Amazing Carribean Cruise
Carnival Triumph Cruise Review to Caribbean - Western
Contributor Level:
Purser
Cruises: 2-3 cruises
Review: 1
Helpful Votes: 41
4 Night Western Caribbean (New Orleans Roundtrip)
Sail date: August 24, 2017
Ship: Carnival Triumph
Cabin type: Inside
Cabin number: 8210
Traveled as: Couple
Reviewed: 7 years ago
Review summary
This was our second cruise with Carnival. I have nothing to compare it too. However, I am a very fussy person. I can find something wrong with everything, and my husband finds something great with everything! I just like to think that I have a few standards. Both Cruise's met those standards! I look forward to the next cruise! I must say, that when Hurricane Harvey began making the seas a bit ruff, I expected the fun to stop and people to get nervous, scared and sick! We were kept informed and very busy. I didn't notice anything unusual other than the questions now being asked of the crew, was about the change in the weather. The crew was helpful and seem to provide answers that put people at ease. Most impressive!Embarkation
The loading process went very quickly. From the time we entered the terminal for parking, there was someone explaining the next step and where to go. Our luggage was taken from the car and we were showed where to park. We then got in line to take our boarding picture and right in to the building to start our boarding process. We never felt confused or lost. There were a lot of friendly cruise agents to answer questions as we waited. We didn't have any problems confirming our boarding information and then it was off to the ship. We were greeted immediately and shown to the bar for drinks or were offered to tour the ship on our own until 4 p.m.
Ship experiences
Food and Dining
The food and drink was non stop. Even room service was inclusive and 24 hours. We ate at the Seafood Shack a lot, which was not inclusive, but prices were lower than what we could get at home. They had gourmet burgers and fries, asian, mexican food and of course everything on the buffet you could want. Pizza and ice cream was 24 hours. Drinks, were brought to you beside the pool, in the pool, away from the pool and anywhere else you wanted. Now when I say drink, I mean, water, soda, gatorade or alcohol. We didn't do the Captains Dining but we did enjoy the dining area. This is where you picked all you can eat, full course dinners. So, if you wanted two steak and lobster dinners, they brought it. It was nice to share a table with fellow cruisers that we had things in common with. From where we sat, we were able to enjoy the sunset.
Onboard Activities
We were there to relax. So we enjoyed the pools, whirlpools, casino, and spa. We really enjoyed the Dive in movies. We sat in the whirlpool, ate the popcorn, the ship provided, and watched new releases on the large theater screen at night. I was surprised to see the joggers and people working out. We enjoyed the casino...my husband won $1000.00. I won $300.00. I also spent some of that at the spa, so they got most of their money back. I kept my phone in the safe on airplane mode. My husband bought a small internet package and downloaded the Carnival Hub App. This had the ships activities for the day and how to get there! Very useful! So I don't have any pictures to share and he is not here to download his.
Entertainment
The DJ was wonderful! Wish he played more. I expected more carribean music to be played during the cruise.
There was a lot of free style dancing initiated by cruisers. Lots of fun and entertainment. At no time during the cruise did I see or hear of anyone being out of control or rowdy. We did not stay for all of the shows, but we did catch the beginning or end of a show. They were very colorful and exciting. We enjoyed the comedian shows, that were standing room only for, repeat performances! They always had something going on and pictures to take. If you like to dress up or just have that really cute outfit you want to have a picture taken in, they have many backdrops. The towel animals come to life and you can take pictures or visit with them. Upon going to and coming back from Cozumel, they had pirates and mermaids and such to take pictures with. The ship has someone with a camera doing casual snapshots on the ship all day! Be prepared to buy pictures, or not if you don't like them. There's plenty to do or not to do. We returned home stress free!
Children's Programs
We didn't bring children. The children we did see were very happy. Not once did I hear a child cry!
Service and Staff
I hear awful stories about how hard and long the crew works. I can tell you that they do keep long hours and they do work very hard. They smile and offer to do everything they can to make each individual happy. They offer to go look for something to see if they can find what you you need. No job is too big for them. And it does not matter if it is not their job. Leigh, our cruise director, was so funny. He wondered around and mingled with everyone and told great stories. He kept us well informed of everything that was currently happening or about to happen. Our dining waiters were all wonderful. They remembered what our preferred drink was from night to night and called us by name. I wish I could pronounce their names. Our room steward gave us his card. His name was Semadi! Always smiling and greeting us by name as he passed us in the hall. He always had our room ready and a nice towel animal waiting for us. He gave us complimentary water for being a cheers member and reminded us, if we needed anything to let him know. I think everyone did a fantastic job! Anytime I passed a crew member, they would stop and smile and ask if I needed assistance.
Ship Quality
From the time we woke at 5 am until bedtime around 2 am, someone was always cleaning. You would think they had a magical cleaning crew that snapped their fingers and everything was clean. The magical part, was they blended in. You rarely noticed the person wiping balconies, glass, elevators, swabbing the deck to keep it dry with hundreds of people walking on it and continually tracking water or cleaning tables for the next hungry person. And always smiling and giving you the right of way.
Cabin / Stateroom
we booked at the last minute and had an inside cabin. There was plenty of room for me, my husband and our 4 bags! I had counter space in the bathroom for makeup and personal items. One sink, double counter space! And there is storage under the sink and in a medicine cabinet. You have 3 closets and a room safe. You have mirrors everywhere and more counter space in the cabin for drinks, snacks and stuff. and plenty of charging outlets and lighting.
Ship tip
It's time to go off the diet and into your well deserved vacation. This is a one stop shop! Its got it all! Let the crew assist you, it makes them happy!
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Ports of call
We stayed at the Comfort Inn French Quarter! They do the parking and take care of bags. We received an upgrade to our room for being reward members. It turned out to be a suite! We didn't get a view, but that's not why we were there. We walked to Red Fish Grill. Everything was within walking distance! Red Fish Grill was amazing! I tried Red Fish for the first time and loved it. (I don't like fish). We listened to the local music as we returned to the hotel. This was 10 minutes from our port. We made a wise choice. We walked around the French Quarter that morning and decided we needed to return on another occasion to check it out more thoroughly.
Wonderful! This was our second time here. We went to Mr. Sanchos beach club! I can not say enough! We were waited on hands and foot. Someone came to my table and braided my hair. We had a mariachi band come to the table. We had our pictures taken with a pet iguana and beautiful, huge parrots. We even got a fun tattoo that will fade after a week. The club has someone to walk around to see if you want to use the canoes or seadoos or parasailing. For the more active, they had water rock climbing and rafts and such. They had beds for massages. We chose a table with an umbrella and two lounge chairs. We were taken care of by Ezequiel. He brought more drinks and food before we could ask. He pampered us!!!!!!!!!!! We would go back! The town was disappointing. I was expecting local music and local shopping. What I found was a very modernized outside mall. Mostly diamond and emerald jewelry. The drugstore and liquor store was interesting to browse thru.
Disembarkation
This was a bit slow. But well organized. We were able to carry our own luggage off by our selves, making our departure faster than if we used assistance to take our luggage. We went straight thru customs and to our car and were off on our trip home.