Carnival Triumph 22-27 Jan Review

[acruisingcouple]

Just got off the Carnival Triumph this past Thursday and here is my review of the cruise. This was our 5th cruise, and 3rd with Carnival.

 

Embarkation:

We arrived at the Port at approx 9:45 and got through security and the check in process in about 15 minutes. They started boarding at 11:15, and our zone (zone 8) was called in about 20 minutes. Overall a very smooth checkin. We proceeded to the Lido deck for some lunch and our room was ready at 1:15pm.

 

Cabin:

We were on the spa deck (our 2nd time) and it was extremely quiet. The room itself was spacious with lots of storage space for clothing etc. The washroom/shower area was quite large. We were very happy with the cabin layout.

 

Dining:

We had anytime dining in the London Restaurant. We would arrive as early as 5:45pm and as late as 6:30pm for dinner and we never had to wait for a table. The service was good and the food was "ok". We found the menu more varied and the food of better quality on past cruises.

We used the breakfast room service a few times, and the food always arrived within the 30mins timeframe we would choose. One morning however the pot of coffee was ice cold.

-Lunch on the Lido Deck was ok. There was a reasonable selection.

 

On Board Entertainment:

In our opinion, it was better on past cruises.

-During the days at sea, I was surprised that there was no music playing on the Lido Deck prior to noon. It would have been nice to even get some "piped" music to create an atmosphere on deck.

-The evening show "The World Show" was a little dissapointing. Virtually exactly the same show as our cruise in Dec 2010 on the Carnival Sensation. This is nothing against the performers however, who were good.

-Instead of maybe using the Rio Lounge(or another more intimate venue on board) , Karaoke was right in the middle of the promenade Deck near the casino and world bar. Absoultely not intimate whatseover, with people constantly walking by and the casino right there as well. A better location for the Karaoke could have been used with all the lounges on the ship.

-The Punchliners comedy shows in the Rio Lounge were very well done. The comedians were quite funny.

 

Elevators:

For some reason, the elevators kept skipping our 11th deck (ie go as high as the 10th floor, then go back down, etc). Finally one would stop on our deck every once in a while. Not sure why this happened.

 

Promenade Deck:

The evenings get really crowded near the world bar and casino areas. I realize the photographers need to set up to take pictures somewhere, but they end up blocking 3/4 of the space for guests to walk by.

 

Progreso (1st port):

EXTREMELY pleased. From past experience I like to got into each port with very low expectations (esp. after reading some posts). I expected "RAW" Mexico at this port, and that is what I got.The people were very friendly, and we felt very safe walking around the market area and some of the "back" streets away from the tourist areas. The locals did not seem to care of our presence at all, and we were not once approached to buy anything away from the tourist areas. We did the double decker tour and it was well done and just long enough. We had couple of drinks at Buddy's bar right on the beach under a Palapa. If you dont like vendors dont sit here. They approached us at least once every 30 seconds peddling everything from hats, to hammocks to tatoos. We were fine with it as again they are all very friendly and there were some great deals.

 

Cozumel(2nd Port):

We were debating between Nachi and Paradise Beach before the cruise and settled on Paradise Beach. We were very pleased with the decision. Loungers are $2 each and the expectation is to also at least buy a drink or two and/or some food. Small price to pay to use the resort for the day. Paradise beach has a GREAT HUGE pool that is very clean. The facilities for changing etc were also spotless. We also had a nice lunch and a couple of drinks. The food was very tasty!

The beach is not the greatest as it is very rocky and sits on a slant. We spent the day around the pool rather than sit on the beach part.

Paradise beach is a very nice resort and we would definetly return.

 

Debarkation:

About half the ship was already off when our zone was called. We were off the ship and through Customs in approx 15 mins. Went quite smoothly.

 

Overall, we would rate the cruise 3/5. We enjoyed ourselves and are looking forward to cruising with Carnival once again.

 

If there are any questions please dont hesitate to ask of course :)

[tkabrk]

Thanks for the review. Which spa room were you in? We are booked in 1103 in March. How was the balcony? Did you hear any noise from Camp Carnival?

 

Thanks.

[tkabrk]

Do they have the Chef's table dinner on this cruise? If so, how do you sign up for it?

[acruisingcouple]

We were booked in cabin 1101, which I believe is right beside cabin 1103.

This is our 2nd cruise in that cabin, and you cannot hear anything next door which is the spa.

As for the kids club on the other side, you also cannot hear a thing.

VERY quiet deck overall. We could not even hear the mini golf above.

 

Plus, at the end of the hall is a door that leads right to the outdoor area thus a very short walk to the Lido Deck and pool area/loungers.

[acruisingcouple]

They did indeed have a chef's table. I remember they were getting a little room ready for it....I believe near the library...

We did not however take advantage of it...

[bluesjack]

They did have a Chef's Table. I did not partake but did speak to someone who did and they told me it was worth every penny.

[disneyden]

Thanks for the review! We are sailing on the Triumph in a couple of months...SO excited! :D

Do you have any pics of the ship that you would like to share? ;)

[acruisingcouple]

Here are a few pics taken during our cruise :)

[PGCRUISERS]

We sail February 26 just DH and I. We are hoping for a deck that is quiet with no kids that we can sit in a lounge chair and look out at the ocean. Anything like that on Triumph?

 

Thanks for the review.

[MOteacher]

We sail February 26 just DH and I. We are hoping for a deck that is quiet with no kids that we can sit in a lounge chair and look out at the ocean. Anything like that on Triumph?

 

Thanks for the review.

 

I asked the same thing awhile back and this is the answer I received. Check towards the bottom for a picture of Deck 3.

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1312961&highlight=

[cruisecamp]

Is the pool at Paradise Beach salt water? Are umbrellas available too?

How were the drinks?

[PGCRUISERS]

Thanks MOteacher, Very helpful I can see myself sitting there for hours.

 

Enjoy your cruise.

 

Off to walk now as I just tried on dresses and well I need to shed a few