Carnival Triumph, Jan 16th, 2017

Five of us were on the Triumph sailing out of New Orleans on Jan 16th. For 4 of us, it was our first cruise. We had got to NOLA on Sunday and played around in the French Quarter after checking into our AirBnB. Also got up early to head down to Du Monde's for the requisite beignets and coffee. Walked around the Quarter some more and took an hour long carriage tour to kill some time before boarding.

Then we headed to the port.

Embarkation was pretty smooth, the lines moved surprisingly fast considering how many people were getting on IMHO. It wasn't long before we were on the boat enjoying our first of many rum punches:) One of my cruise mates and I went up to the bow to get some pictures and see the sites on the river.

Also got a pretty nice shot of the NOLA skyline as we were leaving.

Day 2:

It bares mentioning that most of our group works together. And half of us work the overnight shift. That made us kinda wussies when it came to staying up late, as we were off schedule, but on the flip side, we were always up early. And early is a great time to explore. I have to admit, it's kinda strange seeing the ship so empty. It's very quiet, and just the deck crew is around going about ship's business. But it's very peaceful. Coffee and sunrise at the bow quickly became a routine while waiting for the others to wake up and the buffet to open up for breakfast at 7:30. The rest of the day was a blur of snacks, rum punch, naps, lounging, more snacks, more rum punch...you get the idea. Also there was a few trips to the casino spaced out the on the trip, but we aren't going to talk about those...

Day 3, Cozumel:

As you can see, Cozumel was a pretty happening spot. There was a total of 5 ships in port, including Triumphs older cousin, Paradise.

Ironically, I had just missed my Aunts by a day, they were sailing on Paradise's sister ship Fascination out of Mobile and were in port the day before. It's pretty remarkable seeing the difference between the Triumph and Paradise. As this was my first cruise, as well as my first real trip to Mexico, I booked an excursion through Carnival to the Chankanaab beach park, for some snorkeling. They also had the sea lion show and a tequila tasting, as well as a buffet lunch that was included. Pretty much as all the reviews have said, the buffet was...sad. We'll just leave it at that. The water was perfect though. Nice and clear, and the fish were plentiful and friendly. Other than forgetting to take my cell phone out of my pocket, it was amazing. Pro tip: Cell phones and salt water DO NOT MIX. Not even a little bit, and rice is not going to save it:) But I had my water proof camera and was able to get lots of pictures, and the group photographer managed to get a pretty great one of me as well which I ended up buying.

I didn't think to take any pictures at the tasting, but it was just that: A tasting. Noting real exciting going on there. We did get some time after lunch to wander through their gardens looking at the different displays they had.

Then, sadly, it was time to go. Some of the ships that were in port had already left or were in the process of leaving when we got back on board.

That night we decided to try out the main dining room. Food was decent. I paid extra for a New York Strip, but I was kinda disappointed. But I usually am when I go out for steak, my grill at home is hard to beat;) But everything was good, and the desert was really good. We all ordered something different and shared. I also tried, at the behest of someone on this board, a spicy chipotle pineapple martini. That was...different. I can't even say if I liked it or not, there was just so much going on with it. I can't say I'd recommend it, but if someone in your group offers you a chance to try theirs, go for it. The was the standard nightcap/smoke break and that night we decided to hit up the comedy club. Caught 2 shows that were pretty entertaining and went to bed the latest of the whole trip at around midnight.

Day 4, Progreso:

This was the only morning I missed sunrise. Slept in till about 7 and got up and around just in time for breakfast. We had another excursion planned today, to the Uxmal ruins, and we had the benefit of being the only ship in port.

Remember my waterproof camera that I used snorkeling? Turns out it was not so waterproof. I had noticed that the LCD screen was fogging up around the edges, and was planning on returning it. I was able to snap a few pictures once we got to the site, but then it decided it wasn't going to turn on anymore. So electronic device number 2 killed. But one of our group let me use their cell phone to take pictures, so I still was able to get tons of pictures. I just have to wait till we all meet up to trade our pictures to get them.

That said, the ruins were amazing. Yes, it takes 90 minutes to get there. But it is worth the trip if you haven't seen them before. Just being around something so ancient was breathtaking. And again, the weather was perfect, so we had clear views of everything. I will warn anyone thinking about going though, you will walk up what seems like ever stair in the entire country:) Don't skip leg day leading up to this, my thighs are still sore! But it was worth it. Simply amazing is the only way to describe it.

We then went to Hacienda Ochil for lunch, and got to roam around the grounds where they used to make the Mezcal. Again, the food was very meh. Then it was back on the bus for the trip back to the port. We got back about 20 minutes before the ship was due to leave, so we didn't really have much time to browse the shops in port.

Day 5:

Day five was pretty much day two, but going the other way. We also ran into a few squalls also. The only major difference was that when I got up at my customary 5:30, we found out the ship had been infested with critters. But they were cute, so we let them stay;)

But it was another leisurely day, filled with naps and Green Iguana's, which was the drink of the day from day 4. Only drama that ensued was when I accidentally asked one of the Red Frog bartenders to make one...I thought I got dropped into West Side Story gang battle. I'm convinced I barely escaped with my life!

We also attended an art auction. Earlier, we has signed up for a raffle, and you had to be present to win. So we watched the auction, as none of us had ever seen one. Big mistake, as I now have yet another hobby I can't afford. I ended up buying my first piece of "real" art; a Michael Cheval piece entitled "Time to be a queen". I know next to nothing about art or artists, but I really liked this particular painting. Here's to hoping I didn't get bamboozled. We also played some bingo, and others in our group went and did the Harry Potter trivia contest earlier in the day. It was a great last day on board, we kept pretty busy and finished out the day in the MDR. Then it was off to bed early again.

We docked back in NOLA on time the next morning. It was cold and windy with misting rain, reminding us all that it was still winter. But we had all packed the night before, and we decided to skip breakfast, so we were off the ship and on the way home before 9am. Only oddity was that the ship docked facing downstream. We had pulled up facing upstream, but for whatever reason decided to spin around and face the other way. The gentleman I was chatting with forward said he had been on this cruise 4 different times, and this was the first time he'd seen the ship dock that way. Not that it matters.

But overall, a great time was had by all. The food was great, I had Guy's burgers almost every day for lunch. The buffet wasn't bad, the pizza was pretty decent, and the service/food in the MDR was top notch. Next time out, I will definitely be buying the CHEERS! plan, as I spent way too much on drinks. But we are already planning our next cruise for sometime late April, so it's safe to say we're hooked. We are pretty lucky where we are, we have 3 cruise terminals within 6 1/2 hours from us, so we have lots of options. The only issue we had was the corner of our stateroom was somehow getting wet. We were next to one of the storage closets, so I don't know if it was coming in from there or not. But they did give us a nice credit for having to deal with a fan in our cabin for a couple days. All in all, about as perfect a first experience as one could hope for.

Thanks for the review, would you happen to have the "Fun Times" from your trip?

I was on the sailing right before you. We had a great time, seas were a little rough, but I like the rocking motion of the ship.

With waterproof cameras, you must rinse them off in non-salt water after underwater use. I learned that one the hard way too.

Great review! I went to Uxmal a few years ago and I had a great time! Oh...I absolutely love your picture of the ship at night!

Thanks so much for the review! So glad that all of you had a great time!

Thanks for the review, would you happen to have the "Fun Times" from your trip?

I'll Check with some of the others, but I don't think so.

Thanks for the report!

Nice review, thanks for posting. Does anyone know what time the casino opens on sail away day? Does it open while still cruising down the Mississippi?

Thanks

My sister and I were on the same cruise and also I had great time. This was our second time on her and we have another one booked on her on Dec 4th.

Thanks for the report.

What was the brand of Camera that failed on you, just curious.

Nice photos, enjoyed the review.:)

Thank you for your review and the nice photos.

Great review! Did you get all the pictures you took with your friend's device?

Nice review, thanks for posting. Does anyone know what time the casino opens on sail away day? Does it open while still cruising down the Mississippi?

Thanks

Opens within an hour of sailing

We also attended the art auction on our second cruise. We ended up buying a few pieces. One was a Leroy Nieman sports limited edition (paid $80), two others were Christian Laussen waterscapes (paid about $40 each). We still have all of them, almost 20 years later and we really love them all. They've been nice wall decorations and suit our style. My DH checked out the values for each of them a few years ago- turns out the waterscapes are about the same value, so I figure we did okay- they've hung on our wall all these years and we got the benefit of having them. Another one was a Mickey Mouse cartoon cell, limited edition, it basically doubled in price. So at least we didn't lose money on them.

The Leroy Nieman we had professionally framed and protected behind low-E glass just because it was the most expensive piece of art we'd ever owned (I know- $80, we're not connoisseurs of art!). So color us surprised when we had that piece appraised for insurance purposes and they told us it's now worth about $1000! A happy accident and was delighted to find that I didn't get taken too badly on the other pieces!

We still avoid the art auctions like the plague, since we don't have space to own any more 'treasures' but I still fondly remember that first art auction- I felt really 'special' afterwards...

Great review! Did you get all the pictures you took with your friend's device?

Sadly, no, not yet. I do need to get on that though.

What was the brand of Camera that failed on you, just curious.

It was this:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B016E3BRPS/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o03_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

And in Nikon's defense, it was a refurbished unit.

Thank you for your review! We are thinking of doing this cruise in february. Can you please share the weather in the different places you were? My daughter is a water bug and I'm hoping it's warm enough on the ship to enjoy the pools and water slide: )