Carnival Victory- 2002

Vacation Journal
10/20/02 to 10/27/02

Cruise on The Carnival Victory: Miami to San Juan Puerto Rico, St Thomas and St Marteens in the US Virgin Islands.

Day 1: Departure

We had set the alarm for 2:35 am so we could be at the Dayton airport by 4:00 am. We used a parking garage at the airport. With a discount, it was only about $4 a day to leave the car there. We were at the airport by 4:00 but they did not even have anybody at the check in till 4:20 am. We flew into Atlanta and did not have to change planes, but we did get off the plane to grab some breakfast at a Burger King in the terminal. Food on the plane consisted of a cracker-like cookie. I guess cutbacks in airlines have really affected things.

Leaving Atlanta our flight was delayed about 30 minutes. There was some runway construction and then a baggage cargo door light came on and we had to taxi back to the terminal so they could check it out. That was ok with me; I did not want my underwear landing in some farmer’s field in South Georgia. We finally got off the tarmac and left for Miami. On the way in, we flew over the Everglades. As we got off the plane, Carnival Cruise Line Reps were waiting at the gate. They gave us stickers to put on our shirt and told us to check in with the Carnival rep in baggage claim.

They put security tags on our bags and told us to wait for a bus that would take us to the ship. The ride lasted about 20 minutes and we did get to see a little of what the city looks like. Drove past the Orange Bowl Stadium and Freedom Tower, which is a landmark for Cuban refugees. Boarding the ship, “embarkation,” was a pain. Lots of lines. Did I say lots of lines?

Finally after all the check in processing (I think security was just to make sure we were not bringing on our own alcohol) we got our room key. The room key was a magnetic card that was also our ‘Sail and Sign’ card. Most all purchases on the ship went to the card and at the end of the cruise it would go against a credit, debit or cash account to pay it off. The only cash we used was for the casino and tipping room service. Even the regular tipping of the waiter staff and room steward was on the card.

We went to see our room. It was nice sized. A king size bed, sofa, TV, vanity and more storage and closets than we could fill. The bathroom was decent size also. On our balcony we had a lounge chair a regular chair and a small table. We were told our bags would not be delivered to our rooms till about 9:00 pm but they were there by 4pm. We had finally made it onto the ship about 1:30 pm. I had pre-ordered flowers for the room for Patti. It was a tropical arrangement with orchids that lasted the whole cruise. Patti had ordered a fruit basket and Champaign for us. Neither knew what the other had done. They double delivered her order so we will need to make sure we are not billed twice. I tried 7 times to get it taken care of on the ship- they just kept saying “no charge”. We will see.

We went to get some lunch at a buffet they had set up for new arrivals lunch. Again a line!!! But it moved quickly. Very good sliced roast turkey. In the buffet line Patti heard a young women behind her complaining about not knowing what to do. The “Mom” came out and she took over. The couple behind us was from Minnesota and on their honeymoon. Their names were Brad and Missy. We had lunch with them and became friends over the course of the cruise. I guess we were not too bad “for old people”.

After lunch we all walked up to the Lido deck to see the view around the ship. The ship is docked in a channel at the port of Miami. We were waiting for the horn to blow and take off!! But first we had to go to our rooms and get our life jackets and go to our muster station for a lifesaving drill. After that, back to the top for departure. The ship blasted the horns and we slowly pulled away from the pier. A causeway runs along side the channel the cruise boats use. As we were pulling out to sea cars would honk and wave and we would all wave back. It was kind of hokey I guess, but fun. While all this was going on a Calypso band was playing on deck.

There are two formal dinning rooms with two sittings each. We were in the Atlantic dining room, second seating (8:30 pm). Our travel agent suggested late seating so we would never have to rush back to the ship early from a shore excursion. It was also good because we did not have to worry about being out in an hour for a dinner seating after us. We could take our time. Our headwaiter Charle (not Charles) was from India. Our assistant waiter Anna was from Croatia. The ship had 40 different nationalities represented in the crew. Our room steward Moniqa was from Poland.

Patti and I were assigned to a table that sat 4 people. Our tablemates never showed until the 4th night. Our waiter led us to the table, shook out our napkins and laid them in our lap. The menus were presented and the fun began!! We usually had a choice of 6 appetizers, 2 salads and 6 entrées. Then a desert menu was given to us. One the first night I had a smoked salmon appetizer, salad and sweet and sour shrimp. Patti had beef vegetable soup, salad and a steak. Patti raved about how good their soups were. For desert we both chose Black Forest cake.
After dinner went to a welcome aboard show in the Caribbean lounge. It is a 3-story theater at the front of the ship. There was usually some kind of show every night at 10:30 and then sometimes a comedian at midnight. We were back in the room at midnight. We had been up for 22 hours, but having a great time.

Day 2: At Sea

Slept in! Got up about 9:30. We had coffee sitting on the balcony and watched the ocean. The water was a deep cobalt blue. Went to the breakfast buffet on the Lido deck. It was ok, kind of like most restaurant breakfast buffets. They did have very good fresh fruit and cook to order omelets. Went back to the room and changed into to swim suits to hang out on the deck. When we got back to the pool they were having a “hairy chest “ contest. Some lady asked me to move because I was blocking her view. I opted not to enter the contest. It was clear sunny and in the mid 80s. We ordered some tropical drinks and sat in the sun listening to the calypso and reggae band. After about 4 or 5 drinks we were ready to join them on stage. Took a late afternoon nap to get ready for dinner--after all, it was vacation!

It was the first formal night. Patti wore a sky blue silk dress- very pretty. I wore a black suit, white shirt and blue tie. Most guys decided not to wear tuxes and wore suits instead. Had a shrimp appetizer and lobster for dinner. Patti had minestrone soup and prime rib. We had cherries jubilee for desert. After I finished the first lobster my waiter asked me if I wanted another one. Stupid question…. I had it in minutes (remember the food is all included in the trip package!!) After dinner we had some formal pictures done in the picture gallery. There were many different backgrounds to choose from. Our favorite was a shot of us against an illuminated stairway in the atrium. The atrium is a 7-story area with glass elevators running up and down.
We then went back to the room and changed for the show. The show that night was “Living in America” music, song and dance. Also saw the comedy show that night. He was very funny and talked about the relationships between men and women. Went back to the room and watched some news on TV. We had satellite TV from Nashville, Tennessee of all places. Opened the door to the balcony and listened to the sound of the waves against the ship. Very relaxing.

Day 3: San Juan, Puerto Rico

Woke up at about 9:00 am and went to a sit-down breakfast in the Pacific dining room (not our regular dining room). Out waiter seemed rushed and rude. He did not like where Patti had sat down and asked her to move and he took my menu away before I was done looking at it. This was the only incident the entire cruise that dining service was not outstanding. The sit down breakfast selection was almost the same as the buffet, the only differences was a choice of eggs benedict, which was not available on the buffet.

We went to Promenade deck and reviewed our formal pictures from the night before. We decided on the shot of us standing on the illuminated staircase. We walked around the ship for a while and ended up in the Mediterranean restaurant and had a cup of coffee sitting in front of a huge picture window. Ran into Brad and Missy and they sat and chatted with us for a while. For lunch I got some Mongolian BBQ from the “Yangtze Wok” Chinese kitchen and Patti got cheeseburger. We took them back to the room and ate on the balcony. We spent a lazy afternoon in the room and read our books and napped.

As we sailed in San Juan we went by Morrow Castle a 15th century Spanish Fort. We were actually very close to it and I snapped a couple of pictures. As we eased up to the pier singers and dancers were welcoming the ship into port. Patti and I walked to the end of the pier and paid to take a city tour for $15 each. If we had booked through the ship it would have cost $30 each. We never booked through the ship and we could take almost all shore excursions on our own and at less cost.

Brad and Missy were on our little bus of 15 people. The tour driver took us to Morrow castle and we saw it from the shore side. It was a short stop as it was closed to enter. We drove around the town and went to a very nice casino and beach. The casino charges 400-600 a night for a room. I used the men’s room. No charge to pee. The architecture was a lot like that of Guam-- Spanish and tropical. At the end of the tour we ended up in Old San Juan’s shopping district. Patti bought a gray pearl necklace and bracelet from Majorca for $60. A good price, but as it turned out we could have got the necklace for $30 a few stores down. But it was still much cheaper than stateside.

The shopping district was next to the pier so we headed back to try and be back on board for our dinner seating. We had a long line to reboard the ship. There was only one gangway being used even though two were open. After being in line for about 30 minutes they finally opened the other ramp. A group of people came onto to the pier and started to head up to the other ramp cutting off the 200 people in line. Most all of us yelled “HEY THERE IS A LINE!!!”.

They stopped and got in line. I guess we made one guy upset and he picked me to vent on. He looked at me and yelled’ “ Hey buddy you need to chill. This is supposed to be a ‘fun’ ship.”
I responded, “Then have ‘fun’ standing in line like everyone else.” He was a big bubba. A little black lady behind us said not to worry, she had my back. I think she could have taken him.
We changed for dinner. Patti had roast chicken for dinner and pumpkin pie for dessert I had roast beef and kahloa cheesecake. After dinner we went to the 10:30 show. It was a balancing and juggling act followed by a comedian. We were back in the room by 11:30pm. We looked over the balcony and people were in line to make the 11:30 cut-off for reboarding. It started to rain-- a 12 minute light shower. We ordered room service for a couple of sandwiches. Not cause we were really very hungry but because it was free and we could!!

Day 4. St Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands. Port of Charlette Amalie.

Woke up at 6:30 to use the bathroom. Peeked out the window and we were already in port. We were not scheduled in until 7:00 am. Back to bed and got up at 8:30. Dressed in shorts for the day in St. Thomas. Stopped at the breakfast buffet then got a big bottle of water to take with us.
We wanted to go to Coral World, a sea aquarium park on the other side of the island. Again, we decided to not book through the ship. We took a taxi to the park. We still saved money and we could spend the day there at our pace and not have to meet back at a bus after 2 hours. At Coral World we saw a baby shark tank, watched sea turtles being fed, and saw a simulated coral reef tank.

The highlight of the park is a 3 story building that is 2 stories underwater in the bay. It actually is built into the reef. We saw hundreds of fish. All very colorful. A diver came down and hand-fed the fish right in front of us. We heard there was a barracuda that would occasionally come to the feedings. Most people were looking for him but left disappointed. Patti was more patient we walked around the viewing area and then she spotted him. He did look like he could ruin your day if he got hold of you.

Next to Coral World was Coki Beach, probably the prettiest beach we saw the entire cruise. We took our shoes off and walked in the water from one end to the other. The water was turquoise blue and the sand was sugar-white and smooth.

We took a taxi back to the ship and did some souvenir shopping at the stores around the ship. A Disney ship and a Royal Norwegian ship were docked with us.

Boarded the ship and napped till dinner. We kind of got use to a little afternoon nap. For dinner I had beef Wellington and Patti had Cornish Game hen. Patti and I had the table to ourselves for the entire cruise. Our regular tablemates finally showed up that night to try the dining room. They were uncomfortable and said they were more “buffet” people. I am not one to judge, but it took great effort to keep a straight face when the guy said to his wife, “Oh try the apple pie Hun, it tastes just like McDonalds!!” I was betting that would be their last visit but they did come 2 more times after that.

We went to the photo gallery and bought the pictures of us getting off the ship in San Juan and St Thomas. The show that night was a magic/comedy show which was very funny. We also stayed for the midnight adult comedy act. Then back to the room. Each night our room steward would have an animal made out of towels on the bed after she turned them down. Yes, we got spoiled. Had to come home from vacation and turn down our own bed---how uncivilized!!!!!

Day 5. St Marteens. Port of Phillipsburg.

St Marteens has a French side and a Dutch side. We were on the Dutch side. Again we were docked when we woke up. After breakfast we packed a bag with beach stuff and walked about a mile up to a beach. We could have taken a taxi for 3.00 but wanted to do the walk. Had to work off those dinners. We ended up on the beach in front of a hotel. The policy is if you are buying drinks you can use the chairs and umbrellas at no charge. Order drinks? No problem. It was fairly cheap. I was drinking Coronas for $3 each and Patti was getting strawberry margaritas for $5. Cheaper than a restaurant back home. You could actually buy beer from stands on the street for one dollar.

Patti got her hair braided by one of the island girls. “She went island on me Mon.” I was not too excited about her doing it at first but I liked the way it came out. It looked good with the coconut bikini top she got. (She only wore that in the room!).

When we got to the beach it was almost deserted except for Brad and Missy. We ran into them a lot. We took pictures together. I ended up buying an “island shirt” and Patti got an “island Dress”. My shirt was very colorful. I guess it was a popular choice because we saw about 7 other guys wearing one just like it on the ship. We did have a few short warm rain sprinkles but none that lasted for more than a few minutes. At about 3pm we rinsed off and put our shoes on. We walked through the lobby of the hotel to the street side and did some shopping as we made our way back to the ship. Got a couple of hot dogs for a late lunch and looked for a place to sit. You guessed it! There was Brad and Missy. There were about 3,000 guests on the ship and we four ran into each other all the time.

After lunch we went to the room because Patti had found a souvenir Missy had been looking for her daughter. They helped us drink the bottle of white wine the travel agent had got for us. When the bottle was empty I had to do the “note in the bottle thing.” I grabbed a piece of ship stationary and wrote ‘Carnival Victory. Dan, Patti Brad and Missy. Just Left St Marteens’-- corked the bottle and tossed it over our balcony into the water. Some kid in Cuba will probably find it and think, “Who the hell are Dan and Patti!”

For dinner I had a crab cake appetizer and Filet Mignon. Patti had French Onion Soup and the Filet. We went to the 10:00 show, which was a ship talent show, not bad. We went to the midnight buffet. It was kind of sad cause the ship was now heading back to Miami.

Day 6- At Sea

Slept in until 10 then hit the buffet. Sat and talked, got some coffee and headed back to the room. Spent the afternoon in the room. We went up on Lido deck to watch the tropical sunset, it was very pretty. The pool deck was mostly deserted we and changed to swim. We spent an hour in the hot tub all by ourselves. We sat and talked about where we want to vacation next.
Back to the room to get ready for dinner. This is the second formal night. We had the TV on the Captains channel. The computer shows a map of the ships location and speed. At that moment we were passing in the vicinity of the Turks and Cacos islands. 536 miles left to Miami. 536 miles left of vacation.

For the second formal night I wore a grey suit with a burgundy shirt and tie. Patti wore a slinky blue dress. For dinner I had a shrimp appetizer (2 of them) and Tiger prawns for the entrée. Patti had cream of broccoli soup and Prime Rib. For desert the surprise was Baked Alaska. It was very good. Patti was teasing and pretended to lick the plate. She thought no one was watching but the Captain Waiter saw her and rushed over. He was laughing. He said it was the funniest thing he had seen all night. Patti was beet red. After diner we had some more portraits taken.

The 10:30 show was “Vroom” a rock and roll variety show. It was fast paced and high energy. We also stayed for the midnight show, a different comedian for adult comedy. Ran into Brad and Missy after the show and went to the midnight buffet with them. There was an ice sculpture of a 10 ft dragon. The ice sculpture was very cool. Ice sculpture-cool, ice cool. Get it?? It was funny when I made the journal entry at midnight.

Day 7: At Sea

Got up about 10 and grabbed a cup of coffee to take with us to the debarkation briefing. It lasted about and hour. The cruise director gave us tips on how to handle our bags and what to do and expect leaving the ship. After that we did the lunch buffet in the Mediterranean dining room. The lasagna was very good. We reviewed the pictures from the second formal night and bought one then bought some souvenirs from the shop on the ship.

We went to the casino and started with 40 dollars. Patti was hot on the quarter slots. At one point she was up about 90 dollars. I guess that just meant it would take longer to give it all back. She eventually did, but it was fun. Left the casino only down the 40 we started with but it kept us busy for about 2 hours.

Went up to Lido deck for a few tropical drinks and to listen to the calypso band. A very overweight lady had her boobs almost falling out of her swimsuit. She had her straps off and was kind of busting out the sides. It looked like her top would drop any minute. Patti’s brother wanted a picture from a topless beach. I had the camera ready to snap a shot for him, but she managed to keep it in.

We went back to the room to start packing. Sigh. We were almost done when we went to dinner. Patti had Roast Turkey and I had Château Brigand. Watched a 10:30 comedy show and went pack to the room to finish packing. We had to place our bags in the hall outside our door no later than 1 am so they could be taken down to a holding area to be taken off the ship in the morning. Due to the Fall time change we got an extra hour of sleep.

Day 8: Back in Miami

Got up at 7am. The ship was at the pier in Miami. We had laid out our clothes the night before. We went to our dining room for a sit-down breakfast. The ship had to clear immigration and customs so it would be awhile before we could get off the ship. This time we were in our regular dining room for breakfast and had our regular waiter. We did not experience any rude action, only outstanding service this time. After breakfast we went back and stayed in the room till 10. They announced a delay but never explained why. We had to leave the room so housekeeping could prepare it for the next cruise. The ship was leaving that afternoon for its next trip. We waited on the lido deck near the pool. About 11:20 they called our color and we went through customs as we left the ship. It took a few minutes to find one of our bags cause it was not in the right area.

We were bused back to the airport, about a 20 minute ride. We arrived and checked in. We cleared security about 1:30- an hour before take off. The gate area was full so we grabbed a couple of sandwiches in a shop and ate lunch. We were flying to Atlanta and had to change planes to connect for Dayton. If everything went well we would have 35 minutes to make the connection. We arrived in Atlanta about 20 minutes late.

There was a couple behind us on the plane that need to make that connection too. We all ‘ran” together to catch the shuttle tram to the next concourse. We made it with only minutes to spare. We found out there where 5 couples from our plane for the Dayton flight. Only 2 couples made it. We landed in Dayton about 7pm and went to pick up our luggage. One bag was missing. The baggage clerk said the plane ran out of room and it would be on the 11pm flight. They would bring it to the house.

Started with 4 bags now at 3. We had left the car in the AAA parking lot next to the Airport and called to be picked up. After about 15 minutes a driver showed up. There was an older lady who was about 69 taking the ride to her car also. She was very friendly and we chatted about vacations. At the lot the driver took care of our bags while I paid. He came out and said we were all set. Drove the 25 miles back to Fairborn and unloaded the car. One bag was missing- the garment bag. Down to 2 bags. To say I was upset is putting it mildly. I went into the house and told Patti, “I guess it’s a damn good thing we didn’t have any more stops or else we would have got home with no luggage!”

I called AAA and told them they misplaced the bag or left it on the bus. Their response was—If it’s not on the bus I probably left it at the airport. I said if its not on the bus your driver put it in the others lady’s car. She smartly said, “How would I know that”. (Well, uh duh!!!) As it turned out the lady had called and left a message saying they put the bag in her car. She said she is only 10 minutes from the airport and was taking that back. We thought that was awful nice. I called AAA and said she had it. They said, “We know we found it.”

I said, “You only found it cause she brought it back. I told them to bring it to me and they refused. That made me a tad unhappier. She said they were short drivers. I suggested they send it by taxi. “Oh we can’t do that.” I told them to call her manager. She said she could not do that either. I said, “I know you can.” She got huffy and said. “OK, but I know what she is going to say.”

Well, as it turns out the manager told them to bring it to me. When it showed up I said a polite ‘thank you’. And locked the door. One of life’s little ‘victories’.
A great trip we can’t wait to cruise again!!!!!!!!