Quick Review - Triumph Western 6/23

[CKDoodle]

Before I get slammed for my review, I just want to say that I have been on 4 cruises prior to this one and I loved them all. I also am NOT the type of person that complains about service. I’ve never sent back a meal in a restaurant and I’ve never given less than a 15% tip (usually more) regardless of the service.

I’ve read some good reviews of the cruise I was on last week and it just goes to show how different people can have totally different experiences on the same ship the same week!

The ship was beautiful – I’m not complaining about rust or anything ;). Our verandah on the Panrama deck was great. We loved the islands we visited and the excursions we took. The kids (7 total in our group) had a blast!

We had a party of 13 and we had a beautiful table by the window, but our wait staff was horrible. We didn’t even see the wine steward the first night. Someone took our drink orders after we got our appetizers. We didn’t have water in our water glassed at this point either until we asked for it and after we drank it – it was never refilled. We had courses that didn’t come and courses delivered to the wrong people. Our main waiter did not smile or talk to us other than to take our order. We thought…OK, first night no big deal.

The 2nd night was the same as the first except that we did see the wine steward and we got our water glasses filled when we sat down…once and never refilled. My husband complained after the 2nd night and they assured us we would have a new waiter. We got a call from the Maitre De before dinner on the 3rd night also promising a new wait staff. We got to the dining room and had the same wait staff.

On the 4th night they added a couple people to help our waiter, which helped quite a bit, but by that point we were pretty frustrated.

Our room steward fought us every day about how many blue towels he took from the room and did not replace. He was unfriendly from day one also. We are really friendly people and we tried…we really did!

I will say that the bar waiters we got to know were amazing and we did eat breakfast and lunch in the dining room and had great waiters during open seating.

Other than the service issues, I was disappointed in how crowded the ship was, but probably just because I had never experienced it before.

So…basically I just wanted to point out that depending on what your service staff is like, it can totally color your opinion of a particular cruise. This was my first Carnival cruise and I won’t say that I won’t take another one…but I will be wary of doing so because of this experience.

[ebedore]

No flame from me because we all know these things sometimes happen. I am surprised because on my Triumph cruise I rated the staff as THE MOST freindly staff I've cruised with. What you described sounds like my Grandeur trip ~ on which many others raved about how great service was. I know it was a fluke so I won't hesitate to cruise again....hope you won't let it ruin future cruises for you.

[CKDoodle]

Thanks! I've been on two Holland America and two Norweigan. We will definitely cruise again! We are going to do an all inclusive for our next trip. Then we'll give crusing another try:D

[sjohnson529]

On the Triumph, when my husband asked for a second steak, the waiter said "don't you think you've had enough". :eek: I completely hear where you're coming from. Wonderful cruise, great ship, bad service. IMHO.

[Hedocple]

Sorry we missed you guys! And sorry to hear about your experiences in the dining room. We had a table for four upstairs in the Paris dining room and loved our dining staff. We actually left them all a very nice cash tip the last night of dinner.

My daughter did mention to us that a couple staff members on the ship were a bit rude to them. They didn't think the karaoke guy was very pleasant. Maybe it was because his ears were hurting after listening to them the first few nights LOL.

[Knights on the Beach]

I'm sorry to hear you didn't have good service on the Triumph. It definitely varies, depending on who you get -- sometimes, unfortunately, it's the luck of the draw. We had an experience similar to yours on the Victory several years ago. Service only improved marginally after we complained to the Maitre'd.

 

We've been on Triumph three times and lucked out every time. In fact, last month we had the best wait team we've ever had -- in 13 cruises. We had a booth for five on the lower level of the Paris Dining Room. My husband and oldest son ordered multiple appetizers and/or entrees almost every night and our waiter never batted an eye. By the way, Carnival doesn't typically have "wine stewards" in the dining room. Our waiter or assistant waiter took our wine order and brought out our bottle of wine each night. If you want to order wine by the glass, the bar waiter handles that.

[nothomeonacruise]

We had a ball last year on our Triumph cruise. I agree the staff can make all the difference!

I loved our waiter last year, Nino. He anticipated our every need. He even knew our various likes and dislikes.

[teanbean16]

We are a large group of twelve. I hope we get a table by the window for dinner. We have never been on the Triumph so I can't comment on the service. The Valor and Miracle had great service!!!!:) :)

[Tweety1961]

We were on the Triumph 6/16. We too were a little upset after our first night's dinner. We thought it was going to be a long week. We politely spoke with the maitre d' after dinner, and the rest of the week was wonderful. Our water was constantly refilled, after a day in the sun it seems we can't get enough water. He never questioned when anyone ordered 2 of something or an extra entree. We had 13 in our group, a table for 8 and one for 5. The five girls (12-16) sat there and their waiter was so good with them, and the assistant taught them how to make different napkin animals every night. We gave an extra tip to both waiters. It's unfortunate that you didn't get what you were told you would. As far as the room steward, I wouldn't care if I didn't meet him as long as he kept our room cleaned and stocked. Those towels are frustrating! I wish there was something else they could do, but I can see how many they lost by not charging for them. Hopefully you will try again and have better service. Good luck with your all-inclusive. We have done 2 of those in between cruises, and our family likes the cruise much better. Can't wait to plan another!

[Thatmom]

I'm sorry to hear you didn't have good service on the Triumph. It definitely varies, depending on who you get -- sometimes, unfortunately, it's the luck of the draw. We had an experience similar to yours on the Victory several years ago. Service only improved marginally after we complained to the Maitre'd.

 

We've been on Triumph three times and lucked out every time. In fact, last month we had the best wait team we've ever had -- in 13 cruises. We had a booth for five on the lower level of the Paris Dining Room. My husband and oldest son ordered multiple appetizers and/or entrees almost every night and our waiter never batted an eye. By the way, Carnival doesn't typically have "wine stewards" in the dining room. Our waiter or assistant waiter took our wine order and brought out our bottle of wine each night. If you want to order wine by the glass, the bar waiter handles that.

 

We had a wine Steward both on the Glory.. (both times) and the Pride. She wasn't very friendly on the Glory (2nd trip) but she came every night to get our orders..

On both ships it was a lady!!

Carla

[Knights on the Beach]

It's been a long time since we've had a wine steward in the dining room on Carnival. There was a sommelier on the Legend who held the wine tasting seminar one afternoon. She was also in the supper club when we dined there, but I never saw her in the dining room.

[CKDoodle]

Sorry we missed you guys! And sorry to hear about your experiences in the dining room. We had a table for four upstairs in the Paris dining room and loved our dining staff. We actually left them all a very nice cash tip the last night of dinner.

My daughter did mention to us that a couple staff members on the ship were a bit rude to them. They didn't think the karaoke guy was very pleasant. Maybe it was because his ears were hurting after listening to them the first few nights LOL.

 

We were upstairs in Paris too. Just didn't get lucky with the waitstaff I guess!

 

We didn't make it to the bar on Sunday! We had early dinner and decided to get all of us and the kids ready for formal night by 4:30 to have pictures taken! We were in line for the tenders to get back on the ship from Grand Cayman and I was sure I spotted you and your husband and daughter and friend. Now that I have seen your pics...it was someone else! Great pictures by the way!!

[CKDoodle]

I'm sorry to hear you didn't have good service on the Triumph. It definitely varies, depending on who you get -- sometimes, unfortunately, it's the luck of the draw. We had an experience similar to yours on the Victory several years ago. Service only improved marginally after we complained to the Maitre'd.

 

Luck of the draw...exactly what I meant to convey with this post. I hate to see people cancelling cruises because of a few complaints, so I wanted to show just that...Luck of the draw! :D