Carnival Meets Expectations (but doesn't exceed them).

Cruises: 7+ cruises

Reviews: 15

Helpful Votes: 442

Review summary

Carnival Triumph Review 4/23/18 We sailed from New Orleans on Monday afternoon on Carnival Triumph for a 5 day Western Caribbean cruise to Cozumel and Progresso, both ports we'd been to before, Cozumel numerous times, Progresso only once. Embarkation was a breeze! We took a taxi from our hotel, Holiday Inn Superdome, to the dock, a ride of not over 5-6 minutes, a manageable walk, but not with a week's worth of luggage. We had actually walked from the hotel to the dock earlier that day, partly for exercise, partly to see the Navy ships in port at the time (it was Fleet Week we found out after our arrival in NOLA) and partly to walk off the effects of Bourbon Street the night before, but that's another story, sort of a "pre-cruise activity" that'll remain......un-talked-about! Approximately 30 minutes after dropping our bags off with the porter, we were walking onboard Triumph, renewing an acquaintance of 15 years before, having sailed her to the Eastern Caribbean out of Miami the summer of 2003. We went immediately to the Capital (or Capitol!) Lobby bar for Welcome Aboard drinks. We had pre-purchased the beverage package, so our alcohol, sodas, and specialty coffees were already paid for, something we took full advantage of during the upcoming week. We normally don't drink much at home, though we tend to "liberally imbibe" aboard ship. Not to the totally inebriated stage, but definitely to "party mode". After the sailaway (something we don't usually partake in, but again, aftereffects of the Night Before playing a role here) we went to a very average dinner in the Paris Dining room. In spite of having pre-arranged Early Seating, we learned on boarding that Carnival had other ideas and had us down for Late Seating. A visit to the Matre D solved that issue, and though we ate dinner several more times in the Dining Room, once in the Lido Buffet, breakfast in both, Sea Day Brunch as well, the food was at best average. We're certainly not gourmets, nor are we overly picky when it comes to food, but both of us commented that the quality of the food was a disappointing discovery aboard Triumph. Our first cruise was aboard a Carnival ship in 1988, where in fact we got hooked on cruising, but the food on this trip wasn't up to standards. We can't speak for the specialy dining aboard, as we never partook of it. The pizza was good I thought, though I heard others complain about it. Perhaps this speaks of my limited tastes, but this being our 27th overall cruise, we did have reasonable expectations, and this cruise failed to meet some of them. Cozumel was much as expected. We did a snorkeling tour along with a Jeep tour of the other side if the island (booked independently, not through the cruise line) and, again, was much as expected. Progresso we didn't exit the ship, as again, we'd been there before. Many spoke positively about tours of ruins originating from there, as well as others spoke negatively about tours from Cozumel. Island visits are, in my opinion, what one makes of them. Anything that happens on the island good or bad can seldom be the result of anything the cruise line does, so we take that into consideration. Entertainment was what we've come to expect from shorter cruises. Rather than individually rating each act/show/etc, suffice it to say that the longer cruises tend to have the better entertainment, due to the extended time onboard, and this was only a 5 day cruise. Cabin was where, while everything worked, and there was Carnival's normal added square footage compared to it's competitors, Triumph most showed her age. We had an inside, something we normally book as we tend to take more cruises. We don't find balconies/oceanviews/etc worth the extra money, and tend to spend very little time in our room. Perhaps Triumph's costlier cabins are better updated, but again, while everything worked and we really had no complaints, the old ship showed her age from the permanent ring in the toilet to the worn (but working!) light fixtures. We've sailed on older ships and have no qualms about that per se, and the public areas of Triumph seemed to be adequately updated, but it didn't extend to our room. I won't end this without saying something VERY positive about Triumph's crew, who were with few exceptions, exceptionally helpful, smiling, in many cases remembering our first names (something we know Carnival stresses) and all one could expect. They were the superstars of the cruise, and I can't say enough good things about them. Overall, this cruise lived up to expectations, though it did nothing to exceed them. Considering our previous cruising experience, it's about what I would expect from a "bargain" cruise line. Though this used to, years ago, be the domain of the Premiers, the Dolphins, and the Commodores of the industry, it seems, at least to us, that "bargain" cruising lives on at Carnival. Carnival is often if not always the least expensive, and for those looking for the least expensive, it's certainly something to consider, and infinitely better than NOT cruising. For those to whom value isn't always the least expensive, you may want to look elsewhere. Cruznuts

Embarkation

Ship experiences

Food and Dining

Onboard Activities

Entertainment

Children's Programs

Service and Staff

Ship Quality

Cabin / Stateroom

Ports of call

New Orleans, Louisiana

Cozumel, Mexico

Progreso (Merida), Mexico

Disembarkation

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