Just finished a five-day Carnival Victory cruise and had a great time. I wouldn't pay a lot of attention to the negative reviews of this ship. It is a little dated and the ship is slated for an overhaul in late 2014, but the appearance of the ship and upkeep thereof was not a factor in our enjoyment of the cruise, our stateroom, or the ship itself.

Embarkation was great. We arrived at the ship terminal at a little after 11:00 a.m. and we were in line on the Lido deck for lunch at 11:38 a.m. It was an incredibly easy check-in and security line. Our stateroom wasn't ready until about 2:30, but that wasn't a big deal as we took the time to explore the ship.

The food on the ship was good/acceptable. Buffets are not "our thing" and we chose to dine in the dining rooms for breakfast and dinner and either grab lunch at the grill or off-board during excursions. As a prior guest on a Princess cruise, the food on the Princess line was superior. However, our service staff, led by Ni Luh and Lincoln in the dining room was OUTSTANDING and she pointed us in the right direction with respect to our choices off of the menu. I could nit-pick individual dishes, but overall the food experience was acceptable, if not outstanding. I do recommend the pasta dishes in the dining room...they were all very good. We were a bit disappointed with the lack of good seafood choices. The fish dishes were hit and miss and there weren't a whole lot of seafood dishes offered over the course of the cruise. We chose the Dine Anytime option and liked the flexibility it afforded in choosing our own dining time. Additionally, we never had to wait for a table when going to evening dining. Read more