Carnival Victory AGAIN: Debarkation

Whew! Sorry for the distance between posts! I have been training for the Disney Princess Half Marathon- but more on that later!


Debarkation- everyones least favorite day. The night before you have all your stuff packed up. You can leave your luggage outside of your door for them to collect and for your pickup once you are back at your home port. A lot of people take that route but we prefer to carry off because of how hectic debarkation can be. You add in looking for your luggage that morning along with the other grumpy passengers getting off board and it could throw a wrench in your plans.

We had an early flight to catch at MIA so we were up early to catch a little to eat, room service of course! Then we waited for them to call for any one who was doing self assist debarkation. Basically that is when you take all of your belongs off yourself.  We had packed up our stuff and hung out on the lido. They did self assist by deck and since we were on the Panorama, we were about the last to be called. With that being said we were still off, through customs in 15 minutes and at Miami Airport by 7:45 am.  The airport was getting busy so the earlier you can get there, the better.


Carnival and all other lines have "guidelines" in regards to what is the earliest you should book a flight on debarkation day. In this instance, the recommendation for leaving Miami is 11:30- 12pm. Our flight left at 11:05, just slightly sooner than their recommendation. Our only options were early morning flights that we would NEVER make, this flight or a 9 pm flight. This worried me some but as you can see, we made it just fine. We have also always came in to the cruise the day of, either by flight or car. The most important thing is going with what you are comfortable with, if it will add extra stress to have to rush to the cruise port to make it on time or to the airport to make your flight, it may be better to have a pre/ post cruise stay planned.

Carnival Victory AGAIN: CoCo Cay (Little Stirrup Cay) Part 2

After a couple hours out there I finally made it back to my dear boyfriend who had found a lounger under a nice palm. Once I returned, we took a walk to the closest bar and went back to relax. It was about 85* so I managed to reapply sun screen plenty but it didn't help. I was out in the reflective water for too long and managed to get a free sunburn souvenir! It wasn't bothering me so we took a walk to where lunch was being served.

They offered a BBQ lunch for free as they do on Carnivals private islands, Half Moon Cay. You were able to use your sail and sign card at the bar but the drinks were WAYYYYY more expensive than on shore. I am sure that it costs them an arm & a leg to rent out the island and that is the reasoning for the extra cost. I was disappointed that they didn't offer my mocha chocolate getaway that I had been drinking all week but they only were serving generic Daiquiris & mixed drinks.

We decided to eat lunch at a shaded picnic table and then went exploring. They offered a walking tour of the island as an excursion. They had someone explaining about the low tide, animals & plants. We decided to just walk the trail by ourselves but I am sure the tour was nice. We got to see a lot of iguanas and small lizards as well as seeing where the people who take care of the island lived. It was getting kind of hot so we slipped our feet in the water for a bit more before walking to the beach closer to where we entered the island. The area was crowded and there was a lot of music playing but people seemed to be having a good time. A lot of people were playing out in the water. They had one of those inflatable water parks as well as some seadoo rentals and different snorkeling activities.

We stayed there for quite some time enjoying our last bit of time on the island. We stopped by the cash only market to do some shopping from locals who came by boat to sell their goods. After that we hopped on a tender and then headed back to the boat.

We would definitely like to come back to CoCo Cay again as well like to  try some other private islands. It is a relaxing day in port for sure! Have you ever been to a cruise line private island? Which one? What did you like about it?

Carnival Victory AGAIN: CoCo Cay (Little Stirrup Cay) Part 1

Friday February 7: 7-5

Let me first clear up what some people may find confusing: Why does this island go by two names? Little Stirrup Cay is the name that appears on their itineraries. However, they rent this private island from Royal Caribbean. RCI calls this island CoCo Cay. It appears they rent this island occasionally through out the winter season to Carnival and possibly other lines on days when it is not needed.

The island is gorgeous, the water is amazing and its "wildlife" can be entertaining. This was our first time at a cruise line private island and we LOVE the private island life. We were up early again this port day and were greeted with another beautiful sunrise. As with most or all private islands, there isn't a normal dock so you take a small tender boat to shore. They got started rather early this morning, with a tender dedicated to the crew & materials needed to take onshore along with a passenger tender.

                                                  A MSC ship was in port at the private island next to CoCo Cay

We also had never taken a tender boat on any of our previous stops so I was interested in the process. Since we had purchased FTTF we were able to for go the lines and be directed to the front. We didn't need to use that feature since there were so few people getting off so early. Later in the day, if you do not have FTTF, you would go and get a numbered tender ticket which let you know what tender you would be going on. They had you wait in the Caribbean lounge until your number was called. I am sure this is a tedious process and am glad we didn't need to go through this.

                                           The tender in the back was the crew only tender taking supplies on shore.

The tender ride was only about 15 minutes or so and then we were off for our first taste of a Bahamian private island. We walked along to the right as we were headed to Barefoot Beach. I did my research and heard that this was the place to be. It was further than most people wanted to walk and therefore a lot more serene that the first beach you come to. There were bars here and there that we passed along the way as well as some lively roosters, chickens and chicks and an iguana hanging out in a tree.

Walking past a bar and some lovely hammocks in the shade, we finally made it to our destination. Let me tell you, the view from Barefoot Beach is AMAZING. I have never seen anything like it. The water here was in low tide so there were people walking hundreds of yards out (I would soon join them.) The many palm trees here made it a perfect shady spot on the beach and the quietness of it all added to the paradise.

I followed the "trail" out about 200 yards to what looked to be deeper water. Once out there, the deeper part was actually just a lot of sea grass that made it look deep and dark. The water here varied, never going higher than mid thigh on me and it was the perfect temperature. Here I explored, finding a couple of conchs, sea snails and some sea urchins. There were plenty of types of fish swimming here and there and many people found star fish. There were some barracudas off to the side and the snorklers & kayaks close by saw some sharks! I later was able to swim with a small ray right off shore.

                                                                  People walking out along the shallow trail

Another conch I found along the way

                                                                                                Sea Urchin

Carnival Victory AGAIN: Embarkation Day

Feb 3 Day 1- Miami
Feb 4 Day 2- Day at Sea
Feb 5 Day 3- Grand Turk
Feb 6 Day 4- Day at Sea
Feb 7 Day 5- Little Stirrup Cay (CoCo Cay)
Feb 8 Day 6- Miami


We started our day bright and early... well maybe just early because it certainly wasn't bright!! Our plane departed at 6 am so we were on our way to the airport at 4:15. With about a 30 minute drive we arrived, checked our bag and headed through security. They started boarding around 5:30 and we were quickly on our way. We landed at MIA a little before 8:30 and the plan was to pick up our luggage and head to the port. Well wouldnt you know that right next to our baggage carousel was right in front of Carnivals handy Miami Airport check in counter. CONVENIENT!!

So we waited(forever) for our luggage and then popped into the Priority Line since we had purchased Faster to the Fun. There were two attendants working the counter and things moved rather smoothly. We gave them our boarding pass, took our sail & sign photos and were given our S&S cards as well as a priority boarding placard.  We promptly headed up to Starbucks, headed back down to a taxi and headed to the port. Taxi rate was $24 as posted on the window sticker plus $1 for our extra bag. I had seen this in Puerto Rico but not the last time in Miami. The $24 rate said it included all fees so I am sure we got ripped off but whats a $1 right?

We arrived at the port around 9:30 and it was a disaster. There were sworms of cruisers who had just debarked everywhere. After briefly standing in line behind some debarked passengers waiting for their shuttle we were shown the correct way. We went straight inside but realized we hadn't checked our bag. No worries, the woman checking us in assured us that we could carry both of our bags on. I was worried our bag would be too large but it wasn't and worked out just fine. Just a note, we didn't need to use FTTF for this area since there were very few people there this early.  We had no line in security, bags went through easy and we were sent upstairs to wait. We sat right down since we had already checked in and just waited for boarding. I did notice the terminal we were in no longer had the "kiosks" to add money to your S&S account. We did this in 2011 on the Destiny and thought it was a neat feature. The lines to check in also seemed very long. I would say either get there early, get there after they start boarding or check in at MIA.

Finally around 11:30 they began to call the wedding guests for them to embark, followed by Diamond, Platinum and Suite guests. Faster to the Fun was called next and by 11:45 we were on board! We went straight to our room to drop off our luggage. We were on the Panorama deck and found the fire doors to be closed. We opened them up and went to our room with no fuss from anyone. We didn't stay long and then headed to the lido to eat and get our first drinks. After lunch we headed back to our room for a small nap before muster.

Muster drill was running a tad late. It was hot as usual but pretty painless and lucky us our side of the ship was called first. Wahoo, that never happens! So we made a quick face time call to my nephew and then shut our phones off for a lovely week.

The first night was really relaxed. We had anytime dining and headed there around 6:45 along with everyone else. We were in line for maybe 10 minutes before we were seated but dinner was incredibly slow. We were there for about two hours and it was dreadful. We decided to go a bit later the rest of the week and it mostly worked out. The ATD seems to be a bit over worked and service was slow the entire cruise, with the first night being the absolute worst we have ever had.

We spent our night a little in the casino, stopped by the Taste Bar, headed to the disco. The disco is using quite slow the first night and then it livens up but there was a pretty good crowd in there and we had a good time. We stayed out until about 2 am and then headed to bed with the hopes of sleeping in for our first day at sea.



Stay tuned, more on the taste bar, day 2 and pictures to come!

Carnival Victory AGAIN: We're back

Sad to say we are back from our latest cruise. We took yesterday and today to re-charge before having to go back to work tomorrow :( We had a great time on the Victory again, she is definitely our favorite ship of the three we have sailed.  Grand Turk has been added to our favorite ports. Little Stirrup Cay was also an amazing stop, we really enjoyed the "private island" aspect. I will be working on my review and getting all my pics loaded for you all this week.

Single Digit Dance

Hi:) Shield your eyes! Its time for another embarrassing shimee!! Its me, doing the single digit dance. We leave in 9 days WAHOOOOOOO. I feel like I have SO much to do this week. I haven't started to pack or anything so I will get some of that accomplished tomorrow. I work all week and then it is just a couple days until we fly out to Miami. So far it just looks like rain coming our way. Fingers crossed for good weather!!

Just a little recap of our upcoming itinerary:

Monday Feb 3 Miami- depart 4 pm
Tuesday Day at Sea
Wednesday Grand Turk 7-5
Thursday Day at Sea
Friday Little Stirrup Cay/ Coco Cay 7-5
Saturday Miami 8 am


We cancelled our planned excursion in GT so both days will be relaxing days at the beach. Can not wait!!!!

A cruise with no excursions???

We have decided to cancel our horse back riding excursion. Although my BF was originally interested when we looked at it in the Bahamas, he has now lost interest and it certainly isnt on my top things to do right now. We have decided to do 0 excursions. We are simply going to lounge around on the beach, visit Jacks Shack and have a great relaxing time in Grand Turk. In CoCo Cay we also plan to do nada!! I am interested to see if this is as perfect as it sounds or if we will get bored. Although, with this cold winter weather, laying on a lounger in the Caribbean with a Miami Vice sounds amazingggggg.

Have you ever gone on a vacation and not done any sort of excursion? Let me know how your experience was!

Carnival Victory: 30 days til we sail

I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday season! Now that the new year has begun, we are 30 days out from being in the warm Caribbean sun. I can check our airfare off my list of things to do before we are ready to go.

We are flying in to Miami day of the cruise as usual, arriving in Miami around 8 am. This is the same AA flight we took for our cruise on the Destiny and it is great to be one of the first flights out. We are hoping for no winter weather shenanigans on the day we leave but we will monitor the weather closely. Worst case we move our flights to Saturday from Monday and get to enjoy a couple days pre cruise in South Beach!

We are also flying out day of and I will admit I am a tad bit nervous.... our flight leaves Miami at 11:05 EEK! We have bought FTTF so we have priority disembarkation which makes me feel a little better. Carnivals recommendation for flights out of Miami is 11:30-12 butttttt we had zippy options. We couldnt stay an additional day in SOBE and I DO NOT do layovers. So we could either take the 11:05 flight, an 11:40 flight, or a 9:00 pm flight. Decisions, decisions. We considered staying until the 9 pm flight doing some touristy stuff around finding somewhere to store our luggage(FYI MIA has lockers where you can do such). Why didnt we give ourselves a smidgen more wiggle room and book the 11:40 flight you ask??

OH EM GEE I have never ever seen flights to Miami be so expensive from our neck of the woods. The last time we went, we flew down on Thanksgiving and came back the following Tuesday paying $175pp roundtrip. The 11:40 flight alone was $280 and rising. Again, OH EM GEE! CRAZYNESS. So the extra 35 minutes might save my stress levels that day but there was nooooo way I would pay that. We have watched the flights since we booked and they havent gone down at all. Even our booked flights totaled $250 pp.

Hopefully the weather is in our favor and customs doesnt decide they want to crucially inspect our boat. Fingers crossed. My to do list is getting shorter and shorter with me really just needing to figure out what we want to pack. This will be the first time that we arent doing just a carry on each thanks to the lovely luggage I received for christmas! It will be nice to be able to pack everything we want. Oh boy I can see myself overpacking all ready :)

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: 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!

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!