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Carnival Cruise Line

MS Carnival Victory

Your Rating:
Reviewed by:A. Walsh
# previous cruises: 10 to 20
Date of Trip: September 13, 2003
Itinerary: Canada/New England

The design of the Victory is user unfriendly. The kitchen separates the two ends of the ship so you are forever taking an elevator to an upper floor to bypass the kitchen, the controls for the A/C are in the ceiling (honest), there is no voice mail on the phone, there is no refrigerator in the cabin. The bench seats in the buffet are so high your feet dangle inches from the floor.

No trays are provided in the cafeteria so multiple trips have to be made between food bars and table. Without trays impossible to carry food to 2nd floor of cafeteria; therefore 1st floor is usually jammed. On a 7 day cruise I had one outstanding dinner, a few okay meals, and the rest were sub-par. The staff did their job and not an inch more. Typical was the library attendant guarding the few tattered books available. The books were not alphabetized; all the spines weren't even facing out but he sat reading a paperback. Loud, loud music was played everywhere, all the time. The entertainment was the worst I have ever had on any ship or resort. The last show began with the most god-awful film, so bad the audience was screaming to turn it off, hooting and clapping. I thought we were going to have a riot.

I was on two Carnival Spirit cruises this year and the Victory is most definitely a poor relation to the Spirit.

The public areas were very uncomfortable for non-smokers. No matter where you went you were attacked by smoke and loud music. There is very little outdoor walking space; you cannot make a circle of the ship under the lifeboats as on most ships.

The food ranged from terrible to outstanding. The hot food at the buffet looked sad so I always had a sandwich from the deli or pizza, both of which were excellent. The food in the dining room sometimes was great and sometimes not worth eating. It all depended upon what you ordered. All the cakes tended to taste the same, just different colors. I usually just had ice cream. At the one tea I attended they gave four of us a plate of six little pastries to share. The service was so-so. The waiters brought your food but there was absolutely no personal interest, no smiles, just a 'doing my duty' attitude.

I had a large 9A cabin which had less storage space than the regular cabins. The shower easily accommodated a full size person. Two of my group had cabins over the Irish and Red and Black Bars and requested changes; they could hear the music and singing which went on until 1:30 in the morning. I don't recommend taking a cabin over any of the entertainment areas as sound proofing is not adequate.

There were only two shows in the one week cruise. The dancers and singers performed with high energy although I didn't like looking at the bare asses of the dancers. They wore throngs. The 2nd show began with a film of an ancient biker that was beyond dreadful. The entertainment staff focused on what would appeal to the 20 to 30 age group, very few of whom were on board. This was a ship 95% filled with senior citizens. Wheel chairs, walkers and canes were the most popular accessories; a fact totally ignored by the entertainment staff. The Cruise Director, Mark, had a pleasant speaking voice and told some good jokes but forgot to supply information about where gangplanks were, etc.

The few activities aboard were of the trivia contest, hairy chest contest, etc. variety. On the last day at sea they scheduled a tea, a tour of the kitchen, a special show with the singers, and a group cocktail party -- one overlapping the other so you couldn't attend but one or two. Poor management. I had the impression Victory Management hoped you would spend most of your time spending money on drinking, bingo and gambling -- not to mention buying the endless pictures (I gave up even trying to find those I was in they were so poorly organized in the display boards.)

Most of my fellow passengers were senior citizens, as was true on the last two Carnival cruises as well. Probably there are young people aboard during the summer and spring break but it is the retirees who support the cruise industry during much of the year.

I'm sorry this is such a negative review but this was the most disappointing vacation of my life.