Victory Trip Report (June 5-9, 4 Day Key West, Cozumel sailing) w/ photos

[cuppycakemom]

As I loved reading any kind of information about our ship and the trips that others had taken on her before our cruise, I decided to do a trip report on our recent sailing. I'll try to be organized about things, but I tend to ramble at times. I'll just go right ahead an apologize in advance for that.

 

What you need to know about us:

We are a party of 6, booked into two cabins:

Myself (47), DH (51), DD (14) and other DD (12) - Empress Deck midship Balcony room 7353; travelling from St Louis, MO

My Mom (71) and my Stepdad (63) - Empress Deck midship Balcony room 7351; travelling from Pittsburgh, PA

 

Hubby, kids and I have been on a handful of cruises (Carnival and NCL), my parents have also been on a few (Carnival). We aren't the kind of people (anymore) who try to do every single thing that is offered on a cruise ship. Our purpose was to relax and connect as a family (we live a few states away from the grandparents). So, I won't be able to speak in details about a lot of excursions, nor tons of activities on the ship. We did participate in some things and had a blast! Mostly, we just relaxed and enjoyed the company.

 

Okay, here we go....let's see how much I remember (we may have had the CHEERS package..just sayin')...

 

[CARNIVALCRUISE3]

Looking forward to reading your review. I have sailed on the Victory five times since I live 30 minutes away from the Port of Miami. This ship is so well maintained. I first sailed on it in 2004, then 10 years later it looked as new as it did when I first sailed on it.

[taylor1293]

Looking forward to your report. We went on the Victory back in 2013 and are sailing her again next month!

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

[easyboy]

Will be following along.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

[Frank12]

Can't wait for more!

[scrapfan]

Looking forward to your review!

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

[amystarfish]

Following!

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

[cuppycakemom]

Travel Day

 

We like to travel to our port city the day before we cruise. Call me paranoid, but I'm always imagining running out of the airport trying to get to the ship and it pulling away as we arrive. To that note, I'll add...TRIP INSURANCE. We always have it. Hoping I don't ever need it, of course, but still. Our friends got stuck without it in Italy when their daughter had appendicitis. Can you say EXPENSIVE? I like to shop for it online at Insure My Trip. Cost the 4 of us less than $150 to insure the cruise/hotels/flights.

 

We left for the airport bright and early Sunday and flew Southwest Airlines from STL to FLL, through ATL. All went quite smoothly (even though I forgot to check us in at the 24 hour mark, and we ended up with B49-B52 boarding for our first leg). We still ended up finding a row of three with hubby in front of the girls and me. Interesting note, we met my parents in ATL. They were flying Delta from PIT to MIA and also had a layover there. The girls were excited!

 

We arrived into FLL a bit after 1PM, grabbed our luggage and headed out to meet our ride with SAS. Our driver had already been in contact with me earlier in the day to confirm, and I called him once we had our luggage to hear where he would pick us up...essentially right outside the terminal. Ironically, the 4 of us were the only riders in the shared van. The cost was $15 per person (plus we tipped the driver) to our hotel in downtown Miami, where we would meet up with my parents again, since they flew into MIA. I would absolutely recommend SAS. Our driver was a bit long winded, but had a lot of good information for us about Miami. He was polite, helpful and a decent driver as well.

 

Thanks to my hubby being eligible for the government rate (and Marriott being great about using it for leisure as well as business), we were staying at the JW Marriott Marquis for less than $150 total per room. We had stayed at other hotels in this area and knew that it had all that we needed. There was a CVS less than a block away, for all of our last minute needs. Whole Foods was right next door for purchasing snacks for the evening. They even had all kinds of food bars with quite a variety for anyone who might need an easy and inexpensive dinner.

 

We were given rooms on the 36th floor, and settled in. The weather wasn't great, but our plan was food then back for a swim.

 

Our views - that's our pool down there! :

 

 

My parents view:

 

We gathered everyone and walked over to the Bayside Marketplace and found a little pizza shop.

 

We walked back to the hotel, stopped at Whole Foods for some snacks and drinks and changed to go for a swim. What a fun view!

 

 

We were quite tired from being up so early, so after a brief swim, we headed back inside and checked out the virtual bowling alley and air hockey tables. Then, we went to our rooms and snacked, showered and fell asleep. What can I say? We aren't necessarily exciting people sometimes ;p

[watermelonqueen99]

Great start!

[riclop]

Thanks for the report.

[cruisingbajan]

Nice review so far. Looking forward to the rest of it.

[cuppycakemom]

Embarkation Day

We had a 10:30-11:00 check-in time, as we like being on the ship early, but aren't willing to pay extra for it. So, we woke up, ran to CVS to grab a couple of last minute things and grabbed some yummy lattes and pastries from Whole Foods. The hotel's breakfast was crazy at $25 per adult, and since we would soon be able to have all the

food we wanted, that worked great for us.

 

At about 10:15, hubby and I both called for an UberX. We decided that with 6 people, who each had suitcases, we weren't sure if XL would work, so we split up 3 & 3. We each had a car within 3 minutes, loaded up our luggage and met back up at the pier. I will say, it seemed helpful to look at the signs with our driver, so that he didn't have to

re circle by being in the wrong lane at the pier. The cost was just under $8, and we tipped the driver, who helped load and unload our luggage, which he surely did not have to do.

 

At the pier, the porters were litteraly, RIGHT THERE grabbing our stuff as we unloaded. So, it's helpful to be sure you put on your luggage tags before you head over to the port, and also to be careful to keep with you any bags that you are carrying on (we had a beach bag with a few things that we didn't want to part with, as well as bathing suits, in case the girls got the itch before our rooms were ready). We handed over a tip to the man who helped us, and headed for our line. The Carnival folks double checked our boarding passes, and as it was after 10:30, we were okay to check-in. We had set up

everything we could ahead of time online, and this made it super easy. We essentially handed them our boarding passes, passports, and the signed Illness and Pregnancy forms. It took all of 4 minutes, and we were handed cards that said we would be in boarding group #4. They directed us to the waiting area, where we sat for about an hour. They did all the pre-boarding and VIP stuff, FTTF folks, Airport checkin people, and then called groups. We were heading onboard at about 11:45.

 

We found some great seats on the LIDO,

 

and jumped into line at the Deli to grab lunch before the crowds came. I'm thankful we did, because within 1/2 hour, the line inside at the buffet was looooong (which seemed to be a theme, as the buffet is, for the most part, one big line, rather than stations. There is one small island with a few things that usually wasn't too busy). It wasn't until the last day of the cruise

that the crowds seemed to figure out the easiest way to move through the areas where you walked in and out of that room. Do note that there is seating upstairs that was usually quite empty.

 

All of the adults had the CHEERS package and the kids had BOTTOMLESS BUBBLES. We were READY! We used our boarding passes at the pool bar to grab drinks, since our keycards would be waiting for us outside of our room when we were allowed back there. If you weren't aware, even with the packages, you must pay sales tax on any drinks while in US ports (so, Miami and Key West for this cruise). We found that leaving a bit of an extra tip, especially that first day (beyond the tips charged in the package) had the bar staff looking our way first when there was a crowd.

 

We hung out chatting, drinking, people watching and at 1:30, most people started to head to their cabins. I don't really remember hearing a specific announcement, though. Our keycards were at the door, as promised, and our Steward was nearby to introduce himself. He asked when we would like our daily service, and we told him anytime after about 9 am

was great with us, however it fit into his schedule. Our team was nice and friendly, no real complaints, but nothing spectacular. We're pretty easy to take care of, and keep things pretty neat an tidy on our own, anyway. With 4 people in the cabin, you kind of need to.

 

Speaking of 4 people, here's a shot where you can kind of see the set up of the room. Hubby and I had the main bed(s), one of the girls had the bed that pulled out from the couch, and there was a bunk that came down from the ceiling above the couch.

 

 

 

We peeked out over the balcony and had an interesting time watching all the hubbub that was happening on the dock to prepare the ship for our journey. It's quite fascinating to realize what it takes to make even just a 4 day cruise happen!

 

 

We unpacked our luggage and found there to be plenty of room for all of us to have space for our things. Again, we aren't very high maintenance, so take that for what it's worth. We had plenty of hangers in the closets (there were two, one contained the mini-fridge on the floor) for our dressier clothes. Here's a shot of the cabin where you can kind of see the shelves, cabinets and drawers. My 14 year-old implores me to point out that the big square mirror is LIGHT UP! It sure was a great help when getting ready for our dinners!

 

 

We didn't even need our over the door shoe holder, since there was a decent amount of shelf space in the bathroom now (the two in this photo and matching ones on the other side of the mirror).

 

 

Shortly, it was time for Muster and we had the unfortunate luck of Muster Station G. Oh my. I can tell you that I've never (even standing with the sun shining on me) been in a more uncomfortable place for muster! We were in a side hallway sort of place on the deck, and there were windows and absolutely NO AIR was moving what-so-ever! As we walked up, the crew scanned one person's card per cabin, and counted to make sure that everyone from the cabin was in attendance. In any case, people were quite unhappy, and thankfully, it didn't take very long to conclude all of the instructions.

Edited June 15, 2017 by cuppycakemom

[cruizinrican]

Very interested in this review, we board Victory in December! Loving all.the pics, please keep it coming!

 

Sent from my Z981 using Forums mobile app

[Aratski]

We were on the same cruise! I agree about the muster drill. Hated every minute of that one. (On the Breeze we were inside sitting in the dining room.)

This one, shoulder to shoulder. 4-5 rows deep and yes. No air. No breeze. Sooooo hot. I think we had G too, our cabin was 7425.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

[cuppycakemom]

We were on the same cruise! I agree about the muster drill. Hated every minute of that one. (On the Breeze we were inside sitting in the dining room.)

This one, shoulder to shoulder. 4-5 rows deep and yes. No air. No breeze. Sooooo hot. I think we had G too, our cabin was 7425.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

 

I'll bet it was G...you were just down the hall from us! Overall a great cruise! Hope you enjoyed yourselves!

[cuppycakemom]

A few pics from our exploration on the first day....

 

Our favorite! More on that later....

 

 

Outside of the arcade. Our girls aren't really into spending their money in the arcade, so i can't really comment on it.

 

As hubby and I are geographers, this was one of my favorite things to look at as we sailed:

 

 

The girls only chance to sit at a slot!

 

 

A place we visited often...more later...

 

 

[cuppycakemom]

The piano bar. We peeked in a couple of times, but it didn't seem to be hoppin'.

 

 

The aft pool

 

 

 

[cruisingbajan]

Was there a reason you had to collect your cards at the cabin?

 

Is this the new procedure? I have not been on a Carnival cruise since 2015

[cuppycakemom]

We headed up for sail away! The party was hoppin'!! Lots of dancing and smiling and happiness.

 

We had an announcement that we would be delayed for a short time. I never heard for sure why, but heard whispers of a medical emergency? It didn't seem like we left that late, and we watched a sea plane for a bit...

 

 

 

then a couple of other ships headed out before us...

 

Enchantment of the Seas

 

 

 

 

Norwegian Sky

 

Time to go!!

 

We hung out a while then went to get changed for dinner. Checked out the view from the balcony...

 

 

We had your time dining, lower level of the Atlantic Dining Room, and loved that dinner time was so flexible!! Our waitstaff the first night was decent and friendly. Nothing special or amazing. Dinner was certainly not a quick and done thing on this cruise. Don't get me wrong...I love a long leisurely dinner, however, be prepared. We were there about 2 hours each night. One night, after 45 minutes, we still didn't have appetizers! Part of the issue was that each night, save the first, they did "waitstaff entertainment". We expected that to be true once or twice, but all three of the nights got a bit tiresome for my liking. In any case, not the end of the world, but keep this in mind if you are wanting to head to do a scheduled activity in the evening.

 

The kids missed the Meet and Greet for the Circle C club for 12-14 year olds, but didn't seem too worried about it. They had checked out the posted schedule outside the club earlier (we never got a schedule left in the room, which I found a bit odd), and weren't really interested in much. There seemed to be a decent amount of "hang out" time and not too many planned activities. They were a little disappointed, as they remembered having such fun when they were younger on Carnival. Well, since it was a cruise for us to spend time together, it didn't make much of a difference, especially since the two of them are close in age and get along. We met another family with a son who was our girls' age, and they chatted him up a bit when we saw them. He felt the same as them, and hung with his parents most of the time.

 

Since we were heading into Key West early in the AM, we didn't stay up too late the first night. Hubby and I grabbed a drink from the Sports Bar. A lot of folks spent time there on the cruise, especially during the NBA playoff game.

 

CHEERS until tomorrow!!

 

[cuppycakemom]

Was there a reason you had to collect your cards at the cabin?

 

Is this the new procedure? I have not been on a Carnival cruise since 2015

 

It had been 7 years for us with Carnival, and it was weird for sure! I mean, not scanning your card to get on the ship and hearing that ding?!?!

 

From what I understand, it IS fairly new, and I'm not sure if it's true on all ships or not. They were in a sealed envelope outside of our door. I don't love the idea, to be honest, since my credit card is connected and all that jazz. However, presumably, if someone messed with them, Carnival would have it straightened out rather quickly?

[cruisingbajan]

It had been 7 years for us with Carnival, and it was weird for sure! I mean, not scanning your card to get on the ship and hearing that ding?!?!

 

From what I understand, it IS fairly new, and I'm not sure if it's true on all ships or not. They were in a sealed envelope outside of our door. I don't love the idea, to be honest, since my credit card is connected and all that jazz. However, presumably, if someone messed with them, Carnival would have it straightened out rather quickly?

 

It certainly will feel weird not having your card before you get on the ship. Do they still take your pic when you board? How will they link your pic to your card?

 

Sorry for going off topic but I am just trying to picture (pardon the pun:)) how it works.

[cuppycakemom]

It certainly will feel weird not having your card before you get on the ship. Do they still take your pic when you board? How will they link your pic to your card?

 

Sorry for going off topic but I am just trying to picture (pardon the pun:)) how it works.

 

LOL...no worries! Actually, it seemed that they had my photo from something? Maybe they scanned the passport photo when we checked in? Maybe from another cruise? HOWEVER, when they scanned our boarding document with their handheld scanners before we boarded, there was some sort of photo of me in there (but I didn't get a good look at it)......he asked me if he could take a photo, and the one he took replaced the old one. He took photos for all of us, but I'm not sure if they did it for everyone or if the photos they had for us were just not great or what!

[cruisingbajan]

LOL...no worries! Actually, it seemed that they had my photo from something? Maybe they scanned the passport photo when we checked in? Maybe from another cruise? HOWEVER, when they scanned our boarding document with their handheld scanners before we boarded, there was some sort of photo of me in there (but I didn't get a good look at it)......he asked me if he could take a photo, and the one he took replaced the old one. He took photos for all of us, but I'm not sure if they did it for everyone or if the photos they had for us were just not great or what!

Thanks for taking the time to answer [emoji106]. I am looking forward to the rest of the review [emoji2]

 

Sent from my SM-N900W8 using Tapatalk

[vallierjenn]

We were on the same cruise! First time on a cruise for me and my 2 kids and we had a blast! Booked our next one out of New Orleans June 2018!

[dyin2cruz]

More , More!!! We are sailing in 99 days!