| Holiday-Truth Readers Reports |
 Cliff Mills from Plymouth UK sailed on Carnival Victory with
Partner
on a couples holiday.
There were 2 adults and 0 child(ren) in the party. The travel date was 5
2006 |
Cliff Mills
rated the Carnival Victory as follows:
| Ship Cleanliness |  | | Crew | | | Ship Food |  | |
| Onboard Entertainment | |
| Cliff Mills said: This trip to the Western Caribbean on the Carnival Victory turned out to be the best value one week vacation that my partner and I have ever had. My partner spends six months of the year in Florida and I live in the UK. I booked the trip in the UK but with hindsight would have booked it in the US. We have booked another trip on the Carnival Valor for January 7th 2007 and saved over $150 US each by booking cruise only in the US compared with booking cruise only and paying in Sterling in the UK. This price included a free upgrade from the bottom deck to the Panorama deck up in the superstructure.
A friend drove us to the cruise terminal in Miami. We had a voucher that clearly stated it could not be used for embarkation but had to be exchanged for tickets at the ticket office. Unfortunately the ticket office was closed on a Sunday! A very kind Carnival employee noticed that my partner had some mobility problems and immediately provided a wheelchair and put us at the front of the queue. After that embarkation was an absolute breeze and our sign and sail cards were brought to us .rather than having to queue for them.
We found our cabin on the main deck without a problem. It was an inside cabin and was much more spacious than we imagined that it would be. It was immaculately clean and throughout the cruise the cabin service was first class. At one time I thought the cabin steward must hide under the bed as if we were only out of it for fifteen minutes on return the bed was remade and the ice bucket replenished – very handy as contrary to the rules I had packed a litre bottle of Scotch before I had read the small print!
After unpacking it was time to eat and we did so on the Lido deck followed by the boat drill. When the ship sailed it was very pleasant to watch Miami fall into the distance and give a big cheer to a sister ship as we passed.
Our one disappointment of the whole trip was that for our late sitting dinner in the Atlantic dining room we were the only two people at a table for four and this was the case for the whole cruise. Being a sociable pair it would have been nice to have shared a table for dinner. Our head waiter Milton from El Salvador, and assistant waiter Nicole from Croatia were first class and could not be faulted. Throughout the week I found the food served at dinner was very good indeed and breakfasts in the Pacific dining room were excellent. We finished our first day with Jackpot bingo in the Caribbean lounge followed by the Welcome Aboard show – all good fun!
Monday was an enjoyable relaxed day at sea. We gave the casino a visit and found that if we restricted ourselves to the 1c machines we could play a couple of hours and only lose a dollar! Sadly I was tempted to play higher stakes and lost a good deal more! At midnight we attended the “R rated show” in the Caribbean lounge – not really my cup of tea but the rest of the entertainment on board was very good indeed. On the subject of entertainment – on one occasion I went to the Ionian lounge to listen to a six piece jazz band. The six players were all members of the ship’s larger orchestra and they played brilliantly. Sadly I was the only person in the Ionian lounge to listen them as there was so much alternative entertainment at the same time. It must have soul destroying for the musicians.
On the whole we thought that the ports of call were very good. We did not book any excursions with Carnival as we preferred to do our own thing with bookings from vendors in the ports visited. I particularly enjoyed the visit to Ocho Rios where we took a taxi to Mahogany beach. My partner spent the whole time swimming in the sea while I propped a bar on the beach drinking Red Stripe and watching the cricket test match, England vv Sri Lanka, live on TV. I gave the friendly bartender my postcards to post and they all duly arrived at their destinations. We recommend this cruise as fantastic enjoyment and great value for money. We really look forward to our January trip on Carnival Valor to Belize and Honduras, as well as revisits to Mexico and Grand Cayman. Have fun!
|
| |
MR&MRS GE&K BURTON from LEICESTER U.K. sailed on Carnival Victory with
MADE OWN ARRANGEMENTS
on a couples holiday.
There were 4 adults and 0 child(ren) in the party. The travel date was 1
2006 |
MR&MRS GE&K BURTON
rated the Carnival Victory as follows:
| Ship Cleanliness | | | Crew | | | Ship Food | | |
| Onboard Entertainment | |
| MR&MRS GE&K BURTON said: This was our 4th cruise with carnival, if booked at the right time you always get a great deal. We paid for the cheapest inside cabin and were upgraded 8 decks.
Our friends were upgraded from inside to outside.
The service in the main dining room was excellent as were the buffets.
Our cabin steward was superb.
Generally we found the entertainment good, but of course this is always a personal choice anyway. We find the discos on all American ships, light years behind, as though we are both in our 50's we enjoy up to date music of all varieties.
Carnival cabins are the largest we find, we always book inside as we only sleep there, but again if we got a good deal on an outside we would book it.
We would have no hesitation on going on this ship again.
|
| |
kath and dave mcgee from bodon tyne and wear england sailed on Carnival Victory with
carnival
on a couples holiday.
There were 2 adults and 0 child(ren) in the party. The travel date was 11
2005 |
kath and dave mcgee
rated the Carnival Victory as follows:
| Ship Cleanliness | | | Crew | | | Ship Food | | |
| Onboard Entertainment | |
| kath and dave mcgee said: ship: huge vessel very clean everywhere you look there is someone cleaning constantly. very impressed with the cabin steward we had really friendly and always said hello. the food was absolutly amazing we ate in the formal restaurant for breakfast and evening meal mainly because the service was exceptional. the food on the lido deck was very varied and always presented beautifully. the staff were what made the cruise the very best for us. nothing was too much bother i loved the team leader and wine waitress in the formal dining room they both did everything the could for us. the entertainment on board was very good although maybe we are not the right people to judge this as we preferred just to do our own thing however what we saw was very good. we did the eastern carribean san juan st. maarten st. thomas excellent ports of call. my husbands favorite st. maarten the most friendly my favourite st. thomas the most beautiful all in all the very best holiday we have had |
| |
EssexMan from Laindon sailed on Carnival Victory with
singlescruise
on a singles holiday.
There were 1 adults and 0 child(ren) in the party. The travel date was 3
2005 |
EssexMan
rated the Carnival Victory as follows:
| Ship Cleanliness | | | Crew | | | Ship Food | | |
| Onboard Entertainment |  |
| EssexMan said: Ship should be renamed "Carnival Loser" the casino caned me every night!
Spotless
Great food
Friendly hard working staff
Spacious cabin
In the worst possible taste decor
Expensive drinks
Party city
Great ship for people that like to have a good time and aren't too bothered by everything being in your face. Being from Essex it was like home from home! |
| |
Wen from Bias sailed on Carnival Victory with
Carnival
on a singles holiday.
There were 2 adults and 0 child(ren) in the party. The travel date was 10
2004 |
Wen
rated the Carnival Victory as follows:
| Ship Cleanliness |  | | Crew | | | Ship Food | | |
| Onboard Entertainment | |
| Wen said: GAMBLING ABOARD CARNIVAL SHIPS
Despite many e-mails and letters to Carnival Cruise Lines since our cruise aboard the Inspiration in October, I have received no satisfactory response to the following inquiry. “What is your policy regarding the horse racing game aboard ship?” The situation prompting the inquiry was the “pretend” horse race where passengers hop around the show room on wooden horses according to the roll of the dice. At $3 per bet, I’m estimating that well over $150 in wagers were placed, and in return the only single one ticket winner received $12. No explanation given to the general crowd mumbling response of “what the hell . . . ?” At his point, to the staff at least, this “game” became gambling and a way for Carnival to make money. No one had any explanation for how the money was to be distributed, including the Cruise director, the Purser, or the ships accountant, further stating that “if they did they wouldn’t tell me because it wasn’t any of my business.” I have received one generic response of no value and one general outline of how pari-mutual betting governs the game. No definition of pari-mutual gambling I am aware of allows the fleecing of participants as was done by Carnival. Gamblers beware of all ship board “games” aboard Carnival ships and take note of the sign at the casino entrance that allows them to reset all jackpots between each cruise. E-mail me as you see fit for further explanation.
|
| |
rhgr from htr sailed on Carnival Victory with
jytdr
on a couples holiday.
There were 2 adults and 0 child(ren) in the party. The travel date was 9
2004 |
rhgr
rated the Carnival Victory as follows:
| Ship Cleanliness | | | Crew | | | Ship Food | | |
| Onboard Entertainment | |
| rhgr said: terrible |
| |
wes marchant from manchester sailed on Carnival Victory with
ice gallery
on a singles holiday.
There were 2 adults and 0 child(ren) in the party. The travel date was 3
2004 |
wes marchant
rated the Carnival Victory as follows:
| Ship Cleanliness | | | Crew | | | Ship Food | | |
| Onboard Entertainment | |
| wes marchant said: As promised here goes my review.
We had sailed on this ship 2 years previosly on the western caribbean leg and dedcided to go back and travel on the eastern side.We had enjoyed the ship previously so decided to give it a go.
We had swapped a weeks timeshare with I.C.E Gallery and paid for the upgrade into a balcony cabin for the first time.We had always previosly had an outside window cabin.It was well worth it and made the cruise even better.
The ship as you would imagine is HUGE and on our previous trip needed to keep a copy of the deck plan with us for most of the week to get around but didnt need it much this time,altough my wife kept turning right out of the cabin when going for dinner (wrong way Liz!!!).For such a large ship with so many passengers on it all year round it was kept remarkably clean with no sign of wear and tear even tough it is only 4 years old.It is typical Las Vegas style decor with only the Ionian room done out like a library come smoking room whilst the rest of the ship is all glitz and glamour.We dined on the late sitting in the Pacific dining room with fantastic views across the stern of the ship.Late dinner is better as I didnt want to wear a tux at the capatains early cocktail party(or should I call it drink as much as you can in 45 minutes party) at 5.45pm with the sun still shining.
The food in the dining room was excellent altough after 4 cruises with Carnival the menu is a bit samey i.e if its wednesday it must be lobster tails!!!
We always ask for a large table so that we can meet people and beleive me we have met some really interesting ones (or should that be mad)
The ships staff are first class and always helpful,the excursions like on most holidays are expensive booked through the desk so we always get together in a group and grab a cab.
Our cabin was massive with a fantastic balcony but even the standard cabins are very roomy althoughwe saw in some of the lower deck inside cabins and they were very small seemed to be occupied by the kids in a family group.
the entertainment was excellent altough after a late dining with some excellent wine i did struggle on a couple of occaisions to stay awake.
All in all it was a terrific cruise. The itinery was great calling in at San Juan,St Maartin and St Thomas with glorious weather,which we were told by guests who we met in our Miami hotel who had travelled the week before on the western side was not the same as they had experienced.
If you asked me I would recommed both this ship and Carnival as a whole,however they are not for everybody,something along the lines of the Walmart of cruising,pile em high and sell em cheap,albeit in nice surroundings. |
| |
Sunny Says there
are 72 visitors online