Doors to nowhere at Port of Miami's Terminal E. I hope they're locked!
Doors to nowhere at Port of Miami's Terminal E. I hope they're locked!
Shipbuilder's plaque on Deck 3 outside Guest Services
Still early on embark day -- aft pool and whirpools. On Victory these are NOT adults-only....
Statue/symbol at the Sirens' Pool (the aft pool)
Carnival Imagination docked behind us -- home of my first Carnival cruise!
The pic of Carnival's whale-tail funnel is required by law and custom. :)
Note that Victory has the “new” pizza station, not the old one called Pizzeria Arno. Better pizza, but no caesar salads, calzones or garlic bread now.
U.S. Coast Guard vessel moored at Port of Miami
Looking back at the cruise terminal while going through Government Cut. The cruise ship is Norwegian Sky, making her way toward the turn-basin in the distance. All other ships in port that day made their turns upon arrival and were already facing out toward the sea
Lots of boats. Or yachts. I'm not sure when a boat becomes a 'yacht.' :)
US Coast Guard chopper 'buzzing' us. Even experienced cruisers had NEVER seen that before.
Looking back toward Miami through Government Cut. In the far distance, Norwegian Sky is making her turn in the basin.
Tattoo of the White Tree of Gondor from Lord of the Rings, on a cool kid named Seth from Illinois
My very first cruise was on this ship, Majesty of the Seas, which travelled near us all the way from Miami to Nassau
Majesty of the Seas again, a bit more distant
Food porn! Dinner in the MDR first night included this beef brisket, which was good.
and also pork tenderloin or “pork steak” which sounds like an oxymoron. I thought all steaks were beef. :)
My sister Cindy got this pot pie-like vegetarian option the first night, which she said was really good
Cindy and the mermaid. There are a lot of amorous mermaids in this dining room!
Warm chocolate melting cake, a traditional and legendary Carnival dessert.
Another 'warmer' shot of the WCMC without the flash
First night's towel animal appears to be a...dinosaur?
See? I think it's a dinosaur.
In port at Nassau and docked next to Disney Dream, the biggest and newest ship of the five cruise ships in port that day.
Our own ship, Carnival Victory.
Bahamanian gunboat at the pier. The deck-gun is covered with a black tarp
Showing more of the gunboat....
Welcome to Nassau! It's not my favorite port so we went back to the ship and enjoyed a fairly empty cruise ship :)
Disney Dream again. I think one of those funnels is fake.
A raft going through the enclosed water slide on Disney Dream. Kinda reminds me of Augustus Gloop from Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory :)
A second Bahamanian gunboat at the pier. I think it's the same one, in the same spot, as appeared in my pics from my first cruise where Majesty of the Seas docked right there next to it.
This sign appears on Deck 0 by the gangway. Deck 0 contains the passageway that runs all the way from bow to stern, nicknamed “I-95” on many cruise ships.
Hammock on Serenity Deck of the Victory. Note the sign on the wall.......
Yes, this sign refers to the hammock. They are amazingly easy to slide out of. The same type of hammock WAS also installed at Half Moon Cay...but more about that later.
Majesty of the Seas conducted a boat-drill while we were tied up next to her. 1 of 4.....
2 of 4.....
3 of 4......
4 of 4. Then they motored away to the left around the ship.
Ceiling in the atrium lobby of Carnival Victory
Another shot of the atrium ceiling
This next sequence of shots, taken through our cabin window, shows the Nassau pilot-boat Sea Wolf streaking in next to us and picking up the port pilot from the gangway. It just happened to take place right below us.
Getting closer.....
and closer.....
Almost there.....
Ready for the pilot to jump across.....
Making the pickup....
Pilot jumps over right about now....
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Then they break away. That guy is waving back to our ship....
Farewell, Sea Wolf!
Carnival Victory taken from Half Moon Cay. The ship swung a bit at anchor before settling down, too.
Appears to be a crow's nest in front of the pirate-ship bar at HMC
No visit to HMC is complete without getting this de rigeur shot of the cannon pointing at the ship. Second floor of the pirate-ship bar, which was almost empty at the time.
The beach and gorgeous blue water taken from the top of the pirate ship bar
Another pic of Victory. The tenders were using the portside gangway, out of sight.
The Private Oasis or Grand Cabana at HMC, taken from the pirate ship bar. It appears that as of 10/16/2013 the damaged slide has not been replaced.
The OTHER cannon on top of the pirate-ship bar.
Cabana #11, our comfy home at Half Moon Cay.
These USED to be the flat, somewhat dangerous hammocks similar to the ones on the ship...but they were replaced at around 1:30pm the day we were there with these probably-safer ones.
Staff replacing the hammock between Cabanas 11 and 12.
Fountain in the plaza at HMC
Pilot-house of the tender boat -- the LAST tender -- that took us back to the ship. Note that Holland America actually “owns” HMC, but Carnival's ships can use it when HAL doesn't. HAL takes priority, though.
Part of the beach at HMC....
The “I Wish I Could Stay Here Forever” sign is barely visible there....
Pulling around the front of Victory on the tender. The chain was already being winched in; they were already weighing anchor.
Anchor's a-weigh!“
A last look back at Half Moon Cay. Truly one of the nicest beaches in the Caribbean, although lackluster snorkeling. (If you want to see lots of fish, go to CocoCay instead.)
Deck 3 starboard, which can be used as a smoking area. Take the loungers out of the frame and this could have been taken during the 1960's....very retro-looking.
Elevators in the atrium on Carnival Victory
The LED display showing we're on the way to Grand Turk.
Grand Turk, Turks and Caicos. I think this is Governors Beach, but I didn't make it there this time....
Pulling in next to Carnival Liberty, which was the ship I cruised on LAST year at this time.
Beach area between Margaritaville and Jack's Shack. There are a coouple of new bars there.
Almost moored at the dock.
Looking north along the coast toward Cockburn Town (pronounced “co-burn town,” ya heathens! :) )
Underwater coral, taken during my snorkeling/snuba excursion
More coral...a few fish in there somewhere, too....
Coral 'fan'....
Coral reef....you can see how shallow it is. We were told not to swim over it, for good reason too!
Nifty looking coral!
Oddly-shaped coral
So, the land near the reef is actually for sale!......
I wonder if the price includes the wild horses we saw there? :)
Big John and Jason his son, our guides and safety divers for the snuba excursion, which was handled by Oasis Divers.
Farewell to Grand Turk!
Both ships at dock, showing how narrow the space is between ships. Liberty got there first and left after us...almost doesn't seem fair.
Another pic of the shipbuilders' plaque.
A storm is sweeping through the area....
Note the mammatocumulus clouds there....
Not raining on us yet, but it did rain a bit later....
We're not too far away and Liberty is already pushing away from the dock.
She's clear of the dock now....
Liberty is turning in place. It's a narrow “fairway” to get to deep water here.....
Liberty is halfway through her turn....
Almost finished....
Ready to follow us back to Miami!
Not sure who wanted what seem to be lesbian mermaids in the dining room, but I guess someone thought it was a good idea at the time.....
Another shipyard plaque, this one near the piano bar, Promenade Deck 5 aft.
From the front, the famous neon fish looks a bit like a flying insect. Very colorful one, though....
From the side, it's.....a fish. And a very garish one.
Towel critter tonight is a crab! (Our stateroom steward Herry was great on this trip.)
The crab almost looks like an Invid battle-mech here. (Sorry, Robotech reference.)
Lido Deck during our sea-day. Crowded as usual, but we usually went further aft to get away from the noise.
Another shot. Long line for the slide, which is why we rode it while everyone else was off the ship in Nassau :)
Very nicely decorated chocolate-covered strawberries delivered to our room after the Behind the Fun tour. When I took the tour on Liberty last year, the strawberries just had some chocolate poured around them. Nice to see them going the extra mile on Victory, here.
Tuxedos and sombreros!
Nighttime shot of the Lido Deck by the mid-ships pool.
Whale-tail funnel: the miniature golf edition.
Less overbright shot of Lido Deck.
Last night's towel animal is a heart. (No FunTimes, either, but I guess that's normal.)
The no-flash 'warmer' version.....
This is one of the famous orange luggage tags the porters in Miami should be using to designate priority luggage delivery. (For platinum, diamond, and Faster to the Fun guests.)
Bimini Superfast, a ferry docked on the other side of Dodge Island at around 7am on debark morning.
Our room at the Best Western in Baldwin, FL. Includes a fridge and a microwave. Great place to stop halfway down from Atlanta to Miami and reasonably priced. Next to a Waffle House and a Pilot truck-stop, too. Handy!
Taken without the flash.
Commemorative plaque at Georgia Rest Stop #19 on the way home on I-75.