Triumph 3/27/04 Eastern Carib. Review

Just wanted to say "I'm back"! I'll post a review in a few days, once I get a little caught up on the mountain of paperwork on my desk!

In brief...nice ship, great trip!

Stay tuned to this channel for additional information......

-Melissa

Until 3/27/04 Carnival Triumph EC

tick........tick.......tick.........tick..........tick......tick!

We're eagerly waiting!! No time like the present to get us future "Triumph-ant" cruisers our FIX!

Storm'n Norman & Skippy

The Aussie Cruise-a-holic Duo

Cruise Photos @

http://community.webshots.com/user/stormnnorman

CHECK OUT MY PHOTOS (IN ABOVE LINK) FROM THE "STAR PRINCESS" (18TH OCTOBER 2003)!

http://community.webshots.com/user/justgotta

Oh, what a tease!

Love to here your opinion on your cruise last week. Time is ticking away for the "TRIUMPH CRUISIN KRAZY CARIBE CREW" and getting more and more excited everyday as it gets closer and closer.

Until the Eastern Caribbean on the Triumph

"TRIUMPH CRUISIN KRAZY CARIBE CREW - 8th May 2004"

Carnival Triumph 5/04

Sensation 10/02

Carnival Triumph 1/02

Royal Majesty 5/97

"The Big Red Boat" 10/87

Triumph 3/27/04 EC Review – Part 1

We managed to leave Knoxville around 4:00 PM after Harry’s much delayed arrival home (he was supposed to get off of work around 12 noon, didn’t get off until around 3:30 PM). I already had the car loaded & ready, so we headed to Atlanta to catch our 10:00 PM flight. Made it to the airport shortly after 8:00 PM. ATL was rather quiet – we were able to check in immediately, had a smooth flight to MIA.

Arrived in MIA just before midnight, rounded up our luggage then caught a taxi to the Radisson downtown (Priceline, $35 + taxes!). Fortunately I had called the hotel the week before to confirm our reservation and let them know we would be a very late arrival, as the hotel was completely booked. But thanks to my call they had held our room. Not on the port side, but a corner room on the 15th floor – not bad for 35 bucks!

Saturday morning we headed for the port around 11:15. A brief line for document checks, then thanks to our Funpass we got to relax in the waiting room for about 45 minutes. A very frustrating wait as there was a large wedding, a party, and a large tour group using the Triumph while she was at dock, so the Carnival Reps kept herding groups through the throng of eagerly waiting cruisers! I didn’t realize that the ships are made available for non-cruise activities while at dock. (Nice little additional revenue stream for Carnival, huh?).

Finally we got on board around 12:15 PM. Went to drop the carryon in the room (Riviera 1319) and met Romeo, our steward, a very nice gentleman from the Philippines. They were still cleaning from the previous occupants so we tucked our stuff in the corner and headed up to the Lido. Spent the next hour or so roaming the ship, getting familiar with her, as more cruisers boarded. We finally caught up with a bunch of my family (this cruise was a family reunion/50th birthday celebration) around 1:30 PM – they had been in the South Beach Club having lunch. Apparently we boarded just a few minutes after they did. So we chatted for a few minutes, then Harry and I went to find lunch for ourselves.

First impressions of the Triumph: she’s BIG! This was only my second cruise, and the first was several years ago on the old, small (but quaint) Regal Empress. The Triumph was an absolute monster compared to the Empress! But she’s beautiful. After reading so much about stained carpets, I must say that the only noticeable stain I saw was in one of the stairwells, looked like a recently spilled coke. Our inside stateroom on the Riviera deck was pleasantly roomy, and the bathroom was a shock – for a cruise ship bathroom it was HUGE. I found most of the décor to be reasonable, didn’t see nearly as much neon as I had expected from reading posts about Carnival ships. Not that there isn’t neon…but it’s mostly low-key, not in-your-face Vegas style. The Truimph has a fascinating variety of bars and lounges, from the quirky oyster shell décor of the Big Easy to the classic opulent library of the Oxford Bar. And speaking of libraries, I never did make it to the Triumph’s when it was open so I could sign the CC log…darn it!

Stopping here so I can get back to work…next installment…departure/at sea/San Juan!

Since 3/27/04 Carnival Triumph EC

MelMBell:

Nice to read your review from a fellow Knoxvillian! Keep the info coming as I am T minus 51 days and counting...

Do you have your next cruise booked yet?

Big Red Boat 6/1989

RCCL Song of America 2/1991

Regent Rainbow 1/1992

NCL Seaward 5/1993

Carnival Fantasy 7/1993

Carnival Ecstasy 6/1994

RCCL Nordic Empress 4/1995, 7/1996, 8/1997

NCL Leeward 4/1997

RCCL Sovereign 5/1998

RCCL Nordic Empress 8/2000

RCCL Majesty 6/2003

Carnival Sensation 7/03

Glory 7/04

`Triumph 5/29

Caugh51654 -

I wish I did! I have to pay for this one first! Since it was a family reunion, it was not in our budget...but I didn't want to pass it up as who knows when we'll get all of us together again.

Since 3/27/04 Carnival Triumph EC

Looking out for Part 2 of your review! Enjoyed Part 1!

Storm'n Norman & Skippy

The Aussie Cruise-a-holic Duo

Triumph 8th May "Cruisin KRAZY Caribe Crew" Social Directors

Cruise Photos @

http://community.webshots.com/user/stormnnorman

CHECK OUT MY PHOTOS (IN ABOVE LINK) FROM THE "STAR PRINCESS" (18TH OCTOBER 2003)!

http://community.webshots.com/user/justgotta

What did you think of the Raddison? I'll be there in a month before meeting up with Norm, Guido and the rest of the "Crusin' Krazy Caribe Crew"!!! How did you get to the port? Do they offer a shuttle?

Looking forward to the rest of your review.

Just Posting To See My Clock Tick Away!

'Til My First Cruise With The TRIUMPH'S CRUISIN KRAZY CARIBE CREW

Mel:

We are all awaiting the next "episode" of your review!

One question - do you remember which pier in Cozumel you docked at?

Thanks!

Big Red Boat 6/1989

RCCL Song of America 2/1991

Regent Rainbow 1/1992

NCL Seaward 5/1993

Carnival Fantasy 7/1993

Carnival Ecstasy 6/1994

RCCL Nordic Empress 4/1995, 7/1996, 8/1997

NCL Leeward 4/1997

RCCL Sovereign 5/1998

RCCL Nordic Empress 8/2000

RCCL Majesty 6/2003

Carnival Sensation 7/03

Glory 7/04

`Triumph 5/29

Codfish,

The Radisson was very, very nice. Only drawback is, no shuttle. Cab from airport was $20, to port was $10.

By the way, the rate card on the back of the door said $329 per night.

HTH!

Since 3/27/04 Carnival Triumph EC

Caugh - sorry I can't help with the Cozumel dock - we were on the Eastern route, San Juan/St. Thomas/St. Maarten.

Onward to:

Part 2

After lunch we went back down to our room, which was now ready for us to occupy. I unpacked the carryon, then we went back up to the Lido deck to find some family members.

Around 4:00 PM they announced that the Lifeboat Drill would be in 15 minutes, and for everyone to go get their lifejackets. I noticed that they announced that “All cabins AND balconies would be checkedâ€, so Carnival has picked up on some of the “where to hide from the drill†tidbits! It was hot and boring, but only lasted about 15 minutes, so it wasn’t completely intolerable.

Time to set sail! We headed for the Sky deck to watch the departure. Idiot me left my sunglasses in the room when I took back my lifejacket, so I ran down, then back up, 12 flights of stairs to get them (elevators were very busy with luggage deliveries). My calves were sore the next day!

Speaking of luggage, 2 of our 3 pieces showed up quickly, but the last didn’t…and didn’t…and didn’t. Info desk told us to give it until 8:00. Around 7:00 Harry went back up to check the “lost luggage†pile just across from the info desk. He happened to see into the purser’s office as someone was going in, and there was our missing luggage! Apparently it had been forced open (for search?), and the searcher couldn’t get it closed again. One of the latches is slightly bent, but I was able to get it to latch, so no major problem there. I was briefly upset, as the luggage was NOT locked (sampsonite hardside), but figured that in the process of loading/unloading the locks must have accidentally been rolled off the zeros. Fortunately nothing was missing, so we unpacked & went to dinner. I did complain to the info desk but got the impression of "too bad". Since the damage was so minor we decided to just let it ride.

Meals in general: we ate dinner in the dining room every night. I’ve seen some discussion about shorts. The Triumph definitely allowed shorts on casual nights, regardless of what the Capers said; on San Juan night, I saw a “gentleman†seated in cutoffs and a tank top. Yikes. But I’m not going to let anyone’s attire ruin good food! The food was always very good; special mention goes to the MahiMahi, Prime Rib, and Chateaubriand. Not to mention the Lobster! Harry and I usually ordered one entrée apiece then split a 3rd to “tasteâ€, but on Lobster night I ate 2 tails. Breakfast & lunch were Lido/South Beach Club, except for Friday when we ate lunch in the dining room.

John Heald’s welcome aboard was very entertaining, although knowing about “Willie Banger†and “Dick Wooden†from CC definitely took some of the mirth out of the show for me. But Harry laughed so hard I thought he would cry! And we had a very large gentleman on board by the name of Bobby. Bobby’s wife Alycia was one of the women that John pulled from the audience to question on stage. When he asked her if her husband was romantic, she replied “Hell no!â€. John then got Bobby on stage and had him go through a routine to let Alycia know he loved her. Bobby repeated this several times throughout the cruise, to the amusement of his fellow passengers. For being such a good sport and playing along with John so well, Bobby & Alycia received all sorts of goodies, including jewelry, on Friday. Both of them were virtually in tears. John said he was going to try to get them a free cruise as well. I hope he does.

After the show we were tired from the busy embarkation, so we retired to our room.

Monday at sea was very pleasant, although the high winds we had experienced in Miami followed us out to sea. The waterslide and funnel deck remained closed due to the winds. Chairs around the central pool were mainly saved, but the rear pool had plenty available. We lounged in the sun for a bit, then had a bit of lunch. We decided to check out the art auction for a little free champagne, and stayed to buy a couple of small pieces we liked. We ended up attending 3 of the 4 auctions and won some free art in the process!

Sunday night was another enjoyable dinner, afterwards we wandered through the shops and lounges for a bit. Sat and chatted with family for a while, then turned in.

Monday remained breezy, but calmer than Sunday, so the slide & funnel decks were open. We spent an hour or so sunning on the funnel deck. I only saw a couple of “lost my wife†men wander through, so it was very peaceful. Then we lounged on Lido with some of the family until we arrived in San Juan.

San Juan is pretty much a waste of time. I vote for Carnival to just skip it altogether and head straight for St. Thomas. Getting off the ship was a nightmare – we had 3230 passengers – there was only about 45 minutes of daylight left, and the majority of the shops were closed. We did a quick trot up to San Cristobel, took a few pictures, then strolled back down through the old city, bought a couple bottles of booze and got back on board for dinner. My entire family (20 people excepting myself and Harry) had opted for the “Old San Juan Tour†John had hyped. They were very unhappy with it, and later complained to the info desk until they received 50% credits. Apparently the bus drivers simply drove them through the old city; no history/commentary, nothing. For $30 per person Carnival really needs to find another tour provider. I was relieved that Harry and I had passed on the tour. Thanks again Cruise Critic!

Coming up next: Part 3, St. Thomas/St. Maarten!

Since 3/27/04 Carnival Triumph EC

Part 3, St. Thomas/St. Maarten!

We awoke next morning as we arrived in St. Thomas. We grabbed some breakfast in the South Beach club, then collected our snorkeling gear and left the ship. Originally we had planned to go to St. John with some of the family, but they got confused with the time (we set our clocks to Island Time –AST - for St. Thomas & St. Maarten). So Harry and I struck out on our own. We took a taxi over to Red Hook, then ferried over to St. John. While I had heard great things about Trunk Bay, I knew with 4 ships in port it would be fairly crowded, so I had visited the www.***** website and researched other beaches. Waterlemon beach is on the far side of St. John, and was rated as “excellent†for snorkeling. Taxi to Waterlemon was $20 for the two of us, but it was worth it! I had never snorkeled before, and it took me about 15 minutes before I started getting the hang of it. Then I had a blast! Waterlemon is quite rocky, which made for excellent snorkeling in the shallows – in water from around 3 to 8 feet deep, we saw tons of seaurchins, a few cucumbers, brain coral, fan coral, and fish, fish and more fish! I even saw a smallish sea turtle, so close I could have touched it.

After a couple of hours of snorkeling we were getting waterlogged, so we decided to head back for St. Thomas. Our taxi driver had warned us that we probably wouldn’t catch a return trip if we stayed at the road end (Leicester Beach), but told us to walk the ½ mile back to the main road & flag a taxi there. This worked out great, we only had to wait maybe 5 or 10 minutes, and the return trip only cost us $10.

We elected to take the long ferry back to Charlotte Amalie, which gave us a little time to rest up before we shopped! In Charlotte Amalie we went to Del Sol, for the “solar change†items, then to AH Riise to buy booze (St. Thomas limit is 5 liters plus 1 made in St. Thomas). Unfortunately, it was after 2:00 PM, which is when they stop sending booze to the ship for you. Since we were now laden with snorkeling gear and a box containing six liters of alcohol, we decided to catch a taxi for the ship.

Back on board, showered and refreshed, we headed to the Lido deck to find some of the family. Spent a pleasant hour or so listening to the Reggae, then went to the room for a short nap before dinner. After another fine dinner, we attended the Kevin & Caruso magic show, which I must say is just as great as everyone says! We were seated in the balcony – my parents were in the lower level, and my dad got to test the “Spikes of Death†with a balloon. Wish I had a picture of that!

After the show we headed for bed so we could rest up for St. Maarten.

Wednesday morning we were up fairly early again, so we could take advantage of all the port time. St. Maarten was even more beautiful than St. John – I could spend all day just soaking in the amazing shades of turquoise in the water! The water taxi from the pier to downtown was very handy. Once again we missed most of the family, which turned out to be a shame, as they had rented a van (8 couples) and traversed the island, snorkeling at Dawn Beach and shopping along the way. But Harry and I thoroughly enjoyed shopping; I got an early birthday present at Tanzanite International, Harry got a new watch, and we picked up a print from “The Yoda Guy†(the artist who created Yoda for Star Wars) and some excellent, if expensive, Dutch Chocolate. We walked to Guavaberry and sampled their goods; I had a Guavaberry Colada, which was very tasty. We decided to taxi back to the boat and had a very good sandwich from the NY deli, then taxied back to town to wander for a couple more hours. I purchased a liter of Godiva Liquer for $12.95. We ended up at Everythin’s Cool, where I had a delicious concoction advertised as a “Pain Killerâ€. It is very effective!

We had been told to be back to the ship by 4:30 PM, so around 3:45 we headed back to the water taxi. Good thing, as the lines were extremely long – it took almost 30 minutes to get on a taxi! There were four ships in port, so the taxis were quite busy.

I could easily have abandoned ship and stayed in St. Maarten. Sigh.

We enjoyed a wonderful dinner with the family, everyone trading stories and all of “the girls†showing off new jewelry, then retired rather early as it had been a busy day.

Stay tuned!

Since 3/27/04 Carnival Triumph EC