XCaliGurl

Did you ever get an answer to this?

Closest airport is Houston Hobby. Other airport is Bush Intercontinental but much further away.

:)

which is close to the forward elevators and the noise from the lounge was horrible!!

Just out of curiosity when you booked this room was there a alert of possible noise issues? If there wasn't and there had been one would it have effected if you booked the room or not? Our last cruise we had a lovely room it was considered an obstructed view. What drove me nuts the first two nights till I got used to it was this crazy clanging from a guide wire outside our window. Yes I would book again! I got used to it and the price was great!

Thanks!

. I mean people would go in there if it was open.

Carnival should be looking at this like an individual business not as part of the whole. The club should have regular business hours regardless of how many people are in there. If there isn't enough people in the club then offer to do a give away to get people in there. I imagine the club being closed is lost revenue. More then likely the truth has to do with the noise to the rooms above or below. Agreed they should have a party room category and book these rooms like an obstructed view.

Does anybody know if the Triumph will be replaced

Galveston will be getting a third ship. :)

What's your opinion on the triumph and would you go on this and the 10 or 11 day cruise?

We have cruised on the Triumph twice. Once before the incident then we were scheduled 2 weeks after and it was cancelled. We were able to go again the first week of March. So we have experienced the before and after. We noticed a difference between the 2 cruises.

There are some areas on the ship that really need some TLC. For instance our room. The counter in the room that the TV sits on looked to be painted but it wasn't fully painted. It was hit or miss and unfortunately it didn't match the original color. There was areas on the deck where sections need to be replaced but have been neglected. The rear elevator on lido near the back pool smells like rotten garbage. (This was discussed on a previous thread and it may be the garbage hold is near that rear elevator and wafts up)

The crew didn't seem as attentive or as happy to be there. Maybe a majority of their contracts where coming up. I'm not sure. They weren't mean or rude by any means just not as attentive.

So to the question would we take a 10 or 11 day cruise on the Triumph? Of course. :) If the price is right and I could, I would. That being said I would take one on the Magic or any other ship if I could. Anchors Away!

I then found a "white uniformed" officer and told him our plight, asking to speak to ship security. His response was that we had to go to Guest Services.

Personally I love Carnival but as with any business there is room for improvement. Has anyone else tried to call security on a cruise? We had the occasion to need security this past cruise and tried to call. There is not a posted number for security so you call guest services where you get a voice message if they are closed. There was a couple in there room almost a full hallway away from our room and you could hear them going at it like they were going to kill one another. When I got the recording I tried to call room service hoping they would give me a direct line or send security. They told me to call guest services. After four different calls I finally got through to someone. The scarey part is the next morning when we got into port we found out a lady had died. The first thought was if it was the people carrying on that took at least an hour to get hold of someone to ask for security. :(

I think it was on John Healds blog some time ago. Try there! :)

We have yet to purchase FTTF and don't think I ever would. We show up early at the port and are always on board eating lunch by noon. We wait at the most 30 minutes after check in. Which is always fun because it gives us a chance to people watch. Some people behave pretty wacky when they are starting a vacation. :eek:

I have been on 4 cruises and did not even know there was guest laundry facilities onboard. I am just curious how many people do laundry while at sea.

I hate having to come home and do dirty laundry along with the chores that have been put off while gone. So yup, we do laundry the night before we disembark. FYI they also have a iron available to use in the laundry room if you need to get some wrinkles out. ;)

However, the bars have shrunk, and we quit getting the sample baskets. Haven't seen a sample basket since cruising on the Elation.

In December on the Magic we had plenty in our sample bowl. Last week we had two items in the bowl. A toothpaste and a breath right strip. Personally the bowl looked ridiculous with just two items in the huge bowl. I think they need to get rid of it if all they have is one or two items to put in it. :rolleyes:

Old news.

I just wanted to share the official release from TABC. 2 points I would like to stress.

1. This was released in December 2013 we are now in March 2014. Just a few months. Which means not old news.

2. Yes, they have done this in boarder towns which is not in dispute BUT they had not enforced in cruise ports although they had the ability to do it they chose not to due to keeping the cruise industry happy. People pay how much in different port fees? You don't have these fees in border towns crossing over.

http://www.tabc.state.tx.us/home/press_releases/2013/20131220.asp

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE December 20, 2013

TABC to begin collecting taxes at Texas seaports January 2014.

The Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission (TABC) will begin collecting personal importation taxes on alcohol and cigarettes from passengers returning from cruises in Galveston in 2014.

On January 4, 2014, cruise travelers disembarking out of the Port of Galveston will need to pay the tax for alcoholic beverages and cigarettes imported into the state that were purchased either on the ship's duty free store or at a foreign port of call. TABC currently operates 20 ports of entry collection facilities along the Texas-Mexico border where the tax is presently collected. During the recent legislative session, the agency was appropriated funding to begin tax collection of imported alcoholic beverages and cigarettes from seaport facilities. The Galveston Port facility will be the first seaport location where this tax will be collected with plans to extend to the Houston-Bayport facility in the fall of 2014.

Section 107.07 of the Alcoholic Beverage Code, in effect for over 40 years, requires that each adult (21 years old and over) importing alcoholic beverages into the state for personal consumption pay the state tax and an administrative fee of $3.00. The law limits personal importation by an adult to once every 30 days with limits of: 1 gallon of distilled spirits, 3 gallons of wine, and 288 ounces of malt beverages (24 12-ounce containers). Persons importing alcoholic beverages must personally accompany the product as it enters the state. View our detailed list of the taxes for both cigarettes and alcoholic beverages.

Tax collection points staffed with TABC personnel will be situated at both terminals 1 and 2 at the Galveston facility located where patrons come through the U.S. Customs secondary checkpoint. Passengers will be able to pay the taxes with either cash or credit cards.

TABC personnel have worked with Port of Galveston officials to ensure that the tax collection is done efficiently and with limited disruption of port operations and delays to the passengers.

I have never seen them at any other cruise port like they were at progreso. With the exception of the armed us coast guard that you see as a part of homeland security in us ports and harbors.

The Fedarales are at all Mexico ports. You may have got "Lucky" and not seen them in Cozumel but they are there. Just this week they went down the sea wall in the back of a truck with their semi autos.

Jamaica we seen their military also at the Port when getting off the ship in December. They also carried large guns.

I can't seem to remember if when we were in Georgetown if the presence was there. In any foreign country you will see this as they are the military.

Aren't the bottles sold onboard 1 liter?

Honestly I'm not sure what size is sold on board. We purchased at the Duty Free in Cozumel. To bring back for family. LoL Were not even drinkers.

And they also explained in detail BEFORE boarding that this change took place with a handout. It's old news Sent using the Cruise Critic forums app

Actually the cruise we took on March 1 (last Saturday) we were not given a hand out before nor was this announced.

Personally I realize everyone is saying old news but this just went into effect January 1 2014 and we are only in March, a short 3 months. So really not so old news. ;)

I will admit the beaches are ok but not as good as cozumel. It is the nasty town you have to go through to get to the beaches. The what seemed like a mile long drive over the sea wall to get to the shore was intersting. It was the only time i saw armed men with riffles along the road. That is why i said i wouldn't want to be stuck there.

The pier is 4 miles long. Considered to be the worlds longest pier. That alone is pretty interesting.

You will see men with rifles all over Mexico they are "Fedarales". There is check points through out the country (Usually every few miles) where you will see their presence made known.

Where ever you go in Mexico (Including Cozumel) you will possibly see trash on the sides of the road and houses falling down or in partial construction. They don't have the beautification laws we have in the US so its common to see a TV in a mud puddle or stray/sickly dogs in the streets. Houses are often in mid state because Mexico does not have home loans there as other countries have. It is all cash transactions. So when a house is falling down if they don't have the cash to fix it it falls to a pile of rubble.

Depending on where you go in Cozumel you are more then likely at a man made beach and not a natural made beach. ;) Its all a matter of opinion and personal choice. I love seeing the different countries and the differences of how they live and why they live that way. Some folks love to cruise and prefer to stay on the ship the entire trip. Again neither is right or wrong just personal choice.

I agree old news but it's important to bring to the front page every once in awhile. What I would like to know is how (if at all) did this delay debarkation? Were only the people with the TABC form funneled off to go through secondary screening? Was there more random checking of luggage?

We went through customs and they told us we had to go to the secondary line to pay our tax. We were within the first 100 off the ship. They were not doing any type of searches at that point. Even though we probably could have not declared and kept on walking I would hate to have the hassle if we were the 1 in 3000 to be stopped and made an example out of. The ship has record and hands it over to customs of anyone that purchased alcohol in the other ports. This all puts new meaning in Tax and Duty Free. LoL Next cruise everyone gets maracas! :cool:

If you search there are a bunch of posts about this. Not new news but hey at least you didn't have to pay that high smokers tax.

I can't believe I hadn't seen anything about this. :eek: Thanks everyone for pointing out all the posts!

Progresso is NASTY so is the water. You can't walk around without someone begging you to buy something every 30 seconds.

I have to strongly disagree with you. The beaches are beautiful in Progreso. Especially if you travel just outside of the town proper. I believe you have more to worry about in Cozumel then in Progreso. Cozumel you have tons of tourist carrying cash off the ships and tons of the shop owners hassling you to just take a look, they make really good deal. Then when you look you see the same item priced 2 different prices in the store. Yep I would say Cozumel and Progreso rate the same on the begging scale. Both have beautiful beaches if you search them out. ;)

We took a cruise in December and like usual there was a few bottles of alcohol purchased. All we had to do was declare our purchases to US Customs when we came back. Well we just got back from a 5 day aboard the Triumph and the night before last with all our disembark information was a form from TABC for any alcohol or tobacco pruchase you now have to pay a tax after you go through customs. I don't smoke but so feel sorry for the smokers!!! They have a 15.00 a cartoon tax they have too pay. We paid 3.50 per a 750 ml bottle purchased 3 bottles so 10.50. Also this effects anyone planning on staying in Texas more then 48 hours after they get off the ship they are now required to pay these taxes also! So FYI not worth it to bring back these things anymore if you live in Texas! :eek:

It's been known from soon after the tragedy that the boys were brothers.

The latest report I heard this morning was that the families wish to remain nameless at this time and that it hadn't been confirmed any relation.

But this goes back to none of us know the actual facts. There is always 2 sides to every story and truth is somewhere in the middle.

this is no ones fault but the parents. you swim at your own risk. The parents should go to jail and serve a life sentence. Doesn't matter what cruise line it happened on, it all falls on the parents.

I think comments like this are absolutely ridiculous. Most of you are jumping to serious conclusions that may or may not be true.

Fact: They haven't released if these babies were even related.

Fact: They haven't released how long these babies had been in the water before being found unresponsive. To prove negligence.

Fact: They haven't released if these children were actually in the care of the cruise ship kids group/program when the incident happened.

Fact: Most relatives even medically educated people freeze in a medical emergency and can not treat their family member.

I wonder how many people making these comments actually have children or grown children over the age of 18. Kids (And Parents) do some really stupid things, parental guidance or not.

A horrific tragedy happened and someones baby has died. Some of you are commenting the parent/grandmother needs to be held accountable and punished. Really?! How could they be punished any more then they already are?

Clear cut neglect on the part of the parent or guardian of those children. You don't take your eyes off your child for more than 15 seconds when your child is in a situation like that and you don't drown in 15 seconds. A mama alligator has a higher level of parenting skills than whoever was supposed to be watching those children.

My question to you is, HOW MUCH TIME DOES IT TAKE FOR SOMEONE TO DROWN? Be it a child or a adult? It takes less then 15 seconds.

It takes one breath of water. Just one.

One breath and a child can have drowned or an adult. You can pull them from the water immediately perform CPR and may not be able to save them. Or you can have someone that's been under water for 20 minutes pull them out of the water and be revived with no long term effects.

Simple fact is everyone needs to get a reality check and realize this can happen to anyone. Child or adult. Bottom line is you need to respect water. Even the most experienced swimmers can drown. Even the most supervised person can drown. Just 1 breath.

As to this situation. This maybe a really awesome Grandparent who always takes their grandchildren on a cruise once a year, loves to spend time with their grandbabies and would trade their life for that of their babies. I can only imagine the devastating grief the family/families are experiencing.