Cruise with 6 grandkids on Triumph

[Cruisin Kay D]

This review is overdue but hope that posting it helps some other families:

 

WONDERFUL WEEK WITH OUR 6 GRANDKIDS

 

We are retired grandparents who took 6 grandchildren, ages 10-16 (without their parents) on Carnival Triumph during their spring break in March 2009. We had taken the 4 oldest of the 6 on their 1st cruise on Radiance of the Seas Christmas 2007, so they were the “experienced” cruisers, whereas it was the 1st cruise for the 2 10-yr-old cousins. This was our 22nd cruise, but our 1st on a Carnival ship. In searching 5 months earlier for a 7 night cruise during the last week of March to take our 6 grandkids, I had to find one that offered quad connecting balcony cabins. It is extremely difficult to find a cruise line that has connecting quad balconies. My only choices were Carnival Triumph, NCL Pearl and NCL Dawn. If I had been willing to take inside cabins or outside cabins, I would have had a few more ships to choose from, but we consider the balconies to be essential.

This group of 8 drove together to Miami from Tennessee in our very crowded Suburban with an overflowing luggage carrier on the roof! Our 1st overnight stop was at a Fairfield by Marriott in Lake City, FL. Next day we stopped to visit a very special great aunt in Venice FL, and stayed overnight at the Best Western Ambassador Suites (exit 193 on I-75). Both hotels gave us 2 connecting rooms which were so clean and had very comfortable beds. The next day was boarding day, so we drove I-75 from Venice FL to Miami; everyone was so excited to get to the ship!! Embarkation went as smooth as possible with a group of 8, what with presenting birth certificates and parental permission slips for each of the 6 grandchildren. Our initial impression of the Triumph was “yuck”; the décor of Triumph bordered on ugly. The 4 experienced cruisers immediately were disappointed with the appearance of the ship compared to the glass and beauty of Radiance OS. We found our connecting quad balcony cabins on starboard side of the Spa Deck and immediately loved the cabins. What a great location behind the stack of elevators with less than a dozen such cabins and an exit door at the end of the short hallway connecting to the sun deck,1 level above the Buffet and 1 level below the waterslide (though rarely open). We were glad we had the Spa Deck uncovered balconies, because the Triumph was so horribly crowded (980 children!) that our teen-age sun-lovers could not find chaises on the sun decks, so they "sunned" on our balconies. We put the 4 oldest grandkids in 1 cabin, and had the 2 10-yr-old cousins with Mike and me. I delegated drawer and closet space to each grandchild. The kids said the the bunks and sofa beds were comfortable!

 

On the positive side, we really liked our cabin stewardess who was so tolerant of the grandkids’ late sleeping habits, dishes of half-eaten food in the cabin and piles of shoes and clothes here and there about the cabin. Another very positive aspect of this cruise was that all of us loved our dining table location and our waiters. We were in the far back corner of the lower dining room and our wonderful waiters really catered to all the grandkids. Each night everyone found something they like to eat – amazingly even Mr. Picky eagerly ordered steak every night (at home usually only eats PBJ)!! The waiters had magic tricks and special folded napkins for the kids, and even took the little ones up to the stairway for the nightly “song”. We chose late dinner sitting – the kids slept late in the morning, had late breakfast, late lunch and so late dinner was perfect! They went to the shows with us; they did not want to participate in the “kids” or “teens” programs – they like to “hang out” with gran and gramps!! Although we liked the dining room experience, the buffet dining experience was awful -- entirely too crowded, lines too long, no empty tables -- so bad that we never got a meal in the regular buffet line!!

 

This cruise stopped at Cozumel, Grand Cayman and Ocho Rios, and had 3 sea days. At Cozumel we went by taxi to Paradise Beach; at Grand Cayman we went by taxi to 7 Mile Beach (having done Stingray City and snorkeling one the Radiance cruise). At Ocho Rios we took a ship’s excursion selected by the 11 year old grandson to ride on rafts on the Martha Brae River, and we all enjoyed the bus ride and the river raft ride so much.

 

After disembarkation, finding all the luggage and piling into the Suburban, we took the 6 grandkids to the Ft. Lauderdale airport. We had decided to treat them to a non-stop flight back to Tennessee, rather than a long 14 hour ride in a cramped car, so they could go to school the next day. They and their parents had a wonderful reunion at the airport, while Mike and I had a quiet rather boring drive back to Tennessee!

 

Despite the “look” of the ship, the cruise was great fun and an even greater bonding experience for all of us.

 

A final thought: Less than 1 month later, Mike and I were on Voyager of Seas for a transatlantic cruise -- both Voyager OS and Triumph were built the same year 1999 and carry close to same number of passengers, but what a huge difference in appearance and feeling of spaciousness!! Voyager wins hands down!

[6rugrats]

What wonderful memories you all made on this trip! Thanks for the review.

[forwardcabin]

Glad to read your great review. We are taking 3 of our grandkids on Triumph out of NOLA March 13 for a 7-day, including Coz. We have all been to Paradise Beach before and will probably go back there this time--none of the kids cares about shopping anyway. We will have connecting cabins on Main. Sounds like you guys had a really great time and we hope our cruise is as wonderful. Bon Voyage!

[crusinmama06]

I had the same EXACT opinion of the Triumph and my review on the Carnival board was shut down ;) by the mods.

 

The cabin - spacious enough for us. The dining room food - delicious - never had a bad meal - loved it all. Better than any other cruise line actually.

 

The ship decor - same as the other CCL ships, not good.

 

The buffet lines - horrible. The ship always seemed overcrowded.

 

I wish I could take the chefs and menu from Carnival and stick them on a Royal Caribbean ship - that would be perfect for me. :D

 

What a wonderful experience you gave your grandchildren!!!!! They are soooo very lucky to have you!

[shellito1012]

Wow, what awesome grandparents you are! Your grandchildren will have those memories all of their life!

[Cruisin Kay D]

We take our grandkids on alot of trips -- most are shorter and primarily go to timeshares. We are trying to expose the grandkids to places and things that their parents really cannot afford to do now and don't have time to do since the parents all have careers.

[keltshan]

what awesome grandparents.........they will treasure those trips forever!