Victory Review Aug 21-26/06

[goodml]

We were two families of four with four Panorama deck inside cabins on the 5 night itinerary. We drove in for our first visit to NYC and arrived at around 9:00 am on Sunday morning.

 

We needed two hotel rooms with quad occupancy in the Times Square area for the night before the cruise and were trying to keep costs down. At one time I think I had five different hotels reserved for that night - Travel Inn at $140 including free parking - a Comfort Inn near the Empire State Building for $169 etc. None of them were thrilling me much and then the price for the Westin at 8th and 43rd came down on Hotwire to $152/room so we grabbed it. That was definitely a great choice. The Westin rooms are absolutely gorgeous with very luxurious beds, plasma tv's and a lovely bathroom. Our room looked out over 8th Ave which we thought wasn't too appealing but around 7 Monday morning we were really pleased because we were able to watch Victory pull in. The hotel charges $45 plus tax for parking but we parked in the lot across 43rd for $30. There was a wonderful little cafe (always jammed) at the base of the hotel on 8th called Euro-Pan where we ate lunch the first day and breakfast the morning before the cruise. Excellent wraps, sandwiches and baked goods etc and really good cappucino all very reasonably priced for NYC.

 

On the CC ports of call boards I had read that a person had taken a limo tour of the city and really enjoyed it. I went to the recommended site and the tour appeared to be exactly what we were looking for at a price of $195 for three hours for all 8 of us. I called and booked the tour for Sunday at 11:30 am. The fellow gave me the name and cell phone number of the driver, took a $50 deposit and told me to pay the driver the balance plus an 18% gratuity in cash the day of the tour. At 11:00 am I called to confirm the pick up location and the driver told me the tour was booked for 11:30 PM:eek: !! I told him I had an email conf that said otherwise and he said he would get ready and be there between 12 and 12:30. 12:30 rolled around and Anthony (Ant-nee:D ) was still nowhere to be seen. Long story short, at 2:30 pm after about 6 different calls to both the driver and the owner of the company (who each told me he was stuck in traffic in the Lincoln tunnel but the traffic reports said traffic was moving smoothly there) I asked them to please just tell me if the guy wasn't coming and we'd find something else to do. He said he'd be there in 10 mins and when he finally pulled up my 16 year old son said, "10 to 1 the beater limo's ours" and it was:D . Too funny - all banged up and chrome hanging. Turns out the guy was from New Jersey, had never given a tour of NYC before and had been out til 7 in the morning driving a bunch of girls around for a bachelorette party. In the end we had a 4 hour tour (we told him what we wanted to see and he'd check my map to find the spots) with a bar stocked with beer, champagne and some soda for the kids, all for $230 for 8 people. We actually ended up having a great time and we got the driver to loosen up after the first 10 minutes or so (he kind of looked like a Soprano:D ) but I really can't recommend this company for a tour because it just wasn't what they represented on their site (and they don't tell time well, lol.)

 

On Monday morning the dads took the four kids (16 y/o boy, 16 y/o girl and two 14 y/o girls) down to see Good Morning America and the moms stayed back and watched. It was fun to see them on tv and even more fun to hear that their grandmas back home had seen them too. We're small towners, what can I say:D ? When they got back we went to Euro-Pan for breakfast and by about 10:30 we were ready to head to the port. We decided to take a drive up 8th Ave past Central Park to somewhere in the 80's, then headed over and down Columbus for 15 blocks or so, then over to 12th and pulled into the parking lot at the pier right around 11. We got to the seating area at 11:20 and there were probably about 50 people there ahead of us. Check-in began right at 11:30, we were on board by about 11:45 and our cabins were ready so we were able to drop off our bags and head to lunch.

 

This was our second cruise on Victory and she was just as pretty as I remembered - very clean and well kept. Our cabins on deck 10 were all together and were very spacious and clean. We had to get some extra room keys made because the kids were staying in the cabins beside us but had been booked with an adult in each cabin. Our cabin steward, Wilson, and his assistant, Monica were wonderful to us and he had us in stitches all week. He treated all of our kids so well and they just loved him. We had towel animals every night and one night he took the chair and some of the clothes that my kids had left out and made the figure of a man with hat and glasses sitting up looking at the door. It was hysterical when they walked in that room and saw it.

 

One part of the cruise still bothers me. There was a woman in a cabin across the hall with her 6 y/o daughter and she was truly off her rocker. We would hear her screaming in her cabin at all hours and the room steward had to bring the hotel manager and security up a couple of times to document the damage and generally bad condition of her room. We were in the hall one evening when she accused him of stealing a dress and he very calmly went in and showed her that the dress was on the chair. He came back out and gave us a frustrated look. The last night of the cruise she brought her daughter back to the cabin about 1:30 in the morning and she was falling-down drunk and yelling at the little girl because she couldn't open the door. Another woman and I came out of our cabins because after they got inside their cabin the child kept screaming, "no mommy, please, no mommy" and the mom was saying, "you trust me don't you?" We ended up calling security because we were really worried about the little girl. I'm not sure what happened after that because we didn't see them in the morning. I can't stop thinking about that little girl.

 

The weather for our cruise was excellent. We had sunshine and calm seas the entire time and the pools and hot tubs seemed to be well used. Saint John was an absolutely wonderful port that I have to admit looked really really unimpressive as we pulled in. We found though that the people of Saint John were the most welcoming of any port we've ever been in and that the city itself was lovely. There was a band playing and they had volunteers greeting everyone and handing out maps and roses as we came off the ship. We didn't have a tour booked so we looked at the map and made a left when we came out of the shopping tents at the pier and walked down towards Market Square which was very pretty. Here's a great tip for anyone who'd like to check their email while they're away but not pay cruise ship prices. The Saint John Public Library is located two blocks from the ship and they offer free use of the internet for a half hour or an hour for anyone including cruise ship passengers. We went to the desk and reserved a couple of computers for a half hour and all of the kids got about 10 mins each to check their email and send some to friends.

 

We walked around that area for a while and then headed back to the pier because we had seen that they were offering taxi tours for $40 per hour for up to 6 people - for more than that you have to rent two taxis. We got lucky because a local tour company was just finishing a three hour tour with a 10 passenger van and my husband approached the driver and asked about a tour for the 8 of us. The fellow's name was Richard and he was hilarious. He gave us a fantastic hour and a half tour for $65 for the 8 of us and showed us the reversing rapids and most of the other highlights of the city. It was an excellent day.

 

The next day we were in Halifax which is a beautiful port and we walked along the waterfront looking at all the different shops and sights. Our dh's are BIG Alexander Keith's fans so we of course had to do the tour and it was fun (a bit hokey but fun). The beer was icy cold and served in stoneware mugs and they gave each person two mugs full. After that we headed up the hill and had lunch at the Little Fish and then on to the Citadel and saw the changing of the guards. We left the men and the older kids there and headed back down towards the ship. On the way we found the neatest little candy store called Freak's Lunchbox that had just about every kind of candy you can imagine and was jammed with people. We walked back to the pier and my son is a real history buff so we looked around Pier 21 for a while until it was time to go back on the ship. We had no problem bringing some 8 packs of Keith's Red beer back on board.

 

I had read some negative comments about the Victory before we sailed on her and I have to admit I noticed some differences since we sailed her in 2003. I have always loved the food in the dining rooms on our previous cruises but this one was a bit of a letdown by comparison. It's not that anything was bad and some things were really good but most were just ok. The desserts were really quite unimpressive. I had doubted the comments I had read about them because I take a lot of reviews with a grain of salt but I have to admit that even the old standards like Grand Marnier souffle just weren't the same. Our wait staff seemed to really be struggling to keep up and I've not experienced that before. Again nothing was bad, it was just a bit of a letdown when compared with previous cruises.

 

All of our kids participated in Club 02 and really enjoyed themselves. The organized activities were pretty slim but it was basically a place to meet up, dance and hang out and that worked really well for our group. We had strict curfews for them and we had check-in times every evening. We had all but two meals in the dining room and the kids ate with us at every meal. Formal night was fun because they love to get decked out and go to all the photo stations and have a million photos taken. (Since there’s always much discussion about this, the Capers actually said “formal dress required” for formal night in the dining room.) Then they went to O2 for the formal night dance and had a great time. They made some really nice friends and thanks to the internet they’re busy talking to all of them today.

 

All in all it was a great cruise and for the price we paid it was an excellent value. Some of the service levels that have slipped over the last few years concern me a bit. I think I'd rather Carnival charge us a bit more and maintain service levels as they used to be. I'm sure the abundance of ships and the need to fill them has brought us to this point but I'm hoping that maybe I'm wrong and this was just a fluke. If you have any questions feel free to ask.

[goodml]

I forgot to mention the shows. The main shows were the same as when we sailed in 2003. We didn't see Livin' in America (saw it last time) but we did see Vroom and really enjoyed it. I thought the singers were very good. The magician was good - he's polished his show a bit since last time. My husband and his friend saw the first late night comedian, David Sayh (I think) and said he was awful and that many people got up and left. The second one, Frank Delpizzo, was really funny and for an R rated comic, pretty unusual because he didn't drop the f-bomb once. We all laughed a lot at his show.

[cathyoo]

Loved your well balanced review. Thank you for sharing.

[arcone]

goodml

We are also staying on the panorama deck in November of this year.

We are I think approx four cabins in. right under the spa area.

Was noise a factor at night from the deck above?

I pray that little girl is in loving and safe place, Thank you for calling security, hopefully they took the action needed to help give help where it is needed. Most of all that she is safe

[musicmansmom]

it was such a joy to read your reveiw. i will be on the victory in 11 days doing the 7 day new england/canada cruise and i cant wait. your tips about saing john and halifax have really helped me feel so much better about not booking any tours and still being able to have a great time in the ports. i cant wait to get on the victory and see her for the first time. i love to cruise on carnival and i know i am going to have a great time.

 

thanks again for letting us know you had a wonderful cruise and fun time.

[silentbob007]

Thanks for the review ... one of these days, I'm going to have to go on a non-Caribbean cruise. :)

[LHP]

Thanks for the review ... one of these days, I'm going to have to go on a non-Caribbean cruise. :)

 

We have done Alaska and the Mexican Riveria...but not the ports that the Victory does. We are pretty addicted to the Caribbean. If I could just get over my "fear" of sailing out of New York.....

[pacerzfan]

Great review, goodml, Thanks!

[silentbob007]

We have done Alaska and the Mexican Riveria...but not the ports that the Victory does. We are pretty addicted to the Caribbean. If I could just get over my "fear" of sailing out of New York.....

 

NYC is not on my prefered port list either ... wonder why?

[yogimax]

NYC is not on my prefered port list either ... wonder why?

 

Yep, I also wonder why? Guess it is all a matter of what you are used to. We sailed on Victory on August 7th and took the subway to the pier. Total cost - $4.00.

[cruisin' again]

Were any of you by any chance in cabin 1033?? They keep assuring us that even though the chart does not show this as a 3 person cabin that it really is. I'd love to hear from someone who has actually stayed in the room! THANKS!

[goodml]

goodml

We are also staying on the panorama deck in November of this year.

We are I think approx four cabins in. right under the spa area.

Was noise a factor at night from the deck above?

I pray that little girl is in loving and safe place, Thank you for calling security, hopefully they took the action needed to help give help where it is needed. Most of all that she is safe

 

Panorama was a very quiet deck (other than the lady across the hall). I don't think you have anything to worry about with noise. I loved it too because it's one of the decks on this class that you can walk across the whole ship.

 

I'm hoping the little girl is ok too. As a mom though, I still have a bit of sick feeling about the whole thing.

[goodml]

it was such a joy to read your reveiw. i will be on the victory in 11 days doing the 7 day new england/canada cruise and i cant wait. your tips about saing john and halifax have really helped me feel so much better about not booking any tours and still being able to have a great time in the ports. i cant wait to get on the victory and see her for the first time. i love to cruise on carnival and i know i am going to have a great time.

 

thanks again for letting us know you had a wonderful cruise and fun time.

 

Have a fabulous trip and I hope you have wonderful weather like we did. Everyone on board that we talked to loved the ports and the people. We laughed with some of the New Yorkers because in both ports the cars would actually stop to let you cross the street. The New Yorkers said if they tried that at home they'd be roadkill! Too funny.

 

By the way, for those of you worried about driving in or sailing from NYC, we had never been before and my husband had NO desire to go but we all absolutely loved it. DH and I have travelled a lot and we've driven in Atlanta and Los Angeles and Miami so we're definitely not afraid but we live in a town with a population of about 1300 so this is not normal for us. It was fine. I can see where the bridges and tunnels are horrendous during rush hour but we were driving around the city on a Monday morning and it was ok. We walked back to our hotel from the Empire State Bldg around 10 at night and I didn't feel unsafe. We definitely want to go back.

[goodml]

Were any of you by any chance in cabin 1033?? They keep assuring us that even though the chart does not show this as a 3 person cabin that it really is. I'd love to hear from someone who has actually stayed in the room! THANKS!

 

Sorry we can't help with that one. We had cabins 1020, 1024, 1036, and 1040. All had only two beds in each cabin.

[POPPA_DADDYO]

How was the smoking? I am reading more and more about the smell of smoke lingering.

[GoinCruisin]

Hey ML!! How the heck are ya girl??? Great review!!!! Glad you had a great time!!!!

[goodml]

How was the smoking? I am reading more and more about the smell of smoke lingering.

 

Absolutely no problem with the smoking. I quit back in 1987 so I'm one of those dreaded "reformed smokers" and it was fine for me. All four of our cabins smelled very clean. The casino had some very smokey areas but I've never been in a casino that doesn't. A fellow smoking a cigar sat down at a slot machine near me and one of the casino staff asked that he not smoke the cigar in the casino. He was very polite and put it out. I noticed a few people smoking on deck from time to time but it was never overwhelming and they all seemed to be in one area, I believe on the port side but I'm not certain now.

[LHP]

Have a fabulous trip and I hope you have wonderful weather like we did. Everyone on board that we talked to loved the ports and the people. We laughed with some of the New Yorkers because in both ports the cars would actually stop to let you cross the street. The New Yorkers said if they tried that at home they'd be roadkill! Too funny.

 

By the way, for those of you worried about driving in or sailing from NYC, we had never been before and my husband had NO desire to go but we all absolutely loved it. DH and I have travelled a lot and we've driven in Atlanta and Los Angeles and Miami so we're definitely not afraid but we live in a town with a population of about 1300 so this is not normal for us. It was fine. I can see where the bridges and tunnels are horrendous during rush hour but we were driving around the city on a Monday morning and it was ok. We walked back to our hotel from the Empire State Bldg around 10 at night and I didn't feel unsafe. We definitely want to go back.

 

Yep, we have driven in all the major cities (except New York) and I just don't know why I have such a wierd vibe about it. Guess I will just have to book a cruise to cure it!! LOL

[goodml]

Hey ML!! How the heck are ya girl??? Great review!!!! Glad you had a great time!!!!

 

Hey Chris, I'm really good - how about you? Is tonight chat night? I should go take a peek.

[ParrotRob]

How was the smoking? I am reading more and more about the smell of smoke lingering.

 

The reason you're reading more about it is because you never shut up about it.

[ParrotRob]

Absolutely no problem with the smoking. I quit back in 1987 so I'm one of those dreaded "reformed smokers" and it was fine for me. All four of our cabins smelled very clean. The casino had some very smokey areas but I've never been in a casino that doesn't. A fellow smoking a cigar sat down at a slot machine near me and one of the casino staff asked that he not smoke the cigar in the casino. He was very polite and put it out. I noticed a few people smoking on deck from time to time but it was never overwhelming and they all seemed to be in one area, I believe on the port side but I'm not certain now.

 

Wow, that must've been an isolated incident. To hear PappaDaddyo talk, you'd think 90% of people smoked, a giant cloud of smoke hovered over the entire ship at all times, smokers put their cigarettes out all over the place, smashed them into the carpets, the fixtures and even their fellow passengers...

[GoinCruisin]

Hey Chris, I'm really good - how about you? Is tonight chat night? I should go take a peek.

 

Yup, looks like you are having trouble... log out and back in

 

Back to your regularly scheduled program :D

[arcone]

Sorry we can't help with that one. We had cabins 1020, 1024, 1036, and 1040. All had only two beds in each cabin.

we are in room 1041 and 1025 which is right next door to were you stayed. Was there any noise late at night or early morning from the spa deck?

Is there enough storage room, We are looking forward to experiencing this cruise, Thanks to everyone posting about the victory for being the being part of our cruise experience

[goodml]

Hi arcone. Panorama was very very quiet. We heard no noise from above whatsoever. No worries mon.

 

I found that there was lots of storage space. Suitcases went under the bed and there were two closets to hang clothes in and another with the safe and a large area below that we put our shoes and dirty laundry in. There were three drawers and a narrow cabinet as well.

[goodml]

Wow, that must've been an isolated incident. To hear PappaDaddyo talk, you'd think 90% of people smoked, a giant cloud of smoke hovered over the entire ship at all times, smokers put their cigarettes out all over the place, smashed them into the carpets, the fixtures and even their fellow passengers...

 

Lol, nope, none of that:D .