Triumph 1/31/11 review

[cortneyward]

A little background info: We are 4 women from NE Mississippi, myself, my mom, my aunt, and a family friend. We had planned to make the 6 hour drive to New Orleans starting very early Sunday morning but of course, nothing ever goes as planned. We were all informed late Saturday night that my cousins’ wife was in labor so off to the hospital we went. Baby Zoey arrived about 7:30 am and after seeing her briefly, we headed home to shower and leave with absolutely no sleep! We arrived in NOLA about 7pm and headed to Copeland’s for dinner. If you haven’t been here, it’s absolutely amazing! Crawfish bread is to die for! Afterwards, we just headed to the hotel for some much needed rest. We woke up fairly early to have breakfast at Café DuMonde and hit the French Quarter before heading out

EMBARKATION: We arrived at port around 11:30 and experienced a long line to scan luggage, which moved pretty quickly. The line to get sail and sign cards was just as long but much slower. We felt like we’d been there forever but once onboard we found that from start to finish it only took an hour. Not bad if I do say so myself.

THE SHIP: A lot of people have commented on the layout of the ship but we didn’t find it that difficult. You can’t go straight through on decks 3 or 4 but otherwise it was fine. The elevators got pretty crowded at the end of shows also. I’d also read about problems with the buffet, which we also didn’t experience. I thought the ship was very nice and would definitely sail her again.

THE FOOD: I am a “foodie” and everything revolves around food (even though our little town has few options). I found the food to be good, but not really outstanding. I didn’t find anything to be bad either. We actually liked the buffet breakfast just fine, I actually like the French Toast very much. High points were the WCMC, crème brulee, Turkey on a country roll from the deli, strip and brie sandwich from room service, lobster, prime rib, grilled jumbo shrimps (that somehow were missing the grill marks?), escargot, and chilled strawberry soup.

THE PORTS: I actually enjoyed Progresso much more than anticipated. The people are pushy and it does get annoying but it was nice anyway. We rented jet skis and enjoyed that. We ate lunch on the beach and the service was pretty slow. I can’t remember the name of the place but they had a public restroom and that was a huge plus. All prices were in pesos and we were too dumb to ask American prices…until we got the $82 bill. The food was average, but then again we are used to Americanized Mexican food. We also got massages on the beach which were great. Cozumel was fantastic. We had intended to go to Chankanaab but our cab driver talked us into Mr Sanchos (we found out his fee was higher to Mr Sanchos, of course). But we enjoyed it. We went to the dive shop right on the beach and they took us out snorkeling for only about $35 each. We enjoyed that as well. Afterwards, we sat on the beach a while and had some salsa and guacamole (fantastic) before heading back to the pier to shop. I will say that the cab drivers are insane with the driving!

THE SHOWS/ENTERTAINMENT: We had Tex as a CD and Gary as an assistant and LOVED them. We liked the Welcome Aboard Show, the ice carving, karaoke, the comedy show, the love and marriage show, the guest talent show, and the Big Easy Show. We weren’t able to see the burlesque show as the weather had kept the entertainers from being able to fly. The love and marriage show was our favorite.

THE CHEF’S TABLE: This was the highlight of my cruise. The food and staff were absolutely amazing and well worth every penny, even though I don’t drink. I had prebooked through John Heald’s blog. While the chef was explaining how he chose which 12, out of over 30, got to attend, he stated that since I had booked online, I was given priority. Now, this is likely entirely up to the chef and may not stand true on all ships but I still highly recommend going through John if you know you want to attend.

DEBARKATION: We were in Zone 9 and did not do self assist. We were called about 9 am and in our vehicle heading home by 10.

[AWCHIEF]

cortney, nice review, thank you. I am looking forward to my third cruise on the Triumph in a couple of weeks. I have always enjoyed Tex as a CD when I have sailed with him in the past.

[cortneyward]

cortney, nice review, thank you. I am looking forward to my third cruise on the Triumph in a couple of weeks. I have always enjoyed Tex as a CD when I have sailed with him in the past.

 

I don't think I've seen anything bad about him on here. He and Gary MADE the tallent show. I think you will be on the first cruise where Gary won't be there. He is transferring to the Miracle as cruise director.