Carnival Triumph Review
Rating by category
Additional details
Carnival can take pride in the fact that Captain La Fauci has been with them 20+ years. The Triumph sparkles under his care, and our cruise was fantastic.
We arrived at the sparkling new port building for the Triumph around 12:30pm, after a quick taxi ride from the Miami airport (flat rate of $24). The new cruise terminal had just opened, you drop your bags at the curb, walk through security and then there she is-the Triumph! Glass windows extend the entire height and length of the building--while waiting in line you are gazing at the ship. Awesome way to build excitement! Embarkation was very smooth--the lines were completely full(there were four lines) but they took only 15 minutes to get through completely. You head upstairs, get your photo taken, then cross over to the ship (interestingly, the gangplank takes you over, then back, then over--evidently designed for large traffic flow). Entrance to the ship is on deck three in the main lobby (the Capitol). We walked over to the tour desk and purchased our excursions straight-away (we picked them out on the plane) and then headed down to deck two and our cabin.
The Triumph is nearly all balcony cabins, but my friend and I opted for more room in the cabin than a balcony. Our room seemed enormous for cruise standards, with a full length coach (it could have doubled as a bed!) and the two twins. Our room was literally just steps from the stairs, and despite that close proximity we never heard the elevators or hall noise. Unfortunately, it is under the Pursers Desk, and the sound of chairs being pulled across the floor at 7am did wake us on more than one occasion (not enough to keep us awake, but I thought I'd mention it for light sleepers) Our cabin steward, Roderick, was fantastic--I swear he cleaned our room four times a day (and yes, we got the swinging towel Monkey, too:-) Our luggage arrived within minutes of our arrival, so we took some time to unpack before heading up to the South Beach Club (buffet) for lunch. Food was fine--I judge everything by the simple fact of "is it good enough to be served in a restaurant?" Well, the buffet food was as good as any buffet food so I was happy eating it while looking out over Miami.