Triumph – December 24th, 2015 – Family Christmas Cruise

[kwbound]

I think we need to take the Ecstasy out of play for the moment, at least until the poor crew member killed on it Christmas Day is laid to rest. :( *moment of silence*

 

Eh, I couldn't really say. Have never made it out Texas way. I go to Florida quite a bit so it's just a straight shot down I-75, and I-95 as needed. That being said, it is 14 VERY long hours from my place to Ft. Lauderdale. :mad: And that gets old, fast. NOLA won't be too bad, it's roughly 7 1/2 hours and there is nothing on that drive through AL (once you get past Birmingham), MS, and LA. We'll make the drive overnight to go even faster.

 

We're going to go into it with excitement and anticipation but with many grains of salt. At the end of the day it's still vacation and not work. And if the boat breaks down, Carnival will get us back to shore with a hefty amount of OBC for next time. :D

 

We've sailed out of NOLA twice and really enjoying sailing from that port. We always arrive in NOLA a couple of days early and start the vacation there. Then when we arrive back in port we go have breakfast at our favorite French Quarter breakfast place before heading home. We've sailed from there once in December and once in January, so it would be dark shortly after departure. We'd like to do a sailing in the summer so we could see the Mississippi all the way down to the Gulf.

[AprilJ]

We are super excited to both spend a few nights in NOLA precruise as well as our first cruise on Triumph.

[exarkkun]

We've sailed out of NOLA twice and really enjoying sailing from that port. We always arrive in NOLA a couple of days early and start the vacation there. Then when we arrive back in port we go have breakfast at our favorite French Quarter breakfast place before heading home. We've sailed from there once in December and once in January, so it would be dark shortly after departure. We'd like to do a sailing in the summer so we could see the Mississippi all the way down to the Gulf.

 

 

Hey, that's an awful lot like our plan! What is the restaurant? Since we'll be sailing when it's just barely autumn (by the calendar at least) I was hoping we'd see the Mississippi all the way to the Gulf. We got an aft-view balcony so we an watch it just slip away.....

[Babycat]

The Triumph holds a special place in my heart. We've sailed her twice and we loved it and the crowd.

[Babycat]

Which cabin did you stay in?

[kwbound]

Which cabin did you stay in?

 

 

We were in 9238.

[kwbound]

Hey, that's an awful lot like our plan! What is the restaurant? Since we'll be sailing when it's just barely autumn (by the calendar at least) I was hoping we'd see the Mississippi all the way to the Gulf. We got an aft-view balcony so we an watch it just slip away.....

 

 

http://www.cafefleurdelis.com/

 

Cafe Fleur de Lis on Chartres St. Everything they serve is delish.

[Podna's]

The Triumph holds a special place in my heart. We've sailed her twice and we loved it and the crowd.

 

 

Same here. Although I totally respect and appreciate op's review, our last cruise on the Triumph just weeks ago was so much different including our lido room (9282). I wouldn't have enough cons to complete a sentence. Looking forward to our next sailing on the Triumph in April out of Nola. Again op, we might disagree on a lot here but thanks for taking the time to share you experience with us.

[AprilJ]

Same here. Although I totally respect and appreciate op's review' date=' our last cruise on the Triumph just weeks ago was so much different including our lido room (9282). I wouldn't have enough cons to complete a sentence. Looking forward to our next sailing on the Triumph in April out of Nola. Again op, we might disagree on a lot here but thanks for taking the time to share you experience with us.[/quote']

 

Our first cruise will on the Triumph, lido deck, does it sway/rock a lot up there?

[Babycat]

Same here. Although I totally respect and appreciate op's review' date=' our last cruise on the Triumph just weeks ago was so much different including our lido room (9282). I wouldn't have enough cons to complete a sentence. Looking forward to our next sailing on the Triumph in April out of Nola. Again op, we might disagree on a lot here but thanks for taking the time to share you experience with us.[/quote']

 

I will be in 9218 this coming April 8th. I do vaguely recall some room temperature issues a few years ago but on balance the cruise experience was very good and among my most memorable.

[exarkkun]

http://www.cafefleurdelis.com/

 

Cafe Fleur de Lis on Chartres St. Everything they serve is delish.

 

 

Holy food Batman!

I've just informed my husband we are eating there, like it or not. Cannot wait! Thanks for the share :)

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums

[BallFour4]

We got the new anchor installed in Cozumel, had a glorious day at sea, a great time in Nachi Cocum and then it turned downhill. First, I made a poor decision to choose 2456 and 2457 as an alternative to lido deck inside cabins. We select lido balconies for all warm weather sailings, but this one we took a chance. Poor decision! Once the props were pitched for speed everything in this cabin rattled from the door to the glasses all night. We also heard every winch being prepped for arrival in ports.

 

The aft suffers most from the pitching in seas, and yesterday was a big time rock and roll for most of the afternoon and all night. It reminded me of days sailing aboard the Celebration.

 

Carnival had a new Holy Guacamole shore excursion for Progreso. They did not promote any excursions that were not selling over the PA system when the promoted everything else, didn't display it in the daily guide and only told us when we returned to the ship in Cozumel the tour was cancelled due to lack of interest. My party of 6 was stuck with most of the popular tours sold out or not able to accommodate all of us.

 

We finally negotiated a spot in a more expensive tour and had really nice time at the private residence party.

 

Yesterday at sea was one of the roughest ones I've had in a long time. Waves were 4-6, capping and the ship pitched and rolled together. The main pool was cleared and drained and the aft pool should have been. I have video of both with kids being washed up on the sides.

 

The Big Easy was canceled in the Rome Theater for good reason! The comedian had the entire venue for the night.

 

We've sailed the Triumph 9 times, and for a variety of reasons not weather and nature related this was the one I'd rate at the bottom. I'd also go again tomorrow, but if forced to stack rank this would be number 9.

 

Booked on the Magic in February!

 

.

Edited January 3, 2016 by BallFour4

[cbCRR]

BallFour4 - I'd love to hear your review once you are back. I'll be in cabin 2457 next summer!

I'm reading up and getting as much info as possible about Triumph. Thanks for your input everyone!

[tiller]

I was also on the Triumph cruise that just got back today, with my mom, brother, and sister-in-law. Was wondering why there were so many people waiting outside the port when we embarked on Monday, now we know why there was a delay.

 

FWIW, my mom and I were in cabin 6376 and had no problem with our A/C. If anything, it was too cold at times. Agree that the ocean on Friday was the roughest we've experienced in a long time.

[kwbound]

Same here. Although I totally respect and appreciate op's review' date=' our last cruise on the Triumph just weeks ago was so much different including our lido room (9282). I wouldn't have enough cons to complete a sentence. Looking forward to our next sailing on the Triumph in April out of Nola. Again op, we might disagree on a lot here but thanks for taking the time to share you experience with us.[/quote']

 

You're welcome. Hope you have a wonderful time on the cruise.

[kwbound]

Our first cruise will on the Triumph, lido deck, does it sway/rock a lot up there?

 

We felt like there was a lot of motion on the ship during this cruise, forward and aft. We first noticed it at dinner the first night which was in a forward dining room, and then the same night all the way aft while watching karaoke. When we went back to the cabin that night, it was moving so much that for the first time ever I had to take some Dramamine and lay down with a pillow over my head to ward off sickness. DH wondered if there was an issue with the stabilizers, since the seas did not seem bad at all. On the last night the seas and winds did pick up and the ship was really rocking that night. But I don't know if it was any worse in our room than anywhere else on the ship. I guess my body had gotten use to it by then because, even though the ship was rocking more than the first night, it didn't make me feel bad. It just contributed to a restless night. Early Monday morning, while we were still in the Gulf, my sister and I went to the buffet. As we were walking through, the ship pitched and a large stack of plates when flying off the counter and onto her legs and feet and those of a couple of other passengers. She wound up with some nice bruises.

 

When we got home Monday for a while, several of us including me, felt like we were still on the ship with wobbly legs.

[kwbound]

Holy food Batman!

I've just informed my husband we are eating there, like it or not. Cannot wait! Thanks for the share :)

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums

 

I especially love the shrimp and grits and the eggs Benedict. They have super fluffy pancakes too. Thinking about this place is making be want to plan a long weekend in NOLA!

[kwbound]

We got the new anchor installed in Cozumel, had a glorious day at sea, a great time in Nachi Cocum and then it turned downhill. First, I made a poor decision to choose 2456 and 2457 as an alternative to lido deck inside cabins. We select lido balconies for all warm weather sailings, but this one we took a chance. Poor decision! Once the props were pitched for speed everything in this cabin rattled from the door to the glasses all night. We also heard every winch being prepped for arrival in ports.

 

The aft suffers most from the pitching in seas, and yesterday was a big time rock and roll for most of the afternoon and all night. It reminded me of days sailing aboard the Celebration.

 

Carnival had a new Holy Guacamole shore excursion for Progreso. They did not promote any excursions that were not selling over the PA system when the promoted everything else, didn't display it in the daily guide and only told us when we returned to the ship in Cozumel the tour was cancelled due to lack of interest. My party of 6 was stuck with most of the popular tours sold out or not able to accommodate all of us.

 

We finally negotiated a spot in a more expensive tour and had really nice time at the private residence party.

 

Yesterday at sea was one of the roughest ones I've had in a long time. Waves were 4-6, capping and the ship pitched and rolled together. The main pool was cleared and drained and the aft pool should have been. I have video of both with kids being washed up on the sides.

 

The Big Easy was canceled in the Rome Theater for good reason! The comedian had the entire venue for the night.

 

We've sailed the Triumph 9 times, and for a variety of reasons not weather and nature related this was the one I'd rate at the bottom. I'd also go again tomorrow, but if forced to stack rank this would be number 9.

 

Booked on the Magic in February!

 

.

 

I was also on the Triumph cruise that just got back today, with my mom, brother, and sister-in-law. Was wondering why there were so many people waiting outside the port when we embarked on Monday, now we know why there was a delay.

 

FWIW, my mom and I were in cabin 6376 and had no problem with our A/C. If anything, it was too cold at times. Agree that the ocean on Friday was the roughest we've experienced in a long time.

 

How did embarkation go for y'all? Were you allowed in the terminal close to your assigned times?

 

BallFour - Was the Holy Guacamole excursion one that you reserved online prior to the cruise? I'm glad you enjoyed the replacement excursion, but that sucks when you make plans ahead of time, which they encourage you to do, and then those plans are altered through no fault of your own. It's annoying when vacation time has to be spent on something like this.

Edited January 3, 2016 by kwbound

[freedomcruiser891]

Did adjusting the handle on the air vent help with temperature at all?? On triumph ships we've noticed since the air system is different it stays a lot cooler than newer ships. Instead of a wall thing there's a handle that you can turn to open the vent/close the vent more

[kwbound]

Did adjusting the handle on the air vent help with temperature at all?? On triumph ships we've noticed since the air system is different it stays a lot cooler than newer ships. Instead of a wall thing there's a handle that you can turn to open the vent/close the vent more

 

We tried that but it didn't make any difference. When the steward brought the fan he also made sure the vent was open all the way.

[Silverspringcruiser]

Just got off the Triumph yesterday. Here's a useful breakfast tip. There's a practically full buffet, including an omelette station, by the quiet pool opposite the pizza, and compared to the crowds inside there's nobody there.

[tiller]

How did embarkation go for y'all? Were you allowed in the terminal close to your assigned times?

 

Embarkation was a mess. We had the pre-cruise transfer from the airport but didn't arrive at the port until 12:30. We had an assigned time of 12:00 to 12:30 but it was not made clear what line we should be in. Eventually a port employee let us get in front of some people. I don't know if it was because of the debarkation problems before our cruise, but it was the worst embarkation process I have gone through.

[AprilJ]

Just got off the Triumph yesterday. Here's a useful breakfast tip. There's a practically full buffet, including an omelette station, by the quiet pool opposite the pizza, and compared to the crowds inside there's nobody there.

 

Thanks for the tip! What time do they start serving ?

Edited January 3, 2016 by AprilJ

[kwbound]

Thanks for the tip! What time do they start serving ?

 

According to FunTimes breakfast times on the sea days were:

 

7am-10:30am - Continental - Lido Mid

7:30am-10:30am - Breakfast Grill - Lido Mid

7:30am-10:30am - Blue Iguana Cantina - Lido Mid

9am-12pm Breakfast Grill - Lido Aft

 

Breakfast times on Cozumel day were:

 

6am-10:30am - Continental - Lido Mid

7am-10:30am - Breakfast Grill - Lido Mid

7am-10:30am - Blue Iguana Cantina - Lido Mid

7:30am-9:30am - Open Seating - Paris, 3 Aft

9am-12pm Breakfast Grill - Lido Aft

 

The breakfast buffet was open early when we returned to Galveston also.

[AprilJ]

According to FunTimes breakfast times on the sea days were:

 

7am-10:30am - Continental - Lido Mid

7:30am-10:30am - Breakfast Grill - Lido Mid

7:30am-10:30am - Blue Iguana Cantina - Lido Mid

9am-12pm Breakfast Grill - Lido Aft

 

Breakfast times on Cozumel day were:

 

6am-10:30am - Continental - Lido Mid

7am-10:30am - Breakfast Grill - Lido Mid

7am-10:30am - Blue Iguana Cantina - Lido Mid

7:30am-9:30am - Open Seating - Paris, 3 Aft

9am-12pm Breakfast Grill - Lido Aft

 

The breakfast buffet was open early when we returned to Galveston also.

 

Thank you! And the lido aft is the one you recommend? 9am is perfect after coffee on our balcony! Thanks!