Carnival Triumph Review
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First of all, I will preface this by stating the fact that my husband and I are in our early thirties (no children) and still enjoy drinking and nightlife. This may make a difference on how you "view" this review and our opinion of the Triumph. Also, this was my 13th Carnival cruise and my husband's 5th, so we were able to have the VIP treatment which came in handy numerous times!!
We took this cruise with another couple our age and we arrived on a flight from Atlanta to Miami Friday night around 11:30 pm. We took a cab from the airport and headed over to the Holiday Inn Port of Miami. Our cab driver was great and stopped at a convenience store for us so that we could by a few beers for the room. We needed a little something to help us sleep since we were so hyped up for the cruise! We didn't get to the hotel until around midnight, checked in and had a nice view of the port. No complaints with the hotel. They even had a nice pool area with a guard on duty so that my husband and his friend could go out for a smoke somewhere and feel safe. Bayside was across the street and there still seemed to be a lot of people walking around, but we opted to stay at the hotel and not venture out. There were taxis lined up outside the hotel the next morning and it was a $10 flat fee for all of us to get to the port.
EMBARKATION: We arrived at the port at 11:00 am and my husband and I proceeded directly to the VIP check-in line. We were checked in within a few minutes and sent to a holding area where we sat until time to board. Our friends went through the regular line and were also checked in quickly. The only difference was that my husband and I were able to sit down while our friends had to stand. We were all 4 on the ship around the same time. We like to put cash on our sail & sign cards so that we don't run up a credit card bill, and luckily there was no one in line at the Purser's Desk so we were able to do that right away with no wait! We proceeded to our cabin (Panorama Deck, Balcony 1035) and then we were off to get a drink and have some lunch.