CharlesShelly

Having been on other cruise lines, so I now have something to compare my Carnival experience to, I would basically say that Carnival versus, say Royal Carribean, if you put it into hotel terms would be like comparing LaQuinta to the Hyatt. Both offer the same things, but the experience is very different. The cabins are ok, the food is ok and the entertainment is ok. The only thing I can think of that I would rate better than ok (and would rate as exceeds expectations) was the service staff. Every single experience with them at all levels was exceptional. After the $50M+ retrofit of the Triumph, I would have thought they would have worked out all the issues that impact their passengers, but two issues of note that apparently were not on the "to do" list were fixing the temperatures in the cabins and fixing issues with their gray water and its smell. We had a group of 20+ on board and in our group we had every type of cabin that is offered, except interior. None of them had enough AC to keep us from breaking into a sweat while we slept. Thankfully we had brought our own fan, so we had some relief. I don't want to give the impression that it was a sauna in each room, but an adjustment of a few degrees cooler would have made a world of difference. As to the grey water issues( no the water we had was not grey) for those who don't know, grey water is the run off from the showers, sink, toilets, etc. throughout our 5 days, various decks had the smell of a sewer or at minimum someone who had enjoyed burrito night the night before and felt compelled to share with all of us. As we went to various decks to do something or get somewhere throughout our time, it almost became a game to us as to what smell we would get. It wasn't all decks and the smell wasn't consistent to one deck or another. It was random through the trip. With the smells and the temperature not withstanding, all and all it was a decent cruise. But next time I'll stay at the Hyatt.