lisaland15

Here's a link to my review with pictures of the 4J on the Triumph:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1954105

Hope this helps.

Here are some final pictures:

Our platinum gift--the cooler:

The platinum chocolates:

The platinum arcade cards for DD:

A 4-person air-hockey arcade game which which was fun!

DD took the towel folding class. Here's her puppy:

The zoo from the room steward over the 5 days (the monkey is hanging by the window):

I hope you enjoyed the review and the photos!

Here's some miscellaneous pictures:

Leaving Galveston

A mosaic on the ship

Pool area

Slide--unfortunately it wasn't open at that moment

View from "our balcony" (deck area outside our window)

Were there movies on the desk at night? On my last cruise they provided blankets and popcorn. It was very relaxing.

Yes, every night (except Deck Party night before arriving in Cozumel).

The movies were:

Zookeeper, Big Miracle, Real Steel, The Bourne Legacy, Pitch Perfect, The Lucky One, and Playing for Keeps

We didn't go to see any, so not sure about the blankets and popcorn.

Thanks for posting your review. We are on this cruise next month. How long was the Jaguar excursion? When it was over, did you have time to explore town some before heading back to the ship?

We were dropped back off where we started--at the pier. You had plenty of time to shop at the pier if you wanted.

We were done around 2:30-2:45. Carnival wanted you on the ship by 3:30. You probably wouldn't have enough time to take the shuttle both ways and shop, but maybe?

We do go right through the town--maybe they (the tour) could drop you off?

Now, to Cozumel. I ask DD if she wanted to swim with the dolphins or swim with the manatees and she choose the manatees. She said everyone swims with the dolphins. lol

We swam with the manatees at Chankanaab National Park. We probably hadn’t been there in over 10 years—it’s really nice.

We had 7 in our group. We were fitted with life vests and goggles. We walked down the pier and to the stairs and got into the water. The water was warmer here in Cozumel than in Progreso. They broke our group into smaller groups of 3 and 4. Our family was the first to interact with their big, 900 lbs. manatee, Angel. We touched, held, kissed him. No cameras were allowed—their photographers took the pictures. The other 4 in our group were given heads of romaine lettuce to feed the other 2 manatees. Then, we switched. It was about 45-60 minute adventure. The manatees were very friendly and loved being fed the lettuce. There were even little, colorful fish swimming near you that loved chomping on that lettuce, too! The manatees are truly big sea cows!

The rest of the day—we explored Chankanaab. We walked over to their beach area. We went into the water for a bit, then laid in some hammocks for a little rest. DD got a hair wrap.

We also went into their fresh water in-ground pool that had a nice swim-up bar and toddler-safe area.

Another great day!

Next, we headed to the beach for paddle boarding on a private coconut farm. Benjamin gave us a quick lesson and off we went. I didn’t try it, but neither DH or DD had any problems. DD really loved being out on the water. No one on the tour really had problems standing up on the paddle boards. There were tons of shells along the beach and every time a wave came in, you heard what sounded like shell chimes all hitting each other along the shoreline.

After paddle boarding, we walked to an area that had coconut huts and hammocks. There, we had lunch. Lunch consisted of iced tea, chips, cheese quesadillas, chicken fajitas, and fresh pineapple. All very tasty.

DD was fascinated with the coconuts. Jorge was kind enough to cut one open for her and we shared the milk and meat with everyone.

On the way back to the ship, we saw several pink flamingos. The truck pulled over for a photo op.

The tour guides were great—very helpful and knowledgeable.

This was a fun excursion—something for everyone.

This has been our 4th or 5th visit to Progreso. We wanted to do something different, so we went on Carnival’s Jaguar Truck Mayan Adventure Expedition. The truck met us right outside the port shopping area. Benjamin and Eduardo were our tour guides and Jorge was the driver. There were 17 of us (max. 24) with DD being the youngest and several folks looking to be in their fifties.

The first part of our tour was bike riding. We took the truck through Merida and stopped about 1 1/2 miles from Xcambo, a small Mayan ruin. When we stopped, we put on sunscreen, bug spray, and our helmets. There were 3 in our little group—so DH and DD rode the tandem bike and I had a regular bike. The bikes were in good condition. The truck followed behind us, so we were able to keep our belongings on the truck and not have to deal with them while biking.

We stopped at a parking lot area at Xcambo, and left the bikes there. We then hiked to a little sitting area where Benjamin gave some history on Xcambo. After the talk, we had about 30 minutes to explore the ruin. You were able to climb on everything, except a little area where the king and queen had their throne.

Cont'd...

We were able to access the Triumph's FunTimes schedule (like the small tear-off portion of the paper FunTimes) on our smartphones using the ship's wi-fi for free last week.

There were a handful of "free" websites you could visit (all Carnival-related).

I think it was the first choice, something like "TriumphHub".

So, we decided to do the Cheers programs. We’re glad we tried it, but never made it to the 15 drinks a day. With getting the Cheers program, we didn’t want to have the usual bar/nightclub drinks like gin and tonic, vodka and cranberry, etc. We did get some of the “Classic Cocktails” like Long Island Iced Tea, Mai Tai, etc. at the Casino Bar so we could get the match play coupons to use in the casino, though.

We spent most of our time in the Alchemy Bar. They had a wonderful menu of cocktails that we had never tried before. Here’s Carnival’s link to the menu:

http://www.carnival.com/onboard/bars-lounges/~/media/CCLUS/Images/pdf/Alchemymenupdf.ashx

We purchased the program early Tuesday morning at the Red Frog Rum Bar (not all the bars are open in the morning). You can’t start the program until the following day when leaving from Galveston.

Our first drinks were (left-to-right):

Mango Magic and Ting Mojito (from the Red Frog Rum Bar)

All the rest of these drinks were from the Alchemy Bar:

The Antioxidant and The Dealer Closer

Cucumber Sunrise (it’s actually a little pinker than in the photo). Like hubby said, "The menu is like a refrigerator—it lights up when you open it!"

Revved Up Mojito Martini and Fiery Tropical Passion Martini

Ioachim (“the Alchemist”) is lighting the cinnamon flakes on fire in The Perfect Storm (he already fired up the rosemary in the start of the drink).

Next, Progreso and the Jaguar Truck Mayan Adventure Expedition...

We will be on the Triumph for the week of Christmas! How was the weather for you guys? Was the ship rocking a lot? We were on the Sunshine for Thanksgiving and we had some pretty rough days. They had a lot of people sea sick.

The weather was beautiful! The water was initially a little cold in Progreso, but got better as you stayed in it. The water was comfortable in Cozumel.

The Gulf was pretty calm, maybe a tad of rocking on Friday night when the cold front was moving through. Nothing to the point where we saw people getting sick, though.

Cabin 1003 (deck 10—Panorama) is under the Fitness Center, did you have any noise issues?

No, no noise at all. The Fitness Center has slanted floor-to-ceiling glass windows. The treadmills start at about 8-10 ft. from the bottom of those windows. Maybe the cabins behind ours may hear the noise?

Did the rollaway cost extra?

Nope, the couch in the cabin was more of a loveseat, not one of the convertible couch/beds. The cabin had a max of three passengers.

We just got off of the 5-day Triumph cruise from Galveston on Saturday. It was my 12th Carnival cruise, DH’s 10th (made Platinum), and DD’s 8th. DH and I are in our late forties and DD is 10. We live about 30 minutes from the port, so we just drove down on Monday morning. We first dropped our luggage off with the porters, then parked our car at the lot across the street from the terminal and walked over with a carry-on. It was nice not having to wait for a shuttle. We really never had to wait for anything! (We were in a separate waiting area than the FTTF folks.) We were walking on the ship by 11:40!

We had cabin 1003 (deck 10—Panorama) which is a 4J category cabin. I was a bit concerned about having the picture window with the public deck area right outside, but we never saw more than handful of people a day. Great spot for stargazing at night. We would definitely get the cabin again.

Here are some pictures:

We moved the roll away next to our king bed. All of us were able to watch TV if we wanted. We also put the little coffee table in the corner by the roll away (not in this pic yet).

Talking to the room steward, Renato (he was great!), he mentioned that they usually move the couch into the corner by the bed and put the roll away where the couch was (between the wall and pole).

The cabin had 2 electrical outlets along the mirrored-counter area and there was a 3-sided outlet adapter on the outlet where the flat-screen TV was plugged in. We kept a tablet plugged in there. I had no problem bringing a power strip or a small electrical 6” fan in my carry-on (both were very new, still in original packaging). All of our luggage arrived by 2:30.

Here’s a picture of DH standing in front of the window (You can barely see him with the tinted windows.):

More to come...our Cheers experience...

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Thanks everyone!

We plan on doing the Cheers Program, so I don't think we'll have anything left over, but just in case we did...

I have 3 OBCs for my next cruise--$50 from a future cruise credit certificate, a $60 price reduction OBC, and $400 OBC from the Carnival Mastercard.

Say I end up with some amount left over, will they issue a refund check or will I lose it?

Thanks!

Does anyone know if there is a place to buy sand toys (pails, shovels)? We have 4 kids with us and they would love some and we would love to give them away at the end of the day.

I think I might have seen them on the ship for sale--pricey, though. We just pack our own from home. Our daughter liked playing with them in the cabin's shower, too. We live close to the port, so luggage space isn't an issue.

are these in jamaica or grand cayman?

Paradise Beach--Cozumel

PB is a lot of fun!

You can read my review here if you're interested:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=672972

Sunset Beach--Janmaica

Wow, amazing how things can change in a week!

We just got off Conquest on Sunday, and are going on Ecstasy in Jan. I would have been bummed having the exact same ports within weeks of each other.

Here are some pics. for you. Our daughter was 14 and 16 mos. at that time (we went twice) and my son was 9. We plan on going back on our Dec. cruise. My now 11 yr. old son is on a trampoline (gymnastics) team and is dying to try his routine on their trampoline!

http://travel.webshots.com/photo/1232320166061183369ajZpLz

http://travel.webshots.com/photo/1232320230061183369wZcGin

http://travel.webshots.com/photo/1232320280061183369tseMGC

http://travel.webshots.com/photo/1232320394061183369HBJOIT

http://travel.webshots.com/photo/1232321247061183369vRtEaP

The iceberg would probably be too hard for a 4 yr. old. The trampoline would probably be fine, but you'd need to get him out there. They do have life vests, float mats, and kayaks that he'd be able to use. We brought sand toys from home.

Hope this helps!

My daughter sure liked the pie at Blonde Giraffe!

http://community.webshots.com/photo/510615571/510622128CjlATu

Here's ours:

http://community.webshots.com/photo/232420859/232442338erOMGH

http://community.webshots.com/photo/212146923/212390647pxDqaS

http://community.webshots.com/photo/232420859/232441287PdgfEr