Triumph review 5/27-6/3

[Teneene]

This was my 4th Carnival cruise and my 7th cruise overall (2 w/ NCL & 1 w/ RCCL). Embarkation went smoothly in the Miami port with very short lines overall.

 

We had six people in my party and 2 rooms side by side so we were able to open our balcony stateroom divider to have a larger balcony. I originally asked our room steward to do this on the first day, but he told me that I had to ask the purser's desk first and they would contact him. Right after I'd spoken with the purser's desk I saw him in the hall and told him that I'd asked. He immediately opened the balcony without confirming with the purser's desk first. That was fine by me! I liked him after that, but I did have one small complaint. Halfway through the cruise I noticed that he filled our soap dispenser in the shower with water to bring it to it's full status instead of adding more soap. I made a mental note at that point to talk to him about that, but the very next time he cleaned the room the soap dispenser was filled with soap again instead of mostly water. I never mentioned it since it was corrected. Another problem we had was with our shower, but I don't think the room steward could have helped with that problem. Our shower temperature would fluctuate from cold to scalding within minutes no matter what temperature you started off with. That could have been very dangerous if we had small children travelling with us this time. I imagine this didn't just happen in our cabin because we saw people working in the bathroom of the cabin across from ours one day. We quickly learned to take showers at certain times of the day(seemed to be better late at night) and how to push the shower head away when you felt the slight change in temperature before the all out assault. We experienced this problem to a lesser degree after the workmen left our floor so we didn't see much reason to say anything (like I said it would have been very different if we had children traveling with us).

 

Meals in the dining room were a bit of a disappointment. I went on the Destiny in January and had a very different experience than on the Triumph. Our waitstaff were new to each other (new assistant waiter to cruising and a veteran head waiter from a different ship but he reports new to the Triumph). Our dinner took so long to get to the table that others would be leaving the dining room while we were still waiting for the dessert menus. We were always on time for dinner and noticed that the table behind us would not even be sitting down yet, but were always finished with dinner before us. One day we wanted to make it to the late show and told our waiter to forget dessert so we could get there in time to get seats together. Another thing I noticed was that they didn't provide the table with the silverware I'm accustumed to seeing at dinner. We were given one fork for the entire meal. If the waiter or asst waiter took your fork after an appetizer you had to ask for another one for the entree b/c it wasn't automatically provided to you. Our waiter only provided a soup spoon if you ordered soup. Also, the bar staff never appeared at our table to ask if we wanted anything. Is this just a Triumph thing or is Carnival really cutting back? That didn't happen on the Destiny a few months ago. I thought it was very weird for a cruise and the very first time I've ever experienced this on a cruise. Overall I have to give this dining room experience a thumbs down which is a shame because I usually like the dining room. I may not be crazy about the new menu, but I still enjoy getting served and catered to and when the waiter consistently forgets to give you something it can get a little disconcerting.

 

On this cruise we had 3 at sea days. We did the Western itenerary to Cozumel, Jamaica, and Grand Cayman. I have to say that the Triumph was very good about not allowing people to save deck chairs. All three days at sea we were able to get chairs together and we weren't bombarded by the bar staff pushing drinks. In fact, I flagged them down on occasion and they ran right over. That's the kind of service I like!

 

The shows were typical Carnival fare, except the last show of the week. This show was hilarious! On the Destiny they had the American Idol show which had fellow cruisers singing on stage no frills which was okay. On the Triumph they've actually made it like it's a real produced show including their professional dancers and our fellow cruisers dressed in costume to resemble famous singers on stage performing. That was the highlight show of the cruise in my opinion!

 

The ports were fine except it rained while we were in Grand Cayman. We learned that this is nothing new for the port and on the cruise before ours they couldn't even tender to the port due to the weather so we considered ourselves lucky. People who plan to get married while on a cruise in Grand Cayman during this time of year seem to be taking a big gamble in my opinion.

 

Overall, I liked the decor of the Triumph alot better than the decor on the Destiny. I'm comparing the two because I know they are sister ships with the same layout. The staff were polite overall except a few people here and there who seemed very overworked. I continued to smile at those people anyway, no need for the both of us to get worked up especially during my vacation. I have to honestly say though that I'm ready to either try another cruise line or do a land-based vacation for variety. I think that when I can anticipate what the diningroom staff are going to sing or what joke the cruise director is going to tell, then it's time to move on to something new.

[1tonysmom]

I returned from the Triumph the week before. I agree about the shower thing. We did travel with my DD, 4. I would have her hold the sprayer and face it away from her toward the wall. While rinsing, I would keep tabs on the temperature and adjust it accordingly. Kind of a pain, but not something that would keep me from cruising on the Triumph again.

 

Sorry about your poor experience in the dining room. Ours was just the opposite. Our dining team was like a well oiled machine. Food was served in a timely manner. They always replaced the fork between courses. By the second night, they had my drink waiting and my DD's dinner ready when we arrived (she had PB & J every night). Guess sometimes it is the luck of the draw.

 

Joanne :)