Carnival Victory Review with lots of Photo's--July 5-12, 2009

[Buffettfan 225]

DZ63:As a group of six, do you think it makes sense to rent a minivan and, armed with a good map and guidebook, tour any of the islands on our own?

I was particularly thinking of St. Maartin, which replaces Antigua on our itenerary. My HW and I have been to St. Martin twice before on eastern Caribbean cruises and would like to explore some on our own.

And my question to others sharing this wonderful review: have any of you heard good things about Sunny Liston Tours on St. Thomas? This is another 3rd-time return for us, and we're looking for new sites to see.

Again, thanks to DZ63 for so skillfully sharing your family's experience!

First I think St.Maarten would be a great place to rent a car/van- just make sure you request a big enough one, not sure of rental places there.

At least driving is on right side of road. Just plan for afternoon traffic- can get hairy after 3pm. This is one island many people miss as do not get back in time from other side I have heard.

I also have read great reviews on Sunny, AirForce One etc. CC is a great resource.

We sail Victory July 4th and have been reading another great review here is link to first page All things Victory: (enjoy, great time killer!)

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1157250&highlight=

[jennat]

Lobogordo, Fun driving weather last night, huh! At least it is sunny today! Hello to another Coloradoan. You will have to share what you do on this cruise later.....we don't go until Oct.

Look into Captain Alan in St Martin. We love him and he has outstanding reviews on both tripadvisor and cruisecritic.

Here is a movie of our day. We hired him again for a whole day this coming trip.

http://gallery.me.com/flipfloppincastaways#100238

There are a couple on St Thomas from both the Freedom and NCL if anyone is interested. One is New Horizons and one is Homer's 3 snorkel tour.

[luv2travel29]

DZ63: What an amazing service and experience you have provided the rest of us anticipating the Carnival Victory southern Caribbean cruise. Ours, with 2 other couples (3 siblings and spouses), will depart San Juan on 7/11/10. I can't wait to start viewing your videos! You've occupied my entire snowed-in day today in Colorado just reliving with you the cruise and the pre- and post-cruise fun!

As a group of six, do you think it makes sense to rent a minivan and, armed with a good map and guidebook, tour any of the islands on our own? I was particularly thinking of St. Maartin, which replaces Antigua on our itenerary. My HW and I have been to St. Martin twice before on eastern Caribbean cruises and would like to explore some on our own.

And my question to others sharing this wonderful review: have any of you heard good things about Sunny Liston Tours on St. Thomas? This is another 3rd-time return for us, and we're looking for new sites to see.

Again, thanks to DZ63 for so skillfully sharing your family's experience!

 

LOBO: when my family went to st thomas we did godfrey tours and sunny followed right behind us. i highly recommend either one... they are great... :)

[dz63]

Thank you everyone for your comments and kind words. . .knowing that you find this helpful makes all the work and time of putting everything together so worthwhile.

 

LOBOGORD--you really were snowed in? Wow! We live in Southern Ontario and we have no snow here at all!!

 

I have also heard good things about Sunny Liston. He is well known for his "lively" music. In fact he is the tour operator that I had contacted first before we decided on booking with Papa Bear. We did not choose Sunny namely because of his late pickup time. For us, his tour began at 11:30 am with an expected time back between 4-4:30 pm. We thought this would be cutting things too close in getting back to the ship on time. With Papa Bear our tour began at 9:30 and we got back to the ship around 3:00 pm.

[dz63]

Puerto Rico, El Yunque Rainforest and Luquillo Beach, July 14, 2009

A busy day awaits us in El Yunque, where we hiked on trails through this beautiful, lush and tropical rainforest of Puerto Rico. We climbed up the Mount Britton and Yokahu Observation Towers, and visited the breathtaking waterfalls of La Mina, Juan Diego and La Coca Falls. We ended our busy day at Luquillo Beach where we could soak up some sun, swim and just relax. Length: 4:22

 

 

 

Coming Up Next. . .Camuy Caves

[mlrich]

DZ63 - thank you so much for your review. My hubby and I are taking this cruise in September and are very excited! I also wanted to tell you that your photos and videos are wonderful! I am a photojunkie and my family teases me when I use my DSLR and call it my paparazzi camera. Your videos have inspired me to put my prior vacation photos together into a video with music! :)

[dz63]

Camuy Caves, Puerto Rico, July 15, 2009

The Camuy Caves are located near Arecibo. After riding a trolley down through a lush sinkhole to the cave entrance, our guide led us through the Clara Caves. We saw many stalactites and stalagmites, and passed by Mirror Lake, before entering another sinkhole where we saw the Fountain of Youth and heard the Camuy River running below us. On our return trip through the cave we saw and even smelled the bats in the Bat Cave! After a 45-minute tour, the trolley took us back up through the lush sinkhole towards the main entrance. Length: 2:58

 

 

 

Coming Up Next. . .Our Walking Tour of Old San Juan (This is the last one!)

[Buffettfan 225]

 

Coming Up Next. . .Our Walking Tour of Old San Juan (This is the last one!)

Say it isn't so! Guess it is time for another cruise for you :rolleyes: Thanks for posting and sharing your experiences,photos and family with us.

[shorner1]

We are leaving for the cruise this Sunday - have you researched much - unfortunately we are just getting around to it tonight. Been a busy month!

[LOBOGORDO]

Hi, Littleton neighbors. I see you've sailed on a lot of the same ships we've been on. We did the Disney Magic with our daughter's family and loved it. Thanks for the tips on St. Martin. We should get together sometime and compare notes. Our daughter, who lives very close to us, is on the Carnival Glory this week with her boys for spring break.

[dz63]

Well. . .this is it! The last video of our Carnival Victory vacation--after this, there is no more! :(

 

Puerto Rico—Walking Tour of Old San Juan, July 15, 2009

As part of our post-cruise stay in Puerto Rico, we toured Old San Juan. Although it was mid-afternoon when we started our walking tour, it was amazingly hot! In this video you will see such sites as Pier 4--the Carnival Victory Cruise ship terminal, Plaza de Colon with the statue of Christopher Columbus, La Casita, Plaza de Hostos, La Princesa Promenade, Racies Fountain, the city wall along the Paseo del Morro, the entry door to Old San Juan, Plaziela de la Rogativa, colorful buildings, the Bell Tower and of course, the famous blue cobblestone streets of Old San Juan! Length: 3:01

 

 

 

Thanks again to everyone who shared their comments. For those of you who are anticipating your cruise vacation aboard the Carnival Victory, have a wonderful holiday. . .and I look forward to reading your review on the boards!

[JETninja]

Very cool review! We loved the Victory many years ago, and St. Thomas, St. John and St. Marteen are our favorite Islands.

 

Suggest your Hubby looks into a real camera back-pack. I got a KATA DR-467 off Amazon for $75 shipped free. It can 2 hold DSLR's and lenses, or just regular point & shoots. Has many compartments to hold camera stuff, food, even a laptop. Since I don't usually tale a laptop, I put a Mono Pod, Magazines, etc in that one. The interior is bright yellow, making it easy to find small things...and it even comes with a rain cover. And its super comfy and padded so nothing can dig into your back. Best travel thing I've bought.

[LOBOGORDO]

Thank you everyone for your comments and kind words. . .knowing that you find this helpful makes all the work and time of putting everything together so worthwhile.

 

LOBOGORD--you really were snowed in? Wow! We live in Southern Ontario and we have no snow here at all!!

 

I have also heard good things about Sunny Liston. He is well known for his "lively" music. In fact he is the tour operator that I had contacted first before we decided on booking with Papa Bear. We did not choose Sunny namely because of his late pickup time. For us, his tour began at 11:30 am with an expected time back between 4-4:30 pm. We thought this would be cutting things too close in getting back to the ship on time. With Papa Bear our tour began at 9:30 and we got back to the ship around 3:00 pm.

Thanks, DZ. Yes, we really were snowed in for a day....everything closed. But I think it was 60 degrees F the next day and it mostly melted. That's our March weather in Colorado.

I re-thought the St. Thomas tour in light of the times and the fact that some of our group aren't interested in even an hour of shopping. Hope we get Papa Bear as our guide!

[gustacruise]

Nice review !:)

[kicia]

dz63 - thanks very much for your review. You've given me some options to think about for tours. We are going on the Carnival Victory on 9/12/10 and are staying at the Hampton Inn also for two nights pre cruise. I'm glad to know that we can walk to a lot of places from there. Did you notice if there was a Catholic church withing walking distance of the Hampton Inn?

 

Linda

[cjackso8]

Thank you so much for posting this. My spirits are lifted. My mother made me feel bad for booking my honeymoon when the wedding hasn't been paid for yet (I'll be on the victory in Feb '11) and seeing this is what I needed to feel all that more confident in my decision. :o

 

Sounds like a wonderful cruise. I can't wait.

[Buffettfan 225]

Thank you so much for posting this. My spirits are lifted. My mother made me feel bad for booking my honeymoon when the wedding hasn't been paid for yet (I'll be on the victory in Feb '11) and seeing this is what I needed to feel all that more confident in my decision. :o

 

Sounds like a wonderful cruise. I can't wait.

Congrats and don't feel bad, besides a little girl dreaming of her wedding, you will honestly remember more about honeymoon as all the stress of planning wedding is done and completed and you can relax! and no deadlines.

 

p.s. we decided to book our cruise for the week after. As our wedding was on Saturday and I felt a lot of relatives came in town just to see us, so spent Sunday with them- had lunch at parents, spent time on patio and gifts from close family were opened. Just a thought. That way were not as tired from wedding by time started honeymoon, but then again with excitement, I could have left the next day too!

[cjackso8]

Congrats and don't feel bad, besides a little girl dreaming of her wedding, you will honestly remember more about honeymoon as all the stress of planning wedding is done and completed and you can relax! and no deadlines.

 

p.s. we decided to book our cruise for the week after. As our wedding was on Saturday and I felt a lot of relatives came in town just to see us, so spent Sunday with them- had lunch at parents, spent time on patio and gifts from close family were opened. Just a thought. That way were not as tired from wedding by time started honeymoon, but then again with excitement, I could have left the next day too!

 

Thank you! Our wedding is in November, and we aren't going on our honeymoon until February, so I'll be ready for a vacation by then anyways! I just can't wait to be back on the water (in our first balcony room) :D

[dz63]

dz63 - thanks very much for your review. You've given me some options to think about for tours. We are going on the Carnival Victory on 9/12/10 and are staying at the Hampton Inn also for two nights pre cruise. I'm glad to know that we can walk to a lot of places from there. Did you notice if there was a Catholic church within walking distance of the Hampton Inn?

Linda

 

Hi Linda, I do not recall any churches in the vicinity of the Hampton Inn in Isla Verde. . .but then we did not pay much attention to that either. Sorry, I cannot be of more help to you on this one!

[dz63]

Thank you so much for posting this. My spirits are lifted. My mother made me feel bad for booking my honeymoon when the wedding hasn't been paid for yet (I'll be on the victory in Feb '11) and seeing this is what I needed to feel all that more confident in my decision. :o

 

Sounds like a wonderful cruise. I can't wait.

 

Congratulations cjackso8 on your upcoming wedding. I am sure you will thoroughly enjoy the Carnival Victory on your honeymoon. It has a wonderful itinerary that takes you to some of the most gorgeous islands in the Southern Caribbean. Aahhh. . .wish I could be there again!

[Interrogation Room]

57 days more before my first cruise. I can't wait any longer:mad:

[cjsegninir]

I know there are many "thanks" posts, but this is the least we can do for such an excellent review! I enjoyed every word and picture, took notes for my trip and smiled a lot wishing to be there soon!

 

DW and I are in the June 27th 2010! Just two months, I can wait... NO I CAN'T!

[Buffettfan 225]

We are also sailing July 4th, and the review,narratives and photos are beyond valuable. We ALL appreciate the time it takes to do this.

Just a big cyber hug from everyone and thanks.

I just looked back on one of my own reviews I posted, and your review will help relive the cruise like a diary you can enjoy in the future yourself.

THANK YOU.

Suzy

[amonograms140]

Can anyone telll me how much taxis and shuttles are from the airport to the Port..... We are going in May and have 12 people. Need to figure out If I should book from Carnival or if it is cheaper from the locals.

[Buffettfan 225]

One would need to figure out how many per van or taxi- we have had 5 in a van taxi and think 8 would fit. The biggest issue is amount of luggage fitting in van. I would guess two vans- thus zone 1 to goto zone 4= $19 + extra person $2= $21, a bag each +$6= $27 approx +tip = say $35 per van then. While it is $15 per person for Carnival transfer.

 

When using Carnival transfers, I recall reading that at San Juan airport you pick up luggage, have funpass info ready and thus can get checked in with Carnival reps and give them luggage and not see it again until it arrives at cabin. Convenient yes, however remember you will have to wait for Carnival to fill up bus before leaving. When taking own transportation it may be faster, but have to move luggage from airport to taxi and then unload to pier. Getting a porter on both ends makes a huge difference (especially since they seem to magically go to head of taxi line but would have to tip them). So figuring costs ,time and convenience is up to you. With 12 people, Carnival may be way to go.

 

This is from a San Juan taxi online website:

 

The metropolitan tourist area is divided into the following taxi zones:

• Zone 1 – Luis Munoz Marin (SJU) Airport
  
• Zone 2 – Hotels in the Isla Verde Area
  
• Zone 3 – Hotels in the Condado and Miramar Areas
  
• Zone 4 – Hotels & Piers in Old San Juan, Puerta de Tierra, Pan Am Pier & Miramar
  
• Zone 5 – Convention Center & the Luis Rivas Dominichi Airport in Isla Grande
  

If you’re traveling to or from a hotel in the San Juan area, it’s helpful to know the taxi zone for the hotel. We’ve put together a list of hotels by taxi zone to make that easier

The rates between the various Zones are as follows:

 

From the Luiz Munoz Marin (SJU) Airport (Zone 1)

• to Zone 2 – $10.00
  
• to Zone 3 – $15.00
  
• to Zone 4 – $19.00
  
• to Zone 5 – $15.00
  
• to Plaza las Americas – $18.00
  
• to Plaza Carolina – $14.00
  
• to Coliseo Jose Miguel Agrelot – $14.00
  

From the Piers & Terminals in Old San Juan, Puerto de Tierra, & Miramar (Zone 4)

• to Zone 1 – $19.00
  
• to Zone 2 – $19.00
  
• to Zone 3 – $12.00
  
• to Zone 4 – $10.00
  
• to Zone 5 – $9.00
  
• to Plaza las Americas – $14.00
  
• to Plaza Carolina – $24.00
  
• to Coliseo Jose Miguel Agrelot – $14.00
  

From the Convention Center & Isla Grande Airport (Zone 5)

• to Zone 1 – $15.00
  
• to Zone 2 – $15.00
  
• to Zone 3 – $9.00
  
• to Zone 4 – $10.00
  
• to Plaza las Americas – $12.00
  
• to Plaza Carolina – $22.00
  
• to Coliseo Jose Miguel Agrelot – $12.00
  

Extra Charges

• The suitcases are $1 each
  
• The fares above include up to 5 passengers. If there are more than 5 passengers, there is a $2 per person charge
  
• From 10:00pm until 6:00am there is an additional charge of $1 per trip