Carnival Triumph Review 10-02-10!

Cruisers on this trip were ME! (Jess-23) and my boyfriend (Ramsey-25). We live in Shreveport, LA and were cruising out of New Orleans, LA. It's normally about 4 1/2 to 5 hours to drive down. We're extremely lucky and Ramsey has family that lives in New Orleans so that equals free parking and free hotel! Plus family time of course lol. But this cruise left on a Saturday, we had planned on waking up and leaving Shreveport around 5am Saturday morning. But as it got closer to the cruise I started thinking about how I really didn't want to get up and leave that early and be that tired on Saturday and miss most of the activities that night like we did last year. (We took the exact same cruise, same ports and everything, last August on Fantasy). So I asked for Friday off at work so I could spend an extra day doing last minute things and we wanted to take my son to lunch wherever he wanted since we were leaving him at home with my parents for the week. He's 4, and we gave him the option of ANYWHERE he wanted to eat. Where does he pick? Why Mcdonalds of course! So Friday we spent a lazy morning, I went in and took a test at 9am, and did some last minute running around. We went to McDonalds and got everything in the car.

All the luggage ready to be put in the car (and our cat).... All the blue is mine.... the pretty pink bag is a gift for my best friend's little girl, her birthday was the weekend we were leaving..... and the one red suitcase is Ramsey's. I don't pack light....

We met my mom at 4pm and dropped of my son, I almost cried but he was so excited to be spending the week with Nana and Papa that he barely noticed we were leaving. And we were on the road!

Ramsey is excited!

We stop for a coke around Natchitoches, are we there yet? Not even close....

We get closer and closer, get off of I49 and onto I10 and hit this

Just past Lafayette it's nothing but brake lights for miles. We were at a dead stop for a good 20 minutes, then creeped along for another 20. It was horrible. We saw people get out of their car and walk their dog, get out and talk to eachother, just walk around..... I was pretty miserable.

But we're trying to be excited still!

Ramsey trying to stay excited.....

Me trying to stay excited.... but I've been driving for hours. I'm tired and hungry...

Awww...ya'll look cute & ready to have a good time...can't wait to hear more.

~j

But.... in front of us was this awesome truck. This is the best pic I could get of the tail gate. Geaux LSU!

FINALLY!

Ok, so we make it into Metarie, LA around 11pm, tired and hungry. We were staying with his aunt and uncle and they're awesome and had sandwiches with New Orleans french bread waiting for us. I love them! We ate, talked for a little bit, and settled in for bed. We slept in until about 9 the next morning and then just hung out at the house, I spent an hour or so freaking out trying to make sure I had everything we needed and making sure everything was being taken care of back home. We left for the port at 12pm. We're able to be excited again! On the way I see it!

There was a long line, but it went extremely fast. Total time was about 30 minutes through all the lines on the first floor (Checking bags, going through security, etc.) On the second floor where you check in, get Sail and Sign cards, and actually board they were handing out the boarding zone signs. The guy handing them out seemed tired and like he'd been yelled at all day. He apologized to us and said they were running behind, asked if we could take a seat, gave us boarding zone #4 cards. No biggie, we smiled and said thanks! And had a seat, it seemed like there were some people who were getting upset because they were asked to wait, and I don't understand why because we waited MAYBE 15-20 minutes. Then we went through the line where you show your passport, set up your on board account, and then it was onto the ship! Total boarding time, I think around an hour. Not bad. On the way onto the ship we saw luggage

When we got on we were told that our rooms were ready, but that they recommended we go up to Lido deck first so that we could avoid the crowds. Well our room was on Lido so we were headed that way anyway!

Ramsey running toward the room

Me following behind

Quick review on just the room:

We got a category 4J, it's priced as an interior, but it's all the way at the front of the ship and has a window. BUT the window looks out over an observation deck. During the day, not a big deal because you can't see in unless the lights are turned on inside and you're pressing your face into the window, and even then it's hard to see. But at night..... Keep the curtains closed! It was pretty tiny, but the bathroom space was pretty good sized. Having that open deck literally steps away was great because we were able to walk out there whenever we wanted and there was hardly ever anyone out there. We watched us docking in Cozumel and it was just the 2 of us and I think 3 other people. We were on deck 9, the Lido deck. This was probably the BEST part about the room, easy access to everything.

Room #9201

View from the door, the bed is right there as you walk in, you can't see the closet but it's immediately on the left. To the right of that table is the area with the vanity

Which looks like this

They really should get new tvs though, these were pretty old and if it was bumpy at all the picture would bounce.

To the left in the bathroom, sink

The bed was awesome.... Ramsey enjoyed it

The deck outside the room is really big, like I said, there's barely ever anyone out there.

And you can't beat the view

View out the window onto the observation deck, while still in the Mississippi

On with the rest of the view!

Ok so we check out the room and head right down the hall to the main pool area and then to the aft to get FOOD!

View of the Mississippi (on the deck outside the room, all the way forward)

Down the other side, towards the riverwalk and downtown

We went back to the room after food time and Ramsey's first surprise was there! Our 2 year anniversary is October 11 so we were celebrating!

They were delicious!

We did the safety briefing, which was really short and to the point and great since we didn't have to go find life jackets, although we did check and make sure that they were there in the room and that we knew how to use them! It was time for the CC meet and greet after muster, in the aft part of the Lido deck. We forgot our mardi gras beads but it was really nice to get to know everyone! This cruise was a lot more fun since we actually knew people on board and were able to hang out and talk with everyone. At some point during the meet and greet I realized we were taking off. These are the only 2 pics I took lol.

Not so great.... but we were having fun!

Back to the room to unpack and change for dinner! Yes, I brought a lot of shoes. Yes, a lot of people made fun of me. But I wore them all.... except one pair. And they all fit in the closet.

I'm not sure what he is, but this little guy was waiting for us. A puppy I think?

We went to dinner, I don't remember what we had because I didn't take pictures.... but we walked around the ship, had a few drinks and talked with a bar tender for a while. For the rest of the week we purposely sought him out to ask how his day was, he seemed to not like many of the unruly kids there. And I don't blame him. He was really nice to us though! We went to bed around 1 or 2 in the morning.....

Loving your review so far!!!!:D

I'm not sure what he is, but this little guy was waiting for us. A puppy I think?

 

 

An Elephant!!! Great review so far.. we sail on the Triumph at the end of this month. Can't wait....

Loving this so far. We sail on Triumph in 3 weeks so I am really appreciating all of the pictures!

Great review so far, cant wait to hear the rest.

Excellent job so far. Would like to hear a little more about the motion in the room. My wife and I are sailing on the Triumph in Feb. and we actually have room 9202 booked. We stayed in a 4H this past Jan and decided to try the 4J for our next cruise. Concerned if you can feel much more motion being in the very front of the ship. I also agree, Lido deck is the absolute best deck to stay on.

I don't know if the motion came from being in the front, or if it was just that we were so high up. We would walk down a few floors and things would get better, but I was going to do more in the review but I'll just talk about it now lol. The night we left Progreso to head towards Cozumel the water was pretty rough, everyone was talking about it. That night while taking a shower, my shampoo kept falling off that little metal rack and onto me, I felt like I had to wedge myself into the corner to feel stable, and it still didn't feel that great. Walking around made everyone look like they were drunk because of the swaying and you could see the liquid in glasses moving back and forth. We took motion sickness pills and never got sick, but it was definitely disorientating. But like I said, I don't think being in the front had anything to do with it, we would walk towards the aft of the ship and the feeling didn't change any so I think it was just that we were so high up.

I have to go to class but I'll try and do more later!

very nice...but it looks like they need to clean the windows!

lol probably wouldn't hurt

I am enjoying your review. Thank you for sharing.

I am really enjoying your review and can't wait for more. I had to laugh about all the shoes. love itl

Hi Jess, it's good to see another Shreveporter on here. I'll be making the trip down south in 6 weeks...leaving on the Triumph on Nov. 27th. This will be my second trip on her, and I'm looking forward to it. I'm also staying on the Lido deck, but I have a balcony room. Gotta love having a room on the Lido deck!!

I'm looking forward to the rest of your review.

I had a friend on this sailing and she too said that it was choppy when leaving Progresso.

Love seeing all the pictures, as we will be on Triumph in 38 days!

More, more, more :)

Thank you for posting this! Just booked a 4 night cruise today on this ship for Dec. 2. We're near Baton Rouge, so I'm looking forward for the relatively short drive to get there :)

 

 

Back to the room to unpack and change for dinner! Yes, I brought a lot of shoes. Yes, a lot of people made fun of me. But I wore them all.... except one pair. And they all fit in the closet.

 

 

A girl after my own heart!! Love all the pictures - keep 'em coming!!

My first 7-day! Can't wait to read the rest of your review!

Ok continuing....

Woke up on Sunday, the first full day at sea. This was formal night and we're totally unpacked, I was psyched before leaving for the cruise because I had this amazing new purple dress and silver heels that I wanted to wear for formal night. On the way down to New Orleans, Ramsey realizes that he forgot.... pants. Yes. All he had were shorts and a pair of jeans. Good job Ramsey.... To be fair he did say we could stop on the way down and buy some, but we were already running late and I didn't want to. So no biggie..... But we knew early in the day that we'd be skipping formal night dinner and decided to just roam around the ship.

We went to Lido and had breakfast, complete with this totally awesome view

nom nom nom....

There was someone serving the bacon, but they obviously had no problem with you getting several pieces at once because the lady tried to give me an enormous clump of bacon. I asked for just one piece instead....

One of my favorite things on the ship was the coffee bar, they had excellent hot chocolate and the hard serve type of ice cream that you have to scoop out. I tried a white chocolate cake from there but I didn't like it. I bought a hot chocolate every day, they're around $3.00 for a good sized cup and it comes with whipped cream and chocolate syrup drizzled on top. It's delicious..... You do have to walk through the casino to get from one side of the promenade deck to the other, there's a walkway but it's only a few feet wide and you might as well be walking through the casino anyway. It never smelled like heavy smoke though so I can't say that it ever bothered us. We would sit along the windows and drink hot chocolate and tea and just watch the ocean go by, this was a daily ritual.

Looking to the right, towards the front of the boat (Ramsey loved the "reese's cup" tables)

To the left, towards the aft, at the end you can see the California Wine Bar and the room with the hole looking things in the wall is the Hollywood Dance Club

Something I noticed on the ship that was interesting, there are no room #13s and there isn't a deck #13.

We pretty much just wandered the ship, trying to get oriented with it, which never really happened. I don't know why but we were never really able to get a hang of it and continuously walked in circles. I don't know if it was us or the layout but it annoyed me a little. But on this sea day they had the pool games and the hairy man contest! The hairy man contest- funniest thing I've ever seen. The staff on this ship were amazing, there seemed to always be something fun going on and this was no exception. The whole deck was into it and were cheering the contestants on and the winner ended up doing a booty dance and "the worm" to win. It was great. One of the guys we ended up sitting next to at Buddy's in Progreso and he had no idea that it was taped, an older lady came up to him and told him she enjoyed his performance and that she saw it on tv. His eyes were as big as base balls, it was hilarious. After the contest we wandered some more, grabbed lunch in the lido

Had an excellent view again

On a side note, I really became a fan of the ham and cheese sandwiches. I normally don't like mayonnaise, but these were pretty dang good and I had one daily. We got room service every night, Ramsey would always order something different and I would try some of his but I got a grilled ham and cheese every night for a late night snack, and during lunch sometimes too....

We hung out on the deck for a little bit....

Shot of the atrium area

Everyone started walking around in their dresses and tuxes, a LOT of people went all out for the formal night. I got sad since I couldn't wear my dress.... So we went to the room and watched some tv and hung out. I tried to use the internet but it was down. We really did have a good time just wandering and hanging out even though we didn't participate in the elegant night. We eventually went up to the Lido for dinner and they had the beef that they were offering in the main dining room. We ate and watched the sunset.