Carnival Triumph Review
Rating by category
Additional details
This is my 3rd cruise, and my 2nd with Carnival (though that one was 20 years ago). We sailed on the Triumph on a 5 day stopping at Progreso and Cozumel.
I traveled with my husband, our two kids, my sister and her hubby and two kids, and our mom. We all flew in to Houston (IAH) early Monday morning and took the Carnival transfer down to Galveston. I was initially worried about the timing, but it worked out perfectly. We arrived in Houston at about 9:40, and the shuttles were already running. All nine of us got on the bus (it was a big touring bus), and arrived in Galveston right around noon.
Embarkation was a breeze. Since we had suites, we flew through security and again through registration. Our only hiccup was with my mom. She had booked an interior room (no priority for her!), but had called to link our bookings. The Carnival rep had told her she could embark with us, but that did not happen. She got through priority security with us, but had to wait in the longer registration line. No big deal though, she was through that in about 20 minutes. After that, we walked on to the boat into the Capitol Lobby. Our rooms were ready when we got there, but not my mom’s. Too bad, mom!
Cabin Review
Ocean Suite
We chose a suite to have just that little bit of extra room since we were travelling with our two kids, ages 5 and 6. There is TONS of storage in this room. Two decent size closets (we fit both suitcases inside one of them with room to spare) a 4 drawer chest, 4 drawers in the changing area, and cabinets with shelves on either side of the mirror in the bathroom. We didn't even use half of it.
This cabin is located just on the other side of the elevator bank. I didn't notice a ton of noise from the elevators, but the music from the Capitol Bar carried quite a bit. It was rather loud until after midnight. It didn't bother us at all -- my kids were so tired, that they were passed out by 9:30. I could see how it might be a problem if you are a light sleeper though.
For sleeping arrangements, we had the king size bed, the couch, and a trundle bed. Do not expect to put an adult on this trundle. It was perfect for my 6 year old, but I ended up sleeping on it one night, and my legs were hanging off the end below my knees. I'm only 5'4" too! The bed, however, was very comfortable. We put the trundle between the couch and the bed, so we still had a good bit of floor space between the beds and the bathroom/changing area. There was a tiny bit of room to walk between the trundle and the bed to get to the balcony door. My one beef here is that during the day, instead of stowing the trundle under the bed, the steward just stacked in on top of the couch. There was really nowhere to sit except on the bed. That being said, it was never an issue since we were hardly ever in there except to sleep.
The bathroom was fantastic. Plenty of room, full jetted tub, shower with removable spray head, and lots of counter space. I had considered giving the kids a bath, but the whole point was to get the salt off them from the pool (not have them sit in another salt bath), so we stuck with showers.
The balcony was nice. There were 3 chairs and a small table provided, but you could easily fit a fourth chair out there.
Inside the cabin, there was a small fridge (stocked, of course), a small safe (the kind you lock/unlock with a credit card swipe), and a flatscreen tv. Fortunately, Cartoon Network is one of the channels provided. My kids had plenty of Teen Titans Go to keep them occupied while waiting for us to get showered/changed.
Port Reviews
Galveston
I thought embarkation was very smooth. It went very quickly. We appreciated the separate line for priority security and priority registration. We almost missed the embarkation photo though because the priority door was past the setup!