Newbie DIZZY Cruiser Review: Carnival Triumph Canada/New England 8/24-8/29

[NAS123]

Hey all.

 

First---I am a bit late. Came home to a non working internet! Been home 3 days. So this is a late review by most!

 

Second and most importantly: I am dizzy. What in the heck is this?! :eek: LMAO It has been 3 days since we walked off the ship and I am dizzy NOW?! Like, severe vertigo dizzy. Like I said, what the HECK!! LOL It didn't happen until later in the afternoon after disembarkation. SO WEIRD! Help! I wasn't at all affected on my ship. Maybe I am hungry and am still on the ship's schedule? OMGOODNESS but we ate when were were like...full. And I am not an eater by any means but we sure did eat. ALOT. I cannot get over the amount of food we consumed and it was just still so readily available!! (Newbie cruiser just gushing here. Sorry). I am still amazed by it. :rolleyes:

 

So the Canada/New England St. John/Halifax cruise out of NYC on August 24th was our first family cruise. Ever. For any of us. LOL And I must say, we had a BLAST. Because we sure ate. Alot. :eek:

 

We have a 16 year old, a 7 year old, and a 3 year old. The two oldest we only saw during mealtimes of breakfast, lunch, and dinner. That was about it! Otherwise those two spent their entire time at Camp Carnival. Later when our 3 year old warmed up to the idea, she went to camp in the evenings. One thing I loved loved loved about the 2-5 year old camp: The PHONE they loan you! Okay, now here is my question....finding folks on the ship is pretty hard if you don't have this phone. I was able to use it quite frequently to call my room for my DH or DD. Now if I didn't have my toddler in the camp, I wouldn't have use of this phone right? Why don't they make it available to rent for other folks on the ship? Even people without kids. Just wondering. I found it to be a nifty thing to have on hand. :cool:

 

The girls in camp gave us two parents time to gamble, participate in the activities, and just spend time alone. RARE occasion these days. I forgot what it was like to be an adult with a drink in hand with casino noise in the background. Just sitting there watching everyone having a great time walking by. Siiiigh. :)

 

We greatly enjoyed the Carnival Triumph. Our room was a bit tight (interior) but we didn't mind it as we were rarely there other than to sleep. What worked out well was that we were on the Lido deck on 9. NICE not having to wait for the elevators to get to the food that we sure ate alot of. (My one complaint was the wait for the elevators!! GOODNESS! :mad:) Our cabin steward, Ashton was very nice, very chatty with my DH, and very efficient in cleaning up our room twice a day.

 

Dinner each evening in the London Dining room was good. Not fantastic, but good. The ribs were a huge disappointment but the Warm Chocolate Melting cake made up for it! Did you guys know they have the same desserts at the dinner buffet? One night I ended up eating two Warm Chocolate Melting cakes. Our waiter was THE BEST. His name was Rodney from India. lol He made sure our toddler had her french fries within minutes after arrival as she is a fidgety kid.

 

Pools were tiny by our standards so we only went in once. It was NICE to have it heated though. This is a cooler cruise as it goes up north but they kept the water so warm, it was like a hot tub! Which be the way, was closed the entire cruise.

 

We had a lovely time at the Captain's Reception. The Captain himself was unable to attend as he was busy maneuvering the ship around cargo boats, fishing boats and----what he later told us during the disembarkation talk---icebergs. ((shrug)) I dunno!!

 

The crew on Carnival was delightful. Absolutely delightful. We fell in love with the Fun crew. Or the entertainment group. If that is what you call them. They made sure they moved the fun along and we had a great time doing things like the Battle of the Sexes, Spot the Liar, Bingo, TV Theme Trivia, and Sports Trivia. These things would be boring and goofy on the average but the crew on Carnival made it fun and enjoyable. I can't say we came across one unhappy Carnival crew member! So weird but ahhhh oh so welcome. Always being greeted with a smile and a helpful hand if needed.

 

Our ports of call were St. John New Brunswick and Halifax, Nova Scotia. I can't say it was very exciting in St. John. We actually didn't book excursions because this was our first cruise and wanted to just wing it. There was tons of fog in St. John. Found ourselves back on board within two hours. Halifax on the other hand was a great place. Clean, crisp and a mellow place. We went to the Citadel and took a cab to Swiss Chalet. (My DH is Canadian and loves their chicken and dreams about it in NYC. What can I tell ya. We had to go. LOL)

 

All and all it was truly a wonderful trip for us. We had an incredibly time with Carnival and will DEFINITELY be cruising with them again. My DH was skeptical before our trip but now wants to look into perhaps a Caribbean cruise next go round. But that wouldn't be happening if we didn't have such an incredible time on the Triumph!

 

I can't remember which threads they were but thanks to those who suggested to get lanyards, bring the over the door shoe rack, the ones who insisted my kids get to the camp carnival registration on the first night, those who recommended speaking with the Maitre D for seating preferences upon first boarding, and the woman who noted that upper level of the South Beach buffet was always empty!!!

 

Thanks to everyone for reading! HAPPY CRUISING!

[jenng1976]

I'm glad you had a good time! I'm Canadian and know exactly what you are talking about regarding Swiss Chalet ... mmm, chicken and fries! I have friends who live in the States and they always make a point of going whenever they are in town.

 

31 days and counting until I get to experience Triumph for myself!

 

Thanks for taking the time to post a review :)

[Vitamin_Sea]

Happy to see you guys had fun, we loved the Triumph. Im wondering if you guys had heavy fog on travel evenings like we did. Oh, Hope your not dizzy still!!:eek:

[cjkumbaya]

So glad that you have a wonderful family vacation cruise. Also glad that you joined the ranks of the "hooked on cruising" people. Thanks for taking the time to share your trip with everyone (the dizziness should subside in a day or two). :)