Triumph 5 Day July 20 - Quick Review

[webzila]

Just back from the July 20th 5 day cruise on the Triumph.

I am going to post a quick review, nothing too detailed.

 

It was just me and my wife on this cruise. No kids this time.

We just went on a Disney cruise out of Galveston back in March with a 10 month old at that time so we wanted to get away on our own. We live 25 minutes away from Galveston.

 

We picked the Triumph because we only wanted to be gone 5 days and Carnival was the only cruise line available at this time. This was my 4th cruise on Carnival - 9th overall.

 

The ship looked good. The carpets and tile looked new as you may expect.

Our cabin was 2394. One thing I noticed is that all of the rooms that I saw on this level including ours had old CRT TV's. I thought they would have upgraded these during dry dock. There were other things that we noticed as well like messed up trim in various areas, lights out, etc...Just little things but after being out for so long in repairs I expected everything to be like new. I guess my expectations are just too high.

 

On the second night - probably around 11 PM there was a ship wide announcement - Operation Bright Star for some cabin on the 2nd level. I guess there was some medical emergency. We never heard about it again.

 

The food was OK. Comparing to our previous Carnival experience and other lines it was sort of a step down but again only when comparing with prior experience. Overall the food was good and we did not have any issues. We did the Your Time Dining and we never had to wait more than a minute. We always got a table for 2 without even asking. I will mention that some of these tables for 2 are really close to others but they are still separate tables.

 

Dining service was fast. No issues. We were usually in and out in an hour.

 

We went to all of the shows. I think most of the big production shows are the same exact ones that we have seen on our prior Carnival cruises. The magic show tricks were the same as before but performed by a different magician. Still good though.

 

The comedy shows were good. We went to several of the adult only's and one family one. The comedians were Mark Simmons and Kim Harrison. Mark was very funny. It was our first time seeing him. Kind of reminded me of Kat Williams. Kim was OK but I don't find her as funny as other comedians. We have seen her before. My favorite comedian on Carnival is Mutzie.

 

We played Bingo about 5 times. Nothing. We have never won at Bingo - ever - on any line. It was $20 for 3 bingo cards and they had a $30 package that included 2 of their pull tab lottery games. Does Carnival have the electronic game cards on any ships now? The only ones available on the Triumph were the paper cards.

 

The stops were at Progreso and Cozumel. Not sure why some people hate on the Progreso stop. We liked it. Progreso is just where the port is - there is nothing to see there but this stop gives you a lot of access to different Mayan ruins and Merida which is a very nice city. Its almost the same as when Carnival used to stop at Calica, MX. We got an excursion to see Merida and a Mexican Rodeo with a buffet and open bar. We really enjoyed it.

 

In Cozumel we decided to do something different and got the Mexican Cooking Class excursion at Playa Mia. We have been to Cozumel many times and wanted to try something new. This was the best excursion ever. There is an open bar and the chef that runs the class was awesome. You get to make a 3 course meal and then enjoy it in a nice ocean view dining room. After the meal, you get access to all the facilities and attractions at Playa Mia.

 

Cruise director was Jen. We thought she was funny. She will definitely be one of those cruise directors that we will remember. There have only been a handful that have really been memorable on all the cruise lines we have been on.

 

Debarkation was extremely fast. The ship got cleared by customs faster than expected. We were in our car which was parked right across the street from the terminal at about 8:30 and were back home at 9:15 :p

 

If you have any questions feel free to ask.

[douglinc@msn.com]

Our daughter and son-in-law were on the cruise with you. Glad you enjoyed it, they reallyd did. Mutzie is also my favorite of the comedians.

[treblmakr]

Thanks for your review. We are going on the Triumph in Nov. Did you happen to try Guy's Burgers or the Blue Iguana? I am looking forward to trying them both. Glad to hear the comedians are good. My husband likes stand-up comedy.

 

Did you use FTTF? I am wondering how well that works in Galveston. I got it to try it out. It will be nice to get into our rooms early and have lunch without dragging luggage everywhere.

 

Thanks!

[dna1990]

We are home fast too from same cruise.

 

Weather was somewhat hazy, but no rain or issues. Seas calm going down and very calm coming home.

 

Ship looked good to me, for a '99 ship, looked great. Not our favorite layout though. Traffic flow seems a little odd. And the pool area seems 'closed in'.

 

Food was on par. Lines were fine if you know when/where to go. Service in MDR was better than last few years, although main waiter did the work of the assistants most of the time. Pace was 'leisurely' but that is just fine for us.

 

Did Uxmal in Progresso, it was better than I expected. Very big place. Take an umbrella, it saved us from the hot sun.

 

Did Chankanaab in Coz, with the manatee swim. Memorable experience. Very low crowds, good service. Snorkeling was clear, but limited fish variety.

 

Did the Dream Photo shoot and got a SBA loan to purchase the package. But for us it is a neat capture of time.

 

Had the Ninja cabin steward, NEVER saw him, not once. But room was always clean, plenty of towels, ice, etc. Gotta like that.

 

Crew was fine, but I do think they may have started to wear - after being on what I imagine was a heightened state of service after coming back. The shoulders were a little lower, the smiles a little forced....

 

Live bands were great. Only saw the magic show, it was on par. Heard about the Welcome Aboard show, which was less a show and more a improve guest interview of some sort. Looked odd on the few seconds I caught on the TV repeat. Jen the CD didn't do much for us, but most CDs do not. Maybe if she learned the fiddle.

 

Did have a flat screen TV (Deck 7), but it was just stuck in the large space where the CRT was. Better to get those mounted on wall, and use that space for storage. We stuffed a bunch of excursion gear behind there.

 

Beds were hard. But didn't affect us much, rocky-sleepy is powerful.

 

Kids and noise were OK for summer time. A few loud groups, but having fair fun - nothing we saw out of hand.

 

Debark was fastest/easiest we have had at Galveston. We like the shuttles over in their own area now, and porters to help to/from. We used Lighthouse again, and they were great as usual.

[dna1990]

Guy Burgers were great. Good fries, good condiments, etc. AND VERY FAST. Never waited more than 60 seconds. Pizza on the other hand was often slow. And had the most irritating "squeak" to the oven rollers.

 

Blue Iguana was OK, but only tried in once.

 

Did not do FTTF.

 

Arrived at terminal around 10:50 and was eating on board by 11:45. Was in Zone4 after the priority groups. Cabin was ready at 12:30, but we did have carry bags until then.

 

Had the early manatee swim in Coz (not thru CCL) but was able to get off right away and had plenty of time without FTTF. Of course, we had no weather or port authority delays.

 

Maybe for longer cruises, larger ships, or more port-intensive trips - we would get FTTF. But not for 4/5 day Triumph type trips. Just be a little early get in the first lineup, don't wait on the 'crowd' to clog things up.

[webzila]

Thanks for your review. We are going on the Triumph in Nov. Did you happen to try Guy's Burgers or the Blue Iguana? I am looking forward to trying them both. Glad to hear the comedians are good. My husband likes stand-up comedy.

 

Did you use FTTF? I am wondering how well that works in Galveston. I got it to try it out. It will be nice to get into our rooms early and have lunch without dragging luggage everywhere.

 

Thanks!

 

We tried Guy's Burgers one time and it was good and service was very fast as dna1990 mentioned.

 

Also, same as dna1990 we did not buy FTTF but were on the ship within an hour. We parked the car around 12 PM so the hour includes parking and walking to the ship. There was no line at all for security check. The check-in line took about 25 minutes. Once we got on board we had a quick lunch and right afterwards we went to the room and it was ready.

 

I am not sure that FTTF would have been worth the cost for us.

I would buy it if it also meant that we would get priority luggage delivery. That part always stresses us out until we actually get it. On this trip we left for the safety drill and didn't have it yet (4 PM) then when we got back it was in the room.

 

Forgot to mention, our room stewart (Putu) was great. He was delivering the ice (none of the cabins on our floor had a fridge or a cooler) shortly before the safety drill so he introduced himself and he knew our names already. Then every time we saw him in the hallway which was quite often he always addressed us by our names.