Triumph Review 8/5- 8/12 Western

[Dorky]

Since I read the other review posted here I thought I would add my own thoughts on this cruise.

 

DH booked this cruise almost a year ago. This was a our first balcony cabin, and we were very excited.

 

We got to the pier at 12pm and were onboard by 12:35. Our cabin was not ready yet so DH went to see the Maitre d. He asked for a table for 2 by a window, in the first seating. and we got one! It was perfect.

 

DH and I could not get over how beautiful the ship was. It did take us a couple of days to learn our way around but I thought our cabin was in the perfect location. We picked our cabin on the first cruise and have done guarentee the last two. We had cabin 7342. Our cabin steward was awsome. We loved the balcony. I got up every morning to watch the sun rise.

 

We were very happy with the service we received in the dining room. We had dinner there every night and it was great. One night I ordered an entree that I did not like and the server quickly brought me a steak to replace it. There was nothing wrong with the entree, it was beautiful, but I had never had Lamb before and did not care for it. We had breakfast in the dining room every morning but one. That morning we ordered room service. I had requested it to be there between 7:15 and 7:30 am. It arrived at 6:50 am and I was not awake yet. From reading these boards I had expected him to have a slip for me to sign where I could add a tip. There was no slip and I could not find DH's wallet. I felt terrible about the whole thing because I did not tip him. Pizza, Ice cream, burgers, deli were all very good. Gala buffet is just too late for me. I took pictures but count not eat anything. It was beautiful.

 

DH and I loved the shows, Especially the magic show. The cruise director Paul was awsome, DH and I still laugh about things Paul said and did.

 

The casino was very tight but we expected that. We played in both the slot tournements and thought it was a lot of fun. We went to Kareoke most nights and thought it was fun.

 

We did all Carnival shore excursions. Cozumel- we went to passion island. It was a beautiful trip. We had been there on our first cruise and knew we would like it.

Grand Caymen- Stingray city & island tour- This was a highllight in my life. We took the first time offered for the excursion. Tendering was very easy. They took us to the sand bar first, there were plenty of people but not as many as there would have been later in the day they told us. The guide was awsome. They water was higher and rougher than I imagined it would be. DH does not swim so he was nervous. I held and fed stingray. I loved the way they would swim by and brush against me. next we went to Hell... it is neat to see once but I dont need to see it again. They had the coolest tshirts though. Then we went to the turtle farm, DH and I both thought this was cool, loved holding the turtles. best shore excursion ever.

Ocho Rios- The falls & Dolphin Cove. We did not climb the falls. I thought they were cool, and I never intended to climb them. That being said- had I intended to climb I would have liked to know that they would make you rent/buy water shoes if you did not bring your own. No open toe shoes. So people who thought they were going to wear their own water sandle things that looked very secure were made to rent shoes. Then everyone was told they had to rent a locker. Everyone who did climb seemed to be having a great time. I saw a huge spider and decided I was ready to go to the beach... I was not thrilled with Dolphin cove... I thought we were going to a beach to swim. My disappointment came from my not understanding what this part of the excursion would be. We booked all our excursions before we left home. There is a beach area here... but the sand is so rocky that it hurt my feet. I might have enjoyed this part more if we had done the interaction.

Formal nights- Dh rented a tux to surprise me. It was great. I saw men in tuxes, suits, shirt & tie, polo shirts. I dont care if other people did not dress formal- I would have dressed up every night we had a great time for what we made of it.

One morning at breakfast I did see them turn a guy away at breakfast because he was wearing shorts and a tank top.

My cell phone worked great.

We bought a ton of the photos we had taken. They are the best pictures I have ever seen of us.

We had no problem with chair hogs. I saw the chair hog chairs but there were empty ones too. right by the pool, every time.

 

The only two things I am going to say that bothered me.

1. I thought it was rude the number of people who seemed to show up for dinner whenever it suited them. One table by us was as much as 20 minutes late every night. They wait staff handled it very well and my dinner was not upset by it.

2. Disembarkation- We did self assist because our flight was at 12:30 and that was the week of the no water starting. We thought there might be a three hour wait. There was no real wait.... anyway... we waited on the promenade deck. We skipped breakfast and got there at 7:30am to hurry up and wait :o . I dont remember what time but maybe around 8:15 we heard an annoucement saying we had not cleared customs yet. We kept waiting. Awhile later was saw people moving down on deck 3. People around us started to get frustrated that nothing was happening and we were hearing nothing. Some people were leaving the ship, I thought it must be priority people but there were a LOT of them. People around us started taking the steps down and exiting the ship. We eventually fell in line with them We never heard any announcement for self assist to start but we did get off the ship. If I never have to drag my luggage down 2 decks again it will be too soon. I will book a later flight from now on. I dont mind waiting when I know I will be waiting.

 

We had an awsome trip and the two things I felt bad about in no way effected my enjoyment. We came home and were looking for our next cruise that night.

[773 Miles Away]

Sounds awesome. I can't wait to go in October on this very cruise! One question, which islands are they tendering on and which ones do they dock? do you remember how long you have in each island?

[pacerzfan]

Thanks for the review Dorky(Okay I feel weird callin someone dorky....LOL)

[Dorky]

We only tendered in Grand Caymen. I think we were the only ship in port in Cozumel.

 

Times in port were Cozumel 7am-10pm, Grand Caymen 7:30am- 4:30pm, Ocho Rios 8:00 am 3:00pm

 

BTW my DH calls me Dorky so I am used to it. I am a pbs girl in an mtv world.

[773 Miles Away]

We only tendered in Grand Caymen. I think we were the only ship in port in Cozumel.

 

Times in port were Cozumel 7am-10pm, Grand Caymen 7:30am- 4:30pm, Ocho Rios 8:00 am 3:00pm

 

Oh good! I thought they were tendering in Cozumel too, I'm glad to hear the docking has come back. I wonder if we will also be the only ship in port in October - that'd be nice.

[big_duck]

Thanks for the review. Our Triumph cruise earlier this year has been our favorite so far. :)

 

Miles don't count on docking at Coz. There still is only one pier and the cruise lines are sharing. Check with http://www.cruisecal.com/dnn/ to see if you are the only ship that day.

[rickwebste]

Hi Dorky, We are in Huber Heights and sailing the Triumph as well on Sept 30.

[silentbob007]

I always find if fascinating how viewpoints about a ship can differ from person to person, even on the same sailing. Nice to read some good things about the Triumph, though ... :)

[candigirl41]

I was surprised when you said someone was turned away at breakfast wearing shorts and a tank top. I have worn shorts to breakfast on every cruise. Maybe it was the tank top?

 

Candi