Cruise Ship: Carnival Triumph
Cruise Destination: Eastern Caribbean
Cruise Dates: December 29, 2007 - January 5, 2008
Guest Contributor: Deborah
In the last three months I have cruised the Mediterranean with NCL, the Panama Canal with Princess, and the Eastern Caribbean on the Carnival Triumph. On the Triumph we had a total of 18 persons in our group. This cruise was the worst I have ever been on (We have cruised 7 times with Carnival in the past on different ships).
The Triumph, which apparently has listed an occupancy of 2800, was overcrowded--3400 passengers of which 1000 were kids. We booked in August for our December 29 cruise. We requested late seating, but part of our group was assigned to the late, and part to the early seating. They could not accommodate any changes for us. My husband and I had booked a penthouse suite which was very nice, but one of the cabins (#1432)our daughter was in was so noisy from the engine vibrations that she couldn't sleep.
We went with the express checkout-carrying our own bags off the ship. My husband and I were off by 8:30 am - the rest of our group not until 11.30 am. We had to stand outside the ship waiting - no seating. My husband is handicapped and wears a leg brace, and by the time the rest of our party got off the ship he was in extreme pain from having to stand for 3 hours. I am not sure why it was called "express checkout" as our group were included in the last 200 persons to disembark. We had chosen one of the cheapest cruises (due to the fact that we were paying the trip for 12 of the 18 in our group), but I guess I still was expecting a certain level of service, which I found lacking.
However, it was hard to blame the staff as I believe they were overwhelmed by the amount of passengers and due to this really couldn't accommodate any special needs. On a more positive note--food was good -- not spectacular. Pizza was excellent. Our waiter was entertaining and fun. He asked us if we wanted the same wine every evening and as soon as we sat down - wine was at the table. Our cabin stewards were very good. So, what's the moral of the story? Pay the extra--go with PRINCESS, NCL, or CELEBRITY. The bitterness of poor quality remains long after the sweetness of low price.
