Triumph Review - 3/28-4/2

[CorncobOBiscuit]

Enjoying my last day off before going back to work, reflecting on our trip and thought I'd write a review. My wife and I sailed on the Triumph from New Orleans to Cozumel and Progreso with my wife's sister and her husband. My only other cruise was on Royal Caribbean's Enchantment of the Seas, so I'll probably end up making a lot of comparisons between the two since they're my only experiences with cruising. The review also won't be entirely chronological since I'm a little fuzzy on what happened when (Thanks tequila!)

 

NEW ORLEANS

 

 

We flew into NOLA from Denver on United on Sunday afternoon, intending to explore the city that night and set sail the next morning. Flight was fine, we landed to warm, sunny weather which was a nice surprise as the forecast was calling for thunderstorms. We had decided to use the New Orleans Airport Shuttle service (there was only one, and I couldn't find a hotel in the city that had a shuttle, free or otherwise). The shuttle was actually a few dollars more than a cab, but I've had a few bad taxi experiences. I'll definitely go back to using the taxi next time. We waited for over an hour for a shuttle to arrive due to some sort of traffic jam. Meanwhile, taxis were readily available and had my ticket been refundable, I would have opted for that about halfway through the wait.

 

We stayed at the Quality Inn & Suites Downtown New Orleans. I chose this hotel based on good reviews and the fact that it looked like a no-frills, clean place to rest my head for a night. They definitely exceeded expectations; the hotel was much more upscale than I had expected, we were upgraded to a suite with a kitchenette and living room at no charge, and George at the front desk even drew us up a map and helped us decide where to have dinner. The location was perfect-a short walk to the French Quarter, but far enough away that you couldn't hear the noise from Bourbon street. A few folks back home asked why I didn't stay in a hotel on Bourbon Street; I'm inclined to think these people either hate sleep, or have never been to Bourbon Street. My wife and I agreed that we'll definitely be coming back to New Orleans for a longer trip, and we'll definitely be staying here.

 

I was surprised by how large the city was. Most of what you see on TV and in pictures focuses on the smaller areas, so I was surprised to find myself in the middle of a skyscraper-filled metropolis. I even felt like I was in a very large city when in the French Quarter.

 

 

We had a few hours to kill before my in-laws landed and we decided to make a quick loop through the French Quarter before the sun went down. We hopped over to Canal and headed up to Royal. Evidence of Mardi Gras was still fresh.

 

 

There was a street fair happening on Royal which turned out to be perfect as we had wanted to sample a wide variety of food and this made it easy. No later than an hour after arriving in New Orleans, I was drinking in a gutter.

 

 

After eating we wandered through the shops and galleries. The architecture in NOLA is amazing, unlike anything I had ever seen.

 

 

When we got to St. Louis Cathedral we left Royal to check out Jackson's Square. Another amazing place. I was glad we got to see it before nighttime when they close the gates, it was absolutely beautiful.

 

 

At this point we had about half an hour left before our in-laws arrived, so we headed over to walk down Bourbon and back to our hotel, where we picked up the rest of our group and headed out again.

[CorncobOBiscuit]

NEW ORLEANS (CONT.)

 

 

For everything I heard about the dangers of New Orleans, I always felt safe. There was a heavy police presence, especially on Bourbon Street. I understand that things are different outside the tourist areas, but I never felt threatened within the French Quarter or the CBD.

 

 

If you're not a big drinker, Bourbon Street at night may not be the place for you! I recently lost 60 lbs. so I'm now literally a lightweight and start feeling woozy after a beer or two at home. I don't like to drink to the point of being sick, and I usually can gauge when to stop based on how I feel. However, home is at 5,280 feet above sea level and NOLA is only two or three, so I had barely gotten buzzed when my stomach started to inform me that letting the girls in the street put a shot down my throat every block was a bad idea...

 

Before I went, friends who had visited NOLA described it like a Southern Las Vegas, or compared it to our LoDo district in Denver, but those all fail to properly describe it, it is unique. I got a small taste of it in our short time there and I can't wait to come back and get more. We packed as much French Quarter experience in as we could that night, hit up Cafe du Monde for some beignets, and headed back to the hotel to rest up for the next day.

 

[blondietink]

Can't wait to hear more! We were there at the start of Mardi Gras!:D What fun!

[CorncobOBiscuit]

THE TRIUMPH

 

 

I'll split this part up into subsections since there's a lot to talk about. Embarkation was a breeze. My wife is a repeat cruiser and got the gold card and was told to look out for her invitation to the Past Guest Party. She was told she could bring a guest, and she told me I had better be on my best behavior if I wanted to be the guest. How's that for love!

 

It was really neat sailing down the river, it was my first time seeing the Mighty Mississippi up close and I thought it was amazing that such a large ship could travel a river. Back in Denver, our main river is the South Platte. Supposedly, Mark Twain had this to say about it:

 

“Too thick to drink, too thin to plow. A bothersome, pestiferous nothing of a river. In fact, it’s a joke to even call the South Platte a “river” at all...”

 

It's gotten a bit better since Mark's time, but still, the biggest vessel that usually traverses it is a kayak, so this was pretty impressive.

 

 

The Ship

 

The ship itself was beautiful and definitely more upscale than I had expected. I had heard the décor on Carnival ships was a little cheesy, one Cruise Critic member described it as “Early 90's Vegas”, but I found it to be very nice and even more modern than the décor on Enchantment in some areas. I loved the “Reese's Peanut Butter Cup” tables in the Capitol lounge and kept devising ways to take one home.

 

Layout-wise, the ship was very awkward. Five bars and the comedy club were packed into the back of the ship on decks 4 and 5, sort of “hidden” behind the casino and the London dining room. I think the idea was to create a sort of “nightclub district” vibe, but it wasn't well executed. It was hard to enjoy the laid-back ambiance in the Oxford bar with bass thumping from the Hollywood Night Club above. I was also never in a bar that was more than half full. It was nice in intimate areas like the piano bar, but felt boring in places like the Hollywood club or the Oxford bar, where there were literally more people in the band than there were guests in the bar. It definitely didn't match up with what I had heard was Carnival's reputation for being a party ship. However, there were loads of people at the Mega Deck Party, so I can't help but wonder if it didn't have something to do with the fact that half the guests didn't know where these bars were, since we didn't even find them until the second day onboard. They just weren't situated in such a way that you might be strolling through the ship, pass by one, and decide to stop in. You had to seek them out.

 

Though the ship was roughly the same size as Enchantment and had a similar number of passengers, it felt way more crowded, which I think was another layout issue. Many areas felt very narrow and cramped, it always felt like you were right on top of someone else. The tiered design of the pool area was very awkward to navigate.

 

I was disappointed by the lack of an “Adults-only” pool area. Supposedly the aft hot tubs were adults-only, but every time this was violated, I could not get a waiter or security guard who would agree to enforce it. I'm not one of the “kid-haters,” I think they have a right to have fun, but I like having an area that's more laid-back and quiet.

 

One of the gems of this ship is what some have described as the “secret deck.” It's actually a two-level deck on the front of the ship, which can be accessed by doors at the end of the hallways on decks 6 and 7. Beautiful views, about a dozen deck chairs that are usually empty, and very peaceful and quiet.

 

 

Though most of the ship was very well maintenanced, there were a few things that could have been improved. Many of the areas used a fiber-optic type of lighted sign above the doorways to various public areas on the ship, with hundreds of lighted pinholes that changed color. Problem was, many of the pinholes didn't light up, making the effect look cheap at best, and impossible to read at worst. Likewise, the lighted numbers in elevators were often burned out. I also ran into a few elevators that, halfway between my trip between the Lido deck and Riviera, changed their mind and decided to go in the other direction. This was a frequent concern from people I met on the ship. These are little things, but it's little things that, done well, go unnoticed but really add to the overall feel of the ship.

 

There was lots of movement on this ship, I'd say I felt the swaying 80% of the time, and ended up having to take dramamine for the first time ever. Enchantment had been very calm, but we were told that we had gotten very lucky with the calmness of the sea during that trip.

 

The movie screen on Lido was very neat; we caught a few different shows out there and it was definitely a unique experience.

 

Deck chair hogs were rampant on this cruise; finding four empty chairs in a row proved nearly impossible. Luckily, we discovered one night that after I had too many margaritas, I could be used to save the front row of chairs for the next morning.

 

[CorncobOBiscuit]

The Cabin

 

 

On Enchantment we had gone with an outside window cabin, which was a neat experience to be able to look out and watch the sea go by at night. However, we decided this time that the privilege wasn't really worth the extra money, since the only difference between seeing the ocean from the cabin vs. anywhere else on the ship was that I could do it in my undies in the cabin! So we opted for an inside cabin. Excellent choice; my wife and I are both sensitive to light when we sleep, and got some of the most restful sleep we've had in that pitch-dark cabin. I may not ever get a window again!

 

 

I was really impressed with the room. It felt bigger than our cabin on Enchantment, though this may have been because the bed was in the corner instead of centered. I liked this layout better, as it provided some actual useful space next to the bed, as opposed to the narrow walkway on each side when it's centered. The bathroom and shower also felt bigger.

 

 

Our television had some kind of color problem, it seemed like there was no red. It didn't bother me too much though, I don't go cruising to watch a lot of TV, and it was nice to see the cast of “Jersey Shore” with normal skin tones for once. My biggest complaint about the cabin had nothing to do with the room itself, but with the PA system. They have the speaker in the cabin which is only used for emergency announcements like the muster drill, and all the other announcements come on the PA system in the public areas. However, the PA in our hall was so loud that it may as well have been in our room, and on debarkation day when we planned on sleeping in until 8, we woke up much earlier when they started calling zones.

 

 

Our stateroom attendant was an absolute pro. Often times we'd leave our cabin in the morning or evening, I'd forget something and return 10 minutes later, and everything had already been cleaned up. And I only actually saw the guy once; he was like a cleaning ninja.

 

[CorncobOBiscuit]

The Service

 

 

This was my biggest area of disappointment. I had an absolutely fabulous experience with service on Enchantment. Our MDR waiter was very personable and attentive, and there was an abundance of drink waiters on the ship. I admit my bar was set high by this experience, but the Triumph was so far in the opposite direction that it didn't even compete.

 

The atmosphere in the MDR on Triumph was extremely rushed. I felt like I was dining in the middle of a marathon, it was not unusual to see waiters literally sprinting past. One night our head waiter was bolting through with a tray loaded up with about 10-15 full plates on his shoulder, when he stumbled and sent half the tray crashing onto a table full of guests. I understand that they have a lot of guests to serve in a short amount of time, but part of the art of running a restaurant is shielding the patron from the chaos going on, and I felt like there was no effort to do that. We all felt very rushed when ordering our meal, and the head waiter didn't seem to have time to get to know us at all. He did mention offhand that he was training a new assistant waiter. The assistant waiter was definitely not up to speed yet, some nights I didn't see him at all. Our head waiter ended up taking care of drinks and other aspects of our meal that should have been handled by the assistant, which I believe partly explains why he was so rushed. However, the whole dining room had this feel, and I can't help but believe that there is an emphasis from the management on speed over service.

 

At one point my brother-in-law ordered a steak and asked for A1. He was brought a completely empty bottle, and was never able to get a full one because the waiters began to prepare for a musical number. During this preparation time, we had three waiters completely ignore our request for attention because they were getting in their “places.” This was the low point of the dining experience. I don't care if it's Macarena time, service should be the first priority no matter what.

 

 

Service elsewhere on the ship was also lacking. The first day, Lido deck was crawling with waiters offering drinks. This was similar to my experience every day on Enchantment; I never hit the bottom of a glass without a waiter stepping up to offer me another. After the first day on Triumph, I had to either actively seek out a waiter or go to the bar myself. Sounds whiny, I know, it didn't ruin my day or anything, I'm just saying that there were times where, if Carnival had wanted my money, they could have had it. Since I had to get my own drinks, I got them less often. I was several hundred dollars under what I expected to spend on this trip because it wasn't convenient to have a drink as often as I had expected. It seems like Carnival is leaving a lot of money on the table with this.

 

Counter food service was a mixed bag. The man at the NY Deli counter was fantastic, always friendly, and always quick. The man at the pizza counter was the opposite. He asked what I wanted, and I rattled off every menu item besides pepperoni pizza, before he finally told me the only thing he had immediately available was pepperoni pizza.

 

[CorncobOBiscuit]

Entertainment

 

 

I didn't get to see as many shows on this cruise as I did on my first, but I was mostly impressed by what I saw. The cruise director, Tex, was funny and personable. We actually didn't get to see any of the musical revues, but we did see a few comedy shows. The first two comedy shows we saw were with a comedian named Mutzie. This guy was hilarious, he's got a long list of entertainment and comedy awards and accolades he's won, and it shows. A bartender on board told us that he ended up doing extra shows because the second comedian was delayed and didn't get on the ship until our fourth night in Cozumel. I kind of wish he had never caught up. My wife and I frequently go to tiny comedy clubs in Denver, and I've seen dozens of stand-ups, and some were really bad, but this guy was the worst comedian I've ever seen, bar-none. I was under the impression that to get on the cruise-ship circuit, a comic had to be a step above, but this was not the case. The guy had no comic timing at all, he kept stalling and saying “Um”. The poster outside the club described him as “a mix between Bill Cosby and Richard Pryor.” I would describe him as having all of Dave Chappelle's jokes, with none of his talent. At one point he told a joke that I'm pretty sure he stole verbatim from an episode of South Park. We lasted about 10 minutes before we got up and left, along with many others, walking past a group of what appeared to be Carnival executives in suits who didn't look too happy.

 

Another show we enjoyed was the burlesque show. The costumes were not really a burlesque level of raciness, since it is a cruise ship, but the women were beautiful and fit and the dance numbers were very creative and well done.

 

The photography was not great. I intended to buy several pictures, as it's not often the wife and I get dressed up when professional photographers are around, but I only ended up buying the embarkation photo. The poses the photographers used all felt very dated and cheesy, they reminded me of the sort of photography they used to do for school pictures back in elementary school.

 

Live music was also a little lacking. The live musicians were great; the recorded music they were playing with was not. I'm a little spoiled because my in-laws are professional musicians and I've been lucky enough to see some really incredible musical performances, but I feel like the only time a musician should play with a recording is during practice. The guitarists in the Capitol atrium and the pianists in the piano bar were great, though.

 

Food

 

I can honestly say I don't have a single bad thing to say about the food on this ship. I never ate something that I thought was bad, which was not the case on Enchantment. The MDR portions were perfectly sized and cooked perfectly. I also never had a poorly made drink. The buffet french fries were a real surprise; typically buffet french fries are the worst, but these were the closest thing I've ever tasted to McDonald's french fries.

 

[CorncobOBiscuit]

PROGRESO

 

 

When we arrived in Progreso it was sunny and in the 90's. When we got out of the shopping area, there was an extremely long line for the free shuttle, and a line of about 15 people for taxis. We decided to try our luck in the shuttle line, which turned out to be a good choice. We were on a bus within 15 minutes, while most of the people in the cab line were the same people who were there when we got in the shuttle line.

 

 

Once off the shuttle, we headed straight to the beach for lunch. There were vendors along the way, but all were friendly and not too pushy. We had lunch in a nice open air restaurant on the beach before heading over to go play in the water.

 

 

The water was a bit cloudly, but very warm. We had a great time spending the afternoon on the beach and enjoying rounds of drinks for $11! I can't even find that back home, so we made sure to get a few rounds in. For all the talk I had heard about people not liking Progreso, I thought it was fantastic. Yes, there were vendors. Yes, they will go away with a polite “No, Gracias.” The worst thing I saw was a man with a garbage bag who would quickly collect trash from a table, then demand tips from the people sitting there. But things like that were by far the exception and not the rule.

 

 

I heard one fellow passenger mention that he didn't like it because it was “ghetto and there were boats tied up everywhere and stuff.” 1. Maybe you should have done your homework before you booked a vacation to Mexico, it's pretty common knowledge that it's not as shiny and sparkly as what you're used to, and 2. Did you really just complain about BOATS being on a BEACH? Really?

 

[CorncobOBiscuit]

COZUMEL

 

 

We visited Cozumel on our last cruise, so we knew what to expect. Last time we visited Margaritaville, which was nice, but we decided to try Paradise Beach this time. This place was beautifully landscaped and constructed. The water was unfortunately very cloudy and muddy for about 100 yards out, there appeared to have been a storm the night before that kicked things up. This made it a little tricky to navigate in the water as the beach is very rocky.

 

 

The inflatable play equipment in the water was a lot of fun, but harder to climb than they look. I'm a fit male in my 20's who strength trains on a regular basis, but I found out that strength isn't very helpful when trying to climb onto a giant, bobbing balloon in the water with nothing to push off of!

 

 

Service at Paradise Beach was a little slow, we had trouble finding our waiter most of the time and ended up ordering half our food from another person. This became a problem when it was time to leave, as they had mixed up the checks and got argumentative with us about how much we owed, despite it being their mistake. Kind of left a bad taste in my mouth, but otherwise a nice place.

 

 

On our way out we made a quick stop at The Three Amigos, which is a lot of fun, but pretty high energy and not something I would probably want to do for an entire day.

 

[CorncobOBiscuit]

NEW ORLEANS PART II (OR SHOULD I SAY “PART DEUX?”)

 

 

Debarkation was also a breeze. We did self-assist and stayed on the ship as long as possible since our flight home was not until 5:30 PM. They finally booted us off and there were only 20 passengers left when we departed! We originally planned on keeping our luggage with us while we killed time in NOLA before getting on the shuttle at 3, but once we were actually faced with the prospect it didn't seem so inviting. Luckily, they have a service at the cruise port that will take up to four pieces of luggage to the airport or hotel of your choice for only $25 total, so we used this, as did my in-laws, who were booked in a hotel that night as they were staying in NOLA longer. The service was great, all our luggage was delivered as promised, I would highly recommend them.

 

 

We had lunch at a place outside the Riverwalk called The Crazy Lobster. We ended up ordering some po'boys which were twice as big as we expected, but delicious. Our in-laws decided to head to their hotel, so we said our goodbyes and parted ways. The wife and I headed back into the Riverwalk to kill our few remaining hours, and had some more beignets and coffee at the little satellite location of Cafe Du Monde they had there. It was a nice way to wrap up the trip before heading home. We landed in Denver to 78 degree weather and a beautiful sunset; it was a nice reminder of why we come back home.

 

 

Looking back, I realize my review may make it sound like I didn't enjoy the trip, but I really had a great time. It was awesome spending a week away from it all with my loved ones, and I got in some great relaxation time on the beach and on the deck. My wife and I agreed that it will be a while before we cruise again; not because we don't enjoy it, but because it's a lot of work! Between all the embarking and debarking and trying to stay on schedule, it was tiring! I love the idea of being able to cruise around and see several locales on vacation, but I think it's time for a few trips where I stay where the plane lands and live on my own schedule. Overall, I don't think I'll choose Carnival the next time I do cruise. Carnival was nice, but the service aspect really turned me off. I'll probably either return to RCCL or try another new cruise line, since I'm still new to cruising and trying to get a feel for who the best fit is for me.

 

 

Thanks for reading!

[Falls Cruiser]

Loving your review, great pics too!!

[maldenmusic]

I leave on April 11 for my first cruise on the Triumph. Thanks for the positive review. Have been on other Carnival ships and am looking forward to this one. I also always enjoy the Mississippi River part of the cruise.

[nikita]

Thank you! I really enjoyed your entertaining review. It made me laugh several times! Thanks for taking the time to write and post it! On our last Carnival cruise on the Valor 5 years ago service was also bad so I know what you mean. I'm hoping that next May on the Legend we will see an improvement!

[mandakate42]

I hate you are basing your judgment on carnival by one ship. I just got off the triumph the week before you did. I have also been on two others the fantasy and the inspiration. In comparison in service i would have to say that the Triumph was lacking as far as service on the lido, and I did not care for our maitre d in the london dining room at all(although I saw from someone else's review that the maitre d changed in this dining room after my cruise), but the fantasy had awesome service! I absolutely loved our maitre d on the fantasy....Stan the man!! We had him two cruises in a row and he was abolutely awesome. he came by and talked to us every night. Anyways, although the service wasnt great on this cruise, i suggest giving carnival another try...on another ship.

[fivehorizons]

Really good review. We are cruising on the Triumph in 6 days!

[kmflutist]

Loved your review! Thanks for taking the time to write it. :)

[CorncobOBiscuit]

Thanks everyone for the positive feedback!

 

I hate you are basing your judgment on carnival by one ship.

 

Why don't you tell me how you really feel?!

 

Please look at this from my perspective. I spend lots of my hard earned money to take a trip like this. I shouldn't form an opinion about a company when I gave them thousands of dollars and a whole week to impress me? I don't HATE Carnival; I try not to hate things. I had a good time on Carnival, I had a better time on Royal Caribbean. My money and time are limited, and in my experience I got more value for them from RC. I didn't even say I would never sail with Carnival again; I said I would be more likely to sail with RC or a third cruise line the NEXT time I cruise. I actually consider ports of call and a few other factors before I even look at the cruise line, so the chances that I'll sail with Carnival again are actually pretty good. My wife and in-laws have all sailed with Carnival multiple times with my wife's family and they said they were more impressed by other ships, so I'm taking that into account as well. I am not basing my entire opinion of Carnival on one ship and closing the book on them, I am simply saying that right now, I've had a better experience with RC. I'm still very new to cruising, and I know it'll take several more cruises before I start to get a feel for which line is the best fit for me.

[stewpapa]

Thanks for your review. We were on the triumph for our honeymoon in 200 and will be back in 2012 out of Galveston, with our kids. If I had to choose good food or good service, I would choose good food, but you should have had both.

[kbmocruiser]

Enjoyed your review and good sense of humor in the chair hogging! Quick question, was your pre-cruise hotel the QI&S Maison St. Charles?

[CorncobOBiscuit]

Enjoyed your review and good sense of humor in the chair hogging! Quick question, was your pre-cruise hotel the QI&S Maison St. Charles?

 

No, we were at the QI&S Downtown on O'Keefe, near The Roosevelt.

[LBumb]

great job

[mandakate42]

Sorry, I wasnt trying to be rude. That was not my intent at all.

 

This year was dh's second cruise. Last year was his first time traveling to Mexico. Our ports of call were Calica and Cozumel. He did not like it at all. He said he would go on another cruise but not to mexico again. He thought it was dirty and run down. I finally talked him into another cruise to cozumel and we tried something different. We went on the twister boat to isla pasion, and he loved it!

 

So, I promise I'm not trying to be rude or take away from your review (it was great by the way). I agree that the service on the triumph was not outstanding, although I loved the ship, but ive had much better service before so i know its out there.

 

But i'm glad you still enjoyed it and sorry my post came across the way it did.

[blondietink]

We had your time dining in the London Dining room in February and Jan the maitre'd was the greatest. Whatever we requested as far as location and wait team, Jan would say "we can make that happen." Je our head waiter was also awesome. I know Je was going on vacation 2 weeks after we left, so maybe this was true of others and new ones were being trained. Just speculation. Our food was also excellent and the meats were cooked to our liking. Only had one cocktail on the lido, so can't comment on the wait staff there, but saw them wandering around all the time.

 

We loved Progreso and had great fun on the beach, with the vendors and at Buddy's for lunch. The double decker bus tour was awesome for just $3.00. I like that it is a "real" Mexican town and that we are contributing to the economy of the area.

[Jfultz81]

Thanks for the review! We'll be sailing on the Triumph this Sept, which will be our first Carnival cruise and our friends (one is a first timer and the second for the other).. I hope that we won't be disappointed since I'm the one who's planning it all.

 

We are pretty laid back and don't require much service (we don't get bar service by the pool, etc), so hopefully if there is a lack of service, it won't that noticeable.

[hillbillycruisers]

Enjoyed the review. We will be on the Triumph in December, for the first time...and I'm eager to see how it compares to the Ecstasy and also to our two Royal Carribean cruises. I'm sure we'll enjoy ourselves!:)