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Carnival Triumph April 16-23 2011 review


lovermonkey

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Hello everyone. I just got back Sat 4/23/11 cruising on the Triumph. Wanted to share my experience with everyone. I should have more pictures and hopefully the flickr works on here. I have photobucket but I can’t seem to upload anything here at work. Beginning photos are week but should be better quality later on. Before I start, I have read on here of many bad reviews of the Triumph. I am here to tell you not to listen. Go on the trip and then judge. We had an awesome time. Oh, this is also our first time cruising and believe it or not, we have already been looking for another cruise. Might choose the Pride this time. WE will see. Want to do the Disney thing for the kids but would like to doc there the night if possible.

To give you some tib bits, we coming in from the suburbs of Chicago and flying in to New Orleans from O’Hare. I bought my tickets from Travelocity, which included the cruise and the flight. Found out later that Carnival would be supplying the airline tickets. We didn’t get a direct shot to New Orleans and had a lay over in Memphis. Our Itinerary was leaving out of New Orleans, Key West, Freeport, and then Nassau. Some of the things we did was take the Old Town Trolley in Keywest(bought the tickets on line). In Freeport we did the Dolphin Encounter. I have not heard to many things about the Dolphin Encounter but I must say I am glad we did it. In Nassau we did the Beach(Blue Lagoon) thing with dinner. The dinner was a little lacking. I would suggest just buying dinner from them. They have a different selection for people that are just paying them directly. The other thing we did was the Chef’s Table. I have photos, will post later.

To start out, (In Chicago) I decided to do the whole parkn’fly thing. It was a good idea but had trouble finding the shuttle when we were coming back. But still a good idea. We left the house at 3:40am and got there around 4:30am. We parked at the Marriot in Rosemont and they took us to O’Hare. Our flight would leave at 6;20am. The flight from O’Hare was by Delta and would first stop in Memphis. My girlfriend wanted to go to Memphis to see the King, but we have never planed to go. But at the airport she decided to buy a few things. Here is a photo.

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We had an hour and ½ layover in Memphis but gave us plenty of time to get to New Orleans and to the ship. I think we got in New Orleans around 10:47am. We took a cab from the airport. I took this shot as we were heading to the dock.

 

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I think we got to the port just before 12 and they were already letting people on. The main line starting to get congested but the vip line had no one. We didn’t have vip tickets but the lady waved us in anyway. Everyone else was ignoring her. Good thing I paid attention because we shot by everyone and got our sail and sign cards and waiting for our number to be called before we knew it. We got on the boat way before 1pm and I got in line for the soda card. Seen in this picture.

 

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Sorry, will have to fix the pictures later. More to come.

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Can't wait to hear more of your review! We are leaving on the Triumph on this exact itinerary June 11th, so I'm excited to hear everything you did in port. We have Chef's Table booked too, so I can't wait to see those pics!

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Can't wait to hear more of your review! We are leaving on the Triumph on this exact itinerary June 11th, so I'm excited to hear everything you did in port. We have Chef's Table booked too, so I can't wait to see those pics!

 

I certainly will post more pics(thank you!) and will show you the pics from the chef's table. When we were there, the chef was from the Splendor so we grilled him about the issues when they couldn't cook any meals etc.. If you have the same chef, bring up the Spam issue. It is a private joke. They didn't feed people pop tarts or spam but wraps and etc.

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Can't wait to read your review Mark and see all of your pictures.

 

 

I was on the same cruise with lovermonkey and his girlfriend. I met them on cruise critic and we became facebook friends. Had a great time hanging out with them.

 

The triumph is awesome and my 2 cents is going to be Try the dining room for breakfast and lunch. LOVED it!!! Especially breakfast. I loved it for dinner too.

 

Best advice: Remember you are on vacation and go in with a positive attitude. I did not find one single flaw with the boat and I have read a lot of bad reviews. Everyone is different and some people in this world cannot be satisfied with anything. The staff was AMAZING...my room was cleaned twice a day perfectly, there is so much to do that if someone says they were bored than they just don't like do anything because there is something for everyone. The first hour we were on the ship a lady was complaining about the wait for elevators and my husband looked at her and politely said, " Well I don't know about you but I am on vacation and wont let a little elevator wait get me down. I have 7 days ahead of me and plenty of time on my hands."

The casino pays out well if you learn to stop while you are ahead (unlike me) LOL.

 

Chair savers everywhere but I did not let it ruin my vacation. I expected it before I went and I could always find a spot somewhere. DECK 3..quiet great place to get away and just relax. It is shaded also.

 

Love Carnival and already planning our next cruise with a group of friends for April 2013 on the pride.

Some people were complaining that Lido Deck wait staff was rude. I do not think they were rude. I think they were so dang busy they had to focus on what they were doing and the 100's of orders coming at them.

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Can't wait to read your review Mark and see all of your pictures.

 

 

I was on the same cruise with lovermonkey and his girlfriend. I met them on cruise critic and we became facebook friends. Had a great time hanging out with them.

 

The triumph is awesome and my 2 cents is going to be Try the dining room for breakfast and lunch. LOVED it!!! Especially breakfast. I loved it for dinner too.

 

Best advice: Remember you are on vacation and go in with a positive attitude. I did not find one single flaw with the boat and I have read a lot of bad reviews. Everyone is different and some people in this world cannot be satisfied with anything. The staff was AMAZING...my room was cleaned twice a day perfectly, there is so much to do that if someone says they were bored than they just don't like do anything because there is something for everyone. The first hour we were on the ship a lady was complaining about the wait for elevators and my husband looked at her and politely said, " Well I don't know about you but I am on vacation and wont let a little elevator wait get me down. I have 7 days ahead of me and plenty of time on my hands."

The casino pays out well if you learn to stop while you are ahead (unlike me) LOL.

 

Chair savers everywhere but I did not let it ruin my vacation. I expected it before I went and I could always find a spot somewhere. DECK 3..quiet great place to get away and just relax. It is shaded also.

 

Love Carnival and already planning our next cruise with a group of friends for April 2013 on the pride.

Some people were complaining that Lido Deck wait staff was rude. I do not think they were rude. I think they were so dang busy they had to focus on what they were doing and the 100's of orders coming at them.

 

 

If you want Inga or anyone from the same cruise, you are welcome to give your 2 cents and certainly pictures. I am planning on breaking out the video tonight. I hope this gives a positive outlook on Triumph. It deserves it. We always had servers ask us how our day was and always stopped to say hi. I felt speical while on the cruise. Just wish that they would have let me stay. LOL :D

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Mark,

 

I agree! The crew was amazing. My only advice to people would be to go private with excursions. I was disappointed about Blue Lagoon costing so much for only 2 hours on the beach and disappointed that my snorkeling excursion time was cancelled. I felt I should have recieved a 100% refund not a 75% because I booked months ago for that specific time. Other than that It was a perfect vacation for me. Next time I will probably book excursions privately except maybe Kennedy Space Center or if we do Disney only because of time.

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So after getting the soda card I decided to surprise my girlfriend with a drink from the bar. I bought two of the specials. You know the ones that are in the special Carnival cup. I didn’t really care what was in it, I just wanted one. So I brought the drinks over to my girlfriend and I notice that she already has one. Go figure. She didn’t get me one if you notice. Women!! LOL

We then ran up to our room to check it out. Our room number was 8254. I only remember that because if we needed something delivered to the room, I had to find out what the number was. It took me the whole week to remember my number. I know, sad. I remember where the buffet was better than my room number. LOL But honestly, I really loved the room and our balcony. So here are a few more pictures.

 

 

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We then got to meet our Stewart “Wyon’. Very nice guy.(will show pic of him later) In most reviews I have read, they always say that they hardly see their Stewart. I think we saw him at least once per day. I think that was more than I thought we would. But on the first day we ran to get something to eat and he was able to put in our first towel animal. Or whatever you call it. We had no clue what it was until the next day when we met some of our cruise critic friends. Apparently it is a Va JJ as one cruise critic member told us. I have been to many zoos and have never seen anything like this. What do you think? LOL. I think it might be a seal.

On Sunday we had breakfast and the girlfriend got to have coffee from the coffeehouse. She really like it. So much so that she went there every day. She found out later that they serve the same coffee in the buffet area. One of the ladies will make coffee for you. Of course it is extra.

Later in the morning we did the whole Meet and Greet with Cruise Critic members. I wish I had taken photos of all of them but I did catch them later. Later when I post their photos I will tell you who they are. That’s if I remember their names. But a shout out to Inga and Josh, Steph, Pam, Tim and his wife, and Cruise250. I think I got that right. If I screwed up any names just complain. I will fix it.

 

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Just got off the same Cruise my DH and I had a great time. Love CD Tex and our Maitre D Jean Pierre.....Won $275.00 in the casino. We did not booked any tours and was glad not to have a certain time to meet the tour. Hated to leave the ship. Only good thing we are going 12/11/2011 on the Conquest out of New Orleans.

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After finishing up for our meet and greet we pretty much just did what ever we wanted.(day 2) That entails eating, drinking, gambling, and just relaxing by the pool. Girlfriend won 162 and I 180 at the casino. I was really surprised we won. I think we were using the time to get to know the ship. It is a very odd ship. It seems in some decks you can’t go thru the middle of the ship to get to the other side of the ship, if that makes sense. Meaning you have to go the side corridors to get to the other side of the ship. It will make sense once you get there. I promise. But once you figure it out it is a breeze.

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Just a note: We were concerned about getting sea sick. I think like most people. We had bought Bona(Spelled wrong) for the sea sickness, but never used it the entire cruise. I think I felt a little sick on the 6th day but it went away quickly. And when we got on land we didn’t get that wobbling feeling that you might expect. So I am really thankful for that.

Day 3 we arrived in Key West. It was so sunny and 85 degs. We just came from Chicago and it was 35 there. People told me when I came back that they day we left it snowed. So you can guess I smiled. Anyway disembarking the ship wasn’t as easy as I thought. I think everyone and their brother was trying to get off the ship at the same time, so it was a little congested trying to disembark. I wouldn’t say it was bad. But compared to Freeport and Nassau it was the most congested.

I had bought tickets to the Old Town Trolley on line way before we got on the boat. If you have never been to Key West, I think it is the best way to go. The Trolley takes you to different points on the Island and gives you a history as you go. And the best part is, if you want to get off at any one of these points, you can get off and then come back on when ever you want. Trains come every 15 mins, so they say. To me it seems like 20 to 25 mins. But regardless it was the best idea. I will post the video of the trolley tonight. Don’t have the link with me.

We first got off near the Southern most point to take a pic. We were lucky and there wasn’t that many people in line to take a pic. The people behind us took a pic of us, which I really thought was nice of them. Along the way we picked up a few things to bring back to friends. After the southern most point we got back on the trolley and headed to the lighthouse. My girlfriend was going to get off at that point but the heat was killing us so we just took photos from the trolley. We did however get off where they had the Key Lime pie and the Conch Republic. I don’t have all my photos but will post more tonight. Lastly we went to buy sandals at Kinos. Really dark place but the people I bought them for really liked them.

 

 

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Videos from Key West- Hope they work.

 

 

 

This is the video for Trollley. I hope it works.

 

 

 

This last video I shot while watching a guy try to reel in his catch. If it doesn't work I will fix the links when I get home. Can't see it from here.

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Ok, sorry I had a blond moment. LOL. Tuesday finally rolls around and now we are in Freeport. My girlfriend was so excited because she loves dolphins. So we get off the boat and wait in line for the dolphin excursion. They have a nice sign where everyone can meet. We get on the bus and we meet our bus driver Norman. As Norman is driving I am getting freaked out because Norman is driving on the left hand side of the road. I know that is norm(get it) in Freeport but for someone who has never had this experience it is just weird. As we are driving someone notices that they have a burger kind and that the McDonalds is burnt down. I guess the king wins in Freeport. LOL

It takes us about 20 mins to get to Unexso. Then when you get to Unexso they put you in a boat and drive you the rest of the way. My girlfriend just loved the dolphins. I have not heard to much information on going to see the Dolphins in Freeport but I must say it was really nice. I have video of the dolphins from Nassau and it just seemed congested. The dolphin excursion in Freeport just seemed more personal. We get done with the dolphins and we start moving over to the area where they have the parrots but I really wasn’t interested in that. They had a hot dog stand right by there but I really wasn’t interested in getting a hot dog either. I thought I would wait to eat on the boat. Then this guys says he is going to feed the sharks and asks people if they would like to see. I have photos. I think he said they were nurse sharks.

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Please excuse me but since I don’t have the Blue Lagoon photos uploaded yet, I am going to skip to the Chef’s Table. I am just going to post picture of the food, I don’t have their exact name. I know most people could probably tell us what each one is. Please chime in if you do. I do have the list at home, so if no one chimes in I will list them when I get home.

 

We had issues with the time for the Chef’s Table. On Sunday the dinning room called us and asked us why we had not been to the dinning room. (We went but later. Have a video of course) They told them that we found our self going to the buffet way too often. LOL. My girlfriend told them they I forgot to bring my good shirt. The Matri’d said he didn’t care, and even though they were going to close in 15 mins they said we should come and they would wait. Lisa told them we just ate and couldn’t be ready that fast anyway but thanks. That is why the staff on Triumph was awesome. We got service like that thru the whole trip. Anyway he told us that our Chef’s Table will be the next day at 6:15pm. Minutes later he called and told us he was told wrong and that it would be on Wednesday right after our Blue Lagoon excursion.

 

Chef’s Table was awesome. Let me tell you that if you like trying new food or just love food like me then you should sign up. I was not disappointed. My girlfriend yelled at me for dinking too much Champagne, but oh well, I was having fun. We also found out while doing the Chef’s and from one of the participants that the Chef was from the Splendor when it had the fire. We of course flooded him with questions. Awesome guy. If you see him bring up the Spam. I like when we asked him about the spam, he looked to the side and said, “Where did you hear that?” LOL He was a good sport and his food was awesome. Now for pictures. All the women got a cook book and the men got the bill. Not fair! LOL.

 

Oh, I had heard that last time on the Triumph they had the chef’s table in the Library. Well, they did that with us too. He took us to the cooking area where he gave us Champagne and I drank three. LOL. Sorry I like it. We had a few d'œuvre and then showed us how the melting cake was made. We actually got to eat that cake later in the night. We had a 7 course meal. I was full between the 4 and 5. But kept going like a trooper. Here is some pictures of the food and the wait staff, along with the Chef.

 

 

 

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