I embarked for a seven night cruise on the Carnival Triumph along with 9 other family members including my 18 year old son, sister, brother-in-law, and six nieces and nephews ranging in age from 5 to 20. We chose this cruise because my sister and her family could drive to the port. We booked a year in advance directly with Carnival. We booked two connecting oceanview cabins on the Main deck. I knew going in that this might be a little too much family togetherness but I decided to go for it so sis and her family could save some dollars. My last two cruises were on Holland America but I had sailed Carnival twice before the Triumph. I really had no complaints about my cruises on the Carnival Miracle and the Carnival Valor. I truly wish I could say the same about my Triumph cruise. Ports on this cruise were: Key West, Freeport, and Nassau.

I know Mother Nature cannot be controlled and as luck would have it we embarked on one of the coldest days New Orleans had seen in a while. The only good thing about the embarkation was that we were able to be inside and not outside during the long wait. It took us over two hours to clear through security and get on the ship. Once on the ship we quickly dropped off our carry-on luggage and headed to the buffet. Long lines were the theme of the day and we had difficulties getting an elevator and finding tables in the buffet. This turned out to be the norm for the entire cruise. My brother-in-law cannot climb stairs so we had to be content to hunt for an open table on the lower level of the buffet. Our teens were usually successful in finding a table in the upper level. Unlike the Valor, the Triumph does not have a food station on the upper level.

The Triumph lay-out is a bit annoying. Deck 5 is the only lower public deck that goes all the way through. We found ourselves continually going up or down to get where we wanted to be. The Washington library is on deck 4 but rather small - passengers made good use of it for reading and card games. The shops on Carnival have the typical cruise ware for sale. There are not a lot of views to the outside unlike other ships I have sailed. Read more