Carnival Cruise Lines
Carnival Victory Cruise Review
Western Caribbean

Tamara Rohde
Age: 48
Occupation: homemaker (vacation planner for the family)
Number of Cruises: 2
Sailing Date: March 26th, 2006

This was our first family cruise (ds15, dd14, ds11). My husband and I cruised on the Festivale in the mid 80's and it's changed quite a bit. We chose this ship because it was one of the few that had a cabin for 5. In the process of booking, the Carnival agent said she could actually book us two cabins for less than the price of one, so we took her up on it. She mentioned that we got a residency discount (Nor enough cruisers from Ohio??). She didn't have adjoining cabins at the time. We checked back a few weeks later and were able to get ocean view adjoining cabins for $40 pp more so jumped on it. Many people on our roll call at www.cruisecritic.com were able to get upgrades and onboard credits, as the prices dropped near the sailing date.

We came to Miami a few days early so we could explore. We loved the art deco South Beach area. I recommend using Priceline to book your hotel. You can see winning bids at www.biddingfortravel.com.

Check in at noon was a breeze. We didn't even fill out that time-consuming FunPass. We ate lunch on the Lido deck, as rooms are not ready until 1pm. Lido deck hamburgers are not high quality, but don't worry, you'll love the dining room food.

Our room was on the main deck, towards the rear of the ship. It was about the size of a normal hotel room, however the bathroom was smaller. The bathroom had a complimentary basket of toiletries, including 'Just For Men". My husband is still trying to figure out how the knew he was completely gray. There was only one outlet in the bathroom and it was labeled, "Shavers Only". There was another outlet in the cabin just below the large mirror and above the counter.

We must have had 20 hangers in the closet. The two twin beds had been made up into one bed, which was quite comfortable. We also had a sofa in the room. Our kids had 3 single beds in the adjoining room. Suitcases arrived within 2 hours.

After lunch, I went to the Atlantic dining room to try and change our late dinner seating. A note arrived the next day saying there were no openings at the early seating. Breakfast and lunch are open seating so you can go any time. Try and get the early seating, as many of the kids' activities begin at 8 or 9pm.

Food was very good in the dining room. It was nice to try some unusual dishes. I even bought the cookbook on ebay.

Our first port was Costa Maya. Be sure to put on sunscreen before leaving the ship. We took a $3 bus into town and walked to the end of town where we found Pez Quadro. It was the nicest beach area. Chairs were $5, beer was $3, and soda was $2. Food was cheap and restrooms were clean. The bar (on the beach) has swings instead of bar stools.

Grand Cayman was crazy. Too many ships in port at one time. Make your reservations for Stingray City ahead of time and don't book through Carnival. Independents are cheaper and have smaller groups. The earlier you get there, the less congested.

Ocho Rios was everyone's favorite. We were not hassled. We booked horseback riding through Hooves and then came back to town to shop before walking the 6 blocks back to the ship.

Camp Carnival was good for my ds11, but not so good for the older kids. 12-14 year olds had a scavenger hunt at 11pm, but only 2 kids showed up. They also scheduled a costume-making activity with toilet paper where my daughter was the only one to show up. Club 02 was poorly run. They had a 2 minute mixer and then started with karaoke. My kids met a lot of kids, but often left the camp/club and roamed the ship with their new-found friends. They need better activities and better start times.

The only real negative occurred at the end of our trip. On the last full day, ds11 came down with Norovirus (the cruise ship illness). After several hours of vomiting, we paged the nurse and she had him come down to the infirmary for a shot to stop the vomiting. We also tried to call and page our room steward to clean up the room, but got no answer. My dh got it the next day and I got it 2 days later, but not as bad. You will know it if you catch it. And yes, we wash our hands a lot. The CDC later told me that only 19 cases were reported on that cruise.

Even with the Norwalk virus, we would still rate our cruise high and hope to travel with Carnival again next year. Maybe we'll try a balcony.

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