Sycofaery

Thanks for the review especially since I was also on this cruise and also went to Mr Sanchos. I agree with just about all the points you made especially Guys burgers. I could've ate that everyday. We had a group of 12 and all had an excellent cruise. After a rain shower leaving New Orleans the weather was flawless. Anyway' date=' I'm glad you also enjoyed yourself and congrats on the wedding.[/quote']

 

Thank you! I was terrified of the weather going nuts since I have been planning this wedding for years and couldn't estimate what the weather was going to be like years ahead of time.

 

But thankfully I don't think we could have gotten better weather. I thought it was going to storm all Thursday morning in NOLA but that even waited for us to get on the ship.

 

I also thought maybe Cozumel would be unbearably hot, but no it seemed perfect to me.

Great review and congrats on your marriage. What dining time did you have?

Thanks! We had the anytime dining. We only had to wait long enough to get to a table as we enjoyed the MDR so much we got there at 5:45-6 every day.

I would hate to be assigned to the Paris dining room though. We went there for brunch on the last sea day and it was confusing to get to.

Very nice review, thank-you.

Enjoying your review and videos.

 

Keith

Thank you everyone. It was such a great vacation! My brother in law (who is a hornery teen) said it was his best one ever.

Great review! Congratulations!!!

Thank you!!!

Thanks for the great review! I'm glad you had fun on your first cruise. And congratulations on your marriage!

Thanks CruzerDeb!! I loved it :)

Posting this review was hard, keeping up with all the photos but I am sure everyone understands the repeats and whatnot.

[/i][/i][/i]

Nice start to your review.

Thanks! I was limited on the # of pictures so had to split them up :)

After dinner we took the kids to camp ocean for some last activities and relaxed. Then we went and bought pictures (contrary to what I read here, NO the price does NOT go down on the last day) and the picked the boys up. Then we went to the Big Easy show. Love, love LOVED it! Great dancers, singers, plus fireworks and streamers all made it worth staying up late.

The next morning was time to get booted off the ship! So sad and depressing! But we were up and down to our designated spot at 6:45 for self disembarkation with FTTF. My sister got there about 7:15 (right before we were allowed to get off the boat) and still got outside at the same time as me so really it's all about the same lol. It was much easier getting off than getting on. Customs was a breeze (our steward left 2 declaration papers for us the bight before and filled the out and wrote souvenirs - $100). and we got on the shuttle and went back to Fulton garage where the driver dropped us off, unloaded our bags and let the drivers go get the cars and pull around to get the luggage and rest of the family. We were on the road by 8 for sure.

SO overall I would say:

*The crew of the Triumph is amazing!

*The food is great about 80% of the time

*The prints are over priced and need to go digital

*Cozumel was unbelievably gorgeous

*Mr. Sancho's is probably the best place I have ever been to

*The Camp Ocean was GREAT

*The wifi service is very spotty.

*ATM's are spotty depending on satelite signal

*Kinda hectic getting on with all we had going on but worth it

*American Table menu wasn't bad- If you want something not on the menu, ask!

*Bringing an over the door organizer was GENIUS.

*Extension cord is a necessity.

*Next time I probably won't bring sodas bc we only drank one case out of the 5 we brought.

*Bring twice the amount of memory cards and batteries you think you need.

*If you need smaller bills for tipping, just go to guest services.

*AND if you owe on your S&S and the ATMs are down and you opened your S&S with cash, you can just "connect" your debit card to your account with no money being held; it will just be charged for any purchases you make.

We are now cruisers for life. We got home Monday and I have been on carnival's website every day since wanting to book another one

I went and washed some clothes. Costs $3 to wash and $3 to dry. ALSO you HAVE to take your S&S off a lanyard and insert it all the way in to pay for your washer and dryer.

Ate Guys for lunch, swam, drank, and ate in the MDR for dinner. We split into to tables and got Ozhan and Efren! They were just as amazing as the formal night! Also, our hostess Viktorya was an absolute angel.

Get back to the boat and get ready for dinner. My SO was adamant that all of us sit together that night so we had to have Freddie again. And yet again, he messed up my order. Poor Ozhan looked so forlorne without us and I swore I would eat with him the next night (which was our last night there). That night we went to the marriage show and it was hilarious. We went on to bed and Sunday morning we woke up bright and early. We decided to go to the MDR for brunch and that was a GREAT decision. No fighting crowds, great selection of tasty food and a good server.

So we headed back about 2:45 and our next taxi was a van and fit 7. We paid $34 this time since we had more people. Our taxi driver was a very friendly man who told me about the tricks to conceive a boy or a girl, best places to buy souvenirs and taught me some spanish. He also gave us some fresh bananas he got off his tree that day. I thoroughly enjoyed him and wish I had caught his name and maybe taken a picture with him. We went to the first shop we saw and got some goodies. They were at fixed prices so I didn't get to practice any haggling techniques lol.

Got in line to get back on the ship about 3:30 and got on about 4, 4:15. No dock runners this time.

We got to Mr. Sanchos and no one was really there. I think the all inclusive didn't open until 8 or 9. But we got there, paid for our all inclusive, and then told them we were there for the wedding. We walked on through and they had us wait until the wedding room was ready for us which was about 8 or 8:30. The guys got dressed in the wedding room and then I got dressed and finished off my make up. It was a LOT smaller than I expected BUT it had air conditioning which was a great thing. Ceremony started about 9 or 9:30. t as perfect and I loved it. We got changed and then enjoyed Mr. Sancho's!! The food was great and the drinks were strong. Our waiter's name was Martin and he kept the food and drinks coming. I tell you one thing- those men work their butt's off!!! Walking in that sand is such a workout and he was constantly going back and forth for all his tables. I was told to tip about 25% of our bill at Mr. Sancho's so I gave him a $40 tip but I feel he deserved more after I realized how much work it is so next time I will tip more. Especially with as great as he was. AND if you want a drink not on the menu, just ask!

After we swam and ate and enjoyed most of our day, about 1:30 we went and got a fish pedicure!! TOTALLY worth it! I had a few drinks in me so I am not sure I could have done this completely sober but I am dong it again next time we go. Here's links to two videos- one form my view point and one from the guy in the shop.

Shop video:

My video:

After dinner, we went straight to our room to sleep since it was wedding day!I woke up at 5, made sure our cozumel luggage was ready to go and then left everyone asleep and went to get my hair done. I had some extra time so took went out on the deck and saw we were pulling into cozumel!

Get to the salon at 5:50 and Michael was waiting on me. He was from south africa and very educated. We discussed politics, our countries economies and social structures. He was a breath of fresh air. Hair turned out great for me! Got back to our room abou 6:45- 6:50 and my SO was just waking up and brushing his teeth. We woke the kids up, got them dressed, and was down to floor 0 about 7:10. We got through and trying to find a taxi was not as easy as I thought it would be. I thought you would get through the security and there would be tons of taxis in front of you. Nope. You have to go straight to the port shopping center, turn left and walk down and then turn right. We were one of the first there and got to Mr. Sancho's (where the wedding and all inclusive was) about 7:33. Cost $17 one way for us 5 in a car. We had no car seats and held our 2 yo in our lap. Our taxi driver drove very safe, which was surprising. Hopefully bc of the babies in the car.

We got down and started taking pictures about 5-5:15 then went and ate in the MDR. This night it was all 14 of us and they sat us in a different section and with two tables. We put most of the kids at on, and the adults, 2 teens and the baby with us. Our waiters were Ozhan and Efren and they were FRIGGIN AMAZING!!!! Those two men made the whole cruise for us! Efren took care of the kids table and Ozhan took care of the adults. Efren tucked my 4 y/o's napkin in for him, helped him with his orders, played with him, made him napkin animals and danced with him. It was truly an amazing experience.

Ozhan was very attentive, interactive and everything was perfect. Ozhan and Efren acted liked they genuinely enjoyed us being there and treated us like friends.

We played mini putt putt and explored the boat some more. The dropped the kids of at Camp Ocean and relaxed, gambled, etc. Picked kids up at 3, and started getting ready for formal night.

After dinner we dropped the kids off at camp ocean. Oh and here's a picture of the phone.

We went gambling after that. It was kind of crazy the amount of kids IN the casino while parents gambled. But you also have to pass the casino to get to the arcade and the rio lounge and a lot of the picture setups. They even did the Seuss a palooza parade in the "hallway beside" the casino which was nuts to me! You can smoke in the casino so I was kind putt off by the location off everything around it (not complaining about being with smokers in the casino but the fact that if you wanna do anything on that side of the deck you and your kids are exposed to the casino). There's nothing separating the casino and the "hallway" going to the arcade and rio lounge so you are having to wave the smoke from your kids faces and pushing through the crowd of drunk people dancing in front of the live music.

Just to clarify again- not complaining about the casino or the smoking or even the drunk people; just the location of .... child orientated activities around it.

at 9:45 we picked up the kids, grabbed some ice cream and went to sleep. The next mornig we "slept in" and woke up to a bright sunny day in the ocean! Such gorgeous water!!

This night was formal night and the next day was wedding day so no sun burn for us! Ate breakfast through the buffet and was not impressed at all. Bacon was paper thin and it didn't seem worth fighting the lines for that food. The french toast was good though.

We went and checked out Camp Ocean. We filled out the 1 paper they needed us to do since we had registered on Carnival online and were given a cell phone for them to reach us. We were told they were doing the meet and greet at 8 and we could drop them off then. We went to the lido deck and ate from the buffet and I was NOT impressed. We grabbed a burger from Guy's and O.M.G. That5 was the best burger I have ever had! I thought Guys was a restaurant we had to pay for but Nope, it's included. The pool on the Lido deck was PACKED so we ended up going to the back of the ship and that pool was deserted. The pool was too cool so we got in a hot tub. I ordered a drink called a Kiss on the Lips and it was great as I am not a big drinker and hate the taste of alcohol. It started to rain so they closed the "ceiling" to the pool which was so cool to watch!

We went to the muster drill at 3:45. It was literally people crowded onto each other, waiting, a person putting a life jacket on and then waiting to leave. A waste of time but I understand a necessity.

I stopped by the spa and scheduled my hair appointment- they were very sweet and Michael agreed to come in at 6 to do my hair for the wedding since we were getting off the ship at 7.

That night for dinner 12 of us sat at one table. My MIL and BIL were assigned to another dining room so I thought they were gonna eat there but they ended up getting switched to the london dining room and we all 14 sat together the next night. But for this first night it was 12 of us at 1 table with a waiter named Freddie. He wasn't horrible but he got my order wrong twice that night and just seemed a little irritable. I wasn't very impressed and was aggravated bc our 2 year old was terrified of the toilets (super loud- don't flush with your small child in the stall). Food was okay even though it wasn't what ordered.

I will be giving as much information as I can so sorry if I bore you. I had been researching for so long and know how hard it is to find info for planning a wedding while on a cruise. I will add pictures but wish I had more. Sorry for any typos but I have fake nails on and I am not used to them so typing is weird.

I am also being limited to how many pictures I can post so I will have to split it up. If you wanna see all our pictures, here's the link to the photobucket album:

http://s15.photobucket.com/user/sycofaery/library/Cozumel%20April%202016

So as I tried to clarify in the title- This is my first cruise, my fiancé and I had our wedding during the cruise, and we have three children with us(ages 7,4 and 2). My sister who has cruised a few times came with her family (5 older kids ranging from 15-9) and my MIL came with her other son(16 y/o). So total was a party of 14, but we weren't one single party. I have been on CC researching for so long, I felt very secure.

We decided to do a 4 day cruise as it would require less time taken from work and with it being our first cruise and having three kids, I felt it wouldn't be too long in case the kids were unhappy.

We settled on this cruise which has one stop in Cozumel. When I started to look at Carnival's wedding packages, I was blown away by the price. I am a photographer, so am very particular on the pictures and I just was not impressed with Carnival's photography. In addition, you had to buy the photographs and/or digitals; they were not included.

Here is the link to the Carnival wedding packages + prices:

http://www.carnival.com/~/media/CCLUS/Images/pdf/Weddingspricelistpdf.ashx

SO I ended up using Cozumel Wedding Planner. They are wonderful! If you want a big wedding with lots of people or you want a short and sweet ceremony, they treat you the same.

Yes, some of the prices are a little out there (you can go to their site and they have a checklist so you can price your wedding) but it's more affordable than Carnival. We paid a $200 deposit and our total cost with them (excluding the photographer) was $1256 which included a sound system for them to play my playlist, using Mr. Sancho's beach and their wedding room, the planners services, 2 bouquets, 1 boutonniere, the tropical alter and wedding cake. You can pay cash the day of, or wire them the money or paypal them the money but there is extra charges if you wire or paypal.

I ended up getting a professional photographer named Agni who works for Dean Sanderson. I paid $950 and she was there for the getting ready until noon. We only needed her for a couple hours though. I should get my portraits back in 3-4 weeks and will post them and let you know what I think of them. But the day of, Agni was wonderful. I couldn't have made a better choice.

Okay now on to the actual cruise review!

We departed from NOLA and I prepaid parking in Fulton garages (like $49 for us). We live in Lake Charles so drove in the morning of. Let home at 5:50am. Traffic in Baton Rouge was ridiculously horrible (we hit the 7-7:30 am traffic) and New Orleans traffic was crazy when we got in town about 9-9:30 but wasn't as bad as Baton Rouge's traffic. If you are coming through BR to get to NOLA, remember to consider the traffic you may go through there. I was just focused on NOLA and forgot about BR. So we finally get off I-10 and start to look for fulton garage. There were a ton of people with signs offering cheap parking (at like $12 a day I think) and I thought they were other parking garages. Nope. They were for fulton. So we pull in, hand the lady our printed out email saying we prepaid and she directs us to go on up, unload our luggage, then park on 6,7 or 8.

I need to pause and explain I always thought you parked, unloaded your luggage to one person and then took a shuttle to the ship and went through the boarding procedures and your luggage would be at your room. I was only prepared to tip one Porter and one Shuttle driver. WRONG.

Get up there, unload our luggage to one guy and he proceeds to hurriedly spit out the line of "park on 6,7 or 8, get on the elevator, go to the main floor, retrieve your luggage and verify this is your luggage then go get on the shuttle.". SO I give the guy the $5 I had for the porter as I assumed he was the one person who would be loading my luggage. NOPE. Anyways so we give the guy our three rolling luggage bags and then park.

I had brought a pack of drinks for everyone (5 12 packs) and bought a little "utility cart" from walmart for $25 as I knew the drinks couldn't be sent with the bags and we would have to bring them through the process. HERE is the link to what I got, not sure if its the same brand or not. It worked out great.

I get the cart out, load it with 5 12 packs, our formal clothes, and the 2 carry on bags we had along with our paperwork to board. There was a short stairwell to get to the elevator so I drug the cart up the stair and get in the elevator. Go to the main floor and to the right of the elevator we find a "station" and claim our luggage and sign a paper saying we got the 3 bags we brought. So 2nd bag handler is all energetic and carrying everything and putting it on the shuttle. Tip him assuming maybe he is our final bag handler. Nope.

I have to bring the cart with the drinks on the shuttle and hang on to it while it's in the aisle. Finally get to the port (it is about 10am now) and get dropped off outside with no clue where to go. So we wander around, find someone who looks official and tell him we are FTTF (faster to the fun) and he tells us to wait to the side until they call us. I ask about luggage and he points off at some random direction and says that someone will get our bags. I finally found an actual porter and gave him our bags and waited until we were called to go in. Eventually I got tired of waiting (after waiting about 15-20 min) and went to the entrance, told her we were FTTF and the guard told us to go on in.

Get in and go up the elevator, and get to the part where we give our boarding pass and our birth certificates. Now, before I had assumed we would go to one desk and that one person would process each person's pass and birth Certificate and do our sign and sail stuff at once. Nope. I had each person's docs in a separate folder. Turns out we could have just kept all the paper work in one and it would have been fine. It was very relaxed and the women who processed us were angels. Get through there and get to the part where we get our S&S card. Very easy and sweet. Took our pictures, gave us our cards and went on about our business. It was probably 10:30ish now

BTW- if you open your S&S account with cash, you wait until you get on the ship to actually put the cash on your account.

Anywho, we leave the counter and get seated in the FTTF part waiting to board. We had to wait until 11:45 before they let anyone start boarding. At this point I was debating whether purchasing FTTF was actually worth it but I saw ALL the people behind us and decided yes, it was very worth it for $50.

Finally board and get to our room about 12. Our luggage is already here and the room looked great! We got an oceanview (room 2246) and all 5 of us were in 1 room. Here are some pictures I took later after we had already destroyed the room. The bed was SUPER comfie. And the couch that was made into a bed was great too! Very satisfied with our room.

Could someone that has been on the triumph post what the MDR menu is like? Do they have the American table menu? I am about to search the threads for anything about triumph menus but thought I would ask here.

@AdventurousCruiser07 - I have seen a thread SOMEWHERE where the OP talks about some kind of a collapsible "trolley" for carrying around all their stuff (including dresses, bringing canned drinks aboard, etc.) and was wondering if that was you or if you had seen that post? I do want to thank you again for all your input and help!

LOL let me explain- we have three boys (all will be 7 and under, youngest will barely be 2). Every time we have tried to get married, something crazy happens (I got hailed on the last time) so it's taken years for us to finally get married lol.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

The Triumph is a big improvement from the Elation. I might sail from NOLA more since Elation is leaving.

Thank you :) from checking it out on carnival it looks like an improvement but it's always better to hear from people's experience! We got our "new " room assigned and found that even though they "upgraded" us two spots in interior, the beds won't go together as a king with the two uppers down and since this is our wedding cruise, that's just unacceptable. Unfortunately they didn't offer to do anything except us pay for an upgrade to Oceanview (which I had to do). It looks like it offers A LOT more even though it's only 40 feet longer. We live about 5 hours from NOLA so it's the most convenient port for us.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk