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This was my 1st cruise, approx Jan 25 or 26, 2018 for a late birthday present and a friends wedding. Carnival Triumph will be the Carnival Sunrise starting later this year. As my review title states, I hated it!!!! I was sick from the time I got on until I left, even though I was taking dramamine since I got sick. Actually 5 / 8 of us were sick. We stood outside in the cold for longer than necessary while they tried to get everyone there so they can go over the safety equipment. The ship rocked uncontrollably the whole enter time. So bad that during the the rest of the trip, everyone was walking around trying to keep our balance, holding their plates because they were sliding during our meals and some of us couldn't eat because we got sick while in the dining area. They confiscated drinks on the 1st day, from 2 of my friends checked bag and one was my roommate. However they didn't take it out of mine. I complained to front desk as soon as we noticed my roommate didn't have hers and they 1st returned her 6 pack of soda. it. So I complained again about the wine not being returned and I guess after the security guard realized that he couldn't intimidated me, we got it back, My other friend wasn't so lucky during her stay, but upon her leaving they gave her a bottle of wine from their collection. Our ocean view cabin was partially obstructed and the picked bedding wasn't what was picked. They told us that they didn't have any other rooms available and gave us chocolate covered strawberries to make good on the inconvenience. While on the cruise, it was rumors that a lady went overboard in Mexico a cruise or 2 before ours and they still hadn't found her, a rumor that another lady feel off her balcony and died, and another rumor stating the boat was rocking so bad because the stabilizer was broke. When it was time to check out, I questioned the rumor about the stabilizer and complained about my stay, I was told that it was fine, it was just windy. NOT only did I complain to carnival, but also to my agent and I wasn't offered anything for all of the inconveniences even though I requested it and advised that I am a travel agent that books cruises for Carnival. Needless to say, I will never go on another Carnival Cruise and won't book for them anymore unless client request.. Read Less

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I take a cruise around Halloween with a large group of singles via a company that specializes in this type of trip. I had never been to New Orleans and a few tips there: taxi or Uber is fastest but also most expensive so use the airport shuttle if time is not an issue. As for the city visit the old, whole in the wall places if you want a real taste of New Orleans cuisine and sample the beignets, a delicacy that has powdered sugar as a breakfast or dessert best served hot and 3 for $3. Its a square piece of floury dough friend and covered like a light pastry or doughnut sold all over New Orleans. Port is very close to the downtown area but its cheaper and quieter if you stay in either the business or garden district and walk to Bourbon Street. At night Bourbon Street becomes a walking venue of bars,restaurants and shops a a gay section on the north end of Bourbon Street. Drinks tend to be a bit pricey ($6 beers, $8+ mixed drinks) but lots of historic places throughout the French Quarter and Decatur Street. Louis Armstrong Park has free music on Thursday nights from 4-8 pm and there are lots of great live music stops. As for our ship: the Dream is being renovated and the martini bar has been taken out in place of more casual seating outside the piano bar. This bar and the casino bar (which is now a combo casino and sports bar) allow smoking which I avoided as much as possible as I don't do well with smoke. If you want sports the casino/sports bar is the only option unless they show on the big screen on the Lido Deck/Deck 10. I always make use of the steam room and the sauna which on are deck 12 forward ( go through the pool area moving forward via Deck 10 then take stairs up 2 flights or the elevator, steam room is in each locker room and there is a shared, coed clothing required sauna in the attached hall way. Fitness Center is open 8 AM -10 PM for those wanting a work out or use the walking track outside on Deck 12. Serenity adults area is on Deck 14 forward with hammocks and day beds no kids are supposed to be there. Dining: do breakfast in the formal dining room as the buffet is so/so for breakfast. After 1st formal night do dinner at the buffett food is just as good, plenty of it and not in the small portions that are now in the formal dining room. Lunch pool side still works great still a good selection most of the day. Cabins are they typical Carnival so a bit cramped and recommend you take disinfectant spray and wash your hands a lot or bring things for potential sore throat/colds as a lot of our group got sick during our week on board. Spray down and take Airborn about 2 weeks prior helps boost your immune system. Shows were pretty good this trip and I always use my own choices for port days. Cozumel: swim with dolphins via ship purchase, got to Tulum via ship, do beach on your own (Carlos N Charlies pay as you go, Mr Sanchos all you can eat and drink. Belize not much to see there not a beach and rains a lot. Roatan, use free Carnival beach or got to Infinity Bay at West Bay, $45 pp for day pass and transport: gorgeous beach, reef right off shore, umbrellas and chairs included, food & beverage service available there & the best beach in MHO in Roatan worth the trip. Cozumel and Roatan are beach days for me, Belize is a tender a bit of shopping but you could skip going to port and not miss much there. If anything take the tender go have a local beer and sandwhich there. Belize is least of the ports and limit on excursions though you can snorkel or go to a beach away from shore. Tender is about 20-30 minutes as they anchor 6 miles off shore there. Read Less

I traveled with a good friend of mine on Carnival Liberty for their October 27th - October 31st Cruise to Cozumel. This was my third cruise with Carnival, and my friend's first cruise with Carnival. I had a good experience with my previous cruises so didn't expect the numerous problems we faced on this one. It made me feel embarrassed to have recommended we take this cruise-line for our vacation. I understand technical difficulties develop, but we were met time and time again with problems and complications which I will explain below. We arrived into Houston airport at 9:10am and got to the Carnival check-in point for our transfer around 9:30am. After we checked in, we waited two hours before boarding the transfer bus. When we finally arrived on the transfer bus there was only one other guest...all else on the transfer were crew. When we arrived in our room, room 6266, the balcony was not clean. During our cruise we did receive a letter stating they would be cleaning our balcony...but we would have expected this to be done before we arrived. Two hours into our cruise there was a medical emergency on the ship. This caused the cruise to turn around to drop the injured passenger off at port. Thus cutting into our travel time. From the stories circulating on the ship, the passenger was intoxicated; and I expect the passenger may have been over-served during the very short time we were on the ship. Later, it was announced that a technical difficulty occurred that affected the ship's maximum sailing speed. This cut into our time at port, which was originally scheduled to be 7 hours to just 5 hours. Next, it was announced about mid-day on October 30th, that our expected arrival back to Galveston would be 6:00pm, 10 hours later than planned. The experience though becomes much more frustrating at debarkation. We had a transfer through Carnival to the airport. We were given group 17 debarkation tags. My friend was told by a person in white, at the time the announcement was made that we would be late, that we would be given higher priority tags due to the transfer and to return back to the service desk. When she returned to the service desk, she was told Carnival doesn't do that and we were left with group 17 debarkation tags. The ship finally arrives back at port at 6:00pm, and we were told through announcements that we could wait on the Lido deck, the theater, or in our room. However, by 7:00pm we were removed from our room so they could start cleaning for the next cruise. We then began our wait for group 17 to be called on the Lido deck. This was an exceptionally long wait. With groups and floors slowly being called. Around 8:45 - 9:00pm, a large number of groups were called at once (5-20 i believe). We proceeded down stairs, where there seem to be no enforcement of the debarkation procedure outlined to us through announcements. If we had gone outside of our group, it seems like we would have been off that ship in a more timely manner, than what we were. When we finally got through the line at customs, we saw there were only 5 custom agents working, not the typical 12 I was told by a crew member there usually are. This contributed to this already slow and frustrating experience. Then by around 9:45 - 10:00pm we finally make it through customs and find the transfer. The person at the transfer appears shocked that guests were given such high numbers for debarkation. He said he never seen guests board a transfer at 10:00pm, and proceeded to take a picture of our luggage with group 17 on them. He then said, the wait would yet be longer...as we were now the last transfer bus and we had to wait for the crew members who needed a ride, to get through customs. The transfer bus had only 5 or 7 guests on it, and 30 crew members when it was ready to depart. It finally did depart the Galveston Pier at 10:45 - 11:00pm. We arrived at the hotel we booked at 12:30am....this led to cancellations of plans we hoped to have had in Houston with our time there. My friend knew someone that lived there and we had previously planned dinner with them, which had to be cancelled due to the slow debarkation process we encountered. To make matters worse, once we finally arrived in Chicago we learn that Carnival Cruise offered the passengers on the cruise that followed us (which was delayed then cancelled), a full refund of the cruise, along with a 100 percent future cruise credit, and $90 per person reimbursement, while so far the only thing Carnival has offered us was some reimbursements to the additional expenses we incurred. The people who had their cruise canceled had plans to be off for several days in a row, while we had no plans to be off on Tuesday and the financial burden this caused was much greater than what was reimbursed. I provided all supporting documentation to Carnival and to the insurance policy I got through Carnival, and I have still yet to see a 100% reimbursement for all the costs I accrued as a result of the delay, and absolutely nothing besides a “sincere apology” in an email. I would have hoped Carnival would have treated their customers better than this. Read Less

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This was a family cruise, it was myself, my husband and my nephew and his wife and his family. I've only ever been on 1 other cruise line in my life, and it was a great experience, this cruise however I wasn't thrilled with. We had a weird, loud, knocking noise in the wall of our cabin room at different hours of the night when we were trying to sleep. It would last anywhere from 30 seconds to a full minute. The buffet's were few and far between, they closed at different hours which they never advertised so you had no idea what was open when or when some place was closed. The only 24 hour definite was Pizza, and ice cream. The dinners were o.k. it was basically the same appetizer choices every night, which to me was boring. The main meal's were o.k. nothing to write home about. The cruise on a whole was o.k. also the biggest turn off for us, and disappointment was that the casino, of which there was only 1 on the ship was smoker friendly, and people used it to their advantage, it was gross! I am not sold on Celebrity Cruise's and doubt very seriously I'll take another one any time soon. Read Less

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We did this cruise for our 25th wedding anniversary. We picked this cruise because 2 of our kids, not actually but we adopted them anyway, were working on this ship. We are not fans of the Western Caribbean and haven't been there in several years but since our friends were on this ship the itinerary was not important. Embarkation went smoothly as usual but that may be because we are platinum level and Port Canaveral has a great system for that.. We went from check in to walking right on to the ship at around 1030 A.M. We tried our first cove balcony on this trip, cabin 2273. The cabin was amazing and if you like to see and hear the ship going through the ocean then this is the cabin for you. The life boats overhead provides shade on the balcony. We did your time dining and only had to wait one night for a table for about 15 minutes. Food was very good but as a fan of ice cream, on 6 of the nights the ice cream had a freezer burn taste to it. On our anniversary we ate at the steak house. A truly great experience, if you have never tried it believe me it is well worth the extra cost. It also has a nice and quiet bar to enjoy a relaxing drink at. You have to try Guy's pig and anchor lunch on deck 5. The best lunch we had, well worth the wait which was about 20 minutes. As I said our "kids" work at the Alchemy Bar and that's where we spent much of our evenings. The only bad thing I can say about the Alchemy bar is the location. It is next to the live music stage and if you want to carry on a conversation be ready to yell because you cannot hear the person next to you when the band is playing. The band is very good but should not be next to the Alchemy bar. For the ports our kids treated us to lunch in a Croatian style restaurant somewhere downtown but cannot remember the name or the location. Belize, we did the Starfish island excursion through Carnival. Great excursion. Picks you up on the ship and the island is like a private island except without the crowds. I think there were about 50 of us that had the island to ourselves. Mahogany Bay, did the flying chairs over to the beach and spent the day at the beach. Without the chairs this would have just been another beach day but the chairs made it different. Costa Maya, nice port, you can sit by the ocean but you cannot swim there. The coast line is too rocky but it does have a pool similar to the one at Grand Turk and there are plenty of chairs and loungers for everybody. The bad side is the vendors, way too aggressive, I was walking slightly ahead of my wife trying to find something to drink. I turned around and she was gone and when I found her she told me one of the vendors actually grabbed her arm and guided her into his shack to show her some ear rings. Overall a great cruise and this was our first time on the Magic and besides the Alchemy bar's location the Magic is a great ship. Disembarkation did not go as smoothly since we were never told when to leave even though we were in the Platinum members area as instructed. Read Less

We sailed on the Carnival Fantasy in March 2016 for our honeymoon. It was a 4 day Caribbean cruise with ports of call in Key West and Cozumel. Ocean view cabin was roomy and decent. It was spring break season so there were tons of spring breakers. As for the ship, it felt quite small and outdated. The entertainment and activities were great! The comedy club is always our favorite. The service was spot on, from the room steward to our waiters. In Cozumel, we did the Atlantis submarine excursion and its a MUST do. We booked through carnival excursion and it cost $99 per person but was worth every penny. I am not a water person and this was such an amazing way (that didn't require swimming/diving) to see the ocean floor and wildlife. In Key West, we did the conch train tour which we also purchased from Carnival. It was a nice tour on a train open air vehicle. DO NOT sit in the front! There is no shade to protect you from the FL sun. Read Less

Carnival Triumph itself was okay, although very limited for younger ages and elders. The only thing you could really do was just lay out or go to the casino. Cozumel was very fun but with only 6 hours to visit, not much could be done. Be sure to book your excursions ahead of time because they will run out of room fast. The housekeeping was amazing! They get to know you and they are so nice!! Getting off the ship was absolutely horrible. After the process of getting off the ship, I do not think I would ever board the Carnival Triumph again. The arrival was over an hour delayed. After we had finally docked, they began calling people down by floors. This took almost an hour by itself. DO NOT CHECK YOUR BAGS. It is slower than carrying them, and only causes more of a hassle. Also, there is no point in going with your assigned group, because they do not check which group you are in. I would suggest going with the first group called in order to exit the boat as quickly as possible. The workers were very rude and not helpful in any way when getting off the boat. They would not let you stand anywhere for more than a second to get organized and were very slow. Overall the cruise was okay, but upon arrival it was horrible and I would not recommend the Carnival Triumph. Read Less

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I was on the Carnival Magic for four nights sailing to Cozumel, Mexico. The first night the the ship was moving very fast. My family and I were all seasick and were falling over in the stairways, bathrooms, ect. We decided to stay in our staterooms and order room serive that evening because it was just awful. The next morning we were still sick, but were able to walk round the ship and go eat. It got better, but we just didn't feel right. None of us. The entertainment was great! I've read alot on here about the staff was great, however, not in my opinion. I had to ask out waiters several of times for refills on our drinks. They were so busy, they'd forget. We were mislead about several things, which was disapointing. . Food was ok. Long buffet lines. Be ready to stand in each line for an hour. The water is pools are kind of chilly, so my kids were not able to swim. They were really bummed.Also I was told at the time of booking that life jackets were available for children. THAT WAS NOT THE CASE!!! So my kids lost out on the whole reason why we went on this ship. We made the best of it though, but defintaly expected better service. The best service we got was from the person cleaning our rooms. Very nice! He always had a smile on his face and was always asking if we needed anything. Hope you all enjoy your cruise!! P.S. Cozumel is beautiful! We had a great time there! Read Less

This was the second cruise that my husband and I have taken... This time we took a great friend along and it was a great experience!!! Food was amazing....Our waiter name was Irving I think ( table 308 in the inspiration dining room) I can't say enough about him .... My friend is gluten free and he made her food bread, chocolate molting cake and went above and beyond to make her dinners so wonderful!!! She also won $200.00 on bingo... We loved the comedy shows as well as activities.... Our cabin keeper was great... Beds were always made and towel animals were great ...we loved all the shops on and off the boat!!!Any one that doesn't like the cruises must be hard to please because they go above and beyond to please!!! Elena from Romania was a great bartender in the gatspy bar!!!!I recommend anyone thinking about going to go !!!! You will love it as much as we did!!!! Read Less

Definitely get what you pay for. The cruise ship is outdated and randomly smells like sewer. I stayed in an interior room on the Empress deck and it was just grungy (Hair on our bedding, urine still in the toilet). We booked this cruise last minute because the price was so low and after the trip, I see why. The food was good, but the service in the main dining room was not up to par with the larger ships I have cruised on. It wasn't just terrible service, but not what one is used to while cruising. The lido was fine and the serenity deck was nice. The staff were friendly and while they didn't have a lot of activities to attend, the activities that they did have were entertaining. If you aren't looking to get much out of a cruise (would be happy just eating the buffet and playing in the casino) this would be good for you. Would not recommend this 4 day Caribbean cruise to any new cruisers, y'all might get the wrong idea of cruising!! Read Less

First Cruise and didn't know what to expect. Be ready to drink, eat and gamble! We met some great people. The ship was huge. Many bars, places to eat. Paris dining was beautiful... scene right out of Titanic. The ships finishings were dated and needs an update. Our weather was not great and probably accounted for the negative times we encountered. The staff and crew were AMAZING. Tended to every need... daily servicing and nightly turn down service with towel animals. Bring bottled water... it's worth it. If you are a drinker, either buy the package or buy a bottle of liquor for your room. Hot tea selections were great. I love hot tea in the morning and before bed. Stunning views of the gulf and other ships. It's a great trip if you are looking to relax and enjoy the ships amenities. Read Less

We had a great time.. Truly enjoyed this cruise.. We are Platinum and this was our 2nd time on the Paradise. We were traveling with our Brother & Sister in law for their 1st cruise. We had a blast and I think we got them hooked on cruising too... The weather was a little cloudy but that did not stop our fun.. in either port.. We had great food and great service .. The ship was nice & clean. We did Your time Dining and asked for the same Wait Staff every night. We let Carnival Pick our cabin and it was a great Location on the Aft.. We enjoyed the adult comedy shows as well as a little bit of all the other entertainment.. trivia, love & marriage show, 8 More seconds, karaoke, and just sitting and people watching on the serenity or lido decks.. Read Less

I generally don't return to cruise critic after a cruise and I, and my family, are relatively tolerant of imperfection. I have been a member since 2004 and been on a fair number of cruises, most in suites and more on NCL than Carnival. I have to say there is no comparison if you are in a suite. Do not waste the large amount of extra money, particularly on Paradise, for a suite. In order to get a fair amount of space and a balcony that could fit chairs we had to book a Grand suite which is the best cabin available. First, do not expect any kind of VIP treatment. There isn't any. I kind of assumed that going in so I was banking on the cabin being worth the fare. It , and the ship, were not up to snuff. Worst of all the coveted and rare (on Paradise) balcony smelled like raw sewage for the whole trip. I had to complain and they said they had heard that before!! Things are not clean. The robe had someone else's dirt on the collar, the surfaces were all sticky when we got there, the windows (which are easily accessible from the balcony -- I was going to clean them myself) had old drippy streaks running down them. I don't blame the stewards, I'm sure they are overworked. I can go on -- but I'm too busy coughing my lungs out from the second hand smoke in the casino which seemed to have no air conditioning or air circulation. Dining room wait staff at our table was excellent and we tipped them extra accordingly which I could tell was a shock to them as was the tip I gave our room steward. I don't think he had ever had a decent tip before. He said as much. Carnival Paradise is a tired old ship, okay for a short CHEAP cruise. This is not the ship to book if you want the suite experience. I will pony up the extra for a suite on another line where VIP means something. It's always nice to get what you think you are paying for. I wrote this so others are forewarned and don't get the major disappointment we did. Regarding service -- guest services often does not answer the phone. I had a message on the phone, tried to call them 6 times, no answer. I finally had to go to the desk and wait 15 minutes on a long line. Finally we were supposed to have priority disembarkation being in a suite and also with a wheelchair bound parent. We were completely ignored by the staff helping priority disembarkation until I steeped forward to ask several times why they were not letting us through. Read Less

Living 30 minutes from Port Tampa makes this a great and affordable cruise. The ship is definitely "dated", especially with some of the big cruise liners available. I found it to be nostalgic. The ship itself was clean and well maintained. The staff was friendly. Especially the entertainment, bar and wait staff. The rooms were tiny. The beds were no so comfortable. The AC in the cabins was freezing, but the hot water was scalding hot! Be sure to bring your own toiletries....including soaps, shampoos and tissue. They were bad. The food was not good at all. Long lines at the breakfast buffet, and the food wasn't good. There was a made to order omelet station if you had 45 minutes to wait. The coffee was once again, scalding. Lunch was very similar. The food choices were not great. The deli line was awfully long and same for the piz The dinner experience was good. Our waitress was very good and efficient. The entrees, with the exception of the lobster, was very bland. After leaving dinner the first night hungry, I ordered 3 or 4 appetizers for every dinner. The appetizers were much better than the entrees. The melted chocolate cake was amazing! You need to get rid of indoor smoking. It was AWFUL on the day it rained. The entertainment was excellent. Really funny comedians and games throughout the day were fun with Fluffy. Cozumel was fun, as always. The souvenir prices (especially silver) at the port were outrageous. I got a silver piece for a fraction of what I was first quoted. Barter! Leaving the cruise disembarkation was a nightmare. Carnival....you have been in this business for too many years to allow this to happen. Overall it was a fun time.   Read Less