Carnival Triumph cruise 29 March - 5 April review Ports: Half Moon Cay, St Thomas, Puerto Rico, and Nassau Background: Both 26, both active duty military. Sailed once before on the Carnival Valor and LOVED it.

Sat, 29 March: Embarkation We live in the FL Keys, so we drove to the pier and parked ($20 a day - ouch). We got there at 12:30 and were on the ship by 1:15. Very smooth line and friendly employees. I was supposed to meet our cruise critic group right after the muster drill. Well, my husband really wanted to go up top for the sail away, so we did that first and then went down to the meet, but no one was there. My apologies to missing out guys!!! I hope everyone had a good time. We were really tired and didn't do much that night. We didn't even go to the dining room; we just ate pizza and slept. We both had to work the previous day (I didn't get off till 10pm) and with last minute packing and emailing we didn't go to bed till 1am, only to have to get up again at 6am...

Sun, 30 March: Half Moon Cay Tendering process went smooth for us, but we were one of the first people to arrive in the Rome lounge for our tender tickets. We were on #1 and left maybe five minutes after we got our ticket. There were ominous rain clouds nearby; we knew this wouldn't be good. We had about 30 minutes of sun before those clouds came over and parked themselves right over the island. I sat hiding under my beach towel from the rain, while DH just stayed in the water. Might as well I guess, since we were both equally as wet. I must say though, everything people on Cruise Critic say about HMC is true. It is very beautiful, with clear blue water and soft sand. I wish it had been a sunny day!!! Since we saw more clouds we decided to head back to the ship early. We grabbed some food from the BBQ, which was really good, but crowded. I don't imagine it is normally that crowded, but since the food areas are under a shelter and it was raining...go figure. We had the 8pm seating in the Paris dining room and met our table mates. All very nice couples. I still think it is amazing how Carnival pairs up people. We were all the same age (late 20s/early 30s), no children, and two of the four couples were in the military (we were one of the couples). Everyone was funny and the conversations were great all week. Mon, 31 March: Day at Sea, Formal night We just milled around on this day. We found some open lounge chairs on the top and laid out for an hour. It was cloudy and the wind is just too bad up there...I know most like the cool wind but I have really thin/fine hair and when the wind touches it it gets all tied up in knots. My hair got all wrapped around my sunglasses and I just had to yank it out. Anyway, so we went and changed and then headed to the casino. DH played blackjack and I stood behind and watched. I know how to play, but no sense in us both losing money! Actually he did really well. Always walked away with $20 extra. And kudos to the dealers, they were all very friendly and would laugh and joke with everybody. Only one was kinda rude and kept a straight serious face the whole time. It was now time to start getting ready for the formal night. I had a simple black dress, but I really liked it and I felt good in it (which is rare, just call me Ms Low Self-Esteem). DH wore his nice black suit and looked great as always. We had some pictures taken, went to the Captain's Cocktail Party, and then onto dinner. Food was great as usual. Went to the casino for a little bit, but was too tired for the show. I love eating at 8 (6 is way too early for us, 7 would be ideal), but we just can't ever make it past 11pm. We are both morning people, not night people. Read more