Carnival Triumph Review

[Grayce]

I travelled on the November 9th, 2013 Carnival Triumph 5 day cruise. It’s been 3 years since my last cruise and I was worried about all the cutbacks I’d heard about. I needn’t have worried, we had a great time.:D I travelled with my sister who has been on many cruises and a friend who was a first time cruiser.

Boarding and FTTF

I had received an email that advised us to arrive a little later due to a coast guard inspection. We ignored it and headed out at about 9 am. My sister lives south of Houston. We had a quick drive to Galveston. We parked at Galveston Park and Cruise. It is right across the street from the terminal. It was a quick walk to the terminal. The area where you drop your checked luggage is at the right end of the terminal and then you must walk back to the middle to check in. You can drop your luggage before parking, but the terminal was very congested so we didn’t bother.

We had purchased faster to the Fun. After checking our documents they had a separate VIP line for the security check. At this early hour there wasn’t really a line anyway. We brought some bottles of pop and 3 bottles of wine with us. They directed us to a table where each bottle was removed from our carry-ons, examined closely and shaken.

For FTTF check-in there was a special line at one end of the counter where general check-in takes place. After getting our sign and sail cards we were directed to chairs in a separate FTTF roped-off section in the general boarding area. When it came time to board, the wedding people went first, then platinum/suite passengers, disabled passengers then FTTF people. We were on board before noon.

Stateroom

We were in cabin # 1064 on the panorama deck. It was a balcony cabin with a pull-out couch and a drop-down bunk. I do not think that the beds could be separated because we had a couch instead of a loveseat so there was no room. Like all Carnival cabins there was plenty of storage. The bathroom had a very large medicine cabinet that I have not seen on any other Carnival ship. I like it much better than the usual open shelving. The beds were very comfortable.

The location of the cabin was fantastic. We could be out on the pool deck in no time. The spa was just up the stairs. We used the showers in the spa a lot, with 3 women sharing the cabin. The location was also very quiet. I was concerned because we were near the elevators but we never heard anything.

The cabin was very clean but looked a little tired. I don’t think this cabin was re-furbished during the dry dock. There was quite a bit of rusting in the area where the shower met the door in the bathroom. The sink had multiple cracks in it. It still had the old style fat TV. The AC was super-cold all the time and moving the lever on the vent did not seem to have any effect on the temperature. Occasionally we did notice a sewer-type smell in the bathroom, we wondered if it was coming up through the drains or the ceiling vent.

Room Steward

We had a ninja room steward. We never had any contact with him at all. We did see room stewards in the hallway a few times but we weren’t sure which one was ours. We left a note for him the first night and all our requests were taken care off. We had ice twice a day. When we left a beer bucket out one day, he filled it with ice too and we used it to chill our wine for the rest of the cruise. Our room was always made up morning and night. We did leave our cruisin’ sign out when we were out of the room. We left an extra tip for him at the end of the cruise.

Spa

We used the showers in the spa daily. They were much bigger than the shower in the room. They had a nice wooden bench and plenty of hooks for keeping your things on while showering. There was also room to dress right within the shower cubicle.

There were a few things that were annoying. There was a door from the hair salon into the women’s locker room. Occasionally the door was left ajar impacting privacy as there were men in the hair salon. The shower drains also were very slow to drain. A few times I had to turn my shower off because it was about to overflow. Also the glass shower doors did not have any sort of clasp/lock so when the ship was rocking the door would swing back and forth. I remedied this by wedging a towel in the door.

We used the sauna a few times but the steam room was broken every time I checked.

Food

We had anytime dining. We had a great server, Feland, on the first night and requested to be in his section each night. We never had a wait to be seated. Bar service was good. There was only one evening when the bar server wasn’t there almost immediately after we sat down. Dining room food was great. I only had one thing that I was disappointed in, the chateaubriand we were served was not right. It just had a funny taste and smell and I could not eat it. We ate in the dining room for 4 of the 5 nights. The one night we went to the buffet the food was pretty good. I did not eat in the buffet during breakfast but did walk through it once and there were no “bacon police” that day.

I tried Guys Burgers, it was a good burger, but I was expecting more after all the hype. The fries were very good. I had tacos from the burrito bar a few times and they were great. Twice we went to the sea day brunch. The food was very good. A few times, we got room service for breakfast. Everything arrived right on time and the order was complete. Because there were three of us in the cabin they sent an entire carafe of coffee. A few times we had pizza for a late night snack. I really liked the new thin crust.

Ship Activities

We went to a few shows, the around the world show and the magic show were very good. We also attended the newlywed show, it was hilarious as usual. We went to most of the comedy shows. They hold them in the aft lounge and you must get there early because it is a little on the small side. There were 2 comedians; one “Caroline Picard” was so funny but the other guy not so much. There was a burlesque/magic show one night. We went ½ hour early but the lounge was already packed so we didn’t get to see it. We had very rough weather on the last sea day and they had to cancel the usual big show and replaced it with a “variety show”.

I never used the pools but did use the one of the aft hot tubs. I was surprised because it was actually hot. Every other time I have used a hot tub on a ship they have only been lukewarm. We never had trouble finding a deck chair as long as you didn’t want to be right next to the pools. There were always loungers available on deck 10.

Ports

Our first port of call was Progresso Mexico. We booked a ship excursion and went to an all-inclusive beach resort for the day. It was called the Reef resort. It had a really nice beach with plenty of loungers and hammocks, as well as a really nice pool. The beach had a lot of shells so water shoes were helpful. There was free Wi-Fi in the main lobby area of the hotel. Any drink (except shots) was included. They did come in really small plastic cups but they were happy to bring more than one at a time. There was a Mexican buffet included that had empanadas, ribs, burgers, chips and salsa.

There were some people that got really drunk (they were able to talk a bartender into giving them shots). The ride on the bus back was a lot louder than the ride there. Nobody got sick, but I guess it happens sometimes as our guide brought sick bags, just in case.

Our second stop was Cozumel. Took a cab to the Money Bar and spent the day snorkelling from the beach. I had heard that there was a $10 admission charge but we were never charged. We ordered some potato skins (really good) and quesadillas (not so good) and a few drinks. Our total for the day was $36. Really enjoyed this stop. There are stairs into the water but I saw more than one person fall on them as they were really slippery. There is a small sandy area that is a much easier way to get into the water.

At one of the ports a man fell/dove off the ship’s pier into the water. It was a very huge deal. When he got out of the water at least 5 security people were there and escorted him back onto the ship.:eek:

Air Conditioning

I just had to add this, I froze everywhere on this ship. I know they keep the AC pretty cold on cruise ships but this ship seemed to be colder than others. I was freezing and I live in Canada!:confused:

Debarkation

With FTTF we had tag #1. We met in the Rome lounge and were escorted off the ship by the cruise director. We quickly got our luggage and went through customs. We were on the road by 9:10.

[RoscoeJames]

We too enjoyed the Triumph in September. Coldest room ever on Carnival. Wasn't till the 3rd day did we discover the vent flaps. We even brought a fan based on our last room on the Magic being warm.

 

 

Clay.

[Rudyard]

I was on the sailing right before yours OP. We saw the bacon police every morning, but it was kind of odd how they enforced it. When the buffet would open for breakfast they would open the small "island" part first. It had most of the items that would be in the main lines which would open about thirty minutes later as more people arrived. The funny thing was that they would have the "BP" on the main lines, but not on the island, where you could take as much bacon as you wanted.

 

I don't know what was up with the AC in our cabin (deck 7 balcony). When we'd go to bed it was always warm and we'd have to sleep on top of the covers until about 2:00 am, when I'd wake up freezing and get under the covers.

 

We encountered similar rough seas, although I heard elsewhere that yours were slightly worse. We also had to miss the Big Easy show as ours was cancelled too. I was looking forward to it as I missed it last year. Sorry you didn't get to see the magic show. We really enjoyed it.

[bktaylor30]

I am cruising the Triumph next month. Thanks for an honest review.