Triumph 1/7-1/14 Review

[rarodg2]

Here is the beginning of my review. It is getting long so I decided to post it in installments. I will post the rest in a few days when I finish it. If you have any questions please ask. I used this review as a little journal to remember everything we did as well so some of it may not be that important. I hope you enjoy.

 

 

Background information:

There were a total of 13 on this cruise. Myself (22 year old female), my husband (25), my mother and father in law (both in their 50’s), my brother-in-law and his wife (32 and 33) my sister-in-law (25, who is pregnant), my brother-in-law and his wife (35 and 34) and their 4 kids (16 year old girl, 11 year old girl, 9 year old boy and 8 year old boy). My husband and I have been on one cruise before, Royal Caribbean Explore of the Seas a year and a half ago for our honeymoon. My MIL had been on a few but they were several years ago and with business groups (so not that fun) and then BIL and SIL (32 and 33) went on a Carnival cruise (aboard the Imagination I believe for a 4 day cruise which they were not impressed with) but none of us are cruise experts so keep that in mind. This was a Christmas gift from my in laws for my husband’s whole family. My father in law has been very sick and probably doesn’t have a long time left so this was a very special vacation for all of us.

 

Before the cruise:

8 of us flew done from Louisville, Ky into Miami. The flight was ok but in a very small plane because it was a direct flight which made me a little sick, glad we flew down the day before so that I had some time to regain my stomach (going down kills me). Anyway, the other 5 members of our group drove down and we all arrived around the same time at the hotel. We stayed at the Holiday Inn – Miami International Airport North. I do not recommend this hotel. The people that work there were very rude and barely spoke English. Those that drove down had some problems finding the place and had to call for directions, one of the women working the desk (who said she knew the roads very well) got them lost and they had to pull over and ask a police officer. We chose this hotel for a few reasons 1) it had a shuttle from the airport to the hotel 2) it had a shuttle from hotel to port and 3) we could park our car there for free. Well, when we tried to get our shuttle time set up they were rude again and told us they might be able to take us around 4 but they were very busy and already had the shuttles full. This was at 3:30, check in began at 3 so I don’t know how they filled up that fast. We tried to get them to understand that we were not going to wait until 4 to be taken to the port and that they needed to get us a different shuttle but they did not understand anything we were saying. We finally talked to a manager who was the only person there that was nice at all and he got us a shuttle for 11:00. The rooms were clean but the water was kind of greenish. About Miami overall, I didn’t really care for it. My brother-in-law (who is 6’1 and over 200 lbs and has lots of military training, point being he isn’t a guy to be messed with) took my sister-in-law (who is pregnant) my 16 year old niece and myself out to find a Wal-Mart, we found one and bought a few things and then stopped at a gas station to find bottled water (Wal-Mart didn’t have any, neither did the gas station). While at the gas station apparently there were a few guys who were staring at me a little too hard and my brother-in-law almost got in a fight with one of them because the guy wouldn’t leave me alone and the guy got up in my BIL’s face. It was kind of scary. But we got back to the hotel safely and decided to stay in for the rest of the night

 

Day 1: Embarkation:

We arrived at the port around 11:30, gave our bags to the porter with a nice tip so our bags could get to our room safely (we all had a laugh about this because the porter actually said that a tip would ensure that our bags would get to our rooms). We then got in line. Embarkation went rather smoothly and we were on the ship in our room by 12:30. 5 members of our group however, got put in to a different line (when we split up to go through the metal detectors) and it took them an extra 30 mins. so I guess we just got in a good line. We were allowed in our room early and met our room steward who did an amazing job all week long. We had a balcony room (6327), my in-laws were right next to us and then the others were on the 2nd floor in 3 ocean view rooms. We dropped off our bags and our whole group met up and headed to lunch. We were all very happy with the choices and selections from the buffet today. But the rest of the week the buffet was hit or miss. Some things were good and some were not but that goes for anything and someone else might have really liked something we did not. Everything seemed to be very fresh and clean. My nephew really enjoyed the pizza, which was almost the only thing he ate the entire cruise. After lunch we walked around to view the ship. I thought that the ship was beautiful and that everything was nicely decorated. We then went to the muster drill which wasn’t that painful and then to the lido deck for some sun and the sail away party. We had late seating at 8 in the Paris dinning room. Our head waiter was Ricardo and his assistant was Santiago. Both were incredible and made our cruise much more enjoyable. For dinner tonight, I started off with the Tropical fruit plate, then a tossed salad and for the main course the New York strip with peppercorn sauce, roasted potatoes and green beans. Everything was very good. I had the decadence of chocolate for dessert and I now see what everyone was talking about, very yummy!!! My husband had the chicken tenderloin with peanut sauce for a starter, which I tried and really enjoyed. He also raved about the ziti and the sweet and sour shrimp. We found out our team colors, go white!! After dinner we went to Jackpot Bingo and lost some of our money and then to the Welcome Aboard Show and met our cruise director Matt Ross. I thought he did an amazing job all cruise long and he was very funny. The Triumph dancers were very good and so were the singers. There was also a comedian tonight who was pretty funny. After the show my husband and I walked around on deck for awhile and then went to bed, we were exhausted from all the excitement of the day.

 

Day 2: Fun Day at Sea:

My husband and I woke up at about 8:00 this morning too excited to sleep anymore so we headed up to the lido for some breakfast. The buffet was pretty good and my husband loved his omelet. We then walked around some more to explore the ship. We also walked around the casino, found my in-laws (this was where we would find my father-in-law for the majority of the cruise, he loved it!) and lost some more money playing the slots. Everyone met up for lunch in the lido buffet and once again everyone enjoyed what we had. There was a nice selection and everyone found something they liked. After lunch was ice carving and the hairy chest contest. The ice carving demonstration was very interesting and the hairy chest contest was hilarious. Some of the things these guys did were quite gross, but we had some good laughs. I had a drink of the day which was the Rivera Delight. It was pretty good but the rest of the week I would stick to my favorite, a strawberry margarita. After some sun we headed down to the Oxford bar for a game of Scatergories. My MIL is really into board games and trivia so we played almost every game they had this week. Our team lost today but we had fun. Since today was our first formal night we headed to our room to get ready. We had a few pictures taken and then went to the Captain’s Cocktail Party and then to dinner. We tried to get a picture of our whole group but the guy said he couldn’t do it and we would have to go down to the stairs but that they were quitting now for dinner and we would have to come back later. This was a little irritating because we were already in position and ready for the picture, so a piece of advice for large groups, go to the stairs. Tonight’s dinner was amazing. For a starter I had the strawberry bisque, which I loved, and a caesar salad. For the main course I had the Prime Rib, which was wonderful. My husband had the lobster, well more like 4 lobster tails and he loved the mushroom risotto served with it as well. Our server, Ricardo, had to get use to bringing our table more then one plate but by the end of the night he was betting on my husband to eat the most lobster tails out of anyone in the dinning room. For dessert I had the Swedish almond chocolate cake which was very good even though I don’t care for almonds but with the cake they weren’t bad. We all left dinner tonight stuffed. After dinner we went back to the room to relax for a little while and enjoy our balcony before heading to the show. Tonight’s show was “Wonderful World”. I thought this show was very good. I really enjoyed seeing the different costumes and decorations for all the different nations they did. After the show I went back to the room to try and wake my husband up for the adult comedy show but with no luck so I skipped it and went to sleep as well. We both wanted to get an early start because tomorrow was our first port, Cozumel!!!

 

Day 3: Cozumel:

We woke up early today, so we thought, to have breakfast in the dinning room. However, my phone (which had the alarm set on it to wake us up) switched to central time so we had to hurry and grab a bite to eat at the buffet before we met with the rest of our group to get off the ship since we technically woke up an hour late. Everyone had a good laugh at my little mistake and from now on I did the wake up call. We headed to the Rome lounge to get a tender sticker and didn’t have to wait at all. We immediately went to the tender boat where we had to wait about 15 to 20 mins. for it to fill up and then off we went. Once we set foot in Cozumel we looked around at some of the shops and then went to find a taxi. We got a van to fit 11 of us (the in-laws stayed on board, my FIL wasn’t feeling well, a little sea sick). The taxi van was only $36 for all of us (I thought this was fair since it is usually $12 for a regular taxi that fits 4). Our driver was very nice and told us a little bit about the hurricane damage as we drove to Paradise Beach. He also told us that PB is the best beach in his opinion and that we would love it. When we paid for the taxi we gave him a $9 tip and he seemed very happy with that and said he would stay and wait all day for us. Once we arrived at PB we were immediately greeted by a waiter who took us to our chairs and we all bought wrist bands for $8. The wrist bands included all the water toys (iceberg, trampoline, snorkels, kayaks, floats, etc). For Christmas we had told my SIL we were getting her a massage on the beach so as soon as we got there we headed over to the tent and got her massage. I got one too. Since I paid for them both, the lady charged me for an hour for $50, we split the hour and both got the 30 mins. The massage was incredible. My pregnant SIL had a front and foot massage ($30 for 30 mins) which she said was amazing as well. Then my husband and I headed out on a jet ski. We found out on our last cruise that my husband loves jet skis. They rent jet skis right next to PB for $55 for 30 mins. We were only out for about 10 mins. before it started raining so we went back to shore, the guys were very nice and told us to come back once it stopped raining for the remainder of our time. Our family had already grabbed all our stuff so that it wouldn’t get wet and were standing under the roof in the restaurant. We grabbed a table and decided to go ahead and eat lunch. My husband and I split the chips and salsa and the chicken tacos and I had a strawberry margarita. All were very yummy and fairly priced. We headed back out to the beach and my husband finished up his jet ski time. We played on the trampoline and used the kayaks. My husband conquered the ice berg and was so proud of himself. We played in the water a little longer and then looked around at the little souvenir shop and bought a few things (nice stuff for reasonable price). We realized a storm was rolling in so we got ready to leave. We had spent several hours at the beach and were very pleased with our day. My nephews and nieces haven’t stopped talking about this beach, they loved it. I would recommend Paradise Beach to anyone who wants to have fun at the beach. As promised our cab driver was waiting for us and took us back to the pier. We gave him a $14 tip this time because we were very glad he stayed all day. When we got ready to leave it looked like everyone had made the same decision since the storm was coming in and everyone was trying to get a cab. We didn’t have to fight for one, ours was waiting. He dropped us off at the taxi stand and it began pouring down rain so we ran to the tenders.

 

Once back on ship we headed to our rooms to shower and change. The rest of the afternoon we relaxed, grabbed a bite to eat and wandered around. We did go to the show tonight (early show for late dinning at 7). Tonight’s show was the singer Cecil Parker. The show was ok. My husband and his brother got bored though and started playing games with poor Cecil, he had no idea what was going on. Then during the “Proud to be an American” song (which was the last one) my husband and BIL tried to get everyone to stand up for the song, so if you went to the show and stood, I am sorry, they ended up getting almost everyone to stand. After the show we headed to dinner. Tonight for dinner I had a starter of the tomatoes and mozzarella, I have had this before and enjoyed it again, then I had a garden salad and for my main course I had the filet mignon, which was wonderful. For dessert I had the strawberry cheesecake, this was very yummy. After dinner we relaxed in our room for a little bit and then went to the deck party for fun and games. We went to bed a little early exhausted from the beach day.

[mere08]

Good review! I'm looking forward to reading the rest.:)

[LM81]

Here is the beginning of my review. It is getting long so I decided to post it in installments. I will post the rest in a few days when I finish it. If you have any questions please ask. I used this review as a little journal to remember everything we did as well so some of it may not be that important. I hope you enjoy.

 

 

Background information:

There were a total of 13 on this cruise. Myself (22 year old female), my husband (25), my mother and father in law (both in their 50’s), my brother-in-law and his wife (32 and 33) my sister-in-law (25, who is pregnant), my brother-in-law and his wife (35 and 34) and their 4 kids (16 year old girl, 11 year old girl, 9 year old boy and 8 year old boy). My husband and I have been on one cruise before, Royal Caribbean Explore of the Seas a year and a half ago for our honeymoon. My MIL had been on a few but they were several years ago and with business groups (so not that fun) and then BIL and SIL (32 and 33) went on a Carnival cruise (aboard the Imagination I believe for a 4 day cruise which they were not impressed with) but none of us are cruise experts so keep that in mind. This was a Christmas gift from my in laws for my husband’s whole family. My father in law has been very sick and probably doesn’t have a long time left so this was a very special vacation for all of us.

 

Before the cruise:

8 of us flew done from Louisville, Ky into Miami. The flight was ok but in a very small plane because it was a direct flight which made me a little sick, glad we flew down the day before so that I had some time to regain my stomach (going down kills me). Anyway, the other 5 members of our group drove down and we all arrived around the same time at the hotel. We stayed at the Holiday Inn – Miami International Airport North. I do not recommend this hotel. The people that work there were very rude and barely spoke English. Those that drove down had some problems finding the place and had to call for directions, one of the women working the desk (who said she knew the roads very well) got them lost and they had to pull over and ask a police officer. We chose this hotel for a few reasons 1) it had a shuttle from the airport to the hotel 2) it had a shuttle from hotel to port and 3) we could park our car there for free. Well, when we tried to get our shuttle time set up they were rude again and told us they might be able to take us around 4 but they were very busy and already had the shuttles full. This was at 3:30, check in began at 3 so I don’t know how they filled up that fast. We tried to get them to understand that we were not going to wait until 4 to be taken to the port and that they needed to get us a different shuttle but they did not understand anything we were saying. We finally talked to a manager who was the only person there that was nice at all and he got us a shuttle for 11:00. The rooms were clean but the water was kind of greenish. About Miami overall, I didn’t really care for it. My brother-in-law (who is 6’1 and over 200 lbs and has lots of military training, point being he isn’t a guy to be messed with) took my sister-in-law (who is pregnant) my 16 year old niece and myself out to find a Wal-Mart, we found one and bought a few things and then stopped at a gas station to find bottled water (Wal-Mart didn’t have any, neither did the gas station). While at the gas station apparently there were a few guys who were staring at me a little too hard and my brother-in-law almost got in a fight with one of them because the guy wouldn’t leave me alone and the guy got up in my BIL’s face. It was kind of scary. But we got back to the hotel safely and decided to stay in for the rest of the night

 

Day 1: Embarkation:

We arrived at the port around 11:30, gave our bags to the porter with a nice tip so our bags could get to our room safely (we all had a laugh about this because the porter actually said that a tip would ensure that our bags would get to our rooms). We then got in line. Embarkation went rather smoothly and we were on the ship in our room by 12:30. 5 members of our group however, got put in to a different line (when we split up to go through the metal detectors) and it took them an extra 30 mins. so I guess we just got in a good line. We were allowed in our room early and met our room steward who did an amazing job all week long. We had a balcony room (6327), my in-laws were right next to us and then the others were on the 2nd floor in 3 ocean view rooms. We dropped off our bags and our whole group met up and headed to lunch. We were all very happy with the choices and selections from the buffet today. But the rest of the week the buffet was hit or miss. Some things were good and some were not but that goes for anything and someone else might have really liked something we did not. Everything seemed to be very fresh and clean. My nephew really enjoyed the pizza, which was almost the only thing he ate the entire cruise. After lunch we walked around to view the ship. I thought that the ship was beautiful and that everything was nicely decorated. We then went to the muster drill which wasn’t that painful and then to the lido deck for some sun and the sail away party. We had late seating at 8 in the Paris dinning room. Our head waiter was Ricardo and his assistant was Santiago. Both were incredible and made our cruise much more enjoyable. For dinner tonight, I started off with the Tropical fruit plate, then a tossed salad and for the main course the New York strip with peppercorn sauce, roasted potatoes and green beans. Everything was very good. I had the decadence of chocolate for dessert and I now see what everyone was talking about, very yummy!!! My husband had the chicken tenderloin with peanut sauce for a starter, which I tried and really enjoyed. He also raved about the ziti and the sweet and sour shrimp. We found out our team colors, go white!! After dinner we went to Jackpot Bingo and lost some of our money and then to the Welcome Aboard Show and met our cruise director Matt Ross. I thought he did an amazing job all cruise long and he was very funny. The Triumph dancers were very good and so were the singers. There was also a comedian tonight who was pretty funny. After the show my husband and I walked around on deck for awhile and then went to bed, we were exhausted from all the excitement of the day.

 

Day 2: Fun Day at Sea:

My husband and I woke up at about 8:00 this morning too excited to sleep anymore so we headed up to the lido for some breakfast. The buffet was pretty good and my husband loved his omelet. We then walked around some more to explore the ship. We also walked around the casino, found my in-laws (this was where we would find my father-in-law for the majority of the cruise, he loved it!) and lost some more money playing the slots. Everyone met up for lunch in the lido buffet and once again everyone enjoyed what we had. There was a nice selection and everyone found something they liked. After lunch was ice carving and the hairy chest contest. The ice carving demonstration was very interesting and the hairy chest contest was hilarious. Some of the things these guys did were quite gross, but we had some good laughs. I had a drink of the day which was the Rivera Delight. It was pretty good but the rest of the week I would stick to my favorite, a strawberry margarita. After some sun we headed down to the Oxford bar for a game of Scatergories. My MIL is really into board games and trivia so we played almost every game they had this week. Our team lost today but we had fun. Since today was our first formal night we headed to our room to get ready. We had a few pictures taken and then went to the Captain’s Cocktail Party and then to dinner. We tried to get a picture of our whole group but the guy said he couldn’t do it and we would have to go down to the stairs but that they were quitting now for dinner and we would have to come back later. This was a little irritating because we were already in position and ready for the picture, so a piece of advice for large groups, go to the stairs. Tonight’s dinner was amazing. For a starter I had the strawberry bisque, which I loved, and a caesar salad. For the main course I had the Prime Rib, which was wonderful. My husband had the lobster, well more like 4 lobster tails and he loved the mushroom risotto served with it as well. Our server, Ricardo, had to get use to bringing our table more then one plate but by the end of the night he was betting on my husband to eat the most lobster tails out of anyone in the dinning room. For dessert I had the Swedish almond chocolate cake which was very good even though I don’t care for almonds but with the cake they weren’t bad. We all left dinner tonight stuffed. After dinner we went back to the room to relax for a little while and enjoy our balcony before heading to the show. Tonight’s show was “Wonderful World”. I thought this show was very good. I really enjoyed seeing the different costumes and decorations for all the different nations they did. After the show I went back to the room to try and wake my husband up for the adult comedy show but with no luck so I skipped it and went to sleep as well. We both wanted to get an early start because tomorrow was our first port, Cozumel!!!

 

Day 3: Cozumel:

We woke up early today, so we thought, to have breakfast in the dinning room. However, my phone (which had the alarm set on it to wake us up) switched to central time so we had to hurry and grab a bite to eat at the buffet before we met with the rest of our group to get off the ship since we technically woke up an hour late. Everyone had a good laugh at my little mistake and from now on I did the wake up call. We headed to the Rome lounge to get a tender sticker and didn’t have to wait at all. We immediately went to the tender boat where we had to wait about 15 to 20 mins. for it to fill up and then off we went. Once we set foot in Cozumel we looked around at some of the shops and then went to find a taxi. We got a van to fit 11 of us (the in-laws stayed on board, my FIL wasn’t feeling well, a little sea sick). The taxi van was only $36 for all of us (I thought this was fair since it is usually $12 for a regular taxi that fits 4). Our driver was very nice and told us a little bit about the hurricane damage as we drove to Paradise Beach. He also told us that PB is the best beach in his opinion and that we would love it. When we paid for the taxi we gave him a $9 tip and he seemed very happy with that and said he would stay and wait all day for us. Once we arrived at PB we were immediately greeted by a waiter who took us to our chairs and we all bought wrist bands for $8. The wrist bands included all the water toys (iceberg, trampoline, snorkels, kayaks, floats, etc). For Christmas we had told my SIL we were getting her a massage on the beach so as soon as we got there we headed over to the tent and got her massage. I got one too. Since I paid for them both, the lady charged me for an hour for $50, we split the hour and both got the 30 mins. The massage was incredible. My pregnant SIL had a front and foot massage ($30 for 30 mins) which she said was amazing as well. Then my husband and I headed out on a jet ski. We found out on our last cruise that my husband loves jet skis. They rent jet skis right next to PB for $55 for 30 mins. We were only out for about 10 mins. before it started raining so we went back to shore, the guys were very nice and told us to come back once it stopped raining for the remainder of our time. Our family had already grabbed all our stuff so that it wouldn’t get wet and were standing under the roof in the restaurant. We grabbed a table and decided to go ahead and eat lunch. My husband and I split the chips and salsa and the chicken tacos and I had a strawberry margarita. All were very yummy and fairly priced. We headed back out to the beach and my husband finished up his jet ski time. We played on the trampoline and used the kayaks. My husband conquered the ice berg and was so proud of himself. We played in the water a little longer and then looked around at the little souvenir shop and bought a few things (nice stuff for reasonable price). We realized a storm was rolling in so we got ready to leave. We had spent several hours at the beach and were very pleased with our day. My nephews and nieces haven’t stopped talking about this beach, they loved it. I would recommend Paradise Beach to anyone who wants to have fun at the beach. As promised our cab driver was waiting for us and took us back to the pier. We gave him a $14 tip this time because we were very glad he stayed all day. When we got ready to leave it looked like everyone had made the same decision since the storm was coming in and everyone was trying to get a cab. We didn’t have to fight for one, ours was waiting. He dropped us off at the taxi stand and it began pouring down rain so we ran to the tenders.

 

Once back on ship we headed to our rooms to shower and change. The rest of the afternoon we relaxed, grabbed a bite to eat and wandered around. We did go to the show tonight (early show for late dinning at 7). Tonight’s show was the singer Cecil Parker. The show was ok. My husband and his brother got bored though and started playing games with poor Cecil, he had no idea what was going on. Then during the “Proud to be an American” song (which was the last one) my husband and BIL tried to get everyone to stand up for the song, so if you went to the show and stood, I am sorry, they ended up getting almost everyone to stand. After the show we headed to dinner. Tonight for dinner I had a starter of the tomatoes and mozzarella, I have had this before and enjoyed it again, then I had a garden salad and for my main course I had the filet mignon, which was wonderful. For dessert I had the strawberry cheesecake, this was very yummy. After dinner we relaxed in our room for a little bit and then went to the deck party for fun and games. We went to bed a little early exhausted from the beach day.

 

We were on the Miracle. We were in Cozumel the same day I think. Were there on Wednesday 1/11. We did the sail, snorkel and beach trou. We all got so drunk we had no idea what was going on. Thank goodness we mde it back to the ship. Cozumel was a blast. Our tour actually stopped for our beach pary right next to Paradise Beach for about an hour (I think), the Margaritas were free so by the time we got to the beach we had no sense of time.

[BettyB2]

Thanks for the review so far and looking forward to hearing more about your cruise. Will you be posting any pictures??

[cruisinbuddy]

Love to read the reviews especially when you've had a good time. In '03 on our Disney cruise Cozumel was our best day, from the time we got there, arrival deck party, to our snorkeling excursion, and finally the departing deck party. Looking forward to the rest of your review.

[rarodg2]

Ok, sorry it took me so long to post the rest of this but it is really long. I hope you enjoy it.

 

 

Day 4: Fun day at Sea:

We woke up today early to have breakfast in the main dinning room. We enjoyed it. After breakfast we went to morning trivia, which was fun and then I stayed for the Grand Cayman and Jamaica talk. But I didn’t learn anything from this talk that I didn’t already know from these boards. My MIL played in the slots tournament today so we went and watched her. She did pretty well, but didn’t make the finals. After the slot tournament we had lunch in the buffet again. We went to Trivia and Famous Faces afterwards. This was fun and interesting to see who knew who. Later we went swimming and laid in the sun for awhile. We found out that the hot tubs aren’t hot. The hot tubs were warm but colder then my bath water. I was upset with this because I love hot tubs but they have to be hot. We went back to our room, changed and went to Win, Lose or Draw. There was a big crowd at this because it was raining. The drawings were hilarious, as well as the answers. After this we went to the room and cleaned up for dinner. Before dinner there was a 50’s and 60’s Sock Hop that my FIL really wanted to go to so we all went to that. We had a lot of fun at this. Everyone was dancing, enjoying the music and having a really good time. Dinner tonight was wonderful as always. Tonight I started with the Cream of Sun Ripened Tomatoes and a garden salad. For my entrée I had the Broiled Cornish Game Hen on Black Cherry Salsa. This was amazing. It had great flavor. For dessert I had the Chocolate Tres Leches and split the apple pie. The chocolate was ok, it was chocolate cake soaked in chocolate milk. I didn’t really care for the texture (soggy cake) but it tasted good. The apple pie was served with vanilla ice cream and it was very yummy. After dinner we lost some more money at Bingo while waiting for the magic show. Tonight was the New Wave Magic Show. We all really enjoyed this. Some of the stuff they do really leaves you thinking about how they did it. We also stayed for the adult magic show. This was good as well. Once that was over we went to bed so we could be energized for Grand Cayman.

 

Day 5: Grand Cayman:

We were very excited about Grand Cayman. 5 of us were going on the Stingray City and Snorkel excursion through Native Way Watersports and I was very excited about this. We woke up early and had breakfast at the buffet again, something light, we didn’t want too much since we were going swimming. We met up with the rest of our group and got in line for a tender. Didn’t have to wait at all and the tenders here are smaller so you don’t have to wait long for them to fill up. Once we got to land we met our guy from Native Way and waited for the rest of the group and our departure time. Once everyone was there we were put on two buses and taken to the boat. The boat ride was about a half hour but you didn’t notice because you got to look at the beautiful scenery. We arrived at Stingray City Sandbar and were told what to do. We got in the water and played around with the Stingrays for a little bit. Everyone got the chance to hold a stingray. Before we left we got to feed the stingrays. This was neat. We were there for about 45 mins. or so and then we headed over to the snorkel spot which isn’t far from the sandbar. I honestly did not care too much for this part. I like to snorkel but didn’t really see much out there. Plus, the guide pulled out a nurse shark and an eel but didn’t wait for everyone. Most of us were still on the boat trying to get off and swim over there. Then those that got there first weren’t giving up there spots to let anyone else see. We weren’t at the snorkel spot for very long. Once on the boat we got punch and water and paid for our day. Overall, I wasn’t that impressed by Native Way. I was under the assumption that there weren’t going to be that many people on this tour. However there were over 40 people with just 2 guides. There was a large group of 16 who had already told the photographer that they were going to be buying the cd (because she made them a really good deal but didn’t offer that deal to the rest of us) so she paid attention to them mostly. Out of the 5 of us we only had 2 pictures taken. Not a big deal but we would have liked to have more and then we would have bought some. Since we had so many people one of the guides rushed you when you were trying to hold the stingray (and was kind of mean if you couldn’t get it right the first time). And it was due to large number of people on this excursion that none of us got to see the nurse shark or eel. There should have been more then 2 guides with that many people. I felt rushed by the guides but we had fun because we made it fun not because they made it fun. This is just my opinion and others felt differently. I might have been expecting a little too much because of the good reviews that I had read. But one of the guides really upset my SIL by yelling at her while she was trying to hold the stingray. I can’t recommend or not recommend them. Enough of that.

 

Once we got back to town we looked around at a few of the shops but not for long because we were all hungry. It didn’t take long to get on the tender, get to the ship and then get lunch so we were happy. After lunch we showered and went to Trivia again. We had a snack at the café. I had a chocolate covered strawberry and a chocolate shake, my husband had a banana split and my MIL had a piece of carrot cake. I tried a little of everything and it was all very good and reasonably priced. I loved the chocolate covered strawberry (this is one of my favorite desserts). The strawberries were very big and juicy, plus they were dressed in little chocolate tuxedos. Then we went on deck to watch us sail away. We laid in the sun for awhile, had some drinks and just relaxed. Dinner tonight was good as always. I had the Prosciutto and Melon which was different but good. Then a garden salad and the Sirloin with Charred Chili and Corn Salsa. For dessert I had the Key Lime Pie and the Hot Chocolate Soufflé, both were very good. After dinner we walked around on deck, got in the hot tub and relaxed then went to bed. We didn’t go to the Guest Talent Show which was tonight. I heard it was good though. Tomorrow was Jamaica and we couldn’t wait.

 

Day 6: Jamaica:

Today was amazing. We woke up early and had breakfast at the buffet. 4 of us had a river tubing excursion scheduled with Trevor Hudlin. We got off the boat and there was a woman waiting for us with a sign right after you walked off the dock. She took us back to the parking area where Trevor was going to meet us. We waited for him to get through the security gate and we boarded his nice bus. On our way to the river he told us about Jamaica. Once we arrived at the river two guides met us and carried our tubes down for us. Trevor let us keep all our stuff on his bus that we didn’t want wet and even walked down the stairs to the river with us to get my BIL’s shoes. The water was very cold but you got use to it quickly, they said the water was cold because it had rained the day before. There was another group of about 10 that was waiting for us to start our trip down the river. Once we got in the tubes we were on our fun filled journey. Some spots in the river were very calm and others were a little wild but nothing too wild. The plant life and scenery down the river were amazing. This place was so beautiful. We stopped a little over half way through to look at some plant life. Then we were back on our way. Trevor was waiting for us at the end. We got right on the bus and he took us back to the pier. He said he would have taken us anywhere we wanted to go but I wanted to do some shopping and get back on the boat to enjoy the slide. He dropped us off at Island Village. I would recommend Trevor to anyone and the river tubing. We all had a great time. My husband and I walked around Island Village for a little bit, stopped by Margaritaville and had a drink. The view from there was beautiful. There was a little beach and you could see the ship in the background. We did some more shopping. I bought a few things and we also bought some spices and sauces so we could enjoy our trip for some time to come (we used the jerk seasoning on some chicken the other day and it was amazing). After we were done shopping we went back to the ship.

 

The rest of our group got off the ship and just walked around for a little bit. They thought they wanted to see the non-tourist part of Jamaica so they went to the market place that isn’t far from the pier but they weren’t there for too long before someone was trying to sell them drugs and wouldn’t take no for an answer. They finally got away from him and then someone else was there trying to get them to buy something. They left after only 5 mins. and went to the Turtle Park. They said it was beautiful and they really enjoyed walking around there. Once they got back and we got back we all went to lunch and then played on the slide. The slide was a lot of fun; however, when you hit the bottom be prepared for the splash of salt water that hits you in the face. The first time I came down I was not ready for this and got a mouth full, yuck. After this we went to Trivia again (I told you we went to them all) and then got ready for dinner, our last formal night. Our whole group got together for a big family picture, which turned out really well. For dinner tonight I had the Cream of Broccoli and Wisconsin Cheddar soup, the caesar salad and the Prime Rib. Everything was very tasty. Tonight we did not get a dessert menu, instead Ricardo brought out the Baked Alaska. Everyone really enjoyed this. After dinner we went to the show. Tonight’s show was “Century Café”. The singers and dancers did skits through the decades, which they did very well. Tonight was also the Gala Buffet. I enjoyed looking at all the food, decorations and the ice carvings. After taking pictures we all got a plate. The taste was ok but we were all a little disappointed. It wasn’t as good as we had hoped. I was expecting a little more because of the Gala Buffet on Royal Caribbean (which is much bigger and in my opinion much better) but we still enjoyed it.

 

Day 7: Fun Day at Sea:

Today was a sad day because it would be our last full day on board. We woke up early to enjoy it to the fullest. We had breakfast in the dinning room, which was again wonderful. Then off to Trivia for our last time. After this we went to the casino for a little more fun and then back to the Rome lounge for the debarkation talk. Today we had lunch in the dinning room and it was wonderful. Everyone tried the Chicken Parmigiana and loved it. I also had the chocolate éclair which was very good as well. We all regretted not having lunch in the dinning room more often. After lunch I walked around the shops for a little while, bought some souvenirs and then decided on our pictures we wanted. Then we all went to the Newlywed-not-so-Newlywed Game. This was hilarious. Everyone had a lot of fun and the couples did really well and were all good sports. We stayed and played Bingo and this time we won!! I won $150 and my MIL (who won twice) won $175 (she had to split the money the second time since 3 people won that time). After this we went up on deck to enjoy our last chance of sun and relaxation. We packed and got ready for dinner. Tonight’s dinner was sad. We had to say bye to Ricardo and Santiago and to our wonderful dinners. I had the smoked chicken fillets, a garden salad and the Chateaubriand with Sauce Béarnaise. All were very yummy. And for my last dessert I had the Chocolate Fudge cake with vanilla ice cream, this was very good. The cake was rich but the ice cream settled it down and it was perfect. Ricardo gave us a picture of the ship and we had him and Santiago sign it. Now we have a souvenir from them to keep, I thought this was a nice touch that all the dinning room staff did. After dinner we went to the comedy show with Tim Harkleroad. He wasn’t that great and then we stayed for the sword swallowing of Dai Andrews. I thought this was a little strange and my gag reflexes did not want to watch this. Overall not a great ending show. We then walked around a little more and said bye to the ship then went to our rooms for some sleep.

 

Debarkation:

We woke up early because we were doing self-assist debarkation. We had breakfast from the buffet again today and it was good as always. We went back to our rooms and gathered all our stuff up. Everyone in our group met up and we headed down to get in line. The process wasn’t that bad but it was a pain to have to carry all your bags. We had a flight at 1 and didn’t want to push time. Once we got out of the terminal we went to get a cab. We live in a decent sized city but don’t ever have to deal with taxis so this was an experience for us. The cab drivers were fighting over who was going to be taking us. Our cab driver just took our bags from us and disappeared. We had to go find him. He wasn’t very nice and he drove like a crazy man. I don’t know if this is the norm but we were shocked. We got to the airport quickly. We checked in and went through security and waited. The plane ride was fine but no one wanted to go home.

 

Overall:

 

Our cabin: I really enjoyed our cabin. We had a balcony, room 6327. It was in the middle of the ship which was nice for my husband because it was easy on his sea sickness and not far from everything. Our room steward did a great job keeping our room clean and making our towel animals. He always said hello to us in the hallway as well. We really enjoyed our balcony and I don’t think we will ever be able to cruise without one.

 

Food: I really enjoyed the food. I love food so this was honestly my favorite part. I always found something I liked. The dinning room food was amazing and the buffet had a good variety.

 

Dinning Room: Ricardo and Santiago did an amazing job taking care of us all week long. They were very friendly and made our cruise so much more enjoyable. On several nights they entertained us as a whole group and even when there was nothing scheduled for the whole dinning room to do they did something on there own. Both were very funny. We will really miss them.

 

Entertainment: We went to most of the shows and really enjoyed them. I thought that the singers and dancers did a great job. They were always energetic and friendly while running other events as well. I thought the other shows could use a little work. The first comedian (Marvin Bell) was funny but the last one wasn’t that great. We enjoyed the magic show as well.

 

Ports of Call: We enjoyed all our stops. Our favorite was Ocho Rios, Jamaica. This place was beautiful. My husband and I are already talking about going back, maybe planning a land vacation there but we love cruising so who knows. I really thought there were things for everyone to do at each stop as well. I wouldn’t hesitate to book another cruise with these same ports again.

 

The ship: I liked the decorations on the ship. I had heard some negative things about this but I never found anything to be gaudy or ugly. Everything seemed to be clean and in order. The staff was wonderful every where you went. We were disappointed that the slide was only open 3 times during the week but we enjoyed it when it was open.

 

Camp Carnival: My 11 year old niece and 9 and 8 year old nephews all loved Camp. We did not see them much because they were in camp and did not want to leave. They loved the activities, being able to play with other kids and the staff members. They never complained about any of it.

 

 

 

Everyone had a great time on this cruise. We just got our pictures back and were looking thourgh them today and wishing we could be back on the ship. Everyone is talking about booking another one really soon. I highly recommend Carnival and the Triumph to anyone.

 

Rebecca

[TxStacey]

Rebecca,

I am taking a family cruise on the Elation and we have 11 in our group. Were all of you seated at the same table at dinner or did you have to split up? I am sure it was a very memorable cruise for your family and something that you will never forget. Congratulations on getting to be together!

[lecach]

Rebecca: Can I ask a nosey question? If your inlaws paid for the cruise as a gift, why did you get a balcony cabin and everyone else got an oceanview? Did you just pay to upgrade? i know its none of my business - I am just curious. Thanks for your review - we're sailing May 6 on the Triumph (Eastern Carib.).

[hockeyluver]

Cant wait 33 more days!!

[familyplanner]

It looks like our group owes you some apologies. We were the group of 16 on the nativeway tour. I wish that I had known you were on the same tour I would have loved to talk to you in person. I stayed up above with my family on the boat. I agree with you I thought it was too many people. I talked with Alex the photographer and I know she felt bad about not getting everyone's picture and did mention that it was a larger group than usual. However, I also know that we had to stay right next to her in order to get pictures. We have not gotten our disc yet, so I am anxious to see the pictures. As far as the deal we got that was thanks to my bil and sil who worked out a deal with her. The worked out a deal with the photographer at Dunn River Falls in Jamaica as well. Basically we told her we would just buy one disk for our group and then burn copies for everyone and that is when she worked out a deal. She did mention that she would include all of the pictures for that day on our disk to make sure we got all of our pictures. So if you didn't buy a copy of the dvd let me know and if she did what she said she might do then I would be happy to send you a copy. Lastly, the guide you were talking about was short with lots of people, including me. I let the stingray get away. The funny thing is though he was my mil favorite guide the whole trip. He was very kind and good to her. She was terrified of the water and he took really good care of her and even got her to snorkel. This was amazing because in Cozumel on our snorkel/scuba tour we couldn't even get her out of the boat she was so afraid of the water. The island tour after was only our group and was fantastic. I am sorry you were disappointed with nativeway, because we loved them minus our complaint about the number of people at the sandbar. I again I am sorry if our group dominated at the sandbar, none of them are shy. :p

[rarodg2]

Familyplanner, please don't feel bad and you don't owe us any apologies. I was hesitate to add this part to my review because I read your review of Native Way and I thought that we were on the same tour and I didn’t want you to feel bad. We still had a lot of fun and I was the only one who noticed the amount of people on the excursion. Because I had done so much research on here I was thinking it would be a lot fewer. All the reviews that I had read had only about 20 or 25 people on each tour. This is by no means your fault, all of us were there to have fun and enjoy the excursion and I know we did and I believe everyone else did as well. I think that Native Way should have done a better job and added another guide to the tour if they knew there were going to be more people then usual. So please don’t feel bad. I think I sat in front of your mil on the boat and I could tell she loved it. Before we got there she was talking about how nervous she was and then afterwards she was so excited. I am glad she had a good time. It would have been nice to talk to some people from CruiseCritic on the cruise but I didn’t know names or faces. Maybe next time.

 

TxStacey, no we actually didn’t get to all sit at the same table. They had 9 of us squash together at an 8 person table and then 4 at a booth right next to it. We made it work. There were 4 kids so we had them sit at the booth and since we are all family it didn’t bother us to be close together at the 8 person table, if we were strangers I would have been a little uncomfortable. The biggest table they have is a 10 person table so they might put all 11 of you at one of those.

 

Lecach, that is funny you should ask. I knew I should have included that in the review so that people wouldn’t get the wrong idea. My husband and I had a balcony on our first cruise and 1) didn’t think we could live with out it and 2) I am a little closter phobic and don’t think I would do well in an inside room. So, yes we upgraded our room on our own. We paid and gave everyone else the option to do so as well so there weren’t any hard feelings about it.

[lecach]

Rebecca: I dont blame you for upgrading - we had a balcony on our first cruise (our honeymoon in 2000 on the Voyager of the Seas). Once you have a balcony it spoils you forever! Plus - with the cruise already paid for, upgrading isnt a huge expense. I would have done the same. After reading your review I told my husband "its a shame neither of us has inlaws that can take us on a cruise". He laughed.

[BettyB2]

Rebecca -

thanks so much for finishing the review...it was great reading! I loved the Triumph and hope you will post some pictures for us!!

[breenw]

rarodg2 - glad to know you had such a good time. We took a family cruise a couple of years ago on the Glory with 13 of us. It was the last time our family vacationed with my FIL who since passed away from cancer. We at least have the memories of that trip with him. We will be traveling on the Triumph on 5/27/06 and we are staying in the same cabin that you did! That is too funny. We will be traveling with one other couple who have only cruised one other time, so we are looking forward to showing them around the Western Caribbean.

 

My FIL always wanted to go to Alaska and we never made it before he passed away, so my MIL is taking her adult children and their spouses (7 of us in all) to Alaska this September. We did the same thing you did. She is paying for the air and cruise, we are all paying for our excursions. We wanted a balcony, so we just upgraded and paid the difference. I imagine alot of people do that.

 

I'm glad to read your great review.

[familyplanner]

Rebecca,

 

Glad there are no hard feelings about nativeway. Do let me know if you need pictures.:)

[Beachfrog]

Hello rarodg2! :D Thank you so much for your review. I thoroughly enjoyed reading it! I am from Louisville, travelling on the Triumph in July, although going to the Eastern Carribean, and this will be my first cruise. Glad you and your family enjoyed your trip.

 

(By the way, are you rarodg2 from UW? Your name sounds familiar as I was married 2.5 years ago and lived on that site for a while!)

[rarodg2]

BettyB2, I don’t have many pictures on digital so I probably won’t post any. Most of mine I took on disposable cameras. I didn’t think I would take that many but I ended up being another camera on board. I really need to invest in a good camera.

 

Breenw, our cruise was very special for the same reasons yours was. I hope my FIL has a long time left but in all honesty we know he doesn’t and just enjoy the time we have. As for the cabin, we really loved it. The location was great.

 

Familyplanner, when you get your cd let me know what kind of pictures are on there and if there are pictures of people you don’t know. I am short and have red hair (can’t miss me) but the others in my group aren’t as easy to spot. Thanks!

 

Beachfrog, I am sure you will enjoy your trip on the Triumph. I am not for sure what UW is. I did get married a year and a half ago though so we might have met doing that. I w as on theknot.com a lot.