This was our 5th cruise overall and our first on the Carnival Triumph. Departure was Sunday from Miami, but we elected to arrive the day before. Coming from Indiana, this was a good decision as it relieved us from worrying about flight delays and ensured that we arrived for boarding refreshed and rested, and in our summer clothes. Not having been to Miami previously, we chose to take Carnival's pre-cruise package with a stay at the downtown JW Marriott. This was a bit pricey at $150 per person including transfers, but an excellent hotel in a very good location.
Boarding was tedious as expected with security checks and waiting in line for check-in. My wife and I were traveling with four other family members, two of whom had not previously sailed on Carnival. In order to get the past-guest discount for them, I made the bookings with me and one of the other couple under one booking, and my wife and the other half of the couple on a second booking. I was very up front with the Carnival reservations folks about this, and they assured me in several calls that this was commonly done, and that all we needed to do was inform the agent at check-in that we wished to switch rooms which could be done simply and with no problems. The reality was quite different, and involved the services of a trainer, and then a manager at Carnival's Miami port check-in counter. In the end, it took about an hour to get our Sail & Sign cards, over and above the additional hour or so to get through security and wait in line. And after all of that, it wasn't until the middle of the week that we found that the folios had been incorrectly set up such that the onboard charges from our Sail & Sign cards for all four of us were being charged to my credit card! This was quite disappointing considering the assurances provided by Carnival's reservations folks, and something that I wouldn't do again. Once we finally got on board, things improved significantly.
About the Ship: I understand that the Triumph had been placed into dry dock for renovation in late 2008. They did a great job, with nothing on the ship looking worn, stained, or scuffed. Our rooms (balconies on the Verandah deck) were excellent, intelligently laid out, and with plenty of storage space which is standard for every Carnival ship on which we had ever sailed (with the exception of the Mardi Gras back in 1978 which was too long ago to count). The only amenity I missed from our last cruise on the Conquest was a mini-bar in our cabin.
We had a balconey cabin on deck 9 (the Verandah deck). Clean, well-designed, with plenty of storage space. One of our couples had need for a handicap accessible cabin which was perfect for their requirements. Read the review for details on both.