Just back from our TRIUMPH-ant June cruise!

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Day 1--departed from DFW metroplex at 2 am:eek: in order to miss rush hour traffic in Houston on the way to Galveston.

 

We didn't miss traffic. Instead..we were stuck in Monday morning traffic for over an hour. I thought traffic in Dallas was bad...oh no no. Houston traffic makes Dallas traffic look like a friggin' tea party.

 

Arrived at the port around 10 am, parked the car and went inside the terminal to wait along with a crapload of other people. Including a very indignant wedding party who were demanding to be let on immediately, despite being told by the woman guarding the Wedding Party/Plat/Diamond/FTTF line that no, they were NOT getting on yet and YES they would be the first to board. I wouldn't have wanted to stand around in formal wear in the heat either, sweating my face off the way they were. I felt sorry for them, really.

 

Once we were finally allowed to board (after the grumpy wedding party), we went straight to our room and dropped off our carry on luggage. We ran into our room steward, Cicep, who was very nice and headed off to Lido to get some lunch. We hadn't eaten in probably 5 hrs or so at that point and we were freaking starving.

 

When we were studying the day's Fun Times, we noticed that our cruise director wasn't going to be Jen Baxter, the way we'd been told it was. :( Instead, the CD was listed as some dude named Mike Pack. Who was he? Never even heard of him!:confused:

 

After lunch, we changed into swimsuits and played around in the pool for a bit. Really, for us, swimming in the pool doesn't hold a lot of appeal since we live in an HOA with a pool available to residents. It was a nice way to cool off though.

 

We swam for about an hour until it was time to change and go to Muster. I was anticipating a crappy, hour long muster like we'd had before on the Triumph last August. I must say this time I was pleasantly surprised, as the crew person in charge of our station wasn't in charge of giving the "here's how you put on a life jacket' speech. That was done via the PA system by the CD, who spoke crisply and clearly in a way that was very easy for everyone to understand. I think we were actually done with muster within 15 min or so.

 

Hubby, kiddo and I headed up on deck to watch the ship pull out of Galveston but by this time Kiddo was exhausted (as were we all, truthfully) and hot and just not having ANY of it. So I dragged him back to the cabin, threw him on the bed (ok..so I didn't throw him. He's almost as tall as I am and weighs probably 70 lbs) and said, "You, sir, are going to take a nap." He protested, insisting 10 yr olds don't TAKE naps. I told him 10 yr old boys who are so exhausted they are acting like 10 MONTH old boys do in fact take naps. I shut off all the lights, and since it was an interior cabin without any windows, the room was completely dark and within 10 min we both were out like the proverbial light.

 

At some point, maybe an hour and a half later, Hubs came down to get us for dinner which was really pleasant. Our dining room team (if you're reading this, hi Ro-NALD..not RON-ald..Ro-NALD :) )were attentive and "madame"-d me at least half a dozen times during our meal (I never will get used to that. Like ever. I'm not old enough to be a madame anything!:D).

 

I don't really remember much about what happened after dinner. I know we went to the Welcome Aboard show and I'm pretty sure I went to bed after that. I'd been up since 1 am and was ready to drop at that point.

[PathfinderEss]

Enjoying your review, looking forward to more of it.

[HeresTweety]

I enjoyed reading your first post on your Triumph cruise. We are going in December so I will be looking forward to reading about the rest of your vacation.

[erewhon]

Thank you.

Looking forward to the remainder of your review.

[KirkNC]

Thanks for the report!

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Day 2--1st day at sea

 

I woke up feeling a little hung over, even though I didn't drink anything stronger than ginger ale the day before. I think it was just because I had been SO freaking exhausted that I literally fell asleep standing up at one point the night before.

 

Mike Pack was our cruise director and he was really great. We were a little upset that Jen Baxter (who we are also fans of) had been moved to the Freedom (which will be repositioning to Galveston to replace the Magic) but since we couldn't have Jen, Mike was a great stand in. He's very British, very loud, more than a little naughty and very, very funny. He took great care of the guests and made it his mission to hug each and every grandma and man with a mustache on that dang boat. :D

 

Most of the day we did trivia or hung out by the pool. Our favorite was Super Trivia which was hosted by Irish Bob, who we'd sailed with last August as well.

 

Mike's assistant CD was a young man named Gumbie who couldn't have been more flaming than if he'd walked around with his head on fire. We absolutely adored him. :D

 

I think that first night we also went to see the first family friendly comedy show, which was hosted by a red-haired lad who went by Ginger and was performed by

. Holy crap..I danged near wet my pants laughing she was so funny.

 

I think after that we went to bed because again..we pooped out early. Not really sure why, but we did.

[christmas]

Day 2--1st day at sea

 

I woke up feeling a little hung over, even though I didn't drink anything stronger than ginger ale the day before. I think it was just because I had been SO freaking exhausted that I literally fell asleep standing up at one point the night before.

 

Mike Pack was our cruise director and he was really great. We were a little upset that Jen Baxter (who we are also fans of) had been moved to the Freedom (which will be repositioning to Galveston to replace the Magic) but since we couldn't have Jen, Mike was a great stand in. He's very British, very loud, more than a little naughty and very, very funny. He took great care of the guests and made it his mission to hug each and every grandma and man with a mustache on that dang boat. :D

 

Most of the day we did trivia or hung out by the pool. Our favorite was Super Trivia which was hosted by Irish Bob, who we'd sailed with last August as well.

 

Mike's assistant CD was a young man named Gumbie who couldn't have been more flaming than if he'd walked around with his head on fire. We absolutely adored him. :D

 

I think that first night we also went to see the first family friendly comedy show, which was hosted by a red-haired lad who went by Ginger and was performed by

. Holy crap..I danged near wet my pants laughing she was so funny.

 

I think after that we went to bed because again..we pooped out early. Not really sure why, but we did.

 

Freedom will become the 3rd ship in Galveston. Magic is staying.

[IPlayWithString]

I wonder if Freedom will be doing 4/5 day itineraries or 7 day?

[ConshyCrock]

I remember sailing on the Triumph several years ago out of New York (to Canada). I didn't know she was now based in TX so I guess I'm out of the loop!

[Rudyard]

We didn't miss traffic. Instead..we were stuck in Monday morning traffic for over an hour. I thought traffic in Dallas was bad...oh no no. Houston traffic makes Dallas traffic look like a friggin' tea party.

 

It certainly can get crazy here. Rush hour traffic starts building around 5:00 am and peaks between 7:00 and 8:00.

 

Evening rush hour starts building around 3:00 pm and peaks around 6:00.

 

It's not too bad when you live here and know the alternate routes, but I feel for those that are just visiting or passing through.

Edited June 22, 2014 by Rudyard

[christmas]

I wonder if Freedom will be doing 4/5 day itineraries or 7 day?

 

Mostly 7 day but it will offer some 4/5 day cruises.

[Cathys Cruising]

We were on the same cruise & must have been in the same area. We also had "C" as our cabin steward. :D. Will relive the cruise through your eyes now!

 

 

Cathy

[forwardcabin]

I wonder if Freedom will be doing 4/5 day itineraries or 7 day?

 

...So glad Freedom is coming to Galveston. Once it arrives in Feb, Freedom will do one 6-day cruise that includes Costa Maya. After that, 7-day cruises that alternate the three itineraries Magic now does--just Sat-to-Sat.

 

Bon Voyage Carnival Freedom!

[IPlayWithString]

I'm already looking ahead to next summer and if the itineraries for the Freedom include Sat to Sat then we might be able to swing it. Hubby's work dislikes for him to be gone two Sundays in a row.

 

CathysCruisin--you must have been down the hall from us. Ours was the cabin with the tropical birdies taped on the door. Sure helped me find where the heck our cabin was. I have dyscalculia, a math related learning disorder, and so remembering numbers can sometimes be tricky for me as my brain likes to rearrange them in creative ways.:rolleyes:

[RevTx]

Where's the rest? Eager to hear.

[tncap]

Mike's assistant CD was a young man named Gumbie who couldn't have been more flaming than if he'd walked around with his head on fire. We absolutely adored him. :D

 

LOL yes he is rather a hoot.

 

Interesting to hear about Jen moving to Freedom. I am a fan of hers as well.

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Day 4--Sea Day 2

 

Pretty much the same as Sea Day 1--lots of trivia, took DS to Karaoke where he begged and begged me to let him do "Footloose" by Kenny Loggins (it's one of his favorites). Unfortunately, he got up there and freaked out but the crowd was polite and sang along. Then I got up and did one of my absolute favorites, "House of the Rising Sun" by The Animals which got a lot of applause. Apparently I'm a better singer than I thought I was. :D

 

That night, just before the show (The Big Easy), Mike came over and asked DS if he wanted to sit with the crew in their special reserved seats which just really made DS thrilled as all get out. Afterwards, Mike gave him a SOAS and an autographed photograph of the himself, Gumbie, Scott, Ginger and Mike (one other person too..I forget who) for participating in the selfie challenge. :)

 

I don't know if we're going to have Mike again when we go in about 3 weeks, but I'd love to sail with him and Gumbie again. They really made the trip really fun and were really great at listening to the guests, taking care of them, etc. There was even one day (I think day 4, the last day at sea) where I saw Mike sitting in the Lido deck resteraunt eating his lunch with some of the guests.

 

Also..hey Carnival..*** is up with the eyeball light fixtures in the Lido deck buffet on the Triumph? I feel like I'm being watched all the time and it's freaking creepy. I avoid eating in there as much as possible because I hate all those eyes on me, staring at me, judging me for eating an entire bowl of bacon, three bagels, scrambled eggs and whatever else I pile on my breakfast plate.

[IPlayWithString]

I apologize for posting the days out of order. I just realized that I posted my day 3 review someplace else...not here though. Oops!:p[/i]

 

Day three--Progresso, Yucatan

 

Now, we've been to Progresso before. The last time, we just walked through town and got accosted by vendors and a persistent nun who just followed us as we walked around, shaking her can (the one she had for donations, not her can as in her booty) at us.

 

This time, we decided to take the double decker bus tour that takes you around the city for five bucks. DS HAD to sit up on the upper level..we tried to convince him to sit in the lower level and he was having NONE of it. I think, because he's so tall, DH ended up spending the whole trip either leaning sideways, backwards or crouching down to avoid getting clotheslined by the power lines that just barely cleared the top of the bus. The tour wasn't quite what I expected either..there were only one or two mentions of historical type stuff and most of the time, the driver (????) just talked about this shop or that shop that was owned by his cousin's best friend's sister's nephew's mother's college room mate who would give you BEST PRICE EVER!!! Once the tour was over, we kinda poked around some of the shops but there wasn't anything we just HAD to have. I did end up buying some knock off Raybans for more than I probably should have paid ($15). I'd had a pair of dollar store sunglasses when I boarded on the first day which got lost almost immediately and the sun was really hurting my eyes, so I HAD to get some new ones or I was gonna be in for a world of hurt (also migraines. Yay.).

 

Day 4--Cozumel

 

This was our excursion day. I got up early because I wanted to see us pull into port and there was a mysterious, vaguely ship shaped thing in the mist behind us. As it got closer to us, you could see the whale tail and it turned out that the Breeze was following us into port. After breakfast, DH, DS and I headed down to the lounge to wait for them to tell us we could disembark for our excursion. We headed out to Isla Passion by Twister boat which I wasn't totally sure of (DH had booked it without telling me..he let me assume we were going by catamaran) because of DS and his sensory issues. Thankfully, DS really enjoyed it and said it was the best part of the day. The captain of our boat was Willy and his first mate (???) was a guy named Hector who was really funny and took good care of us.

 

There were things about Isla Passion which I really enjoyed--namely the guacamole (even though it gave me the WORST gas ) and the free drinks (they were really freaking watered down though). What I didn't like was the water activities..there were inflatable mountains to climb..but you had to have the upper body strength of a He-Man to be able to climb to the top. I'm fat and I'm old...I couldn't even pull myself up on the lowest hand holds. On the water trampoline..the ladder was broken. Half the steps were tilted to one side or the other and the very bottom step was broken off entirely so it was really difficult to climb up. DS had managed to monkey his way up and then got scared. He wanted me to go up with him, but I really couldn't climb up because of the broken ladder. In the end, some random college guy ended up grabbing my butt and shoving me up there because DS was really starting to freak out.

 

Another thing that vaguely bothered me was that when the woman who was our hostess (Aida) was giving us the "here's how stuff works" spiel, she basically said that if you were under 21 and wanted an alcoholic drink the bartenders would *totally* look the other way. And you could tell that they did because on the return trip back, the college students who were in our group were clearly very very drunk. One nearly puked during one of the 360s and another passed out before we even got back into Cozumel proper.

 

That night was the burlesque show, "A Kiss Goodnight", which I'd seen before when I was on the Triumph last August and I really enjoyed it. Anders and his girls were smart and very, very funny. I was sitting in one of the booths with a married couple and two college age girls. One of the girls asked what a burlesque show was and I tried to explain when the wife broke in. She said a burlesque show was just strippers who didn't strip all the way (which isn't entirely true). I started to correct her, but thought better of it because I wasn't in the mood to get in an argument.