Just back from a 5 day chartered cruise on the Victory with my 21 year old niece. Considering Victory is an older ship, I was skeptical about what shape she would be in. All my worries were for nothing. Of course, the Victory is showing signs of age here and there, but overall, the ship is in great shape. Very clean ship, friendly crew, and an overall positive experience.

We flew into FLL the morning of the cruise with a 9:00 AM arrival. Picked up by pre-arranged car service, we were in the cruise terminal in Miami by 10:30, processed and on the ship by 11:30 (did not have FTTF). As part of the first group on, we had the ship to ourselves for a bit. Our room was unofficially ready around 12:30 and we dropped off our carryon bag in a closet. When we disembarked, we used the Carnival shuttle service back to FLL. I thought Miami had the smoothest disembarkation process and the shuttle was hassle free and quite convenient.

Because this was a chartered cruise, all of the entertainment, including the cruise director were not from Carnival. I thought my cabin steward and dining crew were excellent. In my opinion, the food was good, not great. Unlike my last Carnival cruise, the dining room food was always hot. I liked most choices on the menu, and overall, I was happy with everything. Loved the warm bread at dinner every night. Bar service was not the best in the dining room. I did not love the Lido buffets, had issues with choices, appeal and temperature. Nothing was truly awful, so I can honestly say the food was generally ok. Best chocolate chip cookies of any cruise line though. Read more