Carnival Triumph -10/12 - A love story

[BooBooMonkey]

This is where I apologize to everyone within earshot of us that day. My husband was trying to get it out and my son was screaming as though someone was stabbing him. We couldn't even get close to his foot and he was screaming.:( He got a huge audience and we had to take him back to the ship in order get it out but he was fine 2 seconds after it was pulled but my husband was sure that we were going to be reported for child abuse with the way he was screaming.:eek:

 

I had to LOL when I read that! On our 2001 cruise, our youngest was 5 years old. He has problems with the texture of things like lotion, shampoo, toothpaste, mousse, whipped cream...basically anything "creamy". To this day (he's 12 now), he can't even watch DD or me put hair products in our hair without being "grossed out".

 

When we arrived in port in Mexico, we were dismayed to find ourselves in Cozumel instead of (I think) Playa del Carmen, where we already had a rental car booked (before we discovered Cruisecritic--right after 9/11). I went inside a "shack" (for lack of a better word) that they had near the pier where they had telephones, so I could call the car rental company to cancel.

 

While there, I could hear some kid outside screaming bloody murder about some apparrent abuse being perpetrated (sp) upon him. It sounded really bad! Come to find out, it was my DS screaming because DH was putting sunscreen on him!

 

Another time, we were somewhere trying to put sunscreen on him and DS was screaming and crying "don't put that gasoline on my face!!!" He was trying to say "Vaseline" (we'd put vaseline on his lips when chapped at some point in the past I think?). But, to the casual observer, it must have sounded horrible! We can laugh about it now, but, wow! Kids do have a way of keeping life interesting!

 

Glad you had a great cruise! Keep it coming with the review...we're thinking about that ship for spring break.

[NYGirl1002]

I have a special needs daughter who is 25 (mildly retarded). We recently went on our first cruise to Alaska on HAL. I loved the way the staff treated her, especially the wait staff in the dining room. They would make her a little gift each night and she was delighted.

 

We are going to cruise on Carnival in June so it's nice to see they treat special needs kids nice, even if she's not going to go the Camp Carnival. The way through our hearts is through our children.

[BAMA X 2]

I have a special needs daughter who is 25 (mildly retarded). We recently went on our first cruise to Alaska on HAL. I loved the way the staff treated her, especially the wait staff in the dining room. They would make her a little gift each night and she was delighted.

 

We are going to cruise on Carnival in June so it's nice to see they treat special needs kids nice, even if she's not going to go the Camp Carnival. The way through our hearts is through our children.

 

 

NYGirl,

 

My Wife and I had the pleasure of doing breakfast one morning with Jen and her Family. If what the staff on the Triumph offers you, is the same that they did for them and us, you will be blown away! We have cruised on a few different lines and I have never been more impressed with what I saw. We also had dinner at the same time and we saw the same things that exceeded our expectations there! I have never found a cruise that I didn't love on any line but..................Carnival with kids, special needs or not is outstanding!

 

 

 

 

 

 

P.S.

 

 

I have not been paid in any way for this post........................I simply call it as I see it!

[PrincessDreams4P&B]

There has been so much going on since we have come home, that everything that happened is sort of becoming all gelled into one day.

 

Jamaica-

 

We watched the ship dock and with all of the ships changing ports due to Hurricane Omar, I was amazed that we were even able to dock. We were not able to dock at the pier close to town.

 

We got up and off the ship early. I have such a deep love for this country, even though I am aware that much of it's shine is overshadowed by a number of natives that choose to be aggressive, confrontational and dangerous. I have posted previously in defense of this often misunderstood island, there is just such a love of this island and I wanted to share it with my children. It was great that there were 2 guys singing a reggae version of "Hang on Sloopy" as we exited.

 

We walked down to the Marketplace that housed Margaritiville and all of the shops. This is a great place to go, if you don't want to go into town and are looking to just get off the ship. There is a touch of flavor but it is very touristy. It was a good place to start the kids off and see how they were going to do before we got adventerous. My youngest son who is studying social studies in kindergarten was taken by the statue in the middle of the courtyard and he asked who it was. I told him it was Bob Marley and he said no it was John McCain. My husband and I chuckled and I said no, and then my son said, "Oh it is Barack Obama". We said no again and reaffirmed that it was Bob Marley. Then my son said that Bob must be the President then. My husband just smiled and picked him up and put him on his shoulders.

 

We got a private car and took the kids through Fern Gully (they loved seeing the giant spiders that live in the trees) and stopped at a village school that my husband and I had visited years ago on our last trip. We drove to Ocho Rios Baptist Church (not such a big hit with the boys) and to a few view points we headed back to the ship. The 2 men were singing "One Love" as we got boarded. A perfect end to a great day.

 

I was out looking at pictures but will recount this according to my husband...

 

There was a knock at the door. He didn't hear it and was taking a semi nap on the bed. Our oldest son went and opened the door, my husband turned over and saw a gigantic red, white and blue figure standing over him. Jo (The CC Director) had FunShip Freddy come for a special visit to our cabin. He brought each of the kids their own FunShip Freddy. My husband said the kids were ecstatic. I was SO extremely bummed to have missed it and of course he did not take any pictures or video...(I have 1 picture of the whole cruise that he took with me in it, which is why I love that Carnival takes so many pictures!) The kids were so excited about their Freddy's. Our daughter especially loved him.

 

It was Halloween night and the ship did not disappoint. The promenaude deck was decorated in tons of festive Halloween garb. The boys were so excited. My oldest loves dressing up and I wished I had thought to bring a costume for him.

 

After another amazing dinner. We put the boys in Camp Carnival and we had Bama X 2's daughter stay with our daughter. We had a wonderful evening with Motorcycle Girl and Bama X 2. The comic they had on board was doing a "clean" show and he was absolutely hilarious. My sides were hurting from the non stop jokes. After the show we went up to listen to Karaoke. Bama Brad did a wonderful job of singing 2 songs and there were some amazing singers on board. My husband and I had a great time.

 

Seeing some of the costumes on board were great (here is where the Chippendales, Drag Queens and Cher come in). The crew seemed to be having just as much if not more fun than the guests!

 

We retired early so as not to keep Bama's daughter up and we were sure the boys were tired.

 

next up.. Pirates invade Grand Cayman

[PrincessDreams4P&B]

NYGirl,

 

My Wife and I had the pleasure of doing breakfast one morning with Jen and her Family. If what the staff on the Triumph offers you, is the same that they did for them and us, you will be blown away! We have cruised on a few different lines and I have never been more impressed with what I saw. We also had dinner at the same time and we saw the same things that exceeded our expectations there! I have never found a cruise that I didn't love on any line but..................Carnival with kids, special needs or not is outstanding!

 

 

 

 

 

 

P.S.

 

 

I have not been paid in any way for this post........................I simply call it as I see it!

 

Your the best :D

[PrincessDreams4P&B]

It was Thursday and that meant it was Grand Cayman. We ate breakfast and headed for the Purser's desk. Now through the Special Needs Purser we had been arranging for us to be able to "walk" right on to transfers (they would call ahead and find out when we could board). Traveling with persons with Autism, can often present it's own share of issues. Standing in line for a person with Autism is like asking a person in a wheelchair to stnad up and walk. It is torture to them. Having the ability to walk right on (usually last worked out perfectly), gave us the ability to have a good day with our children. Words cannot express how much it meant to us that they would do this. Neboja (sic) would often walk us down personally and make sure we got on the transfer. Of course we would have to deal with some comments and nasty looks from people as we would walk past (I am used to it and have a ready made response, telling people that I would gladly stand in the longest line they had, if they were willing to take my son's Autism) but for 99% of the time, it was a pleasant experience.

 

We met up with Bama's family and went on the Pirate Excursion. My son's loved it! My oldest was so excited and very into everything they said and did. You have to understand that my sons eat and breathe the Pirates of the Caribbean movies. We got settled on the top of the ship and one of the pirates was fiddling with something and I started doing the Mom thing of cleaning my son's face. The pirate came over and wiped some "grease" on his face and said he was a real pirate now! Well, you would have thought he had just been knighted by the Queen of England for the smile on his face. I don't think that we saw anything less than a huge grin on his face the entire time. They called all of the kids down to the main deck and passed out various instruments to "swab" the deck. It was so funny to see most of the children hesitant to participate (even my youngest was not that into it) but my oldest was waiting patiently for the piratess (is that a word) to hand him something to scrub. He watched everyone taking something and of course he was last. There was nothing left when they got to him. Bama's sons then gave him his scrub brush and my son was just elated and started to go to work. Bama's son act of kindness gave my son one of the best experiences of his life. When the pirates began throwing buckets of water on the kids, most were not to happy and tried to avoid it, not my son, he was laughing and smiling and hoping to get wet as he scrubbed and scrubbed. After they tourtured a parent with a bucket of ice water, we docked and everyone got to swim and jump off the back of the ship. Everyone seemed to be enjoying themselves and drinks (alcoholic and non) were flowing. They took us to a place where you could see a shipwreck (if you brought your snorkeling equipment) and swim. After awhile, it was time to go back and my boys seemed very happy.

 

When returning to the ship, the line was so long, it circled and snaked and seemed to last forever. I was thankful that our sons were so tired, that they did not have a meltdown and we met a lovely couple (despite the husband's love for the NY Yankees - (Boston fan) ) who helped keep them and us entertained.

 

Once back onboard, we skipped the 2nd formal night, I just couldn't put the kids through it, so we ordered room service and had "underwear dinner", where we are all in our PJ's (boys sleep usually in their underwear, hence the name). Soon after, we fell asleep and it was really nice to just have a night off.

 

Friday - Cozumel and the Chinese line...

[BAMA X 2]

LMAO, I love your "silver lining" attitude! My guess is Josh was happy to give up his scrub brush for all the wrong reasons!

[PrincessDreams4P&B]

LMAO, I love your "silver lining" attitude! My guess is Josh was happy to give up his scrub brush for all the wrong reasons!

 

;)

 

Hey you need to email me those Jamaica dates..we are SERIOUSLY interested in going...

[BAMA X 2]

I know yall love Jamaica like we do but how do you feel about Sandals Antigua instead? The prices are the lowest I have ever seen. I am gonna send out a group email this weekend.

[PrincessDreams4P&B]

I know yall love Jamaica like we do but how do you feel about Sandals Antigua instead? The prices are the lowest I have ever seen. I am gonna send out a group email this weekend.

 

Send it to us and we will check it out? Is Antigua cheaper than the Bahamas? You can usually get airfare cheaper to the Bahamas and Scotty and I were married there

[Motorcycle Girl]

Lets do it again! W/O Cher

 

Awww... come on... she/he was hot! :p

 

 

I just have to thank you Brad... Rock Star is now the official song that makes me think of being on the Triumph!

 

:)

[victory2020]

I, too, used to think Princess was superior, but the more I sail Carnival the better it gets.I was on Princess last week & food & service was not up to the standards of Carnival ( which was good in a way - didn't gain any weight!) Will stick to CCL from now on.

[travel girl23]

We docked next to you in Grand Cayman and Cozumel. Here are a couple of pictures from our ship, the Conquest at the Puerta Maya pier in Coz.

 

 

[BAMA X 2]

Awww... come on... she/he was hot! :p

 

 

I just have to thank you Brad... Rock Star is now the official song that makes me think of being on the Triumph!

 

:)

 

Thanks MG (I think?)! email me at brad@Islandtt.com. I will send you the info for our summer all-inclusive trip if you guys are interested. We are going with a group which will be like "Rock Star" for 7 days! LMAO!

[CruiznWithHubby]

I know yall love Jamaica like we do but how do you feel about Sandals Antigua instead? The prices are the lowest I have ever seen. I am gonna send out a group email this weekend.

 

OMG that is a gorgeous resort!!!!! I went there as a travel agent, and I was blown away,,,,,enjoy :) Holly

[BAMA X 2]

[quote name='CruiznWithHubby']OMG that is a gorgeous resort!!!!! I went there as a travel agent, and I was blown away,,,,,enjoy :) Holly[/QUOTE]


Thanks Holly the pics look great!

Jen, Looking forward to your Chankanaab review!