Brief Triumph Review - June 15th - June 19th

Hi ladies and gents:

I've now written this review three times and for some reason it continues to delete itself and there is no way to save it in draft form, so therefore, I am doing a brief one instead.

Parking - Fulton Park Garage - has a 5 minute free shuttle from parking garage to port. Parking cost was $10 per day and we parked on floor 6. They were a great company to deal with and were more than helpful before and after the cruise.

Port of Orleans - We had staggered check-in time of 1 to 1:30 - we arrived at the port at 11 a.m. - DO NOT DO THIS - they will NOT let you inside and you will end up waiting outside until your time of appointment. Since we didn't know this ahead of time, luckily there was a very nice indoor mall right next door that we were able to go to and sit inside for 2 hours while we waited. They had a great food court and nice bar as well if you wanted frozen margaritas. After the 2 hour window, we went back to the port and walked right in. The line was extremely long, but everything moved very fast. We got through the line and got on board. We went to our room about 1:15 - yet hit another obstacle - unless you were platinum or diamond or FTTF you weren't allowed into your cabins until 1:30 so we sat down and waited again. Usually we have FTTF but we booked this literally 3-4 days before we left on the cruise so no time or availability.

Room - Cabin #7204 - Interior but had a window (obstructed view) Our Room Steward was I Nyoman and he was wonderful. The Cabin was a handicapped cabin and was supposed to have an obstructed view but our view was actually the front of the ship with a pretty private deck and it was beautiful and didn't have an obstructed view at all. We were located directly under the Captain's Bridge, which was also very neat because we got to see him and his staff working up there at different times. We really enjoyed getting to walk outside of our window and watch the world go by as we enjoyed the beautiful view of nothing but ocean in front of us and all around us.

Food/Dining - We had early dining (6 p.m.) in the lower Paris Dining Room on Floor 3. The food was good but not as great as it has been in the past. Our dining staff was fantastic as always. We had Darwin, Ida Bagus and I Ketut as our waiters and we were in a booth that sat 4 people and we had great table mates. I'm not sure how Carnival manages to throw a group of people together who are in the same age group but they always seem to nail it and this time was no exception. We enjoyed our time getting to know the other couple sitting with us.

Debarkation - This was AWFUL to say the least. They did NOT have their act together at all and it was an absolute complete an utter mess. We aren't sure what happened, but they were running VERY late getting everyone off the ship. The Platinum, Diamond and FTTF are always off the ship first, but they weren't called until after at least 4 or 5 groups of the regulars who were taking their own luggage off the ship. We were supposed to be off the ship by 9:15 but it wasn't until after 10:30 that we were finally off the ship. The only reason we got off at that point in time was only because of a worker who put us in a very very short line instead of at the end of the line where we were. Our next break came when we go into the customs waiting area where the line got even longer and wound around like 4 times. We had a porter who came to us and said if we wanted him to take our luggage, he would take us directly to customs and would save us at least 35 minutes of waiting time. It was WONDERFUL and we were finally off the ship and out of the parking deck and on the road after 3 1/2 hours. However, I must admit, we will probably never cruise out of New Orleans again as we absolutely hated the entire area and the debarkation process. It's been the worst port we've ever cruised out of - though I have to say, we've only cruised out of Miami and Galveston over the years - but they were both very easy processes and had their acts together each time.

Overall, a wonderful cruise - we didn't use the pool or the dive in movies (though, Beauty and the Beast was one of the movies playing that week), we didn't attend the comedian shows but did attend a couple of the carnival dancer shows. Simply put we went on the ship to get away from work and completely unplug and just to rest - we were completely exhausted and needed to catch up on sleep and spend time together more than anything, which is what we did. We have been on this same ship 3 times now and it's just as beautiful as it's always been, the staff is as fantastic as always and when you're on a ship, you can never go wrong, am I right?! :)

Let me know if you have any questions. I'm very happy to answer all of them to the best of my ability, so ask away! Thanks for reading! :)

Thanks for your review. We have also used the Fulton Street Garage and would recommend them.

Thanks for the review. You may try typing it up in word or notepad next time then paste it into the forum so you don't have to worry about losing it. I'll throw in another vote for Fulton. I've never had that debarkation problem in New Orleans but I did have it in Galveston. I didn't get off the ship until 11 in Galveston.

Thanks for your review. Relax and unplug and enjoy the ocean - that's why I love cruising.

Thanks for the review. You may try typing it up in word or notepad next time then paste it into the forum so you don't have to worry about losing it. I'll throw in another vote for Fulton. I've never had that debarkation problem in New Orleans but I did have it in Galveston. I didn't get off the ship until 11 in Galveston.

Thanks for the review. You may try typing it up in word or notepad next time then paste it into the forum so you don't have to worry about losing it. I'll throw in another vote for Fulton. I've never had that debarkation problem in New Orleans but I did have it in Galveston. I didn't get off the ship until 11 in Galveston.

LOL yes, I had actually thought about doing that after the fact - HA! Yes, Fulton garage was wonderful and if we ever did cruise out of New Orleans again then yes, we would use them again for sure.

I know everyone has different experiences when cruising - but Galveston is the best port we have ever cruised out of and are actually cruising out of Galveston again in September for our 20th wedding anniversary. Either way - when I'm on a ship, I'm happy, and try to not get upset over silly stupid stuff like how bad the disembarkation can be. HA! :)

Thanks for the review.

I can't say anything about how priority debarkation was handled. It definitely didn't take that long for me to get off the ship and through Customs in February. I missed the priority debarkation because it happened before 7:00am, and I don't remember an announcement. I also didn't want to get out of bed right away. I stayed up really late packing. I was watching the forward camera channel on the tv. I would open my eyes every so often to see if we had docked.

I was on deck 1. Deck 1 is the first deck to be called for self assist debarkation. The line went past the atrium elevators, through one of the back rows of the main lounge, past the other end of the atrium elevators, and around the atrium seating area. The line was slow but kept moving(except for one unexplained stop that lasted a few minutes). I was in line for about 10 minutes before stepping outside. I was in the Customs line for about 3 minutes. I think I got in the first line at about 7:20am - 7:25am. I was outside the terminal no later than 7:45am.

My mom is not very fond of Carnival in Galveston. My parents went on a cruise out of Galveston on the Conquest in May 2008. Whenever I ask about the parking situation in Galveston, my mom seems annoyed about the parking not being connected to the terminal. But that was minor compared to how Carnival dropped the ball on getting my dad a wheelchair. My parents requested a wheelchair for my dad when booking, but it was not there when they got there. There either wasn't one available or the workers were too lazy or refused to look for one.

My father had heart trouble since I was two. It was getting worse at that point. He had an oxygen tank for that summer(not necessarily caused by Carnival). Over the course of his heart disease, he had angioplasty, a quadruple bypass, stents, a defibrillator, and a pacemaker/defibrillator(a year after the first one was taken out due to a staph infection). He had a major heart attack when I was two. He had congestive heart failure six times. He was diabetic(type 2), and the morning after getting out of the hospital for one of the congestive heart failure episodes, his blood sugar got down to about 40. He was delirious and about to go into a coma. The hospital had given him an extra strong dose of insulin before releasing him, but they failed to tell him to eat a bigger meal when he got home. His heart function was down to 10% when he died in January 2011. I mentioned all of this to illustrate how much he needed the wheelchair.

They had to walk through the port, onto the ship, and to their cabin. All of that walking gave him an ulcerated blister on his foot. His sock was soaked in blood. Because of the lack of a wheelchair, my dad couldn't even walk to the special needs muster drill. After my dad got his foot bandaged, their room steward told them to skip the drill. It was several hours to a day before Carnival finally provided a wheelchair.

I'm still trying to convince her to take another cruise out of Galveston. She doesn't want to drive(about 4 1/2 hours) due to parking and the age and condition of her car. We would have to take Greyhound(about $70 for the two of us) to Houston, and then a shuttle to Galveston. I would like to avoid paying over $300 roundtrip for a shuttle if I can.

Thanks for the review. Me my wife my dad and stepmom will be going on this same cruise in august. We do had fttf I hope we don't have the problems like you have said.

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Thank you for your review.

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I can't say anything about how priority debarkation was handled. It definitely didn't take that long for me to get off the ship and through Customs in February. I missed the priority debarkation because it happened before 7:00am, and I don't remember an announcement. I also didn't want to get out of bed right away. I stayed up really late packing. I was watching the forward camera channel on the tv. I would open my eyes every so often to see if we had docked.

 

I was on deck 1. Deck 1 is the first deck to be called for self assist debarkation. The line went past the atrium elevators, through one of the back rows of the main lounge, past the other end of the atrium elevators, and around the atrium seating area. The line was slow but kept moving(except for one unexplained stop that lasted a few minutes). I was in line for about 10 minutes before stepping outside. I was in the Customs line for about 3 minutes. I think I got in the first line at about 7:20am - 7:25am. I was outside the terminal no later than 7:45am.

 

 

 

My mom is not very fond of Carnival in Galveston. My parents went on a cruise out of Galveston on the Conquest in May 2008. Whenever I ask about the parking situation in Galveston, my mom seems annoyed about the parking not being connected to the terminal. But that was minor compared to how Carnival dropped the ball on getting my dad a wheelchair. My parents requested a wheelchair for my dad when booking, but it was not there when they got there. There either wasn't one available or the workers were too lazy or refused to look for one.

 

My father had heart trouble since I was two. It was getting worse at that point. He had an oxygen tank for that summer(not necessarily caused by Carnival). Over the course of his heart disease, he had angioplasty, a quadruple bypass, stents, a defibrillator, and a pacemaker/defibrillator(a year after the first one was taken out due to a staph infection). He had a major heart attack when I was two. He had congestive heart failure six times. He was diabetic(type 2), and the morning after getting out of the hospital for one of the congestive heart failure episodes, his blood sugar got down to about 40. He was delirious and about to go into a coma. The hospital had given him an extra strong dose of insulin before releasing him, but they failed to tell him to eat a bigger meal when he got home. His heart function was down to 10% when he died in January 2011. I mentioned all of this to illustrate how much he needed the wheelchair.

 

They had to walk through the port, onto the ship, and to their cabin. All of that walking gave him an ulcerated blister on his foot. His sock was soaked in blood. Because of the lack of a wheelchair, my dad couldn't even walk to the special needs muster drill. After my dad got his foot bandaged, their room steward told them to skip the drill. It was several hours to a day before Carnival finally provided a wheelchair.

 

I'm still trying to convince her to take another cruise out of Galveston. She doesn't want to drive(about 4 1/2 hours) due to parking and the age and condition of her car. We would have to take Greyhound(about $70 for the two of us) to Houston, and then a shuttle to Galveston. I would like to avoid paying over $300 roundtrip for a shuttle if I can.

Oh my gracious - what an awful experience for your parents for sure! I'm so sorry to hear that. I can completely understand why she would be afraid to take another cruise out of Galveston and on Carnival. I would be second guessing it myself as well if that had happened to me. I'm glad you didn't have any trouble in February with debarkation. Normally we don't either and this was the first time it had ever had any problems whatsoever. As far as parking goes there should be another parking close by that offers a free shuttle ride to the port once you've parked. It is probably just a mile or less down the road, if that helps any.

Thanks for your feedback! :)

Thanks for the review.

Thanks for reading - sorry it wasn't more detailed - I was genuinely frustrated over the constant deletion of it and gave up! HA!:cool:

Thank you for your review.

 

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Thank you - sorry it was so short. :cool:

Thanks for your review. We have also used the Fulton Street Garage and would recommend them.

Thank you! Yes, they were wonderful and very helpful for sure! :)

Thanks for your review. Relax and unplug and enjoy the ocean - that's why I love cruising.

YES - it's the best therapy ever! :)

Thanks for the review. Me my wife my dad and stepmom will be going on this same cruise in august. We do had fttf I hope we don't have the problems like you have said.

 

 

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We've been on this same ship 3 times already and have had FTTF 2 times (both out of Galveston) and never had a problem. Hopefully by the time you all take this cruise (if it's also out of New Orleans) they will have it all figured out and you won't be an issue for you at all. Enjoy your cruise and relax! :)

Oh my gracious - what an awful experience for your parents for sure! I'm so sorry to hear that. I can completely understand why she would be afraid to take another cruise out of Galveston and on Carnival. I would be second guessing it myself as well if that had happened to me. I'm glad you didn't have any trouble in February with debarkation. Normally we don't either and this was the first time it had ever had any problems whatsoever. As far as parking goes there should be another parking close by that offers a free shuttle ride to the port once you've parked. It is probably just a mile or less down the road, if that helps any.

 

Thanks for your feedback! :)

She doesn't have a problem with going on a Carnival cruise. She just isn't fond of cruising out of Galveston. I have taken her on three Carnival cruises(Port Canaveral, Mobile, and Seattle) since that cruise.

The only way I am going to be able to get her on a cruise out of Galveston is to take Greyhound to Houston and a shuttle to Galveston. Her 2010 car has almost 100,000 miles on it. She is hesitant to drive too far out of town too often. She paid off her car in 2014. She can't afford to have a car payment again.

We are going on two cruises out of New Orleans in January 2018. We will be on the Triumph for 5 nights, then 3 nights in New Orleans, and then 7 nights on the Dream.

Good feedback, thanks for taking the time to share with us.