I just returned from a five day Canada cruise today. My friends, my husband and I had a wonderful time as we were celebrating retiring as teachers and planned on being away on the first day of school. We chose the Carnival line because it was the only one that went where we wanted to go when we wanted to go or at least it was the only one we found. I had previously cruised on RCCL.
Embarkation and Debarkation were a breeze. We were on board by noon and loved every minute of exploring the ship. Today we were one of the first sections called, found our luggage, got the car and packed it at the door.
The ship is beautiful,very nice and clean.
Our cabin steward was like a ghost entering our room every time we left to add clean towels, make up the room, or turn down the covers.
Drinks were tasty.
Shows were fun. There was a comedian at a late show that was the funniest I've seen in a long time.

However, all food except for the soup and the pizza were cold whether it be in the dining room or the buffet.

Our waiter had the personality of a sponge. Fun waiters are part of the fun on a cruise.

The layout of the ship made it confusing to get to our dining room, the Pacific.

The trident bar next to the Casino should have been call Kiddie land as very often it was filled with children as if it was an ice cream bar.

There were a lot of kids and some had no manners at all like the ones trying to sit next to us for the final show, with feet up on the tables, rears on the backs of the seats, you get the picture.

For the most part the looks of the ship, the shows, the drinks, the cabins were all at par or above the RCCl ships I've been on but the cold food was not appreciated.

The one thing that I found the most disappointing was the way we were ignored in the dining room when the "entertainment" began. All of the waitstaff left to circle the guests seated at the middle section of the dining room, leaving those of us not in the circle feeling like second class citizens. We couldn't understand why our waitstaff had to join the "inner circle" instead of circling our section and singing for us.

I plan on informing Carnival of this disappointment when I return my comment card.

Anyone else had this experience? I am already booked on another Carnival cruise in Feb. on the Miracle to the W. Carribean. Hope the food is hotter and the waitstaff is friendlier.
Kate

I have been on the Victory three times and never experienced anything like this. One of my sailing on the Victory was with a group of 50 and everyone had a great time. This sounds unually for a waiter. Maybe the other tables interacted with him more and made him feel more comfortable. One cannot say without having been there.

I believe our interaction was adequate. He was all work and no play. Just get the job done.

So none of your food was ever cold. We also noticed those sitting at the table next to us complain about cold food.

Where were your dinner seats? Were you in the center or on the side? Did the waitstaff only play to those in the center?
Just wondering?

We still had a great time but improvements can be made.
Kate

We were on the Upper level near a wall. If you were on the lower level they may go near the center so those looking down from above can see.

While leaving out those seats nearer the window. WE could see nothing.

I'm doing the 5 day to Canada next June 07-I am sorry to learn of your disappointment regarding the meals aboard the Victory. This is the first time I have read about cold meals-could you have sent it back?Did you try?

BillyBuzzy

A few things I disliked about the Victory:

No Sushi Bar - I had one on the Fasination and the Glory, but not on the Victory. They did have a sushi buffet one day, but it is not the same as one that is open a few hours every day.

No Supper Club - I saw it on the Glory, and I was looking forward to treating my wife, but this class of ship has no such restaurant

Tiled floors in the Lido Buffet restaurant - they can be quite slippery, and they are pretty noisy. Our room 8402, was just below and we could hear the dish cart and footsteps.

quote:

Originally posted by billybuzzy:
I'm doing the 5 day to Canada next June 07-I am sorry to learn of your disappointment regarding the meals aboard the Victory. This is the first time I have read about cold meals-could you have sent it back?Did you try?

BillyBuzzy

If you asked to have it sent back to be reheated you were just given a new meal off the cart. And that was usually just as lukewarm as the other.

You will still have a great time. IT is a beautiful ship with lots to do. We were just disappointed in the dining room.
The foods had good taste yet cold, my friend did not like the taste of the pork loins on the fourth night. The chateaubriannd was good but order the med. rare. They only give you two choices. Med rare and med well. The soups were always good as were the salads. I had a few of the pasta dishes. Nothing special but I am a pasta lover. They were good. The turkey on the last night was good. The eggplant parm was too according to my husband though it was not breaded.

Kate

quote:

Originally posted by PC GUY:
A few things I disliked about the Victory:

No Sushi Bar - I had one on the Fasination and the Glory, but not on the Victory. They did have a sushi buffet one day, but it is not the same as one that is open a few hours every day.

No Supper Club - I saw it on the Glory, and I was looking forward to treating my wife, but this class of ship has no such restaurant

Tiled floors in the Lido Buffet restaurant - they can be quite slippery, and they are pretty noisy. Our room 8402, was just below and we could hear the dish cart and footsteps.

I did notice the slippery floors in the buffet. I thought it was the shoes I had on.

Sorry to hear of your disappointments. We also had a table on the perimeter of the dining room and couldn't see the entertainment. It didn't really bother me as I don't care for it much to begin with, but I can understand how it would be disappointing to others.

We were on the July 1st 5-night sailing and had a great time overall, despite a few bumps along the way (and I don't mean seas, lol). I'll be submitting a Mega Review to the CruiseReviews site shortly.

Thank you for posting your comments.

I went on the 5 day New England cruise a couple of years ago. I really like the onboard activies as well as I thought the ship was exceptionally maintained. Our roon was also great. We booked a category 4A which is the lowest catefory on the ship. It was room 201 and was actually on the outside of the boat but did not have a window. It was funy Carnival actually tried to talk us out of the room but for us this cruise was total penny pinching. It was not bunk beds but instead an unusual setup where one bed was beside the door, then the desk set up then you took a turn and the other bed was on the other side. It was quite roomy and I one of my favorite rooms I have been in. The only problem I had was because they constantly tried to get you out doing things the announcements were non stop and acually a speaker in the room that made and afternoon nap impossible.

Other then the first day it is unusual to have the announcements come through the speaker in the room. They do it on the first day particularly so everyone attends the lifeboat drill, and I think for first time cruisers so they know what is going on. In the future if after the first day the announcements are still coming through into your cabin I would go speak to guest relations.

I agree. We had to listen closely to announcements when we were in the cabin because they only played in the hall.

This is a nice post , as we are going on the ship in April, it answered alot of questions


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