Just back from Triumph ...

[Sean3667]

After a long day of travel yesterday, including an "interesting" approach into Philly on our return flight (thanks to strong wind gusts and rain), the end of vacation realizations are setting in.

 

Overall, it was an enjoyable cruise. Here's the good and bad ...

 

The Good:

 

-The cabin (6274). Everything worked, was well stocked, and it was QUIET even though we were close to the atrium/elevators. The first day, there was a strong chemical smell in the cabin, and we were wondering what it was until the room steward stopped by to introduce himself. Without even asking, he informed us we'd probably smell a "silicone" smell the first day or so, because CCL's engineering/mechanical staff had changed out our cabin's window during the Miami layover because of complaints about how the old one was becoming cloudy/scratched. Sure enough, the sealant on the fresh pane of glass was still a bit tacky, and it dried by the next day. We propped open the balcony door with one of the chairs the second night out (we shut off the AC vent first, for those who are eco-sensitive), and we never noticed even a hint of the smell for the remainder of the cruise.

 

-Our room Steward, Mario. Even though Mario was never intrusive, he always seemed to be in the area while on duty. If we needed something, all we had to do was stick a head out the cabin door, as he never seemed to be more than four of five cabins away. He was extremely polite and always happy. He would always greet us, and ask us how our day was. He, and his assistants, did a great job with the room and worked FAST. One night, we headed out to dinner early then realized we had forgotten something in the cabin. After sleeping in, and missing the morning cleaning, we realized we had left the cabin in rough shape. Even with only being gone for 15 minutes, we returned to find the cabin spotless, made up, and completely restocked.

 

-Food, overall it was good. Some selections were better than others, and some just plain sucked, but on a whole we never went hungry. Breakfast buffets were always a winner. Wish I could say the same for the pizza.

 

-The staff. Out of hundreds on the ship, we only ran into one CCL employee who needed an attitude adjustment, and an inquiry with the purser's desk revealed that the said employee had gotten in trouble for serving alcohol to a minor the day before, and was probably following his instructions a bit too diligently. While we felt we were getting a bit of a runaround from the purser in question, she did give us 4 free drink coupons and an apology. Everyone else was friendly and helpful.

 

The Bad:

 

-Lynn University. In short, the school is a complete joke. We found out that Lynn University had brought along their entire freshman class as part of a for-credit "Academic Adventure" program they run. They also brought along a private security team from Wackenbush Security to oversee their students. While their efforts to keep their students in control was admirable (several hundred ... we heard numbers between 400 and 600 total), the rent-a-cops were nothing short of incompetent. One night, one of the Wackenbush security employees was carding EVERYONE trying to enter the Hollywood nightclub, even those not wearing the color-coded wristbands given to the Lynn students and staff. He was literally denying entry to every person who did not have an ID on them ... even if that person was a fare-paying passenger well over the age of 18, obviously not part of the school's group, and simply trying to enjoy a night out. He turned away two passengers in front of us, who were in their late 20's to early 30's, and told them, "Too bad, if you don't have and ID, you're not getting in." Meanwhile, two more of the Wackenbush team, who were inside and supposed to be watching the Lynn students for underage drinking, were more worried about dancing and having a good time while DOZENS of less-than-21-year-old students stumbled around them obviously drunk. Underage drinking was rampant, and we saw just about every possible attempt made by students to circumvent the drinking policies ... from turning their wristbands inside out to disguise them, to a noticeable trend of more and more long sleeves on the students at night as the vacation wore on. One of the nightclub regulars we had gotten to know also informed us that he saw a middle-aged male member of Lynn's staff repeatedly buying alcoholic drinks for a female student who looked to be no more than about 18 or 19 ... all while she hung all over him in some serious displays of PDA.

 

After several passengers not affiliated with the college complained about being insulted for having their ID's checked constantly by people not employed by CCL, while the Lynn students made drunken fools of themselves, CCL changed their security procedure outside the nightclub to always include at least one CCL employee. Those with the school's wristbands were checked for ID's by Wackybush, while regular passengers were left to the judgment of the CCL security as to whether they needed to be checked for ID. For anyone on board we spoke with, the students of Lynn University left a lasting impression on their fellow travelers ... and it definitely wasn't favorable. Nothing that anyone can say will change the way I view the school. IMHO, send your kids to a school run by competent people who don't waste tuition money on a for-credit booze-cruise for the freshman class and Lynn U staff under the guise of "expanding your child's experience with other cultures." The only positive thing we heard about the school, from any fellow passenger or crewmember, was that this ... apparently ... was the last year Lynn will be traveling on CCL. Next year, they are supposedly chartering their own ship to keep better control on drinking.

 

Even with such a group onboard, it was possible to have an enjoyable cruise. Thankfully, the Triumph was big enough to avoid certain areas ... such as Karoake or the nightclub. The students tended to descend on specific activities or areas like locusts, so it was easy to find something else to do if you wanted to avoid the circus-like atmosphere they brought with them. If it were a smaller ship, it probably would have been much different and ruined the cruise for a lot of people.

 

-The Pizza. In a word ... yuck. Seriously, what has happened to CCL's pizza in recent years? I remember it being pretty good when I was on the Destiny in '99. Now, Tombstone frozen stuff is better than what they serve onboard. After having a two slices during embarkation, I never touched the pizza again. What was once good, is now just plain gross!

 

Again, overall ... it was a very enjoyable cruise. Most of the problems we encountered were not the fault of CCL, and the shipboard staff did make an honest effort to address those concerns when brought to their attention. As far as I know, I won't be writing any letters of complaint to Carnival. :-)

 

We enjoyed all of the positives, dealt with any negatives as they came up, and had a great time. The ship was in excellent shape overall, even though a hurricane had supposedly shortened the ship's scheduled drydock by several days, and some of those items were still being worked on at a reduced pace due to passengers being onboard. One of the pools always seemed to be out of service for a day or so, but the others were always open in its place. We saw one set of bathrooms being renovated, and some ceiling painting going on up on Lido deck, but they never interefered with one's ability to enjoy the ship, and all those projects will probably be completed before the spring rush hits.

 

That's it for now ... if anyone has any questions on our stops (Western Carib), or our experience on Triumph, feel free to ask!

[happy cruzin]

Thanks so much for your insights. We are headed to the Triumph in a couple of weeks.

 

Very disappointing news about the pizza. I agree it has usually been pretty good.....I too wonder what has happened.

 

Sorry to hear about the Lynn University issues. It is bothersome that having them on board caused problems for other guests. I have chaperoned many high school band trips - we have never needed rent a cops and have never had an issue. The students know how they expected to act and do not cause any problems. Infact, I would take those band kids anywhere!! I'm sorry that the university students disrupted your trip.

 

Thanks again for your review ;)

[hockeyluver]

Thank you for the review we will be sailing on the Triumph 02/25

[Sean3667]

Thanks so much for your insights. We are headed to the Triumph in a couple of weeks.

 

Very disappointing news about the pizza. I agree it has usually been pretty good.....I too wonder what has happened.

 

Sorry to hear about the Lynn University issues. It is bothersome that having them on board caused problems for other guests. I have chaperoned many high school band trips - we have never needed rent a cops and have never had an issue. The students know how they expected to act and do not cause any problems. Infact, I would take those band kids anywhere!! I'm sorry that the university students disrupted your trip.

 

Thanks again for your review ;)

 

It wasn't so much about disruption, as it was an inconvenience to other passengers. It seemed that no matter where we went, someone not affiliated with the school was always being asked for ID because of "the college group we have onboard." Hearing that apology over again gets stale when you paid for a relaxing vacation, and you see the same people they're trying to control stumbling around drunk every waking moment.

 

I think many of the problems came from the fact that only a handful of the Wackenbush people seemed to understand their role. They clearly had no business demanding ID's from passengers not with the school group. Since the Lynn staff and students were given wristbands identifying them as such, checking other passengers for ID was Carnival's job. Yet, one or two Wackenbush employees were doing just that, and trying to enforce the rules governing Lynn's students on every single passenger. The others just seemed to ignore the obvious to avoid creating a scene. The chaperones from the school probably could have been a better help ... but many of them seemed to be just as drunk as their students, and clearly weren't setting the best example. After all, it's pretty difficult to remove a student for outwardly intoxictated behavior, when the male chaperone assigned to that room is either buying drinks for girls of a questionable age, or clearly drunk themselves ... both of which were witnessed by multiple passengers.

 

That's not to say the other passengers didn't provide some shining examples of public intoxication, but those folks wouldn't tend to dominate public rooms like the school group did.

 

So, rather than let it become too big a disruption, we quickly learned to find something else to do when the "wristband brigade" would start streaming in the door. Like, go to the casino ... where I came out ahead.

 

It's tough to have a bad cruise when your winnings are enough to pay off your S&S account ... :-)

[BettyB2]

Thanks for the review! We had a great time aboard her last month and everything was great. The first time we had pizza it was excellent, second time NOT so good and third time it was fabulous again. I guess it depends on the timing. I have read that if you order when it first comes out, it is awesome.

If you want something fresh order the calzone...may take around 5 minutes or so, but it is worth it

[ValCat84]

Just back from the Triumph as well. I'm Sean3667's g/f. So here is my lil review:

 

The food:

 

I felt that the food was very hit and miss. The breakfast was ALWAYS excellent. I never at lunch in the dining room, always just on the Lido deck. I enjoyed the stuff from the grill and the Asian noodle bar. I thought the pizza was disgusting. It reminded me of something from Tombstone or Shop Rite in the frozen section. It was small and just low quality. The buffet at lunch had its hit and miss days. Sometimes I liked what they had, but some days they just didn't have anything that appealed to me. I thought the selection was very limited each day, I expected a buffet to have more options. One day for taste of the nations, I did have sushi and I was suprised to find how great it was. As far as dinner, I always ate in the Paris Dining room, and they always had hit and miss food. Some of the things I loved were the pumpkin soup (excellent), the prime rib, the beef wellington (all the meat i ordered was great), the chocolate mousse, the seafood pasta and the broccoli soup. I was disappointed by the lobster bisque (it was the wrong color and no real lobster in it) and the Veal Parm was just tough and nasty. Over all, I enjoyed the food. Oh and I remember someone posting about room service, and I agree, the room service sandwiches are really good!!

 

The room:

 

I really enjoyed having a balcony!! I am already thinking of my cruise for 07 and I know I want one again. As my boyfriend already said, our cabin stewart was just the greatest guy and I am offically a towel animal addict, the elephant was soooo cute!!

 

 

The entertainment:

 

I really enjoyed the magic show and all the musical performances. They were all fabulous and entertaining. The music in the nightclub was pretty bad, I felt like they were catering to that college group on board and I felt that it was unfair. I think there should have been more variety. The college group also kind of took over the club, which kind of put a damper on it for me and a few of the other passengers i talked to in the club. A few nites I left after only a half hour and went to the casino or a lounge b/c I couldn't stand what the students were doing. I thought the casino was fun and had a lot of variety of games. I put $10 bucks into a nickel slot one day and won $140!! It was so exciting to get 3 diamonds lol. The one lounge, I think it was called the Venezia or something, had a fantastic live band.

 

Just other stuff on the ship:

 

I thought the drinks over all were strong and the price was fine with me. I love the fun ship cups. I loved the bedding on board!! So comfy. I always found a deck chair, my boyfriend doesn't like to tan, so I would venture out to sun alone, so it was never hard to find a single chair, but I would often see groups of 3 and such unable to find chairs b/c people would leave their belongings out and then walk away for an hour or more. I think it's rude to do that. It's one thing to run to the bathroom or down stairs for a soda, but to dominate the chairs all day if u weren't using it, i found to be inconsiderate to others. We also saw people get turned away from the library b/c it was reserved for the college which I felt was wrong to other paying customers who may gave expected it to be there.

 

That's all for now, i may write about the ports later :) Over all, I had a great time. I liked carnival over all, I liked the staff and the intinerary we had. I can't wait to cruise again.

[happy cruzin]

Sean -

 

How was Cozumel? :o Is the tendering working out now? How about the rest of the ports? Must "do's" or "dont's" ? Did you do your own excursions - or book through Carnival? Any recommendations?

 

Although I have been to Cozumel - I have not been to Grand Cayman or Ochos Rios. :confused: Anything you care to share about your experiences there.

 

I am really looking forward to getting away. Sun and sand is EXACTLY what we need :D !

[Sean3667]

Sean -

 

How was Cozumel? :o Is the tendering working out now? How about the rest of the ports? Must "do's" or "dont's" ? Did you do your own excursions - or book throught Carnival? Any recommendations?

 

Although I have been to Cozumel - I have not been to Grand Cayman or Ochos Rios. :confused: Anything you care to share about your experiences there.

 

I am really looking forward to getting away. Sun and sand is EXACTLY what we need :D !

 

Cozumel, despite how bad the destruction had been, is making a strong comeback. It is my understanding the tenders are hit or miss on a day to day basis, and it often takes longer because they are bigger than the ones in Cayman. The operators tend to wait for them to be filled before heading in to shore, which means you spend more time waiting for loading/unloading, than the actual trip to or from the ship. While we had a good day, I can see where others may have lost considerable port time because of the tendering process ... which is dropping passengers off at the end of what was once the CCL Puerta Maya complex.

 

The old CCL pier complex that had shops on top of it, except for the very end near shore, is still completely gone. Orange markers in the water alert water craft to the debris which is still submerged. The shops on land, however, are looking good and many show no signs of the pounding they took. We didn't see any progress on reconstructing the pier. We heard an estimate of late 2006 at the very best ... but more likely nothing before 2007.

 

In Cozumel, we used it as a "beach day," and stayed away from the official CCL tours. We took a taxi down to Paradise Beach (run by ParadiseBeachTom, who can be found on the Cozumel CC board). It was a $14 taxi fare one way (but, oddly ... only $12 coming back), and we paid the optional $8 to for use of all the beachside facilities (it is my understanding it's no charge to just use a chair/umbrella ... but you'll have to confirm that one with Tom). We ate an amazing lunch of quesadillas and tacos, with a couple of margaritas ... all served beachside in our spot at the far end of the property. The bill for lunch was reasonable ... IIRC, less than $40 for two of us including some sodas and water we had ordered earlier. The beach itself is beautiful, as is the rest of the club. The staff was friendly, fast, and efficient, and Tom takes the time to come out and check on his guests. Can't say enough good things about the place.

 

In Cayman, we chose to do the late morning CCL Island Highlights tour. I had snorkeled with the stingrays on a previous cruise, and Val had no desire to do so, so we took the opportunity to use the tour to see some of the other parts of the Island. We got off the boat quickly, following breakfast at the Lido buffet, and had plenty of time to walk around George Town before the tours' 10:30 meeting time on the pier. I enjoyed the tour, but really would have liked to see it expanded enough that you aren't so rushed at each place. We were only given 10-15 minutes in Hell, including viewing the rocks AND any time in the souveneir shop. Our particular bus stopped at Club Inferno, but there appeared to be other shops/vantage points being used by the others. Likewise, we had only 15 minutes at the Tortuga Rum Cake shop, and 20 minutes total at the Turtle Farm. If you'd like to spend more time at each of those places, it might be worth getting a private taxi and picking and choosing which spots you'd like to focus on. Having said that, it was nice to see so much ... but the pace isn't for everyone.

 

After the tour, we ate lunch in a great place called Breezes, just across the street from where the tenders drop you off in George Town. Even though there was no less than FIVE ships in Cayman that day (Triumph, RCCL's Navigator of the Seas, NCL's Norwegian Jewel, a Princess Grand-class ship, and a HAL ship) we were quickly seated in a table outside, overlooking the harbor, on the top floor. The view was amazing, the service fast, and the food both quickly prepared and extremely good. I had a burger, and Val had a Tuna Melt made with a medium rare Tuna Steak. She said it was very good, and cooked exactly as she had requested. The price for the two of us covering lunch, 1 pina colada each (freshly made), and included 15% gratuity, was $53 and some change US dollars. A bit pricey, but not unexpected ($ 0.80 US equals $1.00 CI).

 

We shopped for a little while, where I bought Val a black coral turtle pendant from Richard's Creations, then headed back to the ship in the mid afternoon when some showers threatened to move in. We also tended to head back about an hour early, to avoid the last-tender-rush.

 

Having seen many of the highlights on Grand Cayman, the next trip will probably find us opting to a day pass at one of the beachfront resorts along 7 Mile Beach. Incidentally, word had it Tom Cruise was in Cayman this past week, staying at a condo at the new Ritz-Carlton resort.

 

For Jamaica, we had originally prebooked the Wild Oats Champagne Falls tour through CCL's website. This was supposed to be a semi-private charter for 16 CCL guests, on a 45' rigged sloop. Once onboard, we received a note stating the Wild Oats tour was not being offered on this cruise, and a refund was being applied to our S&S accounts. After a few days of mulling over the options, we chose the Cool Runnings trip to Dunns River Falls. The trip was a blast, but we weren't comfortable in having to leave our personal belongings onboard once at the falls. A couple members of the staff had already been eyeing up my straw Billabong hat, and when we saw one of them resizing the leather strap on it to fit themselves for the trip back to the pier to pick up a different group, we went back onboard to pick up our stuff and carry it with us on the beach.

 

The falls themselves were also crowded, so we decided to not use one of the available lockers (shabby looking at best), and just use the stairs/observation deck to view it. For anyone considering this trip, and if you want to climb the falls, TAKE AS LITTLE WITH YOU AS POSSIBLE ... THE SECURITY OF YOUR STUFF IS QUESTIONABLE AT BEST. If I had to do it again, I'd only take some money, my ID's/S&S card, a waterproof holder with a neck or body strap to carry it all, and a disposable underwater camera. The only place the boat has for your belongings, are two gray plastic storage containers (not locked) that they stow away on the next run to drop off/pick up the various tours (one tour is on the boat, while the other is at the falls ... at least two tours are constantly cycling back and forth at a given time). I personally saw a crewmember wearing a guest's leather Indiana Jones-styled hat on our trip back to the pier ... so beware if you take this tour and have something of value you'd rather not see used or disappear.

 

Getting off/on the ship in Jamaica was easy, being that it's the only port left in the Triumph's western itinerary that still uses a pier.

 

Next time in Jamaica, I'm seriously considering the canopy/zipline tour offered by CCL. Jamaica is a beautiful country, but has just enough bad elements to it (a local on the beach at the falls offered to sell me marijuana, which I politely declined) that I'd rather stick to a CCL-offered tour and not take too many chances with unknown operators.

[ValCat84]

Everything Sean said about our port experiences I basically agree with...I just wanted to add that I LOVED Grand Cayman!! A lot of people at our dinner table did some Grand Cayman bashing and complained about the prices--but it was my favorite port. The tenders were fast and despite that things were pricey, everything was CLEAN and I felt very safe. The lunch we had was probably one of the best things I ever ate, I had a "tuna melt" made with fresh tuna steak cooked medium rare--it was awesome. I think the whole island is beautiful and the tour guides were a lot less pushy than the ones in Jamaica.

[BettyB2]

Thanks Val for adding your review! Sounds like you and Sean had a great time. We loved the ship and the crew was fantastic (we did the eastern route in December). Its great to get both of your perspectives!!

 

Look forward to more details!!!:D

[starbelly]

Hey guys, thanks for the great reviews. I leave on Sat morning :) This review got me more excited. I can't wait. Hope no rowdy college kids on our cruise. I too hope to win a bit in the casino even if its just to pay for some shopping or drinks.

[ValCat84]

Hey guys, thanks for the great reviews. I leave on Sat morning :) This review got me more excited. I can't wait. Hope no rowdy college kids on our cruise. I too hope to win a bit in the casino even if its just to pay for some shopping or drinks.

 

I am not a big gambler despite the fact that I live 40 miles from Atlantic City, usuallly I just do the slots for fun. So Sean goes to play black jack and to kill time i decide to put $10 bucks in the nickel slots. so i am doing well it keeps going up and down the number of coins i had, i was at the same machine for over a half hour. so finally sean comes back and tells me he is done, but he thinks i should continue b/c the machine is paying out well. i push the button and turn to talk to him, the next thing i know, i hit the three diamonds, the top prize and won $140 :D

[LizaMM]

Thanks for the reviews!!

 

The Triumph holds a special place in my heart and I love reading about her! I will certainly sail the Triumph again one day after I've checked out a few more ships!

 

Glad that you had a great cruise!