Triumph Vs Fantasy, Plus A Review of Our Days in Key West, Nassau, and Freeport

[Rowan555]

After 11 cruises on Fantasy, we took our first on the Triumph - and I thought I'd share my thoughts on the differences b/t the two ships for other cruisers who are coming to the Triumph after having a 3 year love affair with the Fantasy :-)

 

First off, I'd like to say we had a wonderful 7 days on the Triumph, and we'll sail her again. I'd like to give a shout-out to Calvyn from the Fun Patrol, who was the highlight of our entire week on the Triumph. Often, we don't participate in any of the games on board - I'm so glad we did this time, because Calvyn was fabulous and we will miss him. If you sail on the Triumph, be sure to play the various trivia games, and tell Calvyn that Susan and Greg say HI! With that said, here are my thoughts on the Fantasy v. the Triumph, going through the various areas, activities, etc.

 

Atrium - When you walk up the gangway, you immediately notice a huge difference - the lobby deck has an outer walkway, and when you enter the atrium it is much larger and more impressive than the Fantasy. You will also notice a much more subdued color scheme than on other Carnival ships, and this is fairly consistent throughout the ship.

 

Dining Rooms - one more area where post-Fantasy class ships are superior. The two level dining rooms are much more open and attractive, and the servers seem to have more workspace for their trays, etc. The dining rooms are a clear win on the Triumph. I do miss Jogi and Stan from the Fantasy, though - on each cruise one or the other (depending on dining room) would stop by our table numerous times and they were both very warm and friendly. Mustafa, our Maitre' D in the London Dining room, was a complete jerk and was downright rude to us. Tomi, our headwaiter, had been on the Fantasy for a few years also, and I recognized him right away - he was wonderful, as I'm sure most of the other waitstaff were.

 

Promenade Deck - The Fantasy wins on this one. I love the decor, and the promenade deck seems much wider and roomier on the Fantasy. On the Triumph, it is extremely narrow and gets congested easily. On nights the photo stations were set up, you literally had to walk single file to get past the photo areas. Even when they weren't set up, one or two slow people could clog up the entire promenade deck, preventing anyone from getting past them. The area of tables and chairs across from the casino on the Fantasy is replaced by a single row of chairs, tiny tables, and a long sofa along the windows. This makes socializing difficult and makes the trivia games rather awkward, as instead of clustering around the host, everyone is lined up along the windows on either side of the small stage. And when karaoke is taking place on the Promenade Deck, it becomes uncomfortably crowded very easily.

 

Casino - the casino seems larger on the Triumph - I believe most of this extra size is used for additional slot machines rather than table games. I don't use the casino, though, so I'm not 100% sure. I did notice several people using the casino as their own little "smoking area" and they would stand right inside the casino, blowing smoke out onto the Promenade deck. As narrow as the walkway is, the smoke would end up in our faces, and my son (who has asthma) would begin to cough. This made me think of the Dream's policy of people only being allowed to smoke in the smoking area of the casino if they are playing a game - I would love to see this enforced fleetwide. Even a small handful of rude smokers abusing the casino for their own personal smoking area can ruin the area which is used for trivia and karaoke.

 

Gift Shops - I think the jewelry shop on the Triumph is a bit larger, with a larger selection, than the Fantasy. I believe the liquor shop and souvenir shop are about the same size. There is no dedicated "$10 Shop" on the Triumph - the $10 items are located in the back of the jewelry shop. The Formalities shop is TINY on the Triumph, but I'm not sure anyone cares much about that shop anyway, other than to run in and buy some candy by the pound.

 

Cafe - The Cafe on the Triumph has ice cream and gelato in addition to the regular cafe items on the Fantasy. I never saw anyone purchasing any. The cafe does not have the two flatscreen tv's like the Fantasy does. There is one tv in the casino bar, though.

 

Piano Bar - There was no piano player in the bar this entire cruise (and if there was, I somehow missed him/her every single time I walked past each night). People would use the room to sit and talk, but there weren't any bar servers in there, and the room never seemed to be officially used for anything but private parties. The piano bar on the Fantasy was always packed and hopping every night, so this was a bit of a shock for me.

 

Venezia Lounge - I believe this is supposed to be the counterpart to Cat's Lounge on the Triumph, but there were hardly ever any people in there. I believe this may be due to the fact that there was a very large Zydeco group on this cruise, and there seemed to be more "private parties" in all the aft lounges than actual events for the rest of the passengers. I will have to re-assess this on a future cruise. I rarely saw many people in there unless it was a private party going on.

 

Club Rio Aft Lounge - much larger than the Forum Lounge. I feel the Forum Lounge is one of the areas of the Fantasy which needs improvement - it's too small for nightly karaoke, and it feels more like a conference room than a lounge. The Rio Lounge is a bit more festive in tone and much larger - however it easily fills up when there is something taking place - so if you want to attend karaoke or a show back there, arrive early. Twice we had to stand for performances (A Kiss Goodnight, the "burlesque" show, and the late night comedy, were both standing room only a full 15 minutes early). I also found that there were fewer hours for karaoke each night than on the Fantasy (no more "Superstar" either - lol) - some nights it was only 90 minutes, compared to 4 or 5 hours on the Fantasy. Again, this may have been due to the MANY private parties going on each night on the ship.

 

Oxford Lounge - This is a true gem on the Triumph, and there isn't a comparable space on the Fantasy. It's hidden away on Deck 4 Aft, so not too much happens there. I believe they should utilize this amazing space much more for the daytime trivia, rather than having it at the casino bar area. There's ample space for a large group to play games, and it's easier to hear without the slot machines constantly going off.

 

Hollywood Disco - Larger than the Electricity Disco on the Fantasy, but very poorly laid out and desperately in need of a makeover. The revamped Electricity Disco may be small, but it's attractive and comfortable. The Hollywood Disco has a larger dance floor and bar, but the room is quite aesthetically unappealing, and we spent much less time in the disco than we have on any Fantasy cruise as a result. The upside? A MUCH lower bar tab :)

 

Lido Deck Pool Areas - The Triumph has three pools to the Fantasy's one, so I noticed the pools were a lot less crowded. May also be because it was COLD :) - but the additional pools are nice. My kids missed the waterworks area, though, and my daughter pronounced that in comparison, the Triumph's slide is "slow and lame." I concur. The Seaside Theater is a nice addition which the Fantasy Lacks, but they played some dvd of sea life all day every day, and played concerts almost every night (including two nights in a row of, ironically, "Bee Gees - One Night Only"). I'd have liked to sit out and enjoy a movie, but the selections were things like Hotel For Dogs and Escape From Witch Mountain. No thanks!

 

South Beach Club Lido Restaurant - this is one area which I have to say the Fantasy FAR surpassed the Triumph. With the addition of the Stir Fry and Rotisserie stations on the Fantasy, as well as the addition of some extra omelet stations when the ship was refurbished, I felt there were ample dining options. We always found something we liked to eat, and we rarely waited in a long line (particularly if we arrived right when lunch began). On the Triumph, the lunch lines formed 10 minutes before the buffet opened, and by noon there were easily a hundred people in each line. The lines would form all the way up the hall, making it difficult to get to the deli or the Hong Kong Noodle Company if you wanted to just grab something there and avoid the buffet lines. The salad bars are at the beginning of each buffet line (on the Fantasy they are on the center island). This seems to make the lines MUCH, MUCH slower. We ended up skipping the buffet altogether because it was just too stressful waiting in lines with throngs of people just to have lunch. I believe the Triumph could do this better by moving the fresh fruit to the buffet line and having a slightly smaller salad bar in the center island where the fruit now is. The layout of the seating area is equally cramped and illogical, so that it seems overly crowded even when it's not. If we cruise the Triumph again we will plan on dining in the main dining room for breakfast and lunch to avoid this stress - with kids this time around, it was easier to just grab a slice of pizza and go sit somewhere else.

 

Show Lounge - The show lounge on the Triumph is larger than Fantasy, with a bigger stage, better orchestra area, better lighting, and the addition of pyrotechnics. I do miss the round booth areas the Fantasy has, but I think they needed to maximize the seating capacity by eliminating those booths. I will add, for those of you cruising soon, that I feel the current male and female singers on board are horrendously bad to the point of being embarrassing - hopefully their contracts will end soon and better singers will replace them. And for anyone local to New Orleans - the second production show is Big Easy, and I was quite excited to see it. It was almost shockingly bad. The sets were pretty impressive, but the show itself, IMO, will not live up to the expectations of a NOLA crowd. I asked quite a few locals the next day what they thought of the show, and mostly they just laughed and shook their heads. Triumph might feel it's perfect having this show on a ship out of New Orleans, but they should seriously consider moving it to another ship and replacing it with something else the next time that option is available. Unless, of course, the Magic will be coming to take its place year after next (pleasepleasepleaseplease)...

 

Mini Golf - The mini golf on the Triumph is nowhere near as nice as the one on Fantasy. It is very cramped, with the holes almost on top of each other, and the theming is completely lacking. My kids love mini golf, but they didn't ask once to play after they saw it.

 

Ping Pong - there is one table on Triumph vs two on Fantasy, but the Deck 12 location rendered it available almost all the time. Sadly, there were often no balls available to play with!

 

Camp Carnival, Circle C, Club O2 - about the same on both ships according to my children.

 

Past Guest Party - about the same, although it seemed there were many more trays of food than drinks circulating. I enjoyed the little game on the stage at the end - don't know if this is a new fleetwide thing, or something unique to Triumph - but if you are at the party and he asks people to come up on stage and play a game, go ahead and do it! It's trivia about the history of Carnival and nothing embarrassing. I refused to go up b/c I was convinced they'd make us dance! But nope, just trivia with two answers to select from for each question. The winner received a prize basket worth $100.

 

Debarkation - seems because the ship is larger, debarkation will begin later on the Triumph. 8 AM vs 7 AM or so on the Fantasy. So keep this in mind. Platinum self assist no longer has a dedicated waiting area, which made us a little nervous about being forgotten about - but just make sure the social host in the Rome Lounge knows you're platinum and taking your own luggage off, and they will make sure you are off the ship first. Not too many people were self-assisting on this 7 day itinerary - maybe 200 people total - so self assist is the way to go if you can do it.

 

I will post my thoughts on the ports in a later post - this took a bit longer than anticipated! Any questions? Ask away!

[firefly333]

WOW Im not happy the shows are that bad. I love the singing and dancing shows and they are important to me. Ill be on Triumph in less than 2 weeks.

[GayleR]

Thanks for the review. We are going on the Triumph Christmas week. How was the food in the dining room? We've been on the Victory and the Conquest so we are used to the "thin" promenade area.....and the long lines in the buffet.....we like to eat in the dining room as often as we can so we don't eat too often in the buffet.

[Rowan555]

Thanks for the review. We are going on the Triumph Christmas week. How was the food in the dining room? We've been on the Victory and the Conquest so we are used to the "thin" promenade area.....and the long lines in the buffet.....we like to eat in the dining room as often as we can so we don't eat too often in the buffet.

 

Dining Room was great - on par with any Fantasy cruise we've taken. I think you will have a great time since you know what to expect and are planning on eating in the dining room more often than the buffet! We're looking at booking a Triumph cruise in February and that will be our plan as well.

[kady912]

i am disappointed to hear about the shows. i will be on the triumph december 12 and again on january 16th. different people with me so i will have to go to the shows twice.

 

i'm hoping to get on the fantasy before it leaves mobile.

[whendoweleave?]

(And I'm on the Fantasy March 8 before she leaves Mobile!) It seems the crews and performers change at the end of the year, so hopefully, they will be better in January! Anybody have any actual experience with this?

[jennbill]

Have they rolled out the anytime dining option on the Triumph yet? Did it on the Legend in September and loved it. Thinking about doing a four nighter (first time ever) in late January and then a few days in NOLA.

[jessemon]

Great review. I really like the way you compare the ships.....Good job.....

 

I love the Fantasy Class ships. Not too big...not too small. Love the layouts of the ships. I have been on the Fantasy twice and also the Sensation and Inspiration once. I will be on the Fantasy again for my third time on a Cruise Critic group cruise out of Charleston next September.....

[bethgio33]

Thanks for the review. I will be on this cruise on Dec. 12th!

Looking forward to your review of the ports.

[BooBooMonkey]

Thanks for the awesome review Rowan!

We are looking at the 4-5 day itineraries from NO and Mobile on Triumph and Fantasy for next spring. You have done an excellent job describing the good/bad points of each. I know how long it takes to post a detailed review, and I really appreciate your hard work on this one.

 

We have done several Fantasy class cruises, and one on Costa Fortuna, which I believe is either the same class as Triumph or maybe in the Spirit class. I would agree that the traffic patterns on the inside decks is better on the Fantasy class. We too had issues with bottlenecks moving through the inside promenade deck.

 

What about the cabins? Did you notice any differences?

 

Boo

[Rowan555]

The cabins are one area where Triumph wins over Fantasy - oceanview cabins are larger and have a sofa, and of course there are many more balcony cabins (and you don't have to book a "suite" to get a balcony). Our cabin was 1002 and was AMAZING. It was all the way forward, but the seas were so smooth we rarely felt even a slight movement. The room was much larger than a regular oceanview and had a huge bathroom. The room next to us (1004, I believe) was also very large and kind of triangular shaped. We peeked in when it was being cleaned and thought it was a really great room to have as well.

[BooBooMonkey]

The cabins are one area where Triumph wins over Fantasy - oceanview cabins are larger and have a sofa, and of course there are many more balcony cabins (and you don't have to book a "suite" to get a balcony). Our cabin was 1002 and was AMAZING. It was all the way forward, but the seas were so smooth we rarely felt even a slight movement. The room was much larger than a regular oceanview and had a huge bathroom. The room next to us (1004, I believe) was also very large and kind of triangular shaped. We peeked in when it was being cleaned and thought it was a really great room to have as well.

 

Thanks Rowan.

We had that triangular room on the Costa Fortuna. It was big and the bathroom was HUGE! Larger than ours at home. It was a handicap accessible room though, so that's why the bathroom was enormous. I wish I had taken pictures of it because it was unbelievably big for a cruise ship bathroom. BTW...we didn't request an accessible room...it was assigned to us. Those corner front of ship rooms do not have the ability to put the beds together to make one queen/king. The beds were literally fastened to the floor. Nice to have two windows in the room and quick access to the "secret" deck out front though.

 

I probably wouldn't ever book a cabin so far forward again. We had rough seas on our cruise...not fun at all. Plus, we were assigned to the aft dining room...go figure! I wondered how a person in a wheelchair would fare making it down that long hallway with all the steward stuff, left over room service trays, etc. in the way. The forward bank of elevators was pretty far away too.

 

Again, thanks so much for comparing these two ships. Now I just need to decide already and book something!

 

Boo

[BarbaraSails]

Thanks for such a great, detailed review Rowan. I'm so excited about having the Triumph here and totally hyped about my upcoming NYE cruise on her.

 

I'm a Fantasy lover like you so I understand how you feel about her. I just hope the kinks that can be worked out will be done soon. I'll be sailing with three first-time cruisers and I'm hoping their first cruise will be just as magical as mine!

 

I mentioned in another thread that I think we're likely neighbors by the way you described going to the levee to see the Triumph sailing in. Are you in "The Point" too? :)

[Rowan555]

Thanks for such a great, detailed review Rowan. I'm so excited about having the Triumph here and totally hyped about my upcoming NYE cruise on her.

 

I'm a Fantasy lover like you so I understand how you feel about her. I just hope the kinks that can be worked out will be done soon. I'll be sailing with three first-time cruisers and I'm hoping their first cruise will be just as magical as mine!

 

I mentioned in another thread that I think we're likely neighbors by the way you described going to the levee to see the Triumph sailing in. Are you in "The Point" too? :)

 

 

I'm actually in Belle Chasse, so not too terribly far away! Hope you have a great cruise. We're casually considering another cruise on the Triumph in January or February, but I think we may have to just wait and look for any last minute bookings, as with our Dream and Disney trip in April, planning another trip in b/t now and then is a bit tricky!

[Rowan555]

Thanks Rowan.

We had that triangular room on the Costa Fortuna. It was big and the bathroom was HUGE! Larger than ours at home. It was a handicap accessible room though, so that's why the bathroom was enormous. I wish I had taken pictures of it because it was unbelievably big for a cruise ship bathroom. BTW...we didn't request an accessible room...it was assigned to us. Those corner front of ship rooms do not have the ability to put the beds together to make one queen/king. The beds were literally fastened to the floor. Nice to have two windows in the room and quick access to the "secret" deck out front though.

 

 

Boo

 

I want to point out that on the Triumph, the Panorama Deck triangular staterooms DO have beds which can be put together to make a king. I believe the Lido Deck staterooms are as you describe, but I'm not positive. We did look into the triangular room and the beds were pushed together. Just mentioning this in case anyone is considering booking one of those rooms - all of the cabins along that forward hallway on Panorama have beds which DO push together.

[BarbaraSails]

I'm actually in Belle Chasse, so not too terribly far away! Hope you have a great cruise. We're casually considering another cruise on the Triumph in January or February, but I think we may have to just wait and look for any last minute bookings, as with our Dream and Disney trip in April, planning another trip in b/t now and then is a bit tricky!

 

OK! well, I hope you'll get to sneak in a last minute cruise. That's one reason I'm really happy about the Triumph; I love the diversity in the itinerary offering 4, 5 and 7 day cruises!

 

Thanks again for your review. Excellent work and a fine eye for detail.

[lappy22]

Loved your review of the two ships. Although we have never been on the Fantasy or the Triumph, we have been on 3 Fantasy class ships and the Victory and could picture everything you spoke of. Thanks again.

[dixiebelle365]

Great review!!! Thanks for the info! :)

 

I have a quick question when you get a sec, though. Did you have to take the life jacket to the muster? LOL. I'm really hoping not! ;)

[Rowan555]

Great review!!! Thanks for the info! :)

 

I have a quick question when you get a sec, though. Did you have to take the life jacket to the muster? LOL. I'm really hoping not! ;)

 

Nope - it's now called a "safety briefing" and was short and sweet with no lifejackets!

[dixiebelle365]

Nope - it's now called a "safety briefing" and was short and sweet with no lifejackets!

 

Wonderful!!! At 5' 1/2", I'm all about short and sweet! :D

[Magic City Cruiser]

Great review and just what I was looking for if I had thought to ask! My "Friend's Cruise" is sailing on the Triumph this October. It will be our fitth annual cruise after sailing the Holiday and Fantasy twice. We live in Birmingham so like to cruise out of New Orleans or Mobile as it makes an easy trip.

We loved both Fantasy and Holiday but of course, the bigger Fantasy was the favorite. Your review reflects some other opinions about traffic areas and I wondered if it was going to be too difficult to navigate compared to Fantasy. Most of us eat lunch/dinner in the dining room or grab pizza to eat on the AFT deck so the buffet lines shouldn't be a problem. Did you say there was a Pizza/Sandwich area in the AFT Lido dining area like on Fantasy?

I was looking forward to movie night and I'm crossing my fingers that we have better choices than you!

We also spend a lot of time in the karaoke bar and I'm glad it's bigger and nicer than the Fantasy. I laughed out loud when you said the Forum Bar was more like a conference room! You are so right! I never could figure that out!

I was also interested in your thoughts on the room. While I know it's bigger it just seemed like the layout was more cramped than the Fantasy cabins? Of course, we have twin beds so maybe that makes a difference? Glad to know you liked the larger size!

We'll miss the Fantasy this year but look forward to a new and bigger ship this year!

The rest of the girls stuck with OV but me and my roomie have booked an extended AFT balcony and we are very excited! First time with a balcony!

Thanks again for a great review!

[CMOTO]

I will be on the Fantasy in 43 days, and I was having a hard time deciding between the Triumph and the Fantasy, after reading your review I am positive I picked the right ship for our second cruise. I still want to go on the Triumph, and every other ship, but I am sure we will be happy with this choice. Especially the part about the buffet, we like to eat and waiting that long for buffet food will make my husband cranky!!!

 

Since your a lover of the Fantasy can you give me any little tips or tricks??

 

Great review by the way, really good job comparing the two, it really helps to people like me who have only been on one cruise!!!

[Magic City Cruiser]

I will be on the Fantasy in 43 days, and I was having a hard time deciding between the Triumph and the Fantasy, after reading your review I am positive I picked the right ship for our second cruise. I still want to go on the Triumph, and every other ship, but I am sure we will be happy with this choice. Especially the part about the buffet, we like to eat and waiting that long for buffet food will make my husband cranky!!!

 

Since your a lover of the Fantasy can you give me any little tips or tricks??

 

Great review by the way, really good job comparing the two, it really helps to people like me who have only been on one cruise!!!

 

I've sailed Fantasy three times, I'll try to answer any questions you may have!

Let me list some stuff as I think of it ;)

The first night, show up at the dining room about 5 minutes late. I'm an early bird but so are a lot of folks. You'll stand in line with a CROWD of hungry folks waiting to get in the door. If you wait a few, you'll walk right in!

We love the AFT decks. I don't much like the music, games and kids on Lido, I'd rather go where it's quieter. The Serenity deck is nice but it's usually crowded, go early to get a chair. We just popped in an out of the hot tubs there. The deck above where the water works is located is actually usually very quiet and chairs are easy to find. Even with the kids the wind blowing lessens the noise and it's my fav place to hang out.

The sushi bar is a nice place for an appetizer. Get there a few minutes early if you can, the line is usually very long. You can get a carafe of Sake so I always enjoy my sushi/sake time.

I rarely do the buffet, always get pizza or a grilled sandwich from the grill in the back of the Lido dining room. I also like to go back to my cabin in the afternoon and order a nice quiet lunch from room service:). I always do the dining room for breakfast....LOVE the breakfast there and on occasion do the dining room for lunch.

Anyhoo, that's my two cents! I can't talk about shows, I don't really go, I don't go to the Casino...we mostly do karaoke, some of the girls will hang in the disco but we mostly have a late dinner, get really full, listen to some bad karaoke and then I go to bed early with a good book!

[CMOTO]

Thanks, I love reading reviews from those that have been on the ship.

 

I am REALLY looking forward to going to the Serenity Deck, but I am worried that it will be hard to find a chair, but I guess i can just go play on the slides until a chair opens!!

 

How is the pool, since there is only one, is it ALWAYS crowded, or not??

I am a pool baby and my husband is a shade seeker, so he finds our chairs and I go play!!!!

[Magic City Cruiser]

Thanks, I love reading reviews from those that have been on the ship.

 

I am REALLY looking forward to going to the Serenity Deck, but I am worried that it will be hard to find a chair, but I guess i can just go play on the slides until a chair opens!!

 

How is the pool, since there is only one, is it ALWAYS crowded, or not??

I am a pool baby and my husband is a shade seeker, so he finds our chairs and I go play!!!!

 

I would say the pool is always crowded. Maybe not IN the pool, but hard to find chairs around it. That's where you're gonna find your "chair hogs", too. I always say I'm gonna move that banana and book from a chair but I never do ;).