Carnival Triumph August 24-29 - Canada

[Sabrett]

A little background - I'm 24, traveling with my husband, 26, and another couple, both 26. For my husband and I, it was our 5th cruise and second with Carnival. For our friends, it was their first cruise.

EMBARKATION: We left out of the Manhattan port. We got there about 11:20am and were on the ship in 10 minutes. The only time we stopped was at check-in, and everything else was a BREEZE. In all of our five cruises, we have never gotten on a ship that fast. It was incredible.

THE SHIP: The Triumph is very nice. It definitely shows it's age, but it's very clean and the staff was always sprucing up something around the ship. The pools are very small, but since it was a cruise to Canada, it didn't bother us much that we didn't get to use them. All the whirlpools were closed the entire trip due to maintenance, which I thought was weird, because we never saw anyone working on them or trying to get them in order. My only complaint about the ship was the layout. There are some areas that are very hard to get to, and it's virtually impossible to walk from forward to aft on some decks, because you would hit dead ends. Sometimes it was frustrating, and other times it was nice to explore the ship. The layout of the buffet area was hard to navigate, also. The lines at the Grand Buffet sometimes got so long that it ran into the line for Hong Kong Noodle Co and NY Deli on either side. Other than that, great ship, plenty to see and do.

THE FOOD: The last time my husband and I went on Carnival we were a bit disappointed with the food. Well, they outdid themselves this time. Everything I tasted was *amazing*. We had the Grill, Hong Kong Noodle, Pizza, Grand Buffet and went to the dining room as well. Not one meal disappointed us. The chicken fingers from the grill were to die for if we were in need of a quick snack. Hong Kong Noodle changed their menu everyday but some standouts were the Sliced Beef in Honey Chille Sauce, Lemon Ginger Chicken and Cripsy Chicken in Pepper Sauce. In the dining room, we had lobster, filet mignon, baby back ribs, lobster bisque, etc. Everything was presented well, and tasted amazing. Service was outstanding in the dining room. Our head waitor Nenad went above and beyond in making sure we were comfortable and full. Of course, the Warm Chocolate Melting Cake was to die for.

ENTERTAINMENT: Our cruise director was Brad, and he was GREAT! We even wrote on the comment card that he far surpassed any cruise director we've had. He was funny, personable, and the activities and shows were amazing. The assistant cruise director was Squish, and he also provided a lot of laughs through the cruise. We went to a couple of the trivia games throughout the cruise that were a lot of fun to participate in. We really enjoyed the Welcome Aboard Show. There was an array of entertainment packed into the one show. The comedian Marvin Bell was hilarious. We saw him the first night, and then again for the Adults Only show. There was another comedian for the last night (Adults Only). Her name was Diane Ford. Out of the four of us, none of us really enjoyed her enough where we would've sat through another show. The Talent Show was enjoyable, but that's something that would vary from cruise to cruise.

THE PORTS: We didn't book any excursions for our ports. We stopped in both Halifax and Saint John. In Saint John, we walked all the way up to City Market, and spent a lot of time there. We explored the area, and stopped to eat in Billy's Seafood Restaurant. The food and service was amazing. I would definitely recommend it to anyone looking for lobster, oysters or any good seafood. Halifax was beautiful...we walked along the Harbourwalk, stopped at a few shops along the way, and went to the Maritime Museum of the Atlantic. It was a nice museum, interesting exhibits. I don't recommend seeing the Titanic movie that they offer, because I thought it was going to be focused on Halifax's involvement in the Titanic recovery, but it was only about the ship.

DEBARKATION: Again, I have never gotten OFF a ship this fast in my life. We decided to do Self-Assist so we didn't put out our luggage the night before. The ship docked at 6:50am. At 7:25am, they announced that all guests doing self-assist on decks 1 and 2, to go to the gangway. We got an elevator very fast, came out, walked around, got off the ship, no line for customs, finished with the passports in less than a minute, went outside, got a cab and was home by 8am. I am still amazed.

[limoguy1]

Nice review!! We liked the Triumph alot, never wanted to leave!

[stlrboo]

Great review!! We haven't been on the Triumph since 2004, and were actually considering a Canada cruise from Manhattan in the future.. If I'm not mistaken, we saw the Triumph pull out of Manhattan, while watching the Barclay's Golf Tournament on Sunday afternoon.. Brought back a few nice memories!!

Thanks again for the insight.. The Triumph has moved to the top of my list for the Canada itineraries..!!

[jackdis]

If you do self assist, can you get off the ship at anytime?

[limoguy1]

Originally Posted by jackdis

If you do self assist, can you get off the ship at anytime?

They do call decks but my thinking is you can go down there any time. All they do is put your s & s card in the slot to make sure its you, then you go to customs. There wasnt even a line when we went. We werent in any rush so we waited for deck 9 to be called. They were using deck 2 and 3 for disembark. Deck 2 was really light traffic. Was very nice all around. Self assist is the way to fly!!

[stlrboo]

We were on Deck 4 of the Legend, and walked off at the first announcement for 'self-assist'..!! Don't recall if they referenced certain decks or not..? Hope I didn't 'jump the gun'..

We were off the ship, got a cab, and were at the Tampa airport by 750 AM! Loved it.. We are now 'self-assist' fans..

[jackdis]

We want to do the self assist but are not in a terrible rush to get off the ship. We thought we would have a last breakfast in the dining room and then head off, if possible.

[limoguy1]

Originally Posted by jackdis

We want to do the self assist but are not in a terrible rush to get off the ship. We thought we would have a last breakfast in the dining room and then head off, if possible.

Same with us. We were in no rush, no plane to catch.. We ate at the Lido, took our time. Debark was easy as pie to.

[jackdis]

Exactly!! Plus no extra worry about getting the luggage out in the hall. Can enjoy the last dinner and activities on the ship that last night. Seems like I'm always in the room then trying to pack and get the damn suitcase out in time. Short cruise=smaller suitcase=less stuff....I hope!!! LOL.....

[limoguy1]

Originally Posted by jackdis

Exactly!! Plus no extra worry about getting the luggage out in the hall. Can enjoy the last dinner and activities on the ship that last night. Seems like I'm always in the room then trying to pack and get the damn suitcase out in time. Short cruise=smaller suitcase=less stuff....I hope!!! LOL.....

I would always do self assist. Luggage is on wheels now. Each person can pull at least 2, then you could piggy-back smaller ones. I hate the thought of waiting around like cattle to be called and leaving luggage out. No thanks

[e150club]

Our group of ten also enjoyed the Triumph. The food, service and crew were from good to great. Embark and debark were unstressfull. [we did debark by #] Glad you had a good time.

[e150club]

P.S. The worst part of the cruise is packing on the last night before and after the last supper.

[Milaandra]

Thanks for the review! I'm doing the 7-night to Canada/New England in two weeks, so it's great to hear such great things about the food and the CD's.

Did you go to karaoke?

[Sabrett]

Originally Posted by Milaandra

Thanks for the review! I'm doing the 7-night to Canada/New England in two weeks, so it's great to hear such great things about the food and the CD's.

Did you go to karaoke?

Yeah, we went to karaoke. It was ok, it was mostly the same 4-5 people who did it every time.

[bklynangel]

Originally Posted by Sabrett

A little background - I'm 24, traveling with my husband, 26, and another couple, both 26. For my husband and I, it was our 5th cruise and second with Carnival. For our friends, it was their first cruise.

EMBARKATION: We left out of the Manhattan port. We got there about 11:20am and were on the ship in 10 minutes. The only time we stopped was at check-in, and everything else was a BREEZE. In all of our five cruises, we have never gotten on a ship that fast. It was incredible.

THE SHIP: The Triumph is very nice. It definitely shows it's age, but it's very clean and the staff was always sprucing up something around the ship. The pools are very small, but since it was a cruise to Canada, it didn't bother us much that we didn't get to use them. All the whirlpools were closed the entire trip due to maintenance, which I thought was weird, because we never saw anyone working on them or trying to get them in order. My only complaint about the ship was the layout. There are some areas that are very hard to get to, and it's virtually impossible to walk from forward to aft on some decks, because you would hit dead ends. Sometimes it was frustrating, and other times it was nice to explore the ship. The layout of the buffet area was hard to navigate, also. The lines at the Grand Buffet sometimes got so long that it ran into the line for Hong Kong Noodle Co and NY Deli on either side. Other than that, great ship, plenty to see and do.

THE FOOD: The last time my husband and I went on Carnival we were a bit disappointed with the food. Well, they outdid themselves this time. Everything I tasted was *amazing*. We had the Grill, Hong Kong Noodle, Pizza, Grand Buffet and went to the dining room as well. Not one meal disappointed us. The chicken fingers from the grill were to die for if we were in need of a quick snack. Hong Kong Noodle changed their menu everyday but some standouts were the Sliced Beef in Honey Chille Sauce, Lemon Ginger Chicken and Cripsy Chicken in Pepper Sauce. In the dining room, we had lobster, filet mignon, baby back ribs, lobster bisque, etc. Everything was presented well, and tasted amazing. Service was outstanding in the dining room. Our head waitor Nenad went above and beyond in making sure we were comfortable and full. Of course, the Warm Chocolate Melting Cake was to die for.

ENTERTAINMENT: Our cruise director was Brad, and he was GREAT! We even wrote on the comment card that he far surpassed any cruise director we've had. He was funny, personable, and the activities and shows were amazing. The assistant cruise director was Squish, and he also provided a lot of laughs through the cruise. We went to a couple of the trivia games throughout the cruise that were a lot of fun to participate in. We really enjoyed the Welcome Aboard Show. There was an array of entertainment packed into the one show. The comedian Marvin Bell was hilarious. We saw him the first night, and then again for the Adults Only show. There was another comedian for the last night (Adults Only). Her name was Diane Ford. Out of the four of us, none of us really enjoyed her enough where we would've sat through another show. The Talent Show was enjoyable, but that's something that would vary from cruise to cruise.

THE PORTS: We didn't book any excursions for our ports. We stopped in both Halifax and Saint John. In Saint John, we walked all the way up to City Market, and spent a lot of time there. We explored the area, and stopped to eat in Billy's Seafood Restaurant. The food and service was amazing. I would definitely recommend it to anyone looking for lobster, oysters or any good seafood. Halifax was beautiful...we walked along the Harbourwalk, stopped at a few shops along the way, and went to the Maritime Museum of the Atlantic. It was a nice museum, interesting exhibits. I don't recommend seeing the Titanic movie that they offer, because I thought it was going to be focused on Halifax's involvement in the Titanic recovery, but it was only about the ship.

DEBARKATION: Again, I have never gotten OFF a ship this fast in my life. We decided to do Self-Assist so we didn't put out our luggage the night before. The ship docked at 6:50am. At 7:25am, they announced that all guests doing self-assist on decks 1 and 2, to go to the gangway. We got an elevator very fast, came out, walked around, got off the ship, no line for customs, finished with the passports in less than a minute, went outside, got a cab and was home by 8am. I am still amazed.

VERY NICE review, I was on the sailing before you and we never made it to the port ...I'm going to do this intinerary again in the near future. I enjoyed my cruise anyway and made the best of it.