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Sandra
Age: 42
Occupation: Government Information Coordinator
Number of Cruises: 2
Cruise Line: Carnival
Ship: Carnival Triumph
Sailing Date: April 16th, 2005
Itinerary: Western Caribbean
63 of us in all, just returned from a 7-day Western Caribbean cruise – Carnival
Triumph (April 16-23rd).
INTRODUCTION: We arrived April 15th in Miami, the day before setting sail
which is highly recommended to any future cruiser. Traveling on the day you set
sail, can be extremely tiring, or even worse, there's an off-chance you may miss
the boat. Our group stayed at the Doubletree Hotel at Biscayne Bay (Hilton
Chain), which is only 1 mile from the Port of Miami. If your room is located on
the harbor side, you can see all the cruise ships as they arrive in port. The
hotel was very clean, with a beautifully landscaped area on the 9th floor,
housing a very large pool overlooking the harbor. We had a shuttle transport us
to the Port at 11:00 a.m. and were through all line-ups, security points, etc.,
and on the Triumph heading for Lido Deck within 1 ½ hours. Sailing was scheduled
for 4:00 p.m. and we were off not too long after.
PASSENGERS: The Captain advised that we were traveling with over 3400
passengers on board. 2758 is considered a full ship at double occupancy and 3478
is full capacity with 3-4 in many cabins, so I knew that many cabins had 3 – 4
people in them. In my opinion, this made for an over-crowded ship in many public
areas. One day at sea, our lounge chairs were so crowded together, we had to be
contortionists to get in or out. We quickly figured it best to stay in the chair
and have those great waiters, serve you any of the many varieties of “cold”
drinks they love to serve. I was advised that 1100 of the 3400 passengers (32%)
were children, which made it impossible to enjoy a swim in the pool on Lido Deck
at any time (a disappointment). The Disco (Hollywood Dance Club) was also full
to capacity every night with 14 – 18 year olds, which made it
difficult/impossible for any of our age group (35 – 55) to dance following our
late dinner (our 2nd disappointment).
WEATHER: The weather was in the low 80’s and sunny (with cloudy periods)
every day. Friday morning during breakfast there was a quick rain shower. There
were moderate waves (4 – 8 ft.) most of the trip, with the last 2 days being
virtually waveless (.5 – 1.5 ft. waves)
FOOD: The food overall was excellent. Breakfast on Lido Deck (South Beach
Restaurant) provided standard buffet breakfast items, along with an omelette
station. Lunch had many salad dishes, 3 – 5 hot dishes (braised beef, chicken,
fish, potatoes, etc.) and always a roast of one kind or other (prime rib, roast
pork, turkey). An entire station was beautifully displayed with many kinds of
desserts. NY Deli Sandwiches was another excellent choice for lunch. The Rueben
sandwiches were great, and others in our group said the turkey and pastrami were
the best. I only managed to try the Hong Kong Noodle Factory on one occasion and
it was very tasty, as well. Our group had the late sitting (8:00 p.m.) in the
Paris Dining Room where entrées of lobster tail, grilled jumbo shrimp, prime
rib, quail, beef Wellington, weiner schnitzel, etc. were available. Many nights,
several of us ordered two entrees and/or two appetizers. I never made it to the
dining room for lunch, but did go for breakfast on 3 occasions. Breakfast and
Lunch in the dining room is open seating, where your party will be seated at a
table with others in order to fill up each and every table. Breakfast in the
dining room was a great alternative and very quick if you felt the line-up in
the South Beach was too long or you just felt like being served. While line-ups
were visible in the South Beach restaurant and in the NY Deli Restaurant, there
was never a time, which took more than 10 minutes to reach the front of the
line. This was phenomenal service, considering there were 3400+ passengers on
board.
SHIP: Our room was an ocean view cabin located on Main Deck, close to the
elevators, and very comfortable. There was ample closet space, drawer space and
lots of room to move around. Our Cabin Steward (Rigoberto) was fantastic and we
never wanted for anything. He kept our ice-bucket full, our bed made, fresh
linens always available and was always within arms reach should we have been in
need for anything. The ship was very clean, with no noticeable stains or wear
and tear anywhere. I did, however, find that the public washrooms were sometimes
neglected longer than they should have been, with such heavy use by lido deck,
etc., on sea days. Since “noro-virus” is so prevalent (forms distributed to us
prior to boarding), paper-towels should be provided for hand-drying in the
public washrooms. Hand-dryers were available, but this meant we had to use our
clean hands on the handle to exit each time ------ and this is where such
viruses can be picked up. Dining rooms, theatres, lounges, etc. were all very
well maintained. Workers were visible each and every day busily painting,
scrubbing, cleaning, etc.
PORT OF CALLS: Stop # 1 – Cozumel, Mexico - We only shopped and went to a
beach (5 minute cab ride) where we snorkeled and swam for the afternoon. Evening
found us downtown at the famous Carlos and Charlie’s where yard-stick drinks and
tequila shooters were abundant. Lots of fun and laughs there – for adults. In
Grand Cayman, many in our group swam with the Stingrays which they all said was
a great experience and well worth the money. 7-mile Beach was beautiful with a
nice sandy beach and warm waters. In Jamaica, 14 of us rented a 29-seater air
conditioned bus (driver Jeffrey – highly recommended) for $25 each and he took
us on a tour of many hot spots (tour was approximately 3 hours long). We went up
in the Mountains, where we saw many of the foliages/plants of Jamaica (old spice
plant, plants for arthritis, fruit bearing trees, etc.). We stopped at a point
on Dunn’s River Falls, saw the local schools, police station, market, shopping
area, etc. Our final stop was at the beach at Margaritaville and Jimmy Buffets,
which was within walking distance of the ship.
SUMMARY: A great vacation overall, with lots of sunshine, great food,
tasty tropical drinks, all spent with a group of friends and provided a very
quick peak at three more Caribbean Islands. What more could one ask !!
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