Carnival Victory: 50 days til we sail

We have hit a nice little milestone today. 50 days until we sail on the Victory, again. With the holidays around the corner we are going to be focusing on those so before we know it, it will be January and we will be about 30 days out :)

Just a quick recap of what we have planned.

Carnival Victory February 3-8
Miami Feb 3
Day at Sea Feb 4
Grand Turk Feb 5
Day at Sea Feb 6
Little Stirrup Cay (Coco Cay) Feb 7
Miami Feb 8

We really aren't planning much this trip. We have reserved a spot for beach horseback riding on Grand Turk and then plan on lounging the rest of the day. We will hit up Margaritavilla and then the beach. As far as LSC, it shall just be a beach day. I may try my hand at snorkeling, never done that before.

As far what we are doing on board, we usually don't do much. We arent big on the productions but do enjoy a late night comedy show and ending our evenings in the casino & night club. I was thinking of checking out the spa on this trip.

Anyone checked out the spa on one of their trips? How was your experience? Was it worth the money? Let me know :)

Carnival Victory: Grand Turk - Horse Back Riding

We have booked our first excursion for our trip! We decided to book with an independent company to go horse back riding on the beach during our stop in Grand Turk. We are in port from 7-5 so we booked at 10:30 am for a 1.5 hour excursion. The company so far has been great to work with and responds quickly to questions. I will post a full review once we have returned.

There is a lot of debating for most people when it comes to booking excursions. You have two choices, book through your cruise line or book through a private company. Each has its own pros and cons.

If you book through your cruise line you are guaranteed that they wont leave you behind. What does this mean? Sometimes things beyond our control happen and you could run late back to port. As long as you are booked direct, the ship will wait for you. The excursion will let the appropriate people onboard know. If you booked privately, more than likely the ship will leave without you and if you are traveling without a passport then you are SOL. Now what are the cons of booking through the cruise line? More likely than not, you are paying more money and getting a less personal experience. The cruise lines have a reputation of booking as many people as possible on their tours to maximize their revenue. A lot of people compare taking a direct excursion to being herded around like cattle.

So what are the pros and cons of booking independently? Basically the exact opposite of booking direct. You are more likely going to get left behind if you are late to the pier, although that may not always be the case. It is definitely a scary thought and you don't want to be featured as a pier runner on youtube. However you are more likely than not getting a better deal, a more personal experience and a longer excursion.

The best thing I can recommend is to do your research! Most importantly is to look at what time you are in port and compare it to the excursion time options. If you are pressed for time during an afternoon excursion that is a do not miss for your port, booking direct is probably the best option. But if, like us, you are going to take an excursion in the morning on a small island, it is fine to book a private excursion. How many people are the max amount allowed for your tour? If you want a more personal experience where you can ask questions and really get to know your port, booking a private tour is the best option.

Also look at the price, it adds up when you have a family or a group going. Even the smallest discount booking private can save you tons if you have a couple people traveling together. Something else to mention, what does your price include? Some include transportation, snacks, drinks or even lunch. Again, that adds up so it is something to consider.

Reviews. I can not stress this enough. Do not just book a company you have never heard of or even worse one that is not reputable. I have talked about Trip Advisor in the past. It is a great site that reviews hotels, excursion companies, restaurants, etc. Utilize other peoples experiences, making sure to take them with a grain of salt. Some peoples experiences may not pertain to what you are doing and lets face it, some people just like to complain. I cant speak for other lines but Carnivals site also offers reviews on their excursions.

I hope these tips help you pick a great excursion. We have booked both private and direct in the past. We were lucky enough that the ship excursions we booked were reasonably priced and had a small max of people. We have however priced out excursions that were just ridiculously expensive. Its all relative so you can take this information and apply it to your trip and see where you end up.

A post for the ladies :)

As our cruise gets closer I am trying to come up with different ideas for a beachy themed manicure. I usually get my nails done a couple days prior and then have to deal with chipped nails during my trip, not a good look! I think I have found something that will work! I tried out some Jamberry nail stickers and they lasted for two weeks! They could have lasted longer but I have a tendency to fidget and peeled them off during a meeting last week.

Anywho they have tons of designs and even an area to create your own if you have an idea of what you want but dont see it as an option! I peeped their site and came up with 4 different looks that could work as a mani or pedi, perfect for a cruise or beach vacay.

Flip Flop

Aloha Flower

Nautical 

Delta Gamma Anchors

Let me know if you try this on your upcoming trip!

Carnival Victory: Final Payment Dance

Excuse me while I do my final payment dance! You can look away if you want, it is slightly embarrassing! I always love when I make my final payment, it means that I am thaaaaaat much closer to taking my cruise! With the holidays coming up it will make it go by that much quicker as well. WAHOO!

Now we just have to book our airfare. Rates have stayed exactly the same since we started looking. It is a little more than we usually pay to go to Florida but it is still very reasonable. I am going to reach out to a horse back riding company in Grand Turk to see if we can get that all squared away and then we will be good to go! Cant wait to sail away with a Drink of the Day!

Carnival Victory: Planning process

Hey fellow cruisers!! As we have crept on 70 days until we set sail we are diving into the planning process! Final payment is closely approaching and although we are happy with the price we paid I am sure a lot of people are eagerly hoping they get a price drop. Since the rate we booked at included OBC (On Board Credit), the price drop would have to be pretty significant for us to scoop it up but we would consider upgrading to a balcony if the price was right ;)

We have been doing a little research here and there in regards to excursions but this will probably be a no frills type of vacation. We really just want to take a relaxing break and hang out on the beach in February while everyone we know is freezing their tails off; yes we will be sending some braggy photos to them!

One thing we do want to try to get in is horse back riding on the beach. I am a little iffy about it but I get to do a lot of the planning for our trips so if my boyfriend comes up with an idea I try to incorporate it. We originally looked into doing this in the Bahamas for our cruise on the Glory but got no response from the tour operator :(

Carnival does offer a horseback riding excursion in Grand Turk but it is about the same cost as doing it through a private company. I feel we may get a better experience being one on one with a small group rather than being herded around on the ship excursion. It does make us feel better that if we book with Carnival the ship wont leave us behind but with us having such a long day here I am sure we will have no issues with timing. Decisions, decisions. Only time will tell.

We are definitely planning a beach day for our stop at Little Stirrup Cay. Just a nice, relaxing day drinking a Miami Vice or two and hanging out in a lounger.

Have you been to Grand Turk or Little Stirrup Cay (Coco Cay)? Ever been horseback riding on the beach? Let me know your thoughts!

Faster to the Fun?

Carnival recently revealed their "Faster to the Fun" program with their 2.0 upgrades. We decided we would buy it for our upcoming cruise on the Victory. What does "FTTF" include?

*Priority Check in with Express Boarding - There is a separate check in line for those who have achieved Platinum & Diamond status, along with FTTF cruisers. You board the cruise before regular boarding.

*Guaranteed Stateroom - Your room is ready as soon as you board, as opposed to having to wait until 1:30 or so as normal. This is great for people with carry on bags or kids.

 *Express Luggage - Your luggage makes it way up to your room ahead of normal.

 *Guest Services Line - Hate when you just need something quick but there are 50 people at Guest Services? Now you can join the "platinum" line! You also have a designated line you can call from your room to reach guest services.

*Dining Reservations - Your group gets priority for reservations at both the main dining room as well as specialty restaurants.

 *Tender Priority - Ready to board a tender boat to one of your port stops? Head down to that special line at guest services and you can bypass the line. NOTE - This does not include return tender OR ports of call where you are docked at the pier.

 *Debarkation - You can leave first or last! FTTF allows you to choose early or late debarking.

Think FTTF seems like something you could use to your advantage? Want to know if it is available for your sailing? Check out Carnivals Shore Excursion page for more info.

**You only need to buy FTTF for one person per room, not for both or all. If you have more than one room, one person from each room must purchase.

Carnival Victory AGAIN

We booked another cruise !!! We are still interested in going to Bermuda for 2015  but since those schedules aren't out yet we decided to book a short cruise next February to hold me off :)
Carnival had a "National Cruise Vacation Month" sale with pretty good rates as well as offering on board credit so we jumped the gun. In addition to the great sale, we still had our 20% off a future cruise discount from our debacle during Hurricane Sandy last fall good for use on a 6 day or less cruise so we booked a 5 day from Miami.

There were 2 options we were looking at.
Option 1
Carnival Victory sailing from Miami 5 Days February
2 days at sea, 2 port days: Grand Turk , Little Stirrup Cay (Coco Cay)

OR

Carnival Sunshine (formerly the Destiny) sailing from Port Canaveral (Orlando) 5 days April
1 sea day, 3 port days: Nassau, Freeport, Key West

Ultimately the decision came down to the itinerary. The Sunshine is a completely new ship and all it has to offer is amazing BUT the itinerary is terrible. We LOVED Key West but probably wouldn't go back on a cruise. There is a lot to see and the area is 100% different that anywhere else in the US. It is slow paced and fun and there is A LOT of drinking going on. The Bahamas- I feel so so about. On our last cruise we were to call at Nassau & Freeport. Sandy came in and we were left with a couple of hours in Nassau. We had an awesome time at Atlantis but really there isn't much else to see. The vendors were also worse here than anywhere else we have been. From what I know, Freeport is the same deal. A couple of beaches and some shopping, not much else. Nassau is a frequent stop on most of Eastern Caribbean itineraries so I am sure we will go back eventually.

So with the Sunshine itinerary out of the question we ended up with Grand Turk and Little Stirrup Cay (pronounced Key). Grand Turk is the largest of the Turks & Caicos islands from what  I understand and the port area is great. The beach is right off the pier as is a large Margaritaville Party Pool Bar area. I'm sure we will be stopping here ;)


Now there is Little Stirrup Cay which I had seen on a couple of random itineraries. This intrigued me. Turns out that this is actually Coco Cay, one of Royal Caribbeans private islands, that they lease to Carnival sometimes. Having never been to one of the cruise lines private islands before I was excited!


I am also excited to be on the Victory again, we even got the same room! This ship may not have all the bells and whistles that newer or updated ships have but it will always be our first ship. I love it. The layout is great and the Panorama deck is a great location for our room to be.

And of course there is Miami- my favorite place to cruise from and I love South Beach. We aren't sure if we will do a pre or post cruise in Miami since this is a last minute trip, we have to have a last minute budget. 


LET THE PLANNING BEGIN! Interested in following our planning process? Subscribe to get all the latest posts to your email!