Review - Carnival Triumph 5/12/07 (Warning Long)

[teeredi2cruise]

Please let me begin my review of this trip by saying some of my observations are just that, “our observations” and are the events as they happened to our group. We had a good trip as we always do mostly because we go with the mindset to do so, and make a pretty good lemonade out of our lemons and try to find the good where possible because what(?), WE’RE ON VACATION. Just a little history, DH and I have 12 cruises under our belt, 8 of which are with Carnival, so any comparisons were made against our past trips.

 

Well, back from our 5/12 Carnival Triumph week. Four of us, me, DH, BIL and SIL traveled to Miami on Friday 5/11 and stayed at The Strand Ocean Drive on Ocean Drive at South Beach. It was great as we were upgraded to a one bedroom suite from a Jr. Suite. The rooms are very art deco and new. They have a kitchenette with all stainless steel appliances, dishwasher, full cutlery and dishes. They also have a rooftop pool and also give you umbrellas and chairs at the beach. Use them all if you stay there as they charge you a $12.50 resort fee regardless to if you use the amenities or not. A great way to start our vacation. We will definitely stay again for our vacation. :)

 

While at South beach, we walked to Lincoln Road Mall. Lot’s of eateries and shops, but Macy’s there was closed for renovation. As a footnote, if you’re familiar with the South Beach area, The Clevelander is also closed down for renovation as well as a lot of other places and streets with construction. Also, one of my favorite spots, (mostly DH’s favorite spot ;) ) Mango’s Tropical has changed their menu some, but not a problem as the food is actually very good there and we were still able to find something that we liked. The bands were awesome.

 

DAY-1 Saturday. Boarding We left for the port at check out at 12:00 and took a van for the four of us to the terminal. Embankment went very smooth and we got our sail and sign cards about 1:15. We booked through a new online agent this year and this was the first time that we were not given our requested time for dinner. We were not linked together for dinner either by time or by dining room. We requested the 8:00 sitting and were given the 5:30 in one dining room and our traveling partners were given 8:30 in another. No biggie. We immediately went to the Maitre’ D and he was able to accommodate our 8:00 request which ended up being in the Paris Dining room, 1st floor, table 404. More on this table and our server later.

 

The ship is laid out as most of the other ships that we have sailed, so we had no problems maneuvering her. We than went to the Lido for our first of many meals. We took all of our breakfast and lunch meals on the Lido as there was adequate selection during the day for us. We didn’t do the buffet this day, but opted for the grill and pizza and salads the first day. The food at the grill and pizza were as I remember and tasty. After lunch we went to see the Spa as DH wanted to check out the equipment since he actually worked out while onboard. Most of the equipment on board is hydraulics and the Jacuzzi that I like to use in the Spa area, was completely drained. From the onset, I thought that maybe since we were just boarding that it was drained for maintenance, but later found out that it would not be open for the week as they needed parts replaced. Bummer, as I like to relax there as opposed to the ones outdoors. Oh well, can’t have everything and no this did not affect my vacation.:cool:

 

More to come

[flynrph]

Thanks and keep 'em coming. I'm booked later this year and am interested in recent reviews:cool:

[Hedocple]

Thanks! Can't wait to hear more. We're booked for June 23.

[racyguy14619]

Looking forward to hearing more :o

[teeredi2cruise]

(con’t)

Oops, :confused: I forgot to mention that this itinerary was the Western to Cozumel, Grand Cayman and Ocho Rios,

 

At the Spa we also tried a sampling of the Hot Stones massage and absolutely melted. I’ve always wanted to try this but wasn’t clear on the technique and am glad I did. Had a few drinks on the Lido before the muster drill. This went extremely quick and we were sailing away shortly after. One of my favorite parts of cruising is sailing away from the port especially as we round the tip of Miami.

 

We then went back to check out our cabins which were Cat. 6A Rooms 6286 and 6282. They were both clean, but with a slight odor. I had brought air fresheners and Clorox wipes to wipe down everything, but there was still a slight sulfuric odor. Thoroughout the trip the smell was a bit more overwhelming than others, but I was able to look past it after a while. SL’s beds were still set up in twin configuration. We had the same room steward this trip and by 6:00 we actually asked another attendant if he could help them and he took care of moving their beds. We tipped him for his time, as he was actually not servicing our rooms, but kindly took care of the beds.

 

Right before dinner our luggage arrived and we put everything away. This cabin and balcony felt smaller to me than the some of the other vessels. I don’t know the exact dimensions, but I remember that one of our balcony chairs on the Valor was a chaise and it fit really comfortably on the balcony. Also, I remember some of our other cabins having little side tables with cubbies beside the bed and these did not have them. I also didn’t remember the Triumph not having refrigerators in the cabin. I think some of the ships are so similar with such subtle differences; some things have started running together. We sailed Triumph back in the early 2000’s and clearly, my memory of her of some things was off.:confused:

 

Time to shower for dinner and I start to fuss at my DH for not fixing the shower curtain to not flood the bathroom floor. Off to find towels to mop up all of the water. He keeps saying that he doesn’t know how that happened, that the water didn’t go over the top. :confused: Off to find towels to mop up the floor again :mad: and …Now, my turn to show him how to take a shower the correct way right?:D (yeah right!) Thirty seconds later everything once again floods. URRRGGG! Off to find more towels again. We finally figure out that the drain near the toilet is backing up and coming out of the floor when the shower is in use.(gross!) We find our steward and she says that she will call for a maintenance person. I manipulate the shower enough to shower and go off to dinner. (whew).

 

We find our table and it’s decent location, a booth for 4 right behind a rather large serving station. My initial reaction was hesitation, but we didn’t notice most nights any unusual amount of kitchen noise. I ordered the shrimp cocktail from the alternative menu, Caesar salad, Sweet & Sour shrimp and the infamous Warm Chocolate Melting Cake. SL had the Baby Back Ribs which I tasted and was pleasantly pleased at the flavor. Wished I had got that, but said I would get it another night. We had a bit of a language barrier with our server and the assistant waiter was pretty absent for the entire week. I opted not to have the Caesar anymore on this trip because the dressing was made with anchovy flavoring (although I know that is how it is the most authentic, I don’t care for it that way). I guess some ships prepare it with and some don’t as the last couple I did not have it prepared that way. Food is very subjective and the first night for the chocolate cake was like having chocolate soup. But I must warn you, even though I didn’t much care for it the first night, I didn’t give up on it and made sure to order it every night just to see if I could figure out what it should have been like. (smile)

 

After dinner we went to the casino and we played some craps. We didn’t go to the welcome show, but watched on the television. The CD was pretty funny and I think we have had him on another sailing, but that memory thing again…….Won a little at the table and went dancing in Hollywood dance club. I do know for a fact that the guy (one man band) in the lobby of the casino is definitely the same guy who was on the Valor this time last year. Off to bed. Tomorrow is a sea day.

 

More later... If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to jump in....

[Knights on the Beach]

I opted not to have the Caesar anymore on this trip because the dressing was made with anchovy flavoring (although I know that is how it is the most authentic, I don’t care for it that way).

Interestingly enough, it isn't always consistently prepared the same way on the same ship during the same cruise. ;) The first night we were on the Legend, my hubby and our tablemates said the salad was too "fishy" tasting. I didn't get mine because our waiter screwed up my order. The rest of the week, it tasted wonderful, not "fishy" at all. Also, the chocolate melting cake was different -- in both looks and taste -- every time we ordered it that week. Go figure.

 

Love to hear about the Triumph -- thanks for posting, looking forward to the rest.

[travmagic]

Silly question, but what do you recommend for air fresheners? When I travel to the Caribbean and Mexico I bring candles and I know that is a "no, no" on cruises.

[MamaParrotHead]

SL had the Baby Back Ribs which I tasted and was pleasantly pleased at the flavor.

I opted not to have the Caesar anymore on this trip because the dressing was made with anchovy flavoring (although I know that is how it is the most authentic, I don’t care for it that way). I guess some ships prepare it with and some don’t as the last couple I did not have it prepared that way.

 

 

I do know for a fact that the guy (one man band) in the lobby of the casino is definitely the same guy who was on the Valor this time last year.

 

Baby back ribs....AWESOME. One of my favorite things on the menu now.:D

 

Cesar Salad...those we were with also noticed a difference in flavor on the "fishiness factor". Unfortunately I got one of the fishy ones...chunks of anchovies and all.

 

You must mean the super skinny guy with the guitar and synthesizer who plays lots of Motown (Lionel Richie, Michael Jackson, et. al).:rolleyes: Same stuff, all week, IMO.

[teeredi2cruise]

Day 2 – Sunday Sea Day

Not much to report. DH went to workout. I on the other hand worked out my eyelids. (hehe). He called me and I met him for breakfast on the Lido and learned that the place I was usually accustomed to seeing the omelet station in the buffet had been moved to the outside buffet by the pool. Back to get in that line. By Monday, they had a sign up directing you to this location. Breakfast most mornings for me is usually pretty light, but I splurged today. Breakfast fare was the same in the mornings, but it usually is the same at my house too. I haven’t quite figured out what the expectations are from others in regards to the breakfast and variety, although, I’d love to see a waffle station like the omelet station (smile). We went back to take a shower and the bathroom flooding started again. This time we spoke with our steward, but she didn’t know if they came last night even though she requested, so we also called room service to put in a maintenance request as well. DH took a nap and I went up to the Lido to read. Then to the purser to check on the maint. request. Relaxing day for the most part. I can’t remember what I had for lunch that day.

 

Tonight is formal night. So we start to dress to take pictures and yup, you guessed it, the shower floods again. Now we are realllly getting creative and only leaving the water on long enough to rinse while the other watches the floor to tell you when to turn off the water. The steward finally acknowledges the sometimes this happens the first day or so at sea and maint. says it’s not stopped up. So we resign ourselves to this is how it will be and go shower in the spa. Not too happy about this. Come back to finish dressing and curl my hair and NO POWER. I am sooo ready to through Murphy overboard at about this time, but I’m afraid that we might go back and get him, so we just try to laugh at all of the cabin bloopers because absolutely no one will believe this %@!t.:eek:

 

Finally dressed and go to the Captain’s party. I am quite ready for a drink at this time. Never saw the captain, but had several glasses of wine. Had I seen him at this point, I was going to tell him I wanted to use HIS shower. :D This after the wine of course. SL didn’t make it until the end. They stop serving promptly at the end, so make sure to go on time if you want to take advantage of all of the snacks and beverages.

 

For dinner I had Lobster and it was in my opinion just okay. I normally have 2, but only one this trip. DH had the Sirloin tonight and it was extremely dry and overcooked. Our poor waitress, Olhena (pronounced -Alaina) from Russia was really working very hard and appeared to not have much help from her assistant. She had 3 booths and one table of 6. I felt bad for her and tried to keep our special request to a minimum.

 

Took some pictures after dinner, changed and back to the sports bar and casino and dancing. This kind of became our nightly routine, with the exception of a couple shows in between.

 

To be continued.

[teeredi2cruise]

Delete Double post

[teeredi2cruise]

Interestingly enough, it isn't always consistently prepared the same way on the same ship during the same cruise. ;) The first night we were on the Legend, my hubby and our tablemates said the salad was too "fishy" tasting. I didn't get mine because our waiter screwed up my order. The rest of the week, it tasted wonderful, not "fishy" at all. Also, the chocolate melting cake was different -- in both looks and taste -- every time we ordered it that week. Go figure.

 

Love to hear about the Triumph -- thanks for posting, looking forward to the rest.

 

Thanks cruisemom2. I was beginning to think that I was completely loosing it.:) LOL. Even though I tried the cake every night, it was different Every Night. But that didn't stop me from trying.:) On the salad, I finally just asked them to bring me the romaine lettece and some balsamic dressing and that worked for me.

[teeredi2cruise]

Silly question, but what do you recommend for air fresheners? When I travel to the Caribbean and Mexico I bring candles and I know that is a "no, no" on cruises.

 

Travmagic, I took along the gel freshners like stick ups for the room and the bathroom. Unfortunately, I can't say that the bath one was too successful since we still could smell the sulfuric smell in there. I would be too afraid to use the candles with the ship's movement. I have also just packed an aerosol can before. Good luck and let me know if you find something that actually works really well.

[teeredi2cruise]

Baby back ribs....AWESOME. One of my favorite things on the menu now.:D

 

Cesar Salad...those we were with also noticed a difference in flavor on the "fishiness factor". Unfortunately I got one of the fishy ones...chunks of anchovies and all.

 

You must mean the super skinny guy with the guitar and synthesizer who plays lots of Motown (Lionel Richie, Michael Jackson, et. al).:rolleyes: Same stuff, all week, IMO.

 

MamaParrotHead, you are so right, when I actually ordered the ribs, I was very surprised they were as good as they were.

 

I am so feeling your pain with the salad. I asked our server before ordering the Caesar salad if it had anchovy's. She said no. Imagine my surprise at first bite. (yuk):D That's when she told me "ze fesh iz in ze dressing" Ya Think!!! Just a slight miscommunication.

 

LOL Yes, the Motown guy. I'm still trying to get his 5 songs out of my head. He's not bad if you are hearing him for the first time, but then you keep hearing him over and over and over and o... Oh sorry, I thought the record was scratched. LOL!!!:D

[teeredi2cruise]

Day 3 – Monday - Cozumel

Went into town after breakfast and did some shopping. I won’t go into all of the port details here, but more of an overview. The ship was in Cozumel until 10:00 p.m and you had to be back on board by 9:30. Did a tour and hit Carlos and Charlie’s. Wait a minute, maybe the reason I can’t do a port review is because of Carlos and Charlie’s. What happens in Cozumel stays in Cozumel…

We had dinner on the ship. It was open seating tonight and Filet Mignon night. We aren’t doing to good with the beef selections this trip. We didn’t have our normal server or table with the open seating. We asked for grilled onions to go with or meal, but they were not able to accommodate us, however, the table next to us was able to get lobster tails again. Go Figure??? Our section was the last to leave the dining room tonight. We arrived at 8:00 and were not served our appetizer until 9:15. This was really a strange night. I think I will pass on the open seating. Another first for us.

 

Day 4 – Tuesday - Sea Day

We booked a special that was being run in the Spa today. DH had an 8:00 appt after his work out and I had a 9:15. We both did a 20-20-20 minute with Scalp, feet and ankles, and neck and shoulder hot stone massage. There wasn’t a hard sell on the products, but I have learned what not to put on the evaluations and just tell them that there is nothing wrong and you are there just to relax and be pampered while on vacation. That seems to work. After massage, we went to look at our pictures so far from the week and then hung out at the pool area. I don’t really look for chairs that are really near the pool, but didn’t notice any excessive chair hogging on this trip. We were always able to find chairs. We spent some more time in the casino during the day. I thought the casino was extremely quite for the week. But there were times that we wanted to play that tables were not open because they didn’t have enough dealers. I found other ways to amuse myself. You had the usual day activities and shows.

*Footnote* (in case you were wondering, NO the shower is not fixed but we are still trying)

 

Day 5 – Wednesday - Cayman Island

We have been here a few times, so opted to make this a ship day and besides, the weather was a bit yucky today, so that really took away our incentive to tender in. Just took a relaxing to read and spend time with DH and family. Played some cards and met other people that stayed on board.

 

Day 6 – Thursday - Ocho Rios

We’ve also been here quite a bit by ship and land vacation, but we still think the island itself is very pretty to see with the mountainous hills and landscape. Took a taxi tour for $10.00/pp and did some shopping. I can’t convince anyone to climb the falls again with me. They say once was enough. We had plans to go to one of the all inclusive resorts for the day, but we decided against it since our visit was so short as we departed at 3:30. I actually wish we could have spent a little more time here. When leaving Jamaica the waters seemed a little rough tonight and this was our second formal night. I had to hit the Dramamine tonight and honestly don’t remember what was for dinner as I wasn’t very hungry and just wanted to lie down. After dinner, that’s exactly what I did until morning.

[rox1234]

Thanks for the reviews..we leave on the Triumph on June 9....

[rox1234]

So....did you ever get the shower fixed?

[teanbean16]

Love the review. We leave in March but I love reading everything about the Triumph. Thanks.:) :)

[Crusin Karen]

Have enjoyed your review so far. I would go bonkers about that shower tho! :mad: I always keep a can of Oust in our cruise luggage. It is a deodorizer and a "sanitizer" SUPPOSEDLY.

[teeredi2cruise]

So....did you ever get the shower fixed?

Rox1234, unfortunately, I have to report that the problem with the shower was never resolved. We did move back to showering (if that's what you want to call it) in the room. Going all the way to the spa was not really working for me. We would turn the water on while the other watched the drain, and when it was about to surface, we would turn it off until it went back down. I plan to probably write my very first letter of complaint to Carnival because it was a bit frustrating.

[teeredi2cruise]

Love the review. We leave in March but I love reading everything about the Triumph. Thanks.:) :)

 

No problem, I have never posted a review before, only been a lurker for years, but, I decided to give back because I always find the reviews and message boards helpful to our experience. I hope by the time you leave in March that some of the issues that we experienced will have been resolved, but I believe if you go to have a good time, you will.:)

[teeredi2cruise]

Have enjoyed your review so far. I would go bonkers about that shower tho! :mad: I always keep a can of Oust in our cruise luggage. It is a deodorizer and a "sanitizer" SUPPOSEDLY.

 

Crusin Karen, I have never tried the Oust. How does it work for you?

[Lowie]

Food is very subjective and the first night for the chocolate cake was like having chocolate soup. But I must warn you, even though I didn’t much care for it the first night, I didn’t give up on it and made sure to order it every night just to see if I could figure out what it should have been like. (smile)

lol! THIS is awesome.. you sound like you'd be so much fun to cruise with!

thanks for the review, we sail the triumph in less then 3 weeks!

[pfleer]

No refrigerators in the rooms??!?!?!?!? Is this true of all rooms on the Triumph? What about safes?

 

Thanks for the great review! Although, I'm getting very nervous about our first Carnival cruise.

[teeredi2cruise]

lol! THIS is awesome.. you sound like you'd be so much fun to cruise with!

thanks for the review, we sail the triumph in less then 3 weeks!

 

Hi Lowie,

Thank you for not taking my review too serious. I know that you will have a great time on the Triumph. I am jealous that you get to go in three weeks. I don't really care which ship I am on as long as I am cruising. Yes, we did have a few issues, but nothing that would make me not want to cruise on this or any other ship. We LOVE having a great time. You work too hard not to enjoy the down time. Please follow up with your Triumph experience so that I can re-live vicariously through you and by all means have a wonderful time.:D

[teeredi2cruise]

No refrigerators in the rooms??!?!?!?!? Is this true of all rooms on the Triumph? What about safes?

 

Thanks for the great review! Although, I'm getting very nervous about our first Carnival cruise.

 

Pfleer, while I have poked a little fun at the expense of the Triumph and we did have a few issues, please don't be nervous about her. It is not my intent to scare you away from this or any other cruise ship. Hopefully it is to show that with the right attitude, when things are not perfect, I am telling you that you can go and still have a great time. Out of our 12 cruises, this is literally the first instance of anything remotely like this happening. But we had a blast in spite of it, met a bunch of wonderful cruisemates and crew. If you go anticipating perfect, you may well be dissappointed but you don't have to not have fun. I have yet to find anything that is absolutely perfect.

 

As far as the refrigerators not being in the room, we had a 6A balcony and no, we did not have a refrigerator. We did have ice buckets and DH had buckets of beer with ice.:D I really didn't miss out on it except for not being able to put my "chocolate covered strawberries" inside. All that meant was that I had to eat them at one sitting. :p Oh well, what a tough life I was living, hunh.