Triumph 1/7/06 Western Carribean Review

[familyplanner]

Before I begin, I must first thank all of you! My cruise would not have been nearly as much fun without all of the helpful and good advice I received her on cruise critics. I planned this cruise for a group of 18 family and friends and they were stunned with all of the knowledge I had gained by reading the boards on cruise critic.:p

 

Pre-Cruise: We flew in the day before our cruise and spent the night at Baymont Inn Miami Airport. We chose this hotel for the price and shuttle service. It was a clean room, but it did suffer extensive damage with the last hurricane. They were doing a lot of construction and it smelled musty in the hallways. The airport shuttle was nice. We ate dinner at Bennigans, the fish and chips were some of the best I have ever had. Then we called it a night. In the morning they had a complimentary breakfast buffet that was okay. They also offered complimentary port shuttle service which was nice. We payed $79.00 a night and would stay there again pre or post cruise.

 

Embarkation: We expected to wait in lines for about an hour and that was about how long it took to get on board. We got there around 11:30 am with all 600 Lynn University students. They were taken to the front of the line which was annoying until they opened up some other agents for checking in and then it moved rather quickly.

 

Our Cabin: We were on the empress deck aft interior cabin. Our room steward Savio was the best. We also shared the floor with some Lynn University Students who for the most part were quite, but a couple of nights got drunk and confused and kept trying to open our door. Loved the location of our cabin, gave us easy access to everything and didn't have to mess much with the elevators. It was also for the most part quiet.

 

Food: I thought the food was good as most have mentioned. I am a lover of seafood and fish, but after a couple of nights stopped odering it because it was always overcooked. The presentation was beautiful. The portion sizes were smaller. We found the best thing to do was order several entrees between my husband and I and then we always got something we liked. Our wait staff was overworked and after talking to the matre de (sp) our wait team got extra help and we got much better service. Loved the South Beach Club Buffet, especially for breakfast. I am missing my made to order omelets. The pizzeria, grill, new york deli and hong kong noodle places were all good. But the nothing beats their cheesburgers and french fries. On the sea days we ate in the paris dining room. The views from the aft were gorgeous.

 

The Ship: The ship itself was clean and we didn't encounter any funny odors except for all the smoke from people smoking was overwhelming at times.

 

The Entertainment: We had fun attending several games and even won brought home 3 ships on a stick. The shows at night were hit and miss. The comedians were okay, Matt Ross the cruise director was hilarous. The magician was excellent. We missed out on the guest talent show, but watched it later in our room. It was hilarous. We did try karoke to please my sister-in-law and made complete fools of ourselves. Dave I will say it again, I am soooo sorry we let her do it.:eek: We enjoyed the hot tubs, pools and slides. Didn't ever have much of a problem getting a chair by the pool when we wanted it. The workout facilities were nice, I only stepped foot in the spa the first day to check it out, but the dark interior cabin made sleeping in more inviting than getting up for workouts. Whatever you do at least once you should go all the way forward on deck 9 at night and enjoy the moonlight.

 

The internet cafe: We bought a package deal that made it 55 cents a minute, otherwise it is 75 cents a minute. We used all 100 minutes e-mailing back and forth with our kids back home. The connection was faster than dial up, but not as fast as the high speed I am used to at home.

 

Ports of Call: I wrote more detailed reviews of what we did in each port on the ports of call boards. We did all private tours based upon your reccomendations. This is where my family was really impressed. We did scuba diving/snorkeling with eagle ray divers in Cozumel, Stingray sandbar/island tour with Nativeway, and Marva Shaw in Jamaica.

 

Disembarkation: We took our time getting off the ship since we had later flights. My brother and his wife did the self disembark since theirs was earlier and said it was no problem. I would have stayed longer, but my family was getting concerned about staying, we still had to wait in lines to get off and it took about 45 minutes. We found our luggage easily thanks to the bright christmas ribbon we tied on our bags. However when we got out there were only two cabs and they were taking the highest bidder. Thank goodness a van who had just dropped off passengers made eyes at someone in our group and he was able to take all 16 of us to the airport. It was snug, he had a trailer for our luggage. It was okay and worked out to be $7.50 a person. We were to the airport by 11:30 am and then waited in line for another hour to check in. After that it was smooth sailing.

 

 

I am jealous of those who are getting ready to go. Just let the small stuff slide and you will have a great time.:cool:

[LizaMM]

Thanks for posting your review! Glad that you had a great trip!

[Sparky2]

We're leaving Friday for Miami and staying at the Baymont Inn Miami Airport. So glad to hear something nice about this place as people who live in Miami & Fort Lauderdale said it's not very nice and in a terrible location. We plan on eating at Bennigan's, too.

 

We figured it was doable for one night pre-cruise.

[familyplanner]

Sparky2 you will be fine. The rooms are clean and you can't beat the price especially when you consider how much you will save in cab fare and breakfast. Have fun!:)

[andnickali]

Thanks for the update on the Triumph. I wish I had known about the Baymont, I booked with Priceline for $64 (with tax and fees) but will have to pay for a shuttle to the port Saturday AM. Would you suggest getting to the port any earlier than 11:00 or are they still disembarking?

 

Shannon

[familyplanner]

Shannon,

 

I really don't know the answer to your question. The first shuttle offered to the port was 11:00 am. By the time we dropped our luggage and got in line it was 11:30 am. However, when we disembarked it wasn't until 10:00 am. My motto is the earlier the better. If they aren't boarding yet then they will check you in and have you wait to go through security.:cool:

[BettyB2]

Thanks for the review! Glad you had a great time! I have been home for 36 days since cruising the Triumph and WISH I was back on her. I still have not slept as good as I did that wonderful week on the Triumph....

[cruzin4our10th]

Familyplanner

 

Just checking in to see how it is to be home? I dream to be back on the empress deck sitting on my balcony! If you'd like to email in the future - jfreas@coiinc.com ~ until we meet again!

[Sparky2]

Sparky2 you will be fine. The rooms are clean and you can't beat the price especially when you consider how much you will save in cab fare and breakfast. Have fun!:)

 

Thanks, Laura. I'm really looking forward to everything.

[cruisingbajan]

familyplanner,

 

Your cruise seems to be a mirror image of my upcoming cruise. We also booked a room at the Baymont Inn Airport. We also have an inside cabin on the empress deck and plan to utilise the baymont free shuttle to the port.

 

So I am very pleased to hear you really enjoyed everything about your cruise vacation as I expect my enjoyment to mirror yours as well.:)

[Leafpeeper]

Glad to hear you enjoyed your cruise. We are sailing Triumph one month from today. Can't wait.