Carnival Victory

[jody]

We just returned from a 7 day cruise on the Carnival Victory...it was our 4th Carnival Cruise and our last. It was awful, people were rowdy, food and service were bad and kids running amok on the ship.. Couldn't go in the pool, kids doing back flips...Has anyone else experienced this?

[missdeels]

I haven't experienced it but I hope I don't, either. This is not what I want to hear about the Victory. We are going on our very first cruise on the victory next month! Yikes!

[butterfly]

I went on the Victory 31/2 years ago. We have been on 9 cruises and the Victory was our 2'nd best. (Royal Caribbean's Mariner Of The Seas coming in at #1). I know you could say "That was a long time ago", but I think sometimes you just get a bad group of people. It's unfortunate, but I wouldn't swear off cruising. I think the food on Carnival is pretty darn good. Service is good, Room size good, Shows are excellant. We have Never had the situation of kids all over the ship running amuk. Hope missdeals feels better now! For every unhappy passanger there are hundreds and hundreds of happy ones.
Libby

[missdeels]

Thanks, butterfly.
I know there's been lots of good stuff said about the Victory - but ya just can't help but get a little uneasy when you read bad stuff. I'm still very much looking forward to our cruise and seeing this ship for the very first time!

[Tsscooby]

Jody, when were you on this ship. I had friends who went on the Victory Aug 21, they said the same thing. This was their first cruise. Me I love to cruise.

Missdeels please write and let us know how your cruise is. I'm a first time cruiser too on the Ecstacy in December and I know sometimes you do just get with a bad crowd. Took vacation in Reno last year and hated it because of simular reasons. You may have the best crowd ever. Let us know and happy sailing.

We went on the Victory in Jan 04 and we had a wonderful cruise. The "crowd" was good. Course there were alot of kids but it is a family cruise ship, but there really wasnt many kids actually running around. We spent most of our time around the pool that is by the pizza galley. There were less kids there cause no water slide. I found the others to loud. It was just my husband and myself that went on that cruise, we are sailing on the liberty in Feb with two of threee kids. But as for the Victory ship, we had a great time, food was good, service was excellent, and the ship was clean. Hope you dont base all cruises with bad crowds! Your next one will be better!! In fact our hall always smelled like a "strange" smell, the cabin two doors down from us seem to be having one heck of a time. Needless to say, they were hauled off in hand cuffs when we got into Miami.

We are going on the Victory out of Miami Oct.9 cant wait

[jody]

Hope your experience is better than ours. I do understand that each sailing differs, however, the Victory definitely bites. The food, entertainment,etc. leave alot to be desired. I've been on the Ecstacy (sp?), Triumph and Celebration and had wonderful times. It is not a good situation when you feel unsafe and get aggrevated when on vacation.

[CA Cruiser]

Jody,
Sorry you didn't have a good cruise. We have never experienced what you did. Did you take your concerns to the Purser's office regarding the "wild kids"?

[kytten_kat]

How exactly was the food and service bad ... give an example ... also ... did you report the rowdiness to any one ... and how many were actually rowdy ...

Candy

[jody]

How was the food and service bad? They were out of several things that we ordered that were on the menu, when ordering fruit for dessert the waitstaff said they'd have to see if they can get it....they brought 3 slivers of cantaloupe, one blueberry and one sliver of kiwi. As for the rowdyness....most of the ship was rowdy...Yes, we reported it and got shrugged shoulders.....Please.....this cruise was for the birds......it was horrendous!

[d_bak32725]

Not to mention embarkation sucked, and disembarkation was worse. We we over an hour late leaving Miami. But ok, it's just the start of the cruise, so grab some food and enjoy the time away.

Next, people cutting in lines at the buffet... or having their place held so they can go sit and smoke (I'm a smoker and this bothered me on more than one occasion) while others walk up and actually wait in line like they should. Drink equipment failing at different stations from time to time.

I know they have to keep the ship clean, but blocking off areas of the main deck on sea days to scrub the decks? Why couldn't they do it on port days?

Jamaica should be removed from the itinerary all together. I couldn't even walk to the main street without being stopped over a dozen times (and this is not an exageration) with the offer of drugs or whatever else I wanted. I may not have been traveling with family, but that sure is not a "family" environment... I ended up going back to the ship discusted rather than being subjected to every local trying to find some way to get money from me with either a tour of the place, drugs, women or whatever else I wanted.

Finally, it should never take over 7 hours to empty the ship, yet we docked before 7am and it was after 2pm when I finally left the dock.

Overall, I was not impressed on my first cruise.

[kimmiegirl]

Ah that's a shame - things not changed on Victory then. We sailed on her last Nov/Dec and also had a horrible cruise - put us off Carnival big time and won't use Carnival again.

Had really hoped that things had improved since then as many posters say they had a great time.

We were both ill with bad stomachs, had sewage smells along our hallway which occasionally came into the cabin (Upper Deck - balcony). Very surly staff and soup spilled over one of our tablemates the very first night by one waiter.

Just overall feeling of a bad staff attitude - not what you want when you are on vacation.

A real shame.

Regards,
KG

[missdeels]

OK - getting really worried about our cruise now. This will be our very first cruise and we are all so excited about how fast it is approaching. However, I need a little pep talk about this ship cuz I just keep reading more and more negative. I don't want to go expecting all these bad things and then my trip will be ruined because I'm just watching out for them!
Help! Somebody who has been on the Victory recently and had a great time - please write about it!!! Get my spirits back up where they belong!

[Prankster]

If you don't want the kids running around, try and book when they are in school. Easy as that.

Triumph Jan. 2005
Valor Jan. 8th 2006

[d_bak32725]

Each cruise is different.. sure, the crew is the same for a period of time, since they work under contract, but the guests are different. Your cruise may well be better. Hopefully if others like me are honest and send in their comment cards, something will be done about the things that take away from an enjoyable cruise.

[emjay]

misdeels, don't worry, I work with a lady that went on the Victory last spring and she has another booked for the Victory in May. She loved it and she does about 3 cruises a year. I have booked our family for Thanksgiving week on the Victory. It is all what you make it.
If that wasn't enough fruit or food per serving you can ask for seconds. We can always find food we like somewhere on ship. We have been on cruises where the staff was awful and the food so-so(not Carnival) but we still had a great time. I love cruising and I know that know matter what we will have fun. Don't worry, trust me you will be fine and you will be adicted like the rest of us when you get back!

missdeels,

The best thing is to read the reviews, since I went on the Victory, I think many people have since sailed her and came back with good reports, that is why I was hoping things had improved in the last 9 months.

The crews do change and our crew was very surly - so hopefully by the time you cruise, they will be a completely different bunch of people.

For all cruise ships and cruise companies, you will find good and bad and best to make up your own mind.

REgards,
KG

[JoannFla]

Ok so Ive been reading posts on here about Victory for months now, and honestly I think this is the first time I have read a bad post about Victory...should I be worried??? As fars as kids go, I am going Oct30th to Nov 6th..this year. Its Halloween time and kids are in school, so I think we will be ok with the kid situation. I am not afraid to ask for anything, if I paid for it, so if I get too little food or not enough pillows etc, I will POLITELY ask for more! Sad that someone went on a cruise and had a bad time..that stinks..but do not give up on cruising!!!
This will be my first cruise ever, and I hope to have it go well...I suppose it is what you make of it. Maybe Jody went right before kids were going back to school, who knows..hope your next is better..anyone else with reviews of Victory keep them comin!

[jody]

Don't think the time of year was the issue.. I think it was the people and how they handled their kids..I've been on many cruises with tons of kids and never had this problem... My 7 year old twin niece and nephew were with us and they were very well behaved!

We just got off a Victory cruise in July and it was fantastic!

[JoannFla]

Thanks Jennie..that makes me feel a little better..I have been bummed out with the disaster going on from hurricane Katrina..and fell guilty even going on a vacation, so even if it is a little rowdy or food isnt perfect, I am going to be appreciative and fortunate that I got to go...god bless ~Jo

if you want to cruise when its not so rowdy kids running amok cruise when the kids are
back in school my mom and i cruise in october nice and quiet and no kids around you can get a good price on your cruise

[JoannFla]

Thats what I did! I booked for 7 days on Victory from Oct 30th to Nov 6th...hoping it might not be as packed or busy.. Got an awesome deal I think 1500 for two for 7 days in a Balcony room.

I've sailed on the Victory twice...the first time because it was a new ship, the second time because I had such a positive, fun, experience, I wanted to sail on her again. We had no problems with children (sailed the first week of May both times), the food was good, service excellent, ship kept very clean. The ship I had a problem with (twice) was the Triumph (sailed in September both times), the carpets were dirty (inside stateroom, hallways and common areas), food was so-so, room staff aloof, wait staff cold and disorganized and the most horrible, rowdy, obnoxious group of people (both times) that I have ever sailed with, they were spread out on all floors of the ship....how do I know, they all had the same identifying T-shirts on. Our stateroom was right in the middle of this large group of people who propped their doors open and brought their chairs out in the hall with their boom boxes blaring and danced, drank and ate out there with total disregard for anyone else. They were removing our room service menu from our door and throwing it away (I caught them), banging on our door in the middle of the night and laughing. We complained over and over and demanded a change to another stateroom to no avail, Carnival stated that the ship was full. Every time we complained, a Carnival staff member would come up and ask them to keep their doors closed, keep the noise down and stop bringing furniture into the hallway and they would comply until the staff member turned the corner then they would go back to what they were doing. It was a horrible experience and we really feared retribution from these people. It's a sad state of affairs when you can't enjoy a cruise you've been saving and planning for. We stayed away from our room as much as we could and dreaded the night. I was never so glad to get off a ship in my life. Sorry, kind of long winded, I guess you can encounter poor service, food, etc., on any ship at any time but I believe it is the exception rather than the rule. It's your fellow cruisers that can really jeopardize your ability to enjoy your cruise...the groups that ruined our cruises on the Triumph totally took over the ship, pushing the staff to its limit which resulted in poor performance and their ability to take control of the situation because it was rampant throughout the entire cruise.

[TC(Top-Cat)]

We cruise Victory the first of May this year. next to the Conquest, this was our next best cruise of five taken. We had a wonderful time. The food and service was excellent . I did not notice rowdy children. We puposely schedule during school time because we travel with my retired parents. Not that I mind children at all, but there were a few less. We are scheduled again on Glory first of May 06.

[missdeels]

So glad to read these positive reviews.
Rose, I'm sorry you had such a terrible time on the Triumph. I hope nothing like that happens to us. This is our first ever big vacation with our kids and I want them to remember it in a good way! We are going in october so we know there won't be a bunch of kids around - but I still hope there are some so our kids can make a few friends and be able to do some of the camp carnival activities.
We are all pretty easy going and are already saying how we are just going to relax and enjoy and not let the little things bother us.
It's coming up so fast I can't believe it!
Happy cruising to all!

We were a family of four, two cabins, on Victory in July. We loved the Victory. Didn't have any complaints about food, service, cabin service. I did know that the CD was leaving on his 6 week vacation after our sailing.............don't know if that makes any difference. There were rowdy kids running up and down our halls at times, but if you stuck your foot out the door as they ran by, they would tend to slow down (fall down, tumble down, etc.) ! They were rowdy around the pools, taking food into the pools, but one complaint to security around the pools nipped that in the bud.

We did complain about having to go up to Lido for free coffee. I felt they should have complimentary coffee somewhere other than Lido and did hear that suggestion had come up before. I wasn't too happy with San Juan and St. Thomas but that wasn't the Victory's fault............The port of Miami definitely has some work to do on embarkation procedures. We found it to be horrible. They need to talk to the people in Tampa. They do it right. But again, we didn't let this ruin our cruise.

Had no problems with food. Hubby complained that there weren't good rolls and desserts out at lunch............he just hadn't found them and when he did, look out! We were very pleased with the food service and had a great wait team.

I've learned in cruising that every cruise is different, as different as the make up of the people on the ship. I've also learned that two people can be on the very same cruise and one can have a terrible time and one a great time.

I'd never fail to sail on Victory again.

We are going on Victory 10/9 also. Hope to see you there!