Carnival Triumph Past, Present, and Future!!!

[DC1107]

We were on the Triumph 8/17-8/24 on the Eastern Caribbean. Beautiful ship, weather, islands....

 

Any questions in particular?

 

Towanda

 

I have one. We are booked with another cruise line for our Honeymoon, and we are thinking about switching our reservation to this ship, is it worth it?

[mytee4ever]

I can't tell you what is worth it. What I liked you may hate, etc. I enjoyed our trip with a few bumps in the road (missed Half Moon Cay because it was too choppy for the tenders & ds lost his camera), but overall it was a great trip. Kids used the pool & had a good time. Everyone had plenty to eat. Cousin had a color & cut in the spa & another had a pedicure. The first timers with our group enjoyed it & having never been to any of the ports of call myself (had done only Western ports previously), I loved them.

 

Choose your honeymoon based on where you want to cruise to & then on what the ship has to offer. Whichever ship you choose, happy wedding & honeymoon.

 

Towanda

[CruisingCarolina]

has anyone ever had cabin 6201, 6205 or 6206

ocean view cabins?

 

Can you tell me what you would see out of your window ?

[boiler babe]

Has anyone ever stayed in cabin 2365?? thinking we should try to change to balcony instead

[Frequent Floater]

Looking for a photo of the aft stern of the ship from the pier or ??

Also would like to hear from anyone that has stayed in the 9A's 7422 or 7425

Thanks in advance

[CruisingCarolina]

Has anyone ever stayed in cabin 2365?? thinking we should try to change to balcony instead

 

look like you are going to be right around the corner from me

I am on the other side of the ship with the even numbers

 

I would have loved to have had a balcony cabin ,

that is for sure

Next cruise , that is what I booked ....my first baclony :cool:

 

How you doing my Roll call buddy ?;)

[boiler babe]

My hubby & I checked prices yesterday & were told an extra $70 each for balcony. but, best bet was to wait until we get on ship & check for free upgrades. they admitted this ship is not filling up. Carolina, I really want to try the snuba excursion in Grand Cayman, says it's new.... but, afraid to book early.

[CruisingCarolina]

My hubby & I checked prices yesterday & were told an extra $70 each for balcony. but, best bet was to wait until we get on ship & check for free upgrades. they admitted this ship is not filling up. Carolina, I really want to try the snuba excursion in Grand Cayman, says it's new.... but, afraid to book early.

 

I wonder how much they would charge to upgrade at the ship?

Can you imagine everyone trying to upgrade there ...LOL

I would love to move up a few floors:o

I'm getting to Miami a day early , so perhaps I will try to upgrade bright & early in the morning , if it is not too much money

I wouldnt even know who to ask about i t ...LOL

 

yeah for the Caymans I am not planning anything until we dock or possibly book on the ship ...I like the stingray & rum point tour

I would like to get on video this year ...perhaps if they do catch me ...I will buy the video :D

[Truck Cruiser]

We are doing the western Car. in February to Jamaica, Grand Cayman, and Cozumel. In Jamaica we are going to one of it's resorts on a day pass, haven't decided yet but it might be Sandels. We were wondering how the Jeep excursion is in Cozumel? Anyone been? And what to do in Grand Cayman.

[EasternCarribean]

Anyone have any info on Triumph Cabin 7350 ? Is it a good location, easy access to ??? Quiet area? Appears no commercial activity above or below. Thanks

[CruisingCarolina]

I wanted to add this link for a recent Triumph review

it isnt mine ...

but I thought it was nice

cause they are also posting some pics with it

here is the link:

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=844053

 

lol

there is another review just posted right here as well:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=844187

[ADATL]

I wanted to add this link for a recent Triumph review

it isnt mine ...

but I thought it was nice

cause they are also posting some pics with it

here is the link:

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=844053

 

lol

there is another review just posted right here as well:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=844187

 

Hey CruisingCarolina. Just got back - with the same two posters that you shared the links to their reviews. The boat is great as they all are - she's showing her age but is due for dry dock from what i heard. Had a great time other than having to dodge the 2 hurricanes and missing two ports. :) We were on Empress deck, port side so we got to see all the docks as we were coming into port. The piano bar guy - not so great unfortunately - nice guy though! The Asian Rock Band was fantastic as they are on all of the ships!!!! This one in particular had a bartender singing Journey songs with them, which was really fun!

 

Anything else you want to know about the boat or any of the ammenities, just let us know!

 

Enjoy your cruise!! Ang

[CruisingCarolina]

Hey CruisingCarolina. Just got back - with the same two posters that you shared the links to their reviews. The boat is great as they all are - she's showing her age but is due for dry dock from what i heard. Had a great time other than having to dodge the 2 hurricanes and missing two ports. :) We were on Empress deck, port side so we got to see all the docks as we were coming into port. The piano bar guy - not so great unfortunately - nice guy though! The Asian Rock Band was fantastic as they are on all of the ships!!!! This one in particular had a bartender singing Journey songs with them, which was really fun!

 

Anything else you want to know about the boat or any of the ammenities, just let us know!

 

Enjoy your cruise!! Ang

 

Oh that is just great to hear !!:D

I know there are a lot of newbies for the Triumph over here

waiting for these reviews.

Just like me :)

I try to read them all.

ANything you would be willing to post about would be great to hear.

 

Now the asian rock band , where do they play ?

Do they have calypso music on the LIDO ?

wonder if they would have it after the add the Seaside Theatre?

 

How were the menus ?

Did you notice a lot of changes?

Anything in particular that is a must Order :p

I love the warm Chocolate melting cake ...yummy

 

Cant wait for my cruise

 

Tell me more , tell me more :cool:

[ADATL]

 

Now the asian rock band , where do they play ?

Do they have calypso music on the LIDO ?

wonder if they would have it after the add the Seaside Theatre?

 

How were the menus ?

Did you notice a lot of changes?

Anything in particular that is a must Order

I love the warm Chocolate melting cake ...yummy

 

I love your excitement - makes me wish I was going back on the Triumph with you! :)

 

The Asian Rock Band is in the bar on Promenade across from the Piano bar - so Deck 5 Aft. I am drawing a blank on the name of the bar but I'm sure I could go find my drink receipts and know it right away. ;) They are great! Go check 'em out one night - they usually start right after the first dinner seating.

 

The Calypso band on the Lido deck was great - they actually were letting people sing with them - like they did some Latin songs and some folks got up to sing the lyrics which was fun. They played different stuff every day seemed like, which was good!

 

The menus were great as well. Something that we were enjoying was shrimp cocktail every night. YUM. Make sure that you do get the lobster on first formal night as they've added some grilled shrimp to that meal and they were YUMMY! And the Chocolate Melting Cake as you said - goodness, I had one or more every night. first night our waiter brought 8 of them to our table for 4. I ate 4. :D Heehee. They are my favorite part of cruising with Carnival the last couple of years. I noticed the Ceaser salads got tremendously better than years past!!!! Good stuff. OH - and if you like Ribs - first time I've had ribs on a cruise - they had it the first night and the last night. Big fan!!!

 

You know, this was my 20th cruise and DH's 15th... the Triumph was great and we really had a great time in all of the areas of the ship (we had 4.5 days at sea so we honestly had to check out everything.) The sports bar - if you are into sports - was great for watching college and NFL football. They only get ESPN and ESPN spanish, and some of the major networks, but it was fun. If you have the "juggling comedian" on the boat - definitely a must see - he is HILLARIOUS! The mini-golf is actually kind of fun on the boat b/c there is a great breeze on that deck. :D

 

If you like Jazz, go to the cigar bar (deck 4 aft) and there is a "sub" playing guitar named Larry - he is a riot and a fantastic musician!!!! He plays every night during and after dinner with 2 other guys.

 

One tip though - if you are seated at dinner in the Paris dining room (Aft dining room) - especially since it's hurricane season and the waters are kind of rough - the dining room might make you sick. I saw a lot of people (including fellow CC members) switch to the London dining room which is where we were - it's the front dining room. less motion and it's cooler as in temperature cooler!! Just ask the Maitre de. we at lunch in the Paris one day and I was nauseous the rest of the day b/c it was so rocky back there and hot! Lots of people said the same thing.

 

What else, what else.... :) All of my pictures are the same as the fellow guests that have been posting reviews so I didn't post any on here.

[ADATL]

I wonder how much they would charge to upgrade at the ship?

Can you imagine everyone trying to upgrade there ...LOL

I would love to move up a few floors:o

I'm getting to Miami a day early , so perhaps I will try to upgrade bright & early in the morning , if it is not too much money

I wouldnt even know who to ask about i t ...LOL

 

 

me again! Another tip for ya - call your PVP (if you booked through Carnival directly) and ask if there are any specials that might enable you to upgrade. Also, keep checking prices on-line, if your trip cost more than what it is now, call Carnival, any PVP, and tell them that you saw on-line that the price had dropped. likely you'll get 1 of 2 things, or both: On-board credit for the difference, upgrade in room. We got BOTH on the Triumph, then we took their "upsell" after we had been upgraded twice for a Cat. 11 Suite. It was such a nice treat. But, keep bothering them - they are used to it! Good luck!

 

You may not get an upgrade at the port b/c they "sail full," so likely all or 99% of the rooms will be occupied the day of sailing.

[ADATL]

We are doing the western Car. in February to Jamaica, Grand Cayman, and Cozumel. In Jamaica we are going to one of it's resorts on a day pass, haven't decided yet but it might be Sandels. We were wondering how the Jeep excursion is in Cozumel? Anyone been? And what to do in Grand Cayman.

 

We did the Jeep excursion in Cozumel last year... not a fan unfortunately. :( Couple reasons - unless you have a group of 4, they will put you with 2 other people (4 seater Jeeps). One person drives to "the beach' and another one drives back. The ride there is fun - my DH drove there and we did a little off-roading. Ride back - straight, flat road so the poor guy who drove back honestly got jipped in our opinion. When you get to 'the beach' - it's a big disappointment. There was seaweed growing in the water (not the floating kind?) so you could only go out about 4 feet in the water and it wasn't very pretty. Then you really just sit there. If you enjoy cocktails like we do, there are none on the trip for obvious reasons, but that was a disapointment too. :)

 

Hope that helps. Not trying to discourage you from doing it but we were disappointed, especially for the cost of it! Big Jeep fans! Have one.

[LRene]

Angie - I concur....the ribs were good! I stayed away from most desserts but did have the melting cake ONE time just for tradition's sake. :D

 

The juggling comedian's name was Thein Fu and he was hilarious! I liked his show better than any of the others. I also liked the first comedian Mike Panzeca better than Phat Cat but he was from my hometown so I can't complain.

 

The Triumph is a nice ship and will certainly be even better after it's impending dry dock!! I agree on the dining rooms - London is better - less noise and vibration also.

[ADATL]

Angie - I concur....the ribs were good! I stayed away from most desserts but did have the melting cake ONE time just for tradition's sake. :D

 

The juggling comedian's name was Thein Fu and he was hilarious! I liked his show better than any of the others. I also liked the first comedian Mike Panzeca better than Phat Cat but he was from my hometown so I can't complain.

 

The Triumph is a nice ship and will certainly be even better after it's impending dry dock!! I agree on the dining rooms - London is better - less noise and vibration also.

 

Hi Lezlee! I'm glad y'all got switched over to the London - it was fun watching you guys from the 2nd floor - don't think you saw us but we kept peeking at y'all. ;) Just fun to see people you know. haha.

 

Great meeting you all last week. Hope we can cruise together in the future!

 

I also like Mr. Fu's show better than the others! Looks like Christine's husband did too - he watched both shows!

 

Oh - did you noticed I shared your tip on the PVP and the OBC??? :D thanks again for that - I'm happy to share the wealth with others!

[CruisingCarolina]

I love your excitement - makes me wish I was going back on the Triumph with you!

 

The Asian Rock Band is in the bar on Promenade across from the Piano bar - so Deck 5 Aft. I am drawing a blank on the name of the bar but I'm sure I could go find my drink receipts and know it right away. They are great! Go check 'em out one night - they usually start right after the first dinner seating.

 

The Calypso band on the Lido deck was great - they actually were letting people sing with them - like they did some Latin songs and some folks got up to sing the lyrics which was fun. They played different stuff every day seemed like, which was good!

 

The menus were great as well. Something that we were enjoying was shrimp cocktail every night. YUM. Make sure that you do get the lobster on first formal night as they've added some grilled shrimp to that meal and they were YUMMY! And the Chocolate Melting Cake as you said - goodness, I had one or more every night. first night our waiter brought 8 of them to our table for 4. I ate 4. Heehee. They are my favorite part of cruising with Carnival the last couple of years. I noticed the Ceaser salads got tremendously better than years past!!!! Good stuff. OH - and if you like Ribs - first time I've had ribs on a cruise - they had it the first night and the last night. Big fan!!!

 

You know, this was my 20th cruise and DH's 15th... the Triumph was great and we really had a great time in all of the areas of the ship (we had 4.5 days at sea so we honestly had to check out everything.) The sports bar - if you are into sports - was great for watching college and NFL football. They only get ESPN and ESPN spanish, and some of the major networks, but it was fun. If you have the "juggling comedian" on the boat - definitely a must see - he is HILLARIOUS! The mini-golf is actually kind of fun on the boat b/c there is a great breeze on that deck.

 

If you like Jazz, go to the cigar bar (deck 4 aft) and there is a "sub" playing guitar named Larry - he is a riot and a fantastic musician!!!! He plays every night during and after dinner with 2 other guys.

 

One tip though - if you are seated at dinner in the Paris dining room (Aft dining room) - especially since it's hurricane season and the waters are kind of rough - the dining room might make you sick. I saw a lot of people (including fellow CC members) switch to the London dining room which is where we were - it's the front dining room. less motion and it's cooler as in temperature cooler!! Just ask the Maitre de. we at lunch in the Paris one day and I was nauseous the rest of the day b/c it was so rocky back there and hot! Lots of people said the same thing.

 

What else, what else.... :) All of my pictures are the same as the fellow guests that have been posting reviews so I didn't post any on here.

 

DID you get any pics of the Asian Band ?

Just curious ?

I would still love to see your pics , if you have them at webshots or somewhere ...if not , that is OK

 

I know my last cruise on Tha Fantasy was also very rocky :eek:

They had posted the little Vomit bags everywhere ...

(Posted that small , so as not to scare anyone :o )

 

I know me & my daughter had Ribs a few times , and they were real good , corn on cob and french fries came with it I do believe .

Did you get any After dinner shots in the dining room?

...those are always so GOOD and STRONG :D

 

yeah ...I am excited a lot about the cruise coming up ...but I have been planning this one for almost a year now ,

it is for my birthday ...so I am working myself up to explode !!

hee hee

Hoping the hurricanes all get out of the way , I might add

and leave my islands and ports ALONE!!

[mytee4ever]

We got back a few weeks ago & had missed Half Moon Cay because of Hurricane Fay. Even though she wasn't really near us, she made it too choppy for the tenders. Oh well! Guess we will have to go on another cruise to get there!

 

Food....what's not to like?!

 

My parents had the shrimp cocktail every night. The steaks were a little more done than we ordered. So, order it less done than you would normally. We were in the Paris Dining Room...at the very back of the room. We noticed a lot of vibration at our table. Fortunately, the seas weren't too choppy or it wouldn't have been a pleasant dining experience. I enjoyed the Beef Stroganoff & everyone in our group that ordered the ribs loved them. Also had good things to say about the pork chops.

 

The floors in the SoBe restaurant were really slippery! Everyone enjoyed the New York Deli. Breakfast there wasn't so good....lots of things were cold (pancakes, waffles, etc). We ate breakfast in the dining room every day, but one.

 

Enjoy your cruise! Wish we were going again!

 

Towanda

[scwhiner]

Hi All - I see several of my fellow cruisers have already posted reviews with pics, but wanted to share our experience. To sum it up, I've been looking everyday for another cruise to go on because for me it can't be soon enough.

 

This was our first and we stayed in Cat 11 on Empress, spoiled for the first time out. :D Embarkation was smooth (2nd on the ship), debarkation equally as smooth it seemed, we just waited on the Lido deck and enjoyed breakfast until it was our time to debark. We did the luggage express and will always do this if offered. We left our luggage out the last night and didn't see it again until we arrived at our home airport.

 

Our room stewards were great, the food equally so. We tried every food venue, except the pastries at the coffee shop. The stewards used whatever props they could that were in our room to enhance the towel animals.

 

We went on our own in the ports we visited instead of doing any shore excursions.

 

In St. Thomas we shopped until the weather cleared, then went to Coki beach to snorkel. We saw thousands of little fish, a baracuda, stingray, rainbow fish (that's what we called them), puffer fish, sea anenomes (sp), sea urchins, clown fish, and the list goes on. Brilliant colors on some, others were just a thrill to see and swim with. We saw the dolphins on the way out of Miami and St. Thomas so have your cameras ready.

 

In San Jaun we started at the forts --- mega walking! then went through old San Jaun to browse through the shops and eat. We stopped at a locals restaurant (Cafe Manolin) and tried moofongo for the first time - excellent! The ship recommended restaurant was packed and seemed to commercial for our tastes. Then a quick trip into the casino, won a few dollars then back onto the ship.

 

In terms of the sea days we had, we spent time at the pool and the casino, depended on the weather and went to several of the different shows and games they had scheduled. The Not so Newlywed game was great - Lenny did an excellent job keeping the audience going. We did take a quick trip to preview the art, not our cup of tea so I can't really say if it was good or not, only that everything we liked seemed to be way out of our price range.

 

I have to agree with everyone about Paris :( versus London:) - We only went to breakfast in the dining room once since it was served only in Paris. Very loud (nice view though) and very rocky. My food was ice cold (frenchtoast) and DH had eggs benedict - he said his was okay. Our head waiter at dinner in the London (Jaush/Josh) was excellent.

 

I think the primary criticism we would have, since we cannot compare to other lines or ships, is the limited and late communication on the storms and missed ports. We may, and I stress may, have opted to cancel (prior to boarding) and do another time since they knew ahead of time about Half moon Cay and that Grand Turk was already closed.

 

:D Overall, it was a great experience so no regrets, never sick, always something to do (or not), everywhere we went was clean and the staff we encountered were great, good food, good entertainment at what seemed like all hours and lucky in the casino.

[LRene]

I think the primary criticism we would have, since we cannot compare to other lines or ships, is the limited and late communication on the storms and missed ports. We may, and I stress may, have opted to cancel (prior to boarding) and do another time since they knew ahead of time about Half moon Cay and that Grand Turk was already closed.

 

Hey Christy! Glad you enjoyed your first cruise - you guys seemed to be everywhere. :p

 

I have to say though, that they did a great job of communicating to the passengers any changes caused by the storms. We were handed a notice about HMC when we entered the terminal in Miami. They had just made the decision at 10am the morning we boarded based on the current path of Hannah.

 

GT was not cancelled until 3 days into the cruise when the speed and path of Ike was better determined.

 

The cruise lines don't have any way of knowing what speed the storms will take on or what path until the NHC releases the information. On top of that, they can change at any moment. Once it became apparent that GT was in the path of Ike at EXACTLY the time we were scheduled to be there, the port stop was cancelled.

 

Living in hurricane alley, we realize how volatile and unpredictable the storms are and how they change from day to day. I, for one, appreciate that Carnival tries to make it to every port if at all possible and doesn't cancel until they are SURE we can't make it (in the interest of safety of the passengers.)

 

I understand your disappointment in not making the ports. But you have to chalk it up to "Adventures in Cruising in the Height of Hurricane Season!"

[scwhiner]

I have to say though, that they did a great job of communicating to the passengers any changes caused by the storms. We were handed a notice about HMC when we entered the terminal in Miami. They had just made the decision at 10am the morning we boarded based on the current path of Hannah.

 

GT was not cancelled until 3 days into the cruise when the speed and path of Ike was better determined.

 

I understand your disappointment in not making the ports. But you have to chalk it up to "Adventures in Cruising in the Height of Hurricane Season!"

 

Hey Lezlee - Yes we were, continuously going in circles and having a ball !

 

As far as the ports - Our bad -- we were told they lost communication with GT prior to the cruise leaving Miami which is what left us somewhat puzzled.

 

There's no doubt this is going to be chalked up to experience - Since all of you have been on so many cruises and sounds like this is a first with 4 storms brewing that had such an impact to several ships. We don't fault Carnival and definitely appreciate how safe we always felt. I can't wait to get out there again -

[ADATL]

DID you get any pics of the Asian Band ?

Just curious ?

I would still love to see your pics , if you have them at webshots or somewhere ...if not , that is OK

 

I know my last cruise on Tha Fantasy was also very rocky :eek:

They had posted the little Vomit bags everywhere ...

(Posted that small , so as not to scare anyone :o )

 

I know me & my daughter had Ribs a few times , and they were real good , corn on cob and french fries came with it I do believe .

Did you get any After dinner shots in the dining room?

...those are always so GOOD and STRONG :D

 

yeah ...I am excited a lot about the cruise coming up ...but I have been planning this one for almost a year now ,

it is for my birthday ...so I am working myself up to explode !!

hee hee

Hoping the hurricanes all get out of the way , I might add

and leave my islands and ports ALONE!!

 

My pleasure on the review! You know - I do have my photos on KodakGallery.com - haven't tried webshots?? I'd be happy to share if you want to send me an email at ardoolittle at yahoo dot com. (I stole that method from Lezlee! :D) I got a cool video of the Asian Rock band singing Separate Ways (Journey) but I'm not sure the best way to share it??? It's got more of my group singing in it and is kind of dark, but it's fun! haha.

 

DH got after dinner drinks - I was caressing the melting chocolate cake too much to ask for after dinner drinks. ;) haha.

 

I hope you have a wonderful birthday cruise! Those are the best!!!! Oh - and to answer one of your earlier questions, I heard she is getting a Theatre while in dry dock this month!! That will be cool. Angie

[CruisingCarolina]

Loved your pics Angie

They were great !!

 

I cant wait to hear some more from some new triumph Cruisers :)

Anyone off Triumph this week?

 

Would love to hear from you ...

I think the cruisers that just returned would have done the Wetern Caribbean ...which is the same that I will be doing in 31 more days:D