Carnival Victory Photo Tour

Carnival Victory was the first ship profiled on Beyondships. Even though I did an update of that profile since then, I was surprised when I revisited Victory, how much had changed.

Chief among these were the changes that followed from the addition of a Serenity outdoor section to the ship. Serenity is a concept that was featured on Carnival Dream when she went into service and which is now being implemented throughout the fleet. It is an adults-only section of the open decks that features premium seating - - hammocks, enhanced loungers, etc. - - whirlpools and its own bar. It provides some rest time for parents and a sanctuary for those traveling without kids. It is a nice bit of pampering.

For the most part, the Serenity section occupies an area that was an underutilized section of the open decks in the forward part of the ship. However, the addition of the Serenity section did displace some other facilities. The mini-golf course has been moved to the area immediately under the funnel. This was a definite improvement. When the mini-golf was forward, it was sort of cramped and all the holes followed one after another in a straight line due the rectangular nature of the space the course occupied. The funnel area is much more open and the course is more spread out.

An earlier refit saw the addition of the giant LED screen to the open decks. It is located at the aft end of the main pool area. In order to make the area more theater like, the old bandstand that stood at the front end of the pool area has been removed.

In addition to the changes to the ship, there have been changes to Beyondships over time. The profiles include more than they used to include. As a result, there are more photos covering more of the bars, public rooms, spa and dining venues. In addition I have invested in better cameras, which hopefully means better quality photos.

The Beyondships profile of Carnival Victory is at http://www.beyondships.com/CARNIVALVICTORY.html and the expanded photo tour begins at http://www.beyondships.com/CarnivalVictorytour1a.html

I have als added a few new photos to the profiles of some of the other Carnival ships that I have recently encountered - - Carnival Conquest, Carnival Legend, and Carnival Valor.

In the upcoming weeks, I will be presenting new material from some of the other ships that I have been on recently including Norwegian Epic, Azura and the fabulous Allure of the Seas. There will also be reports on some of the destinations that I have visited.

Carnival Victory and P&O's Ventura

Periodically, cruise ships have to go in for a refit in which new features are added and the ship is given an overall sprucing up in order to bring her in line with the most recent ships in the line’s fleet. So too with the sections of the Beyondships website. Every so often they have to be updated to keep current with the ship that they are about and to keep them consistent with the profiles that have been added to the site recently.

This week, the Carnival Victory section of the Beyondships website has come out of a refit. Quite a few new photos have been added as well as a new set of Carnival Capers (daily programs) and a new set of menus. In addition, the Carnival Victory section has been re-organized along the lines of the other Carnival sections of the site. The new Carnival Victory section begins at: http://www.beyondships.com/CARNIVALVICTORY.html

I had a very interesting talk about the upcoming Carnival Dream with ship architect Joe Farcus recently. His interior design work on the other Carnival ships has been very creative and so I was interested in finding out what he is seeking to achieve on Carnival Dream. I’m putting our conversation into an article that will be posted in September in honor of Dream’s entry into service next month.

Meanwhile, I have posted a photo essay about P&O’s Ventura on the site. http://www.beyondships.com/PO-Ventura-Barbados.html Ventura is a mega-cruise ship built upon a design that can be traced back to Princess Cruises’ Grand Princess. Intended for the British market, Ventura spends most of her year sailing from Southampton, England. However, in the winter months, she sails from the former British colony Barbados It was there on a bright sunny day with puffy white clouds overhead that I found Ventura along with several other cruise ships including sister ship Emerald Princess. The essay shows Ventura from different angles alone and together with her companions.