TRIUMPH NEW YEAR (first time cruiser)

[reconsarge1975]

Thought I would share a bit of our first cruise we arrived home from last night. We sailed the Triumph on Dec30 out of Galveston. Forgive me if my form and structure are rusty, and if you have any questions let me know and I will try my best to answer them.

 

We (Wife, 3 kids, and I) had cabins 1398 and 1400, which are aft port rooms on deck 1. Our muster station drill went smooth from my perspective, though it was cold outside, still went by rather fast. We opted to just view the sail-away from our room. (I have combat PTSD from Iraq in 2003 and cognitively tried to pace myself and avoid many of the higher density crowds, I think that went rather well too) The lido buffet was REALLY good, but we were slightly disappointed that the chicken meatpies they had out were only there on the first day, they were awesome. Because it was a New Year cruise, the staff was handing out FREE CHAMPAGNE before sailing and pretty much up until dinner time, and this was the only day of it.

 

We had early dining in the Paris dining room. Our wait staff leader was an awesome guy named Pande, and folks if you get a chance to cruise the Triumph, do yourself a favor and REQUEST PANDE. His team was Ikadek and Iwanek and I could not imagine having a better experience. They were prompt to bring our food, TO KNOW OUR NAMES, and if you really liked something they tried to get another plate of it for you. Pande was really good with the kiddos at our table and when the dance time came around, he tried to get them to get up and dance with them. If i could get my iphone to upload the videos I have several of just that.

 

I know many of you are going to know what the menu looked like. First off let me say that on the Triumph, there are still tablecloths at every meal.

Some of the meals I enjoyed (sorry I may not get the order correct):

Lobster

Fried fish fillet with fried shrimp

Mac-N-Cheez with bacon (my 16 year old RAVED about this)

Grilled Mahi-Mahi (absolutely awesome)

Salmon

(when everyone wakes up I will add more, there are also several from this forum that linked up together, perhaps some of them can chime in and fill in the holes in my memory)

 

The "starters" were really good too:

Alligator fritters (excellent)

sushi

escargo (my mom got this, not me)

frog legs (didnt like it, but tried it anyway)

shrimp coctail

fruit plate

the list just went on.

 

And desserts, if you have not tried the warm chocolate melting cake, you are doing yourself a dis-service.

Every night at dinner, a Jamacian named "Moses" would come around with $8 shots in a collectible shot glass (color changed every night). First night was a "woo-hoo", there was a butter cream, strawberry cheesecake, and one called "jamacia". I got all but the third night shotglass, apparently Moses tripped and spilled the tray before he got around to us that night.

 

The punchliner comedy club was pretty good. Two really good comics and they did a family friendly show back to back followed by a break and then back to back "adults only" stand-ups. I stayed for the first adult only show and had a double scotch on ice, and I really think the guy watered down my scotch because usually I can get a light buzz from a good shot, and definately feel it with a double, I felt nothing but a slight taste of scotch with water. So, the best bartender I found was night shift on the "new wave pool bar" on the aft of the lido.

 

new years eve was a very rough night at sea but survivable. The return trip however was extremely rough. The captain came over the com system the night before and warned us that we would be crossing a cold front and very rough seas. The next day (last "fun day at sea") was so bad they had to shut down and drain the pools. Sitting on the aft lido big window (my favorite spot) the horizon was all over the place as the ship was tossed around, and I was impressed with how well the staff did with it as if we were all just standing still.

 

Things I was aware of maintenance-wise:

something had burst in the ceiling on deck 2, near aft on starboard side and many of the folks on that floor had to have their door open all the time and there was a massive cleanup effort to handle the water (musty smell on that side of that deck on the last day).

 

My room had a few spots in the floor where if you stood directly on it and applied pressure, it would give and you could hear water "squishing" under the floor. I cannot imagine that is supposed to happen, nor that it is a good thing.

 

Going to open it up to the rest of you now. Seems I have run out of steam for now and attention span is leaving me dry. Everything is still moving around me so I guess I still have my "sea legs" from that last day at sea.

[KCMarie]

First off, welcome to cruising! The feeling of still being on the seas was always a good reminder for me of the wonderful times had onboard.

Thanks for your review, we'll be onboard the Triumph in Feb, it's hard waiting! With -10 and snow on the ground we are anxious for a 75 degree day.

Will be waiting to hear more from your cruise mates too.

[traylynn]

Thanks for the review, can't wait to hear more.

[trvlgrl422]

We were on the cruise before you, and also was waited on by Pande's team. He really was the best waiter. So friendly!