The cruise gods have been smiling down on us over the past week, as this review could aptly be entitled "The vacation that almost didn't happen". My husband and I are second-time cruisers, and this time decided to go with my parents. Having never travelled at this time of year, we were a bit nervous about the weather, but purchased our insurance and hoped for the best!

Carnival Cruise Air: I have heard horror stories, but we were very pleased with our air - it did not come without many hours of panic though! Due to work obligations, I could not depart until the morning of the cruise. Cruise air flying from Buffalo saved us more than half over a Toronto departure. When we received our itinerary, we were to leave Buffalo at 6:46am, route through Detroit, then arrive in Miami at 1:30. A call to my PVP assured me that the timing was fine, although others warned against such a late arrival. As it turned out, weather delayed our flights by hours, but thankfully we were one of the last flights to leave each airport as the storm of the year followed us! Arrival in Miami was tense, as we rushed to find the Carnival rep, but luckily there were 8 others for our ship, and several for the Freedom. We strolled onto the gangway at 3:50, just in time for muster drill. I must say, embarkation was very quick as there were more agents than passengers at that point! Had we not booked cruise air, the ship would not have waited or let us on so late, so I am very thankful. We saw people boarding on Tuesday in St. Thomas, having missed half their cruise. Not a fun way to spend your week, I'm sure.

The Triumph: I found the decor to be quite tasteful, and really elegant in many places. The color scheme is just beautiful - rich blues and golds, and more understated than the Miracle which was our last cruise. I just loved the brass globes at the end of each railing, and the marble floors throughout elevators and common areas were gleaming and beautiful. As others have mentioned, the layout is not the best. Our biggest complaint was the lack of outdoor deck space for walking. On the main deck you can get out on the sides (only on the last day, as winds were too high the rest of the cruise), but you can't get around the bow or stern. On Lido there are a series of stairs and multi-levelled decks. The kids area and mini-golf course disrupt a continuous path around these decks, too. If you enjoy a stroll around the decks, this can be a little frustrating. After dinner when all the deck chairs were put away, there was lots of space to walk, and it was quite lovely. We finally found, also the only forward decks on deck 9 and 10, which you have to access through the stateroom corridors by walking all the way aft. These were very quiet, and at night, there were no lights here, providing an excellent view of the stars and dark waters ahead. Interior areas were as I mentioned, beautifully decorated, and the variety of bars and public areas were pleasant. There is no clear path from front to back on any deck, and you either have to snake your way through the casino, or the Oxford lounge to get from one end to the other. Both these areas are very smoky, and had I been travelling with children, I would not have wanted to take them through either area, leaving the stateroom corridors as the only way to get from one end of the ship to the other. After some navigation, we figured out the ups and downs, and were able to make decent time from our dining room to the show lounge! Our room was very standard. Very clean, and well maintained by our excellent room steward, Edwin. As our first interior, I didn't like the darkness - I always woke up feeling like it was the middle of the night, and as a result, didn't ever feel like I'd had a good rest. Another strange issue was that the boat vibrated constantly, and I am still vibrating today :) (not the regular roll or pitch of the waves, but a mechanical chugging along that shook everything constantly). Read more