Review: Carnival Cruise Lines - Victory - [December 07, 2003]

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Carnival Victory Review sailing to Grand Cayman, Cozumel and Ocho Rios

Dec 7-14, 2003
Captain Agostino Fazio, CD Steve Cassell

I'm not a writer at all and my notes are not organized, but I'll try to organize things a bit. I did carry my Palm around the whole cruise (call me a geek) but I knew I wouldn't remember things when we got home. This might end up being more of a personal record of our cruise than a review that people can learn from. I don't know. Here goes…

About us: My husband Gerry and I were cruising with our 2 daughters Trina (almost 10)
and Traci, 12. Third cruise for Gerry and I (Paradise 99, 01, and now Victory 03), 2nd for the girls (Paradise 01, and now Victory 03).

Pre-cruise: We live in Hamilton, ON, Canada. We drove 1 hour to Buffalo, NY on Fri Dec 5, stayed at the Days Inn (continental breakfast and free shuttle to the airport across the road). Paid extra to leave our car in their parking lot. Don't know how much.

Fly to FLL via Cleveland on Sat Dec 6, totally avoided all the snow! (If we'd flown through Newark, another Continental hub, we might have been in trouble, but even then we had a day to play with). We ALWAYS fly in at least a day early.

After arriving in FLL, we got a rental car from AVIS and drove to MIA. Checked in at the Baymont. Lovely! We got upgraded to a 2-room suite! The kids loved having their own room! Maybe this upgrade was a sign of things to come on the ship? Dinner at Johnny Rockets in MIA on Sat. Best burger! I think I would pay to go to the JR restaurant onboard the RCI (?) ship.

We flew BUF-FLL instead of YYZ (Toronto) to MIA because:
1) Toronto airport (1 hour the other way) is a zoo!
2) Customs is easier at the border than at the airport.
3) Buffalo airport is nice, small, and easy to get through and fast and…
4) BUF-FLL is half the price of YYZ (Toronto) to MIA, even factoring in the hotel in BUF and rental car (which we would probably want in MIA on Sat anyway).

Embarkation:

In port in Miami on Sunday, 14th

NORWEGIAN SUN
RCCL VOYAGEUR
CCL VICTORY
CCL PARADISE

Dropped off rental car and AVIS shuttled us to the terminal. We were FIRST in line at the terminal at (ready for this?) 9:18 am. (Some people still waiting to be cleared to leave from previous sailing. Not quite sure what was happening there) We weren't doing much in the hotel room so Gerry though we should go to the terminal. He's one of those people who likes to be first on and last off the ship. I'm in no hurry to get off the ship but I don't
care for waiting around to get on. Anyway, we had cards and backgammon to keep us busy. Talking with other pax, etc. 10:45-check in begins. 11:50-boarding the ship. Checked out the ship, ate, etc. Had the always fun muster drill, then up to Lido, watched Norwegian Sun leave 4pm, then Paradise 4:10, then us at 4:20.


Weather: Sun afternoon and Mon am were cloudy & cooler, but by Mon afternoon we had great weather and it stayed great all week except for some rain showers in Cozumel.

Cabin:

We booked an inside quad cabin on Riviera deck (R1336). Alas, no upgrade! Nice big cabin although we've only sailed Carnival so we *know* about Carnival having bigger cabins but have never experienced the smaller cabins of other lines. The 2 beds for the girls dropped down from the ceiling (as opposed to the wall on the Paradise) and at first we thought our cabin wasn't a quad! We headed up to purser's desk and were told that YES there were 2 beds there for the kids. DUH!

Common areas:

The cigarette smoke bothered me. Isn't one side of the ship supposed to be non-smoking, the other smoking? I didn't see that adhered to. I had a "tickle" in the back of my throat all week from the smoke. No smoking in main show lounge or dining rooms of course. So we were thinking of going back to the Paradise for our next cruise but then come home to read that the Paradise is going to the Left Coast and losing it's non-smoking designation. I must say, though, that we're ready for a change of itinerary.

Food:

We had early seating of 5:45 pm in the Pacific dining room. Table 407. Open seating for breakfasts and lunches.

Wilton was our waiter, from Honduras but his family is living in MIA now so he sees them every week! Our assistant was Elizabeth from S Africa. Both were very nice. Didn't make/break the cruise, but nice.

I'm one of those people who eats to live as opposed to living to eat. I liked the food. A few things stood out for me, but food is not a huge thing for me on a cruise. Nice touch: mashed potatoes were available in the dining room at dinner for my 10 year old when she wanted them Pizza and calzones were great and available 24/7!

Hubby raved about the East River Deli! According to hubby, the beef dishes, esp. prime rib really fatty, but tasted good, but beef tenderloin not fatty at all.

One night in the dining room (the night of our anniversary actually), a plate slipped from Wilton's hand as he was serving it to Gerry. Plate banged on the edge of the table and shattered. Food and glass everywhere. He apologized profusely. Gerry had a cut on his hand. Hostess (I think) got him a Band-Aid. He was OK. But then Traci noticed blood on Gerry's arm. He had a slightly larger cut on the inside of his forearm. Off to the infirmary. It just required a Band-Aid too. Gerry was complaining of a ringing ear as
well. But he was at the shows, casino etc later that night. He was fine. Kind of disappointing Maitre D' didn't stop by our table the next night to see if he was OK. They couldn't get his pants clean so they reimbursed us for his pants.

Food Standout's:

broccoli & cheese soup-dinner app
tuna on baguette-lunch main
cappuccino pie! -dessert I'm going to look for that recipe! It's so good I remembered it from the Paradise!
bowtie pasta with turkey-app/main
fresh fruit with peach schnapps-app
baked Alaska-dessert
banana split-lunch dessert
Caesar salad avail at any lunch, dinner even if not on menu

Entertainment:

Sunday night show: Welcome Aboard Show-comedian Anthony Acosta-he was quite
good, he did adult show later but I didn't go.

Monday night show: (at sea) "Livin in America" - Victory Dancers - see below.
Tuesday night show: (in Cozumel that day) Mexican Folkloric Show.

Wednesday night show: (at sea) magician Rand Woodbury. I really liked this show. He posed for photos and autographs after the show which I thought was nice and my 10 year old thought was neat. I heard people later talking about how he did his tricks. It kind of spoiled it for me, I just want to be entertained, I don't try to figure out (or really want to know) how magicians do their tricks.

Thursday night show: (in Grand Cayman) Entertainer "Jerome-I don't even remember him. I do remember hearing a passenger saying how good the show was going to be, and that got my hopes up, but I remember being disappointed. But I don't even remember the show!

Friday night show: (in Ocho Rios) "Vroom!"-Victory Dancers-see below

Saturday night show: (at sea) Win A Cruise bingo and the guest talent show (we were "B1" away from a bingo)! Two people got bingo at the same time so they ended up each choosing a bingo ball on stage, bigger number won! The guy won. I felt sorry for the poor lady who'd got a bingo, thought she won a free cruise, and then walked away with nothing! They kept repeating that only 1 free cruise was available, but Carnival could have given her *something*.

It was good except for one thing that upset me.

The 2 Carnival Vegas shows: "Livin in America" and "Vroom!" The dancing was great but the women were wearing thongs! I'm sorry but that's not appropriate! Especially when there are kids watching! I walked out of "Vroom!"

The guest talent show: OK singers, some better than others. One 80-something man from Canada was awful! But he got a standing ovation because he had the guts to get up and sing his wife a love song on their 60th anniversary!

Friends:

I had met quite a few people online who were going on this cruise too. Some of us hooked up in the sport bar on Monday afternoon, took pictures, talked.

We met two great families that we spent a lot of time with. One couple from San Jose, CA sailed with their 3 girl's ages 2, 6, and 7. (Traci ended up doing some babysitting on the ship for them. Left the ship with more money than she came with even after buying souvenirs!)

Kids programs:

We saw very little of Trina! At each meal we would talk to her about where she was going (Camp Carnival. she loved it! Loved the campout!) and arrange what time/where to meet her next. She was with us in all the ports, of course. But basically saw her at meals and at the shows! And even a couple of meals and shows she partook of with CC!

We tipped the counselors. Don't forget them when tipping!

Ports/Excursions:

Grand Cayman

5 ships in port-
Voyageur of the Seas
CCL Victory
CCL Conquest
Rhapsody of the Seas
Radisson Seven Seas

We had booked an excursion with nativewaysports.com for GC. 3 hour excursion. 20 minute bus ride to their boat, 30 minute boat ride to snorkeling spot. First time snorkeling for all 4 of us. We only had 20 minutes snorkeling. Not long enough at all to get comfortable. Saw some great fish, coral but needed more time. Back in the boat to the stingrays. There were about 12-15 excursion boats already there when we got there. Hence, not a lot of rays about. They were all spread out (when we went in '99 we were
first boat out there and there were rays EVERYWHERE). This was the first time for the kids, though and they liked it. Traci took a while; she was scared at first. Trina was right at home with them right away. We were in the water for maybe half an hour. Back on the boat (fruit punch or water available on the boat), then the bus.

Bought some "Blackbeard" brand rum cakes back in town. They were cheaper than Tortuga. And I think they taste better. Bought 6 small cakes and got 1 large one free.

Cozumel

2 ships in port
Norwegian Dream
CCL Victory

Met up with our friends from Quebec at Mr. Sanchos beach. Free admission.

Blue water and sky!

$14 for a cab (4 of us) each way to/from Mr. Sanchos. They paid $18 for 6 in
a van each way.

Clean washrooms, pool there too, and canoe avail for rent $10 half-hour? Lounge chairs on the beach, tables & chairs w/ umbrellas a bit further back from the water, trampoline was broken and unavailable. Bar right behind us with swinging chairs instead of bar stools! We loved it!

Ocho Rios

Victory ONLY SHIP in port today!

We met our friends from Quebec had told they'd booked an excursion with Phil Lafayette online before cruising so we hung out with them at the pier, hoping we could join them. Phil's prices were good, $20 for adults, and $10 for kids (geocities.com/ochorios4u).

I'm sure he was thrilled to have 10 people instead of 6! Great tour, great guy! A/C large van. Just the 10 of us. Funny guy, He called himself the 'P' man, using all adjectives starting with 'P'.

Showed us a local NICE resort, Fern Gully, rain forest, a local 'fire man', a 'private' waterfall (just the 10 of us there!), not Dunn's River Falls, that was a little disappointing but where we went was awesome!

Phil was going to take us to a local eatery but Bob had stepped on a "sea egg" (according to Phil) (in bare feet even though Phil had said to be sure to have water shoes on) and was in a great deal of pain. We cut short our tour, heading back to the ship (I was getting tired by then anyway. I tire easily) and getting a wheelchair for Bob. He went right away to the
Infirmary. They couldn't do much for him. They said stinger would dissolve in a couple of days. He was in a wheelchair for a couple of days and in quite a bit of pain.

Disembarkation:

We left our tipping just as it was on our Sail & Sign cards. Didn't tip the Maitre D'. He never came to our table once, not even to check on Gerry after the accident in the dining room.

Wake up call at 5:30 on Sun, we had to be at Immigration at 6am. Ordered room service --- coffee, Danish, hot chocolate -- sustenance for the immigration wait/line. Up to lounge at 6 am, hundreds of people in line, line is moving, though finished by 7 am, then to breakfast. SLOW service in dining room again for open seating breakfast

Self assisted debarkation from 8-8:30 (US citizens only, couldn't be over limits and had to carry off all luggage).

Had to leave cabin at 9 am, up to Lido for eats and to wait for our color, color calling began at 9:25, our color-light brown, second last to be called, off the ship at 10:30.

Post cruise:

We'd planned to stay in MIA Sun night so we didn't have to arrive home at
midnight! AVIS shuttle to the lot, got upgrade from midsize Grand Am to full size 2004
Grand Prix! Went for a drive in the aft.

Saw NCL Sun leaving, Paradise just starting to pull out.
CCL Victory and RCI VOTS still in port

Back to hotel (Baymont) by 7:30. Put 2 loads of laundry in, then to watch 2 hour Survivor Finale, 8-10 up at 7:30, pack, breakfast, drive to Avis, shuttle to MIA, flight little late leaving, turbulent to New Jersey (EWR).

Had to run for connecting flight to BUF, got to gate 10 minutes before 3:45 takeoff, alas flight was delayed (3:15 flight to Allentown, PA before us hadn't left) -- went for coffee, Gerry then had to come running for me ----PA flight was cancelled, now leaving after our tiny express commuter plane, embarked onto tarmac, COLD took off at 4:19, great sunset pictures from the plane!, landed at 5:20, snow on the ground -- called our neighbor from the plane to turn the heat up in the house -- Days Inn shuttle picked us up within 5 minutes -- we were on the way home at 6 pm, stopped at the first Tim Horton's we saw, home at 7:20pm

This and that:

They ran out of peach yogurt on Monday on this cruise! And ran out of orange sherbet on Wed! Service was slow in the dining room for open seating breakfast especially the last
2 or 3 days.

Dressing for first formal night. Couldn’t find Gerry's tux shirt! (I thought it was inside his jacket). Ran up to Formalities, got a shirt for the 2 formal nights for $15. (We would have paid almost anything!).

We met Raoul on board. He is now a Head Waiter, but was our busboy on our Paradise cruise Dec 99. He remembered us too!

I took Bonamine (called Bonine in US). Started on Sun morning and took one every
morning of the cruise thereafter. I LOVED the motion of the ship this time, instead of being nauseous like I was on our first 2 cruises! Bonamine is great!

Gerry won $100 at Caribbean Stud Poker. At the Coz tour talk, "Jeff the super shopper" gave me a bottle of rum cream when he was giving things away. I yelled, "It's'' my birthday'! (Eggnog and rum cream is to die for!).

If you've got this far, you deserve a medal! Thanks for reading!