At Sea with Doug Newman

Well, I’ve done it. After 15 years of sailing in and visiting cruise ships from just about every major line (and some, ahem, less major ones), I’ve finally made it aboard a Carnival ship. For a long time it had been a bit of an embarrassment to me that I had never been aboard a ship of “The World’s Most Popular Cruise Line”, not even for a quick look around. I still can’t claim a Carnival sailing on my cruising resumé, but at least I can say I’ve been aboard a “Fun Ship” at long last.

I’m fortunate enough to be able to visit a fair number of ships (next weekend: Azamara Journey) and I had already hoped to visit some Carnival ship in New York this summer, but when my good friends at the World Ship Society Port of New York Branch (WSS PONY for short) announced that they’d be holding a luncheon aboard the Carnival Victory, well, it saved me the trouble of having to talk the nice people at Carnival into letting me aboard. And ship visits are always more fun with friends, anyway.

Aside from my sheepishness about never having been on a “Fun Ship”, I’ve long harbored curiosity about Carnival. If anything could describe what friends and colleagues have been telling me about Carnival for years now it would be, “it’s better than you probably think”. It’s easy to forget that not too long ago, few people took Carnival seriously as a viable alternative other cruise lines. It was seen simply as a cruise line for people who wanted to get drunk, party and gamble and didn’t care about things like food, service, or the ship itself. But those days are long gone – Carnival has long since entered the respectable mainstream of the cruise industry, and has often won praise from people who, frankly, are the last people I’d expect to be Carnival fans. So I eagerly awaited the Victory luncheon – was Carnival really as good as so many people seemed to think? It was a gorgeous New York summer day – hot and sunny, but mercifully not too humid – and arriving at the Passenger Ship Terminal I was immediately struck by the difference between Carnival Victory and NCL’s Norwegian Dawn, lying at the adjacent pier. I’ve seen both many times but I can’t recall ever seeing them next to each other, and the extent to which Dawn looks long and slender next to the comparatively short and fat Victory really surprised me. Dawn is not a great beauty but nevertheless to me she was clearly the better-looking ship. But of course, it’s what’s inside that counts…

My first impression of Carnival came as I entered the PST, and, stunned, found lots and lots of people but no sign of the WSS PONY group. The invitation said to arrive at 11:30; I’d gotten a late start this morning and it was now around 11:33. Surely they couldn’t be gone already? Upon handing over my ID it was revealed that indeed they had. Much to my surprise, in addition to 120 or so members of our group there were around 300 travel agents and a wedding party visiting the ship. Along with a few other stragglers I was whisked to the ship ahead of the horde of soon-to-board travel agents and wedding party and stepped aboard on Deck 3, Lobby Deck, just in time to wave as our leader Brad Hatry and a few other friends, who had all boarded just a couple of minutes before, being launched upward in one of the panoramic lifts.

Having rushed aboard and finally made it, I blinked and began to soak up the surroundings. The theme of the Carnival Victory – for every Carnival ship has a theme – is “seas”, and so the atrium is suitably named the Seven Seas Lobby. I can’t help but thinking, though, that the name should have something to do with emeralds: never have I felt so surrounded in green as in this space. I’ve seen lots of Carnival ship interiors in photographs, but of course the real thing is a bit different. The immediate sensation is a sort of “Toto, we’re not in Kansas any more” reaction – as in, “we have left land and the real world and have now entered a seagoing holiday zone”.

After a quick look around I hopped in another glass lift – this with, interestingly, a glass ceiling (the designers evidently resisted the temptation to install a glass floor as well) – to follow Brad up to Deck 11, Spa Deck. By stair I ascended up to Deck 12, Sun Deck, and quickly found Brad and friends out on deck – a teak deck, I was pleased to note. Indoors we walked through the teen club, a thoroughly Spartan and unattractive space. Oddly, it is situated in the back of the gym, separated by a not-quite-full-height bulkhead. The gym is spacious and attractive, with a magnificent forward view – something sadly shared by no other public areas on this ship. From the lower level of the gym on Deck 11 we continued aft through the massage room and a short length of cabin passageway before arriving at the main pool area, which spans Decks 9 to 11 (Lido, Panorama and Spa) by way of an interesting terraced arrangement. Encompassing two pools, the smaller King of the Seas and the larger Triton’s, this is nicely decked in teak but sadly it is furnished with awful resin/mesh deck furniture. The space itself seemed as rather small for such a large ship that spends most of its time in warm weather; however, the terraced sun deck arrangement is an interesting idea, and the two pools themselves are quite large. The Carnival signature water slide is naturally present as well, along with two bars and a very impressive stage for the requisite poolside entertainment.

Right aft of the main pool Deck 9 (Lido Deck) is the two-deck-high Mediterranean Restaurant (the upper level is on Deck 10, Panorama Deck). This is the casual buffet restaurant on the Carnival Victory; a cavernous space, it contains the standard buffet as well as Oriental, New York Deli, Pizza and Barbecue stations scattered around. It’s decorated in a quasi-Moorish style that is surprisingly attractive, though much darker than one normally sees for top-of-the-ship buffet restaurants. The array of food on offer here looked quite appetizing and I was quite impressed by the large amount of space dedicated to this area; something necessary on a large mass-market cruise ship these days.

All the way aft on Deck 9 is the Sirens’ Pool area, equipped with a sliding glass dome and decorated in keeping with the style of the Mediterranean Restaurant. Surrounded by windows on three sides, it’s one of the nicer such areas I’ve seen, and it’s nice to see that it’s present here whereas competitors Royal Caribbean and NCL have omitted any kind of enclosed pool space on their newest ships. This is presumably the “quiet” pool deck, away from the entertainment featured in the main pool areas.

While cabins occupy the forward portions of Decks 9 to 11, they take up the entirety of Decks 6 to 8 (Upper, Empress and Veranda Decks). I had the opportunity to take a look at a standard outside cabin and was pleased by its very generous size and even more so by the bathroom which was easily three times the size of some others I’ve seen, and finished in actual tile to boot. The cabins are all decorated in a peach and pink color scheme, attractive if slightly dated (the newer Conquest-class ships have different, more modern cabin décor). What hasn’t changed since Carnival Destiny (whose cabins are identical to Victory’s) is the size and layout of the cabins and this is a good thing –they are the most spacious and, in my opinion best laid-out standard cabins I have ever seen on a mainstream cruise ship and that even bests the S- and R-class Holland America ships which I previously considered the champions in this respect. The other big cruise lines (Royal Caribbean, Celebrity, NCL and Princess) can’t even come close, though their much smaller cabins may be better decorated. I should also note that the new Carnival Comfort Beds were in evidence and… Well, I can’t say much about a bed I haven’t actually slept in, but it looked comfortable at least!

The cabin passageways are also worth a mention: the most striking thing about them is their width. They’re not just a little wider but a lot wider than those of any other modern cruise ship I’ve been on. I guess the machinery spaces sandwiched between the inside cabins have got to be really narrow; even other post-Panamax ships I’ve been on simply don’t manage cabins this big or passageways this wide let alone both of them. Like the cabins, the passageways look a bit dated and have had their designs totally changed in the newer Carnival ships, but they’re still far from plain or unattractive, with great indirect lighting and line drawings of Carnival ships by Joe Farcus himself.

But enough about passageways… Just below all those cabins is Deck 5, Promenade Deck, the heart of the Carnival Victory. Here you’ll find many of the ship’s public rooms and let me tell you, this ship has loads of public rooms. All the way forward is uppermost level of the Caribbean Lounge, the ship’s three-deck-high main show lounge. I remember the first time I saw a deck plan for Victory’s prototype, Carnival Destiny, and was shocked to see not two but three decks worth of show lounge. I’ve seen plenty such rooms since, but this is still one of the more impressive ones. The décor succeeds in bringing to mind the Caribbean with lots of sea green and white, palm tree motifs and other “tropical” theming. It’s certainly an impressive space and much lighter and brighter than most show lounges (though the place is probably dark most of the time anyway).

Right aft is the Seven Seas Atrium, that very green space I mentioned earlier, which on this particular deck features shops and… Er, the deck plan says there’s something called the Aegean Bar that, frankly, I do not remember. I saw a lot of bars but I don’t remember this one. Sorry…The “promenade” in Promenade Deck is not an outdoor one of any sort, but rather the wide indoor Neptune’s Way running along most of the length of its starboard side, decorated in a green color scheme that matches the atrium. Off here you’ll find many of the ship’s public spaces. They start forward with the South China Sea Club, an utterly vast Chinese-themed casino, adjacent to the Trident Bar. Further aft is the Coral Sea Café, directly along the promenade, offering specialty coffees, cookies, etc. (for an extra fee, of course). Then comes Virtual Sea, a video-game arcade adorned by giant, multicolored octopuses and, inside, multicolored three-dimensional triangles on the walls that remind me of a medieval torture device. Club Arctic is the ship’s nightclub with huge CRT video walls (even on the outside!), a giant dance floor – apparently once glass with a spiral staircase to the lounge below, but no longer – and the Caspian Bar is at the very aft end. The promenade leads to the Odyssey Hall, a three-deck mini-atrium off which opens the Black and Red Seas on the port side, yet another bar/nightclub decorated, as you might expect, in black and red, with another bar and another dance floor. (This looks like something like a cross between a bordello and a very kitschy Chinese restaurant.) On the starboard side is the Irish Sea Bar, an “Irish Pub” Farcus-style, with fake gingerbread, fake wainscoting, a “piano bar” (in true Farcus fashion, an actual piano with a bar around it), lots of green and even shamrocks in the carpeting.

All the way aft is the full-beam Adriatic Lounge, one of two large lounges on board (not counting the Caribbean Lounge show lounge/theatre), decorated in a surprisingly subtle cream and gold palette with rather fussy neo-classical detailing (including busts of what I think are Venetian doges), crystal chandeliers a stage and dance floor in one corner and a long bar across the full width of the room right at the ship’s stern. With tiered seating and windows on three sides, this is my favorite room on the ship, a nice respite from the bright, colorful décor elsewhere.Deck 4, Atlantic Deck, has yet more public areas, but the upper levels of the Atlantic and Pacific Dining Rooms take up much of the space here. The Pacific is all the way aft while the Atlantic is amidships; both are impressive if slightly crowded two-deck rooms with grand staircases and very similar décor in cream, tan, and blue. The main difference is that the Pacific has windows on three sides rather than two, making it the more desirable room.

Oddly sandwiched between the two is the Ionian Room, a large, attractive room with a rather restrained white and brown décor and, yes, Ionic columns. (The carpet has an Ionic capital motif as well.) This faux-circular space is filled with cushy brown leather armchairs and has another long bar at its forward end. On the starboard the Internet Café, decorated to match the Ionian theme, connects it to the midship stairway. Along the port side in the same space is the Card Room but strangely, this doesn’t connect through – to go from the midship staircase to this room you need to walk through the Internet Café and the Ionian Room first. While nicely decorated, the whole suite of rooms has a distinctly odd place in the ship, accessible only from above or below.

Meanwhile, forward of the Atlantic Dining Room you’ll find the Seven Seas Atrium again, surrounded here by the photo shop and with the surprisingly appealing Indian Library in the aft starboard corner. Carnival ships always have traditional libraries and this is no exception with lots of glossy wood veneers and even a few actual bookcases. The deck is rounded out all the way forward by the second level of the Caribbean Lounge.

One unusual feature is the lifeboat boarding decks that run along most of the length of both sides of Deck 4. These bare decks are technically crew only (unless in an emergency) and are wide enough to board the lifeboats but have no furniture or decoration of any kind. Precisely why they are necessary when there is a regular boat deck one deck below is beyond me – to me it seems like wasted space but presumably there is some logic behind it. This also means that lifeboats obstruct most of the views on this deck, including the Atlantic Dining Room and Ionian Room (but not the Pacific Dining Room or Caribbean Lounge).

Deck 3, Lobby Deck, is where we boarded and where I had my first encounter with the very green Seven Seas Atrium. In fact most of this space is concentrated on Decks 3 to 5, at which point there is a huge green dome, and only an air shaft containing the panoramic lifts goes the rest of the way up to Deck 11, topped by a big glass skylight that provides natural light to what is really a fairly dark space. At the base of the atrium is the Seven Seas Bar, a piano, the Shore Excursion and Purser’s/Information Desks. Forward of here is the main level of the Caribbean Lounge. The main levels of the Atlantic and Pacific Dining Rooms, which are separated by the vast galley, take up the remainder of the deck. Along both sides of this deck are two teak-lined promenades beneath the lifeboats (sadly, it is not possible to walk around either the bow or stern, let alone the whole ship). As I said above, these would seem to make the lifeboat boarding decks one deck above rather redundant, but no doubt there is a reason, as the people who designed the ship obviously know a lot more about this stuff than I do!

Decks 1 and 2 have absolutely nothing of note, just cabins; and so there ends our tour of the Carnival Victory. So what do I think of the ship?

Well, the décor is what it is – it’s unmistakably Farcus and while he more restrained here than on many other ships you could still not mistake it for anything by another designer. Most of it is not my personal taste but that’s not the point; as far as décor is concerned the look Farcus has created simply is Carnival and I don’t think any of us can imagine Carnival ships decorated any other way. As I said, while I may not love it personally there is no doubt that he is a person of great talent and imagination and the attention to detail in the décor is quite stunning. The materials and workmanship are also first-rate and the overall effect, whether you like it or not, is quite impressive indeed. If nothing else it is interesting, it is distinctive and you are absolutely not going to momentarily forget where you are and think you’re on Royal Caribbean or Princess or NCL or whatever. You know it’s Carnival and that is a good thing. There is no question that no other ship designer or cruise line has created such a distinctive visual signature.

The condition of the ship is quite good for a mass-market ship that is seven years old. I noticed some scuffed up wood veneer and flaking gold leaf but that’s about it; the carpet, soft furnishings, etc., while not brand-new were never worn or stained and everything was immaculately clean. The cabins were in especially good condition, especially the bathrooms, which in the cabins I saw were in “as new” condition; very impressive for a ship this age.I have only praise for the cabin accommodation – I am not sure what the suites are like but the standard outside and balcony cabins (less so the slightly smaller insides) are outstanding for a mass-market cruise line.

Despite that, I can’t say that I like Carnival Victory all that much as a ship – she’s fine, but her interior layout seems rather disjointed and cluttered and I’m not sure there’s nearly enough deck space for the number of passengers. Nevertheless the fact that, counting current orders, Carnival and Costa will have built at least 13 Destiny/Triumph/Conquest-class ships clearly indicates that this has been a successful design, and it does have its strong points, especially the cabins.

Of course, hardware is only part of the experience, so having completed our tour we come to the second part of any ship visit such as this one: lunch! The ship may not have won me over entirely, but here we have an area in which I can offer Carnival unreserved praise. Naturally a single meal on a ship visit cannot be a real indication of the level of food on a ship but if the food at our lunch was in fact typical Carnival fare then they are grossly under-rated in this area. Of all the lunches I’ve had on ship visits in the past few years – and that’s quite a few – there is only one that was truly better than this and that was for a group of 25 on a small upscale ship, not 400+ on a mass-market mega-ship. (Our group was of course only 125, but the travel agents had the same food on the lower level of the same dining room.)

Lest I give the wrong idea I should point out that most of the lunches one has on ship visits are quite good; I would say they generally range from good to excellent and this one was firmly on the “excellent” end of the scale. Several times in the past few months Brad had mentioned that Carnival usually does a really nice job on these luncheons and frankly, as I have eaten a lot of nice lunches on ship visits, I wondered why he was especially enthusiastic about Carnival.

Well, our lunch – at tables by the aft windows on the Pacific Dining Room’s upper level, with a very nice view of the Hudson – started off with a wonderful appetizer of smoked salmon two ways along with what I think was some kind of cucumber salad. (Unfortunately I didn’t pay too much attention to the menu descriptions as it was basically a set menu, as is usual for this sort of luncheon.) Then came a pasta of some sort – I don’t know what it was but it was excellent. At that point I could have been finished but we had a choice of perch or beef: either two big fillets of perch or two absolutely enormous pieces of beef tenderloin. I had the beef and it was fork-tender, perfectly cooked and presented with equally good mashed potatoes and vegetables. Then came dessert… A flourless chocolate cake with vanilla ice cream that I understand is quite famous on Carnival and was absolutely delectable. Everything about the meal was far above the standard one would expect of a ship this class – the food, presentation and so on were really quite excellent and the portion size had to be double what I get at most luncheons like this and triple what I get at some of them. To give you an idea I did not even finish all the beef; it was just too much! However it was most certainly not a case of quantity over quality – I will always choose quality but why bother when you can have both?

Unlike the usually good food, I have encountered a lot of spotty service at in-port luncheons but not here; everyone was very professional and there were none of the gaffes I’ve seen elsewhere (for example, forgetting to offer coffee with dessert). Again it is impossible to judge service on one meal but I certainly have no complaints in that department either.

Now, there was a twist to this… I am sure many of you have heard of the famous singing and dancing waiters on Carnival. Well, they sang and danced… Just a little, but they did. I think this was actually done for all the travel agents who were downstairs in the same restaurant – apparently they did not do this when another ship enthusiast group was on board last year (a visit I regrettably had to miss due to a scheduling conflict). I am not a fan of singing and dancing in the dining room (I barely tolerate the Baked Alaska parade) so it is certainly not my cup of tea but there was certainly a lot of enthusiasm there. I would find seeing a “show” during dessert every night rather tiresome but obviously a lot of passengers enjoy it or else Carnival wouldn’t do it!

So then, what’s my overall impression of Carnival and the ship? Well, as I mentioned earlier, the ship didn’t especially win me over in her design, but she’s clearly well taken care of and well-run. The lunch far exceeded my expectations and, as I suspected, I saw nothing aside from the ship’s décor that marked Carnival out as being “different” from other cruise lines in the way a lot of its detractors claim. The ship was well kept, the food was great, the crew seemed happy and professional, the passengers looked like a pleasant enough bunch and as and the daily program contained activities for all age groups and tastes. In other words, I think I can pretty safely say that that Carnival is, indeed, a lot better, and a lot more like other major cruise lines, than so many pretentious types would like us to think. Personally I’m eager to take a look at other classes of Carnival ships, especially the Spirit-class ships, which appeal to me most, and I’d certainly have no objection to trying Carnival in the future – if the food is always as good as the lunch I had, it could be worth it for that alone!