This was our third Canada cruise on Carnival Victory - three years ago this was our first cruise (just to see if we'd enjoy cruising) and we were hooked. We're a family of five - mom and dad late 40's and sons 16, 11 and 7. We had a great time; no, the weather did not cooperate completely, but you can't have everything. We live about 2 hours north of NYC, so this is an easy cruise for us. Earlier this year we sailed an 8-day cruise out of FLL on Liberty; the Canada cruises on Victory are a nice getaway for us, with no flying or hotels required. I'm going to do a day-by-day review, followed by my thoughts on the different aspects of the overall cruise. Hopefully I'll be able to post some photos in the next few days as well.

We arrived at the terminal around 11:15 and were having lunch (and a Funship Special) on Lido deck by 12:30. Parking was no problem, and the lines in the terminal were long but they moved. Our cabins were ready at 1:30 - balcony cabin 8364 and inside cabin 8366 right across the hall. (When one son asked about why we didn't get them a balcony cabin too, I replied that when they have the money to pay for a cruise, they can have the cabin of their choice. Until then, they're in an inside.) We met our CC roll call friends at 3:00 by the aft pool - hi to duchess, mom23boys, sorcamc and carma3. It was nice to meet all of you. Lifeboat drill was at 4:30 and we actually sailed a few minutes early. What a beautiful sailaway! The weather was great and there were lots of boats in the harbor. We stayed on deck until we sailed under the Verazzano, then went to dinner. We had 6:15 dinner in the Atlantic dining room, just as we requested. After dinner, DH went to bed (he has a bad leg and was just too tired), while I registered the kids for Camp Carnival, then visited the Irish Seas Bar and went to the Welcome Aboard Show.

8/12/07: Day at Sea. This was a great day, weather-wise, after reading all the reports of bad weather. It was sunny and warm, and Victory's Lido deck looked more like a Caribbean cruise than a Canada cruise. All the deck chairs were taken (a first for me on this itinerary), the slide was open, and there were lots of fun deck games. The pools were cold (64.4 degrees), but the hot tubs were full. I noticed a sense of relief among the crew; as CD Malcolm explained, the three previous cruises had very poor weather and everyone was very excited to have such nice weather. Dinner this night was formal. I would describe dress as 5% very formal, 5% very casual, and 90% just fine for formal night - jackets and ties for men, nice dresses for ladies. Read more