Victory Jan. 14-21, 2007 review

[TracersQQ]

This is my first cruise and review, so please bear with me. We left Pittsburgh on Jan. 13, for Miami. Once at the airport, they said our plane was delayed, after about 1/2 hour we boarded only for them to cancel the flight. They got us on a different airlines to Charolotte, then to Miami. They told us our luggage would be in Miami, in the morning and to make a claim with the 2nd airlines. Once in Miami, the 2nd airlines told us that we had to have a claim with the first airlines, who then sent us back to the 2nd airlines. The 2nd airlines, finally took the claim. It took a very incompatent lady 45 minutes to complete one claim - there was for of us. By this time the line very long. We got to the hotel aroun 1am. We got up early to check the status of luggage (They originally said it would be delivered to hotel by 11am or ship by 4pm.) and they said the same thing, we will have it before ship sails. We then headed to the port, later than we had wanted because we were on the phone with airlines for so long. I think we got to the ship around 1pm and it probably took colse to an hour from the time we walked through security until we got to our cabin. It went pretty smooth. After we went to the cabin, we headed up to Lido aft gor a hamburger. Our room was aft, so that was the first food we saw and we were starving so we grabbed it. The we went to Pursers to put $$ on sail and sign and we told them about our luggage problems. They were wonderful, they took over contacting the airlines. They were told the same thing that our luggage would be there before we sailed. Well it never was and the Pursers were quickly back in contact with the airlines. We were on deck for sail away and then went to get ready for dinner. We had early seating in the Pacific dining room. Didn't take too long to get ready since we had no clothes to change into or make up to put on, lol. Sasko, from Macedonia, was our waiter and Iwayan (pronounced e wan), from Indonesia, was the assistant. Both were wonderful! I can't say enough about either one. I can't remember what we did each night, but I can tell you that we saw the "America" show, the comedian show, a singing show with a guy named Cecil (can't remember last name) and the legends show. All were really good. We started to watch another show with one singer, but we left early because we weren't enjoying it. We went to Costa Maya, on Tuesday - we shopped and sat on the beach, for awhile. I wasn't that thrilled with Costa Maya. We had a deck party Tuesday night, that was a lot of fun. We also, went to watch Karaoke several nights and we watched a good band in the Adriatic lounge that played 60's and 70's music. Monday was the first formal night and our waiters and Desmond - the Maiterd - made us promise to attend, eventhough we didn't have any nice clothes. We didn't go to the captains cocktail party, for this reason but we did go to the dining room. They made us feel very welcomed, inspite of our situation. Our waiter even took one of us by the arm and escorted us to our table. Grand Cayman was Thursday and they delivered luggage to 3 of the 4 of us. My Mother did not get hers. I was able to help her with some clothes for the rmainder of the trip. She is much shorter, than I, so I could not help her with pants or dresses. In Grand Cayman we took a Catermaran excursion to the "stingray city" and then 2 snorkeling stops. I had a lot of fun, the other 2 ladies, didn't enjoy it as much as me. Friday was Jamaica, 2 of us shopped and had drinks at Margartaville while the other 2 went to Dunns river falls. They really enjoyed it. They sat down to have a drink and 2 other ladies joined them and they all started talking. The one lady had owned a woman's botique in Arizona and offered my Mom something to wear for the second formal night. So we were all very presentable, Friday, for the second formal night. We even all had our picture taken in front of the piano. We had been dodging cameras all week because we looked so bad - we were, probably, the only ones who noticed the way we looked. We watched people participate in some of the "red" and "blue" activities and we did participate in the "what's in your bag" competition. I don't remember our Captains name, although, I know that we had 2, one left the ship in Jamaica and another one took over. Wait, I just found my Capers - Our first captain was Gianpaolo Casula and our second was Antonino Sammartano. Jorge Solano was the cruise director. I relly enjoyed him. He has a great sense of humor. He goes by George during the day and jorge after 5pm. Disembarkation was a breeze. We stayed on Lido until all of the decks were called. Then we headed down and walked right through the whole process. There was only a few pieces of luggage left, we quickly found ours and headed to custms. There was, at the most, 3 families, in front of us. and then we were done. It was about 20 minutes from the time we started walking toward the elevator, on Lido, until we cleared Customs. Very easy and smooth. We then went to our hotel and went to South beach, for a few hours. Spent the night and smoothly left Miami. We had a layover in Atlanta and guess what? It was cancelled! They sent us to LaGuardia (new York) and put us on a different airlines and sent us home. Unbelievably, our luggage arrived safely, as well. ALL of our luggage. That's right, even my Mothers was there. If I didn't answer something, let me know, and I'll try and answer it. I'm sure I'm forgetting something. Oh, I do want to add one thing. I have learned some big lessons from this trip, so please don't flame me. First off I had every intention on getting trip insurace. My Mom and I booked together she charged everything and I paid her for my half. She thought she had bought insurance, but she didn't. Next time, I will make sure we have insurance. Secondly, even if I have to pay more, I will book my flight through the cruiseline. After I got home, my husband said they did a report on the news, while I was gone, about airlines losing luggage, and they said to contact your homeowners policy. I called home several times, from my cell phone, why didn't he tell me about the homeowners angle? They might have been able to do something. Oh, well! Lesson learned! I can't say enough good about Carnival, though. And by the way, the ship was beautiful. Sparkly clean. Very impressed!

[pa girls]

YIKES!!!!! We are sailing on the Victory April 1st also out of Pittsburgh--I have not yet booked our flights by plan on flying in on Saturday prior to Sunday sailing. What deck were you on? We are on Panorama with our first ever balcony. Myself and 13 yr old DD, 3rd cruise in 3 years. Glad yoy managed to have a great time even without your luggage (been there done that on a trip to Bermuda several years ago---3 days rinsing out my undies!!!) Anything we should know about the ship???

[TracersQQ]

We were on deck 8 Verandah - aft. I loved the location. As far as the ship goes, I thought it was very clean and in pretty good shape. A few minor dings here and there, but nothing to bother me. The crew was really great, they all went out of their way to make you happy. I don't know what crew members will be there in April, but Jorge, the cruise director was really good. There is a band, in the Adriatic lounge, called the "Bestsellers" - if they are still there, check them out. They play 60's and 70's music - they were really good. Overall, the cruise experience was great, no complaints. Don't worry about the airport at Pittsburgh, it was all the airlines fault nobody wanted to take responsibility. We flew home, on a different airlines, and had had a cancelled flight in Atlanta. We thought "here we go again, with our luggage", but it arrived safe and sound, before we did. I've been to many airports, around the USA and always find that Pittsburgh is one of the cleanest and nicest. Any other particular questions, about the ship, please ask.