Carnival Triumph Review

3.5 / 5.0
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Thanksgiving on the Triumph!

Review for the Eastern Caribbean Cruise on Carnival Triumph
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afowler8
First Time Cruiser • Age 40s

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Sail Date: Nov 2007
Cabin: Interior

Background: We were booked on the Carnival Triumph for the week of Thanksgiving-- Saturday to Saturday on their Eastern Caribbean itinerary. We had a group of three in two inside cabins (8210 which belonged to my boyfriend's brother, age 25, and 9227 for my boyfriend, age 26, and I, age 24). Both rooms were standard inside staterooms with the king size bed arrangement. This room seemed larger than our previous inside rooms and we really like that they shower fit into a corner and seemed larger than what we remembered. This is my 3rd cruise (all Carnival), BF's 2nd (all Carnival) and BFs Brother's 1st. We are young professionals just a few years out of college, so some of my review will focus on ways that we were able to save money and the value that I felt we received from it. I am attempting to break this up into a somewhat organized report, please let me know if you have any questions!

Traveling to Florida: We drove from Atlanta to Miami-- 1400 miles round trip! We left at lunch on Friday and drove to Melbourne, Florida to spend the night. I had booked the Rialto Place Hilton (***) on Priceline for $55/night about a month in advance. We were very impressed with this hotel and had a nice stay overnight. We got up early and drove the remaining way to Miami on Saturday morning. One note about the drive: in our previous trips to south Florida, we have always been able to book inexpensive airfare—ranging up to $160 round trip per person. Since we were traveling the week of Thanksgiving, airfare was more like $400+ round trip per person, so we decided to make the drive. We knew that there were several tolls involved, but we surprised by the amount of money that we spent on tolls—over $20 each way. Of course, this is still a bargain compared to the airfare, but you should be prepared with plenty of quarters and ones.

Arriving in Miami: The Port of Miami raised their price of parking from $15/day to $20/day after we booked our cruise (which is higher than the daily rate for the Miami Airport!). After a little Cruise Critic research, I found a company called CBM Parking that offers a much better deal. There are some keys to getting the best price, however! I booked about two months prior to sailing directly with CBM. This is important. Several websites offer bookings for CBM, but you have to pay a deposit AND they add a percentage onto your booking. By calling CBM, I was able to reserve parking for $6 per day without having to pay anything upfront. They also provide a free shuttle to and from the port. If you do not book in advance, you WILL be charged a significantly higher rate. The lady in front of me in line was very upset to hear that because she did not have a reservation; her rate was $12 per day. Note: This seems to be a family owned/operated business—and business was booming! So you can get a bargain, but arrive very early and be patient.

Cabin Review

Interior

Cabin 4F
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