Caribbean music and was well worth the $50 or so it cost.

 

As I had expected, there were many boats once we reached the sandbar where the stingrays congregate. Our boat was carefully backed into position so we could join the throngs of people feeding the rays. I was very impressed with the individual attention that we received from Nativeway. The guides caught rays and made sure we each had a chance to hold them, feed them and get pictures…multiple times if we wished. At one point a few people from one of the huge tour boats tried to join our group and were told “no” that they should go back to their own group.

 

After a lengthy time with the rays, we boarded the boat and went a short distance to a spot where we could snorkel. After three cruises, I’ve finally gotten the hang of breathing through a snorkel and I could have floated for hours watching the marine life below.

 

When we got back on board, we started back to shore but after a few minutes just stopped. Turns out we were running ahead of schedule and rather than wait at the dock for the van, the guides decided it would be cooler out on the water. I was sorry that they hadn’t figured this out earlier so we could have snorkeled longer. The boat was bobbing up and down and my poor DIL started getting sea sick. We stayed put for about 20 minutes before resuming our trip back. During this time the photographer went around letting people look at the digital photos on her camera. We had taken many pictures with our disposable water cameras and decided not to purchase any of the ones she had done. I might have considered a video if it were available.

 

We were dropped off at the tender dock in Georgetown. DIL was feeling better by that point and headed off to do some shopping. The rest of us (myself, sister & two sons) shopped for a short time but headed back to the ship fairly quickly. (We did manage to sample several rum cakes however!) Dinner time that night was spent sharing stories of stingrays and scuba diving. I’m sorry that DH and older son couldn’t have gone with us, but they had a great time scuba diving instead.

 

The evening entertainment was the Victory Idol show…an interesting twist on the usual cruise talent show. The singers that performed in the show were outstanding…at least all but one was anyway. He was merely there for “comedy”! Hector (the super shopper) was one of the judges of the contest and was quite entertaining himself! Hector is a Cuban and an “interesting” character! The boys always made it a point to talk to Hector when they saw him around the ship…he usually responded by blowing his little whistle!! I’m sorry I didn’t get a picture of Hector to add to my album!

[mathgal]

Friday – Ocho Rios, Jamaica

 

Each morning I would flip on the cabin TV to check out the latest news on the impending Northwest Airlines mechanics’ strike. The strike was set for Saturday, August 20th and I was concerned how this was going to affect our flight home on Sunday, the 21st. On Friday it wasn’t the strike news that caught my attention however. The headline news that morning was that a tornado had struck Stoughton, Wisconsin…one person was killed and a large part of the city had been destroyed. My DIL is from Stoughton…her parents, brother and sister live there.

 

I called DS1’s cabin and told him to turn on the TV immediately. DIL could tell from watching the news coverage that the damage was in the neighborhood where her parents lived and she was frantic. We were scheduled to meet up with Phil Lafayette for a tour a half an hour after the ship docked so I told her to wait and call from shore rather than trying to use a ship phone. A representative for Phil was waiting for us at the end of the dock and I explained our situation. She showed DIL where to buy a phone card and also the location of the pay phones. I’m sorry we held up the tour a bit that day, but I know that I would have understood if it had been someone else. The phone call home brought good news…no damage to her parent’s home, even though homes only a block away had been destroyed. DIL was greatly relieved and able to enjoy the rest of her day in Ocho Rios.

 

Leaving the dock area at Ocho Rios we were loaded into one van and then transported a short distance to where we switched vans. This time we were with Phil Lafayette who was to be our guide for the day. Our tour started with Phil driving us around the Ocho Rios area showing us a school, an affluent area in the hills where we had a great view of the ship and also a small “kitchen garden” along side a country road. As we walked through the garden, Phil would stop and tell us stories about the different plants and let us smell some that had unique fragrances. There was a woodcarver’s stand right next to the garden and a few people made purchases before getting back into the van to continue the tour. Three years ago we had done a tour of Ocho Rios with Peat Taylor and had visited the very same place.

 

Eventually we came to the place where we were to do the river tubing. Not all of the people on the tour chose to do the tubing…probably about half of 20 people or so. We walked down a set of rustic stairs to the river and got into our tubes. There were a couple of guides helping us since the river was flowing fairly swiftly at this point. My sister chose not to do the tubing so she and the others who didn’t take part left with Phil. She said he drove them around to see additional sites and then they met us at the take-out point for the tubing.

 

Tubing down the river gave you the feeling you were a million miles away from civilization. The forest provided a thick canopy that covered the river. The current was fast enough to provide a bit of excitement, but not so swift that it seemed scary. The tubes were fitted with a wooden “bottom” that provided some protection from rocks in the shallower waters. At times one of us would get carried over to the side of the river and get hung up on a branch or a rock. Within moments a guide would be there to help free us and send us on our way down the river.

 

After floating for some time, the guides motioned for us to go over to the side and get out of the water. We walked up to the top of a small cliff where some young boys were jumping into the river. My family wasn’t going to miss out on this opportunity so Bob and the kids all took their turn jumping off the cliff into the river below. This frightened me since there were rocks jutting out of the water nearby. My first thought was…” I wonder if there is a hospital nearby?” And if this didn’t cause enough worry, my oldest son did a flip off the cliff! Once the daredevils were finished, we climbed back into our tubes and floated down the river to where Phil and the others in our group were waiting.

 

There was no place to change out of our wet swimsuits, but Phil had plastic seat covers in his van so it wasn’t a big problem. Except for our family, all of the others in the van were going to climb Dunn’s River Falls next. We had done this previously and decided we would pass on it this time. (We wanted to avoid the crowds and the extra cost of $20 per person.) Phil offered to take us to a beach to hang out until the others were done with the falls, but instead we opted to be dropped off at Island Village and then just walk back to the ship. My sister wasn’t feeling well so Phil took her directly to the ship.

 

Shopping in the “Island Village” we felt very safe but it was also much more “touristy” than our shopping experience in the craft village on our last visit to Ocho Rios. We browsed through the shops and also stopped in at Jimmy Buffet’s Margaritaville. Prior to the cruise we had all found the “lost shakers of salt” on the Margaritaville website and had coupons for free margaritas. Besides the drinks we ordered some buffalo wings and nachos to share. It was relatively calm and quiet in the upstairs of Margaritaville where we sat…downstairs loud music played and guests danced through the building in conga lines. Margaritaville boasts a slide going from the second floor down to the pool below. After finally getting dry from our river tubing, we opted to not try the slide.

 

Island Village is just a short walk from the ship. Upon returning it was too late for lunch, but too early for dinner so DS2 and I grabbed a hotdog from the grill on the Lido deck. It was good, but would have been better if some toppings were available…I had my heart set on grilled onions! I think they were in the process of closing up so nothing extra was set out. As I look back, I think I only remember getting hot food from the buffet in the Mediterranean Restaurant one time…at breakfast. Otherwise I just grabbed cold Danish for breakfast, a sandwich from the deli, the hotdog from the grill or pizza. Most of our lunches and dinners were eaten in the Pacific Dining room where we could relax and be waited on!

 

Friday night was the second of the formal nights. Once again…it was a treat for me to see my family looking so spiffy and even better is that they enjoyed it too and didn’t whine and complain about getting dressed up! During the week, DIL and I both bought the $10 shawls sold in the ship’s gift store. I had wanted black, but waited too long and they were sold out so settled for white…DIL got a hot pink one that goes great with her dark hair. The shawls were a nice complement to our formal dresses and also provided some warmth in the chilly Caribbean Lounge!

 

The show that night was “Vroom”…a montage of rock and roll songs throughout the years. It started with a movie about some guy on a motorcycle which I thought was strange, but the live show was pretty good.

 

The Grand Gala Buffet was also held on Friday night. On our Paradise cruises, the gala buffet was held in one of the formal dining rooms. On the Victory the buffet was set up in the Mediterranean Restaurant…not quite as classy in my opinion. DH, Sister and I sat and watched them assemble the large ice sculpture of the sea monster and arrange all of the food displays to perfection. Instead of standing in line to actually eat the food, DH got a tuna sandwich at the deli and I got some pizza. By the end of the week we were starting to crave “common, down to earth” food!

[mathgal]

Saturday, August 20

 

The last day of a cruise is always such a let down because you know the week is over. Breakfast was in the Mediterranean Restaurant and DH, sister and I all went through the buffet and had hot food. For a change, the lines weren’t tremendously long so I even waited to have an omelet made to order. Sister and I spent the morning browsing through the shops…there was a sale on t-shirts…2 for $20 and sister also bought some magnets and some cologne. I looked at the rings…I had bought a couple on the Paradise that I really like, but didn’t see anything special this time. The rest of the crew was off at the pool and playing shuffleboard I believe. At 11:00 we all met in the Caribbean Lounge to hear some of the debarkation talk…how depressing!

 

From there the whole family went for one last lunch in the Pacific Dining Room. Lunches were always open seating and held in the Pacific. Even though it was open seating, we were always taken back to our regular table or nearby…probably because they filled those tables first before staring on the ones in the center of the dining room. I loved our table with the great views of the ocean and it was nice seeing “Fun Bobby” (as the kids called him) and Barbara…our regular waiters. Most of the group ordered hamburgers which are available with a multitude of choices for toppings…even guacamole…they were very good.

 

Sister and I spent the afternoon on the balcony trying to savor one last day at sea. The others went to the pool for awhile. DH went to a class on folding towel animals and even bought the book. Now guests in our home are always treated to some sort of towel critter on their bed!

 

The interactive TV was one feature that wasn’t available on our Paradise cruises. Each day we would use it to check the dinner menu for the night and ponder what we would order. One could also check the balance on the Sail & Sign account. At one point during the week I was alarmed because I thought we were getting someone else’s charges on our account. It turns out that the two younger sons’ charges (and tips) were shown on our TV because their account was linked to our credit card. They didn’t have any excessive charges…it was just confusing till I figured out what was happening. Another piece of information…you can only access your account from your own cabin…not on anyone else’s TV. Because of the room switching that went on (due to us having to book an adult with the two sons) we had to deal with this.

 

At some point during the day a letter was slipped under our door informing us that Northwest Airlines mechanics had gone out on strike. The letter stated that if you had booked your air through Carnival then they would make sure you found an alternate flight if necessary. This wasn’t much comfort to me…I had booked our air independently and was worried we were going to have a hassle getting a flight in Miami.

 

The evening entertainment was a singer billed as the “soul man of Bourbon Street” and a comedian, Allan Ball. Neither was exceptional. Throughout the week we had stopped in to hear some of the music in the various lounges along the Promenade Deck after the show was over in the Caribbean Lounge. The Piano Bar was too smoky. The band playing in the Red & Black lounge wasn’t the greatest and the place was almost empty when we were there. When DH got his way we went to the lobby to listen to the classical trio playing. The “kids” and sister did spend some time in the casino, but DH and I aren’t gamblers and so avoided the casino and the smoke that went with it.

 

By far the best entertainment that night was watching the full moon from our cabin balcony. There were also thunder storms off in the distance providing numerous light shows in the darkness. Sleep that night was fitful…I was worried about how the airline strike was going to affect our flight home.

[mathgal]

Sunday, August 21

 

 

The next morning we awoke in Miami. I immediately used the cell phone to call NWA to check on the status of our flight. The recorded message said there were no changes due to the strike but I was still a little on edge.

 

Being nervous about the flight situation, I wanted to do the self disembark. I wasn’t sure if we could handle all of our luggage, but I was willing to try. I thought maybe getting to the airport early would be a good idea if we were going to have to look for another flight. Unfortunately when we attended the debarkation talk the previous day they told that if you had bought over the amount of duty free liquor allowed then you could not take advantage of the self disembark (it had something to do with dealing with customs agents to pay duty tax on the extra bottles.) Oldest son had been so excited by the low prices on liquor he had bought way too much so that meant the self debarkation was not an option for us. The night before we had set our luggage out into the hallway and that meant we would get to play the game of “luggage, luggage, where are you?” once we got off the ship.

 

Passengers with flights at 1:00 or earlier qualified for the privilege of getting off the ship first…our flight was scheduled for exactly l:00. We had gone to the Purser’s desk to inquire about what needed to be done and without even looking at our tickets were told to just grab some Spa Deck luggage tags and be at the Ionion Lounge by 8:30.

 

When we arrived there were so many people in the lounge that they were spilling out into the area around the elevators. Eventually they announced that we would be getting off the ship. This process sort of resembled “follow the leader”…we formed a long, long line and went through the Ionion Lounge, past the internet library, through some strange hallways, through the Atlantic Dining Room, down the stairs and finally out the doors on Deck 3. This probably took a half an hour at least. Customs agents were waiting to collect our declaration forms, but no one even looked at them…and no one even mentioned the extra duty tax that DS was supposed to pay.

 

Finding our luggage amongst the thousands of pieces didn’t prove to be too difficult. (I had tied bright green ribbons to the all of the handles…otherwise every piece of black luggage looks just like the next.) Outside we got a couple of cabs without much of a wait and it was off to the airport.

 

My fears about NWA were for naught. I do believe that checking in our luggage and getting to the gate was about the easiest that I’ve been through (at least since 9/11). There were picketers outside the airport, but the NWA employees we encountered were overly friendly and helpful. It was almost like they were compensating for all of the bad press that NWA had been getting.

 

After grabbing some food from the airport Burger King, we enjoyed watching a slide show of all of our cruise pictures on oldest son’s laptop computer while waiting on the flight. The trip home was uneventful but seemed so much longer than the trip down…all of the anticipation was over and we knew it was back to “real life” once again.

[cruzinmom]

Mathgal, Thank you for the long review. I had a great time reading it. and can really use the information. We will be on Victory in November. :)

[mathgal]

Just happened to think of one more random thing I wanted to add to this review.

 

During the week we used the aft elevtors most often...both to get to the Pacific Dining Room and up to the Mediterranean Restaurant on the Lido Deck. There was a constant foul smell around these elevators...it didn't matter what deck you were on. The best I can describe it was sort of a "fishy" smell...but boy did it stink!

 

:eek:

[MamaParrotHead]

I noticed in your review of Ocho Rios, you mentioned you used Peat Taylor the previous time you were in Ocho Rios, but went with Phil Lafayette this past time. Is there any particular reason you chose not to tour with Peat again? Looking into excursions and have seen reivews on both. Any advice? Thanks!

[mathgal]

I noticed in your review of Ocho Rios, you mentioned you used Peat Taylor the previous time you were in Ocho Rios, but went with Phil Lafayette this past time. Is there any particular reason you chose not to tour with Peat again? Looking into excursions and have seen reivews on both. Any advice? Thanks!

 

I had just read so many great reviews of Phil that I wanted to see how the two compare. Also I think Phil was just a tad cheaper..although not much. I would not hesitate to use either guide again...both were great. Both Phil & Peat take you to the same places and have great personalities. We got lucky on our tour with Peat and only had three other people with us that day so we got a more personalized tour. The day we were with Phil there were about 20 of us. I would have liked to have visited the local craft market this past summer, but I hated to ask Phil to go out of his way since he was trying to accomodate so many other people's plans.

 

Either way you can't go wrong! :)