Triumph-Nov 19-FTTF, Behind The Fun and more!

[tweak89]

This report covers our trip on the Carnival Triumph out of Galveston on Nov. 19. We had purchased FTTF and had plans for a trip to Uxmal, snorkeling and the Behind The Fun Tour...here's how it went:

 

Bye bye Galveston!!

 

Day 1: Boarded quickly with FTTF. I mean maybe 10 minutes from the time we stepped into the terminal after dropping of our checked bags. Booked the Behind the Fun Tour on the way to our room, which was ready. Baggage arrived before 1pm. Went up and grabbed lunch on Lido Deck. Caught a nice sunset before heading to dinner, table for two in Paris upper. Had Gaspatcho Andalouse, Flat Iron Steak and Chocolate Melting Cake with a Tropical Espresso to cap it all off. Make sure to mix up espresso, liqueur sits at the bottom.

 

Day 2: Off to a rocky start. Put out the rise and shine hanger for delivery between 7-8am. Never showed up, called room service and they say they never got a tag. So, we weren't happy about that. Ran up to the lido deck and grabbed some breakfast and brought it back to the room. Spent most of the day being lazy. This was formal night. Had Chilled Strawberry Bisque, Stuffed Mushroom Caps and prime rib. Dessert was Cherries Jubilee. Service in the main dining room was uneventful at best. Not quite as boisterous as on the Ecstasy. Now, i don't know if this is the norm on most ships now, but everyone seemed to be seated by party. So a party of two, table for two and so on. One of the things we enjoyed on our last cruise was the people we met at dinner since we were sat with a mixed group. Not a big deal though.

 

Day 3: Progreso. Woke up early and observed pulling into port from our balcony. Got ready and went down for breakfast and headed down for debarkation, there was no priority for FTTF or anyone for that matter. Getting off was painless and we headed straight for the Autoprogreso shuttle where we bought our excursion tickets to Uxmal. Hung around the bus terminal and watched a couple of guys playing guitars, talked to them a bit and boarded the bus to Uxmal. Ride to Uxmal was about 1.5 hrs. Arrived and started guided tour shortly thereafter. We strayed here and there from the tour for fear of not having enough time to see everything. But, we had more than enough. Very beautiful site with lots of different buildings. Gift shops and restaurant were located at the visitor center, even free wi-fi with which i was able to post a pic to Facebook and check some email. Got back to the ship with plenty of time to spare. No pier runners but we did have a passenger with medical issues requiring an ambulance. turns out he was with a group that included others from our hometown. Delayed departure for a little over an our. Judging from the vibration we felt in our room (7416 on empress) they were putting the pedal to he metal to make up that time. Dinner in the main dining room again with Vegetable Spring Rolls, Chilled Cherry Bisque and Chateaux Briand. Skipped desert in the dining room and grabbed something from lido buffet.

[tweak89]

Day 4: Got into port at cozumel on time. docked alongside 3 other ships. departed and made our way to he taxi stand to grab a taxi to Marina Caleta ($7.00) for our three reef snorkel tour via Mystic Snorkeling. Much cheaper ($70 PP) than anything offered by carnival and a more private tour (group of 8). We actually ended up stopping at 4 locations since one (reef at the edge of a 600ft drop off) had currents that our guide felt were too strong to make it enjoyable. we did get to see the edge though, beautiful and scary. We had a fun group and our guide, Cuchi, was a lot of fun. Got back with plenty of time. They had cabs waiting for us right in front where the boat docked. took he short trip back to he pier and boarded. we were beat! Wife went to room to relax on the balcony,i went straight to lido deck to watch he remainder of the Texans/lions game(10-1 GOTEXANS). we decided,after reading comments on his board,to skip he main dining room and hit the buffet for turkey. had turkey, stuffing, salad baked potato. turkey was quite good and freshly carved. good choice. Hit up he casino for a little while before turning in. lost lost lost!

 

 

Day 5: Today we have the behind he fun tour. Met in the library and checked in. we had a Canadian for our guide so his English was just fine. we really enjoyed the tour (just over 3 hours). we covered just about every aspect of ship function and life on board. crew quarters/amenities, engineering, laundry, food service and of course operations including the bridge. he little extras really make it worthwhile. ended the tour with mimosas and champagne. we also got a drink/cookie break midway into the tour as well as a sampling of cheesecake during the galley portion of he tour. A gift bag with hat, lanyard and bracelet was also given at the end of the tour. Pictures with the captain are also included (we were given a set of six 8X10 photos, 2 each of a group shot, group shot with captain and individual shot with captain) as well a a surprise delivery of chocolate covered strawberries and other goodies to our stateroom. Well worth the price. Gives you a real appreciation of what it takes to make us all fat and happy while cruising.

 

Hit up the main dining room one last time. I had vegetable spring rolls and french onio soup to start and braised chicken for main course. dessert was baked alaska, finally! Rambled about the ship for a bit and returned to our room for the night. We didn't really do a lot ship board this time around, we mostly relaxed. We enjoyed on final sunset from our balcony.

 

Debarkation Day!

 

Got up early and grabbed a quick bit on the Lido Deck. We had packed up the night before and were ready to go. We chose to use the FTTF Priority Self Debark. Waited in the London Dining Room with other FTTF, Platinum and Diamond guests. We were off the ship and in our car in about 10 minutes from when they started letting us on the gangway. We were the first group off the ship. FTTF worth it? YES, YES and YES. While we were disappointed we didn't get priority debark at ports since they had no tenders, it was still worth every penny. We utilized the VIP lie at guest services and used the VIP phone line to guest services as well.

 

Our Room was 7416, an L shaped room with a longer balcony. We loved it. The balcony was long enough for a lounger, two chairs and a small table. We'll try for this room type again in the future.

[Rudyard]

Great pics :) I almost signed up for the Behind the Fun tour but decided against it. might do it next time.

 

Put out the rise and shine hanger for delivery between 7-8am. Never showed up, called room service and they say they never got a tag.

 

Probably some idiot with a warped sense of humor decided to remove it before it was picked up. We were in a cabin on the Lido Deck right by the elevators, so luckily it was a quick walk to the coffee in the morning.

[tweak89]

Since it often comes up, here are pics of the L shaped room:

 

From the couch looking to the front door, to the left are closets (lots and lots of closet space!!).

 

Also from the couch, looking at the bed (arranged as a king), the door to the right is to the bathroom.

 

Again, from the couch, the windows looking out onto our super long balcony!!

 

Enjoying the balcony:

[tweak89]

Wife uploaded some of her photos.

 

Here is a good pic of our balcony, the chairs don't block the door when properly placed, she was trying to get the whole balcony:

 

She got a good one of me clowning around under water:

[Rudyard]

Love the size of that balcony :)

[chasinraynbowz]

Great review, thanks!! Loved the pictures!! We leave in a few weeks and had hoped for FTTF on Conquest, but its not available yet :(.

[tweak89]

Love the size of that balcony :)

 

We really enjoyed the size of it. I could lay out on the lounger, she could sit in the reclining chair and the third chair and table were still not in the way. I was able to enjoy a cigar without blowing smoke in her direction.

 

Very relaxing way to spend an afternoon, just lounging.

[tweak89]

Forgot to mention in my original thoughts about the ever popular chair hogs. The new policy was on the back page of the daily Fun Times and in various locations on the decks where relevant.

 

Never noticed an instance of anyone hogging chairs, nor did we notice any notices on the seats. We were always able to find a place to lounge, even in the more active areas of the ship. This was a much different than our experience on the Ecstasy last year. Was it the policy? Who knows, but it was nice to be able to find a place to sit when we were out and about on then activity decks.

 

BTW,what happened to the search function and is the edit function timed?

 

Sent from my GT-P3113 using Tapatalk 2

[EAZYLIVING]

Good review. We where also on this sailing and on the empress deck and had Paris dining at 6pm. Cruises go by too fast. :) Maybe I will do a review.

[Rudyard]

I noticed a serious lack of Chair Hogs as well

[Mekamax]

Great review! Did you just go to your cabin through the doors or were you directed there???

[cerabella]

Great photography! That surely adds much to a review! I would love to try the Triumph, but 4 or 5 days just doesn't seem long enough!

[Rudyard]

Great photography! That surely adds much to a review! I would love to try the Triumph, but 4 or 5 days just doesn't seem long enough!

 

Four days isn't. It goes by way too quickly. We're going to try a five day though at some point as it's close to the same price as a four day. Only reason we didn't do a five day the last time was scheduling conflicts.

[tootsiebit]

Great Review....we leave on Jan 19th on the Triumph and we purchased the FTTF, so glad to hear it was worth it....What time did you get to the terminal and did you just go straight to your room once onboard or did you have to have someone take you there if you had purchased the FTTF?

I love this ship and the 5 day is my favorite...7 days finds me getting fidgety to get back on land and never been on a 4 day, but it probably would be too short. We have been doing 5 day cruises and combining it with a day or 2 before or after and it is just the perfect vacation.....can't wait to get back on this beautiful ship again!!!!!!

[Mekamax]

How do you know your cabin is ready?