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Victory Cruise LinesReviews 

198
TrustScore 4.5 out of 5

4.4

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Review summary

Created with AI, based on recent reviews

Evaluating 170 reviews, reviewers overwhelmingly had a great experience with this company. Customers consistently praise the staff for being excellent, friendly, and attentive, providing professional and warm service that makes the experience memorable. The food receives high marks for being delicious, outstanding, and varied, with many appreciating the quality and presentation. Reviewers also highlight the excellent entertainment, shore excursions, and onboard activities, contributing to an enjoyable and well-organized trip. However, some people mentioned that cabins and showers were notably small, and a few found some excursions to be rushed or disorganized with uninformative guides. There were also occasional remarks about the dining situation, with some wishing for more two-top tables or different menu offerings.

What people talk about most

Staff

Customers consistently note positive experiences with staff, highlighting their professionalism, helpfulness,... See more

Service

People report positive experiences with service, often highlighting the fantastic attitude and... See more

Product

Users describe positive interactions with the product, particularly highlighting the exceptional and... See more

Quality

Consumers find quality to be positive, with many reviewers consistently praising the excellent and... See more

Facilities

Reviewers mention ambiguous feedback about facilities, with many noting that cabins and showers are generally... See more

Reviews shaping this summary

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

Pleasant crew, food tasty, entertainment wonderful, cabin comfortable and well attended, most excursions met expectations. 2 excursions needed help.... Escanaba museums ridiculous - they should highli... See more

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

The best part of this experience is the team. Most everyone seemed happy to be there and extremely helpful. The addition of the Arts and Crafts teacher, Cindy and the Roads Scholar Speaker were pe... See more

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

Food, entertainment and shore excursions excellent. Only complaint was that because we live in Chicago we chose to stay at home the night before departure. No one in reservations was able to tell us w... See more

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

The staff was excellent; our housekeeper Joh was solicitous and friendly. The food was very good, and I appreciated the reasonable size of the portions. The bartenders were attentive and delightful... See more


Company details

  1. Cruise Line Company

Written by the company

Victory Cruise Lines invites travelers to explore North America’s most remarkable waterways aboard intimate ships designed for destination-focused discovery. Sailing the Great Lakes, St. Lawrence Seaway, Canadian Maritimes, and East Coast, our all-inclusive experience features a pre-cruise hotel stay, included shore excursions in every port, unlimited beverages, regionally inspired cuisine, and engaging onboard enrichment. Combined with personalized service and access to ports larger ships cannot reach, every voyage offers a deeper connection to the history, culture, and natural beauty of each destination.


Contact info

4.4

Excellent

TrustScore 4.5 out of 5

198 reviews

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4.4

All reviews

(198)

172 reviews in the last 12 months

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Rated 4 out of 5 stars

A great way to see the Great Lakes!

The size of the ship is comfy and relaxing. The staff and guests become familiar this way. The staff is always helpful, kind, professional, respectful, cheerful and compassionate. I can't say enough positive about them. The ship is clean and everyone does such a good job! We sat in Rachelle's station for lunch and dinner. She was very attentive, observant, and offered other choices if you weren't happy. We sat in Max's section for breakfast. Such a kind, professional, efficient, attentive server. Always had my husbands juice ready when we came down. Food was excellent! Norma works very hard, as does all the staff, she keeps your beverages coming and is fast! The excursions were interesting. I was extremely dissatisfied when we went to Glensheen Mansion. We were stressed and rushed this excursion from beginning to end. We never did have time too view the gardens and grounds there. The guides we very good on excursions too!This is our 4th cruise with Victory and we are, and have been very happy on our cruises! Thank you all!!

June 26, 2026
Rated 5 out of 5 stars

Fabulous staff

Fabulous staff. Clean lean ship. Terrific food with great choices. Good entertainment.
Cabins could be a little larger.

June 30, 2026
Rated 4 out of 5 stars

14 Day Cruise Chicago to Chicago

The staff was friendly and did a wonderful job. We enjoyed the food very much along with most of the tours. House band was great and the 10 piece special band that came while we were in Green Bay was fantastic (the one night we stayed till the end). Having a night covered in Chicago is a plus (we stayed an extra 2 nights at the same hotel). Weren't expecting much in the way of the hotel, but the views out our window was fantastic and enjoyed staying there.

The only reasons we didn't give the cruise a 5 star: 1) the back deck where most of the outdoor seating was we didn't enjoy at all. The diesel smell was unbearable and the one spot where the smell wasn't bad it was too loud.

Almost all of the tours we took both included and extra were great. We both felt that the Thunder Bay tour was a complete waste - too much time getting to the Falls and then only having 20 minutes. Our tour guide spent most of the bus ride talking about her family and not giving us information about the area.

In closing, would recommend the cruise to others with letting them know about the deck situation.

May 29, 2026
Rated 5 out of 5 stars

The cruise was very enjoyable

The cruise was very enjoyable. Food was excellent and we liked the grill on the 4th level.
Our room steward was Ivon and he was personable and hard working. He did an excellent job.
Recheille in the main dining room is a doll. She is very competent and so good at her job. She is a keeper.
The servers in the Grill are very good also. Weyan, Rahal, and Jose are very competent also. Very personable.

June 30, 2026
Rated 1 out of 5 stars

Save your money!

Over all, the Victory Cruise was not worth the money! It was a disappointment in comparison to previous cruises taken on the American Queen.

June 30, 2026
Rated 5 out of 5 stars

Friendly Comfortable Experience

Friendliness and comradery of crew. Liked the family atmosphere, workers all appeared to be happy and felt comfortable interacting with each other as well as with the owner and other passengers. Would have preferred "better" offerings on dinner menu on some nights, but liked the food display on the way into dining room to see what you would be ordering. Tuscan Stone not the experience it's built up to be. Remake into Italian or French bistro style alternative.

June 30, 2026
Rated 5 out of 5 stars

I rate Victory Cruises as five star

I rate Victory Cruises as five star. I love the small ship intimate atmosphere. The service onboard is exceptional from the room steward to all the food and beverage workers. They make you feel like family and truly strive for exceptional service. Our destinations were interesting and fun and I enjoyed the included excursions. My husband is physically disabled and everyone helped accommodate his needs so that this was truly an enjoyable vacation for both of us. I’d like to recognize our waiter, Ismael, food and beverage manager, Preston and room steward, Achmad who went above and beyond providing us with outstanding service. We have been cruising with the large cruise lines for years and I can say without a doubt that this has been our best cruise experience. We will definitely book with Victory again.

June 30, 2026
Rated 4 out of 5 stars

Poor precruise support

Our underway experience was delightfully outstanding with superb food and drink, and a very attentive staff. However, the precruise experience was dreadful. I attempted to contact the Victory Cruise Lines staff numerous times with limited or no response. The lack of response was disappointing, and not reflective of the on-board experience.

June 30, 2026
Rated 3 out of 5 stars

loved the food, excursions were too short, or too long or not well explained. be prepared for an older, slow crowd.

loved the food, that was exceptional!
staff was good (except for excursion director), entertainment was fantastic. the overall staff was friendly and helpful. our room, 350, was great. I felt safe on Victory II on the unpredictible Great Lakes. and, the opportunity to cruise on a small ship on the Lakes was very special.
the shore excursions not so much... The director of the excursions was inexperienced the great ones were too short (botanical gardens, railroad museum, Ships of Muskegon) and the average ones were too long. To not have transportation from the shipping dock in Thunder Bay was the last straw. take a taxi? there were three busses running included excursions back and forth to town, if you weren't on an included excursion you were on your own. of course the 1000 passenger ship was allowed to use the cruise ship dock - it is a matter of money. that was poor planning. this group on Victory II, which was very elderly and generally not mobile, probably had a better experience on the included excursion than those of us who simply wanted to visit the town. The experience of The shore of Lake Superior was terrible, we were taken to the shore and basically sat under a picnic shelter with no guiding at all along the shore. by contrast, Exploring The Keweenaw was extensive and fun for almost no more money. Zodiac experience was exciting, the most exotic and strenuous on the trip. it was great!
AND, the link to excursions and activities is NOT an app, an app is an application. the tool is a link to a web site. pretty much everybody preferred a piece of paper each day. the nightly preview didn't include the obvious stuff - such as the rapid exchange of passport (we get our passports, then immediately after crossing the border turn them back over to Victory) was not clear - going over the shore excursions for the next day was redundant, giving complete details about entering a country, receiving and returning passports was essential. we have been on multiple cruises on ships from 30 passenger to 4000, and we know how this works. maybe i would cruise again on Victory - with reservations and with greater clarity regarding the ease/difficulty of excursions. it was just to easy for us.

June 11, 2026
Rated 5 out of 5 stars

Service and meals were outstanding

Service and meals were outstanding. The on board entertainment was very good. The size of the ship was conducive to friendly interaction with staff and other passengers. The all inclusive feature was great. The cabin was small, but arranged very well. We had great time.

June 30, 2026
Rated 4 out of 5 stars

The ship looked like “no frills” from…

The ship looked like “no frills” from the outside but it
Was fancy all over the place. I’m glad that the Compass Lounge was open just about all day. The staff was friendly and helpful. I enjoyed the two arts and crafts classes. I liked the nightly entertainment and I enjoyed dancing with my new friends (including
My brother). I was even on my first international flight.
I hope in the future to go on this cruise line again. I would recommend this trip to other people. Since the staff collected our passports, they should’ve stamped them.

June 30, 2026
Rated 5 out of 5 stars

Why I liked my Victory Cruise.

The presentation & taste of food was excellent. The Tuscan Stone Grill was a unique experience. Sid, our room steward, was friendly and very attentive to our needs. The music was perfect and the included tours were paced for us seniors.

June 29, 2026
Rated 5 out of 5 stars

The entire crew of the Victory II made…

The entire crew of the Victory II made this trip so good. Jo our cabin steward, Rochelle our server, Sachi our bartender, Max our server, I did not meet anyone who was not willing to help and do anything to make this cruise great.

June 30, 2026
Rated 5 out of 5 stars

Great Staff, Delicious Food, but Way Outdated Decor

The staff on the ship: wow! They were all wonderful: congenial, helpful, and professional.
Big shout out to cabin steward Louise, waiter Jeff, and bar waitress Sarah.
Each meal was a treat! Bravo to the kitchen staff.
The ship's decor is ready for an update. The heavy draperies/valences and velvet sofas look and feel quite dated.

June 30, 2026

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