Triumph 05/10/09 Review With LOTS of PICS!!!

[ebandive]

It was SOOOO hot and muggy after the rain. I wore jeans because I thought I would be cold, but boy I was wrong.

 

We walked up to San Cristobol. We didn't have to pay anything to take pictures outside. It was very beautiful.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[ebandive]

I'm drawing a blank to what the little lookouts are called, but the following pictures are taken through the windows.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[ebandive]

Did I mention that I took 800 pictures during this trip?

 

 

 

This big thick wall goes wraps all the way around Old San Juan.

 

 

 

 

[ebandive]

Right between the two forts is this neighborhood. We were warned from our Puerto Rican friend that this is the worst neighborhood in San Juan. There's only one way in and one way out, and not even the cops will go down there.

 

 

 

This little tunnel here is the only way in/out.

 

 

 

And right above this neighborhood you have this beautiful nice area.

 

 

As we kept walking, El Morro came into view.

 

[ebandive]

Then we went walking up to El Morro to do some more exploring.

 

 

 

There's a crazy statue here with two naked dudes fighting over a naked lady... at least that's what the guide said. We didn't do an organized tour, but they were everywhere when you walked off the ship, and price ranged from $10 to $20.

 

 

 

[ebandive]

I LOVED Old San Juan. This is a place that I'd really like to come back and visit. We were the only ship in port.

 

[Ally22]

We went to San Juan last year on the Triumph for spring break! We loved it! Especially our then 7 and 9 year old sons. They read every info board all through the forts. They loved the informative movie about the pirates and all the sieges. After runing all through the forts, they then went and flew kites with some local kids out on the lawn. It was a great day!!

 

Loving the review!! Thanks

[TnMama]

Hey~ I looked at your other pics from the RCCL cruise! they are just as beautiful as these on Triumph are! Loved the hammocks!

[ebandive]

My computer is giving me trouble... it's not letting me post any more pictures.

 

TnMama, I'm glad you enjoyed the other review!

 

Ally, there were quite a few locals out the night we were there as well. I didn't see many kids, but some people were laying out on the grass on blankets, others were walking their dogs, or others just taking a jog. It seems like such a neat place to live!

 

I will be back tomorrow with more!! :):):):):):)

[JaniceB]

Can't wait for more. I can't believe you took 800 pictures, but I love it.

 

Janice

[spleenstomper]

Thanks for the photos. We were excited to see a water slide and my soon to be 12 year old was happy to see the kids club.

[RAVI360]

Lovin your review.....i loved the truimph....keep it comin"

[CRUIZ-N-HAZE]

The pictures are great! I'm hoping to see all 800!

[crusinmama06]

I followed your Majesty review and I can't say how excited I am that you are now posting a review on the same ship that I will be on in a few weeks!!!! :D:D:D

 

You do the most complete reviews. THANK YOU for taking the time to post these!!!!!!

 

A question, the Aft pool, is it Adult only on Triumph? I'll need to know to keep my kiddos out of there if it is. Thanks!

[queenanneitis]

Erin, you're doing an amazing job on this review! As I mentioned before, we're headed out on the Triumph in 10 days. We've cruised alot but haven't been on the Triumph so this just gets us all the more excited! I can't wait to show our little grandson the ship! We have one of the 9A balcony cabins with the wrap around balcony for him to play on and so we can watch the water which we love! Sea days are some of our favorite days.

 

I know what you mean about San Juan! I know alot of people aren't crazy about it but we love it! I think it's beautiful and we always enjoy going there. This time we're headed back to the Bahamas, not our favorite but an easier cruise for Logan.

 

For those of you mentioning NY. my husband is a NY city boy, born and raised and worked in Manhattan. We love NY. We've cruised out of there the last 2 years and love it. We'd love to move back there but it would be just too far from our grandkids now.

 

We're very excited about the Triumph!

 

Oh, and tell that husband of yours that the marriage will last forever because if it can survive nursing school, it'll survive anything....lol. Also, don't stress over boards! I mean it, don't stress!

[Yankeegirl]

Erin, I am really enjoying my trip down memory lane thanks to you. My DH and I cruised on the Triumph in Sept. 07 and we had a great time. We loved San Juan too. Congrats on your graduation! I'm so glad you and Charlie had a good time. We are hoping to cruise again soon. Our son is now 15 months old and we hope to introduce him to cruising soon.:)

 

Thanks for the GREAT review.

[ebandive]

Thanks to everyone who is following this review. It is so much fun for me to write it and relive all the memories.

 

Queenanneitis- thanks for the advise on the boards. I studied about 6 hours yesterday, reviewing all of OB. I know I shouldn't stress... I'm an A student... but I'm a crammer. I start studying the day before a test and then I forget a lot of the information. We were told by the company that did our school review (Medspub) that you should answer 3000-5000 questions before taking the exam. So I'm trying to do 3000 questions online plus go through a review book. And just over 3 weeks to do it. I just don't know how to study for a test of this magnitude. :eek: By the way, that's a great idea to use the aft wrap as a play area for the little one. But I'm very jealous!!

 

Michele- first of all thanks for all the posting you do on cruise critic. Your information is always so helpful and right on. About the aft pool... I'm not 100% sure. I assumed that it was, but the first day I saw a little one swimming in it and no one said anything. I didn't notice any signs- not to say that there weren't any, because I didn't REALLY look all that well, but I didn't notice any. And I also didn't notice any more kids in it the rest of the week. Usually I know everything there is to know about a ship before I board, but I just didn't have the time to do the research this time around and when I was on board I didn't really care any more! :p I hope you and your family have a great trip!

 

To everyone else, again I'm glad your enjoying the review/pics!! :D:D:D

[ebandive]

OK, on with San Juan! Even if we coudn't go in the forts, it was still beautiful to just be outside them.

 

This is our first attempt at a kissing self portrait-- I think it's adorable, even though my eyes are open, but Charlie hates it. But since Charlie doesn't come on CC, I can post whatever I want! :p

 

 

 

There were lots of ups and downs and huge drop-offs, so if you have little kids I'd keep them within arms reach at all times.

 

 

 

[ebandive]

Remember those big drop offs I was talking about?

 

 

But it's SOOOO beautiful!

 

 

 

 

'

 

 

Finally we moved on. We walked back through all the shops towards the ship. We came across a guy in a shop hand-rolling his own cigars, so Charlie bought a package to take home for his friends and him to enjoy together. That's actually the ONLY money we spent in San Juan. Hard to believe, but true.

[ebandive]

We had already walked and walked and walked, but I wanted to walk one more place. I had read hear on CC that there is some sort of nice sidewalk by the water that leads up to El Morro, but it's on the outside of the wall. I wanted to find this sidewalk because I thought it would be romantic.

 

We had to ask for directions from some locals, but eventually we found it.

 

The pics didn't turn out great because it was so dark, but there is a little plaza area that leads into the sidewalk.

 

''

 

 

It was a pretty view at night.

 

 

 

We followed the wall around a few twists and turns. I think we were the only tourists... it seemed to be a romantic spot for the locals too!!

 

On the way back they had some sort of art exhibit with pictures of different places of the world. It seemed to have a "take care of the planet" theme.

 

 

And then it was back to the ship!!

 

 

I just really loved how San Juan seemed to combine old with new so magically. I'm a sucker for cobblestone streets and old castles... but it was also very modern.

[ebandive]

Charlie was SOOOO annoyed with me for taking another picture of the ship on the way back... but as promised he didn't say a word and put up with it!!

 

 

I wanted to try to go to bed early bacause the next day was St. Thomas and I really wanted to be up for sunrise and watch us pull into the islands. I had visions in my mind about how beautiful the pictures would be. But before I went to bed I took some pictures of the ship with the lights of San Juan in the background.

 

 

 

 

They did have some sort of show that night. I don't know if it was well attended. We sailed away at 12:00 pm but I wasn't up for that.

[ebandive]

I got up the next morning at 5:15 to take a shower. Sunrise was at 5:48 according to the Capers, and I wanted to be up there early. (By "There" I mean deck 9 fwd.) I got ready in a hurry anticipating the marvelous view that awaited me. I even managed to get Charlie up with me, which is a miracle.

 

I hurried him up to the top deck... and here was our magnificent view:

 

 

I was SO disappointed. It was overcast and rainy again!!! It was still pretty, but I wanted unbelievably gorgeous.

 

Charlie was not a happy camper. He thought that his wife was losing his mind.

 

 

 

Finally!! A sliver of sunshine!!

 

[ebandive]

 

It seemed like it was clearing up as we pulled into port.

 

 

 

 

 

[ebandive]

It was very pretty. We docked at Havensight. There was a disney ship pulling in behind us, and we were the only two ships docked that day.

 

 

 

 

We were stirring up the water as we pulled close to the dock.

 

 

 

[ebandive]

Once we docked, we hurried downstairs to get our stuff for the day then went to Lido to get a quick breakfast. And we were met with a downpour. I thought, "Oh no, not again!!!" We hoped it would clear up while we ate breakfast. We sat at our section upstairs and some seagulls decided to visit the ship. This is taken through the window.

 

 

 

Go away clouds!!!

 

They did, in fact, go away after not too long at all.

 

So, I havn't told you about our plans for the day yet. I wanted to go to St. John, but I didn't want to pay the price Carnival was trying to charge (something like 70 or 80 dollars per person). I did some research on the St. Thomas board and found that we should be able to go to St. John round trip for $24 per person, but it would be an adventure. It's OK, I was ready for adventure.

 

The first step involved walking to a Kmart and getting on a public bus to Red Hook, the ferry station.

 

I had general directions printed out, but was still grateful to see a sign.

 

 

You just basically walk around the main road until you get there, but we had to cross the street back and forth a few times because of construction.

 

We found the Kmart easily, but that's where the trouble started. We coudn't figure out where on earth to catch the bus. I read there is a dirt patch on the side of the road. I coudn't find a dirt patch. I had no idea even in what direction we had to be going in to get to Red Hook. There was a stop light up past Kmart a little bit with some traffic people in orange jackets standing by the side of the road. I decided that these would be good people to ask. A nice lady pointed me across the street yet again to a covered area where others were waiting to catch a bus. For this we had to cross a very busy road.

 

I was still fairly confident. Charlie and I had lived together overseas 2 years together when we started dating, and were very competent with public transportation in another country. Charlie however was freaking out. And when Charlie freaks out he gets dead silent and stands completely still. I tried to assure him that I knew what I was doing, but it was obvious I didn't.

 

We could have taken a taxi directly from the cruise pier to Red Hook for $10 per person each way. But hello that's $40 dollars. For the public bus to the same place was $2 per person each way, for a total of $8. To me that's a no brainer, I'm not one to waste my vacation money on a private taxi.

 

The locals call the public buses "Safari's" and they are $1 for short distance and $2 for long distance. Once we got to the sheltered bus stop we asked a local if this stop would take us to Red Hook. She said to just tell the bus driver where we wanted to go. Within moments one pulled up (I read online that you never have to wait more than a few minutes) and I asked the driver if this bus went to red hook. He said yes so Charlie and I hopped in. Charlie was still very nervous. You see, the bus doesn't really LOOK like what we americans would picture a bus to look like. It was basically a pickup truck with some benches on the back, with an overhead covering but the sides open to air. I have a picture a little later on.

 

We had to hang on to the bar in front of us a few times because there were lots of twists and turns and they drive fast, but it was a fun ride and I always felt safe. It was kind of nice to travel like the locals do. There are little buttons on the cieling you are supposed to press when you want to get off, but since I didn't know what I was looking for I just hoped the driver would stop at Red Hook.

 

I kept my eyes pieled anyway, and after about 20 minutes it was obvious we were getting close because we were headed downhill towards the water. I saw to me what looked like a shuttle station, and sure enough the bus driver pulled over. We handed him a $5 and he gave us $1 back. Charlie was still nervous. He asked me how I knew that this was the place. The truth was I didn't know, but I just figured this looked like it. Besides, there were more tourists here.

 

It was a big yellow building. We walked in and we saw the counter with "St. John" over the top. We payed our $5 per person ferry ticket and hopped right on as there was one waiting. But before we we were able to get on the ferry we were searched pretty well by security and drilled with questions like, "Where were you born?" This did not ease Charlie's nerves.

 

When we finally got on the boat, he looked at me with his crazy face and said, "WHAT KIND OF BEACH ARE WE GOING TO!?!?!?"

 

I told him to just sit back and relax and trust me.