Carnival Triumph Past, Present, and Future!!!

Okay so I'm taking a page from the Destiny board, I was a frequent user of that board before I took my Destiny cruise so I decided to start this thread. I'm going on two cruises on this ship this year with to different itineraries, one is going out of Norfolk June 5th to the Bahamas and the other is going out of Miami November 26th on a western track with poc's Cozumel, Grand Cayman, and Ocho Rios. I wanted to get everybody who has been on this ship lately and what the condition is, bright spots on the ship etc. Also want to hear from everyone who’s is about to set sail on this ship, what excursions they have planned what tracks they are taking etc. It doesn’t seem to be taking a break this year. Hope that everyone that uses this thread can get a lot of good information from coming here through out the year.

Sincerely,

Wayne

We are just off the Triumph a couple weeks ago.

Eastern cruise, starting in Miami, San Juan, St Thomas and St Maarten.

The ship was in great shape, but is due for a 3 week drydock layup later this year.

October is the time I believe we were told so you should be able to see a difference between your two trips.

The crew was constantly cleaning & painting.

We didn't notice any stained carpet nor did we notice any foull smells as some others have reported.

As for bright spots...there are/were many.

Lots of things to do or not, depending on your own requirements.

The highlight was our room.

Because we booked our cruise more than a year in advance we had a pretty good selection of rooms to choose from. After looking over the deck plans I noticed that there were a handfull of rooms that appeared to have longer balconies than all of the others. Due to the location of an emergency stairwell several rooms on certain floors were L shaped. We booked one and the drawing is correct.......we got a double lengh balcont for the same $$ as all the rest!

An added feature is that the room also has 2 large windows instead of just one.

After not having a balcony on ANY of our previous cruises, I have to admit that we are now probably addicted.

We may even book the Triumph, or one of her sister ships, to get one again.

As for port excursions in San Juan we went horseback riding.

A great time is you are into horses as we are.

St Thomas we just walked around. It's a pretty good walk to town but we like to walk. Lots to see but yet we purchased little.

St Thomas..........3 words.........Americas Cup Regatta! Probably the most fun excursion ever! Racing Americas Cup boats and drinking beer.

I could live that life.

Miami Due to a late flight we booked a Miami shore excursion via Carnival to the everglades. A great way to kill a few hours before your late flight home. The ytake you from the ship, to the everglades for an airboat ride and show, then drop you and your luggage off at the airport.

In short, not only would I book the Triumph again, we would even take the same cruise over.

Jeff & Susana

thank you for the info I'm glad you had such a good time on your cruise. My wife and I could spend a week in St. Thomas/ St. John we made that stop on our Destiny cruise and went to megans bay what a beautiful beach. I didn't know the ship was going to be in dry dock for a few weeks I think it has departures in about 5 to 6 different cities this year up the east coast so I'm sure there will be a lot of first time cruisers on this board wanting to know what the ship was like.

Keep those posts coming,

Wayne

Leaving on the Triumph on April 30th for a seven day Western Caribbean cruise. Will be doing the Stingray City excursion in Grand Cayman with Nativeway, Dunns Falls in Ocho Rios with Phil Lafayette and still not sure about Cosumel. On my last cruise there in 2003, I did the Royal Dolphin Swim and may do it again. Will also probably spend some time at Paradise Beach. Only 55 days to go and I can't wait!

Thanks for posting I would like to have some more info on Dunn's falls does carnival offer this excursion how was it?

Wayne

my wife and i as well as stepson and his family will be sailing this thanksgiving. great to hear that she'll be hitting drydock before we sail. never a bad thing. we are booked on an aft cabin on the verandah deck. definitely a thought about the corner, L shaped cabin. they are still available at this point. maybe time for a change. any comments on kids programs (ages 9 & 12)? thanks for any info in advance.

mike & lucille

I am planning to take my mother on Triumph-Western later this year. I have gone this route on Victory so I can tell you something about Dunn's River Falls. Carnival does offer this excursion! I can't remember the exact name of the excursion....something Party Boat. (They have several excursions going to the falls.) Anyway, they took us out on a double decker boat, we cruised around a little then headed to the falls. They have guides that you follow...they know where to step to get up the falls. Of course, Carnival photographers are there taking pictures! Plus, the people running the party boat take pictures also and ask you to buy after the climb. Oh...and one of the employess stays behind to watch everybody's stuff while you climb. They expect a tip, of course! When you get to the top, there are several kiosks where you can buy something to drink/eat/trinkets. Then you walk down a blacktop trail to get back to the beach. We hung out at the beach for about an hour. Then back aboard the boat. On the way back there's music and dancing....and of course, rum punch. We had a really good time! I won't be taking my mother on this one though, because I don't think she'd be able to climb the falls. It's not really hard, just I don't think she could do it.

i am sailing on the triumph in june out of new york to canada, i have a room on the empress deck, i hope this is a good location.

We are sailing on the Triumph 4/16/2005 - Western Caribbean! I've ready mostly great things about the ship and can't wait to be on her!

We booked one of those family cabins on the Spa deck - they look and sound fantastic! I'm travelling with DH and DSs 10, 8, and 6!

For past Triumph sailors - what is the name of the bar by the pool? And, is there a deck at the top where the entrance to the slide is? We're trying to organize a meet, for our roll call on the 16th and I can't seem to find that info!

Lisa.

My family and I will be on the Triumph Jan. 7, 2006 to the Western Caribbean. Still a ways to go but I have learned vaulable information from this board. Keep it coming!!! As far as excursions, I have found some great information. For Ocho Rios, I think that we are going to take a private tour with Peat Taylor which will go to Dunn's River Falls, Fern Gully and other places. We are thinking of snorkeling in Grand Cayman (can anyone suggest someone to take a private tour through, I have looked in to Capt. Bryan, might go with him). And in Cozumel, we are thinking about going to Paradise Beach and Chankanaab Park. Hope that helps. And I can't wait to read what others have to say.

Rebecca

We will be sailing the Triumph on March 26 heading East. We have sailed on the Triumph twice before and looking forward to sailing on her again. I like it best of all the ships we have sailed on. Less than 3 weeks and we will be there. Can't wait to get out of all this winter weather.

>>St Thomas..........3 words.........Americas Cup Regatta!<<

OOPS, make that St Maarten. My bad.

>>what is the name of the bar by the pool?<<

New World Pool/Bar and Continent Bar/Pool.

>>there a deck at the top where the entrance to the slide is?<<

Yup, and it's the last place to look for a deck chair on nice days.

It can be very windy up there when the ship is sailing.

>>an aft cabin on the verandah deck<<

We tried for an aft first but they were all booked.

WARNING.....people on the floor above can look down and see some of your balcony so be aware. The Lido deck is right above the Verandah deck and we were able to look down to the balconies below.

I will let you know about the Triumph's when we return. We are going on the Eastern route in 6 days. We have booked a "Sunny Liston" private tour in St. Thomas. He picks us up by the ship at 9:00. Then takes us shopping for two-three hours (our choice). Next he gives us a one and a half hour island tour and then drops us off at the beach of our choice for three hours. He will return and drop us off at the ship. All this for $20.00 pp. (http://www.sunnyliston.com)

We have booked the Ship's Little Divi Beach Resort trip for $40.00 pp in St. Martin. This sounded like the best for my family.

We also will do the South Beach tour in Miami when we return. Our flight doesn't leave until 6:30 PM. They will store our luggage and return us to the airport in the afternoon.

I will write a long review and post it when we get back. I am looking forward to the Triumph, I have heard some great things.

We're on the Triumph on May 21 doing the Eastern route. So far, we have the Coral World tour planned in St. Thomas and a catamaran snorkel cruise in St. Maarten. Sooo excited!

Thanks who all that posted today I can tell by the amount of posts that his thread will be very useful to all of us cruising the Triumph this year. The one excursion I'm considering is when in Nassua is the dophin encounter or swim, for those who have done this is it worth the $160 to swim with them or is it just as much fun to do the encounter. I have my doubts about the swim due to the cost but I'm leaning on going all out or not at all on this one. Another question regarding the ship is the club scene on the triumph, can anyone fill me in on what is the best social scene on board, or a can't miss place to hang out?

Thanks, Wayne

The highlight was our room.

Because we booked our cruise more than a year in advance we had a pretty good selection of rooms to choose from. After looking over the deck plans I noticed that there were a handfull of rooms that appeared to have longer balconies than all of the others. Due to the location of an emergency stairwell several rooms on certain floors were L shaped. We booked one and the drawing is correct.......we got a double lengh balcont for the same $$ as all the rest!

An added feature is that the room also has 2 large windows instead of just one.

After not having a balcony on ANY of our previous cruises, I have to admit that we are now probably addicted.

We may even book the Triumph, or one of her sister ships, to get one again.

 

Jeff & Susana

We just got an aft wrap around balcony for our next cruise (5-29). We've had balconys before so we're really looking forward to the large one.

I'll try and post my question here...since you guys are all Triumph folks, maybe you guys can help me.

We have a group sailing in June, and it's our first on Triumph. They assigned one of the couples cat 8A Balcony on the Upper Deck. This is directly above all the bars and night life.

Has anyone stayed on this deck that can help me? What do you guys think about this location? Is noise going to be a problem? What if they want to have a QUIET night cap on the balcony? They are elderly, and turn in early, so should I be worried????

Please help! Thanks:-)

"Has anyone stayed on this deck that can help me? What do you guys think about this location? Is noise going to be a problem? What if they want to have a QUIET night cap on the balcony? They are elderly, and turn in early, so should I be worried????"

Please help! Thanks:-)

Not really clear on which deck you are refering to, I know on most Carnival ships the night club bars are on the interior of the ship around the 5th deck unsure about triumph though. so if they have a balcony they should be in the exterior of the ship away from all that, If they are on the floor below the Lido then there should not be that much noise from up on the main pool deck after 10:00.

Bump

We were in an upper cabin room 2 from the back and you could hear some noise at times.

Not too bad.

The more aft you are, the more you may hear.

(as the ship is moving)

Noise doesn't bother us though...........we had our balcony door open all the time!

Jeff & Susana

We were on the Triumph in November doing the Western route.

The ship is wonderful. We had a 8A gte and were assigned a room on the Empress Deck (7), which was great because it is between decks of rooms, so it was very quiet. We did walk around on Deck 6 to get to the "secret door" and noticed that you can hear the show from the Rome Lounge, but I don't know how loud it is in the rooms. Go out on the deck that's from the atrium -- it's a great spot.

The food was very good. The hamburgers were the best, as was the noodle place (can't remember the name). Pizza was good, but not as good as I expected. The deli is also a must.

In Cozumel we went to Passion Island through Carnival. It's a great, quiet beach that is only accessible via cruise excursions. Then we went shopping and, of course, Carlos 'n Charlies.

In Grandy Cayman we took the excursion that included Turtle Farm, Hell and the Stingrays -- don't recommend that. Going to the stingrays is a must; it's an incredible experience, but Turtle Farm and Hell are not worth the time.

In Dunn's River Falls we went on the Cool Runnings excursion. It was great!! Lots of fun, including unlimited rum punch after the climb -- beware it's 151 proof.

Enjoy the cruise -- it's a good choice.

We were in an upper cabin room 2 from the back and you could hear some noise at times.

Not too bad.

 

The more aft you are, the more you may hear.

(as the ship is moving)

 

 

Noise doesn't bother us though...........we had our balcony door open all the time!

 

 

Jeff & Susana

I looked up their cabin number and it's #6383 on the UPPER DECK. When I look at the deck plans, it looks mid to aft....but I'm not sure.

??? Thanks for helping me!!

Hello,

I Am Booked In A Cat 12 Suite On Triumph And Would Like Input From Past Cruisers-we Were On Dawn Last Year.

I Am Also Traveling With My Three Sons Ages 14,17,20.,who Get An Inside Cabin But Could Visit Mom And Dad At Reasonable Hours.

Thanks In Advace

Ps-anyone From Connecticut Onboard?

My family and I will be on the Triumph Jan. 7, 2006 to the Western Caribbean. Still a ways to go but I have learned vaulable information from this board. Keep it coming!!! As far as excursions, I have found some great information. For Ocho Rios, I think that we are going to take a private tour with Peat Taylor which will go to Dunn's River Falls, Fern Gully and other places. We are thinking of snorkeling in Grand Cayman (can anyone suggest someone to take a private tour through, I have looked in to Capt. Bryan, might go with him). And in Cozumel, we are thinking about going to Paradise Beach and Chankanaab Park. Hope that helps. And I can't wait to read what others have to say.

Rebecca

My family used Peat Taylor on the Imagination--it was a very good tour!!! We had our own private van--it included 2hrs at Dunn's Falls. I highly recommend him.

As far as the Triumph--it was a great ship, and I had a blast last summer!

DH's first cruise was on Truimph (category 11) and has become terribly addicted to cruising. LOVED the balcony!!! I had cruised 3x before and talked him into it with my fingers crossed that he would have a good time. He can be kinda shy around new people, however when I napped on the first sea day and he went to the pool to grab some sun............later on people were shouting at him "Hey Margaritta JOE". Made friends everywhere he went! We had a perfect cruise with really fun people-John Heald CD-very, very good staff! Fascinating table mates and yummy food. GOAT CHEESE Pizza!!!

Cozumel~taxi to town....shopped!!!gucamole/chips & beer @ Pancho's backyard (delicious) Charlos & Charlie's (wild time)

Grand Caymen~Soto's Cruises-booked online-2 snorkle stops (beautiful coral and plentiful fish to see) and very early stop at Stingray City (the most FUN) Boat only had 10 folks booked-picked us up at the pier-beat the crowd everywhere we went.

Jamica~Peat Taylor (the best!!) booked online-pick up at the pier. Price included trip to Dunn Rivers Fall-drive up to Fern Gully with informative commentary and singing-shopping in town. (DH bought my gorgeous diamond ring at a downtown jeweler for $3500 less than we saw it in Cozumel) Then Peat dropped us off at Margarittaville (this is very close to the pier-walked back to ship) FUN FUN FUN

Hoping you have a great time too!