Quick Review of our Triumph Cruise 7/24-7/28

[TxChick]

This will be a quick review and no pictures - my camera broke on the ship. We consider ourselves experienced cruisers and this is our second time on the Triumph.

 

The Room: we originally booked a lido balcony but we got a call to upgrade to a handicap Grand Suite for $400 the week before and we took it. The room was nice, a huge bathroom with shower and whirlpool tub but there was an odd smell to it, like they had just caulked it or something because it did get fainter throughout the cruise. The tub was nice but I'm 5 foot/108lbs and I don't see how someone much bigger than me could fit in it. There was only one sink.

The room had a pull out sofa bed, I'd say full size and the standard king size bed. The balcony was twice the length of a normal balcony. While there was more floor space it didn't feel like it because the sofa bed was always pulled out. Also, our balcony door kept having problems and they kept having to glue the rubber stripping back on it. I'm not sure when the las time they scrubbed the mirrors either because every time you opened the balcony door and the mirror above the bed fogged you could see where a child wrote crude statements from a previous cruise. I'm happy I paid the price but wouldn't ever pay full price for a suite or leave lido for it again.

 

Service - something was missing on this ship, I'm not sure what. I told my husband that everyone just seemed overworked. Like everyone else they are having to do more with less people. We only ate in the dining room the first night and never again (we've never not eaten in the Dining room until this cruise) and service was horribly slow. We waited 30 minutes for dessert menus and finally left. This could've been an off night because we chose to just be laid back and there wasn't anything we had to have. Our steward, Chito, was as nice as he could be, but again, it was 9pm or later before turn down service and with a small child it was inconvenient at times. Everyone was extremely friendly as always, I just couldn't help but feel as if they were short staffed.

 

Food - we love guys, my husband and daughter ate it for lunch every day. I love Blue Iguana tacos and would bring bowls from the buffet and they would do burritos in a bowl for me. The buffet was okay, not the quality of the dining room but good. We liked the deli and chopsticks.

 

Spa - My husband and I booked port day specials. $149 for Spa Topia for me, a full body hot stone massage, facial, scalp massage, and dry exfoliation. My husband did the Gents groom package $99 for a facial, back, arm, foot and neck massage and a shave. They were nice and a good value, however, the spa is under the basketball court so you can't really slip away. Also, in my room there was a plumbing issue and the sink sounded like it was constantly about to overflow every few minutes. It wasn't horribly distracting but worth mentioning. My husband loved his first trip to the spa because no matter how much I drilled into him not to let the girl upsell him and to only tip 20% - he didn't listen, lol.

 

Cozumel - I can't give you anything here. We've done Cozumel a hundred times so we got off and let my daughter buy some crap she will only play with a week and got back on the ship so she could go down the slide and it wasn't crowded.

 

Camp Carnival - My daughter is 8. She liked going in the evenings but hated when they showed movies. They did a mardi GRAS party one night for $13 and she got a backpack she loved with a stuffed owl and owl nightlight. She got this on the last cruise but she forgot be ause she was super excited about it. She loved the party the last night too.

 

Casino - spent too much. Damn that Wheel of Fortune. I just want to spin that wheel, lol.

 

Overall - there is no such thing as a bad cruise. I got to relax, I read 2 books, my daughter swam until her heart was content. Something was just off for me. If you haven't cruised before, or even if you have, you might not notice. The triumph is great with the 2.0 Improvements but she is showing her age. I do love her design and love having her in Galveston. I just am ready to see new dining room menus and new shows.

 

 

Feel free to ask questions and I'll do my best to answer.

Edited July 28, 2014 by TxChick

[BallFour4]

While we weren't on your sailing we've cruised the Triumph 5 times, the two most recent being 5-nighters in June. Something is missing is a remarkably accurate statement.

 

Some logistics; we've been on 9 Carnival and 4 Royal ships and love being close to Galveston for a quick trip. Our 4-nighter in December was fantastic.

 

Our first one this summer had Jen as cruise director and the one 4 days later had Mike.

 

I agree with you about the hurried look on crew. We had lido cabins on 9 and 7 and 9 was hot, hot enough that my wife let me run the fan I brought at night. Deck 7 was almost cold.

 

The Lido Deck Pool was a mess. I used a decibel meter app on my phone at it was an average 108 for an extended period of time. In a conversation with the DJ about software he and I use he stated Carnival forces them to turn it up to increase liquor sales. The lido deck on sea days was a bawdy party. Women were grinding on the shower poles with guys young enough to be their sons cheering them on.

 

Mix in buckets of beer being floated in the pool, spilled drinks in the water, the pool packed like an egg carton and this was no place for young teen girls wanting sun or families.

 

The aft pool was also full, and the home of an unfettered cannonball contest. Carnival also has given up making this one Adults Only. If I had a young child I would have been there as well.

 

I do know what this has been before, we first cruised on the Mardi Gras and spent last spring break on the Imagination out of Miami. Nothing was like this.

 

They didn't even attempt to do anything with chair hogs. While we were running one morning we watched a couple distribute 11 towels on chairs around them poolside. This was at 8:30am. By the time we finished breakfast and got cooled down at a table near the Blue Iguana no chairs were left without a towel on them and not one of their friends had arrived.

 

Shops: a visible difference in crowds at the watch sales and looking at jewelry. Those guys were hungry, had zero big ticket items sold and wanted to bargain on a TAG. No, the prices here at home are the same.

 

Food was great, dining room staff for 6pm were some of the best we've ever had, they were just swamped.

 

I'm not sure about the Triumph. I was a staunch cheerleader for Carnival and this ship post fire, but this is a floating mess now. We've had friends on 3 additional sailings this summer and without prompting them they shared the same thing.

 

Our next sailing is after school starts back. Not sure if that will make a difference, since the rowdy drunks were 20 and 30 somethings.

 

I do have a ton of pics, so I will post the Dropbox link and you can claim them as your own.

 

 

.

Edited July 28, 2014 by BallFour4

[TxChick]

We swam mainly in the morning and in the aft pool - the other pools were insane. Also, I forgot to mention, the hot tubs in the aft pools were both cold.

[TexasCruiser52]

We swam mainly in the morning and in the aft pool - the other pools were insane. Also, I forgot to mention, the hot tubs in the aft pools were both cold.

 

I love Triumph but am looking forward to Freedom coming to Galveston.

 

I have learned to find the quiet areas...dining room is nice but slower pace. The time it takes to get dessert is painful.

 

I still love her so I adjust. Magic in Oct. this year. BTW thought I would die when Ecstasy left Galveston but I survived. Now I like all the new goodies. I keep evolving.

[PathfinderEss]

Thanks for your review, glad you had a good cruise.

[KirkNC]

Thanks for the report!

[Keith1010]

I enjoyed your review/report.

 

Keith

[astroboy99]

While we weren't on your sailing we've cruised the Triumph 5 times, the two most recent being 5-nighters in June. Something is missing is a remarkably accurate statement.

 

Some logistics; we've been on 9 Carnival and 4 Royal ships and love being close to Galveston for a quick trip. Our 4-nighter in December was fantastic.

 

Our first one this summer had Jen as cruise director and the one 4 days later had Mike.

 

I agree with you about the hurried look on crew. We had lido cabins on 9 and 7 and 9 was hot, hot enough that my wife let me run the fan I brought at night. Deck 7 was almost cold.

 

The Lido Deck Pool was a mess. I used a decibel meter app on my phone at it was an average 108 for an extended period of time. In a conversation with the DJ about software he and I use he stated Carnival forces them to turn it up to increase liquor sales. The lido deck on sea days was a bawdy party. Women were grinding on the shower poles with guys young enough to be their sons cheering them on.

 

Mix in buckets of beer being floated in the pool, spilled drinks in the water, the pool packed like an egg carton and this was no place for young teen girls wanting sun or families.

 

The aft pool was also full, and the home of an unfettered cannonball contest. Carnival also has given up making this one Adults Only. If I had a young child I would have been there as well.

 

I do know what this has been before, we first cruised on the Mardi Gras and spent last spring break on the Imagination out of Miami. Nothing was like this.

 

They didn't even attempt to do anything with chair hogs. While we were running one morning we watched a couple distribute 11 towels on chairs around them poolside. This was at 8:30am. By the time we finished breakfast and got cooled down at a table near the Blue Iguana no chairs were left without a towel on them and not one of their friends had arrived.

 

Shops: a visible difference in crowds at the watch sales and looking at jewelry. Those guys were hungry, had zero big ticket items sold and wanted to bargain on a TAG. No, the prices here at home are the same.

 

Food was great, dining room staff for 6pm were some of the best we've ever had, they were just swamped.

 

I'm not sure about the Triumph. I was a staunch cheerleader for Carnival and this ship post fire, but this is a floating mess now. We've had friends on 3 additional sailings this summer and without prompting them they shared the same thing.

 

Our next sailing is after school starts back. Not sure if that will make a difference, since the rowdy drunks were 20 and 30 somethings.

 

I do have a ton of pics, so I will post the Dropbox link and you can claim them as your own.

 

 

.

 

If you try cruising while school is in session it is always considerably quieter, also,the aft pool on Triumph has never been adult only. You will only find this on Conquest class ships. Freedom may be a better bet for you.

 

Sent from my GT-P5113 using Forums mobile app

[picomullet]

If you try cruising while school is in session it is always considerably quieter, also,the aft pool on Triumph has never been adult only. You will only find this on Conquest class ships. Freedom may be a better bet for you.

 

Sent from my GT-P5113 using Forums mobile app

 

So there is NO adult only hot tub on the Triumph?

[picomullet]

The Room: we originally booked a lido balcony but we got a call to upgrade to a handicap Grand Suite for $400 the week before and we took it. The room was nice, a huge bathroom with shower and whirlpool tub but there was an odd smell to it, like they had just caulked it or something because it did get fainter throughout the cruise. The tub was nice but I'm 5 foot/108lbs and I don't see how someone much bigger than me could fit in it. There was only one sink.

 

Feel free to ask questions and I'll do my best to answer.

 

Another problem I had with the tub was the side seemed so high and made it very difficult to get in with bad knees. Did you think the side was higher than a normal tub? Was sure wishing we had a regular shower that week. We were in a Jr Suite not Grand.

[BallFour4]

If you try cruising while school is in session it is always considerably quieter, also,the aft pool on Triumph has never been adult only. You will only find this on Conquest class ships. Freedom may be a better bet for you.

 

Sent from my GT-P5113 using Forums mobile app

 

In backwards order; you are right about the aft pool. Having been on the Conquest and Glory I got them in the mix.

 

Since my wife just retired from teaching we are cruising different times. The thing is this wasn't school aged kids and it wasn't the same as other summer cruises. We've done a ton of them from Galveston aboard several ships.

 

Last spring break we sailed the Imagination from Miami for a 4 day run to Key West and Cozumel and it was nothing like this.

 

The Freedom does look good, but the Triumph prices are great for some sailings.

 

.

Edited July 29, 2014 by BallFour4

[cruisingsouth]

Was Jerry playing at the Capital bar?

[TxChick]

Another problem I had with the tub was the side seemed so high and made it very difficult to get in with bad knees. Did you think the side was higher than a normal tub? Was sure wishing we had a regular shower that week. We were in a Jr Suite not Grand.

 

Yes! I thought it was me because I'm so short! The height was very tall! We had a separate shower because it was a handicap suite so our bathroom was huge.

[TxChick]

Was Jerry playing at the Capital bar?

 

Yes! I love him! He's great! I will say Triumph has some of the best live entertainment!