Did my boyfriend and I go on the same trip? May 3-10th, Carnival Triumph to W. Caribbean?
Our experience was a bit different. We took an early morning flight the day of embarkation, flew into MIA at around 11am. We took the carnival transportation bus to the docks for $14/person. We had to wait, but it didn't matter -- we weren't in any major rush.
Embarkation Day: At the terminal, we went through security pretty quickly and easily. Inside, we checked in and got our keys very efficiently, though they gave us the wrong keys initially. We boarded the ship in time for lunch -- roughly 12:30pm. We were too early to drop our bags off in our room, but we packed very light and our bags weren't much of a hassel. Lunch on the Lido deck was disappointing not because the food was horrible but because the lines were too long and the deck/dining area too crowded -- it was difficult finding a table to eat at.
Days at Sea: Like our embarkation day, the ship during our days at sea felt very crowded. I've been on 2 other cruises and have never felt like there have been too many people on board. We stayed on an inside cabin and had difficulty knowing what time it was. It didn't matter, though, as we were more interested in resting and relaxing and definitely didn't want to get up on our "free" days. If you want a lounge chair by the poolside, you will have to claim one early, though. We enjoyed the sun, but weren't hard core sun bathers. We enjoyed the trivia and bingo sessions. We also spent our days at sea going to the "things to do/buy at the next port" talks. We didn't find Rudy's talks worthwhile. It felt too geared toward the high-end shopper (and as for the "freebies", they're exceedingly worthless -- I threw one of them away right as I got it). Plus, you can watch the talks on your TVs from the comfort of your own cabin (which, I must say is larger than most cabins on other ships).
Dining: Breakfast was the worst meal of the day -- if you don't mind waiting in line, go for the omlet. On port days, we chose to get the free room service just to streamline our mornings and get out with the maximum amount of time on land. Room service was always punctual. Lunches were standard fare, the lines were still long. The Thai food was reasonable, and the deli looked pretty good. We enjoyed the fries and all-you-can-eat soft serve ice cream. Our first dinner on the Triumph, the host/maitre d' ignored us and then seated us at the wrong table. When we notified them, they removed us from the table and brought us to our assigned table. Dinner was always very slow for our table, but our servers were very nice and friendly. Each day, we'd order at least 2 desserts, each. They didn't always look like they were supposed to (i.e. the Tiramisu), but they were, overall, pretty good. Dinner was a little bland for me, but not bad for cruise food.
Cleanliness/Stateroom: I didn't really get to know our stateroom attendant well. I felt like they were always the little elves who turned down the bed and left the cute towel animals at night and kept our room clean. I do, however, really wish there was someone who cleaned the huge air vent next to one of the stairways in the main area on level 10. It was horrendously disgusting. Otherwise, I really don't have much to complain about. I think the upkeep of the boat could be better -- repaint the rusty parts, the decks to the lifeboats were painted during one of our port days, but really... it was closed off to the passengers except during an emergency, and i really won't care at that point if it's not varnished and glossy.
Excursions:
Cozumel: we did the dolphin swim adventure at cozumel. It was fantastic! We loved it and would recommend it to everyone! Don't get duped by the cabbies who tell you they can take you on an island tour. We were in Cozumel for Cinco de Mayo, but don't be fooled -- the locals didn't do anything special for it. The shopping wasn't all that impressive. we didn't enjoy all the store employees yelling at us trying to get us to go into the store.
Cayman Island: This is the one place we're looking forward to returning. We had a fantastic time snorkeling and swimming with the stingrays with Moby Dicks tour. The water was clear, the stingrays friendly, and we even saw a sea turtle on the ride back to the docks from stingray city (it was swimming at the top of the water... totally unexpected!). Unfortunately, we had to take tendered boats to and from the ship and dock, and we would've liked to spend more time ashore.
Jamaica: I would not go back to Jamaica with Carnival. We docked at their import/export docks for sugar and the like. It smelled awful, the ground was sticky, and it just looked run down. We did, however, see another Carnival ship docked at the nice dock near all the shopping. In fact, on our way back to our dock from the shopping area, one sketchy guy on the side of the road called to us, opened his hand with a gold chain in it, and tried to sell it to us. SHADDY! After we got off the ship, we met up with Peat Taylor Tours -- we really didn't know where to meet him when we first got off, but we asked one woman who was helping to get people to the right area, and she immediately knew where to take us and escorted us to a group of people waiting for Peat Taylor. The tour was good, and we saw everything we wanted to.
Odds and ends: The ship crew wasn't as helpful as I had expected or come to expect on cruise ships. Our first day, the safe was locked, and they were hesitant about sending someone up in a timely fashion to help us open it. I had to be persistent and pester them until they found someone and sent them to help open the safe. Then, when there was some confusion about where to meet one of my tours -- it was at a hotel, and I was trying to find the hotel and how to get there (not booked through Carnival), I called the purser's desk to see if someone could help me. The woman said she didn't know Ochos Rios, and that she couldn't help me. She said there was nothing she could do. I had to ask her if she could help me call the tour in the morning if she wouldn't help me find the hotel. I was so upset with the unfriendly staff.
Debarking: We waited like good little children in our cabins until our number was called... except that no one else was following the rules. We ended up leaving before we were called... we went to the debarkation talk, we even talked to the staff afterwards, and they assured us we were going to get off on time. Just a word of advice, take a late flight... even if it means you're going to take a connecting flight and get home at midnight.
Phew. I think that's it... for now. Overall, I don't think we had an awful time. we had an ok time, but having gone on other cruises, it wasn't up to par. I wanted at least a HELPFUL staff and a CLEAN ship, and I feel they dropped the ball on these two aspects.