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Triumph Aug 5th review


mgasaway
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We were on the August 5th sailing of theTriumph. There were six of us, me (60)my boyfriend (59), his grand daughter (11) my son (39), is wife (33) and mygrand daughter (8). First time cruisefor all except my son & I. As anadded surprise, the two grand daughters did not know we were going on a cruiseuntil we arrived at the port. Theythought we were “going to Louisiana and going to the beach”.

Embarkation: We hadlater morning arrival in NOLA so took the 1:30 time slot. We arrived at the port about 12:45 and it wasa total zoo! Cars & taxi's everywhere and not a lot of direction. Surprisingly, it was a fast movingzoo. Fully expecting to wait until 1:30to enter the terminal, they called the 1:30 folks about ten minutes after wearrived. Very short lines through security. The longest wait was for getting the sign& sail card as the computers were acting up (it was just starting tothunderstorm when we arrived). Becauseof our late time slot we decided to carry our bags on board rather than porterthem. By the time we got to our deck wehad about 5 minutes to wait to be able to get to our cabins. I’ve always been a fan of later arrivals (IHATE standing in lines) and with the new system of time slots was happy.

Cabins: We had 2interior cabins on the Veranda Deck - 8420 & 8408. The girls werein our cabin with the pull down bunks and my son & his wife had a cabin fortwo. The cabins are definitely showingtheir age. Although clean, the carpetingis worn, the walls a little beat up and the upper bunks a little ‘creaky’. Our bed would not stay together as a king andone of us ended up falling into the abyss each night. There were 3 closets in the room but only 2useable as the 3rd had the safe, the life vests and the extrabedding in it. The bathroom was clean with enough space in the cabinet foreveryones stuff. There is a hair dryerin the bathroom – at least that’s what they call it. It looked like an old Hoover portable vacuum. Not much drying power. I have short hair that dries quickly so not aproblem. If you want styling powerhowever, bring your own. Our room steward Bosco was great.

Muster Drill: What ajoke. I’ve been to many a muster drillbut this was just a bunch of people standing around on deck in the NOLAhumidity for 45 minutes. Sure glad itwas raining and no sun or it would have been unbearable. And, they never did anything. They scanned our cards (which took forever) and we just stoodthere. And stood there. We were still standing there when we pulled away from the dock. Then they herded us into thehallway and showed how to put a life jacket on. That was it. Other stations mighthave had different but our area (H) was less than informative.

Dining: The firstnight we opted for the buffet as we were tired (got up at 4am to fly to NOLA)and sweaty. Was I disappointed. I remember the great salad bar that Carnivaluse to have. Not only was that almostnon-existent, the choices on the buffet were bland and few. And the lines – OMG. 20 minutes in line just to get to thebeginning of the food. No place to sitas the tables were all dirty and too few crew to keep them bused. We knew we’d be getting pizza later. Other nights were spilt between the MDR andthe buffet – depending on what we did in port. Our MDR experience was ok. Thefood was hot and, whereas not outstanding, it was good. It always seems like we were beingrushed. And the kids meals didn’t comeout with ours. They came well before andthen they were done before we even started. Missed the lobster on Elegant night. No more ‘free’ lobster or steaks on 5 day cruises.

Sea Day1 – We slept in and headed to the buffet at about8:30. Still crowded and not enough crew to keep the tables bussed. Basic breakfast fair – eggs, bacon, Frenchtoast, pancakes, etc. Also, the BlueIguana was open for breakfast with not much of a line. Some of our group went and got foodthere. True to form, the chair hogswere out in force. We managed to find 2chairs in the shade and the kids hit the pool. The 2 chairs next to us had had towels on them since 9am. At 12:30 when my son & daughter in lawjoined up with us we finally moved the towels off those two chairs. We were by the pool until 4:00 and never oncedid anyone come and try and claim their chairs or their towels. We did Blue Iguana and pizza for lunch – bothvery good. The kids loved the twistyslide and spent the day going between it, the hot tubs, the pool and the icecream machine. It got a bit crowded inthe pool in the afternoon. My highlightwas the slot tournament. I played andWON the $500 top prize plus a seat on the May 12, 2018 $100,000 tourney on theMagic. And, I received a coveted solid gold plated plastic ship on a stick as a trophy .

Cozumel – This is my 4th time to Cozumel (mythird time on this cruise itinerary). Hurricane Frank was trying to form to the south and we were catching theouter bands. It was warm but overcastand on and off rain most of the day. Wedid a 2 reef snorkel with Shorexcusioner that started at Mr. Sancho’s. Well, all but me. I don’t like snorkeling so just kicked backat Mr. Sancho’s while the rest snorkeled. We did not get the AI package since the majority of the time was spenton the reefs. We did have lunch there –which was excellent- and for the 6 of us it was about $100, including drinksand tip – much much less than the AI package for 6 of us. Taxi fare each way to Mr Sanchos was $36 for 6 of us.The beach is nice there – even on the non AI side. The pool was small but adequate. I was happy with a chair under a tikiumbrella. Not crowded at all due to theless than stellar weather. After Mr.Sanchos we just walked around the cruise port shops until it was time to getback on the ship.

Progresso – again – 4th time there. We opted for something that the kids wouldenjoy so took the Flamingos, Pink Lagoon and Xcambo ruins tour withShorexcursioner. Again, the weather wasnot cooperating. It was extremely windyand cool. The night before they evenshut down the pools and most venues on the ship due to the weather. Due to the weather, the flamingos were notnear shore at the Pink Lagoon (yes, the water is PINK!) Xcambo is a small ruin but with a couple ofvery solid, intact temples and buildings that you are allowed to climb on. It was short enough and small enough so thatthe adults enjoyed it and the kids didn’t get bored. After the flamingos and ruins our tour wentto the Silcer Beach club in Progresso. Included were drinks and a buffet. There is a small pool on site, clean restrooms and beach access. They also had live music. The drinks werestrong and the food OK but plentiful. The kids didn’t get to go in the water at the beach – waves were way tohigh. They did enjoy shell huntingthough. Back at the cruise port wewandered through the shops. Once onboard it was full throttle trying to get out of the rough seas. By later in the evening we were out of theclutches of the tropical storm and seas returned to smooth.

Sea Day2 – Rough seas behind it was a beautiful sunny day.Chair hogs in full swing again and there were no chairs sans towels when we gotto the pool area. Opted for a table inthe shade for 6 at the very aft of the deck. Still the usual long lines so pizza was our go to lunch. In the afternoon, my son and I hit thecasino. Slots were tight, table gameswere fun. I like the new Head Up poker. That night, my BF came downwith the dreaded Montezuma’s Revenge. Itold him not to eat all that stuff on the buffet at the beach club the daybefore. I hit the casino again thatnight and let him suffer in peace. Inaddition to the $500 I won in the slot tourney I came out with another $300 orso. First time I have ever walked out ofa ship casino with more than I went in with.

Disembarkation: Backin NOLA…… We were doing our own luggageand our time was 9:30. This was fine with us as we were spending a few days inNOLA before flying home. We vacated the cabin by the 8:30 time slot and hit thebuffet for breakfast. Full buffetservice – just not the long lines as many had already disembarked. It went rather quickly, but then we were atthe end of the process. Thru customs andto a taxi within ½ an hour.

The Triumph is definitely showing her age. There were the usual one or two elevatorsthat did not work. And she’s starting toshow a lot of rust on the decks. Some ofthe deck furniture was getting a little shabby. Food quality has gone down. We didn't do any of the shows as the timing just didn't work out. The kids enjoyed going to the kids club in the evening. The last sea day the kids club had a scavenger hunt and my daughter-in-law and the kids came in 2nd. Still, we had a great time. Anyday on a cruise is better than a day at work!

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I was on the Triumph in February(4 day).

 

The muster drill was annoying. I don't remember which letter, but I was at the very first station in the port side photo gallery. They scanned cards, but the lady skipped me and four or five other people three times. Whenever new people filed in, she would scan them instead of us.

 

I also left the casino with more money than I started with. I went in with $40 and came out with $57.50. I only play the minimum bet on penny slots. I haven't gotten to a place where I am comfortable gambling in the hundreds or thousands.

 

I thought the dessert station should have been somewhere else. I don't know where it could have gone. Its location made the buffet more crowded. What do you think? Did it feel like the eyes in the buffet were staring at you?

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I was on the Triumph in February(4 day).

 

 

 

I thought the dessert station should have been somewhere else. I don't know where it could have gone. Its location made the buffet more crowded. What do you think? Did it feel like the eyes in the buffet were staring at you?

 

Yes - lol. At times it felt like the 'eyes' were looking at you. Didn't pay much attention to it in the morning but at night it was a little creepy.

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Missed the lobster on Elegant night. No more ‘free’ lobster or steaks on 5 day cruises.

That's disappointing. We were on the Dream earlier this month for a 7 day, and steak was an option every night. We're going on the Triumph in January, which will be my niece's first cruise. She's never had lobster before, and this would have been her opportunity to try it. You don't happen to have pictures of the menus, do you?

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That's disappointing. We were on the Dream earlier this month for a 7 day, and steak was an option every night. We're going on the Triumph in January, which will be my niece's first cruise. She's never had lobster before, and this would have been her opportunity to try it. You don't happen to have pictures of the menus, do you?

 

Sorry, I forgot to take pics of the menus. They still have the lobster - you just have to pay $20 for it now. Supposedly (according to our waiter) the lobster is still no charge on 7 days cruises for one of the formal nights.

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Sorry, I forgot to take pics of the menus. They still have the lobster - you just have to pay $20 for it now. Supposedly (according to our waiter) the lobster is still no charge on 7 days cruises for one of the formal nights.

No problem. I meant to take pics of the menus on our last cruise and forgot too. Good to know about the charge. Thank you!

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  • 1 month later...

If anyone was interested about the shore excursion site the original; poster mentioned in the review, it is not shorexcursioner dot com but actually

shoreexcursioneer dot com

I was interested as we are going on the triumph in February and for some reason Google could not handle that spelling! This will be our first time on Carnival and first time to these ports.

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