My Carnival Triumph Review.....Jan 30, 2012...1st time cruisers

[jbhudson]

OK, I don't post much here but I do read a lot, but I saw a review of the same cruise I was on and wanted to give my take on it. As a first time cruiser, I have nothing to compare it to, which probably is why my opinion is different than others.

 

I live in Houston, so we drove down early Monday morning to get on the ship early. I had already heard that they will board as early as 10:00, so that was our goal. We got there about 11 and were on the ship by 11:45, so it was very smooth and easy.

 

I guess I will review in sections, you guys probably don't want to hear about EVERYTHING we did, hour by hour, LOL!!

 

Room: As I said, we are first time cruisers. We had our 2 kids with us, 13 year old boy and 8 year old girl. We had a room on deck 1, oceanview. I was very pleasantly surprised by the size of our room. My parents have only sailed on RC and have always talked about how small the rooms are. There was plenty of room for all of us. I unpacked all 4 suitcases into the drawers and closets and stowed our suitcases under the beds. Worked perfectly!!! I loved that our window was so large and that it had a seat in it, my daughter loved sitting up there and watching the ocean. We were in room 1346, which was the first room you hit at the center elevators. This proved to be PERFECT for us, because I got very seasick and needed the steadiness of a center/low room. Our room was very clean, the bathroom was very clean. Our cabin steward was rarely seen but when he did see us, he greeted us by name. He came in the morning after we left and cleaned up the room. And he magically knew when we were gone in the evening to turn down our bed, leave mints, the schedule and our towel animal. We had 4 towel animals left for us, which my kids loved.

 

FOOD: Well, we totally LOVED the food. Sure there were things that were just OK, or tasted differently than we expected, but overall, it was fabulous. We ate in the MDR at night and the Lido buffet for breakfast and lunch, for the most part. Yes, there were lines at the buffet, but they moved very quickly. With almost 3000 people on the ship, I didn't expect to walk up to the buffet and it be empty. I loved all the fresh fruit, the salads and the variety. I think we actually enjoyed the Lido buffet more than the MDR. The food in the MDR was good, but some of the portions (especially appetizers/desserts) were very small. I specifically am thinking of some shirmp appetizer my husband had, there were about 2 shrimp and the cherries jubilee was very small. Everything in there was very good though. Pizza pirate was awesome and we hit it way too much. The margherita pizza was delicious. Our son had the bottomless bubbles and definitely got his money's worth in soda. I drank mostly iced tea and finally perfected it on the 2nd to last day. It was very strong, so I figured out that 3/4 tea and 1/4 water helped, and a lemon and sugar.

 

SERVICE: I found the service to be exceptional. We had issues with being in the Paris dining room and asked to be moved to the London dining room and both maitre d's went out of our way to help us. Our waiters in both dining rooms were very attentive and called us by name. They didn't dance and sing and act crazy like I had heard from others, but they definitely went out of their way to keep us happy. The Camp Carnival workers were fabulous, my daughter loved them. I was impressed that even if you ran into an employee, they went out of their way to talk to us, ask us if we were having a good time, etc. We aren't big bar drinkers, so we didn't have much interaction with them, but when in the casino, we were regularly approached to make sure we didn't need anything.

 

CLEANLINESS: OK, we were totally floored at how often they clean on the ship. After the lunch buffet, we walked through the Lido and they were cleaning the brass/glass railings with a toothbrush on the floor. There was always someone walking around with a little broom and mop. They even cleaned the insides of the drink machines regularly. They keep it MUCH cleaner than I do in my own home, and I consider myself to be a pretty good housekeeper.

 

OTHER PASSENGERS: After reading some of the reviews of Carnival vs other cruise lines, I was a tad bit worried about our fellow passengers. I was truly surprised that there were SOOOO many older people (senior citizens age). I actually was really happy to see that. There were some younger, rowdier groups, but honestly, there were far less of them than I expected. Everyone was just so happy to be there, very friendly, etc. I was pleased with that.

 

I didn't have very many complaints. I got very seasick the first night. We had about 7 ft swells and it was very rocky. We had a seat in the Paris dining room (in the very, very back of the room) and it literally shook us back and forth. My daughter got a very queasy like headache for the first 2 nights and I got very sick to my stomach during dinner. I took the meds offered by guest services and it worked perfectly. After the 2nd night of my daughter getting these headaches, we asked to be moved to the London dining room and it was MUCH better!!

 

We were not overly impressed by Progreso or Cozumel. I guess we expected it to be a little more "modernized" with all the money that the cruise ships dump into it. Cozumel was better than Progreso, but I got really tired of being asked to come shop with the people and constantly saying no thank you. We went to the Dzibilchaltun ruins in Progreso and those were amazing!! The fact that we could climb on them was awesome! My kids loved swimming in the cenote.

 

Overall, we loved the cruise. I don't know what the "luxury" cruise lines would offer to justify the difference in price. As far as I'm concerned, I will sail with Carnival again and again!!!

[kkdleon]

Great review! I like that you didn't give every detail of every moment of your trip, and you still provided great information that could help any first time cruiser know what to expect. We have never been on the Triumph, but maybe someday. We have been to Cozumel a few times, and after the last time there, we are settling in more with what we like and don't like there. We have yet to go to Progreso.

 

It looks like you are pretty new to Cruise Critic! The more research you do, the better each cruise will be. Like you, I do way more reading than posting ( hence the low post count). I like to stay out of the fray with some of the moodier posters, but I love a controversial thread!:D

 

We share our time between Carnival and Royal Caribbean. These lines are more similar than different. Carnival does do a great job keeping the ships clean during the week considering how dirty some people are! Have fun on your future cruises, and I'm so glad your first cruise was great!!

[*Mach*]

Glad to hear you had a great time on your first cruise. Yeah... the stories about the partying drunks on board are grossly exaggerated, for the most part. I've seen drunks but you could count 'em on one hand. I guess sticking out like that makes one memorable.

Regarding your ports of call, I love Progreso for exactly the reason you didn't like it... it's old Mexico... it's Cozumel from 25 years ago. The place is very laid back and quiet... local businesses and not Hard Rockville, Senior Charlie and Fat Friday. The prices are MUCH more attractive there, as well! You can get used to $3 margaritas REAL fast!!!

Have you started planning your next cruise yet? My suggestion... the Magic!!!

:)

[Andrea72]

Great review! We leave on the Triumph soon and it is always fun to hear other people's views about her. Glad you had a great time.

 

Yeah... the stories about the partying drunks on board are grossly exaggerated, for the most part. I've seen drunks but you could count 'em on one hand. I guess sticking out like that makes one memorable.

 

That is so true, Mach. I have a few drunk stories (not about me) from my cruises, but they stand out, because they were so out of the ordinary. (I also have drunk stories from football games, restaurants, etc. so you can encounter people who overindulge anywhere).

[jonbgd]

Thanks for the review It is nice to hear the perspective from a first time cruiser

[cwr322]

Great review! Thanks for sharing your experience with us. We are going on the Triumph in November for the first time, and, as always, I am scanning the boards for as much info as I can get. It will be our 4th cruise, but the 1st on this ship!:D

[dkc1973]

Thank you! My sister and I will be going on the same trip on July30th so this is great information. I have a coworker that was on your trip and I have been itching for her to get back to work so I can hear how it was for her.

[jbhudson]

Host Mach- Actually, of the 2 ports, I liked Progreso better. Even though it is not very developed, the people were super nice, I felt safe and it was good for the kids to see how good they have it (ya know what I mean?).

And actually, YES, we have started planning our next cruise. Maybe in December and it would definitely be on the Magic. Now just have to figure out which ports to go to on that ship. Got any advice?

Fryee39- yes, we sailed out of Galveston, super easy and lots of parking.

 

 

OH and I forgot to mention, on our day to return (Saturday), we couldn't get into the port of Galveston because of a TON of fog. So, instead, we slept in, got to stay in our rooms until debarkation. They made up a ton of breakfast and even had started lunch when we got off. They had sales in the spa, karaoke in the Rio, they showed a movie in the Rome lounge. They tried their best to keep everyone happy and busy even though we were late. And Tex kept coming on the loudspeaker and apologizing profusely. It was awesome as a first time cruiser to get to stay on the ship an extra 4-5 hours!!!

[okiegirl07]

OK, I don't post much here but I do read a lot, but I saw a review of the same cruise I was on and wanted to give my take on it. As a first time cruiser, I have nothing to compare it to, which probably is why my opinion is different than others.

 

I live in Houston, so we drove down early Monday morning to get on the ship early. I had already heard that they will board as early as 10:00, so that was our goal. We got there about 11 and were on the ship by 11:45, so it was very smooth and easy.

 

I guess I will review in sections, you guys probably don't want to hear about EVERYTHING we did, hour by hour, LOL!!

 

Room: As I said, we are first time cruisers. We had our 2 kids with us, 13 year old boy and 8 year old girl. We had a room on deck 1, oceanview. I was very pleasantly surprised by the size of our room. My parents have only sailed on RC and have always talked about how small the rooms are. There was plenty of room for all of us. I unpacked all 4 suitcases into the drawers and closets and stowed our suitcases under the beds. Worked perfectly!!! I loved that our window was so large and that it had a seat in it, my daughter loved sitting up there and watching the ocean. We were in room 1346, which was the first room you hit at the center elevators. This proved to be PERFECT for us, because I got very seasick and needed the steadiness of a center/low room. Our room was very clean, the bathroom was very clean. Our cabin steward was rarely seen but when he did see us, he greeted us by name. He came in the morning after we left and cleaned up the room. And he magically knew when we were gone in the evening to turn down our bed, leave mints, the schedule and our towel animal. We had 4 towel animals left for us, which my kids loved.

 

FOOD: Well, we totally LOVED the food. Sure there were things that were just OK, or tasted differently than we expected, but overall, it was fabulous. We ate in the MDR at night and the Lido buffet for breakfast and lunch, for the most part. Yes, there were lines at the buffet, but they moved very quickly. With almost 3000 people on the ship, I didn't expect to walk up to the buffet and it be empty. I loved all the fresh fruit, the salads and the variety. I think we actually enjoyed the Lido buffet more than the MDR. The food in the MDR was good, but some of the portions (especially appetizers/desserts) were very small. I specifically am thinking of some shirmp appetizer my husband had, there were about 2 shrimp and the cherries jubilee was very small. Everything in there was very good though. Pizza pirate was awesome and we hit it way too much. The margherita pizza was delicious. Our son had the bottomless bubbles and definitely got his money's worth in soda. I drank mostly iced tea and finally perfected it on the 2nd to last day. It was very strong, so I figured out that 3/4 tea and 1/4 water helped, and a lemon and sugar.

 

SERVICE: I found the service to be exceptional. We had issues with being in the Paris dining room and asked to be moved to the London dining room and both maitre d's went out of our way to help us. Our waiters in both dining rooms were very attentive and called us by name. They didn't dance and sing and act crazy like I had heard from others, but they definitely went out of their way to keep us happy. The Camp Carnival workers were fabulous, my daughter loved them. I was impressed that even if you ran into an employee, they went out of their way to talk to us, ask us if we were having a good time, etc. We aren't big bar drinkers, so we didn't have much interaction with them, but when in the casino, we were regularly approached to make sure we didn't need anything.

 

CLEANLINESS: OK, we were totally floored at how often they clean on the ship. After the lunch buffet, we walked through the Lido and they were cleaning the brass/glass railings with a toothbrush on the floor. There was always someone walking around with a little broom and mop. They even cleaned the insides of the drink machines regularly. They keep it MUCH cleaner than I do in my own home, and I consider myself to be a pretty good housekeeper.

 

OTHER PASSENGERS: After reading some of the reviews of Carnival vs other cruise lines, I was a tad bit worried about our fellow passengers. I was truly surprised that there were SOOOO many older people (senior citizens age). I actually was really happy to see that. There were some younger, rowdier groups, but honestly, there were far less of them than I expected. Everyone was just so happy to be there, very friendly, etc. I was pleased with that.

 

I didn't have very many complaints. I got very seasick the first night. We had about 7 ft swells and it was very rocky. We had a seat in the Paris dining room (in the very, very back of the room) and it literally shook us back and forth. My daughter got a very queasy like headache for the first 2 nights and I got very sick to my stomach during dinner. I took the meds offered by guest services and it worked perfectly. After the 2nd night of my daughter getting these headaches, we asked to be moved to the London dining room and it was MUCH better!!

 

We were not overly impressed by Progreso or Cozumel. I guess we expected it to be a little more "modernized" with all the money that the cruise ships dump into it. Cozumel was better than Progreso, but I got really tired of being asked to come shop with the people and constantly saying no thank you. We went to the Dzibilchaltun ruins in Progreso and those were amazing!! The fact that we could climb on them was awesome! My kids loved swimming in the cenote.

 

Overall, we loved the cruise. I don't know what the "luxury" cruise lines would offer to justify the difference in price. As far as I'm concerned, I will sail with Carnival again and again!!!

 

I was on this cruise with you and completely agree with everything you said! I loved our room steward he left us 2 towels animals everynight since we had to young kids with us! The camp carnival staff was amazing We would run into some of them through out the ship and they would say hi to my kids and remember their names. There were over 300 kids on board and they remembered their names! That really made me feel comfortable with leaving them! I have been to Progreso and Cozumel about a year ago and I do have to say that they have made improvements to both ports just in the past year. We were in the very back of the paris dining room and it took me a couple nights to get used to! For some reason you could really feel the movement there! I didn't think about switching though. On our 3rd night the kids were a little crazy at dinner so we left early and didn't go the 4th night, because we thought they were bothering the table next to us (which was an elderly couple) and on the last night we decided to go and she walked up to our table and said "we missed your beautiful family last night". It made me feel good that we weren't bothering them the first 3 nights and that they missed us! I'm glad you had a great time, because we definately did, and I like your idea on going on the Magic time! Maybe I can get my husband to get off work that long!

[gelo7]

Nice review, glad that you had a good cruise.

[Meyer2]

Great job on your review Jen!! :D And I'm so excited you guys have booked #2! ;) It's such a fun addiction! LOL!

[txponycruiser]

How was deck 1? We're booking a June 2013 cruise on the Triumph and were concerned about noise levels on deck 1 and 2. I was worried there'd be too much noise from the hull of the ship on Deck 1 and too much noise from the lobby on Deck 2.:confused:

[jbhudson]

How was deck 1? We're booking a June 2013 cruise on the Triumph and were concerned about noise levels on deck 1 and 2. I was worried there'd be too much noise from the hull of the ship on Deck 1 and too much noise from the lobby on Deck 2.:confused:

 

Honestly, I never heard anything. We were midship. I read that you hear more in the aft, but I can honestly say it was a great location. I liked being that close to the water!!