Just off the Triumph!!

[DreDay]

Thanks for another edition of your review, perfect timing I sat down with my breakfast and had something to read lol We heard about the San Juan tour. Who did you book through? It sounds wonderful. Are you going to share some pictures?

 

looking forward to part IV

 

 

Hi. I used Victor with Countryside Tours. He did not actually do the tour himself because he had a family emergency. He did meet us at the port however and introduced us our guide for the day. I believe his name was Pablo?? I'll have to ask my DH to be certain. He was a fantastic guide. He was an older gentlemen that was PR native and had lots of information to share with us. We had some of our group that could not make the tour due to illness, so I understand about family emergencies. I thought it was so professional that he still showed up at the ship to introduce himself and his trusted replacement.

[DreDay]

Mamabas- You're very welcome!!!!

 

Thanks for the info. on the cabana. How does it cost to rent a cabana?

 

The info that I could find on the cruise board prior to sailing was $199, but it actually cost $220 per cabana. It's really a bargain if you are considering renting snorkel gear, mats, and shade since that is all included.

 

 

I will post pictures soon...

[DreDay]

The day after San Juan was Sea Day, and boy were we happy about that. Two port days in a row, with kids, can be a little draining. I think we slept in till like 10am and then wobbled down for some breakfast. Okay, here is my complainly part...I thought the buffets for breakfast and lunch were kind of yucky. Now, no flaming!!! As I said before these are my opionins. The food, this time around was not as good as I remember on previous cruises. The eggs seemed a little wet, the fruit looked a little funny, the bacon didn't seemed cooked all the way, and the potoatos were bland. My kids (12, 9, & 7 and garbage disposals) would not eat the eggs at all. The freshly made omellets on the other hand were heavenly!! Find a line and get one of those if you can. Oddly enough, the lines for these never seemed so bad. I will throw in a disclaimer that I am newly pregnant so my judgement of food may be slightly skewed. :D We did eat brekfast in the dining room one morning and regretted not doing it more often. The made to order stuff was amazing. One note, if you go to the South Beach Dining area and in the middle there is a smaller buffet with cereal, breads, and fruit. The sliced fruit there was much better. For lunch, the grill in the back of the ship by the pool had awesome chicken burgers and hotdogs. As always, the pizza was delicous!! Okay enough about food... My daughter (12), my neice, and I played Bingo and had alot of fun. We played the five game bingo. We didn't win anything but it was still a blast. I also visited the spa with my sister and got a body scrub, milk wrap, mini facial, and neck and shoulder massage. They were having a special for I believe $79. It was delightful. They do try to sell you the product afterward but it was not pushy at all. This was our second formal night and again it was spectacular. We wandered the ship afterward and it was pretty lonely. Everyone was in the show so it was nice to have the ship to ourselves. It was so peaceful and beautiful. Another lovely day....

[enjoyinglife]

Hi. I used Victor with Countryside Tours. He did not actually do the tour himself because he had a family emergency. He did meet us at the port however and introduced us our guide for the day. I believe his name was Pablo?? I'll have to ask my DH to be certain. He was a fantastic guide. He was an older gentlemen that was PR native and had lots of information to share with us. We had some of our group that could not make the tour due to illness, so I understand about family emergencies. I thought it was so professional that he still showed up at the ship to introduce himself and his trusted replacement.

 

Thanks for the review. I can't wait! 16 days left. Would you mind sharing what the tour guide charged? How many people would fit in the tour? And finally (for now) do you have contact information?

[ebb32]

Just wondering if you can recall the timing of things on the first evening?

Particulary camp carnival orientation and camp carnival party?

[caribbeanchickie]

The day after San Juan was Sea Day, and boy were we happy about that. Two port days in a row, with kids, can be a little draining. I think we slept in till like 10am and then wobbled down for some breakfast. Okay, here is my complainly part...I thought the buffets for breakfast and lunch were kind of yucky. Now, no flaming!!! As I said before these are my opionins. The food, this time around was not as good as I remember on previous cruises. The eggs seemed a little wet, the fruit looked a little funny, the bacon didn't seemed cooked all the way, and the potoatos were bland. My kids (12, 9, & 7 and garbage disposals) would not eat the eggs at all. The freshly made omellets on the other hand were heavenly!! Find a line and get one of those if you can. Oddly enough, the lines for these never seemed so bad. I will throw in a disclaimer that I am newly pregnant so my judgement of food may be slightly skewed. :D We did eat brekfast in the dining room one morning and regretted not doing it more often. The made to order stuff was amazing. One note, if you go to the South Beach Dining area and in the middle there is a smaller buffet with cereal, breads, and fruit. The sliced fruit there was much better. For lunch, the grill in the back of the ship by the pool had awesome chicken burgers and hotdogs. As always, the pizza was delicous!! Okay enough about food... My daughter (12), my neice, and I played Bingo and had alot of fun. We played the five game bingo. We didn't win anything but it was still a blast. I also visited the spa with my sister and got a body scrub, milk wrap, mini facial, and neck and shoulder massage. They were having a special for I believe $79. It was delightful. They do try to sell you the product afterward but it was not pushy at all. This was our second formal night and again it was spectacular. We wandered the ship afterward and it was pretty lonely. Everyone was in the show so it was nice to have the ship to ourselves. It was so peaceful and beautiful. Another lovely day....

 

Thanks so much for your review.

 

I have a question though.....Do you remember seeing waffles?

[sp29488]

Do you know how the tendering was for people that didn't book a excursion in HMC? We'll prob. rent a paddle boat or something like that.

[DreDay]

Thanks for the review. I can't wait! 16 days left. Would you mind sharing what the tour guide charged? How many people would fit in the tour? And finally (for now) do you have contact information?

 

No problem! We were originally booked for 13 people and he was charging $520 for our group. 4 of our group did not end up going because they were not feeling well. I advised this of him the night before (as I was trying to clarify the time difference stuff). He said the price was $50 per person. So, for the nine of us we paid $450.00. We tipped the driver $60. The van we were in would have fit 14 people just fine. It was nice and clean and the A/C worked good. Too good, we had to ask him to turn it down.:) His phone number is 787-593-9014 and email is countrysidetourspr@yahoo.com.

[JoeSmooga]

Just wondering if you can recall the timing of things on the first evening?

Particulary camp carnival orientation and camp carnival party?

 

Camp Carnival Orientation was at 7:30PM first night. The CC party was right after orientation. We had 8PM dinner, so did not attend.

 

Joe

[JoeSmooga]

Thanks so much for your review.

 

I have a question though.....Do you remember seeing waffles?

 

I saw some pre-made waffles one morning on the buffet line under the heat lamps. Avoided them though... something about pre-made waffles makes me think of Eggo's.

 

Joe

[DreDay]

Just wondering if you can recall the timing of things on the first evening?

Particulary camp carnival orientation and camp carnival party?

 

Yes, the camp carnival orientation was at 7:30 and the kids party was at 8:00 for the younger kids and 9:00 for the 02 crowd.

[DreDay]

Thanks so much for your review.

 

I have a question though.....Do you remember seeing waffles?

 

 

Yes there was waffles and they were pretty good too. They were not in the lines in front of the pool on Lido deck, they were only in the lines in the South beach Club restaurant. This is the one between the middle pool and the back pool.

[DreDay]

Do you know how the tendering was for people that didn't book a excursion in HMC? We'll prob. rent a paddle boat or something like that.

 

There were 13 in our group, but only 9 of us got the priority tendering. The other 4 of us were off the ship and joined us about 40 minutes later. The tender boats were pretty big and they were very back and forth constantly. I think they did a really good job about getting everyone off pretty quickly.

[sp29488]

There were 13 in our group, but only 9 of us got the priority tendering. The other 4 of us were off the ship and joined us about 40 minutes later. The tender boats were pretty big and they were very back and forth constantly. I think they did a really good job about getting everyone off pretty quickly.

 

 

Thanks for the information. We're on the count down :)

[georgiacruizer]

DreDay, Thanks for the helpful review. I can't seem to get enough information about the Triumph :) . I'm looking forward to your HMC review over on the Private Island page.

[sgfun]

Thanks for all the info. We are on 2/17. We were on the Imagination two years ago and the kids loved it. Primary reason we are doing again is for them, so hope it lives up to their memory.

[neverpar]

Can someone tell me what the Underground Tokyo is on the Triumph?

[rickcop44]

Underground Tokyo is the video arcade, etc. on the ship.

[neverpar]

Underground Tokyo is the video arcade, etc. on the ship.

 

Thank-you very much!!

[angelboysmom]

I am new here and came to check out the Triumph specifically, as we are considering booling a June cruise with our kids (all boys, ages 8, 14, and 17). It sounds like you have all enjoyed your trips on this ship, so I am glad to hear that. I read in a review that there is a "sewage" smell on the main deck - did any of you notice this? Also, the age of the ship is mentioned frequently. Is this ship outdated? Worn? This is likely a once in a lifetime trip for us with our kids and I absolutely do not want anyone to be disappointed... Any advice would be appreciated!

[JoeSmooga]

I am new here and came to check out the Triumph specifically, as we are considering booling a June cruise with our kids (all boys, ages 8, 14, and 17). It sounds like you have all enjoyed your trips on this ship, so I am glad to hear that. I read in a review that there is a "sewage" smell on the main deck - did any of you notice this? Also, the age of the ship is mentioned frequently. Is this ship outdated? Worn? This is likely a once in a lifetime trip for us with our kids and I absolutely do not want anyone to be disappointed... Any advice would be appreciated!

 

I can't say that I smelled the infamous sewage smell when I was on board, and I walked on almost every deck. I have smelled it on other ships (never really bad), but as much bad press the Triumph gets on this topic I can't say it was present on a large scale. It may have been there, but know that anytime work may be done on the plumbing/toilet of a room or area of the ship (just like at home), I'm sure there would be some delicious "scents" that would resonate from that area for a while.

 

Age is a relative term. The ship was launched in 1999. I guess I don't think of it as "old". When I think outdated, I think of some of the much older ships (Holiday, Celebration, and maybe even the Fantasy). However, as with anything that is in constant use over a long period of time, things will show a bit of wear and tear. The carpet isn't new and shows some signs of wear (not gaping holes like some people would lead you to believe). Some areas of the ship don't have that "fresh from the shipyards" look anymore. But, IMO, you have to really be looking for things or be a negative person to let these determine your satisfaction with a cruise. It's structurally sound, and the ships crew can be seen constantly polishing and cleaning it. I would book this ship again in a heartbeat, and would have no problem taking friends on it for a once in a lifetime opportunity.

 

BTW... welcome to the boards!

 

Joe

[Morgansmommy]

Anyone else have the same issues that DreDay had getting off the ship in St. Thomas? We are on the 2/23 sailing and we are getting married in St. Thomas. Our wedding coordinator is picking us up at the pier at 10 (St. Thomas time)....should I be worried about waiting around in my wedding dress trying to get off the ship??

 

I am going on the 2/23 cruise also. Are you the couple who is getting married on Magen's Beach? Congrats! Maybe we will get to meet you guys. We are planning on meeting after Muster along with the others.

[Morgansmommy]

There were 13 in our group, but only 9 of us got the priority tendering. The other 4 of us were off the ship and joined us about 40 minutes later. The tender boats were pretty big and they were very back and forth constantly. I think they did a really good job about getting everyone off pretty quickly.

 

 

DreDay,

Thanks so much for all your posts on your trip. I love getting all the updates. Also, wanted to congratulate you on the pregnancy!

[dmhtc1]

I am new here and came to check out the Triumph specifically, as we are considering booling a June cruise with our kids (all boys, ages 8, 14, and 17). It sounds like you have all enjoyed your trips on this ship, so I am glad to hear that. I read in a review that there is a "sewage" smell on the main deck - did any of you notice this? Also, the age of the ship is mentioned frequently. Is this ship outdated? Worn? This is likely a once in a lifetime trip for us with our kids and I absolutely do not want anyone to be disappointed... Any advice would be appreciated!

 

It's a fine ship! I too had some worries, but after being on the Triumph for 7 days, I would book her again in a heart beat! There was a smell on deck 6 port side aft around cabin 6233. One of the crew said it was from a plugged toilet and was being worked on. The next day, there was no smell the rest of the cruise. This boat was being painted and washed down while we were in each port during the cruise;). What a hard working crew! Happy cruising!:D

[joan_al]

Hey...

i AM GLAD YOU ENJOYED YOUR CRUISE. We said on her on 2-2-08. I was wondering how was the weather and the seas?

thanks!

The weather was weathery and the seas were wet. I here there won't be any weather when you are going and the seas will be dry. Does that make you happy??? :D