Susan Powles

Age: 38
Occupation: Business Owner
Number of Cruises: 1
Cruise Line: Carnival
Ship: Triumph
Sailing Date: March 19th, 2005
Itinerary: Western Caribbean

This past March (19-26) my family and I took our very first cruise. The Triumph was a very clean & comfortable ship. Yes, it was my first cruise so what do I have to compare it to? I think it is safe to compare your cruise ship to any other resort you have stayed at on land.
I am very nit-picky when it comes to being sure my accomodations are clean and this demand was met upon arrival and throughout our entire cruise. Embarkation was a breeze. We arrived the day before and stayed the night at Courtyard By Marriott in downtown Miami. For $145.00 with tax my husband, son and myself were treated to clean accomodations, breakfast the following morning and a transfer to the pier the morning of our cruise. This hotel is less than 5 minutes from the port and you actually woke up in the morning to see your ship outside your hotel window. Coming from N.Y. all of that is a bargain @ $145.00. The total embarkation process from leaving the hotel to being on the ship was jsut over an hour. Not bad considering the amount of passengers looking to board.

The carpeting and other fabrics on chairs in the longes and dining rooms all seemed clean enough to me. No stains that I could see anywhere. Our cabin steward was great. Never had to ask twice for anything. Our ocean view room was found spotless on the day of embarkation and throughout this cruise he kept it that way. It is standard for your steward to make up your room twice a day. Once in the AM and again in the PM. After swimming all day and being in and out of our room so much I would hang the door card "please make up my room" and our room would be started within ten minutes. This cabin steward was great. The food in the Paris dining room was very good, no complaints. The buffets were OK, there was something for everyone. Never had to wait long at all on buffet lines and might I add it was spring break time.

The cruise director Chris Jefferson was entertaining and imformative at the same time. Overall the entire staff of this ship was great. This cruise could be what ever you want it to be. You can be busy 24/7 or just lay back and sun yourself. My 12 year old son would have liked a few more activities for his age group. This W. Caribbean cruise offers some great ports to visit. Cozumel is great for many things. We did do the Dolphin Swim & Encounter and thought it was very a waste considering they spend more time with you waiting in line to get in the water than you do with the Dolphins in the water.

Cayman Islands was just the best!!! Be sure to swim with the stingrays. This was such a great experience. The stingray swim was priced $49.00 per person a far greater value than the Dolphin swim in Cozumel at $177.00 a person. We did both and would do the stingray swim again. The Dolphin swim we would not bother to do again. Jamaica was OK the beaches right near the port are very shallow so if you want to really swim in the beaches of Jamaica go for an excursion that takes you somewhere besides the beaches in port.

I have only one complaint about this cruise and it isnt about something Carnival did. All over the ships decks there are signs that ask people to not save beach/deck chairs. Of course nobody pays any attention to this and people go out at 7AM put their beach towel on a chair and then do not use it. They may come out of their state room and sit there for an hour or so but leave their towel on the chair so nobody else can sit there. This seemed to be a problem.

Overall we enjoyed this cruise and the ships staff. We enjoyed it so much that we were not home 2 weeks and we booked another cruise for next February 2006.
 

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