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Review Carnival Triumph September 22-29, 2007

Rick-n-MeMe

By Rick-n-MeMe,
in Carnival Cruise Lines

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Rick-n-MeMe

Rick-n-MeMe

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Here is our review of the Carnival Triumph. At the end of the review is a link to our photo show. It was a wonderful trip and we had the best balcony stateroom on the ship!! This will also be posted in the "review" section of this website.

 

We sailed the Carnival Triumph September 22-29, 2007. We are a married couple, 50 years old and we traveled alone. We had a category 9A, #7422, wrap around balcony on the 7th deck, Empress Deck. The trip was wonderful and relaxing. We took many photos and a photo show link is posted at the end of this report.

 

Pre-cruise we stayed at Hotel Intercontinental Miami which we loved. It is walking distance to Bayside Marketplace and only a 6 dollar cab ride to the cruise port. We arrived at the port around 10:20am. The cab driver dropped us off right at the check-in entrance. The porter was available immediately to assist. We walked right through with absolutely no one in line. Went through the security screening and right to the embarkation desk. Within moments, we were checked in and were sitting in a comfortable waiting area. We were one of the first to arrive and we boarded quickly. It was a breeze and the whole process was only about 40 minutes.

 

We boarded the ship into the 3rd deck Atrium area. Since it was still early, we were not able to go to our cabins. We toured the ship and had lunch on the Lido. The buffet was okay and they had plenty of stations open inside and outside, including the hamburger grill and pizza stations.

 

We returned to the Atrium area on the 3rd floor to wait for the Maitre d’ who was to arrive anywhere between 12:30 and 1:30 depending upon who you asked. He was set up in the London Dining Room and we sat right outside the doorway to watch the action. Close to 1:00 pm people began to line up so we got in line. We were in the front of the line. A few minutes later, the doors of the dining room opened and people went in one party at a time. We were requesting a table for two and our request was granted. The Maitre d’ was Manuel and he proved to be the most fabulous Maitre d’ we have ever encountered on a cruise. We were assigned a lovely table in the Paris Dining Room at the 8:00 pm seating on the 2nd floor of the dining room which is actually deck 4. We had a great view of the entire dining room as we were on the rail edge at table #587. The dining time was the highlight of our days and we were with two great waiters, Iaon (spelling??) from Romania and Alfonso from the Philippines.

 

After securing our perfect table for two, we went to our cabin. The double doors were still shut near to the elevators as we were about 15 minutes early but we went through them anyway because they weren’t locked. We opened our door tentatively and found it to be ready! Nothing beats the moment you enter your stateroom for the first time. Immediately we saw our red roses (which incidentally were gorgeous and lasted all week long) and our champagne and other things we had ordered. It was nice to see everything already in the room but I wish the champagne had been chilling already.

 

We then went to see our wrap around aft balcony. It was great! It is long and narrow but workable. We asked our room steward, Romeo, to get us two loungers for the deck and to keep our portable ice chest full of ice for the week and gave him a $25 tip. He did everything we requested of him throughout the week. On the balcony we had two loungers, a small table, and four chairs. We brought our table from inside the cabin and placed it out on the balcony since it was larger and more usable. Romeo left it there all week which we were happy about. The balcony on the complete back of the ship was only partially covered. If it was rainy, you would get wet out here. There was very little breeze on this portion of the balcony. It also was very visible from the neighboring balcony since the partitions across the back of the ship are angled. When our neighbors were on the balcony at their rail, they could see this whole portion of our balcony. We checked from above in the aft pool area and if you lean over the edge of the window, you can see the rail of our balcony, but nothing more. The best part of this balcony was that you could escape dreary weather or the heat by sitting on the side portion of the balcony. It extended several feet on the port side of the ship so that we felt breezes and were totally covered from the elements. It felt more private here. We spent a great deal of time on our balcony and would highly recommend this particular stateroom. There are only a few of the Category 9As on the ship and you couldn’t go wrong with this room type.

 

Our room was large with the bed and room situated at an angle. The bathroom seemed a typical size. The room had a loveseat type couch, a vanity/drawer area where the tv sat, 3 roomy closets side by side and another chair and table under the window. There were two large windows in the room. One was above the bed but that gave us no problems as the curtains shut just fine. The balcony door was all glass and had a curtain over that too. We found no need to keep the balcony door open but a bungee cord would not have helped you because there was nothing to tie off to. The bathroom had shampoo and body wash dispensers in the shower and you were also provided with small bars of soap. We had one small tube of toothpaste, two razors and a dryer sheet (for some reason!) in our little bowl on the bathroom counter. There was a large medicine cabinet so we were never lacking for space.

 

We had some minor issues with the bed. The sheets and mattress pad came untucked but after speaking to the room steward, it would be okay for a day or two. I think it depends on how they made the bed and tucked things in. The bed felt like memory foam which we were not used to but we slept well when the bed sheets didn’t slip off. The room temperature was easily adjusted by two vents in the ceiling.

 

Our biggest concern about this stateroom was that it could be noisy at times with our neighbors coming and going. The stateroom door sits perpendicular to the neighboring cabin and the ladies next door seemed to have numerous visits right at our doorway entrance. The noises carried right through and under the stateroom door. We also heard a lot of toilet flushing. None of this was bothersome at night because we just wore earplugs. If you are a light sleeper, some of the noise could be bothersome though. This seemed to be the poorest insulated room of any we have stayed in and we’ve been on 10 cruises.

 

We found the ship to be very clean and smelled no odd odors or sewer smell during our week. We found the staff to be some of the best we’ve ever encountered. There was constant cleaning and painting of the ship inside and out. We had previously sailed the Carnival Victory so were used to the strange configuration of the ship. To traverse the ship you must do so on either deck 5 or deck 9 unless you go through the stateroom hallways. Once you figure this out, you can get around pretty easily.

 

We only made use of the ships aft pool area one day and liked this quieter area which is meant more for the adults although there were plenty of children in this pool. We didn’t utilize the main pool area as it was too busy for our tastes. We like to read and relax so most of our sunbathing was done on our very own balcony. Perfect!!

 

We found many of the bars to be uncomfortable. We tried the California Wine Bar one evening but didn’t find it relaxing to sit on a bar stool. We took our drinks and had them in the Piano Bar next door which was vacant at the time. We also had used the Capitol Bar in the 3rd deck atrium area. The service was very good but again, the seating was not terribly comfortable. This bar has a divided area for smoking and non-smoking. The air quality seemed pretty good here. We never tried the Oxford Bar as people were smoking cigars in there and every time we walked by, it was terrible. For this same reason, we also didn’t ever use the casino. Way too much smoke for our taste. We used the internet café to do our online airline check-in and that went pretty well, although was slow and expensive. This internet area is in the back and to the side of the Oxford Bar, one of the smokiest places onboard. Hmmm.

 

We never attended the entertainment so cannot speak to that. Our greatest past time is just spending time together or reading. We didn’t encounter any unruly children and there didn’t seem to be many on board anyway.

 

Ports of Call:

 

Half Moon Cay is incredible. If you ever have a chance to go on a cruise stopping at Half Moon Cay, you’ve got to do it. The sand is soft with no rocks and the water is an incredible blue color. You can walk in at an easy grade. No big dips or drops and no rocks to stub your toes on. The water depth is very gradual so would be very safe for the young or old. Since it is salt water, you don’t even need a float mat. Just lie back and float to your heart’s content. It doesn’t get any better than this!

 

St Thomas we’ve been to before. We didn’t do any shopping except for our liquor supply. We took a jitney to Magen’s Bay and relaxed on the beach and floated in the water. It was wonderful. Since we were the only ship in port, it was quiet at Magen’s Bay. In the past we have gone to Trunk Bay or Cinnamon Bay on St John but decided to just stay on St Thomas this time, save some money and forgo the extra hassles. We were happy with our decision. We returned to Havensight mall area where the ship was docked and went to the liquor store. We bought our 10 allotted bottles and they delivered it to the ship. We didn’t get our alcohol delivered to the stateroom until the last day of the cruise around 6:30pm or so. We were starting to worry until it finally showed up. We also went to a small pharmacy/store area where we were looking to buy some Ting (a local soda pop) but couldn’t find any. We just bought some Carib beers and put them in our backpacked and carried them onto the ship. They said nothing at the security point. We should have bought some pop here as it cost $1.75 onboard (with 15% service fee, the total for a pop was $2.01). Normally we don’t drink much pop but on this cruise we ended up consuming a few. Next time, we’ll just bring on some pop at the beginning of the cruise.

 

Hint: up the hall from our room was an ice machine and pop machine. The pop was $1.75 but you don’t have to pay a service fee this way!

 

San Juan, Puerto Rico: We just walked up to one of the van drivers and were told it would be 20 dollars each for a tour. We decided to go for it. We had an air-conditioned comfortable seat in a large van that held around 17 people, give or take. The windows were very large and I was able to take many photos right through them. We first toured around the “new” city and we had a history lesson. We stopped at a very small park where you could walk on a rocky beach. It was very pretty here. There was also a small store for convenience items and souvenirs. We then went to the old part of the city and had half an hour to tour part of the old fort. It cost $3.00 to get in. It was nice to see some of the fort but we didn’t have enough time to get into it too much. Got some good photos though. We then toured around the old town San Juan a bit more and were dropped off in the main area of old town. We went for lunch in a place called The Parrot Club and we highly recommend it. They specialize in Latin cuisine. We had wonderful service and a great deal of fabulous tasting food. We tried some local beer. It was light but refreshing. From here, we merely walked a few blocks back to the ship. We would recommend this tour to acquaint yourself with the city.

 

Grand Turk: The weather was a bit off this day. We opted to stay onboard and enjoy our balcony. The weather began to clear up later in the day so we did get some sun on the balcony. We had previously been to Grand Turk earlier this year. The Margaritaville here is very fun. They have a huge pool and lots of lounging chairs. We found the beach to be rocky and uncomfortable for swimming or wading.

 

This cruise included two sea days. Personally, we like sea days more than port day…well, unless every port day could be like Half Moon Cay! On the sea days and during typical meal times, the buffet area could get very crowded. We were not overly impressed with the food here so we often had burgers or pizza as both were quite good. The pizza dough was very nice but sometimes you had to wait for your pizza. The buffet area really should be separated into more user friendly areas. Unfortunately, if you only want a warm entrée, you have to wait behind all those folks getting salads. The line moved very slowly. They did have a different area for desserts and had numerous drink stations. There is also extra seating upstairs. We always quickly found a table.

 

At breakfast the first day we got an omelet and fried eggs. These were good but we also tried the bacon (greasy) and the potatoes (stale and dry). Every day after this, we went to the dining room for breakfast. The dining room hostess, Crina, recognized us and knew we had been enjoying our table for two so she whispered something to the waiter and we were seated at a great table for two. The same thing happened every morning. When Crina wasn’t there, all we had to do was ask for a table for two and it was honored. The dining room breakfast was lovely. We had great service and could begin the day without the hassle of lines and waits. We especially enjoyed the chicken sausage and the eggs benedict. We always had refills of coffee and orange juice. There were many choices of food items, pastries and fruits. This was our first time experiencing the dining room for breakfast and now, it will be hard to go back to the lido! Besides, it is vacation and I like to be served!

 

Our service in the dining room for dinner was outstanding. We had good food and great service. We especially enjoyed the soups and some of the appetizers. At times, we felt the main entrees were lacking a little bit. The steaks, prime rib, etc were done to order and were good. One fish dish we had was very nice. But all in all, I’d say the best thing about dinner was the overall ambiance. We were made to feel special from everyone including our waiters, the dining room hostess and the Maitre d’. We were warmly greeted numerous times. We didn’t order cocktails at dinner but the wine/cocktail guy was very cordial and always smiling. We did have some wine. They had many by-the-glass choices. Carnival waiters and dining room staff do a lot of singing and dancing and general entertaining. That was always fun for us to watch.

 

Debarkation was okay. It is never fun to be leaving the ship and is an awkward time. The room steward wanted us out of the rooms by 8:30 so we were. We waited in the upper seating area of the South Beach buffet area. We played cards and hung out until it was time to go. Once we got to the luggage area, we found our luggage pretty quickly. We immediately got a porter to help us. He cut line in front of a bunch of people. All we could do was follow him and we did hear a few comments behind us. We did still wait in line for about 10 minutes but had we started at the very back of the line, it would have been twice as long.

 

Hint: Get a porter but be ready to tick off some people as he cuts in line!

 

Customs officer only asked us how much alcohol we were bringing back and then waived us right through. The porter got us a cab and we headed to the airport.

 

Hint for packing alcohol: We always bring bubble wrap and 2.5 gallon Ziplocs with us. We wrap the alcohol very well in the wrap and tape. We then place inside the Ziploc. We distribute the bottles evenly in the suitcases and try to surround with lots of clothing. We have never had a mishap yet.

 

Hint: Buy a hand held luggage scale. You can purchase online or from a Samsonite or like store. They cost around 10 bucks and you can weigh your luggage before getting to the airport.

 

All in all, we had a wonderful time and would go on this cruise again. We especially loved the itinerary because we wanted to go back to Half Moon Cay. We booked using a veteran military rate and got a great deal.

 

To see our photos simply click on the link below.

http://photoshow.comcast.net/watch/Dv2Wd4uY

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Rick-n-MeMe

Rick-n-MeMe

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Thanks so much for the wonderful comments. If you have any questions, I will be happy to TRY to answer them. We love cruising and we try to make the most of our vacations.

 

One thing I forgot to mention was that this cruise was the calmest seas we've ever encountered. The water at times looked glassy and barely rippled. Looked like a great big lake instead of the ocean. It was so still that sometimes I couldn't tell if we were moving or not! We even went through an incredible thunderstorm with lots of lightning one day but still the ship didn't rock-n-roll.

 

Thanks again for the great feedback especially on the photos!

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DG2004

DG2004

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Me and a group of friends just got off the Triumph also and we also felt that there are some definite areas for improvement.

We encountered the dreaded sewer smell

We noticed a lot of burnt out bulbs and things that were in need of maintenance

Somewhere between dropping my luggage off and it finally getting to my room (after 3 trips to the purser’s desk where I had to ask to be able to finish a sentence) they destroyed (as in it is in the trash) my suitcase. We are now going round and round with customer service to be compensated for the damaged luggage.

Some of the staff were GREAT…our waiter, our bar waitress, our drink guy on the Lido deck.

Food was what we expected

The first adult comedy show was great

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elaineb

elaineb

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Great review and photos - brings back wonderful memories. The Triumph will hold a special place in our hearts! Quick question - did the slideshow have music or not? We're having some major computer problems lately, so I'm not sure if the no music was the slideshow or our computer!:confused:

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As You Wish

As You Wish

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Thanks for the review and the great photo show. It looks like you put a lot of time into the slideshow, and I really enjoyed viewing it.

 

One question for you--where exactly do you find the porters when you're debarking the ship? Is it easy to spot them or do you need to search them out? Thanks.

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Rick-n-MeMe

Rick-n-MeMe

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No, I didn't put music on it. This is a Photo Show by Comcast and every time I tried to attach personal music (fun Kenny Chesney songs!!), it told me I couldn't send by email or post on the web due to international copyright laws. I didn't quite get understand that, so if anyone knows how I can do it on this Comcast Photo Show, I'd be happy to try again. Incidentally, I have seen Windows Media Player shows using music so perhaps I should learn how to use that program.

 

As far as the question regarding porters at debarkation:

There are numerous porters near your luggage. You just have to get the attention of one and they will be more than happy to assist (of course, for a tip!). They are wearing white and had hardhats on. They are friendly and helpful in our experience.

 

Thanks again for the comments and questions.

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Starfire_rules

Starfire_rules

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Great review and pictures. Looks like someone is a wonderful shutterbug.:D Two friends and I are sailing the Triumph on the 23rd of February. I check the boards everyday for something about her. I've sailed on the Victory (her sister ship) and noticed some differences. Great to see that ahead of time. My friends have never cruised before and think I have all the answers which I definately don't. But thanks to people like you I can say, 'Well, on the Cruise Critic boards they say.........' I'll be printing your review for them to read. Thanks again.

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