So, it's the day after the cruise and I am in cruise withdrawal, so to speak. Overall it was a good week, the weather cooperated (for the most part) and the cruise itself was pretty decent, for my first time on a Carnival ship. There were some problems but I will talk about them later.

Day One: 4/17/04 Flight from Newark to Miami.
We arrived at the airport with plenty of time to spare, even had time for a bite to eat at McDonalds. Before we knew it the flight was boarding and we were "Going to Miami" (this is where you hum the Will Smith song). Anyway we arrived in Miami about a half hour before we were scheduled to arrive, around 10:30. Plenty of Carnival people around to make sure you were in the right place. We opted for the transfers but am not sure this was the wisest decision. The line was huge! We had to wait for what seemed like forever. Then when they finally herded us outside we had to wait more for the bus to show up, then more waiting on the bus for one person to load all of the luggage. Well we finally got moving and on our way to the pier, there we met up with my sister in laws parents, who live down there. They were nice enough to bring us some food and hang out with us for a short time before we got on the boat. Then it was on to embarkation. It was quite good, the line moved quickly, first we waited for our carry ons to be screened and to walk through a metal detector and then it was on to get our sail and sign cards. We pre-registered online and we only had to wait a couple of minutes to get past this point. The longest we had to wait was maybe 5-10 minutes to get our boarding the boat pictures taken then it was onto the Triumph!

On the Boat
We immediately went to our cabin, this is where we encountered our first major issue of the cruise. We were a group of three and they put us into a room for two, with a roll-away child's bed (all of us are in our twenties). We were furious, we ran down to the purser's desk (along with many others) and waited in line for about 15 minutes until they told us it was not their problem, it was our travel agent's fault and that we had to call her to complain. She did however recommend that we ask our room steward for a larger roll-away bed to accommodate us (I'm 5'4 and on the child's bed I was hanging off a good foot). So, steaming mad, we went back to our room and our steward was right outside, she immediately said she would get us a new bed (without us even asking, she knew that she had set up a child's bed and that none of us were children) and that it would be there before dinner time, which it was. All in all the issue was resolved, but not the way it should have been. It is ridiculous to expect three grown adults to sleep in a room made for two, we had hardly any floor space to walk around, we were constantly stepping on the beds to get around each other, all we wanted was a room with a bunk, apparently that was too much to ask. Anyway, from there we headed to the Lido deck for some of the lunch buffet. From there we roamed around the ship, acquainting ourselves with where everything was located. Then it was time for the muster drill, not so painful, it was over before we knew and then the ship set sail, we went up on the deck to wave goodbye to the Carnival Imagination, who was also in port that day, we were the first ship to leave. We sat out on the deck and watched as we sailed away from Miami, then it was time for dinner. The lamb was delicious and our waiter was the best. We turned in early this evening as we had awoken early that morning for our flight in.

Day Two: Day at Sea
We had breakfast in the Paris Dining Room, a nice change since we had dinner in the London Room. I had the eggs benedict, not the best I've had but they were good, my brother ordered an omelet and it was so not enough food for him! We ended up checking out the breakfast buffet afterwards so that he could have some more to eat. The rest of the day was spent in the gym (not that impressive, old machines, windows are extremely slanted and hard to look out, mirrors everywhere, Kaiser circuit machines, some of which had leaks in their air hoses so that every time you lifted it would drop a few pounds of resistance, safe to say this was our first and last trip there, also the scale was about ten pounds too heavy, I know because I weigh myself every morning and I did not gain ten pounds in less than a day!) From there we sunned a little bit, there were always chairs available if you were willing to be on the sides or rear of the boat, far away from the pool, near the pool the chairs were all taken or reserved (don't get me started on this one). This afternoon we attended the talk by the cruise director (large man!, but very funny, a little raunchy for my taste though) he spoke about Cozumel and what to do there. Poor Dick from New Jersey, he was a larger man and he did this bouncing thing and a dance then said yabbadabbadootime! If you were there you know all too well. How could we forget Willy Banger! Anyway we spent the rest of the day in the casino then on to formal night and the captain's party. Free Drinks!! Yeah!! Dinner was Prime Rib and Lobster.

Day Three: Cozumel
Went to breakfast at the buffet, omelet line was too long so we had scrambled eggs. We signed up for a tour to go horseback riding ($89.99) for three hours arranged by Carnival. It was a good time, the ruins left a little to be desired but I hear the better ruins are those on the mainland, this tour was fun because we got to ride horses, my first time on a horse and it was a memorable one. Our guide Daniel was great, very friendly and he looked like a Mexican Mike Piazza. After this we returned to the boat and met up with my brother for lunch, hamburgers in the dining room, delicious. Then we headed back out and downtown (tip, have exactly $6 for the taxi because if you give him a $10 he won't give you change, no matter how mad you get). Downtown shopping was good, lots of jewelry, my brother bought a watch, I bought some tanzanite earrings and my sister in law bought a Caribbean topaz bracelet. Then it was snack time at Carlos and Charlies, beware, you will get groped if you buy a shot from the shot girls. Dinner we had upstairs at Senor Frogs, more delicious drinks. Then more shopping and back to the boat before 11:30pm.

Day Four: Day at Sea
Breakfast in the Paris Dining Room, more sunning, gambling, shore talks, marriage show (I think was today) and just a relaxing day at sea. I believe the magic show was tonight, it was pretty decent, some good illusions (tip, get there early as we got there on time and it had already started, we ended up all the way in the back behind a pole, kinda hard to see but I think it was really great, would have been nice to be closer though).

Day Five: Grand Cayman
We opted to buy a tour ahead of time online from Soto's Cruises to go out to Stingray City and Snorkeling at two stops for $24pp. It was a great time, the water was a little rough at our first stop but besides that we had a great time. The guides held the stingrays and gave us each a chance to hold them and feed them if we liked (the food was free). It was a blast, this is not to be missed. A great value too. If I had to guess I would say there were between 20 and 30 people with us and it was just right, I saw some boats at the sandbar with hundreds of people on board, ours was much more enjoyable. They also provide you with the gear and water and lemonade. Be advised that the island time is one hour before ship time (ex if you get off the boat at 8am it is only 7am in Cayman) because they do not observe daylight savings time, I imagine in the winter the time would be the same on the island as the ship, there is a big clock on one of the buildings there and it is easy to know the island time. After our trip we came back to town and hit the Hard Rock (expensive!) and then did some shopping then it was back to the boat.

Day Six: Jamaica
Too short of a stop! We went against Carnival's recommendations and did not book a tour here. We walked off the boat and there were plenty of people offering to drive you wherever you wanted to go. For $11pp we went to Dunn's River Falls (had to pay $10pp to get in) and were the first ones there!! We climbed, had a great time then it was off to get my sister in laws hair braided. Then we stopped at the downtown shopping center. Then back to the pier. Once there we ate at Margaritaville and watched the beer drinking competition. After that it was time to board the boat for our trip home. Tonight was our second formal night, I sat this one out for many reasons, one of which I will mention at the end.

Day Seven: Last Day at Sea
This morning we woke up to see that the pursers office had dropped off 6 drink coupons for the three of us, (probably because of the issues I will mention later) We spent the day sunning, gambling, shopping on board, and drinking! Also we went to the last talk about disembarkation. This was a relaxing day with not too much excitement

Day Eight: Back to Miami
We chose to do the early disembarkation from 7:30 to 8:30am where we took our own luggage off the boat. We were concerned the regular disembarkation (9:30-11am) might not get us to the airport in time for our 1pm flight (I think it would have been fine) but since we were at the airport so early we tried to get on an earlier flight home, but they were all booked. We had lunch at Sbarro’s and then boarded our flight home.

Good Points:
~Our room steward was the greatest, she seemed to always be in the hallway, each morning she gladly announced that we were the first ones up and she was always raring to go in and straighten up. She made the cutest towel animals too!
~Our waiter was always willing to go above and beyond to make sure we were happy while dining.
~The Cruise Director was amazingly funny and very informative throughout the voyage.
~No Charge Pizza 24/7
~No Charge Ice Cream and Frozen Yogurt 24/7

Our Three Major Issues:

1. Three adults in a room for two, given a roll-away bed which took up much of the floor space. Carnival was unwilling to help us saying that it was our travel agent's fault, not theirs. Our travel agent said that Carnival told her the room we were placed in accommodated three people. By that logic every room on the boat could accommodate three people, it doesn't mean it accommodates them comfortably!!!!

2. No Hot Water in the Shower, the ENTIRE WEEK!!! I did not have one hot shower the ENTIRE WEEK!!! We asked our room steward and she said all the cabins she cleaned had no hot water either. (We were in an inside room on the panorama deck 10) We talked to the pursers desk again about this, the next day they left a note in our room saying that they would be sending a plumber to work on the pipes, guess what, no difference!! Still no hot water.

3. Loud banging on the ceiling above our room at all hours. One morning we were awoken at 5:30am by this loud noise. That day we went up to the floor above us (which happened to be the gym) my sister in law decided it had to be people dropping the free weights so she complained to the spa manager. The next morning it woke me up at 2:30am (the gym doesn't open until 6am). I promptly called the pursers desk and complained that I could not sleep with the loud noise, it was so intense that at times the ceiling would shake. It sounded at if someone picked up a pile of ten deck chairs and slammed them down. The next morning was when we received the drink coupons. Guess that was their way of saying SORRY!

Aside from these issues it was a great cruise.

About the Boat

Here I would like to address some of the questions I had before arriving on the boat:
Q: How does the room safe operate?
A: Insert any credit card or even your sail and sign card to lock and unlock the safe, no need to worry about the room steward being able to get into the safe while you are out of the room, we used this for all our valuables, it was big enough to accommodate our camcorder, digital camera, wallets, passports, jewelry and much more, it seems small but it is more than adequate.

Q: What toiletries are provided?
A: There is a blow-dryer in the bathroom, not the greatest but it gets the job done. Also there is a dish full of things you might need, soap, toothpaste, a flosser, rolaids, woman’s and men’s shavers, and some other small stuff. In the shower there is a dispenser that is refilled as often as needed that provides shower gel and shampoo, bring conditioner if you need it. Oh and don’t forget your toothbrushes because none are provided and the ones in the gift shop are junky. There will be beach towels in each room and they can be traded in for new ones by leaving them on the floor at night or at a stand by the pool. Be careful not to lose them or you will be charged for them ($22 I think).

Q: How does purchasing pictures work?
A: Actually this was not a question I was concerned about but after figuring out their scam onboard I think this is something everyone should know about. Lets say you find a picture you like but you only want it in a 5x7, so you can save money right? Nope, they require you to purchase the 8x10 and then you can buy additional smaller copies if you would like. So you must pay $19.95 for the 8x10 and then an additional $5.95 for a 5x10. Also, for people that are worried that the pictures may go away (eg. pictures from the day you board might be gone by the last day) you do not need to worry, they keep all the pictures out from the entire week so you can wait till the very end and buy the ones you like the best.

Q: What drinks are available for free?
A: Ice Tea (unsweetened), Lemonade, Fruit Punch, Apple Juice, and Orange Juice

Summary:
All in all it was a good week, if I were to sum it up I would say I enjoyed myself. Would I recommend this cruise to a friend? Probably not, simply because we had too many issues, mainly revolving around the room and I felt Carnival was not willing to help us out, except in the form of drink coupons. The weather was great, 70s and 80s with one rain shower overnight between Cayman and Jamaica, not enough to ruin/dampen spirits. The ports were fun with lots of opportunities to shop and have adventures. My next cruise will be with Royal Caribbean which I have never had a problem with in the past.