8 days on the Triumph (review)

[balcony bound]

Ocean,

 

Funny how you can be in a different part of the same place and have different experiences. Antigua is where the locals embraced us at the beach - no kidding. They were just outstanding. They did warn me though that they were "rude" in the shops in town. I thought they were just telling me that so I would buy my trinkets from them there on the beach, which I did anyway.

[Kentucky60]

How far is the Hilton from the dock?

Continuing on here

 

Our day at sea before we got to San Juan, we took advantage of the spa for massages/treatments. I will say that we experienced the hardest "sell" ever for products after our treatments. I think this will keep me from visiting the spa on future sailings, it pretty much ruins that relaxation that you are paying for. I’ve had wonderful experiences in the spa on other trips, but this pretty much soured me for a while.

 

On to St. Thomas! I had never been to St. Thomas before, and will surely go again. There was a gorgeous rainbow right in front of us that morning at the dock, and we took it as a sign for a gorgeous day. The snorkeling excursion we had booked through Carnival was cancelled and I didn’t bother booking another one.

 

Instead, we decided to take a cab to Coki Beach. (Cab fare was $9/each one way - more than I had read on the boards.) We got to the beach early and picked a nice spot, rented some chairs ($5) and an umbrella. The water was PERFECT and we really enjoyed relaxing in the water. I had taken some cheerios from the breakfast buffet, and we enjoyed feeding the gorgeous parrot fish. They followed us around looking for more! I can’t wait to visit this beach again.

 

[ATTACH]81077[/ATTACH]

 

Our taxi ride back to town took a while, traffic was pretty bad. While sitting in traffic, another family was headed the wrong way (walking) and asked our driver for directions. He told them they were headed in the wrong direction, so they asked if he could give them a ride to their destination - so they joined us. They had just come in on the Glory and we had a great time talking with them. DH was wearing his Auburn cap – and that got quite a debate going.

 

Once in town, we did some shopping (not too much) and we felt that the residents were friendly and welcoming. I’ll look forward to spending more time in this port in the future as there were other places I really wanted to visit that day. We had decided early on to make this more of a "relaxing" cruise, so we tried not to cram too many things into each day.

 

Antigua was our next port. I have to tell you, we had a blast on our beach day at SandRaven. What made this day was another visitor, Michael. He was from England, visiting his "mate" who owned the bar at the beach. This gentleman was quite a character, and he had us laughing all afternoon. He brought us drinks, got us involved with the local management, and generally left us with an experience that was more than just visiting the beach (which was gorgeous, by the way). I know if we ever visited there again, it wouldn’t be the same without Michael. Many thanks to him for his company and high spirits! Not to mention his perspective on life. He was a refreshing soul.

 

[ATTACH]81078[/ATTACH]

 

Tortola. This port left me feeling two ways. Breathless from the extraordinary snorkeling experience at the Norman Islands, which I mentioned above. As I said, this adventure was just like swimming through the Discovery channel, and I can’t wait to snorkel there again.

 

[ATTACH]81079[/ATTACH]

 

The other way – hmm. Let’s just call it very unwelcome. We felt that the locals were not happy to have us at all. We visited the temporary market set up (presumably for ship passengers) by the local sales people. Watch out if you touch anything, and don’t look too long! I did not purchase a thing at that market (I had intended to). I am pretty respectful, don’t touch, always please and thank you, mindful that I am a visitor. I’m not sure how to bring across the attitude we felt toward us, but it was not hospitable in the least.

 

We left wondering why they had set up all this shopping when it felt clear we were intruding. Several times I’ve gone back over this in my mind to see if it was something we imagined or had done wrong, but truly, there wasn’t. I guess another visit is in order to set my mind at ease:)

 

 

We left Tortola and had another relaxing day at sea. As I said earlier, deck chairs were easily available anywhere and everywhere. The only time we felt crowded were the lunch buffets - we tried to eat on off hours or get room service for lunch. We never did visit the dining room for lunch (never considered it at the right times) but we did visit the dining room for breakfast several days. Breakfast service in the dining room was always outstanding. The eggs benedict, hashbrowns, and belgium waffles were wonderful.

 

We arrived in Nassau the next afternoon. We weren’t going to be in port long enough to visit Atlantis (for us) or one of the beaches that we like, so we had planned some shopping and walk over to the Hilton to use their beach facilities. It was a good thing we didn’t book anything, because while we were in port at 1:00, it was close to 2:00 before we were off the ship. The only disappointment for me in Nassau was that the lady I like to buy soap from was sick, and her shop was not open. But, the store next to hers had a bit of her merchandise (not exactly what I was wanting, but I purchased some anyway).

 

The Hilton, by the way, has raised the price to $20 to use their facilities. That includes the beach, chairs, umbrellas, towels, pool, floats, etc. I had read on here that it was $15 - that could have been incorrect and the price hasn’t risen, I didn’t inquire. But they were very happy to have us visit! While I would have liked to go to a beach further from the port, the water was wonderful and we had a good time there for a few hours. We also "crashed" a wedding in progress that day, it was beautiful. I took some photos – DH told me we could make a new wedding crashers movie :eek:

 

[ATTACH]81080[/ATTACH]

[ATTACH]81081[/ATTACH]

 

I see many posts on this board that folks don’t like Nassau. I’ve not figured that out, we always have a wonderful time in Nassau, there is so much to do. I am imagining some people don’t see past the port activities? That is a shame. We still haven’t been able to see/visit all that we want to, but we will be there for two days in December and will take advantage of that time to spend a day at Atlantis.

 

It was sad to be on our way home that evening. We re-boarded from Nassau too late to make our dinner time, but were happy we had taken care of extra tips for our dining staff the evening before. The buffet that night wasn’t exactly wonderful, but it got us fed. Oh, well some pizza and burgers helped too!

 

We packed that night and put everything out. We don’t care much for self-debarkation (we pack too much). Debarkation went pretty smoothly in my experience. We were off the ship much earlier than we expected, and back in our car and on the road by 9 a.m.

 

We did see something very disturbing though. As we walked down our hall (Veranda Deck) forward to the Rome Lounge for our debarkation, we passed a stateroom with the door open — the room had been totally trashed. I’ve never seen such destruction in my life. Things were pulled off the wall, you couldn’t see the floor, everything was broken and torn. It was really disgusting - none of us could believe what we were seeing. There was another thread yesterday about a lady leaving the ship in handcuffs – my comment on that was that the destruction we saw could have surely resulted in someone being arrested.

 

We had heard a whole lot of noise the night before down the hall - the only night we heard anything at all. I didn’t pay much attention to it - not enough to determine if it was partying or something else. I tend to sit on the balcony, and not in my room.

 

All in all, our cruise was wonderful and we hated to return home. We would have hated it worse had we known what was in store for us (and the reason it took me a while to post this!). While we were gone, the back of our house flooded. We spent the whole first night back with our steam cleaner pulling up water... and have been removing carpet since. Not sure if we are going to have replace the drywall. Florida, you know - got to watch for mold. In addition to that, our dog had to have emergency surgery the day after we returned. So... from relaxation to life in a nanosecond!

 

We had decided to cruise twice a year, and I do have others booked (although now, DH says travel is out of the question if this is what we are going to come home to — I tell him, naw, that stuff would have happened if we had been home, also).

 

The Triumph gave us wonderful memories! I hope those of you booked on her in the future have as wonderful a time as we did.

[balcony bound]

It is within a 10 minute walk. When you get through the port building, head out toward Senior Frogs. Continue on that street to the right, its just a short walk and on the right. The photo I took of the Hilton's back and beach I took from the ship.

 

It isn't the best beach, but it is close and convenient with very nice facilities. We had a very pleasant time there without any transportation or hassles whatsoever.

 

Enjoy!

[OceanGdss]

thanks for sharing that info on the Hilton btw. I'll be heading on my bachelorette cruise to Nassau in Sept and was looking for a good deal for me and 5 girls to hit a beach close to port. :)

[Miss3]

Thanks so much for the great review! My family and I will be sailing on the triumph in Oct. Sailing a different itinerary, but you gave a great review of San Juan and St. Thomas, which we will be visiting. Do you by chance remember the name of the cafe you went to in San Juan? That is pretty crazy that someone destroyed a cabin like that! Glad you had a wonderful time, but very sorry for the mess you had to come home to! I hope your dog is doing ok!

[LRene]

Neverpar,

 

we had side-by-side balcony cabins, 8372 and 8376. As I mentioned, steel partition between them with a small narrow opening, not the usual partitions. It turned out just fine:cool:

 

OMG! :eek: I about fell off the couch when I saw this. We have the exact two cabins booked with hopes of opening the balcony divider completely. Were the other balconies around you the same way or just that one? I'd rather have two that open up like most balconies do than what I see in your photo. Any idea how the others are?

 

My gosh....the things you learn on Cruise Critic!

[balcony bound]

LRene, Most of the balcony dividers are standard and can be fully opened. I am thinking this is every 6 or 8 cabins that have this issue, but I am not sure at all. If a cabin on the other side of either of your rooms is available, I would switch.

 

It wasn't bad, we could still get between but it didn't give you the feeling of any extra room out there, that is for sure. And, we had two huge guys... It wasn't very comfortable for them to pass through.

[balcony bound]

Miss, I have some photos of the outside of the restaurant - I can't make out the name, and of course, had too much sangria to remember!!!

 

I'll post the pics as soon as I can for you. The outside of the building is a dark pinky salmon color, you will pass it on the way up the hill to the fort. Directly across the street from the building is their outdoor seating, under some trees. Under the name of the restaurant (in black letters) they say they serve "tapas." You can't miss it.

 

Do have the traditional red sangria! We will be back there again.

[balcony bound]

LRene, I forgot to mention. The cabin locations were probably the best I've ever had; if you can stay in that area, you might like it.

 

I walked down what, 4 cabins, and up the stairs - turn right out on to the aft lido (pool directly there, also the pizza on one side and burgers on the other sid), or right to the buffet area (right next to a drink station, which was great for grabbing coffee and taking it back to my balcony).

 

We had worried about noise from upstairs - none at all. If I ever sail Triumph again, I would want the same location, hands down. Besides, you will have the best room steward in the world... Clynton was fastastic - and as a bonus... he speaks English:D

[balcony bound]

Here are some more photos from San Juan, and the cafe we had so much fun in

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Okay, Hubby had the most fun :)

[balcony bound]

More photos - Coki Beach

 

 

 

 

[balcony bound]

It was a bit overcast in Antigua, but we sure had fun.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[balcony bound]

more from Antigua

 

Yes, the bag gets around!

 

[balcony bound]

The area where we had the AMAZING snorkeling

 

 

 

[LRene]

LRene, I forgot to mention. The cabin locations were probably the best I've ever had; if you can stay in that area, you might like it.

 

THANK YOU SO MUCH for this info! :) I would have been really disappointed come Aug.31 with the balcony divider issue.

 

We got lucky and there were 2 cabins starboard side in the same area of the ship and it appears (fingers crossed) that opening the divider between them will not block a door so we were able to get moved. They were the last 2 balconies next to each other on Verandah!

 

Beautiful pictures by the way....

[balcony bound]

Glad I was of some help! It was a total surprise to me, it never occured to me that we wouldn't have standard balcony dividers. Live and learn! I don't even know if that info is available when booking. My SIL didn't book with us on our upcoming cruises (economy issues, she's concerned about her job - hope she changes her mind) so I booked an extended balcony on the Pride for just us. No divider worries!

 

Our New Year's cruise (short one) is an OV, and I am having a very hard time with the lack of balcony... but the Sensation only has balconies with suites, and the price for a "holiday" makes it not even worth considering. I choked at the price just for the OV.

 

Enjoy your cruise!!!

[Hurricane Girl]

Beautiful pics...wish I was still there. We still haven't downloaded our pics., going to get to them this weekend. We have a total of 9 mem. cards to do. :eek: Love your review!! ;)

[balcony bound]

Well, post em soon Hurricane Girl! I'd love to see them. And yes, we wish we could do it all over again. Now would be great!

[Quench]

Great review! Did the Tortola excursion have a beach stop for snorkling too? How was the boat? My mother is 70 if she decides to stay on the boat will she be comfortable?

[balcony bound]

Great review! Did the Tortola excursion have a beach stop for snorkling too? How was the boat? My mother is 70 if she decides to stay on the boat will she be comfortable?

 

There was not a beach stop. We took a an open air taxi from the pier to the marina, then a very comfortable dive boat to the Norman Islands, about a 20 minute ride to the islands. There is no beach available during the snorkle, as you can see from the photos, we snorkeled in the water around the islands which are beachless (we did go in the caves, but the best sea life was in the areas about 20 -30 feet or so out from them). Life preservers are required by the dive boat. You could return to the boat any time you wished.

 

The boat itself had an area that was totally shaded by the upper deck, as well as an upper observation area. I found the boat to have very comfortable seating. There were snorklers of all ages on the the day we went, the youngest was maybe six, and the oldest 70+. It was really done very well.

 

Our excursion left at 7:30 in the morning from the pier, which I thought was going to be way too early and that I would be cold. Not at all! The water was very warm, 84 degrees. There are later times available, but we noticed more boats entering the area when we left and we had the place to ourselves.

 

I hope you enjoy it is much as we did.

[Miss3]

Thanks so much for posting the San Juan pics - that Sangria looks wonderful! Can't wait! Also, I LOVED the pic of you and your man kissing on the beach - definately worthy of a frame! Great memories to have.

[Carolinamamasita]

Beautiful pics...wish I was still there. We still haven't downloaded our pics., going to get to them this weekend. We have a total of 9 mem. cards to do. :eek: Love your review!! ;)

 

WOW !! I cant wait to see your pics also !!

 

balcony bound.... I just love your review and your pics !! I am so excited :D

[CatgirlNC]

Thanks for the great review! I'll be on the Triumph in November.

 

I think the price for the day pass at the Hilton in Nassau has gone up. We went there in October, and I am pretty sure we paid $15/each. We enjoyed it a lot. It wasn't very crowded, and you can't beat the convenience!

[balcony bound]

Thanks so much for posting the San Juan pics - that Sangria looks wonderful! Can't wait! Also, I LOVED the pic of you and your man kissing on the beach - definately worthy of a frame! Great memories to have.

 

aw, thanks:o

Hubby spent 26 years in the Navy, I'm glad to have him full time!

[balcony bound]

We enjoyed it a lot. It wasn't very crowded, and you can't beat the convenience!

 

There were only four of us there. Yes, very convenient! We only had about 1/2 day there, so we appreciated being able to spend some time in the water during that short time. I love the water in the bahamas.