We (myself, my wife and our 16 year old daughter) went on Carnival Victory Western Caribbean cruise on Dec. 16. It was our second cruise. Last year we went on Costa Mediterrania. I have to say that Costa wins on almost every category for similar price.

The general impression on Carnival Victory was that their ONLY purpose was to suck as much money from you as possible. 90% of the announcement were related to shopping, duty free, casino, photo services, bingo or something else that you have to pay for. On Costa they want to make money as well but not like this. Every service not included in the cruise price was ridiculously overpriced. For a 8x10 photo they asked $22. A simple 3-4 hours excursion on bus was $60-70 per person (not to mention special activities like snorkeling which could easily reach $100-120).

The embarkment was good, quick and efficient. The cabin was decent size, clean and nice. Our cabin stuart did a good job. However, our cabin was making funny noises (kind of squeaking) which was very annoying at nights. When we complained, they offered us ear plugs.. Read more