Ship Info

Victory at sea!
[excerpted & edited from CruiseCritic.com, by Dan Askin, News Editor]

Overview 

• Full-service amenities plus extras like a water-slide and outdoor movie screenings
• Dining options include: elegant sit-down, lavish buffet, 24-hour room service, coffee house, deli, pizza, even sushi
• Entertainment from karaoke to production shows
• Generously sized standard accommodations with cabins that are among the largest in the big-ship category

Ship Stats

• Crew: 1,100 
• Launched: 2000 
• Decks: 13 Tonnage: 102,000 
• Passengers: 2,758

Carnival Victory has all the traditional Carnival accoutrements: an exuberant main dining room and a two-deck buffet complex; a bright, centrally located casino; a bar-line promenade; an impressive spa; a comprehensive Camp Carnival program for kids; a daily schedule of jocular activities; and more than enough places to drink and socialize. The ship also features a few contemporary touches, including a sushi bar and drive-in style poolside movie screen. Ultimately, you get a week of evenhanded leisure at a decent price. It's like a comfortable dream.

Dress Code

During the day, beachy or port-specific attire is the norm. Carnival's evening dress code is typically "cruise casual," but on one night during the voyage "cruise elegant" eveningwear is suggested. On cruise casual nights, the line recommends sport slacks, khakis, jeans (no cut-offs), long dress shorts and collared sport shirts for men, and casual dresses, casual skirts or pants and blouses, summer dresses, capri pants, dress shorts and jeans (no cut-offs) for women. Cruise elegant dress means dress slacks, dress shirts and sport coats (suggested not required) for men and cocktail dresses, pantsuits, elegant skirts and blouses for women. On elegant nights, passengers may choose to dress more formally in suits and ties, tuxedos or evening gowns.

Gratuities
Carnival recommends $11.50 per person, per day. The guidelines allocate $5.80 to dining room services, $3.70 to cabin services and $2 per day for alternative services, which include kitchen, entertainment, guest services and other hotel staff members. The amount is automatically added to your shipboard account, but can be adjusted in either direction at the guest services desk. A 15 percent gratuity is automatically added to bar bills. Tipping for room service at delivery is expected (and appreciated) by the service staff.

Cabins

Cabins are standard Carnival offerings (which means they are well-sized for a mega-ship). There are 444 verandah cabins (185 square feet with 35- to 75-square-foot balconies), 327 standard oceanview cabins (185 square feet [with a few larger 220-square-foot versions]) and 530 inside cabins (185 square feet). The decor features peach bedding, a red pleather couch, and Formica closets and drawers -- the absurdly comfortable beds trump any questionable design elements. Bathrooms in all categories have showers, a hair dryer and a medicine cabinet. Carnival includes free toiletry/amenity kits [containing items such as] disposable razors, soap, shampoo and conditioner, breath mints, emergen-C energy booster and a Binaca-like Listerine product.

All cabins have TV's, radio, phones, and an adequate amount of closet and drawer space. Most have twin beds that can be converted to a king upon request.

If you need anything ironed or laundered you can simply point out what needs doin' to your cabin steward. Be sure to check the rate sheet prior to requesting this service. There are six small self-use coin-laundry rooms (with irons for use) if you're a self-motivated type.

Dining
Carnival Victory has two main dining rooms, both spanning two decks. Each sea-themed venue (stoic mermaid heads, seahorses, fish murals) has two set seating times for dinner (6 and 8:15 p.m.), and features a second floor wraparound balcony. Passengers also have the option to sign up for My Time Dining, Carnival's flex-dining program. You can make reservations or show up anytime between 5:45 to 9:30 p.m. [We will be planning a set meal time as part of the pirate cruise to ensure we are together for our activities conducted during dinner]

Menu choices are broken down into starters (blue cheese salad, gazpacho, fried shrimp), mains (linguini with sausage, oven roasted turkey, petit filet) and choices "from our comfort kitchen" (beef brisket, shrimp & fries). Vegetarians always have a dedicated main (tofu steak) and healthy options are designated as such with a little heart. Desserts, including the notorious chocolate melting cake, finish off the meal.

Carnival Victory's more casual venue is the two-deck Mediterranean Restaurant, located on Lido  and Panorama decks. It's fashioned after an (ersatz) seaside Italian villa. Standard breakfast choices are offered daily [along with an omelet station].  If you're aiming to consume something more exotic for your first meal of the day, like Lobster eggs Benedict, head to the Atlantic or Pacific dining rooms for open seating breakfast.

For a typical lunch in the Mediterranean buffet, you'll find made-to-order pasta, salads, hot entrees like chicken parmesan, carved beef, baked salmon with bearnaise sauce, etc. There are also daily theme buffets, ostensibly offering foods from places like Mexico and India.

Beyond the usual buffet station offerings, the Yangtze Wok offers made to order stir-fries, The East River Deli features a variety of interesting sandwich choices, Mississippi BBQ serves burgers, grilled chicken sandwiches, hot dogs and fries, and Pizzeria Arno (available 24 hours) serves pizza.  Additionally, a popular sushi cart is rolled out nightly.

A short walk from the South China Sea Club Casino, you'll find the Coral Sea Cafe, which serves coffee, cappuccino, espresso and various desserts -- large cookies, chocolate cakes, pastries -- for a fee.  There are also several highly intoxicating soft-serve ice cream stations, available 24 hours a day.

Room service is available 24 hours a day, and it's free. You can get a variety of food items delivered to your cabin, including sandwiches, cheese and crackers and booze too.. We must give commendation where commendation is due. They will accommodate bizarre requests without the slightest bit of scrutiny or judgment.  Continental breakfast is also available. Simply mark the card found in your cabin with your choices, jot down a time, and someone will deliver your food.

Also available on all of Carnival's ships is The Chef's Table dining experience, which affords a dozen passengers a multicourse dinner with a master chef, a private cocktail reception and a tour of the galley and its operations. This dining option usually takes place in a nontraditional venue, such as the galley or library, and it can be booked onboard at the information desk for a per-person cost of $75.

Entertainment

Almost every night in the three-deck high, state-of-the-art Caribbean Lounge there's some sort of entertainment. Every type of act is represented, from a Vegas-style illusionist/magician to R-rated comedians and singing/dancing/cabaret acts. On the final night, following Powerball Bingo, Victory features the Legends Show, a talent revue comprised of passengers performing as Elton John, Cher, the late-great James Brown, etc.

An outdoor movie screen shows concert videos, movies and sporting events.  The ship also houses the South China Sea Club Casino and the Virtual Sea game room packed with arcade consoles, priced at $1+ per play.

The Ionian Room is a comfortable cigar bar with red leather chairs, Hellenic columns and glass display cases with Grecian Urns. You'll find jazz here. If you can tolerate cigar smoke, it's a great place for a pre-dinner cocktail.

Aft, all on Promenade Deck, you have the Black & Red Seas Bar, a nightly karaoke hang, and one of the most popular spots on the ship; The Caspian Wine and Caviar Bar featuring portraits of Czar Nicholas (and wife Alexandra), a ruler known for his love of wine, bloody suppression techniques, and summary execution following the October revolution of 1917; and The Irish Sea Bar, a sing-along alcove fashioned after a traditional Irish pub that features a piano player. Connected to the casino on the port side, the Aegean sports bar is a modest-sized hang with about eight TV's.

For late-night partyin', there's Club Arctic, with its kaleidoscope of floor to ceiling TV's, inset half-circle dance floor, and surrounding seats to watch and mock at fellow passengers spazzing about. The Adriatic Lounge is a more adult hangout. Modeled after a French salon with columns and gradually ascending steps, it's a bit more elegant and a bit less in your face. This spot features more traditional couples' dancing, rather than the improvisational hip-hop groovin' found in Club Arctic.

Public Rooms

The stairwells host illuminated murals of mermaids and other mythological sea-beings.

Adjacent to the Ionian room is the ship's 24-hour Internet cafe. There are six terminals; the charge is 75 cents per minute, but you can bring the cost down to $0.30 if you buy 1,000 minutes ($300). Look out for Internet specials. On my sailing, between the hours of 2 and 4 p.m. on a Friday, there was a buy two minutes, get one free deal. Victory also has Wi-Fi hot spots in the Ionian lounge and Club Arctic.

The [small] Indian library, located on Atlantic Deck (4), is used less for the selection of reading materials and more for people playing board games or taking part in the unsupervised chess tournament.

Spa & Fitness

Carnival Victory has four pools and countless lounge chairs located on the open upper decks. I never had any issue finding a lounge chair, either with the masses or away from them. The ship's four pools include

• Sirens' pool - featuring a retractable roof
• Triton's Pool, centrally located on the open portion of Lido Deck
• King of the Seas pool [into which pour the ship's water slide]
• Children's Pool (Sun Deck), a small splash pool. 

Tucked on a corner of Sun Deck is a nine-hole mini-golf area [that takes less than 15 minutes to play].

On Spa Deck there's is a running track (10 laps to the mile) along with a couple of shuffleboard courts.  Also located on Spa Deck is the ship's fitness facility. There's plenty of equipment -- bikes, ellipticals, treadmills, free weights, and weight machines. The gym also houses two hot tubs, a steam room and a sauna, as well as men's and women's locker rooms. Specialty classes (yoga, Pilates) are available for $12. Personal trainers are also available for an additional charge.

Spa Carnival, operated by Steiner's of London, offers everything from hot stone massages to Ionithermie Detox and the trendy GTW Teeth Whitening.

Family affairs

It's quite clear that the youths really have an enjoyable time aboard Victory. Carnival has activities set up for every age group, from toddlers to teens. Children's World, Victory's dedicated kid's spot, features arts and crafts, movie nights, Gameboys, PS2 and music. Carnival breaks down the groups as follows: Under 2's, kids between the ages of 2 - 5, 6 - 8, 9 - 11, 12 -14 and 15 - 17.

All age groups are supervised by hip counselors, with regularly scheduled activities taking place between 9 a.m. and 10 p.m., after which Night Owl parties -- late-night group baby-sitting with a more fun name -- are available for $6.75 per hour, per kid (plus 15 percent gratuity per child).

Up on Sun Deck (12), there's an outdoor area with a kiddie pool and playhouse for the younger kids.  There's also a spot just for the teens (No Grownups allowed!) called Club O2 where 13 - 17's may be found playing cards and talking about things that interest them, namely dating, music and video games. There was also a daily teen disco in Club Arctic, available two hours before the club became adults-only.

Many of the daily age-appropriate activities, such as Outburst!, ship drawing contests and "name that tune" took place in Club Arctic.

Note: Many kids also seem more than content roving the ship in packs, playing games of their own invention, or peering covetously through the glass windows into the adults-only Club Arctic.

[updated 21 July 2016]