12/11 Triumph review - first time cruising with kids

[WeatherGeek]

We set sail on the Triumph on 12/11/10. It was my 6th cruise (all with Carnival) and my first sailing with a child - my daughter is 2.5. We were originally supposed to leave on the 12/4/10 Elation to celebrate our 5-year wedding anniversary, but on the night before sailing (the date of our anniversary), I was unfortunate enough to come down with the flu, so we canceled that sailing - and that is yet another reminder for everyone out there who thinks they are young and healthy and don’t need travel insurance: think again! It’s a wise investment for the peace of mind that comes with it. Anyway, as such, this cruise was booked at the very last minute on a really great pack & go rate.

 

We parked in the Fulton Street Garage. There was plenty of parking. You park, then pay ($10/day), then grab the shuttle, which navigates past all of the traffic and drops you off not too far from the door to the terminal. I hadn’t sailed out of New Orleans in about 7 years, so I was pleased to find the embarkation process much more efficient than what I remembered from the last time - this was also our first time sailing since they implemented the zoned boarding process and I found it to be efficient.

 

I had been in touch with the special needs department at Carnival regarding checking in at the special needs desk. My daughter is autistic (high functioning) and I knew if she was having a bad day, she would have difficulty with the check-in process and waiting to board, so I requested special needs check-in. As I don’t like to play the special needs card unless I have to, I knew that if she were having a good day, we wouldn’t use it - and it turned out we didn’t need to as she was having an excellent day thus far. The line for check-in for decks 8-11 was very short and we were in and out of the line quickly. It was only then that we saw the check-in line for folks with special needs and it was very long, much longer than the line for decks 8-11 to check in when we joined it.

 

Fairly soon after that, they started calling zones and after maybe 20 minutes, our zone (16) was called. I realize we could have gotten on the ship faster had we done special needs check-in, but it ended up being not necessary and we had no problems at all with my daughter melting down. I suspected, based on past travel history that we would not, but I did want the option if need be.

 

We were on the ship quickly once our zone was called and I apologize if anyone reading this was behind us - my daughter would NOT look at the camera for her sail & sign photo and it took about 15 takes to get it right. Once onboard, we headed up to the Lido Deck to check out the lunch options and after eating, we explored the ship until we could go to our rooms.

 

Our stateroom was an inside guarantee - about our only option for booking so late. I’d normally never take a gamble with a guarantee, but thankfully this one paid off. We were in room 8381 underneath the Lido buffet - We heard maybe 2-3 thumps a day coming from up there, but otherwise, it was silence. We were not able to get a pack & play for my daughter (over 400 kids on board and they were maxed out on them), but it was no big deal as she shared the main bed with my husband and I slept on one of the bunks. It was sort of an adventure - I can’t recall ever sleeping in a bunk bed in my life!

 

The room location itself was great. It was a short hike around the corner and up the stairs straight into the Lido buffet and the aft pizzeria/grill area. It was a short elevator ride down to the Paris dining room where we were assigned the late seating for dinner (not my choice - had to take what I could get). I really loved our room location and believe we truly lucked out - and I don’t think I want to try my luck with booking a guarantee ever again! I am a planner and I like to have control over those things! We did take a noise machine to drown out noise just in case the Lido buffet was loud, but we didn’t need it for that purpose - my daughter does sleep best with white noise, so we’d have brought it anyway.

 

Motherly duties call - I'll be back a little later :)

[WeatherGeek]

I have just a few random photos I took around the ship and in port. Mostly, I took family photos and it would be sort of weird to post them here as I'm not sure why strangers would want to see them, but here are a handful of things you might actually want to see - and also, I apologize for the poor quality, but I did not realize until the last day that I only had my picture size set to 3MP. That seems so archaic these days.

 

I was trying to get a photo of the slide & Lido deck and didn't realize the lens cover on my camera only opened partially....still, I thought it was a sort of neat picture this way:

 

 

Fixed the lens cap and got a picture of the other side:

 

 

Cigar bar:

 

 

Lobby:

 

[boaterette]

Nice start. Thank you. Did your daughter have fun?

[WeatherGeek]

We had the 8:15 dining. I knew we would have the late seating and my husband and I had actually gone round and round the issue of not going to the MDR at all and just doing this cruise casual and eating on the Lido Deck or from room service vs. just going ahead and going to the late dining, which we weren’t wild about. I had my reservations about taking a 2-year-old to the dining room that late as her bedtime is 9 oclock under normal circumstances and she’s a creature of habit, though she’ll adapt well to things she’s interested in. She also has a food allergy that I felt was best monitored in the main dining room. We did eat breakfast and lunch on the Lido deck every day, but we stuck to foods we knew were safe for her, knowing that she’d get more variety at dinner in the evening to round out her food groups.

 

We also had reservations about late dining just because we like to eat dinner early so that it’s fairly digested before going to bed. We knew with late dining, we would go from the dining room and at least one of us (always me LOL) would go straight to bed with the little one afterwards.

 

We went ahead and went to the MDR for dinner every night and decided if it ever became a disaster, we would simply not go back and problem solved. Well wouldn’t you know it, my daughter adapted very well and was only fussy one night and we quickly wrapped up our meals and left early that evening to get her to bed.

 

I was the one struggling the most with the late dinner. I would go to bed and just toss and turn because I have a hard time eating a heavy meal and then going to bed. However, I consider it a learning experience and know now going forward that late dining isn’t a possibility for me if I plan to get any sleep! It didn't really start catching up to me until about day 3 of the cruise, but now, a full 24 hours after my last MDR meal, I am feeling almost as bad now as I was last night with a full stomach - and I only ate 1 very light meal today!

 

I wasn’t as happy with the MDR as I have been in the past. Maybe it was our particular server staff, but we always felt as if we were an afterthought to them. They were nice and polite when tending to us, but our water glasses quite often went empty and we would have to flag them down to get more. Not a deal breaker or anything, but it was the first cruise where that has ever happened - they are normally pouring the water back in after I take just 1 sip! One thing they were wonderful about was each night they brought out a big glass of soy milk and 2 bowls of fruit for my daughter.

 

I want to take a second here and stress the importance of being prepared with small kids at a meal like this. I’m used to being prepared for all situations because of how unpredictable my daughter’s behavior will be depending on if she’s having a good or bad day, but even without the issues we deal with, parents need to definitely make sure their kids can sit through a long dinner without getting out of control between the entrees. I know people frown on things like DVD players, game boys, etc in the MDR, but I personally would rather a parent keeps their child occupied and quiet than let them run around or scream and holler because they’re bored. We brought a simple folder each night with some flash cards and between the fruit the waiters brought and that folder, she was never really antsy except for the one night she was just so tired, but that was because she did not want to sleep during her 2nd nap of the day. Just be prepared, know your child's interests and don’t worry about what other people think! Carnival is a family friendly cruise line, after all.

 

We had warm chocolate melting cake 4 out of 5 nights. It was spectacular, as always. I was hoping for the Bitter & Blanc, but knew it probably would not make an appearance. The cherry chocolate cake available on the first night was great as well.

 

One other thing about the MDR - my daughter has a dairy allergy/intolerance/whatever you want to call it. It very mildly affects her skin, so it’s not the end of the world if she consumes milk proteins, but we try to keep them out of her diet as best we can in an effort to prevent diaper rash. The hostess in the Paris dining room, Liliana, did a WONDERFUL job working with us on what we could do for special meals so that she could eat off of the main dining menu each night (though we did order PB&J off of the kids menu a couple of nights). She did a great job of informing our wait staff of the special meals and always knew exactly how to answer my questions about how certain dishes were prepared. If you’re going on a cruise and you or someone in your party has a food allergy, you will be VERY well taken care of on the ship, especially if you’re lucky enough to work with Liliana. She came by and introduced herself on the first night very shortly after we sat down and always came by 2x a night to check on us and discuss the meal for the following day. She was even up on the Lido deck during lunch and always managed to find us and ask if we were able to find enough food for my daughter. Really, she would live off of apples and jello if I would allow her to. :)

 

I am turning in for the evening. See y'all tomorrow for the next installment!

[WeatherGeek]

Nice start. Thank you. Did your daughter have fun?

 

Yes, she had a blast 90% of the time! The other 10% of the time was for something completely unexpected - I'm not sure if she's a touch claustrophobic or what, but she was not a fan of the stateroom! By about day 3, she was over it, but the first 2 days were rough anytime we were in the room. I know to expect the unexpected with her, so we played around with the lighting & what TV channels she liked until we found a combination that kept her calm - she has a lot of sensory quirks so I figured it had to be a sensory thing with the room size and lighting. She certainly keeps us on our toes and our family motto should be "adapt and overcome" :D

[boaterette]

I am glad to hear that. I have a cousin with Autism. It isn't always easy to deal with but she is a sweetheart. Flexibility is definetly the key. Looking forward to more of your reivew.

[WeatherGeek]

Here are a few more photos....

 

The Rome Lounge:

 

 

 

Our room setup...as I said before, the bunk bed was an adventure....well, climbing in and out of it was an adventure anyway :) I am not quite as spry as I used to be.

 

 

 

We were about an hour behind the Ecstasy at both ports, so I guess we were stalking them. I loved going up to the 10th or 11th deck and looking down into the Lido Deck, checking out all of the renovations. I got some pictures of them, but they turned out blurry.

 

 

 

[WeatherGeek]

Continuing on from last night where I left off about dining - the food on the Lido deck was fairly good. I sampled all sorts of stuff….wasn’t wild about the pizza this time, but loved the chips & salsa available at the grill as well as the chicken tenders. I can’t handle the grease on the burgers (learned that on the Legend 3 years ago), so I stayed away from that, but my daughter seemed to like the couple of bites of it that she had. I never got the chance to try the Asian grill, but the Deli was great, as usual - love those turkey on a country roll sandwiches and try to get one every cruise. The buffet always had a wide selection of food for lunch that differed daily and it looked like for dinner as well. I do like how they have the salad bar set up on a separate buffet line to keep the main buffet lines flowing a bit faster. The chocolate buffet on the last day left a little to be desired, but when you think about it - who needs all of that chocolate anyway? I know I certainly don’t and I waddled off of the ship anyway!

 

This was our first time cruising with a child in tow and as such, our first time using Camp Carnival. This was where my daughter was happiest on the ship! I had been in touch with the special needs department making sure they knew about her quirks prior to embarking the ship and they were all expecting her and had a special needs form ready for me to fill out. The counselors in the 2-5yo room were so great and they seem like they really enjoy their jobs - I know that has to be hard when you’re around so many children all day every day. They gave us a cell phone in case they needed to reach us, but they never once had to use it. My daughter plays independently very well, so I knew she would be fine, especially since she was in very capable hands. The last day of the trip, Funship Freddy went in to play with them and the counselors said it was the highlight of her trip. She dropped all of her toys and came out of her typical anti-social bubble and clapped for him and danced all around him. The counselors also had lots of arts & crafts going on through the week and even though my daughter was never interested in any of them, they still sent them back to the cabin with us just in case she wanted to do it later. I thought that was nice of them because they really could have reused all of their materials and stuff on another child who was willing. They even offered to have her be part of the Christmas show on the last sea day, but I had to decline as she would never follow directions up on the stage and she would run away the first opportunity she got!

 

The entertainment around the ship was great, what little we got to partake in. We didn’t go to any shows at all until the very last night - The Big Easy show - and it was great! A bit long for my personal liking and we left after about 45 minutes, but it was a really good show and everyone, of course, loved the New Orleans theme.

 

We are gamers, so we tried to go to as much trivia, puzzles, games, etc. as we could. We loved the progressive trivia at 4:30 every day and even won a coveted ship trophy for coming in 3rd place. We also won trophies for one other trivia game and Scattergories. The Name That Tune trivia on the last day was packed - I’d never seen so many people show up to a trivia game. It was a blast, but I came in bottom of the barrel with a wimpy 16 points and the winner had 42. I guess 80s music is not my forte, but give me 90s music and I’d be in the running for at least the top 10!

 

We went to the Fun Farewell party on the last day for the free drinks and I’m used to those drinks being pretty watered down, so I stupidly drank 4 in about 20 minutes. Granted, I don’t drink much, but I know I’m not THAT much of a lightweight - the room was starting to seriously spin. My husband and daughter were up on the stage dancing - BTW, yes, I’m the mom of the redhead with the pink cowboy boots if anyone saw her! - and when they were done, I felt like crawling back to the room. Wow. Either those drinks packed a huge punch or motherhood has turned me into a huge wimp.

 

The staff on the ship was friendly and nice. Our steward took perfect care of our room, the activities staff were funny and engaging, the cruise director (Noonan) was one of the better ones I’ve had and everywhere we went, the different staff members treated my daughter like a princess. I felt so badly because she’s simply not very social….she won’t really look at or interact with people who are talking to her or trying to get her attention, but most everyone was pretty forgiving about it.

 

I'll be back later this afternoon to wrap up this review with ports and my final thoughts. Have a great day!

[WeatherGeek]

Oops, I lied. May have to finish this one Sunday or Monday. Too many holiday parties crammed into one weekend! :)

[tiger belle]

Tonya, it sounds like overall you had a fun cruise and a great family experience...very happy your daughter had a good time with Camp Carnival--most kids seem to love the involvement...we will be on the Triumph this Monday--second time on Triumph for me...it is a very nice ship with an impressive staff...and you are right about The Big Easy being a super show

[WeatherGeek]

Tonya, it sounds like overall you had a fun cruise and a great family experience...very happy your daughter had a good time with Camp Carnival--most kids seem to love the involvement...we will be on the Triumph this Monday--second time on Triumph for me...it is a very nice ship with an impressive staff...and you are right about The Big Easy being a super show

 

Enjoy your trip tomorrow! :D

[WeatherGeek]

I can’t say a whole lot about the ports - We had a bit of a delay getting off of the ship in Progreso due to our own personal stupidity and as a result ended up waiting a longer time than I think we would have for a bus to the shore and by that time, my daughter was so over everything…I knew it was in our best interest to just get back on the ship, but my husband was persistent that we continue on into port.

 

We took the open air bus tour, which calmed the kiddo down quite a bit because she thinks buses are the neatest things. We were planning on a beach day but it was too chilly - and besides, a guy trying to sell us a tour to another beach told us the Progreso beach was broke and didn’t work LOL! That one had me laughing for quite a while as he quite seriously told us the beach is broken. The road next to the beach was tore up, yes, but the beach itself was perfect, just too chilly for a beach day. We didn’t really have a plan B - Go figure, because I’m the one who overplans everything, but I didn’t overplan this, so we just shopped some and headed back to the bus around 2 - about an hour and a half before we had to be back on board. It was a much shorter wait for a bus on this end. If we go back to Progreso in the future, I would love to go see ruins or go into Merida, but that will have to be at a time we don't have our daughter with us or she'll need to be quite a bit older.

 

The morning of the Cozumel port day had a lot of games and trivia going on on the ship, so we decided we’d stay on board and get off in the afternoon. I ended up being the only one who got off of the ship in the afternoon because my husband and daughter took a nap, so it was my first time enjoying a port by myself. I have to say it was sort of nice! I think I could get used to solo cruising! I shopped, haggled, got asked 100 times if I wanted a Mexican boyfriend (the answer was no), enjoyed a margarita at Margaritaville and wandered my way back to the ship at my leisure. My husband did go ashore with my daughter briefly that morning as soon as we docked while I was getting ready for the day, but they just went to get a couple of photo ops because he wanted to be back onboard in time for trivia!

 

Disembarkation was a breeze. We pack light so we did self assist and we were on the road back home by about 8:45 after getting off the ship a little after 8. Most of the delay was waiting for the Fulton Street Garage shuttle. Customs was quick, no more than 2 people in line ahead of us. They really do mean business if you try to get off of the ship before you’re supposed to. I saw them turning away people who were trying to debark earlier than they were supposed to and while going through customs, one woman asked where the baggage claim was and they told her she wouldn’t be allowed to leave until she was able to collect her zoned luggage and made her go sit down in a holding area for naughty people LOL.

 

There was so much different about this cruise than the other 5 cruises I’ve been on, but that’s what happens when you have a small child in tow. She’s fairly well traveled for her age - the usual family trips to the beach each year, Disney World, Pigeon Forge/Gatlinburg, countless road trips back and forth between St. Louis and Atlanta and more recently between Biloxi and Atlanta to visit family. So I typically know how she’s going to react and when her quirks are going to rear their head and what to do to deal with them. That’s why I stress the importance of a game plan when traveling with children and one thing I’ve learned is to never, ever vacation at any pace other than theirs. If your child thrives on a schedule, try to stick to that schedule as best you can. She naps when she’s tired, she eats when she’s hungry, etc. If your child can roll with the flow, then I envy you and you have no idea how truly blessed you are!

 

I have also learned over the last year or two that vacationing at a toddler's pace means I see our destination in a different way. I slow down and see things I’d have never noticed - when it’s just my husband and I, we go-go-go and we go-go-go FAST! I’ve heard people say that when they take their kids on vacation, they have to miss out on a lot of stuff, but I find the opposite to be true - sure I miss out on staying out all night, drinking a lot, and being able to do something without having to ridiculously plan for it. But I enjoy seeing things that bring such joy to my daughter so much more than all of that. Seeing her dancing with her dad every time music came on wherever we were is priceless. Knowing how excited she was to meet Funship Freddy warms my heart.

 

In all, we had a wonderful time and made great memories. She won’t remember a thing about it, but my husband and I will. Thanks for reading this. I know it was long and sort of all over the place. If you have any questions, please let me know. If it’s about the nightlife on the ship, sorry, you’ll have to ask someone else :D I was passed out by 10:30 every night!

[WeatherGeek]

Some shots from Progreso:

 

 

The beachfront road that is all torn up:

 

Christmas decorations at the town square:

 

[WeatherGeek]

Shots from Cozumel:

 

 

 

And I love how you get off of the ship and Starbucks awaits....my husband said when he got off of the ship for a few minutes first thing that morning, many people made a mad dash for coffee:

 

 

I know this one is quite random, but I was so fascinated by the escalator inside the Mega store that is just down the street from the port:

 

 

Personally, I like IKEA's cart escalator system better :D

 

The wind tunnel between the ships:

 

[WeatherGeek]

Other random pictures of leaving New Orleans, towel animals and whatever else I could find:

 

 

 

 

 

 

[WeatherGeek]

And a little more of New Orleans since I could only post 6 in the last one:

 

 

 

 

 

And lastly, a pic of my daughter and I:

 

 

Thanks for reading!

[HazelSmrf]

Thanks for the review, I can't wait to be on board next month! And that last picture of you and your daughter really made me smile, she is gorgeous!

[nydney1]

Excellent review. We are on the Triumph next month and can't wait. I think that you will be suprised at what she remembers. Our daugher who was two on her last cruise will say things about that trip at the strangest times. Her memories always make us smile.

 

One question? What were the movies that were shown on board?

[WeatherGeek]

Thanks for the review, I can't wait to be on board next month! And that last picture of you and your daughter really made me smile, she is gorgeous!

 

Thank you!

 

Excellent review. We are on the Triumph next month and can't wait. I think that you will be suprised at what she remembers. Our daugher who was two on her last cruise will say things about that trip at the strangest times. Her memories always make us smile.

 

One question? What were the movies that were shown on board?

 

You know, the theater was the absolute last thing on our minds, but if I recall correctly, they were playing Leap Year, Invictus, a U2 concert and...that's about all I can remember! Sorry! We normally keep the Fun Times to take home with us, but my daughter colored all over them so we just tossed them before we left.

[WeatherGeek]

I had the opportunity tonight to really sit down and go through my photos, so here are the last few stragglers that I found that might be interesting to post. I apologize again for the ones that are a touch blurry as I can't believe my camera was set to 3MP and that doesn't work so well when I have the zoom on even a little bit or if the lighting is lower than usual.

 

The children's wading pool up by Camp Carnival:

 

 

The Cyber Cafe:

 

 

Hubby & daughter on elegant night:

 

 

Open air bus tour in Progreso - definitely do this if you can! It was $3/person and the kiddo went free.

 

 

 

Where we ate lunch in Progreso:

 

 

Flea market in Progreso next to the bus stop

 

[WeatherGeek]

Beach front in Progreso:

 

 

Pier area in Progreso:

 

 

Night 3, the one lone night I managed to remember to take pictures of the menu:

 

 

The lobby bar:

 

 

The farewell party with free drinks

 

 

Husband & daughter cutting a rug on the dance floor:

 

 

 

OK that's really it. I promise I'm done now unless anyone has questions, which I'll be happy to answer!

[harrodsfan]

I am so impressed by your attitude about traveling with a child..let alone a special needs child. So many parents expect their children to fit into their schedule and not vice versa. All kids need a schedule and when traveling it is even more important. Anticipating their needs is critical. With your attitude you will have many wonderful family trips. I wish all parents had your perspective.

And Happy anniversary.

[WeatherGeek]

I am so impressed by your attitude about traveling with a child..let alone a special needs child. So many parents expect their children to fit into their schedule and not vice versa. All kids need a schedule and when traveling it is even more important. Anticipating their needs is critical. With your attitude you will have many wonderful family trips. I wish all parents had your perspective.

And Happy anniversary.

 

Thanks for the anniversary wishes :D

 

I couldn't imagine traveling any other way with my daughter. It's not fun for anyone if she's off of her schedule and melting down everywhere we go!