Gray Meyer

Age: 50
Occupation: Grocery Sales
Number of Cruises: 4
Cruise Line: Carnival
Ship: Triumph
Sailing Date: May 7th, 2005
Itinerary: Eastern Caribbean

My wife and I just returned from our fourth cruise, our second on a Carnival Ship. We were accompanied by one other couple who also cruised with us on our last Carnival cruise in September, 2004.

Embarkation:

What can I say other than the reviews I had read on this site were correct. We arrived via a Continental flight which arrived in Miami at 11:15 AM and were greeted by our first Carnival representative as we exited the plane. We were given instructions and directed to baggage claim. We did not book our air through Carnival but there was no way we could not have gotten lost since we encountered several Carnival representatives on our way to collect our luggage.

We had purchased transfers in advance through Carnival and upon the collection of our luggage we were escorted by another Carnival representative to our pickup location. We arrived on a Saturday along with several thousand other Carnival & RCCL passengers who were all trying to get to their ships. All-in-all, the process was very smooth and it took about 1 ½ hours to get off the plane & to the peer.

After our arrival at the peer, the process of checking in and collecting our sign and sail cards took about another hour. I would recommend filling out the Fun Pass on line before you leave home and taking a moment to find the Fun Pass line. Several passengers with Fun Pass in hand joined the first line they came to while the Fun Pass line was much shorter.

Our Stateroom:

After the standard embarkation photos we entered the ship and were given directions to our deck 7 mid-ship stateroom with a balcony. To my wife’s surprise the anniversary decor package I had ordered from Carnival was hung in our stateroom as requested. The room was clean with plenty of storage space for those like us who always over pack. The balcony is a nice touch but the space for the balcony is taken out of the 185 sq. ft. you can get in a standard outside cabin on Main Deck. Our friends outside cabin was forward on Main Deck and had more interior space without a balcony. You will need to make the choice of interior space or balcony view. Our friends did report early morning noise on our stops in St. Thomas & St. Maarten due to the gangway being setup directly below their cabin.

One problem we noticed was that our in-room safe was locked and needed to be reset for our use. We called and with all that was going on getting the passengers onboard and the luggage delivered, I expected this to be taken care of later that evening. To my surprise, they were there to fix the problem within 10 minutes. Our luggage was also delivered within 2 hours after boarding.

Our stateroom steward stopped by to introduce himself shortly after our arrival. Except for the one time during our 7 days that we called to request something from him, this was the last time we saw him. We always knew he had been there because our room was always clean, towels changed, ice & sodas replaced, sheets turned down with chocolates on the pillows and a nightly towel animal to please my wife. I don’t know about you but this is what I like from a room steward. By the way, the one request was also handled promptly.

Food:

The first thing we noticed was that our friends were seated in a different dinning room at a different time. We were directed to the dinning room where the Head Waiter took care of our problem quickly. It was now time for a late lunch after traveling all day and before the required abandon ship drill.

What can I say about the food? There are so many options that we could always find something we liked. Don’t be afraid to try something and change to something else if you don’t care for it. I read so many reviews from people who did not like the _____ or the _____. My question is, why didn’t you get something else?

On the Triumph we had a choice of the Buffet, Hamburger & Hot Dog Grill, New York Deli, Oriental Kitchen, Pizza Station, Main Dinning Room or Room Service. If you can’t find something you like, your just too picky. The food quality was just as good as what I remembered from our cruises with RCCL & Holland America. The Main Dinning Room staff was even better than my last cruise with RCCL. Between my wife and myself & our friends we reordered something every night when our first choice did not meet our expectations. The dinning staff quickly responded to our request and were prompt with our second choice. They even suggested that we order two entrees or deserts when we could not makeup our minds.

Ports of Call:

Our ports of call on this cruise were San Juan, St. Thomas and St. Maarten. While we enjoy seeing new places, with 7 to 10 hours in each port you only have time for a tour or two and some shopping. The more we cruise the more we have come to realize that the cruise vacation is the ship and the ports of call are just another activity on the daily schedule.

I was disappointed that our stop in San Juan was scheduled from 5 PM to Midnight and that all the historical venues would be closed. We also arrived on trash day and all the trash was piled onto the narrow streets of old town. After a little shopping in old town, we headed back to the ship for dinner and more fun. I did not get a chance to see more than a few blocks of old town San Juan so my impression may not be correct. The party crowd did seem to enjoy the nightclubs.

Our early morning arrival in St. Thomas was breathtaking from our balcony and our room service coffee & danish was a good start to a great day. We had signed up for a snorkel tour of Trunk Bay, St. John which was canceled due to high seas in the bay. We were given the option of a snorkel tour of a bay on the other side of St. Thomas. We accepted their offer and had a great morning of swimming, snorkeling and exploring the beach with plenty of rum punch on the trip back. The tour picked us up about 100 yards from the ship and dropped us back at the same spot early in the afternoon. This worked out great and gave us a chance to change and grab a quick lunch before heading into town for shopping.

The shopping district is a short taxi ride from the peer but it is too far to walk. The converted trucks and vans are waiting at the peer and cruising the streets of the shopping district to take you back and forth. You’ll have no problem getting a ride. The only bad thing is that they try to fill the trucks before they take you into town and before they leave town for the return to the ship. Since some of these conversions hold 9 to 15 people, this sometimes take a while. Anyway, the shopping is great and St. Thomas would be one of my choices for a return trip.

Our third port of call in three days was St. Maarten. Again, it was a beautiful arrival into port, the island and people are great and the shopping was full of bargains for the savvy shopper. We took the water taxi into town for shopping but after late nights of fun and three ports in three days, we headed back to the ship to eat and relax. St. Maarten would be another of my choices for a future trip.

Carnival Capers:

I can testify that there is something to do on this ship from 8 AM to 2 AM. I do not know what goes on before or after that but it appeared that many people do. We were never the first ones up of the last ones to head to our cabin. The shows were on par with many we have seen in Vegas in the $60 and under price range while the live bands and piano bar entertainment was as good as any Vegas lounge act. I’m not sure how this sounds but we happen to like less expensive Vegas shows and lounge acts.

On the days at sea the pool side games & antics hosted by the cruise staff are fun to watch while catching a snack for lunch at the outdoor grill or while catching some sun. We can’t stay long because we have another bingo game, slot/blackjack tournament, art auction, or trivia game to get to. Then it’s off for a quick nap, shower and a change of cloths for dinner and the evening activities. You just can’t do it all.

Debarkation:

We scheduled a late, 5:45 PM flight out of Miami due to our experience on our last cruise from this port. This turned out to be a mistake since the passengers who had early flights were off between 7 & 8 AM, then passengers who carried all their luggage were off between 8 & 9 AM. At 9:15 AM they announced general debarkation for all remaining passengers. We were off the ship and through customs by 10:15 AM. I’m not saying that this will be your experience but we could have made the 3:15 PM flight with time to spare. Our experience with a late debarkation on a previous cruise was effected by a hurricane and nine ships coming into port at one time. Due to this we did not know what to expect when flying out of Miami but we will book and earlier flight next time.

Rating:

We love cruising and I give this cruise 4 ½ out of 5 stars based on our three previous cruises which I would rate 4 out of 5 stars.

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