Carnival Triumph Review
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I had been one of those people who had aspired to be "Diamond" on Royal Caribbean. Royal was the only line that I had ever experienced. I was satisfied with everything they offered for my first 3 cruises, and would have happily continued to sail with them, and never tried another line, had I not noticed the benefits of being a repeat customer with Royal were declining while the prices per person were rapidly escalating. I still can't make myself believe that this marketing tactic is going to work well for them, but...good luck RCCI. I hope my comparison is helpful to anyone who may be searching for this kind of review.
EMBARKATION: We sailed from the Port of New Orleans. On this point, I have no basis for comparison since I have never sailed from the same port more than once, and Royal Caribbean does not offer any sailings from this port, which I think is another poor marketing strategy for RCCI. Since we live in Birmingham, Alabama, it was an easy drive to the port. We sailed on Monday, December 7. We arrived at the port around noon and paid $80 for parking for 6 days. The porter's, located in the parking garage, took our bags and we tipped them $5 for two bags. We parked and took the elevator down to the first floor to join a very long line of passengers. The line moved relatively quickly, however, once inside we were packed into a very small space with no opportunity to sit while we waited. Once we reached the processors, things moved very quickly and Carnival made this process with the "Fun Pass" very quick and convenient.
FIRST IMPRESSIONS OF THE SHIP: We walked into the main lobby and the ship was decorated for Christmas. Beautiful trees and garland adorned the main lobby and the balconies that overlooked the main lobby. We had expected Carnival to have a much different dEcor that what we were accustomed to with RCCI, and while it was different, it was not garish by any means. The Triumph is decorated with a much more contemporary feeling that you will find on the previous RCCI ships that we have sailed. It was clean and every surface was shined and polished. We did find that the layout of the ship made it difficult to move from one end of the ship to the other. By the end of the cruise we had learned that it was easier to use deck 5 to make our way around the ship.