A very enjoyable family oriented trip. Staff aboard the Triumph go above and beyond to ensure that every guest feels special. Both ports were excellent places to visit and we were able to spend all day in port. Leaving from New Orleans was a major draw to this particular cruise and we were so happy to finally visit New Orleans. We added an extra day in New Orleans and this allowed us to really take it all in. Carnival cruises really focus on the fun in a vacation and this is what we wanted out of this trip.
Embarkation
5 out of 5
Smooth. Long line but moved through quickly and smoothly.
Ship experiences
Food and Dining
5 out of 5
Enjoyed every dish that we ordered. Food is not as "fancy" as on other cruise lines and there is an extra charge if you choose steak or lobster for an entree. Guy's burgers are the best burgers we ever ate and the fish tacos from Blue Iguana were very tasty! We requested a different dining time but were given late dining and this coincided with many activities that we wanted to do.
Paris Dining Room
5 out of 5
The staff in the Paris Dining Room are top notch. The Maitre D was always present and quite entertaining with nightly "jokes" that we looked forward to hearing each night. Our wait staff team, Wenzah and Ching, were so attentive, kind and really went out of their way to make sure that we were happy with our dinner selection and made sure we felt special the whole trip.
Guy's Burger Joint
5 out of 5
The burgers from this restaurant are some of the best burgers that we have ever had! Guy really knows how to do burgers! The french fries are really awesome too!
Blue Iguana Cantina
5 out of 5
The fish tacos were very tasty. Highly recommend the tacos from this restaurant.
Onboard Activities
3 out of 5
Did not end up using the pools or water slide. Used the hot tub once and it was full of young children which did not provide for a relaxing environment. Casino was entertaining and had a lot of options for slot machines. There were several "dine - in movies" that we wanted to see but they always coincided with our late dining time and we were unable to attend.
New World Pool
5 out of 5
I recommend this pool over the main pool. The main pool was always too crowded. At this pool, located on the 9th deck in the back of the ship, there was always lounge chairs available and space in the hot tub to relax. If you are looking to get away from the crowd then this is the pool area for you.
Club Monaco Casino
4 out of 5
I ended up donating quite a bit to this venue, but had a lot of fun here. Many options of slot machines available.
Entertainment
3 out of 5
The magician/illusionist was entertaining. Other performances did not peak our interest and we did not attend since we had to get ready for our late dining time slot. The cruise director Adam was very entertaining and is very good at his job!
Children's Programs
2 out of 5
My daughter never found the club that she was signed up to attend so was never able to partake in any of their activities. By day 3 she had given up and felt that it was too late to try and attend. The cruise director said that all children on board would get a gift from Santa and my daughter never received a gift so she was a little bummed out about that. We were never instructed that we needed to bring her anywhere special to receive this gift and assumed that the gift would be delivered to the stateroom. The instructions were not very clear on the children's programs especially the Christmas gifts/Santa.
Service and Staff
5 out of 5
We had the best waiters - Wenzah and Ching in the main dining room. They are the sweetest ladies and really seem to enjoy their jobs. They made us feel very special during our cruise and it was a pleasure to spend our Christmas with them. They are really A+ waiters! Mackenzie was an excellent room steward always keeping our room neat and tidy. When he would see us in the hallway he would always remember our names and make sure to ask us if we needed anything. He is a very professional room steward. Thank you for employing such wonderful staff that go way above and beyond!
Ship Quality
5 out of 5
Everything was clean and well maintained.
Cabin / Stateroom
5 out of 5
Our cabin was the perfect size for our needs. Our daughter enjoyed the bed that came down from the ceiling. The beds were comfortable and there was enough closet space for all of our items. Mackenzie kept our room clean and tidy.
Ship tip
The main pool is crowded so if you prefer a little bit less of a crowd - opt for the pool in the back of the ship on the 9th deck by the frozen yogurt/ice cream machines. We were always able to find lounge chairs back there and space in the hot tub to relax.
New Orleans is such an interesting city. We mainly explored the French Quarter area and stayed an extra day/night here to really experience New Orleans. We did not do an excursion in this port but explored the town on our own. We visited a cemetery, rode a mule drawn carriage thru the French Quarters, shopped the French Market, ate beignets and muffeletas, drank Hurricaines at Pat O'briens and walked down Bourbon street both during the day and at night.
Beautiful island, perfect weather, very nice locals. We did not book an excursion, rather booked a "resort for a day" at the Iberostar Cozumel which is a beautiful all inclusive resort. We had a nice relaxing day at the beach and took advantage of the snorkeling for $2 per person that the resort offered. There were many fish around and under the pier at the resort which made for an exciting snorkeling adventure. The beach is rocky so you do need water shoes on when entering the water. The shopping at the port was great with many options for souvenirs and great prices.
Had never heard of this town before. Found this town to be a nice quiet fishing village with friendly locals. We did the excursion to Uxmal and really enjoyed it. Andres and Felipe were excellent tour guides with a wealth of knowledge on the Mayan culture. They were friendly and genuinely concerned to make sure all guests were having a good time. We were in awe of the Mayan ruins and enjoyed the opportunity to climb them and the view from atop was not to be missed. We had plenty of time to explore the ruins on our own after a guided tour by Felipe and even had time to grab a bite to eat in the restaurant on site to experience authentic Mayan food. The bagged lunch provided at the beginning of the trip is really unnecessary as most people have just eaten a nice breakfast on board the ship and are not interested in eating a bologna sandwich at 9:30am.
Disembarkation was very smooth and quick. We were off the boat within 20 minutes after our deck was called. We chose to carry our own luggage off the ship which worked out very well for us. The port of New Orleans has a service that we used that transported our luggage to the airport for us for $40. This worked out great since we had an evening flight and did not want to be dragging our luggage around all of New Orleans while we walked the town.
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