Carnival Victory Review
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This was our fourth cruise, the second aboard Victory. Husband, me, sons 15, 10 and 6. This was the cruise we booked because we could ; it was Labor Day weekend (when husband was teaching college, we couldnt take a long Labor Day weekend), the price was right, and we decided to stuff all five of us in a balcony cabin. Being a short cruise, and sandwiched between two 8-day cruises (Legend in June, Liberty next February), my expectations werent nearly as high but I was pleasantly surprised.
Embarkation and Sailaway: We had the smoothest, quickest embarkation yet arrived at the pier 11:45 and were aboard in less than ½ hour, and that included the bomb-sniffing dog searching the trunk of our car. There was no line at all in the terminal we kept giving each other incredulous looks. Once aboard, up to the Lido deck for lunch and a Fun Ship Special. Lifeboat drill was around 4:45 and the ship sailed around 5:10 the best sailaway weve had yet. We were under the Verrazano Bridge before we had to get ready for dinner. (Go to the highest deck possible when sailing under the bridge - it's an experience.)
The Ship: You know how they say you never forget your first? Boarding Victory was like coming back to visit an old friend. We already knew where everything was. At the same time, we loved being wowed by the atrium again. Yes, I did notice the difference in size between Victory and Conquest, and there were worn areas; the seats along the Promenade deck are tired, and some arent that comfortable. Ditto the seating in the Mediterranean Cafe on Lido deck. Still, the overall experience is great, and it was fun finding things we didnt find before like the fish sculpture outside the Pacific dining room. (Our sons kept insisting that it used to be a sunflower they just remembered Conquests aft atrium.) And our favorite find on this cruise the Ionian Lounge on deck 4 aft. We never found it on our first Victory cruise and only knew to look for it because we liked Alfreds on Conquest. The ship is well cared for; everything was clean, the bathrooms were regularly maintained (including the papers to use on the doorknobs for those worried about Norovirus), and the crew was very proud of the ship.