Carnival Triumph review-Employment Standards on board?

[ssolomon]

My DH and I are booked on the Triumph for their March 8th sailing (my birthday). Your review was really something else!

 

This will be our 32nd cruise in 9 years. We have cruised on most cruiselines, including NCL, Carnival, HAL, Celebrity, Princess, RCI etc... The "horrible experiences" you sited can happen...if you are sitting back looking for trouble to jot down in your "complaint book" it can wreck any cruise. I agree with the other posters - putting 5 people in anything smaller than a luxury suite is a recipe for bad attitudes and grouchiness. Every cruiseline has it's negative and positive aspects. You take the bitter with the sweet!

 

I have traveled with strollers, and wheelchairs at one time or another...but, it never even entered my mind to complain about the elevators as you did. These elevators are for everyone to use! Granted, I've found it irritating in the past when throngs of tweens on Spring Break ride them up and down, and clown around. I've found it irritating when people are standing in the elevator's doorway, and refuse to move so others can enter or exit. But...that has nothing to do with the cruiseline or the ship. There are annoying people everwhere!

 

Also...I agree with the other posters with regard to the crew. We have had long discussions with many crew members over the years with regard to their schedules etc. They are not slave labor! This is their choice to be on the ship! They are DELIGHTED to have been hired to work on a ship. Most of them plan to only work a few years, and in this amount of time they can see the world, support their families, and save vast amounts of money. Without this opportunity, they would have very little chance of accomplishing the same in their own countries. Several years ago, we were on NCL's "Pride of Aloha" - it was among their first sailings. They were attempting to staff their ship with all American's. Ha! At every port, hundreds of the employees disembarked and left the ship. Toward the end of the cruise, we were left with 40% of the original crew. Americans aren't used to working so hard - they have other options in their life, and aren't suited for this kind of work.

 

Anyway - I'm tired of flaming....

[Kurbanfan]

The Hawaii cruise was canceled... saw one of the NCL ships in Nassau 2 weeks ago... with not being able to have a casino (never left US waters) and being "american" standards and pay the ship lost money - even with higher charges for cabins.

 

They still have the Pride of America sailing in Hawaii.........

[redlef]

The buffet food is revolting after a day or two anyhow. Eat in the main dining room, your stomach and waistline will thank you. A few weeks ago on the Freedom, I saw an old man sneeze into the cheese sauce by the french fries. That pretty much finished my buffet usage for the week.

 

I think any ship will have crowds using the elevators nearest the dining room when it opens. Personally, I always walk when going downstairs, it's much faster, and usually walk going up as well.

 

Depending where your cabin is, you could use the mid or fore elevators and then walk the length of the ship. Much less crowded.

 

Agree with the layout of the ship - having to go up and down seems pretty poorly planned. It's not just the Triumph class ships, either. The Carnival Freedom layout seemed pretty much similar to the Carnival Victory, which is Triumph's twin sister. But then again, I could think of a few changes I'd make in my own house if I could.

 

I seem to remember the NCL Jewel has a similar issue with its midship dining room access requiring a few staircase changes depending on where you start, but don't know if that applies to the Dawn as well.

 

Anyhow, I'll be on the Triumph in a few weeks and I'll be sure to have a great time, regardless of the stairs. Sorry you didn't.

[A&Jfamily]

Personally, I always walk when going downstairs, it's much faster, and usually walk going up as well.

 

Depending where your cabin is, you could use the mid or fore elevators and then walk the length of the ship. Much less crowded.

 

and keeps the poundage gain down!:D

[NickCDN]

Carnival is really not for everyone... and that's fine. Maybe if there is ever another really good deal, the OP will try Carnival again - newer ships have better layouts and the room steward issue is a fluke I think.

 

As for labor issues, if you research, you'll see that the OP is right about it not being an american minimum wage. The staff really work for tips and they work very hard. Unfortunately, since these ships are not registered in the US, they aren't required to adhere to our laws. Just like a t-shirt manufactured in China doesn't have to pay their employees an american standard of wage, eventhough the consumer is american. I think NCL has a ship registered in the US that does a Hawaiin cruise - I think they may have better labor laws on that ship (OP: might be something that you would like especially since you already like NCL)

 

I've been on NCL's Hawaii cruise. The ship is staffed with Americans who do not share the same work ethic as the foreign crew members. Service was slow, you could never eat in the dining room as a result of the slow service, there was no incentive to do a good job because if they don't like their job, they just quit and get off at the next port. Trust me, let's keep employing the folks from the poor countries that need the money.

 

 

Lets keep the folks who will work for less and keep our cruise prices low. The foreign workers wont leave the ship, of course they wont, they have no options. Now those are the perfect employees, pay them low wages and they still wont leave because they have no other options. Excellent idea. Lets thank god you were born American :)

[NickCDN]

 

The Hawaii cruise was canceled... saw one of the NCL ships in Nassau 2 weeks ago... with not being able to have a casino (never left US waters) and being "american" standards and pay the ship lost money - even with higher charges for cabins.

 

 

your right, you cant have an affordable cruise if your are going to pay the US minimum wages. Lets pay foreign workers who have no choice, either work on a cruise ship, or starve.

 

There is absolutly nothing wrong with having foreign workers, lets just make sure they are paid accordingly :)

[NickCDN]

The buffet food is revolting after a day or two anyhow. Eat in the main dining room, your stomach and waistline will thank you. A few weeks ago on the Freedom, I saw an old man sneeze into the cheese sauce by the french fries. That pretty much finished my buffet usage for the week.

 

I think any ship will have crowds using the elevators nearest the dining room when it opens. Personally, I always walk when going downstairs, it's much faster, and usually walk going up as well.

 

Depending where your cabin is, you could use the mid or fore elevators and then walk the length of the ship. Much less crowded.

 

Agree with the layout of the ship - having to go up and down seems pretty poorly planned. It's not just the Triumph class ships, either. The Carnival Freedom layout seemed pretty much similar to the Carnival Victory, which is Triumph's twin sister. But then again, I could think of a few changes I'd make in my own house if I could.

 

I seem to remember the NCL Jewel has a similar issue with its midship dining room access requiring a few staircase changes depending on where you start, but don't know if that applies to the Dawn as well.

 

Anyhow, I'll be on the Triumph in a few weeks and I'll be sure to have a great time, regardless of the stairs. Sorry you didn't.

 

 

Thanks for your response to my review. With this ship, you need to use the aft elevators or you must use the stairs. No other option. If you want, you can walk right through the London dining room, but I dont think those people dining there would appreciate it. Plus, they have the doors locked until 6 when dinner starts.

[NickCDN]

 

Also...I agree with the other posters with regard to the crew. We have had long discussions with many crew members over the years with regard to their schedules etc. They are not slave labor! This is their choice to be on the ship! They are DELIGHTED to have been hired to work on a ship. Most of them plan to only work a few years, and in this amount of time they can see the world, support their families, and save vast amounts of money. Without this opportunity, they would have very little chance of accomplishing the same in their own countries. Several years ago, we were on NCL's "Pride of Aloha" - it was among their first sailings. They were attempting to staff their ship with all American's. Ha! At every port, hundreds of the employees disembarked and left the ship. Toward the end of the cruise, we were left with 40% of the original crew. Americans aren't used to working so hard - they have other options in their life, and aren't suited for this kind of work.

 

Anyway - I'm tired of flaming....

 

Thank you for reading my review. You are right, they love these jobs because they actually have a job. If they dont have cruise ships, they have no jobs. Does it make it right to pay them low wages just because they have no other choice? Why did the NCLOA employees leave? Heck, they were getting US minimum wage, plus OT, and they still quit. Thats because as a G7 countries, we have other choices. Those from Phillipines, Indonesia, Srilanka etc dont have any other options, so they take what they can get. Is it fair to pay them less because of this situation?

[NickCDN]

So....are you saying you had something common with the "trash" on the ship? *****....:eek:

 

As for the workers...do you know what they are paid?

 

How do you know they are not being payed the american minimum hourly wage?

 

:confused:

 

Actually I do, I know a purser on a cruise line, and she said dining room staff, cooks, bar servers are basically paid nothing, but get to take home the tips as long as no one stiffs them.

[NickCDN]

People who think I had a bad time, I never said I did. I said I got exactly what I expected. All I did was compare this cruise to a previous cruise. Where did I say I didnt have a good time? All I did was point out where I thought this cruise lacked in compared to NCL, I also pointed out where Carnival excels compared to NCL.

 

I did forget one more thing. The lobby deck outside deck, was always closed due to strong winds. According to the incabin TV, we only had a gentle breeze. There were chairs always available on this outside deck, but it was always closed 'due to strong winds'. It could be the design, because it was not closed once on a previous cruise and we were in some rough seas last year.

 

Nick :)

[Kurbanfan]

Thank you for reading my review. You are right, they love these jobs because they actually have a job. If they dont have cruise ships, they have no jobs. Does it make it right to pay them low wages just because they have no other choice? Why did the NCLOA employees leave? Heck, they were getting US minimum wage, plus OT, and they still quit. Thats because as a G7 countries, we have other choices. Those from Phillipines, Indonesia, Srilanka etc dont have any other options, so they take what they can get. Is it fair to pay them less because of this situation?

 

Do you know that $1.00 U.S. dollar is worth $113.00 Sri Lanka Rupee:confused:

You might want to check out the exchange rate.......

NCLA workers were paid U.S. minimum wage......where does that get you in the U.S.:confused:

Some of these crew members don't just have a job, they have an opportunity to become wealthy in their country;)

[Crusin6]

 

 

Lets keep the folks who will work for less and keep our cruise prices low. The foreign workers wont leave the ship, of course they wont, they have no options. Now those are the perfect employees, pay them low wages and they still wont leave because they have no other options. Excellent idea. Lets thank god you were born American :)

So now we see the REAL reason you had such problems with this cruise....you don't like Americans.....booked the cheapest cabin you could......and took too many people with you....and lastly, you had to go back home after it was all over.

 

Just stop travelling...stay put...and that should make you happy.:D

[Crusin6]

BTW nick,

doesn't Ontario have lots of foreigners? I thought I heard that somewhere. Are you a foreigner working in Ontario?

 

Just wonderin'

[neverpar]

People who think I had a bad time, I never said I did. I said I got exactly what I expected. All I did was compare this cruise to a previous cruise. Where did I say I didnt have a good time? All I did was point out where I thought this cruise lacked in compared to NCL, I also pointed out where Carnival excels compared to NCL.

 

I did forget one more thing. The lobby deck outside deck, was always closed due to strong winds. According to the incabin TV, we only had a gentle breeze. There were chairs always available on this outside deck, but it was always closed 'due to strong winds'. It could be the design, because it was not closed once on a previous cruise and we were in some rough seas last year.

 

Nick :)

 

 

Please go back to NCL or Princess :rolleyes:...no need for grumpy people making our cruises unbearable..

I was on the Triumph in December, and had no problems at all with the cruise.

Yes you got what you paid for......5 people in a inside cabin...as Ron White says "You can't fix stupid"

[SPARKYCRUISER]

Was the shopworn room and poor room steward. We did the Triumph twice because we liked the intinerary On our second cruise, our cabin was dirty from the get-go, the entire crew seemed overworked and not ready for another cruise and the entire ship was getting kind of ratty and badly in need of an overhaul. They pulled up the carpets in the hallways while we were onboard one day and the dirt and dust was really, really bad.

 

Our steward was nice but did a lousy job. We found toys and personal effects from the previous guests in our balcony cabin at time of check in. The drapes were half off the hook as well. I am not picky, but the entire ship and crew seemed tired, shopworn and wornout! We have also cruised Carnival Liberty and twice on Costa.

[mzche1999]

Flame away!

 

Extremely annoying and time consuming especially because one of us couldn’t take the stairs due to her being in a stroller. You also have to remember that for the Paris dining room, every person is trying to use the aft elevator at the same time!!! You can only imagine how long the waits were. Not only that, perfectly able people would refuse the use the stairs and allow those with wheelchairs, strollers, people obviously unable to walk up/down stairs to use the elevators. Those in wheelchairs would push the button, the doors would open and the able bodied people would rush in leaving the wheelchair person without access to the elevator. This ship has very poor design!

Here is my question....why not break down the stroller and carry your baby? There were so many adults in your party that it seems that simple solution would have made your life a bit easier. Also, it is very presumptuous on your part to term other people "able bodied" when you don't know if they are. Besides, even if they are, didn't they also pay to be on that cruise? While there is no excuse for rudness....you are coming off as the elevator police.

 

While you don't say that you did not have a good time, it is hard to tell! There seems to be an overwhelming amount of negative. I think that you should steer clear of $300 cruises.

Hugs,

Chelle

PS When you mentioned "trash", I thought you meant refuse...not people. Did you mean people??? That is just mean!

[G'ma]

I dunno what ship you got on, but we were on the Triumph in October and it was one of the best cruises I have ever done. Perhaps you should re-evaluate your standards, you are on vacation, relax and stop sweating the small stuff. Anyone who is looking at the Triumph for a future cruise, disregard this nitpickers review, we had a fabulous time.

 

In December, I made my 4th sailing on this lovely ship...Triumph is one my faves.

 

This poor guy simply asks for misery with all those people in one cabin...and, I get the feeling he's not very familiar with how cruises work, why "those poor people" are the only ones hired of their own free will, etc.

 

I agree he's be better off on NCL.....that seems to be his comfort level.

 

As long as they are in business, anyway.

[dbogusch]

Aren't reviews supposed to be posted through the new review process, not on the main boards?

[redlef]

Thanks for your response to my review. With this ship, you need to use the aft elevators or you must use the stairs. No other option. If you want, you can walk right through the London dining room, but I dont think those people dining there would appreciate it. Plus, they have the doors locked until 6 when dinner starts.

 

What I meant to say, poorly I guess, was that you approach the dining room from the Promenade deck, which is accessible from all elevators. Than you only have one (or two) downhill flights of stairs to get to the dining room, depending which dining room floor you are on.

[dan40]

Flame away!

 

You ask for flames, you get! Your lack of knowledge and/or research is spectacular.

 

you complain about workers pay. None of your business. Is your pay their business?

Other than DR, you prefer NCL. NCL pays their people exactly like CCL. Hotel dept workers rely on tips on both lines [all mass market lines]. Ship operations workers make international maritime wages, same as US workers do on freight ships. And cruise ship workers get medical coverage [by law] while on board. They do not pay taxes, or rent, or food costs. NCL or CCL.

CCL's low prices attract trash? Odd, since day in day out, NCL's prices run from a little less than CCL to a lot less.

 

Dan

[grammacassi]

 

 

Lets keep the folks who will work for less and keep our cruise prices low. The foreign workers wont leave the ship, of course they wont, they have no options. Now those are the perfect employees, pay them low wages and they still wont leave because they have no other options. Excellent idea. Lets thank god you were born American :)

 

Or we could only hire American, pay them whatever the wage might be and the "poor" people from "poor" countries would have no opportunity to make some money? besides, it is not the job of employers, whatever country they may hail from, to make sure that "poor" people have jobs/money.

 

Cassi

[grammacassi]

You ask for flames, you get! Your lack of knowledge and/or research is spectacular.

 

you complain about workers pay. None of your business. Is your pay their business?

Other than DR, you prefer NCL. NCL pays their people exactly like CCL. Hotel dept workers rely on tips on both lines [all mass market lines]. Ship operations workers make international maritime wages, same as US workers do on freight ships. And cruise ship workers get medical coverage [by law] while on board. They do not pay taxes, or rent, or food costs. NCL or CCL.

CCL's low prices attract trash? Odd, since day in day out, NCL's prices run from a little less than CCL to a lot less.

 

Dan

 

I agree completely! But maybe the OP can answer this... Am I trash because I want to lower my vacation spending?? Would they be trash because they turn off lights in their house so as to lower their utility bill??

 

Cassi

[anjeleyes1]

We took our second cruise and this last one was on the Truimph. Felt the staff was excellent. Had no problem with anyone and you get out of it all you want to get out of it. Your attitude can change anything.

[kiraryker]

Ok now I'm worried - this will be my fathers first cruise and he is in a wheelchair - we are sailing on the Triumph in March - What if anything can he do to better get around the ship??

 

I hate people that jump infront of the handicapped or elderly on elevators when they can actually use their legs!! I hope he doesn't get discouraged.

[KULPN]

Flame away!

 

You cant get there from here....

 

We were a group of 5 staying in an inside cabin on deck 8 in room 8251. 2 adults 2 grandparents and 1 infant. We had no problems all staying in the same room. We are all previous cruisers on NCL Dawn.

We travelled from MCO to Port of Miami staying in Stuart, FL at the Ramada Inn Stuart. The Ramada Inn Stuart is half way from MCO to Port of Miami. It was an excellent property, and for only 74USD was an excellent value. We used Budget rental from MCO to Port of Miami. Would never use Budget again, as the downtown Miami location is in a ghetto location and was very hard to find a cab in this area to take us to the port.

We thought the initial look of the Carnival Triumph looked older and a bit tacky. I think old school Las Vegas hotels like the Sahara is how I would describe it. Not near as nice as the NCL Dawn. As the title of this review says, you can’t get there from here was the theme of the week on the Triumph. If you want to go anywhere on Deck 3, 4 (Where most bars, guest services, dining rooms are located) you need to go up to at least deck 5 to from fore to aft on this ship. Extremely annoying and time consuming especially because one of us couldn’t take the stairs due to her being in a stroller. You also have to remember that for the Paris dining room, every person is trying to use the aft elevator at the same time!!! You can only imagine how long the waits were. Not only that, perfectly able people would refuse the use the stairs and allow those with wheelchairs, strollers, people obviously unable to walk up/down stairs to use the elevators. Those in wheelchairs would push the button, the doors would open and the able bodied people would rush in leaving the wheelchair person without access to the elevator. This ship has very poor design!

TIP: Always push both the UP and DOWN buttons at the elevators and get on no matter what direction the elevators are going. Its your only chance to get to the dining room on the aft elevators.

Embarkation took about 1h20m and we arrived at 11am. I thought that was a riduclous amount of time, but was told this is actually normal. As only previously being on the NCL Dawn from Miami, which only took 20 minutes, so I thought the wait was a little long.

Stateroom was standard I guess. A far cry from the NCL Dawn staterooms we were in last year. The grout around the tile was starting the crack away and the shower curtain was not as nice as the glass door you get on NCL. The room had wear and tear, which is to be expected. Our room steward Rodney, was really bad. About 4 mornings, we did not have our room cleaned for some reason. Later in the week we learned Rodney was sick and they had not yet assigned his rooms to other stewards. After that, our room steward cleaned our room once a day while at Dinner. Poor management in this department.

Dining is where Carnival is better than NCL. I enjoyed having assigned dining team and feel David and Celedion were the best team on the ship. They were so good with my daughter throughout the cruise. If I could somehow hire Celedion as a nanny, I would love to bring him and his young child home to Canada. (More on this later). The main dining room food was much better than NCL. Speed of service was much better as well. I only had one dinner in the buffet due to my daughter having a melt down as we entered the dining room and did not want to interrupt others having dinner. The Buffet salad bar was excellent, but the hot choices were few compared to NCL. The Buffet lines at lunch are unreal. You have to wait 15-20 minutes just to get lunch. This whole area really needs to be redone. The Coney Island grill had good burgers and fires. The pizzeria was ok, but I would never pay for the pizza they serve. I thought the soft serve ice cream was excellent.

The Maitre D Ramesh, was annoying. They practically beg for tips for the Maitre D through the Capers, envelopes left in rooms for him, and at the disembarkation meeting. Why would I tip him? What did he do? He is management, and Carnival should be paying his FULL wage as management personnel. Who tips managers? I can see where this is heading. Soon the Maître D will be getting tipped out from the passengers automatically so Carnival can reduce his wage. Every penny given to him should have been given to the staff actually doing the work.

I found the activities on board all involved spending more money. From Bingo, to Art Auctions, Casino, wine tasting. The main shows involving the Triumph staff were like high school productions, but the shows with talent brought on the ship was good. NCL had far better entertainment as far as the main shows are concerned. We had Kevin and Caruso and some guy with a juggling act. Both were good.

My daughter was too young for Camp Carnival. They do set aside time everyday for those under 2 to play with toys but that is between 12-2! That is when pretty much EVERY under 2 has there naps, so that was in fact useless. After a couple days at sea we realized that no one followed the 'no swim diapers allowed' rules in the main pools and wading pool, so we then decided to take our non toilet trained daughter in the wading pool with the other 5 kids with swim diapers on.

The pool areas on the Triumph sort of smell like fried food! It’s not a pleasant smell either. It did not bother us much because we weren’t around the pools or anywhere outside except for the wading pool BECAUSE YOU CANT GET A SEAT AFTER 8AM! It’s amazing that the NCL Dawn had only one pool, yet there were always chairs available. Not on this boat. This was chair saving gone wild. For fun, I would walk by chairs and remove towels and turn them into the pool attendant (the one who exchanged towels) for fun. In all seriousness, all cruise lines need to enforce these rules! The best sight all week was a very large man (350-400lbs) lying by the pool with his cheeseburger and beer resting on his belly while he had a nap. It was quite hilarious!

In San Juan, we just walked around, while MIL and FIL took a guided tour. Not much to do as most shops are closed by 530-6pm in San Juan.

St Thomas, we arranged transportation through Air Force One Fun Tours to three beaches. Magens Bay, Sapphire and Coki Beach. I am not sure what the hype is for Magens Bay. It was nice, but Sapphire and Coki are much better for views and snorkeling. Coki was quite crowded, but if you want to see tropical fish, this is where you need to go.

St Marrten, we toured with Bernard’s, but got stuck with a third party cab operator because Bernard had overbooked his nice bus! Was not impressed. The day turned out good though. Orient Bay Beach was the nicest beach we went too this trip. Also went to Maho Beach and saw a 747 land and got jet blasted by a 737 and a 757. This was the best experience I had the entire cruise. I am a jet buff, and it was amazing to experience the jet blast of these monsters.

Disembarkation was quick. Getting the rental car was another story. Miami had a Marathon this past weekend and it went directly by the entrance to the Port of Miami. Who would allow this? There was traffic chaos and Hertz shuttles could not make it to the port. I hoped on an Alamo shuttle and booked a car with my IPhone (Thank god for the IPhone). In the end, we ended up paying less with Alamo and everything turned out great. Miami is ghetto and I think I am done with cruising from there. The day before we got off the boar 8 people were shot and killed by a masked gunman for no reason in downtown Miami. There are people sleeping all over the streets. It really is a dirty city.

Overall, we all decided we won’t cruise with Carnival again. There seemed to be a higher percentage of trash on this ship. It was probably because of the price, which is why we cruised this time around as well. It was only 300USD per person. I think we will spend more and got back to NCL or maybe try Princess. Also in our bathroom and near the wading pool, there always seems to be a mild sewage smell. I think it’s actually common with the Ficantari Ship Builders, as all the ships that come from them have sewage smell complaints. It was mild, but noticeable. We got what we paid for, nothing more, nothing less.

My last comment is about the employees. Isn’t it weird that all the kitchen staff, cooks, and room stewards are from poor countries? They work 14 hours a day, every day for 7-9 months at a time. Yes I know that when they go back to there countries they are well paid compared to those who work in there home country, but does that make it right to have to work all hours of the day? I would see my wait staff at 7am, then noon, then for Dinner, and then still see them after 10pm in the dining room cleaning up. If I hire someone from a poor country and pay them 20 dollars a day (14 hours everyday) to be my servant and they go back to there country and are rich because they make $15 more a day than people in there country (I am not saying they make $20 a day, just an example), does that make it right? Theses cruise companies should have to follow American labor laws if they are going to pick up passengers from American Ports! As stated by Ryan our CD, the owner/ceo of the company that runs Carnival, HAL, and Princess etc is worth 30 BILLION dollars! Could it be he made his fortune off the backs of people who are willing to work 14 hours a day for far far less pay than an american/canadian/european for 7-9 months at a time? With 3 hours a day TOTAL time off (in which they eat/shower/personal time). They schedule theses employees in these departments 7 hours of sleep time. They also like to call it a 2 month 'vacation' when in fact, they are off the boat for two months, but far from a vacation. They are NOT getting paid, which means it is not vacation. They also have to re apply for there jobs and get a new medical. Any type of medical problem, there contract is ended as Carnival doesn’t want to deal with or pay for there medical problems (This isn’t just a Carnival issue, it’s an industry issue) my assistant waiter (who should be the head waiter) asked what Canada was like. I told him, and you could just see the desperation in his eyes when I said if you work more than 44 hours a week, you get OT, and healthcare is for everyone with equal access etc. I just wish there was some way I could sponsor his family and bring them here. He would out work any waiter in any high end restaurant around here. Anyways, I don’t think NOT cruising in the answer to this because then they would have no job, but cruisers in general need to make it known that the labor standards on board need to be brought up to MINIMUM American standards!

I thought your review started out fine but as you went on, I think you must've been reliving the bad---PTSD?