review of July 1 Triumph (5 days to Progreso and Cozumel)

[Kellie in Texas]

We were on the July 1 sailing of the Triumph from Galveston to Progreso and Cozumel; this is the five-day itinerary.

 

We live near Austin, so we drove over on Sunday night. The Texas City Hampton Inn is great (literally half the cost of staying on Galv. Island); it is in the parking lot of the Mall of the Mainland; the mall is mostly closed but several restaurants are around the mall. We had a room on the third floor right by the elevator; never heard a sound. Room had two queen beds and was large enough that you could actually walk beside the beds, not scootch sideways like most hotel rooms. Lobby had coffee, ice water, hot water for tea or cocoa and fresh-baked cookies in the afternoon when we arrived. Breakfast was eggs, bacon, French toast sticks, breads, pastries, boiled eggs, cereal, yogurt, fresh fruit, hot oatmeal, 4 juices, milk, coffee, etc. If you can’t find something to eat, you just aren’t hungry!

 

The mall appeared to have a Sears and a movie theater that were still open, but there were several restaurants around the edge of the mall parking lot. Ryan’s (buffet restaurant sort of like Golden Corral) is literally across a driveway from the hotel; Olive Garden, Beyond Burger, and Gringo’s Mexican food are a short drive; Jack in the Box is across the street from the hotel.

 

We would definitely stay at this hotel again pre-cruise. After dinner (we ate at Gringo’s), we drove into Galveston on a reconnaissance mission ;). Hwy. 45 goes straight into town and becomes Broadway; on Sunday evening, it took us about 20 minutes to drive in; Monday morning, it took just a few minutes longer.

 

We booked online with EZ Cruise Parking; from Broadway, you turn left on 26th and left on Santa Fe Place; look for the bright orange EZ Cruise sign and the parking lot attendants with the bright orange shirts. They have shuttle vans that will take you to the door of the cruise terminal and they pick you up at the same location when you return. We tipped the driver and the guy who put our luggage on the van a couple of dollars each. We would definitely use EZ Cruise again.

 

We got to the terminal around 10:15-10:30 Monday morning. Went through the security line and had the carry-on luggage scanned. We had two 12-packs of bottled water still in the shrink-wrap. We had to go to a separate table where a woman pulled each individual bottle out of the shrink-wrap and shook it to make sure it wasn’t booze (she said booze will bubble when you shake it). Then we proceeded to the desk where our boarding passes were checked and our photos taken. After that, we waited in a large waiting room similar to an airport; there were several TVs around, as well as water and lemonade available. The employees at the terminal could not have been nicer. We were in our seats waiting probably by 11:15-ish.

 

We were on the ship by noon. We were in the zone 4 boarding group. There was a wedding onboard, so the wedding party boarded first, then the passengers in wheelchairs (I saw two), then the priority group (zone 1) and then zones 2 and 3. From the time the wedding party boarded until they called zone 4 (us) may have been 15 minutes.

 

From the time we walked into the building, I had our four passports open to our photos and we had done the online check-in. I imagine if you arrive later in the day and don’t have your paperwork ready, all of this will take much longer.

 

Since we couldn’t get into our cabin yet, we proceeded straight to Guy’s Burger Joint; we were probably some of the first couple of hundred people on the ship, so by the time we were done eating, it was a lot more crowded.

Guy’s was great. You go through the line, order your burger and fries, then there is a self-service bar where you can get additional bacon bits, sautéed mushrooms, sautéed onions, and various other condiments, including ketchup and chipotle mayo. Wish I had one right now!

 

After we ate, we went on through the Lido buffet area and found a table in the air conditioning to wait. We explored a little of the aft pool and then sent DH to check if our room was available; we were in the room by 1:15 or so.

 

Myself and DH were in cabin 2425 and our two sons were in connecting room 2429; these are ocean-view rooms on deck 2. From the deck plan, it appeared that part of the Paris dining room was above us. We never heard a noise from it. I would certainly book these rooms again; they were fine for us. I wish there was a hook or some sort of lock to keep the connecting doors open, but there wasn’t, so we just propped the doors open with our 12-packs of water.

 

This was our first Carnival cruise, but we’ve been on Princess twice before, so we of course compared the two. The set-up of the Princess closet, shelf area, and bathroom are better than Carnival’s, but Carnival had a slightly larger shower. (The joke on Princess is to soap the walls and then just spin around!) Our room on Carnival had a couch and a long desk area with a padded seat. There were at least two plugs along the desk, maybe three, so we had plenty of space to plug in phones, cameras, etc.

 

Princess wins a point for having a fridge in every room; also, Princess pools on the two ships we’ve been on in the past were freshwater, or at least non-salty water, so Princess gets the nod over Carnival on the pools too. My youngest son noticed that the water was salty, but it didn’t stop him from having a great time. He was able to go down the water slide several times too. (Trick is, lay down on your back with your arms folded over your chest. The people who tried to sit up ended up having to scootch their way down.)

 

Evening shows: I think we went to all the shows in the theater (Rome Lounge). First night was Welcome Aboard show. Triumph has a 10-piece band and they were great. Always nice to have live music. On the second night (which was elegant night), the show was Wonderful World, which featured songs from or about various countries or places around the world. Most of it was pretty interesting, but a couple were just weird. Night three was Showcase of the Stars, which was passengers performing. I think there were only five performers and they were all kids; the oldest was 18. Oh, except for the last group, which was a group of 20 or so cheerleading coaches who did a couple of cheers. For the most part, this show was pretty lame, but I guess it could vary widely depending on who’s on a particular cruise. Night four was New Wave Magic; I posted on another reviewer’s post that this show was rated PG-13 for costuming (or lack thereof!) on some of the dancers. I had neglected to notice that the Fun Times indicated this was a PG-13 show. My oldest son is 20 and the youngest is almost 12, so they were fine, but some people may not be comfortable at this show. It is not your “kiddie magic show.” The magic tricks all together lasted maybe 15 minutes, but they added several dance numbers in between to stretch it out. Okay, some of the tricks were cool, but the music during this show was awful! It was all recorded; the live band didn’t play for this one. It was very loud and very strident. The last night’s show was The Big Easy. This was the best show, by far. Really great music, sets and costumes.

 

Regarding the shows, I thought the costumes and sets were really amazing and very elaborate. Big thumbs-up for the shows.

 

We had anytime dining; we ate dinner three times in the London dining room and other times at the Lido buffet. Our waitress was Myra from the Philippines; she was very sweet and remembered all of us. One morning, my younger son and I were walking through the Lido buffet area and I heard someone call my son’s name; turns out, it was Myra and she visited with us a few minutes. My boys took a photo with her on the last day.

 

One of my pre-cruise questions was “when is bitter and blanc served?” It is only in the dining room on the elegant night, but it is worth it! Very delicious!! We also enjoyed the warm chocolate melting cake too.

 

I’ve already mentioned Guy’s; note that it closes at 6:00 p.m. so it is not a dinner option (unless you eat early). We also tried sandwiches at the deli (they were good, not great) and got breakfast burritos at Blue Iguana (they were awesome!) The food on the Lido buffet was plentiful and most of it was good, especially the desserts. The fried shrimp was excellent.

We also enjoyed the soft-serve self-serve ice cream. That was one of our favorites things to do (several times!) each day. :D

 

We did not purchase any alcohol, nor any sodas; didn't go to any bars. We didn't pay extra $$ for any food. Our youngest did not go to Camp Carnival.

 

On July 4th, there was a "sale" on internet minutes, so we paid the $3.95 connection fee plus $7.50 for 10 minutes and got 10 additional minutes free. (and it went by fast!!)

 

As far as dress in the London dining room, on elegant night, my boys wore collared golf-type shirts and khaki pants. They were perfectly acceptable. We saw some kids in dresses or suits, and others dressed the same way my boys were. We also saw a grown man wearing jeans, a t-shirt and a baseball cap on elegant night . . . on another night, just one of the regular nights, a man in a sleeve tank top shirt was turned away from the dining room. But my boys were fine with what they wore.

 

We had two ports: Progreso and Cozumel. We did the ship’s excursion in Progreso to see the Mayan ruins at Uxmal. It was a great excursion; my boys even said later that they really liked going there because it was so interesting and unusual. Be sure to take mosquito repellant. They were biting, even through our clothes. :eek: It was also hot and very humid; we took hats and sunscreen and two bottles of water per person. As part of the tour, we received a small sack lunch; we had a sandwich with ham, turkey and cheese with two little packets of mustard and mayo; a banana (which was really good); and a tiny sack of some little cookies. Sort of tasted like animal crackers but they were really crunchy. A bottle of water was also included. The bus ride is almost an hour and a half, but the tour guide talked most of the way to the ruins, giving us the history of Progreso and Merida, as we drove, and some information about the ruins and the Mayans. On the way back, they were quiet, so you could nap or just look out the window. This was a long tour: we were boarding the bus around 8:00 a.m. and got back to the dock around 2:45 for the 3:30 sailing time.

 

Our bus looked like it was brand-new and had great AC in it. It had a restroom but the tour guide mentioned that it was really only for “Number 1 emergencies.” Take care of that before you leave the ship! Once you get to Uxmal, there is a nice little shopping area and some very large, clean restrooms. Yea!

 

There is a lot of walking and stair-climbing at Uxmal. Tennis shoes or hiking boots are best; flip-flops would be asking for trouble. Some folks will find this a difficult tour. I did not climb up the last portion of the tour, which was about 30 steps leading to the higher –elevated area, where you can climb even MORE steps to the highest vantage point. Luckily, our sons were up to the challenge and got some great pics for us from the top.

 

In Cozumel, we did the ship’s excursion to Passion Island on the power catamaran. This excursion left at 10:00 for about a 45-minute catamaran ride to the island, then about three hours at the island, and then the ride back. We docked at 3:00 for the 3:30 sailing time. If you want to do a lot of shopping in Cozumel, this tour doesn't give you much time. However, this is a beautiful excursion and well worth the price! The Triumph was the only ship in port that day, so there were only 200 people total on the island (130 on the power catamaran and 70 on the Twister boats). Honestly, I don’t know where all 200 people were; it felt like way less than that. After arriving at the island, the tour staff gave us the rules and info about the island, and then we were off to find a table or lounger and hit the water. Lunch is included, and it’s open bar (including sodas). The lunch was some grilled chicken, grilled fish, some amazingly good chicken nuggets (who knew?!!) and – as has been said before! – the best guacamole ever! The chips looked stale, but tasted great. There was also some green salad, rice, fries, and a few dessert-type pastries.

 

I’m not including any photos, because recent Triumph reviews from WOWgirl, Pooh72, and Txponycruiser had some fantastic photos. Pooh’s review has photos from Passion Island. Under the Cozumel board, CentexCruiser also has some PI photos.

 

I have to say, I thought their photos of the beach looked photo-shopped, but now I can say for a fact they were not! It really is that gorgeous!!

 

Debarkation: if you have a passport, I strongly urge you to take it, even if it isn’t required. When we got off the ship, since we had passports, we went through a different line and basically only had to wait a minute or two. The non-passport line must have had 100-200 people in it. We met the EZ Cruise shuttle and were back to our car in probably 20 minutes.

 

This review seems incredibly long, but I feel like I’ve left something out, so any questions, feel free to ask.

 

Would we cruise on Carnival again? Maybe so. We really prefer Princess. However, being able to drive to Galvston instead of having to fly to Fort Lauderdale or Seattle is a great thing! We picked this cruise because it was the only week this summer that we could vacation as a family and I just sort of fell into this cruise almost by accident. We had a good time and certainly did our share in trying to deplete the kitchen stock! ;)

[Cruizinman]

Thanks for the review.

[kybluecruiser]

Thanks for the review. What did you think of your cruise director Jen?

[CENTEX CRUISER]

Great review. I had asked you some questions on port of call page, but you answered all of them here. I was glad to hear the orchestra is still there, as they are really good, and the word was that they were going away with 2.0 upgrades, so maybe CCL got the message that we like live music. Also glad to hear they finally turned someone away for not having a proper shirt. I am all for dress as nice as you like, but there really needs to be a minimum standard. And wearing a ball cap in the MDR. Don't get me started. I was taught to remove my hat at any table. Thanks again for the nice review.:)

[huntm]

We are going back on the Triumph is Sept. Can't wait to try the Blue Iguana breakfast burritos! Lol

 

Thanks for the review!

 

 

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[High Seas Texan]

Thank you for taking time to wright a review. I am sailing July 29 on this itinerary. Really looking forward to it, even more after reading the reviews of recent pax like yourself. I have wondered what all the fuss was/is over Guys Burgers. I guess it is the condiment bar that really makes it. I look forward to trying it out. The breakfast tacos/burritos sound amazing as well.

[UFQ202]

We were on the July 1 sailing of the Triumph from Galveston to Progreso and Cozumel; this is the five-day itinerary.

 

We live near Austin, so we drove over on Sunday night. The Texas City Hampton Inn is great (literally half the cost of staying on Galv. Island); it is in the parking lot of the Mall of the Mainland; the mall is mostly closed but several restaurants are around the mall. We had a room on the third floor right by the elevator; never heard a sound. Room had two queen beds and was large enough that you could actually walk beside the beds, not scootch sideways like most hotel rooms. Lobby had coffee, ice water, hot water for tea or cocoa and fresh-baked cookies in the afternoon when we arrived. Breakfast was eggs, bacon, French toast sticks, breads, pastries, boiled eggs, cereal, yogurt, fresh fruit, hot oatmeal, 4 juices, milk, coffee, etc. If you can’t find something to eat, you just aren’t hungry!

 

The mall appeared to have a Sears and a movie theater that were still open, but there were several restaurants around the edge of the mall parking lot. Ryan’s (buffet restaurant sort of like Golden Corral) is literally across a driveway from the hotel; Olive Garden, Beyond Burger, and Gringo’s Mexican food are a short drive; Jack in the Box is across the street from the hotel.

 

We would definitely stay at this hotel again pre-cruise. After dinner (we ate at Gringo’s), we drove into Galveston on a reconnaissance mission ;). Hwy. 45 goes straight into town and becomes Broadway; on Sunday evening, it took us about 20 minutes to drive in; Monday morning, it took just a few minutes longer.

 

We booked online with EZ Cruise Parking; from Broadway, you turn left on 26th and left on Santa Fe Place; look for the bright orange EZ Cruise sign and the parking lot attendants with the bright orange shirts. They have shuttle vans that will take you to the door of the cruise terminal and they pick you up at the same location when you return. We tipped the driver and the guy who put our luggage on the van a couple of dollars each. We would definitely use EZ Cruise again.

 

We got to the terminal around 10:15-10:30 Monday morning. Went through the security line and had the carry-on luggage scanned. We had two 12-packs of bottled water still in the shrink-wrap. We had to go to a separate table where a woman pulled each individual bottle out of the shrink-wrap and shook it to make sure it wasn’t booze (she said booze will bubble when you shake it). Then we proceeded to the desk where our boarding passes were checked and our photos taken. After that, we waited in a large waiting room similar to an airport; there were several TVs around, as well as water and lemonade available. The employees at the terminal could not have been nicer. We were in our seats waiting probably by 11:15-ish.

 

We were on the ship by noon. We were in the zone 4 boarding group. There was a wedding onboard, so the wedding party boarded first, then the passengers in wheelchairs (I saw two), then the priority group (zone 1) and then zones 2 and 3. From the time the wedding party boarded until they called zone 4 (us) may have been 15 minutes.

 

From the time we walked into the building, I had our four passports open to our photos and we had done the online check-in. I imagine if you arrive later in the day and don’t have your paperwork ready, all of this will take much longer.

 

Since we couldn’t get into our cabin yet, we proceeded straight to Guy’s Burger Joint; we were probably some of the first couple of hundred people on the ship, so by the time we were done eating, it was a lot more crowded.

Guy’s was great. You go through the line, order your burger and fries, then there is a self-service bar where you can get additional bacon bits, sautéed mushrooms, sautéed onions, and various other condiments, including ketchup and chipotle mayo. Wish I had one right now!

 

After we ate, we went on through the Lido buffet area and found a table in the air conditioning to wait. We explored a little of the aft pool and then sent DH to check if our room was available; we were in the room by 1:15 or so.

 

Myself and DH were in cabin 2425 and our two sons were in connecting room 2429; these are ocean-view rooms on deck 2. From the deck plan, it appeared that part of the Paris dining room was above us. We never heard a noise from it. I would certainly book these rooms again; they were fine for us. I wish there was a hook or some sort of lock to keep the connecting doors open, but there wasn’t, so we just propped the doors open with our 12-packs of water.

 

This was our first Carnival cruise, but we’ve been on Princess twice before, so we of course compared the two. The set-up of the Princess closet, shelf area, and bathroom are better than Carnival’s, but Carnival had a slightly larger shower. (The joke on Princess is to soap the walls and then just spin around!) Our room on Carnival had a couch and a long desk area with a padded seat. There were at least two plugs along the desk, maybe three, so we had plenty of space to plug in phones, cameras, etc.

 

Princess wins a point for having a fridge in every room; also, Princess pools on the two ships we’ve been on in the past were freshwater, or at least non-salty water, so Princess gets the nod over Carnival on the pools too. My youngest son noticed that the water was salty, but it didn’t stop him from having a great time. He was able to go down the water slide several times too. (Trick is, lay down on your back with your arms folded over your chest. The people who tried to sit up ended up having to scootch their way down.)

 

Evening shows: I think we went to all the shows in the theater (Rome Lounge). First night was Welcome Aboard show. Triumph has a 10-piece band and they were great. Always nice to have live music. On the second night (which was elegant night), the show was Wonderful World, which featured songs from or about various countries or places around the world. Most of it was pretty interesting, but a couple were just weird. Night three was Showcase of the Stars, which was passengers performing. I think there were only five performers and they were all kids; the oldest was 18. Oh, except for the last group, which was a group of 20 or so cheerleading coaches who did a couple of cheers. For the most part, this show was pretty lame, but I guess it could vary widely depending on who’s on a particular cruise. Night four was New Wave Magic; I posted on another reviewer’s post that this show was rated PG-13 for costuming (or lack thereof!) on some of the dancers. I had neglected to notice that the Fun Times indicated this was a PG-13 show. My oldest son is 20 and the youngest is almost 12, so they were fine, but some people may not be comfortable at this show. It is not your “kiddie magic show.” The magic tricks all together lasted maybe 15 minutes, but they added several dance numbers in between to stretch it out. Okay, some of the tricks were cool, but the music during this show was awful! It was all recorded; the live band didn’t play for this one. It was very loud and very strident. The last night’s show was The Big Easy. This was the best show, by far. Really great music, sets and costumes.

 

Regarding the shows, I thought the costumes and sets were really amazing and very elaborate. Big thumbs-up for the shows.

 

We had anytime dining; we ate dinner three times in the London dining room and other times at the Lido buffet. Our waitress was Myra from the Philippines; she was very sweet and remembered all of us. One morning, my younger son and I were walking through the Lido buffet area and I heard someone call my son’s name; turns out, it was Myra and she visited with us a few minutes. My boys took a photo with her on the last day.

 

One of my pre-cruise questions was “when is bitter and blanc served?” It is only in the dining room on the elegant night, but it is worth it! Very delicious!! We also enjoyed the warm chocolate melting cake too.

 

I’ve already mentioned Guy’s; note that it closes at 6:00 p.m. so it is not a dinner option (unless you eat early). We also tried sandwiches at the deli (they were good, not great) and got breakfast burritos at Blue Iguana (they were awesome!) The food on the Lido buffet was plentiful and most of it was good, especially the desserts. The fried shrimp was excellent.

We also enjoyed the soft-serve self-serve ice cream. That was one of our favorites things to do (several times!) each day. :D

 

We did not purchase any alcohol, nor any sodas; didn't go to any bars. We didn't pay extra $$ for any food. Our youngest did not go to Camp Carnival.

 

On July 4th, there was a "sale" on internet minutes, so we paid the $3.95 connection fee plus $7.50 for 10 minutes and got 10 additional minutes free. (and it went by fast!!)

 

As far as dress in the London dining room, on elegant night, my boys wore collared golf-type shirts and khaki pants. They were perfectly acceptable. We saw some kids in dresses or suits, and others dressed the same way my boys were. We also saw a grown man wearing jeans, a t-shirt and a baseball cap on elegant night . . . on another night, just one of the regular nights, a man in a sleeve tank top shirt was turned away from the dining room. But my boys were fine with what they wore.

 

We had two ports: Progreso and Cozumel. We did the ship’s excursion in Progreso to see the Mayan ruins at Uxmal. It was a great excursion; my boys even said later that they really liked going there because it was so interesting and unusual. Be sure to take mosquito repellant. They were biting, even through our clothes. :eek: It was also hot and very humid; we took hats and sunscreen and two bottles of water per person. As part of the tour, we received a small sack lunch; we had a sandwich with ham, turkey and cheese with two little packets of mustard and mayo; a banana (which was really good); and a tiny sack of some little cookies. Sort of tasted like animal crackers but they were really crunchy. A bottle of water was also included. The bus ride is almost an hour and a half, but the tour guide talked most of the way to the ruins, giving us the history of Progreso and Merida, as we drove, and some information about the ruins and the Mayans. On the way back, they were quiet, so you could nap or just look out the window. This was a long tour: we were boarding the bus around 8:00 a.m. and got back to the dock around 2:45 for the 3:30 sailing time.

 

Our bus looked like it was brand-new and had great AC in it. It had a restroom but the tour guide mentioned that it was really only for “Number 1 emergencies.” Take care of that before you leave the ship! Once you get to Uxmal, there is a nice little shopping area and some very large, clean restrooms. Yea!

 

There is a lot of walking and stair-climbing at Uxmal. Tennis shoes or hiking boots are best; flip-flops would be asking for trouble. Some folks will find this a difficult tour. I did not climb up the last portion of the tour, which was about 30 steps leading to the higher –elevated area, where you can climb even MORE steps to the highest vantage point. Luckily, our sons were up to the challenge and got some great pics for us from the top.

 

In Cozumel, we did the ship’s excursion to Passion Island on the power catamaran. This excursion left at 10:00 for about a 45-minute catamaran ride to the island, then about three hours at the island, and then the ride back. We docked at 3:00 for the 3:30 sailing time. If you want to do a lot of shopping in Cozumel, this tour doesn't give you much time. However, this is a beautiful excursion and well worth the price! The Triumph was the only ship in port that day, so there were only 200 people total on the island (130 on the power catamaran and 70 on the Twister boats). Honestly, I don’t know where all 200 people were; it felt like way less than that. After arriving at the island, the tour staff gave us the rules and info about the island, and then we were off to find a table or lounger and hit the water. Lunch is included, and it’s open bar (including sodas). The lunch was some grilled chicken, grilled fish, some amazingly good chicken nuggets (who knew?!!) and – as has been said before! – the best guacamole ever! The chips looked stale, but tasted great. There was also some green salad, rice, fries, and a few dessert-type pastries.

 

I’m not including any photos, because recent Triumph reviews from WOWgirl, Pooh72, and Txponycruiser had some fantastic photos. Pooh’s review has photos from Passion Island. Under the Cozumel board, CentexCruiser also has some PI photos.

 

I have to say, I thought their photos of the beach looked photo-shopped, but now I can say for a fact they were not! It really is that gorgeous!!

 

Debarkation: if you have a passport, I strongly urge you to take it, even if it isn’t required. When we got off the ship, since we had passports, we went through a different line and basically only had to wait a minute or two. The non-passport line must have had 100-200 people in it. We met the EZ Cruise shuttle and were back to our car in probably 20 minutes.

 

This review seems incredibly long, but I feel like I’ve left something out, so any questions, feel free to ask.

 

Would we cruise on Carnival again? Maybe so. We really prefer Princess. However, being able to drive to Galvston instead of having to fly to Fort Lauderdale or Seattle is a great thing! We picked this cruise because it was the only week this summer that we could vacation as a family and I just sort of fell into this cruise almost by accident. We had a good time and certainly did our share in trying to deplete the kitchen stock! ;)

 

In Nov Princess will start sailing out of Houston. They will be there until April 2014. They will cruise to Cozumel, Roatan, Belize City. In Nov 2014 NCL will cruise out of Houston. Just so you know.:)

[cwestbrook]

We are sailing on the Triumph July 29th. Is there only one elegant night?

 

Thanks for your review!

[overeasy]

Thanks for taking the time to write up the review! We also have had great luck with OV deck 2 cabins on both the Conquest and Triumph. Nice and quiet and we like having the sofa. DW has cruised Princess out of Galveston, she loved the oversize balcony she lucked into.

[panoramaofthepast]

Thanks for the great review. I'll be on Triumph in a week!

[CENTEX CRUISER]

There is one only.

We are sailing on the Triumph July 29th. Is there only one elegant night?

 

Thanks for your review!

[Kellie in Texas]

@kyblue -- Cruise director Jen was very funny, although we never saw her anywhere other than introducing the shows in the theater in the evenings. She'd wear the most outrageous shoes! Some that looked like Dorothy's red slippers from the Wizard of Oz -- but with four-inch heels! :eek: She had some glittery silver ones too.

 

@Centex -- I remembered that you had asked about the live orchestra; they were great. (Interestingly enough, the trombone player was our crew person for our muster drill!)

 

@huntm -- We wanted to try the regular burritos at Blue Iguana but we never made it there except for breakfast. The breakfast burritos were great. They also had some arepas with cheese; those are little corn pancake things folded in half with the cheese inside. They were a little bit sweet. Also had some chalupa shells with sausage and egg and cheese; DH got a couple of those. The salsa bar is very good. Several "liquid" salsas of varying degrees of heat, and a couple of "chunky" salsas (watermelon and queso blanco, I believe was one).

 

@HighSeasTexan -- Guy's Burgers are good, but as for the patty itself, I've had better ones. The fries are really really good. I've decided that for cruise ship food, some things may be really exotic or special to folks who live in different places that may not have the same availability as we do here in the Austin area. You can get almost any kind of food in Austin, and all qualities from cheap burgers to high-dollar burgers.

 

Guy's might be really really tasty to somebody who doesn't have all the types of restaurants we have here. That being said, I ate three of them over the week and they are good! The condiment bar really lets you personalize your burger, which makes it good for YOU.

 

@UFQ -- I will watch for Princess in Houston, but with kids still on the school calendar, we couldn't really sail between Nov. and April. But it's definitely something to keep an eye on.

 

@cwest -- Yes, only one elegant night. We sailed late afternoon on Mon. July 1, and the elegant night was the next night (which was a sea day).

[DebJ14]

Thanks for the review. We had 10 friends on your sailing, all past passengers, who came back raving about the cruise. DH and I did not care for the Triumph when we sailed her in May 2012, but may try it again sometime in the future. We're going on our 3rd Magic cruise in 3 weeks and we don't really care for that ship either so there is a good chance we will take the Triumph at some point. We really miss the Ecstasy and the Conquest!

[Patdmoose]

Hi Kellie. Great review. Our family group of 10 had a great time on this cruise. We were also on deck 2. 2 OV & an Inside. I prefer balconies, but the mom of the 3 yr old wasn't sure about it. This was my 10th Carnival cruise. Platinum is a very nice perk.

 

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[Jenny in TX]

On a whim, we booked a 5 day cruise on the Triumph for this coming November. My main concern was whether or not I would get Bitter & Blanc on a 5 day cruise. Thanks so much for answering that question.....I am very excited!!

[tkportersat]

Yes, my favorite!! They will have it.

 

On a whim, we booked a 5 day cruise on the Triumph for this coming November. My main concern was whether or not I would get Bitter & Blanc on a 5 day cruise. Thanks so much for answering that question.....I am very excited!!

[mitsugirly]

I was doing a search for Passion Island over on the Cozumel board and you mentioned you had info on it here in your review so I headed on over here to read it.

 

You said you didn't post any pictures because "pooh" and "centex" have reviews with pictures of it, but I have no clue where to find them. :confused: Someone help?

 

Centex-I know you, where's your review? :D (Sorry, I don't think I know pooh)