Triumph review, Yes, that Triumph

[Patdmoose]

We just got off the Carnival Triumph on Sat., 7/1. We did the 5 day cruise to Progreso and Cozumel. This was a family cruise. We had 3 cabins on the Main deck. 2 Oceanviews and an Inside. Our group (10 of us) ranged in age from my 88 year old Dad to my youngest granddaughter, 3 years old. We also had 3 other of the grandchildren with us. Ages 12 (turns 13 next month), a 10 year old and a 6 year old. This was my 11th cruise. 10 were on CCL. My wife has 12 CCL cruises. This was our first time on the Triumph. The woes of the Triumph did not deter us. We knew CCL would fix her right! Plus we had nearly $2,000 in price drops and OBC from the time of our booking till two weeks before sailing.

Embarkation was EASY. We arrived around 10:45 AM via EZCruise parking. Two of our cabins were platinum, and the third was FTTF. We were on the ship shortly after 11. We went straight to our cabins and dropped off our carry-ons. Our bags arrived while we were at lunch. Most of us had Guy’s burgers. Two thumbs up!! Very nice addition to the CCL fleet.

We had early dining in the lower Paris DR. We had one of the 10 place tables at the very back of the dining room, next to the large rear windows. We had a great view of the water, and also got to see a large pod of dolphins checking out the wake of the ship. Our team of waiters did OK. Not the best service ever, but they had 3 tables of ten. That seems like a lot to me. The food was great, and if they have cut back, I did not notice it. My oldest daughter has some severe food allergies. The Asst. MD came by every night and helped her pick dishes that she could have prepared. It really took a lot off of her mind. We had breakfast and lunch on the Lido for all of our other non-port days. The Blue Iguana taco and burrito bar is another great addition!

In Progreso, we took the Flamingo tour with AutoProgreso. At $19 each (and they did not charge us for the 3 and 5 year olds), It was a great tour for a group of our age difference and capabilities. They took us to the salt ponds, a Mayan ruin called XCampo, and the flamingo breeding grounds. The tour left at 11:45 and lasted about 2+hours. I took the kids back to the boat and got some late lunch on the Lido while the 30 somethings went and had lunch on the beach and did some shopping.

In Cozumel, we took our group by taxi to Paradise Beach. We were some of the first ones there, and had lounge chairs with umbrellas just feet from the water. We swam, played in the sand, and ate some of the best guacamole and Mexican food ever! All at a very affordable price.

The two youngest, and the 12 year old took part in Camp Carnival activities. The young ones wanted to go back to every activity. The oldest picked and chose his activities, and seemed to enjoy making new friends and just hanging out. I spotted him several times with his new friends on the Promenade, and I am very proud to report that were NOT running or making a nuisance of themselves. The 10 year old would have fit in great with this group because he is very tall for his age. When he saw the group of his age, he did not want to go in. He still had a great time.

I donated around $80 to the casino. Mainly on slots, the new (to me) fishing game, and the new (to me) cash cube.

 

Debarkation was easy. We had breakfast on the Lido, brought our carry-ons to the Rome Lounge by 9AM and were on our way to claim our luggage pretty quick. We were in our cars and headed off the island by 11AM.

Our days were filled with fun. Our family team came in 2nd in the Super Trivia contest which went on all week. History is my favorite, but who knew that the Treaty of Paris in 1783 (I think that is the right date) gave birth to the USA. We guessed Luxembourg. And lost by 10 points on a 15 point question.

I will try to reply to any questions, and I am sure I have only covered about 10% of what we did.

[CENTEX CRUISER]

Looks like you had a great cruise..:)

[swscruiser]

What group number were you getting off? Thinking of a noon flight out of Houston. Taking a cab to the airport.

Thanks,

Keith

[High Seas Texan]

Thanks for taking time to report on your cruise. I will be doing this ssme cruise in just over two weeks (July 29 sailing). Glad to hear about your progresso day as I am not sure what to do there....

 

I am so looking forward to this cruise and being on the revamped Triumph. Regarding on board food: Any suggestions of good things on the dining room menus? Did they have the Cheers program on board? Did you do bottomless bubbles? What night was the Chef's Tsble dinner? Did you take in the shows? Any good?

 

How was the Galveston Terminal? I think it has been redone since I last sailed out of it. Do the VIP lines begin before or after security? As I recall in prior cruises, everyone was in one line to show their boarding pass, then branched off into VIP and non VIP....We are in a suite and I believe I am Platinum this cruise.....

 

I do not mean to be a pest with my questions...just excited. Oh, and did you order anything from Bon Voyage?

 

Cheers!

George

[Patdmoose]

What group number were you getting off? Thinking of a noon flight out of Houston. Taking a cab to the airport.

Thanks,

Keith

 

Group 1. Platinum + deck 2, I presume

 

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[Patdmoose]

Thanks for taking time to report on your cruise. I will be doing this ssme cruise in just over two weeks (July 29 sailing). Glad to hear about your progresso day as I am not sure what to do there....

 

I am so looking forward to this cruise and being on the revamped Triumph. Regarding on board food: Any suggestions of good things on the dining room menus? Did they have the Cheers program on board? Did you do bottomless bubbles? What night was the Chef's Tsble dinner? Did you take in the shows? Any good?

 

How was the Galveston Terminal? I think it has been redone since I last sailed out of it. Do the VIP lines begin before or after security? As I recall in prior cruises, everyone was in one line to show their boarding pass, then branched off into VIP and non VIP....We are in a suite and I believe I am Platinum this cruise.....

 

I do not mean to be a pest with my questions...just excited. Oh, and did you order anything from Bon Voyage?

 

Cheers!

George

 

AutoProgreso go to their website and email them. they will reserve spots for you and you don't pay until you get there. They furnish the buses for CCL tours, so you can feel secure that they have good equipment and personnel. Also, on their site it says all children will be charged. When we checked in, the lady said No charge.

 

MDR reccomendations Prime rib, lobster, chateaubriand, LOL no spell check for that, Tilapia, warm chocolate melting cake!!

 

cheers - don't know

 

coke card 6 of our 10 had it, (not me - I'm a DP guy) Don't get the tumbler unless you want to carry it around. every night in MDR, we tipped our bar (coke) waitress when she took our initial order. by second night, she was bringing the cokes with her before we even ordered. Most glasses never got empty. walking up to bars, they will tend to try and ignore you. no tips for most coke card users

 

Chef's table - at $75 per person, it would have cost us $750. I didn't ask any more questions

 

shows - family comedy was very funny - Magic show was OK, being married to an entertainer, I know too much. Way too much dancing, needed more magic

 

Galveston terminal. We moved so quickly, I really don't remember when we went thru security. I do know that I saw some pretty long lines as we walked by.

 

one cabin ordered Bon Voyage bucket of beer was there 1st night, Funship Freddie dolls for two youngest were there 2nd night

[High Seas Texan]

Thanks for the quick reply. I will post a review after my cruise. I so, SO look forward to this. In past years I have done the seven

(7) day out of Galveston on board the CARNIVAL CONQUEST. This five (5) day will be perfect this time. Again, thank you for sharing your experience.

[jandjtexas]

You said you are a "DP guy". I am guessing you mean Dr Pepper? Does the Triumph no longer have DP? They had it last year and it was on the Magic a few months ago.

[Patdmoose]

You said you are a "DP guy". I am guessing you mean Dr Pepper? Does the Triumph no longer have DP? They had it last year and it was on the Magic a few months ago.

 

My 2 grandsons kept asking for Dr Pepper & they would be told 'Mr Pibb'. I brought a few DPs with me & at lunch would get a cup of ice. Lots of people would stop & ask where I got them.

 

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[Kellie in Texas]

Hi, Pat. We were also on the July 1 Triumph. I'll have my review posted in another day or two, but wanted to point out a couple of things.

 

The magic show . . . the magic part of it was great; always makes you wonder "how do they do that?!!?!!!". As Pat said, there was way too much dancing and not enough magic (they were obviously stretching about 15 minutes worth of actual magic into a longer period of time to qualify as a "show"), and the music during the magic show was AWFUL! It was not the 10-piece show band, which played for all the other shows during the evening, but some recorded techno-weird cr*p. :rolleyes:

 

Also, parents with younger kids should know this: Although it is not mentioned ANYWHERE in the Fun Times newsletter, Jen the cruise director made an announcement literally seconds before the magic show started, that the show is rated PG-13 . . . mainly because some of the costumes that the dancers are (barely) wearing! :eek: There wasn't anything actually showing, other than quite a bit of bottoms. I had my 20-year-old son and 11-year-old son; the 20-year-old has I'm sure seen way more than that, and the 11-year-old didn't seem phased by it. But certain families may wish they had some advance warning of this PG-13 show, prior to being seated in the middle of a row.

[auntibe49]

Thanks for your review. We are going on the Triumph this coming Monday, 7/15. I can't wait!!

[Cyber Kat]

Glad to hear you enjoyed your cruise and the Triumph! She was my first Carnival ship, so I was sad to read about all of her troubles!

 

I have what may seem like a silly question, but I remember that the atrium on the Triumph had purple (my favorite color) lighting that kind of wowed me. Does the atrium still have the purple lighting?

[jandjtexas]

My 2 grandsons kept asking for Dr Pepper & they would be told 'Mr Pibb'. I brought a few DPs with me & at lunch would get a cup of ice. Lots of people would stop & ask where I got them.

 

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That is so strange. They've had DP on both ships out of Galveston each time we went. Hope it's not a permanent change and that they just ran out on your cruise.

[Patdmoose]

Glad to hear you enjoyed your cruise and the Triumph! She was my first Carnival ship, so I was sad to read about all of her troubles!

 

I have what may seem like a silly question, but I remember that the atrium on the Triumph had purple (my favorite color) lighting that kind of wowed me. Does the atrium still have the purple lighting?

 

My family will tell you, I don't usually notice things like that (purple lighting). Maybe one of my daughters who get on CC will answet

 

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[Patdmoose]

Hi, Pat. We were also on the July 1 Triumph. I'll have my review posted in another day or two, but wanted to point out a couple of things.

 

The magic show . . . the magic part of it was great; always makes you wonder "how do they do that?!!?!!!". As Pat said, there was way too much dancing and not enough magic (they were obviously stretching about 15 minutes worth of actual magic into a longer period of time to qualify as a "show"), and the music during the magic show was AWFUL! It was not the 10-piece show band, which played for all the other shows during the evening, but some recorded techno-weird cr*p. :rolleyes:

 

Also, parents with younger kids should know this: Although it is not mentioned ANYWHERE in the Fun Times newsletter, Jen the cruise director made an announcement literally seconds before the magic show started, that the show is rated PG-13 . . . mainly because some of the costumes that the dancers are (barely) wearing! :eek: There wasn't anything actually showing, other than quite a bit of bottoms. I had my 20-year-old son and 11-year-old son; the 20-year-old has I'm sure seen way more than that, and the 11-year-old didn't seem phased by it. But certain families may wish they had some advance warning of this PG-13 show, prior to being seated in the middle of a row.

 

Hi Kellie

Looking forward to your review

 

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[Cyber Kat]

My family will tell you, I don't usually notice things like that (purple lighting). Maybe one of my daughters who get on CC will answet

 

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LOL - my DH wouldn't notice either! He did notice the grapes in the Miracle MDR and the pink dots on the Splendor!

[forwardcabin]

Family cruises are the greatest--and any cruise is better with all the family aboard. We've done family Christmas, New Years, and Spring Break cruises--so much better than land vacations!

[Lalabeth6]

Group 1. Platinum + deck 2, I presume

 

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I think group 1 was for Platinum and FTTF. The other bags in our hall had 25 on them.

[Lalabeth6]

 

Galveston terminal. We moved so quickly, I really don't remember when we went thru security. I do know that I saw some pretty long lines as we walked by.

 

one cabin ordered Bon Voyage bucket of beer was there 1st night, Funship Freddie dolls for two youngest were there 2nd night

 

I am pat's youngest daughter :)

We went through security before we separated. My family was FTTF while the others were platinum. We went in seperate areas but we were only about 5 minutes behind them in boarding. They waited for us at the picture set up.

 

We ordered the Bon Voyage items. The Funship Freddy dolls for our two kids were in the room when we got there around 11. The beer and cooler package was there the second night. I don't think they can allow it before then. That package was great! Our room steward put a bag liner in and and ice so they could be cold. We used it for milks for the kids throughout the week too.

 

If your kids are milk drinkers, grab a couple of extra at breakfast and ice them in your room for lunch. They are next to impossible to get at lunch time! Also, everyone on board assumes when you order milk that the kids want chocolate milk. Be sure to ask for 2% or fat free if you don't want chocolate. Learned that the hard way!

[Lalabeth6]

It actually did state that the show was rated PG-13 in the Fun Times. My sister and I got a good laugh out of that when we were reading over the days' events that morning. My six year old went and I don't think it really phased him. You could see just as much booty on the lido deck at times! There were some partiers on this cruise!

 

I will add something that I know my daddy forgot! Everytime we walked by the pizza bar, there were no pizzas and the line was wrapped around almost to the inside. I only had one piece the whole time and it was because Daddy happened to be in line already. There was no way I would wait as long as they were having to wait!

[Lalabeth6]

My family will tell you, I don't usually notice things like that (purple lighting). Maybe one of my daughters who get on CC will answet

 

Sent from my HTC One X using Forums mobile app

 

Yes! The purple lighting is still there! It was one of the first things my sister and I noticed!

[Patdmoose]

It actually did state that the show was rated PG-13 in the Fun Times. My sister and I got a good laugh out of that when we were reading over the days' events that morning. My six year old went and I don't think it really phased him. You could see just as much booty on the lido deck at times! There were some partiers on this cruise!

 

I will add something that I know my daddy forgot! Everytime we walked by the pizza bar, there were no pizzas and the line was wrapped around almost to the inside. I only had one piece the whole time and it was because Daddy happened to be in line already. There was no way I would wait as long as they were having to wait!

 

Yes, the pizza lines were crazy. I never saw any pizza in the display case. There were several late night's when I would have gotten some pizza, but the lines changed my mind. On the last night, I just decided that I was going to get some pizza. It was about a 20 minute wait & I took the 1st kind available.

Which brings up another question. Do they not have comment cards anymore. I wanted to commend Alexandra, our MDR bar waitress, & comment on the pizza bar

 

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[Cyber Kat]

Yes! The purple lighting is still there! It was one of the first things my sister and I noticed!

 

 

YAY! Thanks! If the Triumph ever makes her way back up north again, I'll have to check her out! I think you always have a soft spot for your first ship.

[skittl1321]

The magic show . . . the magic part of it was great; always makes you wonder "how do they do that?!!?!!!".

 

We watched the Triumph magic show from the side of the 2nd deck of the theatre, (terrible seats for the show, if you wanted to see 'magic') and were able to see the 'trick' to every one of the tricks, except one. We were surprised they didn't block the seats off.

 

Also, the showgirls need to learn the 'if you can see them, they can see you' rule of being in the wings. We saw TONS of "costume adjustment" that occured right as they scurried off stage, still in total view of the side seats.

[treblmakr]

I am pat's youngest daughter :)

We went through security before we separated. My family was FTTF while the others were platinum. We went in seperate areas but we were only about 5 minutes behind them in boarding. They waited for us at the picture set up.

 

Hi, we are sailing the Triumph in Nov. for the first time; my second cruise, my husband's first. I purchased FTTF because I want him to become a cruise-lover and I thought the no-hassle boarding might help. Were you on board a lot earlier than regular boarders? I realize purchasing FTTF on the 5-day Triumph is primarily for embarking/debarking because there are no tenders. So I guess I'm asking: was it worth it?

 

Thanks!