Background - We have cruised Carnival many times, my wife is Platinum, and we took our 4 kids on this cruise (kids 3rd time). Overall the family had a wonderful time.

Hotel Info - We flew into Miami the night before the cruise and stayed at the Intercontinental Hotel in downtown Miami. We booked this hotel (2 rooms) through the Priceline bid process and saved a huge sum of money. Check the biddingfortravel.com website for bidding tips. The hotel was extremely nice (kids were impressed as we usually don't stay at a luxury hotel)and was within an easy work to Bayside were we had dinner at a Cuban restaurant.

Ship Info - The Triumph is a very nice ship. Overall the condition of the ship was good and she was well maintained. You could tell new carpet had been recently installed in the common areas. I had heard that the Triumph was due to be drydocked and was told that it had been delayed until the fall of 2008. At that time they will put in a Jumbo TV outside on the Lido deck as well as completely overhaul the ship. We did notice a sewage smell in the hallways mid ship during the beginning of the week, but it went away after about the 3rd day. Fortunately we were aft, so it never really bothered us expect as we walked to the forward or central elevators. Read more