Triumph 4/30 overall Disappointing trip

[JudiinMt]

Let me address a few things that I have been reading on these boards and then I will tell you about our cruise. SKIPPERS CLUB - we arrived at 11:15am. We were escorted to a small room where we checked in and then escorted to an ex-ray machine and waiting area until we could board. (ahead of all those waiting in line) When it was time to board a Carnival Rep came and got us and took us to the gangway and we were on! Start to finish less than 30 minutes.

 

We stayed at the Sheraton Biscayne Bay where we had a nice room overlooking the water on the Perferred Guest floor (Priceline for $60)

 

We have taken at least 20 cruises and about 10 of them have been on Carnival so before I get blasted for what I say I want to tell you that I am comparing apples to apples.....Carnival to Carnival.

 

I picked this particular cruise because the port time in Cozumel allowed us to go to the Tulum ruins which were fabulous.

 

We had a beautiful suite - our cabin stewards were excellent.

 

The dining room service was OK but the assistants were covering too many tables and we never got our drinks without asking a second time and we drink iced tea every night. Every night we had finished dessert before we got coffee. This is below the usual Carnival standards and WAY below any other cruise I have been on. I also noticed that many people disregarded the no shorts at night in the dining room - even after it was announced. In the South Beach there were lots of bathing suits and trunks without shirts, shoes or coverups. It seems to me that most ships request you cover up inside. (there were 2 outside buffets, the grill and the pizzeria on deck to use) Maybe I'm being sensitive but it seems a little too casual to have to see someone elses blubber when I'm on my third trip thru the buffet...haha.

 

All in all the food at each location we tried was good.

 

The excitement of the ship being hit by the squall and the ensuing mess from the listing will always be memorable - but everyone did a great job of cleaning up and reassuring guests.

 

Now for our disappointment. The cruise staff was either not organized or there was a problem we were not made aware of. There were several functions listed in the capers that never happened. There were functions announced over the PA that never happened. There was supposed to be a comedian the first night.....never happened - never explained.

 

There was a ship building contest and the Capers gave the judging time as 3pm Lido Deck pool - no one ever showed up or answered the phone at the cruise directors office. When one of the staff showed up for another event he said "well it's not on my schedule - do you want to see?" He did go ahead and hold the judging but it was obvious that he wasn't familliar with it and it was a big let down after several people spent hours building ships.

 

There were two Trivia's listed that no member of the cruise staff showed up for.....or answered the calls placed to the cruise directors office or the pursers office. After waiting 1/2 an hour for one the bartender said it was cancelled. No reason but we had already missed the dance class we would have attended had we not been waiting for trivia.

 

The entertainment was really lacking. The production shows were fine but we missed having comedians (finally got one the last night) - and the magicians were OK but the show contained 30 minutes of magic that was streched out for over an hour - their brand new late night show started 20 minutes late and was about 15 minutes long and again that was streching it out. Only one guest entertainer and he was fine - a 45 minute Motown show.

 

I left a note at the pursers desk for the cruise director as the phone was never answered. The note was also never answered. At no time did I see any member of the cruise directors staff unless they were hosting an event. I did not want to make a scene but I did want to know why scheduled events kept being announced but not run. (both times I asked a staff member their answer was "it's not on my schedule" or "we never do it at that time")

 

Of course any day cruising is still wonderful so I don't want to leave the impression we didn't enjoy our week. We did - but we did it in spite of the cruise director & staff. To me that is really disappointing - their entire job is to insure guests have a good time.

 

Will I cruise Carnival again - of course....but I may check to make sure Chris is NOT the cruise director on the ship I pick!!

[MERVYN BREMMER]

Bummer:( but I'm glad that you had a good time anyway

[MrsBoo]

Amen regarding the Triumph, although for a variety of different reasons than you had. Although I do agree the dining room service was severely lacking, and we did not care for the food in the buffet. We have sailed Carnival 5 times, and thoroughly enjoyed the other 4. Yes, we will sail Carnival again, in fact we are booked on the Pride Christmas week:)

[gunnerfubar]

Sorry you had a dissapointing trip Mrsboo. I just got back tonight. I had a ball, and loved the ship. Except for the layout, very tough to get around. The squall did make for an interesting experience, but judging from the amount of water that was spilled out of the pools and down the elevator shafts, the crew did a great job I thought. Will give a more detailed review later.

[popcorngal]

Sorry you had a disappointing trip, but glad you made the best of it. Chris was the CD on the Legend for our January trip and we weren't overly impressed. We aren't big "joiners" in alot of the activities, but he certainly didn't seem to be around much other than when he had to be. I'm not aware of any activities that were cancelled, but it was always the other hosts that were doing it all. It sounds like you had a cruise to remember for sure!:eek:

[GoinCruisin]

Thank you for posting a review so quickly!!!! I'm sorry that there were so many disappointments :( It sounds like you made the best of it, but I wish things would have been better for you... I hope your next cruise is wonderful!!!

 

Now, I know SOMEONE has got to have the "squall action" on video!!!! Sounds like it was crazy!! glad everyone is okay!!!

[MrsBoo]

I forgot to specify that our experience on the Triumph was last Christmas. Just as glad I missed out on the squall. But that water down the elevators might have helped get them cleaned up a bit. I don't remember seeing so much food and drink spilled on elevators before. I would try to tell the crew that they needed to clean the elevators before someone fell in there, but all they would do was smile and point me to the closest restroom:confused: . I really appreciate all the hard work the crew does, I just think they should be aware of areas on the ship that need more attention.

[NewOrleansGuy]

Judi,

 

Where can we find the trip reports you posted on the Carnival cruises you DID enjoy?

[MrPete]

Sounds like this Cruise directors abilties are for the seagulls. What is his last name? He is the sole person responsible for entertainment and activities.

[BettyB2]

So sorry about your disappointment with your cruise staff....makes me a bit worried as we will be sailing her in December, but I still CANNOT wait to go. (just give me a balcony, a piano bar and a casino and I am a happy girl);)

Thanks a bunch for your review.....

[LizaMM]

Sounds like this Cruise directors abilties are for the seagulls. What is his last name? He is the sole person responsible for entertainment and activities.

 

That would be Jefferson. Chris Jefferson. I have heard mixed things about him but I can tell you that he was very friendly and accomodating to us during the one personal experience we had with him a couple of weeks ago. Our CC group was having a scavenger hunt and one of the items was to get the Cruise Dir. sig. My DD and I approached him at the Past Guest Party and asked him. We knew that at least 2 other members of our CC group had already gotten his sig earlier in the week. We explained to him what we were doing and he was really nice about it and asked questions about our group and some of the other things we were "looking" for for the hunt. Actually, the sig was supposed to be on our CC group hats that we had made or a napkin if you did not have your hat with you. We didn't have our hat at the PG Party so we used a napkin and he offered for us to come and see him at the stage before the show that night with our hats if we wanted.

 

SORRY to hear of your disappointments! I wonder if things were out of synch due to the clean-up and reorganization from the squall problems?? When we sailed a couple of weeks ago every ADULT scheduled activity occurred to my knowledge. Our only problem was with some of the items listed in the Teens Capers from Camp Carnival.

 

Would love to see pics or a video!!

[sgriff17]

What's this news about a SQUALL? Gheez...i go away for one day and exciting stuff happens on CC!

[halos]

Wow....I can't say I blame you for feeling disappointed. Hopefully things will be better for you on your next cruise :)

Thanks for posting a great, fair review. If I were you I think I'd pop off a letter to Carnival to express my concern over the CD...your cruise sounds like it was poorly managed in the entertainment/activity area. Carnival needs to know this.

[Chucksta63]

Wow....I can't say I blame you for feeling disappointed. Hopefully things will be better for you on your next cruise :)

Thanks for posting a great, fair review. If I were you I think I'd pop off a letter to Carnival to express my concern over the CD...your cruise sounds like it was poorly managed in the entertainment/activity area. Carnival needs to know this.

I'm with her!!! e-mail ,,, Carnival needs to know!!! I just got off of her a couple of weeks ago but I did not do much of the orginized stuff. Except newlewed game!!!! Funny must see!!!! Lido deck party at night this was always fun!!!

[JudiinMt]

New Orleans Guy - I have posted here many times over the years. My Carnival experience started with the Mardi Gras and includes the Tropicale, Julbilee, Elation, Paradise, Fascination, Spirit, Glory and some of those more than once. It has never been my experience that the cruise staff was not around and about the ship and approachable. It has also not been my past experience that activites - regardless of what they were - were not presented as listed in the Capers. The only other time I remember having that problem was years ago on the Norway where nothing ever started on time and often times activities were moved to other locations.

 

In looking back over a Caper I'm unpacking today I also notice a large amount of the activities are related to trying to sell you something (spa treatments, jewelry, art, bingo, golf etc.) - also different than the other cruises we have been on.

 

This is not meant to be a RANT about Carnival or the Triumph - just an honest opinion that we were disappointed with the way the week went in regard to the activities.

[amy417]

I am so glad to see this post. We too were on 4/30 cruise and we have sailed several other ships this being the first carnival ship.

We too thought there HAD to be something wrong that they were not telling us. In all fairness, we are not partiers or dining room people. We research the best balcony for the buck because we cruise for the peace and tranqulity of the aft cabins. We usually dine in the buffet areas by choice. However this buffet had very limited choices. The salad "bar" for instance had kidney beans, tomatoes and carrots one night and maybe cucmbers, carrots and onions the next night. There would only be two entree choices example: a carved meat such as ham plus a fish dish. You don't like that? Too bad. The veggies were wild concoctions like yam and parsnips mixture or squash and tomatoes in onions. There was rice most nights. Gravy only two nights. No choice of rolls just cut pieces of hard frech bread. Desserts looked totally unappetizing and usually displayed with one or two pieces sitting all alone on a tray. Diet chocolate cake with no regular choices etc. The lunches were just as interesting with no variety. Until Friday when you realized you were having a lunchtime smorgasboard thanks to the leftovers from the dining room. We lived at the hamburger grill.

On this cruise there seemd to be a lack of personnel. It seemed to take our cabin steward(who was wonderful BTW) most of the morning and part of the afternoon to clean the number of staterooms he had. The crew was not friendly..they were not mean... just not friendly. I think it was because they were tired. We did our research to get one of the corner aft wrap around balconies. We were on the 8th floor. On the night after the squall we looked out at about 1am and there was a torrential downpour tons and ton of water pouring down so fast that the drain on our balcony floor could not keep up and 3 inch puddles were pooling on the deck. The next night another "Storm". It was then that I realized that the ship had water jets above our balcony pointed at the windows of the deck two levels above us. When they decided to wash the windows everynight for about twenty minutes it wreaked havoc with our balcony as well as causing a terrible racket and flooding once the drain clogs up. I called the purser to complain and the phone rings and rings. I tried three times and finally got someone that just said sorry she would alert housekeeping to clean it up. The next afternoon around 5pm I am reading on the balcony when someone two decks up decides to hose down the decks and send all of the water over the edge...right onto me. Livid now I call the purser and it rings and rings. I flag down my steward in the hall to verify how drenched I am and ask him to find out what just got poured all into my eyes and hair. Was it disinfectant or what? The purser calls back and tells me that it was just "clean" water and that if I need anything drycleaned to let her know. When I asked why the passengers were not alerted to the fact that these balconies were compromised, I was told that she did not know and not to worry they would not wash the windows at 1am anymore. So I am sitting out there at midnight and...you guessed it ...doused again. This continued until the night before the end of the cruise when I called and asked for someone to come and witness this at 1:30am. The night supervisor was appalled. he could not believe the amount of water and noise. I can not believe that the crew could not be aware of the impact on the people below.

Those are my personal concerns I know, so don't flame me. BUT there are main concerns also. After the squall, the crew worked tirelessly to get things straight but customer care was lacking. Examples: We had neighbors in wheelchairs. When the elevator shaft got soaked, there was only one aft elevator working. But if you took that elevator up to Lido deck you were still blocked by baricades and could not get to the buffet area. Why no sign to tell you this? so you go back down to the next level and walk forward on the ship and go up tothe Lido deck to find...The buffet is totally closed! Why no announcement..no sign. This poor couple with the wheelchairs had to do all of this just to find out there was no meal that night. Several complained that you could not get thru to the pursers desk when calling. Room service calls were also challenging. I talked with many frequent Carnival travelers and they said this is only an indictment of Triumph not Carnival. I am willing to believe that, but for the type of travellers we are (not into the pool and dinig room atmosphere) maybe we will stick to other lines. They seem to cater better to all different types of cruisers. In all fairness I saw tons of people having a great time. I still feel that SOMETHING was happening that we were not aware of...maybe the crew was understaffed and could not keep up. I just don't believe Carnival could cut corners like they did and still be so popular. The CD Chris was indeed iffy as far as being entertaining, but we are not good judges about the activities.

Gunner, I'm sure glad you guys had a great time. Sure wish I could have met up with you. 'Tried to reach you thru roll call but no luck. As you can see, I should not have bragged about my balcony to you and Rusty :)

[KruznKel]

Just my 2 cents,, Maybe it was because of the squall that there was bad service,, the crew are already overworked most of the time,, and then that happening having to clean everything up and bring it back to tip top shape maybe caused alot of aggrevation not only for the passengers but the crew.. anyways I was not on the ship but I do feel for the passengers as you pay alot to cruise and enjoy... but when Mother Nature wants to wreak havock she doesn't care the price!!

[GoinCruisin]

Amy, I'm sorry you were disappointed, but I also have to believe that alot of this had to be due to the havoc the "squall" caused. It is my understanding from reading the other posts that people knew the buffet area was flooded, which would indicate the buffet had to be closed, which I know is an inconvenience. I would imagine those that generally eat at the buffet probably opted for room service, so I can imagine that room service would be backed up due to the number of people ordering... Was the pizza and alternative places closed as well? I think I would have had to eaten in the dining room (although I generally always do)... Sorry to hear about the dousing every night, I would be upset about that as well... I sat on my balcony many nights until the wee hours and would have been ticked to have that happen. I do hope you give Carnival another chance... I can tell you that the things you experienced is not the norm... thank you for posting your review!!!

[ladycaveat]

I am so glad to see this post. We too were on 4/30 cruise and we have sailed several other ships this being the first carnival ship.

We too thought there HAD to be something wrong that they were not telling us. In all fairness, we are not partiers or dining room people. We research the best balcony for the buck because we cruise for the peace and tranqulity of the aft cabins. We usually dine in the buffet areas by choice. However this buffet had very limited choices. The salad "bar" for instance had kidney beans, tomatoes and carrots one night and maybe cucmbers, carrots and onions the next night. There would only be two entree choices example: a carved meat such as ham plus a fish dish. You don't like that? Too bad. The veggies were wild concoctions like yam and parsnips mixture or squash and tomatoes in onions. There was rice most nights. Gravy only two nights. No choice of rolls just cut pieces of hard frech bread. Desserts looked totally unappetizing and usually displayed with one or two pieces sitting all alone on a tray. Diet chocolate cake with no regular choices etc. The lunches were just as interesting with no variety. Until Friday when you realized you were having a lunchtime smorgasboard thanks to the leftovers from the dining room. We lived at the hamburger grill.

On this cruise there seemd to be a lack of personnel. It seemed to take our cabin steward(who was wonderful BTW) most of the morning and part of the afternoon to clean the number of staterooms he had. The crew was not friendly..they were not mean... just not friendly. I think it was because they were tired. We did our research to get one of the corner aft wrap around balconies. We were on the 8th floor. On the night after the squall we looked out at about 1am and there was a torrential downpour tons and ton of water pouring down so fast that the drain on our balcony floor could not keep up and 3 inch puddles were pooling on the deck. The next night another "Storm". It was then that I realized that the ship had water jets above our balcony pointed at the windows of the deck two levels above us. When they decided to wash the windows everynight for about twenty minutes it wreaked havoc with our balcony as well as causing a terrible racket and flooding once the drain clogs up. I called the purser to complain and the phone rings and rings. I tried three times and finally got someone that just said sorry she would alert housekeeping to clean it up. The next afternoon around 5pm I am reading on the balcony when someone two decks up decides to hose down the decks and send all of the water over the edge...right onto me. Livid now I call the purser and it rings and rings. I flag down my steward in the hall to verify how drenched I am and ask him to find out what just got poured all into my eyes and hair. Was it disinfectant or what? The purser calls back and tells me that it was just "clean" water and that if I need anything drycleaned to let her know. When I asked why the passengers were not alerted to the fact that these balconies were compromised, I was told that she did not know and not to worry they would not wash the windows at 1am anymore. So I am sitting out there at midnight and...you guessed it ...doused again. This continued until the night before the end of the cruise when I called and asked for someone to come and witness this at 1:30am. The night supervisor was appalled. he could not believe the amount of water and noise. I can not believe that the crew could not be aware of the impact on the people below.

Those are my personal concerns I know, so don't flame me. BUT there are main concerns also. After the squall, the crew worked tirelessly to get things straight but customer care was lacking. Examples: We had neighbors in wheelchairs. When the elevator shaft got soaked, there was only one aft elevator working. But if you took that elevator up to Lido deck you were still blocked by baricades and could not get to the buffet area. Why no sign to tell you this? so you go back down to the next level and walk forward on the ship and go up tothe Lido deck to find...The buffet is totally closed! Why no announcement..no sign. This poor couple with the wheelchairs had to do all of this just to find out there was no meal that night. Several complained that you could not get thru to the pursers desk when calling. Room service calls were also challenging. I talked with many frequent Carnival travelers and they said this is only an indictment of Triumph not Carnival. I am willing to believe that, but for the type of travellers we are (not into the pool and dinig room atmosphere) maybe we will stick to other lines. They seem to cater better to all different types of cruisers. In all fairness I saw tons of people having a great time. I still feel that SOMETHING was happening that we were not aware of...maybe the crew was understaffed and could not keep up. I just don't believe Carnival could cut corners like they did and still be so popular. The CD Chris was indeed iffy as far as being entertaining, but we are not good judges about the activities.

Gunner, I'm sure glad you guys had a great time. Sure wish I could have met up with you. 'Tried to reach you thru roll call but no luck. As you can see, I should not have bragged about my balcony to you and Rusty :)

 

Amy, Amy . . . where were you? I so looked forward to meeting you!!!! I got to meet Charley and Chet (Gunner) and Kelli and several others but you were MIA (missing in action). And I thought you were going to show me what a cabin with a balcony looked like. After reading your post . . . not sure I really wanted to see it . . . especially around 1:30 a.m. :eek: So sorry about what happened.

 

Yes, it was a rather exciting 30 minutes on our first day at sea (actually, I sort of liked it . . . was fun trying to walk sideways). :p Plan to write a review (both good things . . . lots of those and bad things . . . some of those) after I'm unpacked and have had a chance to sort of unwind. Just got home a couple hours ago (spent three days with my son in Miami before the cruise a day after).

[JudiinMt]

The buffet/pizza/grill are all situated in the same area on the Triumph - all were closed and NO we were not aware they were closed until we got up there and a security guard told us along with the wheelchair bound lady in the elevator with us.

[amy417]

Lady,

Glad to hear from you. If you go to the roll call for our trip you will see that I tried to contact you there. When we went up to the bar after muster no one was there but Kelli and her husband. I asked them to tell you my room number if they found you or gunner. I even went so far as to have luv2cruise (Pat) send me a picture of you via internet. I went around trying to find you. Oh, Well. So glad you had a good time. All in all we had an OK time also.

For all those that commented on the squall causing some of the problems, I am in total agreement. I was a witness to the crew doing doubletime to fix things. My concerns were more like why there were no notices to passengers of things that impacted them i.e. directions to avoid the aft elevators, no dinner for passengers that waited too late to go to the dining room and just showed up to an empty room, notice that activities were not staffed, and considerations for passengers who paid good money to sit on their balcony who should have been told the truth upfront that there may be times the balcony would not be available. The squall was an unfortunate freak of nature. These other things were totally in Triumph's control. Everyone on this cruise can attest to the high number of announcements made over the public address. Every few minutes someone else was asked to call ext 7777. They could have used this same system to announce the necessary changes due to mother nature.

[ladycaveat]

Sorry you had a dissapointing trip Mrsboo. I just got back tonight. I had a ball, and loved the ship. Except for the layout, very tough to get around. The squall did make for an interesting experience, but judging from the amount of water that was spilled out of the pools and down the elevator shafts, the crew did a great job I thought. Will give a more detailed review later.

 

Hi Chet . . . glad to see you posting . . . there is such a let down when you leave new friends after a cruise. So nice to be able to keep in touch . I'm in the process of trying to write a review (on Word Perfect to cut and paste). Never done a review before so don't know what in the heck I'm doing. Promised myself I'd be totally honest and tell about the good and the bad. So far, the good had totally outweighed the negative (even the squall/storm we went through and trying to walk sideways was fun . . . well, maybe not fun but at least interesting). Had it not been for the fact that all but one elevator in the aft section that I used was out of order for the majority of the cruise . . . wouldn't have been so bad. But . . . sure did get a work out walking up and down those stairs. :p

[ladycaveat]

Lady,

Glad to hear from you. If you go to the roll call for our trip you will see that I tried to contact you there. When we went up to the bar after muster no one was there but Kelli and her husband. I asked them to tell you my room number if they found you or gunner. I even went so far as to have luv2cruise (Pat) send me a picture of you via internet. I went around trying to find you. Oh, Well. So glad you had a good time. All in all we had an OK time also.

For all those that commented on the squall causing some of the problems, I am in total agreement. I was a witness to the crew doing doubletime to fix things. My concerns were more like why there were no notices to passengers of things that impacted them i.e. directions to avoid the aft elevators, no dinner for passengers that waited too late to go to the dining room and just showed up to an empty room, notice that activities were not staffed, and considerations for passengers who paid good money to sit on their balcony who should have been told the truth upfront that there may be times the balcony would not be available. The squall was an unfortunate freak of nature. These other things were totally in Triumph's control. Everyone on this cruise can attest to the high number of announcements made over the public address. Every few minutes someone else was asked to call ext 7777. They could have used this same system to announce the necessary changes due to mother nature.

 

Hi Amy . . . Pat actually sent you a picture of me? Too cool!!! Darn, I really did look forward to meeting you. I was at the Continent Pool Bar after our sail away. But . . . I wasn't wearing my Coast Guard cap . . . it was sitting on the table. I kept looking for someone wearing a cap back wards or marti gras beads but saw no one. Funny . . . it was that cap that lead others to find me. Charley came up to me on our first day at sea (at breakfast in South Beach) and said . . . "aren't you Tammy?" Too funny . . . same thing happened when I had that cap on during several excursions. Met so many people from CC via that cap . . . wish you would have seen it! :(

 

I'm with you regarding announcements made (or lack there of) about no aft elevators working (my cabin was in the far aft section of the ship and only one elevator was working) and about the eating areas on Lido Deck being closed.

 

Yes, it did seem as if a lot of activities noted in the Capers never happened. I'm not sure it had anything to do with the swell/squall/storm or whatever. Just seemed that the Cruise Director was more interested in making sure everyone bought "stuff". All those "talks" about shopping and shore excursions? Though I didn't actually attend the "talks" . . . they were on the TV and they were just about the only stations that came through without static. I'd watch them when I was getting dressed for dinner. Just my impression but it really did seem like the CD was more interested in having everyone spend money on pictures, jewelry, bingo, casino, shore excursions booked via the ship and tips for the staff than he was entertainment. Again . . . before I'm flamed . . . this was just my impression. It really was if the entertainment staff should have been called the sales staff . . . buy, buy, spend, spend. Okay . . . what can I say . . . Carnival would be proud of me . . . it worked . . . I bought, bought, spent and spent. :p My S&S card will attest to just how much I bought and spent! :eek:

[sandylmc]

LadyCaveat -- wish I'd known you were on the Tulum excursion. I would love to have chatted during the endless bus ride!!! My mom and I were sitting in the seat right behind that wonderful, though talkative, guide Enrique.

 

While I totally agree that the CD left a lot to be desired -- Chris wasn't all that funny and seemed to push the "what to buy today" activities -- I thought that the "socials," especially Marcus and Noonan (sp?), were a real delight! We weren't very involved in activites, but had a chance to chat with both on several occassions and felt they were really quite funny. Others in our group agreed.

 

We also felt our waitstaff in London Dining Room were outstanding. Kaido -- our head server -- was absolutely the sweetest man I've ever met. Wined and flirted with my mom and her friends, really making them feel special (he was about 25 -- the ladies were 68, 80 and 82) -- he even got them up and dancing two nights! Our food was timely and aside from one minor mistake when I ordered and one soup we all hated, we were very happy with everything. Our assistant waiter -- I wish I could tell you his name, but it was too complicated, we never quite got it -- had capuccino on our table every night as soon as the dinner dishes were cleared. He also learned quickly that I loved the sundried tomato bread and brought it for me as soon as I sat down every night. A really great experience! That said, the bar waiter never got our orders -- literally! Three times we ordered drinks or wine. All three times, our assistant waiter ended up taking care of it for us while I head waiter covered for him.

 

Our room steward, Sharon, was also wonderful. Going above and beyond on several occassions -- getting me extra Carnival towels when she was technically supposed to be going on her break (I headed back to the room and was just going to get them from the deck, but she took care of it right away even though it was about 2p.m.) -- I dropped mine in the pool. I left my collapsible cooler sitting on the bed the first night and when we came back from dinner, it was full of ice and she'd found the bag of bottled waters on the floor and put them in! And she cleaned out our drink glasses for us while we were at dinner our first night at sea. Excellent service!

 

We thought the buffet left a LOT to be desired. I'm a dessert person on vacation and while there were tons to choose from, they were very good. Thought the burgers were great, but didn't like the pizza at all either. And we had a bad experience with room service as well -- ordered for delivery between 6:10 and 6:30 a.m. because we were going to Tulum and had to be off the ship early. Food finally came at 6:50 a.m. and they didn't bring the sandwiches we'd requested (we wanted to take something with us to eat). We ended up fighting the crowds at the buffet (remember, only the outside lines were opened because the squall the day before). Of course, the squall is probably why we didn't get our sandwich as well as why the delivery was late -- I imagine a lot of people ordered room service because of the smaller buffet.

 

I would like to apologize to anyone I may have offended!!! I didn't realize I was supposed to cover up in the buffet! I always had on shoes, but I entered on several occassions in my swimsuit to get things not offered in the outside lines (cut up fruit, desserts or when the drink machines outside weren't refilled). I'll make a note of that for next time. I too was offended by the way some people chose to dress in the dining room. I felt as if I was the most dressed up person in the room the second formal night.

 

I know I've said this on one other thread, but embarkation and debarkation left a LOT to be desired. We arrived at 12:30 p.m. and didn't get on the ship until 2:20 p.m. We scheduled a tour of South Beach before our flight home and met in Oxford Bar at 8:45 a.m. for debarkation -- we didn't get on the bus until 10:15 a.m. and only had 80 minutes in South Beach. NOT HAPPY! I think starting our cruise experiences with Disney ruined us for this though -- in three cruises with them, it's never taken us more than 20 minutes to get on or off DCL.

 

While we had a great time, our next cruise will most likely be back on DCL -- looking at a 7-day with two stops at their private island. Costs more, but we really think there's something more refined and classy about it. Don't get me wrong -- I'll cruise Carnival again if the price is right. But comparing DCL to CCL, Disney wins hands down.

[gunnerfubar]

Hi Sandy,

 

Lady actually wasn't on the Tulum tour. But I was on the bus with Enrique. I had the Crocodile Dundee hat on and was sitting with the little brunette. I enjoyed Tulum, but it was extremely hot and humid. Don't think I'd do it again. Were you on the right or left of the bus? I have pics of Tulum, you possibly are in some of them.