My wife and I take 2-4 cruises a year. Nearly all on royal Caribbean, however when my Brother in law said lets take a cruise after Christmas the difference in price and timing helped up pick the Carnival Triumphs December 28th sailing out of Galveston. We were hesitant! Out last cruise on Carnival in 2005 was not a good experience. But since Royal Caribbean was twice the price and they have been getting less friendly over the years we gave Carnival a try.

Embarkation didn't go well, we moved quickly through the line and the staff were friendly, however we had to set in chairs in the port for over an hour before we boarded the ship! This is using their new method of assiging you a time to arrive to "speed up and streamline the process" We even spent the extra money to pay "fast to the fun" not so fast!

We booked this cruise only 4 weeks out and got a guarantee inside room (all they said they had available) cabin 1259. Upon arrival we did go straight to our stateroom and were pleasantly surprised. It seemed a little larger than a similar Royal Caribbean and their beds convert into a real King not the so called King on RCI. Plenty of storage, clean a good room. Read more