Triumph review: November 8-13, 2010. Best 1A room # 2444

[k2excursion]

We had no trouble finding chairs out in the sun. Not many chair hogs on this cruise. The waterslide line actually was long for a little bit, but for the most part, there was no line. I was able to ride it a ton. I've never had that on any other cruise. The climbing of the stairs was wearing me out. We had a beautiful day at sea, until late in the afternoon when we hit storms and rougher seas. It never got too rough, but to be on the safe side, we each took a Bonine. That did make us sleepy later. I happened to be down on Deck 5 during the 5:00 hour, and I ran into Big Tex and talked more with him. The show this night was the singers & dancers with their first big production. They did dances from all over the world, which I really enjoyed. I'm an Irish dancer, so I loved it when they came out and did their tribute to Ireland. Their French number was also excellent.

 

More outdoor pics, this time while at sea:

 

 

 

 

 

It looked really nice at night:

[k2excursion]

We had arranged a tour (not through Carnival, but through AutoProgreso) to go to the Ux Mal Mayan ruins. Our email told us to meet him in a specific spot around the port area, and he wasn't there. It felt like we had been blown off. So we figured that we'd just take that bus into town and see if anyone there knows what went wrong. Sure enough, before leaving the bus, a worker for the company was promoting their tours, one of them being the one we wanted. So we still got to do the tour at the same price, but the guy we were supposed to go with did either blow us off or gave us wrong information.

 

We saved over $20 each by taking this tour through AutoProgreso and not Carnival. Plus, our bus was half empty, allowing us to really spread out and relax. Carnival tours, although operated by AutoProgreso also, always try to fill up every single seat in the buses they run. That half-empty bus was a huge advantage. The only disadvantage was that we didn't have quite as much free time at the ruins. We had a little over an hour, and the Carnival tours got an hour and a half. Fortunately for us, we didn't really need any extra free time. In fact, we only really used about 45 minutes of our free time. The ruins were really nice. Our tour guide did a great job. We got to climb on several of the ruins. You can't climb on the tallest, but you can climb on the 2nd tallest. I went up that one. Now, the steps are pretty steep, and there's no hand rails or anything. You've got to be careful, mainly when coming down. But the view from the top is amazing!!! On the ride back to town, we all spread out on the bus, and many of us were able to catch a nap. I was able to sleep some. It's about an hour and 15 minutes each way. We did some light shopping in the outdoor market in Progreso, and walked to the beach, then headed back to the ship to catch a late lunch.

 

Tonight's show in the main theater was the talent show. On shorter cruises, they do this instead of the Legends show on 7-day cruises. I like the talent show alot better, because the people can do whatever they want, and it's always different and unique. Big Tex did plenty to fill in the gaps too, and he is always very entertaining. At the start of the show, he said that there was a lady in the audience that's caught his eye, and he just had to let her know how he felt. As he came off the stage, I knew! He came right to my mom:eek:, as we were sitting on the end of the front row. He was obviously trying hard not to look at her as he started coming off the stage. He wound up singing an Elton John song to her, and he did a really good job. He was acting all goofy too. My mom was certainly embarrassed by it, but it was also hilarious. It sure provided us with a great memory.

 

After the show was the Deck Party up on the Lido deck. I always enjoy these. For about 5 minutes, they threw some Mardi Gras beads out, and I caught a few. Then, we did some more of the popular dances of today: Cha Cha Slide, Follow the Leader, the embarrassing Macarena/Chicken Dance mix, the Cupid Shuffle, & YMCA. We had a great time with it. As the DJ started playing more of the regular music, I kind of backed off, as I need the dancing to already be choreographed for me. I can't do my own thing; I don't have anything. Boy, was I tired when that deck party was done. It was a good night for the piano bar guy to be off.

 

Ux Mal pics: This is the one they don't let you climb on:

 

Watch out for the gigantic lizards!!!

 

 

 

[k2excursion]

You can climb on this one:

 

Looking back towards the tallest and the other structures near the entrance/exit:

 

This is the big one that we are allowed to climb (obviously):

 

The climb wasn't too bad. It was the coming down part where you have to be careful.

 

Amazing views from the top:

 

Here's the Triumph, with the Ecstasy docked next to us. The Ecstasy or downtown New Orleans prevented me from ever getting a clear shot of the Triumph from off the ship.

[tiger belle]

thanks for the review and pics

[The Klev]

Colin:

 

Glad you had a good time!

 

Hope all is well.

 

p.s. - Rachel and Jason say "hello" and they miss you!

 

Best,

 

Alan

[wantocruisemore]

We saved over $20 each by taking this tour through AutoProgreso and not Carnival. Plus, our bus was half empty, allowing us to really spread out and relax. Carnival tours, although operated by AutoProgreso also, always try to fill up every single seat in the buses they run.

 

 

Actually, we did the Carnival tour to Uxmal. It was not run by AutoProgresso. It was a different company but we really enjoyed it.

We left directly from the port by 7:25am on the first bus. We also had some vacant seats, one beside my husband.

I know it ended up a little more the way by doing it through Carnival but we had over 3 1/2 hrs. at the site, we were the 2nd bus there and could tour before it got hot, and with DD was better being picked up and delivered back to port rather than dealing with bus to town and then waiting for them to start. For us, the extra money was worth it.

 

LOVED YOUR PICS, I have some of the same. It was really great there, not too hot and the weather, scenery perfect.

[k2excursion]

Colin:

 

Glad you had a good time!

 

Hope all is well.

 

p.s. - Rachel and Jason say "hello" and they miss you!

 

Best,

 

Alan

 

Hey Alan! I miss all of you too. Tell Rachel & Jason that I said hi. I'll try to get some waterslide-ride videos posted up of fb in the next week or so. I used my folks waterproof camera. We definitely need to cruise together again sometime. Happy late Thanksgiving!

 

Colin

[k2excursion]

Actually, we did the Carnival tour to Uxmal. It was not run by AutoProgresso. It was a different company but we really enjoyed it.

We left directly from the port by 7:25am on the first bus. We also had some vacant seats, one beside my husband.

I know it ended up a little more the way by doing it through Carnival but we had over 3 1/2 hrs. at the site, we were the 2nd bus there and could tour before it got hot, and with DD was better being picked up and delivered back to port rather than dealing with bus to town and then waiting for them to start. For us, the extra money was worth it.

 

LOVED YOUR PICS, I have some of the same. It was really great there, not too hot and the weather, scenery perfect.

 

Oops! Thanks for pointing this out. I haven't been very clear with this review, on many things. Our tour was with Autoprogresso, who also run the free shuttles back and forth between the ships and the town. Our tour actually did take everyone straight back to the ship, without having to stop in town. We asked to be dropped off. We were the only ones who got off. Everyone else stayed on the bus and headed straight to the ships. And we did get plenty of time (not just an hour) at the ruins. Our free time was a little over an hour, but throwing in the guided part of the tour, we had 2 1/2 hours. The good thing about going through Carnival is that you get an earlier start, over an hour before us, allowing for more time at the site. Fortunately for us, the time we had was plenty for us, but anyone wanting more time should definitely go through Carnival and get off the ship as quickly as you did. With our ruins tour in Belize, the bus was almost full, maybe 5 empty seats out of over 50. It's nice to hear that it wasn't quite so full for you.

[k2excursion]

We had nothing but rain showing on the weather forecasts for our day in Cozumel all leading up to it. Same in April. Fortunately, both times, we lucked out and had NO RAIN!!! Around home, 30% chance basically means about 120%. But 50% turned out no rain twice in one year in Cozumel. That probably hasn't happened twice in the last 10 years here. Lucky us!

 

In April, we went to Chankanaab and loved it. This time, after much debate, we decided on Paradise Beach. We liked the idea of having more to do than just lay on a beautiful beach, which we were afraid some of the other options would be. We were worried about how crowded it could be, with 5 ships and over 14,000 people in port. There were plenty of people, but it certainly wasn't overly crowded. We definitely made the right choice! $13 cab ride, $2 for a beach chair, and $12 wristband to play on their inflatable slides & climbing mountain. It was so much fun out there. We didn't even get hungry out there, so we didn't buy any food or drink; just ate on the ship when we got back. We took turns climbing on the things out in the water. It can be tricky getting up onto the things out there, but the slides were fun and easy enough to climb up. The mountain, on the other hand, that was tough! After a couple failed attempts to get anywhere on it, I psyched myself up for one last try. I was determined to make it to the midway point, where there's a perch to sit. I had to start out on the front, then traverse around the corner to then climb up to the perch. I was so happy to get that far and had no desire to go the rest of the way up. After mom taking my picture from the shore, I slid down into the water. Many made the summit, but almost all who tried didn't. It's a big one! It was quite a workout to just do the swimming around those things. I also did some snorkeling around the pier. There were plenty of fish right around the ladder entrance at the end of the pier, which I took pictures and video of with the underwater camera. We left around 2:15-2:30 and did some light shopping at the port.

 

 

 

Out along the pier:

 

 

From the end of the pier:

 

Playa Mia, where Carnival's beach break goes to, just south of where we were. I did that back in 2005. It was fun, and I was able to reach the top of that mountain, a much smaller one:

[Dixie24]

Thanks for the pictures and review. Going in a couple weeks, so it is very helpful.

[k2excursion]

There were some dark clouds in the sky, but we didn't get rain where we were.

 

Back to the port, once again, the Ecstasy & Triumph, side by side:

 

The 2 Royal Caribbean ships at one of the other ports:

 

And the Triumph:

 

I'm not sure what cruiseline this one is:

 

 

I got on the ship barely in time to get through the buffet. I was the last one, as the workers were closing it down behind me. Tonight was our past guest party. There were so many people in there! It was fun being able to cheer for 7 different ships.

 

The big show this night was a magic show. This show was very well attended, and people showed up extra extra early. I do remember this also happening on the Dream on the next-to-last night. For future Triumph cruisers, if you want a decent seat on this night, show up very very early! We were lucky to get a decent seat, as a few people left after bingo, and we were right there. As a side note, there were a few people that were saving way too many seats. One lady was literally saving an entire row and a half all by herself. None of her party would arrive for awhile. A couple of seats are fine, but around 15!!? That's way too much! I know I should've stood up to her, but nobody else did either. Anyway, moving on. The magician put on a really great show! He used several of the regular female dancers from the ship as well. I don't know how he did his tricks. Of course, I never know how any of those tricks are done. There were some guys in the crowd that I thought were some drunken frat boys whistling and screaming at all the ladies the whole show. Afterwards, I found out that they were actually the ship's male dancers.

 

One thing I forgot about Day 1: At about 12:15am on our first night, I went up to the Lido deck to just look out at the sea, and I was stunned to sea a small boat right along side the ship. Sure enough, that was the pilot boat finally picking up the pilot! 8 hours following sailing away!!!!! The pilot usually gets picked up about 15 minutes after starting to move. In fact, in Cozumel, they basically were only on the ships for about 5 minutes. But sailing out of New Orleans, with the 8-hour trek down the Mississippi, the pilot was on the ship for our first 8 hours! I never expected to see that when I went up there, and it was happening right when I got up there. So for anyone sailing out of New Orleans, check it out on the port side 8 hours following sailaway. The pilot boat then will be taking him back. Now, that's a long day for that pilot!!!

[boomonster]

How deep was the water around the inflatables? Some it doesnt look very but concerned about the ones out a little farther .Thanks

[goodml]

Great job on the review!

[Froufie]

Great review! Thinking of heading out to Paradise Beach in February - was not going to try out the 'water toys' but somehow I am now getting more interested in them. When you say 'mountain' do you mean the white thing that looks like a big iceberg? Is that the hard one to climb? How were the other 'toys'? easier? Was it worth the $12?

 

And my pet peeve is also those that save 'entire rows' in the theatre - i DON'T THINK SO! I would have sat down and said sorry but saving seats (like for more than 10 mins or so?) is not encouraged.....some nerve (must be a descendent of the lowly chair hog?) :D

 

And I also had 2444 (and same 1A) on the Triumph and other ships and just love it! Can't beat it for the price! Yes it can be a bit noisy with odd bumps/vibrations but nothing too terrible! Last cruise on the Valor I had one of the 1A porthole cabins and fell in love with that as well!

[k2excursion]

How deep was the water around the inflatables? Some it doesnt look very but concerned about the ones out a little farther .Thanks

 

I couldn't tell how deep it was. I know that I never touched the bottom, even when I would slide into the water. The swimming out to and between the things can definitely get exhausting, especially when you played around as much as I did. I did hear that use of lifejackets are free with the wristbands, but I don't know that for sure, and I didn't look around to see where they would be. In my pics, you'll see some people sitting or laying on mats on top of the water. I'm pretty sure that those are also included with the wristband. There's also a guy in a canoe patrolling the toys out there, making sure everyone's okay and making sure that we all have the wristbands on.

[k2excursion]

Great review! Thinking of heading out to Paradise Beach in February - was not going to try out the 'water toys' but somehow I am now getting more interested in them. When you say 'mountain' do you mean the white thing that looks like a big iceberg? Is that the hard one to climb? How were the other 'toys'? easier? Was it worth the $12?

 

And my pet peeve is also those that save 'entire rows' in the theatre - i DON'T THINK SO! I would have sat down and said sorry but saving seats (like for more than 10 mins or so?) is not encouraged.....some nerve (must be a descendent of the lowly chair hog?) :D

 

And I also had 2444 (and same 1A) on the Triumph and other ships and just love it! Can't beat it for the price! Yes it can be a bit noisy with odd bumps/vibrations but nothing too terrible! Last cruise on the Valor I had one of the 1A porthole cabins and fell in love with that as well!

 

You're right. I should refer to it as an iceberg. I like calling it a mountain since I like hiking up mountains. Yes, that iceberg was very difficult, and very few had much success with it. I still think it's easier than a climbing wall, because with this iceberg, there are actual handles to grab ahold of or step into. You can use your entire arm strength to pull yourself up. On climbing walls, you're pulling yourself up by your fingertips and toenails on the super tiny notches. The hardest part of one of these icebergs is rolling yourself over on top of the summit, as there's nothing really to grab onto to pull yourself up the last bit.

 

The other toys were easier. There are mainly 2 big slides. The tallest one is easier to get started on, but it's harder to climb than the smaller one. Still, nobody failed (that I saw) to climb up either one. But the smaller one is missing a handle to pull yourself up out of the water, so you have to grib your knee to the material and roll your body over to get up there. Not everyone could do that. The little jungle gym, on the other side of (attached to) the smaller slide is tough for us non-climbers to climb around on. I couldn't do it. And there's one small 4-"seat" contraption that I never tried. I had no idea what that was. And there's 3 water trampolines. It was definitely worth the $12 for me, since I used the toys plenty. Some other beaches I've been to will charge $10 for the use of just a couple water trampolines, and they'll charge $10 or more (not just $2) for a beach chair. So this was definitely a great deal for me.

 

I'll be in one of the Dream's 1A portholes next year, the best one--2217. It's the same #s on the Conquest ships also. My other 1A porthole was on the Holiday, a small 140 sq.ft. room with one porthole. It seems that the 2216/2217s are around 200 sq.ft! plus it has the long sofa (or sofa bed if someone comes with me, instead of an upper)! I'm looking forward to that one. I got it at the 150% supplement before it went away. It's still pricey, but well lower than any other 7-day cruise at 200%.

[k2excursion]

A nice relaxing day at sea! I did ride the waterslide a few thousand times. At about 4:00, several people finally got up there to ride it for their first time. I taught several of them the way I ride down it, that helps me go so much faster. It worked for them too. I'm surprised so many waited so long to give it a shot. We had a beautiful sunny day. This is probably more sun than I've seen on any of my other short cruises. Warning: they do close the lunch line early on this final day. I wasn't hungry until later, so I went to the buffet line 15 minutes before it was scheduled to close, and it had already been closed for awhile. But there's always pizza & the grill.

 

We went to the farewell party at 5:00, and we talked to Big Tex on our way to it. Once again, it was not well attended. The waiters were just standing around with trays full of drinks, waiting for someone, anyone to finish the drink they've got. We each took one to dinner with us. Our head waiter in the dining room was spectacular all week. He had the best attitude, and I really enjoyed getting to talk to him and learn more about him and his life, especially on this last day. Plus, when the waiters do their singing and dancing, he and the entire crew in that dining room would always really get into it and have fun. I would get up and dance with them as well, or at least I tried.

 

Tonight's big show was their 2nd big song & dance show, called "The Big Easy". It was New Orleans themed, and they were spectacular. It was so high energy, with great choices of songs (that we can't remember to save our lives--hence, my thread asking what songs are in that show). I don't know how those dancers could handle a show like that. They put everything into it. Afterwards, we got to talk to Big Tex once again. He's definitely my favorite cruise director, and I never thought anyone could be better than Jorge.

 

Debarkation went really smooth the next morning. We did self-assist, but we didn't go when they called our floor. We were still eating breakfast; way too early. About 20 minutes or so after being called, we went down there, and there was no line to get off. That's always nice. Valor & Conquest were nightmares for us. Triumph & the Dream were a breeze. We took a cab back to the Drury Inn, where our car was, and we were on the road before 8:00.

 

Some final pictures:

 

 

 

Atrium elevators:

 

Atrium lobby:

 

Docked in New Orleans:

[Froufie]

You're right. I should refer to it as an iceberg. I like calling it a mountain since I like hiking up mountains. Yes, that iceberg was very difficult, and very few had much success with it. I still think it's easier than a climbing wall, because with this iceberg, there are actual handles to grab ahold of or step into. You can use your entire arm strength to pull yourself up. On climbing walls, you're pulling yourself up by your fingertips and toenails on the super tiny notches. The hardest part of one of these icebergs is rolling yourself over on top of the summit, as there's nothing really to grab onto to pull yourself up the last bit.

 

The other toys were easier. There are mainly 2 big slides. The tallest one is easier to get started on, but it's harder to climb than the smaller one. Still, nobody failed (that I saw) to climb up either one. But the smaller one is missing a handle to pull yourself up out of the water, so you have to grib your knee to the material and roll your body over to get up there. Not everyone could do that. The little jungle gym, on the other side of (attached to) the smaller slide is tough for us non-climbers to climb around on. I couldn't do it. And there's one small 4-"seat" contraption that I never tried. I had no idea what that was. And there's 3 water trampolines. It was definitely worth the $12 for me, since I used the toys plenty. Some other beaches I've been to will charge $10 for the use of just a couple water trampolines, and they'll charge $10 or more (not just $2) for a beach chair. So this was definitely a great deal for me.

 

I'll be in one of the Dream's 1A portholes next year, the best one--2217. It's the same #s on the Conquest ships also. My other 1A porthole was on the Holiday, a small 140 sq.ft. room with one porthole. It seems that the 2216/2217s are around 200 sq.ft! plus it has the long sofa (or sofa bed if someone comes with me, instead of an upper)! I'm looking forward to that one. I got it at the 150% supplement before it went away. It's still pricey, but well lower than any other 7-day cruise at 200%.

 

Thanks for the great info - may have to try out those 'water toy's after all! And I too snagged a 1A porthole (also 2217!!!) for my January 2012 Liberty cruise before that nasty 200% policy......

 

If you check out my Valor review (see link below near signature) you can see pics of 1211 which should be almost identical to 2217! Have fun!

[Naomi John]

Nice review, and the Triumph is represented well, however:

 

Please don't take this as a rip on New Orleans. It's just something I wish I knew I would be encountering. If you ever go out of New Orleans, be prepared. You will get New Orleans Saints thrown in your face at every turn, not only by passengers but in the activities. Some people who feel that the city is the best city in the world will make sure that you and everyone knows that it's the best and all the reasons why it's the best.

 

We want you to come back to NOLA and Louisiana. That is all. Add to the fact it was 43 years. We'll brag for another 43 afterwards. We love our State, our culture and our Saints. Sorry if it was over the top. I know OKLA has it's own disasters as well. (Will take a Hurricane over a tornado anyday, at least we know when it's comin')

 

 

Once again, despite the few negatives that I mentioned, it was a great cruise. The many positives, by far, overwhelmed the few negatives. Still, I probably will not cruise out of New Orleans again, mainly because I appreciate more of the family atmosphere. If I do, it may be just because the Ecstasy is moving there next year, and I haven't sailed on her yet. I like sailing on different ships.

 

Been on 4 out of NOLA. 3 with child age 6-8. One in February, one in September, (not Labor day), and one in April, (not Easter break, the week after). I think it was enjoyed more because there were less children and more attention from the counselors. IMHO.

Oh, and she has attempted the Ice Burg at Paradise Beach. Made it to the "summit" but decided the top was too far to jump off.

[bobmal99]

I found a great website www.cruiseweb.com

 

All I use if for is finding out the various sizes

of different ships.

 

It lists pretty much every ship you can

think of, plus tonnage, passenger and

crew capacity, when ship built, most recent

retrofit, and tons of pictures of each ship,

along with their deck plans..

 

This was copied & pasted from the website listed above..

 

 

Carnival Triumph®

 

Review Carnival Triumph® itineraries, browse photos, view deck plans, and

 

 

 

 

explore the staterooms, accommodations and amenities available onboard.

• Year Built: 1999
  
• Last Refurbished: 2008
  
• Gross Tonnage: 101,509 tons
  
• Passenger Capacity: 2,758
  
• Crew Size: 1,100
  
• Amenities: Fitness Center, Showroom, Casino, Spa, Swimming Pool (4) [more]
  

Don't think these links will work

unless you go right to the website..

 

 

Ship ItinerariesPhoto GalleryDeck PlansStateroomsCarnival Specials

 

 

Celebrity Constellation

 

 

 

View Celebrity Constellation itineraries, browse photos, view deck plans, and explore the staterooms, accommodations and amenities available onboard.

• Year Built: 2002
  
• Last Refurbished: NA
  
• Gross Tonnage: 91,000 tons
  
• Passenger Capacity: 2,034
  
• Crew Size: 999
  
• Amenities: Fitness Center, Spa, Movie Theater, Casino, Showroom, Pool (2) [more]
  

Ship ItinerariesPhoto GalleryDeck PlansStateroomsCelebrity Specials

 

 

 

Island Princess

• Year Built: 2003
  
• Last Refurbished: NA
  
• Gross Tonnage: 92,000 tons
  
• Passenger Capacity: 1,970
  
• Crew Size: 900
  
• Amenities: Fitness Center, Spa, Movie Theater, Tennis Court, Pool (3) [more]
  

Ship ItinerariesPhoto GalleryStateroomsPrincess Specials

 

Thanks for the pics! I'll be on this ship next week (Louisiana native).

 

I laughed a bit when I saw you describe the ship as small :) The other two ships I've been on (Island Princess & Celebrity Constellation) both hold ~1950 passengers and felt ENORMOUS. A week on either ship wasn't enough to explore every area. I've been curious to see how "big" Triumph was in relation to the other ships on which I've cruised, since it holds nearly 1000 more passengers.

[disneyden]

k2excursion, loved the review! We just booked the Triumph today...SO excited! We sail on April 30th. :D

 

 

I found a great website www.cruiseweb.com

 

Great website, bobmal99! Thanks for the info! ;)

[Cruise_Q]

Enjoyed your review. I will be leaving on this ship next month and your review was very helpful. Thanks

Q

[dfmeeks]

Fabulous review & pics! Was that yellow ship with the duck head really a cruise ship???:eek:

[k2excursion]

Fabulous review & pics! Was that yellow ship with the duck head really a cruise ship???:eek:

 

I don't know who photoshopped that thing together. But I found it on a hilarious joke thread that unfortunately disappeared within a day. I saved the pic before the thread vanished, and had to put it up somewhere.

[Shery]

Actually, even though I've never cruised in March, holidays, or the summer, I've always seen plenty of kids on the cruises I've taken. Of course, it isn't nearly as many as there would be at those peak times. It's never a ton of kids, but there's still a fair representation. On this cruise however, there were hardly any at all. In fact, the staff that handle

 

The reason there are still some kids that cruise during these times is because of the kids that are homeschooled or do year-round school. Those families rarely cruise during peak times, because it's so much more expensive. Plus, many parents pull their kids out of school to cruise, as long as their behavior and grades are good.

 

Actually the reason most home schooled families choose not to cruise or do many of their vacations during peak season is because they have the option of choosing a time that is less crowded. It is one of the perks of homeschooling for us. It is especially nice in places like Disney and other "high crowd" places. :)