Ships & Dip III - The Carnival Victory

You Never Know What's Gonna Happen on the Cruise-Uh!

The Carnival Victory

The Victory was not nearly as garish as the Legend was last year. I think what made it easier on the eyes was the blue-green decor, vs the gloomy brown of the Legend. We got some really interesting photos of the interior and exterior. It's still very "Vegas Vomit," so enjoy!

I have only ever been on one cruise ship before, another Carnival ship (the aforementioned Legend), so I don't have a lot to compare it to. I did think that the main entertainment venues on the Victory (Lido, Caribbean Lounge) were far superior to the Legend (Follies, Unicorn Stage), but the smaller venues on the Legend (namely Firebird) was much better than the Adriatic Lounge on Victory. Granted, the Lido stage was set up by Sixthman for the express purpose of ROCK, but the tiered deck of the Victory made it an ideal "oceangoing arena" -- and the perfect venue for photographing nearly 1,000 naked people! ;)

I thought the dining room food was superior on the Victory, as was the service. The Legend ignored a lot of the normal "cruise" stuff, like the mid-dinner "show" put on by the wait staff, but the Victory managed to include these things, which made it fun. The buffet is another story. The Legend's buffet had a lot more variety, better food overall, and much shorter lines. The Victory is supposed to be a bigger ship than the Legend, but I think that's only in number of cabins, because the rest of the ship, particularly the buffet and the photo gallery area, seemed very cramped.

Legend also wins for navigation. I learned my way around that ship much faster. Even on Thursday, our last day at sea, I still felt lost at times on the Victory. It didn't help that the Atlantic Dining Room cut the ship in half on decks 3 and 4, forcing you to either go up to deck 5 and walk through the casino, or go down to deck two (where our cabin was) and cut through the cabin hallways, to get from one end of the ship to the other.

Ideally, mix the buffet and the navigation of the Legend with the dining room fare and venues of the Victory, and you'd have the perfect Ships & Dip ship! We'll see what Ships & Dip V brings us... you never know what's gonna happen on the cruise-uh!

A view of the Atrium from Deck 5.	A view of the Atrium from Deck 3.
The Mediterranean Restaurant (aka Buffet)	Our Ocena View Cabin - 2412 - set up as a quad.
A view of the Lido deck from the mini golf course, being set up for a week-long rock-concert scenario. Not the same as your average cruise.	Beware the seahorses!
Starboard side view.	Port side view.
The infamous Whale Tail!	Just in case!
Lifeboat 10 in the blue nightlights	Blue nightlights on Deck 3.
This carpet featured prominently all over the ship	Carpet in the Caribbean Lounge.
Deck 3 in the shade - Starboard.	Deck 3 in the sun - Port.
Fishy outside the Pacific dining room.	Fresh angle on the fishy
Chandelier in the Caribbean Lounge	Pacific Dining room just before early seating.