We liked Carnival so much, we went again
...
We've got other cruise reviews on this site (for Celebrity
Century and Carnival Paradise) that tell
more about who we are and what we like about cruising. You might want to
give them a read before tackling this one.
Western Caribbean this time
Our family cruised on Triumph to
the Western Caribbean during my 16-year-old daughter Annie’s high school
spring break. Other cruises we’ve taken: Celebrity Century, Carnival
Fantasy, and Carnival Paradise. This was the best one yet, both the ship
and the itinerary. Carnival remains our favorite line, and we can’t wait
to see the six new ships Carnival’s bringing out in the next four years,
like Spirit and Pride (one will even have a roller coaster, according to
our cruise director!)
We live in Central Florida and drove down to Miami on Saturday morning,
getting to the port around 11:45. We were on the ship by around 12:30.
Despite having nearly 3400 passengers waiting to board, Carnival’s
friendly and professional staff got us all processed quickly and without
incident.
Pretty, and pretty big
The ship is huge, as you’ve read elsewhere. Like most modern ships, the
atrium prevents you from simply walking from one end to the other on a
single deck. Still, it was not a big deal to get around. And, you can
always find areas that few passengers know about if you want privacy.
We love Joe Farcus’s architecture and décor on Carnival, and Triumph
was as beautiful as we expected. Lots of historical touches, polished
woods, gleaming metal, whimsical details, and highly decorative trimwork,
ceilings, and floor coverings. It was a lot more like Paradise than
Fantasy, and that’s a good thing. We saw no imperfections in maintenance
or cleaning. A beautiful ship.
Our cabin
We had a Category 8E balcony cabin
on the Panorama Deck (Deck 10) right by the elevators. That’s a long way
up from the water. The good news: you’re on the same deck as the buffet
and pool areas. Bad news: it’s a leg-dragging walk up from the shows or
dining rooms on Deck 3 when the elevators are hard to catch (which is
almost always.)
Our cabin had two double beds pushed together to make a queen (made up
separately, however,) a pullout loveseat-sized sofa, and a bunk that
pulled down from the ceiling. The balcony was not large (maybe 4 feet deep
and the width of the cabin) but gave an unobstructed view of the water
even from inside, and had two adjustable chairs and a small table. The
bathroom was pretty large, but the shower was small. Overall, the usually
comfortable coziness with some very nice touches.
We thought it was just fine, but we were slightly disappointed to find no
bathrobes (but these were delivered the next day) and no so-called
‘amenities,’ meaning samples of toiletries. Robert, our cabin steward,
did a super job keeping things tidy in our cabin. We had a nifty
collection of towel animals by the end of the week.
We're here ... feed us
On to the welcome aboard lunch. The
buffet area is large and well laid out, with sunlight streaming down from
the open dome above. This is the best of its type we have seen.
Comfortable and with nice views. Lunch was very pleasant, with
attractively presented salads, entrees, and desserts. Even the table
service was better than we expected, with busboys offering to refill
drinks or take away dishes as we used them.
After the usual activities of walking around, checking out the casino and
theater, and completing the lifeboat drill, it was time for sailaway.
However, mechanical problems prevented us from leaving until 8:30 p.m.
instead of 5:00 (all the better, as it turned out, since the view of the
Miami skyline and waterfront was much prettier when lit up.) So, it was
6:30 and time for dinner.
Our luggage hadn’t been delivered yet, but the dining room staff said
shorts and tennis shoes would be fine (and indeed many guests had not yet
received their luggage, so we didn’t stand out at all.) We had the main
sitting in the London dining room, which was at 6:30. Ours was a rectangle
table set for ten adjacent to a large window. Our tablemates were a nice
family of four from Virginia. The other three seats weren’t occupied
during the entire cruise.
We have always enjoyed Carnival’s food, even better than the
much-acclaimed Celebrity’s. Not necessarily better, but more
appropriately ambitious given the limitations of modern mega-ships.
Triumph’s was no exception. Breads were baked fresh on board, soups were
exceptional, entrees were tasty and attractively presented even if not
particularly adventurous. We didn’t have a single dish all week that
disappointed, and some were outstanding.
First night’s dinner for me was gazpacho, salad, grilled steak with
peppercorn sauce, and dessert of course. Our waiter (Merlin from
Guatemala) and assistant waiter (Sarita from India) were just fine, and
made us feel at home. Portions were substantial given that most folks
order at least three courses, but the waiters have no problem with
ordering multiples as long as you do it up front so they don’t make an
extra trip to the kitchen. I often ordered two appetizers, and got two
entrees a couple of times (prime rib and lobster tail, for example.)
Shows (and more food)
Carnival’s shows were excellent
as usual, presented in a great venue, the Rome Lounge. No obstructed
sightlines as we found on Paradise. Comfortable seats, plenty of legroom,
and never filled to capacity. Lighting and sound were first rate. The
opening show was the old ‘spoon down the pants’ contest, but that five
minutes of nonsense was turned into a delightful hour-plus by cruise
director John Heald.
We knew from other reports that much of his seemingly off-the-cuff humor
is the same from one cruise to the next, but nevertheless he had the
entire room in stitches using only a few chosen guests as material. And,
the Triumph Orchestra is the best I’ve heard, whether it’s big band,
jazz, or show tunes. Absolutely first rate, and having live music for the
shows is a big advantage Carnival has over other lines.
Back to food: Carnival still does a midnight buffet every night. They also
have fresh baked pizza 24 hours a day in several versions (napolitano,
rustica, chevre with garlic, pepperoni, and several more – calzones
too.) The buffet is open generous hours, and two stations there are the
Hong Kong Noodle Company for Asian dishes and the NY Deli for thick
sandwiches (the warm smoked turkey on homemade country bread was one of
the best sandwiches I’ve ever had.) And, the Coney Island Grille serves
grilled burgers, steak sandwiches, chicken sandwiches, and hot dogs each
afternoon, along with some McDonald’s-quality fries (very good, in other
words.)
Even the room service was good and as fast as we’ve come to expect from
Carnival (11 minutes was the longest wait we had, sometimes less than
five.) You could eat extremely well and often on Triumph without ever
setting foot in the dining room.
Fun day at sea
Day 2 was a sea day. Lots of
walking around, sampling food here and there, planning our port visits.
Formal night was nice (there were two of them during the cruise, but this
was the ‘main’ one.) Many tuxedoes, mostly dark suits. Only a few
sports coats and unjacketed men. The ship’s photographers were
everywhere (doing a nice job.) The captain’s cocktail party was from 5
to 6, with free drinks and hot snacks. In the dining room, the prime rib
and lobster tail were wonderful.
Cozumel - best port ever
Day 3 (Monday) was a stop at
Cozumel, Mexico, our favorite of the cruise overall. We docked at around 9
a.m. and took a taxi to town ($5 including tip per taxi, not per person,
for the three mile ride.) The cruise director had said that the shops
opened ‘when they see our smokestacks and know the gringos are coming’
but we didn’t know that Cozumel is two hours’ behind Eastern Daylight
Time, so it was actually just 7 a.m. locally. We were the only ship in
port and many passengers were off on shore excursions, so we had the
downtown area (Av. Rafael Melgar, right on the water) almost to ourselves.
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Our favorite souvenir place
We did some tentative souvenir
shopping before finding a real gem right on the main drag: Los Cinco
Soles. This is the best shop we’ve ever been in on both sides of the
Caribbean. Very Mexican in appearance, classy, attractively decorated,
with attentive and friendly staff in Mexican-style clothing, they had
everything from crafts to 200 brands of tequilas (with a tasting bar.) You
name it: colorful toys, high quality and inexpensive Mexican blankets,
salsas and hot sauces by the shelf-full, pottery, works of art, furniture,
and crafts of all types.
Prices were better than anywhere we saw (which in Cozumel, means VERY
inexpensive.) Example: a ‘Mexican survival kit’ of a Los Cinco Soles
beach bag, a liter of gold tequila, two Cozumel shot glasses, and a
Mexican blanket was only $15. For $5, they had a ‘kit’ of two large
handpainted maracas with a large bottle of habanero sauce and a
mini-bottle of tequila, so we bought a couple of those for souvenirs. Out
back was Pancho’s Backyard, a quiet and shady courtyard restaurant with
fountain.
Carlos and Charlies wasn’t open, so we stopped at Las Palmeras right on
the main drag. I wanted chips and salsa, and saw they were serving it up
even at this early hour. We took a table in the open-air restaurant right
by the courtyard fountain. The margaritas and pina coladas were the best
ever, and only around $5 for a huge one. The chips were fresh made from
tortillas and the salsa was all fresh chopped tomatoes, hot peppers,
onions, and cilantro (more like a pico de gallo.) We shared an order of
fajitas, and Annie got a slice of tropical cheesecake, which she loved,
and my wife had a pretty platter of ripe fresh fruit. Soda is served in
glass bottles, and Diet Coke is called Coca Cola Light down there. Our tab
was about $30, maybe not the cheapest or most authentic restaurant in
Mexico, but it was great food in a very relaxing and scenic setting. I
could have sat there all day listening to the guitar players.
Many small shops surround the courtyard, so that made a nice stroll. On
the pier is a large duty free mall, with good prices and large selection.
We bought an onyx chess set there. In the afternoon, we took a great
snorkeling trip. The water is amazingly clear – it seemed like we were
flying 40-50 feet above the bottom. The fish were stunningly colorful. We
really enjoyed this, and the cold Coronas on the way back made it even
better.
The Cozumel stop is from 9 a.m. until midnight, so not many passengers
showed up for dinner. Too bad: the jerk pork with plantains and stewed
black beans was my favorite entree of the cruise. We watched the sun go
down over the bright turquoise water from the deck. We were torn on which
show to see that evening: the Mexican folklore show in the Rome Lounge
(excellent dancers and musicians) or the parade of inebriated passengers
returning to the ship from Carlos and Charlies. We chose the former, but
the latter apparently was interesting: one passenger was delivered by
ambulance, and another in a shopping cart being pushed by two equally
intoxicated mates. The cruise director says they always bring out 12
wheelchairs in Cozumel to bring in the over-imbibers, and sometimes have
to fish them out of the water when they fall in.
Another sea day, then the Cayman
I$land$
Tuesday was another day at sea. A
great shore talk, a disappointing galley tour, a couple of funny shows,
and some time in the casino. The Repeat Cruisers party was very good, lots
of free drinks, music, and hot food. The evening show was the best ever:
Kevin and Caruso, large-scale illusionist a la David Copperfield. Amazing
stuff, great showmanship, and super lights, music and dancing. Really
excellent.
Wednesday was Grand Cayman. We did the Stingray City excursion and it was
lots of fun. The girls shrieked a bit at first, but finally worked up the
courage to pet and feed the stingrays. I’d recommend this to anyone,
since the water is only chest deep and the fine white sand easy to walk
on. The color of the water is a turquoise-green that is stunning. After
that, we shopped in town a bit, but Cayman is very expensive so we
didn’t buy much (the US dollar is worth only 80 cents Cayman, so tee
shirts started at around $10, and simple souvenirs that were less than $1
in Cozumel were $5 on Cayman.)
Jamaica, mon
Thursday was Ocho Rios, Jamaica.
We’d heard about the poverty, crime, drugs, and hard selling vendors,
but we found this stop to be a good one. We walked to a small craft market
about 20 minutes from the pier and haggled for many souvenirs at excellent
prices. It was hot and muggy, but that made the Red Stripe beer taste even
better. The town itself seemed to be minimally developed, but we didn’t
feel particularly endangered there. The cab drivers and vendors were
aggressive but friendly, and all you had to say was ‘no thanks’ and
they would leave you alone. Our tablemates had taken the island tour, and
all they liked was Dunn’s River Falls. They said the rainforest and
botanical gardens were boring. We did see one of the Party Boat excursions
and those folks were having a blast. We’re doing that next time.
You had your fun, now let someone
else on
Friday was another day at sea, and
our last of the cruise. A few shows, the debarkation talk, a piece of
carrot cake in the coffee and dessert bar (excellent,) some balcony
relaxation time, and a good dinner (including the best dessert of the
week, an incredible Grand Marnier soufflé,) and it was time to
leave.
Unlike other lines, your bags don’t have to be put out until 1 a.m. And,
Triumph even has a midnight buffet on the last night AND a full breakfast
(both buffet and dining room) the next morning. We were off the ship a bit
after 10:30 Saturday morning, and in the car heading home by just after
11:00.
A couple of not-so-good things and
several good ones
Our only minor disappointments with
this cruise: Carnival provided no activities for teens over 15. Annie was
disappointed, but met enough friends to have a great time anyway (best
cruise ever, she says.) The elevators were slow and out of order on
occasion. And, the interactive TV feature wasn’t working, apparently, so
we couldn’t check our balance or book excursions through it (in fact,
the daily video diary wasn’t updated regularly, so we missed some stuff
we wanted to see on replay.)
Good things about Triumph on this cruise:
1. The drink of the day is still just $2.95, and is good!
2. The ship’s gift shop is well stocked and guarantees their prices to
be lower than any you’ll find on shore. Example: the popular Tortuga rum
cakes were $12 on board for the 16-ounce size. We never saw a lower price
anywhere and some storessold the same item for $19.95.
3. Even though Triumph isn’t a non-smoking ship like Paradise, smoking
areas are limited, and we really didn’t notice smoke or smells at
all.
4. Everyone was very friendly and helpful, despite what we expected having
read other reviews. 5. The cruise director, John Heald, is the best, and
so was our cabin steward Robert.
6. Despite all the passengers, we never felt crowded or rushed.
7. You can have whatever kind of fun you want. We don’t like dancing and
parties, but those who did had a blast. We like good food, relaxing, and
entertaining shows, and we had our own great time.
8. Camp Carnival’s kids looked like they were having a super week, and
it was fun to see them parading around the ship as a group singing and
going off to their activities.
9. The cabins were comfortable, the staff was accommodating, the food was
wonderful, and the value was unbeatable. Plus, we liked the Western
Caribbean itinerary better than the Eastern that we’ve done a few
times.
10.Carnival exceeded our expectations in almost every area, even though
we’ve cruised with them before.
As we’ve come to expect with Carnival, we had a great time on Triumph
and would recommend it to anyone.
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