All things "Victory"

[lilytuck]

My husband just booked this cruise for 12/13/2009. It will be hectic to be gone the week before Christmas, but after seeing and reading about this cruise....who cares! I can get most everything that needs to be done before we leave and whatever is left.....oh well. Plus weather in the Midwest is usually getting darn cold by then...not to mention freezing rain, ice storms, and snow.

 

I cannot wait. We plan on arriving in San Juan day before. Any thoughts on a good hotel near the port? We usually explore on our own, but was wondering if anyone has ever did the pre-cruise shore excursions offered through Carnival?

 

Cannot wait for some of you to post after you cruise. It is going to be fun reading this thread.

 

Joy

We are going to be in San Juan on Sat, 5-16-09. We are staying at the Sheraton Old San Juan. If you look at the shots on this thread from the ship looking back at San Juan the Sheraton is a creamy/yellowish hotel to the left. People have posted that they were charge extra fees when they went to check out. But they all seem to have booked with Priceline, Hotwire ect. We have booked directly with the Sheraton (paid a little more) but we haven't found anyone who did that has had the extra charges.

 

As for the precruise excurrsions, MY personal belief is that you would be better off to book them thru the hotel. Once you have made your reservations, contact the hotel directly and they can help you out.

 

Being from Denver I KNOW exactly what you mean about the weather in Mid December. You will have a blast. DW and I think about a Christmas/New Year cruise every year. Just haven't done it yet.

[lilytuck]

As cheap as you can get them online now it's a no brainer...get more cards. :D

Picked up my 2GB SD card at Wal-mart for less than $12. Might grab at least one more with out DW knowing. Once I have it she will have to live with it.:D Did I say that:eek:

[Brangwen]

We are going to be in San Juan on Sat, 5-16-09. We are staying at the Sheraton Old San Juan. If you look at the shots on this thread from the ship looking back at San Juan the Sheraton is a creamy/yellowish hotel to the left. People have posted that they were charge extra fees when they went to check out. But they all seem to have booked with Priceline, Hotwire ect. We have booked directly with the Sheraton (paid a little more) but we haven't found anyone who did that has had the extra charges.

 

Please let us know your thoughts on the Sheraton when you get back... we're going to need a hotel for our group cruise next year. :D

[NCTribeFan]

The San Juan board has lots of threads about the local hotels. Most of this sort of info for US ports is located on the various "departures" boards, but since San Juan is a unique option, all that info is on the San Juan POC board.

 

Many, many threads there about what to do while in San Juan, hotels, restaurants, excursions, shopping, transportation, etc.

 

There is also a "stuck" thread on that board about bidding through Priceline and Hotwire. I used their advice to bid for my post-cruise hotel (had never used Priceline before), and got the Marriott Stellaris for about $90/night less than booking directly. I messed up my pre-night (I wanted the Sheraton), so I'm at the Courtyard Miramar, but it isn't a huge deal. For $80, and a short cab ride from the pier, I'll live with what I got.

[Aplmac]

Picked up my 2GB SD card at Wal-mart for less than $12. ===> You spent all that money?! :eek:

Might grab at least one more without DW knowing. ===> Now we're getting somewhere!

Once I have it she'll have to live with it.:D Did I say that ===> What? did U say something?

Three secrets to a long and happy marriage, son..

 

* Yes, Dear

* No, Dear

* Anything you say, Dear

 

and then you go right out and do what needs to be done, okay? :)

 

Yeaahh she'll grumble (they all do)

but you take her out to dinner someplace nice like...

Atlantic Dining Room as seen from Deck 4

 

 

You'll have the cards forever: money well spent!

Carry all your lesser-capacity cards as well.

 

 

 

Did you get into the camera's Menu yet?

-to lower the Image Size from Humongous to Quite-Big-Enough?

 

 

.

Edited May 12, 2009 by aplmac

[rickcop44]

aplmac, I was so intrigued with your photos, I apologize for asking this so early. I didn't get through pages four and five yet. I assume your Nikon is a digital? I have an Olympus digital SLR and I've been meaning to buy a fish eye lens for it for some time. We'll be on Victory on February 14 and St. Thomas is on the itinerary. There is a nice Boolchand's store at Havensight Mall that I like to shop in. I've bought almost all of my memory cards there. Where else can you buy a 4 gig card for $29? I assume you also used a tripod or some kind of "pod" for your night shots?

 

Just goes to show what you find out when you finish reading the posts. You have a D60. What kind of tripod do you use?

Edited May 12, 2009 by rickcop44

[Cuizer2]

Where else can you buy a 4 gig card for $29?

 

Best Buy has 4GB SD cards (the kind a Nikon D60 uses) for $20 to $50 ...

 

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?id=pcat17080&type=page&qp=crootcategoryid%23%23-1%23%23-1~~q70726f63657373696e6774696d653a3e313930302d30312d3031~~cabcat0400000%23%230%23%23dh~~cabcat0404000%23%230%23%2326~~cabcat0404004%23%230%23%23m~~nf119||344742&list=y&nrp=15&sc=abCameraCamcorderSP&sp=-bestsellingsort+skuid&usc=abcat0400000

 

And it does not require a $2,000 cruise to get there.

[Aplmac]

I have an Olympus digital SLR

and I've been meaning to buy a fish eye lens for it for some time. ===> Procrastinate no longer!

 

We'll be on Victory on February 14 and St. Thomas is on the itinerary.

There is a nice Boolchand's store at Havensight Mall that I like to shop in. ===> Bought a 52 mm.Polar.filter there, in Nov.

I've bought almost all of my memory cards there.

Where else can you buy a 4 gig card for $29? ===> Their prices rock. ;)

 

I assume you also used a tripod or some kind of "pod" for your night shots? ===> Nah!

 

What kind of tripod do you use? ===> I do own one..somewhere: bought in Palo Alto CA -July 1985: cost me $49!

Sorry, no tripod for the night shots on board the ship.

 

Thought about taking it,yes..even started a thread asking if worthwhile

over on the Photo Discussion section of these CC Message Boards

but decided against it

since I seem to have reasonable success already with a brace-and-shoot technique

which I deploy anywhere I can brace my body against a nearby wall or pillar

and shoot while pretending I'm a tripod....squeeeze and hoooold.

 

 

Also...

given the sort of minimal "magnification" inherent in extremely-wide-angle lenses

like fisheyes and 10-20mm. zooms, minor camera movement is not much of a problem!

 

 

 

This shot was taken with my 6 hrs.old fisheye lens

I had to take my new toy to dinner that night..

This has been cropped substantially

but notice that the axes of the glasses still diverge noticeably!

It's a fisheye shot alright! and taken with a flash(something I rarely use)

 

 

..............................................................

 

 

The old tripod I own is a small center-braced VELBON VGB-3C model...had it now for 24 yrs.! :eek:

I use it down at the Port, after sunset, when ships are departing in either fading light or after dark

-at times like this..

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

If these are not pin-sharp

it's because the ship is in motion during the 0.5 - 1.0-sec.(approx) exposures

 

 

.

 

 

 

.

[lilytuck]

Three secrets to a long and happy marriage, son..

 

* Yes, Dear

* No, Dear

* Anything you say, Dear

 

and then you go right out and do what needs to be done, okay? :)

 

Yeaahh she'll grumble (they all do)

but you take her out to dinner someplace nice like...

Atlantic Dining Room as seen from Deck 4

 

 

 

You'll have the cards forever: money well spent!

Carry all your lesser-capacity cards as well.

 

 

 

Did you get into the camera's Menu yet?

-to lower the Image Size from Humongous to Quite-Big-Enough?

 

 

.

 

May 20th will be our 20th. So don't I know it.

[Brangwen]

Best Buy has 4GB SD cards (the kind a Nikon D60 uses) for $20 to $50 ...

 

Or... http://www.buy.com/prod/kingston-4gb-secure-digital-high-capacity-card-class-6-4-gb-kingston/q/loc/101/204035108.html

 

$14.99 with free shipping (I own this one) :D

[Aplmac]

.

 

 

13th. May 2009

 

 

 

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[outerbks]

Take your chances. The ship was extremely SICK on our December cruise. It was our most disturbirbing cruise of our 12 Carnival cruises. Get a bucket!:cool:

[FlaKrznNubie]

We are going to be in San Juan on Sat, 5-16-09. We are staying at the Sheraton Old San Juan. If you look at the shots on this thread from the ship looking back at San Juan the Sheraton is a creamy/yellowish hotel to the left. People have posted that they were charge extra fees when they went to check out. But they all seem to have booked with Priceline, Hotwire ect. We have booked directly with the Sheraton (paid a little more) but we haven't found anyone who did that has had the extra charges.

 

As for the precruise excurrsions, MY personal belief is that you would be better off to book them thru the hotel. Once you have made your reservations, contact the hotel directly and they can help you out.

 

Being from Denver I KNOW exactly what you mean about the weather in Mid December. You will have a blast. DW and I think about a Christmas/New Year cruise every year. Just haven't done it yet.

 

Sheraton has a resort fee, I believe it is $8.95. A resort fee is very common in PR from what I have read.

 

I am staying at the Sheraton OSJ in Sept 2009. I am expecting to pay a resort fee. Since every other hotel there is also charging resort fees, it's no big deal.

 

My $113 Hotwire price beats the $300 Sheraton price, even with the resort fee tacked on.

[FlaKrznNubie]

Three secrets to a long and happy marriage, son..

 

* Yes, Dear

* No, Dear

* Anything you say, Dear

 

You missed one.... I'm married so I have no opinion. :rolleyes:

[richbum]

You missed one.... I'm married so I have no opinion. :rolleyes:

 

 

A friend of ours taught my husband to say, I am sorry, please forgive me, you are right! I kind of like it, even though he is sarcastic when he says it!:rolleyes:;)

[Aplmac]

A friend of ours taught my husband to say,

I'm sorry, please forgive me, you are right!

I kind of like it, even though he is sarcastic when he says it!:rolleyes:;)

And then there's....

 

 

Two secrets to a long happy marriage..

 

* Always let you wife think she's getting her own way

* Always let your wife have her own way..

 

 

Here she is, in Balcony Cabin 6431

watching the run-up to November US Elections.

 

We boarded Victory on Sunday,Nov. 1st. 2008

U.S. Elections were held the Tuesday we did Dominica.

 

.

Edited May 14, 2009 by aplmac

[VABeach]

Thank you so much aplmac - 7 days and COUNTING.... :D

 

<SIGH> It's almost like I'm already there.... ~

[alprice]

Take your chances. The ship was extremely SICK on our December cruise. It was our most disturbirbing cruise of our 12 Carnival cruises. Get a bucket!:cool:

 

Rough Seas? Why was everyone sick?

[NCTribeFan]

Take your chances. The ship was extremely SICK on our December cruise. It was our most disturbirbing cruise of our 12 Carnival cruises. Get a bucket!:cool:

 

Is this in response to a post further up? I must've missed something.

 

I have read that for whatever reason, there is a lot of movement on this ship. I sort of figured that there would probably be less movement, since the ports are close to each other, that she wouldn't be "steaming ahead" at full throttle. Maybe just slowly cruising around in circles makes for more motion (why people who go deep sea fishing are fine until the anchor and start just bobbing around, you know?).

 

To those who have sailed her from San Juan - any input as to embarkation time? I'm planning on checking out of the hotel early, taking a cab to Barrachina, dropping our bags, walking to La Bombanera for breakfast, walk over to Fort San Cristobal (we toured El Morro last time), pick up our bags, have a snack and a Pina Colada (they're supposed to be the place that invented it and, after all, they're keeping our bags for free), then heading to the ship. Should be very early afternoon.

 

I don't want to waste a single minute in OSJ sitting in the terminal waiting to board. I don't want to get there early to drop off luggage because I'll have carryons and don't want to lug them around OSJ, either.

 

Does that sound like a reasonable plan?

[lilytuck]

A friend of ours taught my husband to say, I am sorry, please forgive me, you are right! I kind of like it, even though he is sarcastic when he says it!:rolleyes:;)[/quote

 

Or there is the Red Green saying: "I'm a man, I'm sorry, I can change,... If I have too" or something to that effect. :rolleyes::cool:

[linkinsama]

Back in Post #80, I put a link to the Capers. Although I think the little tear-off daily food/activities portion was removed, you may bev able to find the sushi bar hours, Mexican party, and drink specials.

 

You need to do some reading on the Dominica boards. I'm paying more than $60 each. But I don't do the walk-off-the-ship and go up to a driver routine. I like to book in advance, know what I'm getting and what I'm going to be paying.

 

I've never had a problem getting to shows when I've had late dining.

 

Thanks for the advice, Tribefan. We probably won't go to too many shows but it's good to know it won't be a problem to do so.

 

I haven't seen anything about the sushi bar hours, Mexican party, or margarita specials in the capers but of course that doesn't mean they weren't there.

 

I've done reading on the Dominica boards, that's where I saw people saying that you can get a cab for $20. I will post that there too but figured I'd ask here since most people reading this thread have been or are going there too.

 

Anyone else have any answers on any of the questions?

[NCTribeFan]

I'll keep the capers from next week and scan them. I always pick up a "clean" copy to save because I usually tear off the little side thing to have with me, and that's what has all the dining and entertainment summaries.

 

I need to go home and pack!

[azurewater]

I have been on several cruises, but only recently found these boards. I have noticed that many on this thread and others talk about specific tour, tour guides, companies. They will usually reference that they learned about these on CC.

 

We have either booked through the ship or walked around on our own at various ports. If there is a better way, I would love to learn about it. I have several travel books, but none really mention specific tour companies.

 

Is there a specific spot on cruisecritic.com to look or is it just a matter of reading and reading?

 

Thanks for any help. I have until December 13th to get it all together. The pics posted and conversation on this thread is fun and makes it all real.

 

Have a great one!

Joy

[Cuizer2]

I have been on several cruises, but only recently found these boards. I have noticed that many on this thread and others talk about specific tour, tour guides, companies. They will usually reference that they learned about these on CC.

 

We have either booked through the ship or walked around on our own at various ports. If there is a better way, I would love to learn about it. I have several travel books, but none really mention specific tour companies.

 

Is there a specific spot on cruisecritic.com to look or is it just a matter of reading and reading?

 

Thanks for any help. I have until December 13th to get it all together. The pics posted and conversation on this thread is fun and makes it all real.

 

Have a great one!

Joy

 

Here is one place to start ...

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?f=5

 

Another good source of information is the roll call for your cruise.

[Aplmac]

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