The Tauby's Take On The Triumph

[cynt]

Hello my name is Cynt and I'm a cruisaholic. I love to get my family and friends addicted to cruising so I will have someone to cruise with me. :D As you can tell from my signature I've cruised on Carnival, RCCL and Princess. I'm not loyal to anyone but RCCL is my fav because I love the Royal Promenade, oatmeal and raison cookies at Café Promenade and the layout of their ships. Not to mention the Voyager was my 1st cruise and you know what they say about your 1st, you never forget it.

 

I'm going to write a cruise review about our family reunion cruise July 26-30, 2012 aboard the Carnival Triumph with 2 vets and 7 virgins. We had a blast and would do it again in a heartbeat! I'm proud to announce that the 7 have crossed over and are now ADDICTED. Let me start by introducing the cast:

 

Me - planner and organizer extraordinaire. I am an event planner and I love it. This year I planned to family reunions back to back which I will never do again. My dad's family booked the cruise and my mom's family we went back home to celebrate. Both of them were a success so I’ll share some things I learned along the way about planning a family reunion cruise.

 

Dad, 70 - He's my BFF and I love that ole' man to life! This was his 1st cruise, and his Bday and he was so excited he packed weeks in advanced. But he tried to play it off like it wasn’t a big deal. LOL! He’s a big flirt and no one is a stranger to him.

 

Bo, 68 – 1st cruise, my Dad’s lil’ brother and my uncle. He is a farmer by day and Pa by night. He loves his garden and his grandkids are his pride and joy. He’s also a little directionally challenged as you will see in the review his granddaughter, Jazzy had to rescue him on many occasions. LOL!

 

Pen, 55 – My cuz’n from LA. 1st time cruiser and terrified to cruise. Before we boarded the ship she thought it would be like a boat ride. She couldn’t wrap her mind around the cruising concept, the size of the ship and how it is a floating resort. She was extremely glad she conquered her fears and now laughs at herself for being scared.

 

Tan, 44 – 3rd cruise, Bo’s daughter and our functioning alcoholic. LOL!! She gets the thumps up for getting everyone hooked on the MDR 1800 margaritas. They were soooo good.

 

Nikki, 40 – 1st time cruiser, Bo’s baby girl, Tan’s lil’ sis and my BFF since we were kids. Two peas in a pod. She taught me how to roller skate and I taught her how to cruise. She loves her kids and gives the world to them.

 

Jazzy, 17 – 1st time cruiser, Nikki’s daughter, Bo’s granddaughter, cheerleader extraordinaire, Senior 2014 and all things girlie. She’s a great kid and I enjoyed spending time with her on the cruise. She was the 1st person to navigate us around the ship successfully. LOL! She had a great time and met many new friends aboard the ship. I think she was the most excited to go on the cruise. She saved all her money from her summer job to spend on the cruise.

 

Lu, 15 – 1st time cruiser, Tan’s son, Bo’s grand son, “Casanova” at least that’s what he thinks and too cool for his own good. He was too cool to show us how he really felt but the kid in you always shines thru and that he couldn’t hide.

 

Jake, 15 – 1st time cruiser, Nikki’s son, Bo’s grand son, Jazzy’s lil’ brother whom she absolutely loves and adores but don’t tell her I told you. Lu and Jake are more like brothers than cousins. They remind me of Batman (Lu) and Robin (Jake). He’s shy but will do anything his sis and cuz’n Lu does.

 

Background: We invited about 100 family members to attend the family reunion. In June 2011 we began mailing letters, emailing and I setup a Facebook account to keep everyone abreast on the family reunion cruise. I contacted everyone once a month. We selected a cruise because we wanted to do something different. We decided on the 4 night cruise because we anticipated so many 1st timers and dad thought a short cruise would be best. It was economical and a one stop shop – hotel, food and entertainment included. We decided on Galveston because the majority could reach it by car in 4-10 hours which was important for the KS, OK, TX and AR families, which makes up about 75% of the family. Peter, our PVP told me from the beginning only about 10% would book and he was right. A couple of things happened that I believe added to the low number attending. This family reunion is based on two sisters A and B and their kids, grandkids, great GK, great great GK and so forth. One of the matriarchs, the daughter of sister A passed away in 2011. It was a huge blow to our family but especially to the sister A side. She wasn’t sick but one day had a massive heartache and she was gone in an instant. I’m the granddaughter of Sister B and everyone that cruised were descendants from Sister B. We’re still praying that God continues to comfort our Sister A family. Secondly, many family members were afraid to cruise especially after the Costa cruise line incident. Strangely enough, this was especially an issue with our California residents. Many of them wanted to cruise and were planning on cruising but after the accident the interest declined tremendously. Lastly, the recession kept a lot of families at home because they didn’t know what the future would hold and they didn’t think it was wise to spend money on a vacation at this time. So 9 out of 100 cruised and we made the best out of every moment. We created memories that will last for a life time and the kids were old enough to enjoy it and remember it.

 

I’m trying to figure out how to post pics because I love pics in a review. Once I figure it out I’ll post some.

 

So after months of emails, mailings, texting and facebooking the 9 that booked arrived in Galveston, TX on July 25 to enjoy the Galveston beach and cruise aboard the Carnival Triumph.

 

Up next Uncle Bo Birth certificate and Passport fiasco!

[jandjtexas]

Will be on the Triumph again next month. Always love to hear reviews about her.

[cynt]

Post cruise:

Uncle decides to get a passport and the problems began. His local post office didn't have a passport office so he mailed the application and BC to the local regional office. Apparently G-Ma waited several days, weeks, months no one knows for sure before getting a doctor to sign off on his birth certificate. I guess by child 10 those little birth certificates weren’t all that important. LOL!! So my uncle's BC has a big "DELAYED" across the top of it. The Passport office didn't like this. They made him jump thru hoops to verify he was who he said he was. They even asked for his school records. Umm excuse me Mr. Passport office the school has been closed since the late 60’s and there aren’t any school records. So while he was jumping thru hoops he did have the good sense to go ahead and request another BC just in case his passport and 1st BC wasn’t returned prior to cruising. He blew up my dad’s phone with the details and frustrations of this process. My dad in turn blew up my phone. I thought he was going to cancel but since he had already put down his money, and he hates to lose money he was in it for the long haul. Thank goodness he started this process early and everything including the Passport and 1st BC was returned before we cruised. Lesson learned plan ahead and don’t wait until the last minute to get your passports.

 

We decided to use EZ cruise parking. We booked early and online and had a promo code. We received $40 parking for $30 that was a pretty good deal for 4 nights. We parked in the remote lot it wasn’t a problem but I wish they mentioned on their website that they have a remote lot. It’s not far from the original lot but we were caught off guard when we arrived and were told to wait for the shuttle and they will direct us to the remote lot. One thing I did note is that they didn’t give you directions while you were on the shuttle back to your car on how to get back to I-45 from the remote lot for your return home. Since we hadn’t planned on parking at the remote lot we were lost on how to get back to I-45. Thank goodness it dawned on me before we left the lot to get directions. It was easy to get back to I-45 but it was the slight moment of not knowing that drove me crazy.

 

I usually purchase hotels through bidding. So I’m used to paying $50 for a 4 star. Well, Galveston gave me a run for my money. I couldn’t get a hit for a Galveston hotel on/near the seawall bidding for at least $100. Not to mention, there were 3 of us in a room and we needed 3 beds. So I searched and researched and booked Four Points Sheraton. Excellent hotel. I highly recommend it. It’s across the street from the beach and the new Pier. It’s also across the street from Murdock’s. Murdock’s is a souvenir store but it has two stores connected by a breezeway looking over the ocean. AMAZING!!! They have rocking chairs and adult beverages. We stayed out there for hours talking, shopping and taking in the ocean. It was fabulous!! I booked a room for $144 and it included $25 Southwest airline coupon, free Seagram’s ginger ale and one free breakfast. Now the only thing 4Points is lacking is the restaurant. The breakfast was terrible. I ordered the omelet and the middle was not cooked. I cut the corner off the omelet to taste it. I sent it back and asked them to cook me another omelet and make sure the middle was cooked as well as add more cheese in the inside of the omelet. I receive the same omelet back with the corner cut off and they added more cheese to the top of the omelet. WTW!!! So I ate the breakfast potatoes which were really good and had them take the omelet off my bill. I learned later that it might have been a language barrier. Their employees are foreign exchanged students and after a couple of more language barriers I’m sure this is the case. Our last issue was our air conditioner. We arrived and my dad stayed to take a nap as Pen and I went to explore the seawall. Well he called maintenance because the A/C was making this horrendous noise. They told him they would be up between 4:30-6:30 to fix it. He left the room w/out his nap. And we all know the mature need their afternoon naps. We returned about 9:30PM and guess who knocked on the door as soon as we got back to the room? Maintenance. We were exhausted and ready for a good night’s rest. He checked it out and it needed to be replaced. He said it would take an hour. Dad said forget it and I said FIX IT!! It was really loud and annoying and I knew I wouldn’t get any sleep. So about an hour later we had a new A/C unit and all was good. The room and bathroom were spotless and well appointed.

 

I visited the new Pleasure Pier. A Bubba Gump’s is located at the pier. They have a restaurant as well as a pickup window if you don’t want to wait. You don’t have to go inside the Pier Entrance to access the restaurant. There’s an entrance fee, $10 adults; $8 under 48 inches. You can also purchase an all day access wristband that will allow unlimited rides on the amusement rides, $27, adults; $22, under 48 inches.

 

Walking along the seawall reminded me a lot of walking along Ft. Lauderdale. I didn’t understand the seawall when I was doing my research. The seawall is the street/blvd that runs along the coast. The beach was on one side of the street and the hotels along the other side. Many restaurants and souvenir shops are located along the seawall. I wavered back and forth about staying on the Galveston Island or staying on the mainland for a much cheaper cost. I’m so glad I opted to stay on the island. I wanted to enjoy Galveston for the day. Staying on the pier allowed me to park my car and forget about it. Everything I needed and wanted was along the seawall. Even a WALMART!

 

Up next…I thought you were driving down Thursday. So now you need a hotel room tonight?

[jennkmr]

We're getting on the Triumph TOMORROW - woot! woot! So I'll have fun finishing reading your review when I get back home. Thanks for posting!

[cynt]

Let's see if this works.

 

Here's the ship Thursday morning before we board.

 

 

We went to gas and look what we saw?

 

[krogers2063]

Loving your review so far. I am taking my daughter on a surprise trip on the Triumph for Spring Break. I am telling her about the trip the day before school starts. She will be a senior this year. She will be really excited when she finds out it is a girls trip for Moms and daughters. Can't wait to tell her.

[cruiser fanatic]

We have been on Triumph twice we LOVED IT and we are looking forward to the Magic in a few weeks.

[cynt]

Loving your review so far. I am taking my daughter on a surprise trip on the Triumph for Spring Break. I am telling her about the trip the day before school starts. She will be a senior this year. She will be really excited when she finds out it is a girls trip for Moms and daughters. Can't wait to tell her.

 

Sounds like a blast! My teen cousins loved the cruise. I'm sure she will enjoy it!. Have a great time!!

[JaniceB]

Really a horse? What was it tied to?

 

Loved the triumph, looking forward to the rest of the review.

[cynt]

Wednesday afternoon as my cousin, dad and I were enjoying the Galveston beach, I receive a phone call from my sister stating my uncle and his family has arrived in Dallas. They wanted to visit with her and the kids. I said great, they decided to come down a day early. Originally they had planned to drive straight thru from KS to Galveston and arrive in the wee hours Thursday morning. I thought it was kind of risky and tried to persuade them to drive in a day early or at least drive to Dallas and my dad would leave the keys to the ranch for them to rest before driving the remaining 4/5 hours on Thursday morning to Galveston. But they insisted that it was 4 drivers and they were going to drive straight thru to Galveston. Well about 8PM or 9PM I get a text from my cousin asking

 

Where are you staying?

4 Point by Pleasure Pier

How much?

We booked online at $144/night

We’re here and looking for a room.

 

UNBELIEVABLE! After months of trying to get them to stay in Galveston for the night with many heated discussions. On a whim they decide to drive down early. Come to find out my uncle’s nerves got the best of him. He was the biggest culprit who refused to drive down a day early. After he thought about it I guess he realized better to pay a hundred bucks for a room and not lose out on the 2 or 3 grand they spent to book the cruise if they missed the ship.

 

We waited and waited to here from them but after touring the seawall and the A/C incident we were out like a light once our heads hit the pillows. We all slept like babies that evening. Early Thursday morning they called and did indeed find a room on the seawall. We met at 4 Points, took group pics and then headed to EZ cruise parking.

 

EZ cruise parking was a breeze and they whisked us away to the port about 10:30AM. On the way to the port I’m asking the same questions to everyone since we met at the hotel does everyone have their birth certificate and drivers license or passport? Yes. Does everyone have their medicine? Yes. We get to the port and start placing tags on our luggage. I tell them put all of your medicine in your carry on luggage. My uncle unzips his bag and starts to panic while looking through his luggage. He responds I need to go back to the car I left my blood thinner medicine in the van. YIKES!! Thank goodness the shuttle had not left. He hops back on and they take him back to the parking lot. We take a sit on one of the benches at the port and wait anxiously for his return. Aaarrgghh he put us a little behind schedule but he makes it back in about 15 minutes or so. THANKS EZ CRUISE!! Medicine in hand we continued to the check in area. It was a cinch getting through screening and the check in process. We walked straight through with no wait. We take a ton of pics before we make our way to the gangway. We’re all excited and I’m snapping away to capture the moment.

 

After 13 months of planning, many family discussions and having to hear many people gripe about taking a cruise we finally cross the threshold of the Carnival Triumph. The virgins are blown away at the promenade and the amazing staircase. Glass, brass, plush furniture, piano bar as we’re gazing upon our new home for the day our thoughts are interrupted “Excuse me would you like a drink of the day?” Someone says is it free, my response no. OK, no thank you we’ll have one later. After our interruption we take a moment to take it all in and familiarize ourselves with the promenade, the glass elevators and the bar. We head to Guest Services to setup cash accounts and switch Pen to my room and my dad to Uncle’s room. Easy Breezy! We also noticed they issued new cards when we made the switch. We have holes punched in our cards and everyone pulls out their lanyards that I included in our family reunion bags. I am so glad I included these in our bags. I paid like 50 cents for them at Mardell’s.

 

We head to the Lido deck for our first of many lunches. The kid’s eyes grow large as well as Dad’s and Uncle. They are in hog heaven. FREE FOOD FOR 5 DAYS! YES! Note to parents if you can’t find your kids head to the Lido deck and the pizzeria. We found our teens there many times. After a wonderful lunch we head upstairs to deck nine to check out the slides and pools.

 

Up next - Yes Uncle the food is included!

[cynt]

Family reunion bags - stuffed and ready to go!

 

 

Chillin' at Murdock's on their breezeway covered porch. This was fabulous. Adult beverage and looking at the ocean. We stayed here for a couple of hours and a couple of naps.

 

 

Uncle Bo made it back and we're headed to checkin at the port.

 

[cynt]

Really a horse? What was it tied to?

 

Loved the triumph, looking forward to the rest of the review.

 

Yep! It wasn't tied to anything. LOL! Only in TEXAS!

[JAXCRUISER]

Enjoying your review--thanks!

[LUVMYGSDOG]

I am loving your review! Your family sounds so much like mine. I have thought about trying to do a family reunion cruise and maybe I will make up my mind after reading the rest of your reveiw!

 

 

Kim

[cynt]

We live the Lido deck and take the side stairs up to deck 10 to see the aft view. We determine we’ll come back here at sail away. We take pics and enjoy the review but it was HOT!

 

 

So I leave to go to the Paris Dining Room and make sure our table seats nine. For some reason I couldn’t find it. This is when I realized that not all the decks are accessible front to aft. I finally find it and to my dismay it only seats 8. I find the Matre’d and I’m told I need to go to the London dining room and request the change. So off I go to the London dining and they assure me they will make the change by dinner.

 

Our table – London 543

 

[cynt]

After I make the table change I decide to stop and see if our cabin is ready. The doors were open to the cabins so I asked the first cabin steward I spotted. Jackpot!! They’re ready. It was about 12:30ish when I headed to my cabin - my home for the week.

 

 

Uh, oh! We need two beds not one. I found our cabin steward and asked him to change the beds. I don’t recall his name. He was very efficient and done his job quite well. I appreciated the towel animals and trying to figure out what they were. Pen and I made a game out of it each evening. I wanted to check out the laundry facility because many people on the boards want to know what they look like so I snapped some pics of the laundry facility for all to enjoy!

 

[jenale80]

Great pix, a lot of different views that I haven't seen on the Triumph before. Can't wait to see more.

[luckybecky]

Great start! We are going to be on the Triumph in January. Can't wait to see more! Thanks for sharing.

[KrystalWaters]

Excellent start! What a beautiful family.:)

[ali_cat]

Thanks for sharing these! I can't wait to see more pictures. We are sailing on the Triumph in a few weeks and it's fun to see all the pictures and hear what you thought of it.

[Rudyard]

Great review. Looking forward to the rest :)

[cynt]

After my laundry room tour I went to peruse the ship before the safety drill. Along the way I snapped a few pics.

I also found a wedding reception being setup. Check out the cake.

I read on the board to head to the safety drill late so you wouldn’t be stuck in the back. THANK YOU for that tip. Pen and I were at the same safety session outside in the heat. We arrived late and were on the first row in the front. It wasn’t a long drill but because it was hot and humid outside it seemed like it lasted forever. We amused ourselves by people watching. NO CELL PHONES ALLOWED. Everyone please put your cell phones up during this drill. Numerous people were asked to put up their cell phones. If you see someone asked to turn off their phone what makes you think you’re an exception to the rule. REALLY!?!?! No DRINKS. We watched the ledge in front of our station get lined with drinks. We heard the English announcement and then we waited a few more minutes before we were dismissed. Next it was time for the Sail Away Party!

[cynt]

Wobble! Wobble! Yep we started the party with line dancing. I got involved in the Wobble Wobble! I also got caught on the Carnival video. He was videoing right beside me and I felt the video on me and I said, “Am I on video?” This clip was on the TV all week. I saw and spoke to the video guy, I can’t recall his name on and off the whole cruise. I couldn’t believe I was on the video. No I didn’t purchase it. I have enough pics and memories to last a life time. If you have the video I’m sure you saw me. LOL!!

 

We Wobbled Electric Slide and all the other line dances until it was time for dinner. I was most looking forward to dinner with the family every evening. I was kind of skeptical at first with us all dining together because we are so different and have various personalities. But it turned out very well. The first night at dinner my dad and uncle were there first like most nights and complaining about the menu. What I found out is they didn’t read the entire menu and once they saw fried chicken and mash potatoes they stopped reading. LOL!! This was listed on the everyday side of the menu. So every evening we would go over the menu as a family and make sure at least one of everything was ordered. I’m glad I recognized this the 1st day so no one missed out on the rest of the menu. Surprisingly the teens really enjoyed looking over the menu and selecting the 3 course meal. They even were adventurous and tried new things. I was so proud of them. And I loved them because the adults we skip desert but the teens and I stayed for dinner EVERY NIGHT! YES!! There is nothing like enjoying desert with others who enjoy it as much as you.

 

 

We ordered spinach and artichoke dip every night. It was our family’s favorite appetizer.

[cynt]

I forgot to snap the pics before we indulged but you get the picture. LOL!:D

 

 

My dad and uncle didn't order the fried chicken but Nikki did. LOL!

 

 

 

DESERT!!

 

 

I'm not a chocolate person I prefer fruity deserts. But this chocolate molten cake was delish! I only ate a few bites because I was full and it was so rich. YUM!!

 

We checked out the Welcome aboard show and my frustration with the seating began. Hold on a minute.

 

SIDEBAR: How in the world did a wasp get inside my house?!?!?! I just killed a wasp by my back door. REALLY!!

 

OK. We were in the balcony of the Rome Lounge. Two things frustrated me. The brass trim railing on the glass balcony panels is at eye level. So you can't see. I had to scrunch down in the seat to look under the railing or stretch my neck and sit on my let to look over the railing. I tried every level on the balcony and the railing blocked my view. I don't know if it was just for folks 5' 3" or everyone. Next the poles are placed in really odd places again blocking the view. Solution seat at the bottom! Not a big deal but frustrating.

 

After the shows we took in some singing and dancing by the casino. I thought it was really weird to have a small stage and make shift dance floor on the side of the casino but they did and it worked.

 

I think this was the first night of the late night adult comedy. All the days seem to run together now. If you took out the cursing it wasn't much left. So I didn't attend any more comedy shows. They just weren't that funny to me. But my cousin Tan thought they were a hit and didnt' miss any shows. Different strokes for different folks.

[cynt]

We returned to the room around midnight or so and found this.

 

 

Yeah! I don't have to share a bed with Pen!!

 

I snapped some pics of the bathroom, closet hangers and safe.

 

Here's the hook and string to hang your wet bathing suits.

 

 

 

Bathroom goodies. That's my tide. I never travel without it.