We were considering taking the Triumph for December 14, 2008 but alot of the reviews of the ship are bad.  Many people have said that the ship is old and the age of the ship really shows. Others have complained of seeing brown water and smelling a foul odor and dirty carpeting in the cabins. I'm scared of taking the Triumph now because this is our first cruise and I wanted to treat our family to a really nice trip.  Any suggestions to quell my scares.

 The Triumph will have been refurbished by the time you sail.  Our sail on the ship is the last sailing before it goes into Dry Dock.  We leave on Sep. 14 so you will get to take advantage of all the upgraded stuff.  And us going in Sept. wil have to suffer 

We went on Elation last spring and had the same fears after reading some of the reviews.  We didn't notice any aging or smells like others had commented.  They are always cleaning so I don't know how anyone could.  Our next cruise is on Freedom and in a photo I recently saw it has a decent size dent in the back and it's a new ship.  You'll have a great time, after all it's a  fun ship so your vacation will be as good as you want it to be.

We just came back July 6,08 and did have brown water or smells. We found it to be in good shape for the age. As previous folks stated they are always cleaning and the Triumph is going for dry dock and remodel.Calm down relax and you'll have a blast.

We just returned from our trip on the Triumph and I didn't notice any brown water or smells at all.  The only complaint that we had were that some of the spas would be shut down for clorination which seemed to take a long time.  We cruised before on the Jubilee which is a much smaller ship and we liked this one much better.  The staff is fantastic and the boat was really nice.  I didn't realize that it was so old.  I never felt that.  Our cabin was always cleaned and if the carpet was dirty, I didn't notice that.  I would recommend this ship.

Thanks for the input.  I was worried because when I looked on different message boards, people had alot of negative things to say about the Triumph so I was ready to book on the Carnival Liberty since it was a newer ship.

A few weeks ago we saild on the Triumph and we loved it! As first time cruisers offcourse, we did not know what to espect but ist was great and i want to go aigain!

No brown water for us, no dirty carpet and only nice staff....

(Enlish is not my nativ so maybe it's not correct, but i hope you will untherstand it!)

brownskin, I wouldn't worry.  My wife and I are currently booked on the Triumph on 9/7.  It'll be our third cruise on her--once in 2005 and then last December.

She may be 8 years old but she still looks great.  Her crew is one of the best we've ever sailed with and we've been on 12 Carnival cruises.

We never had any problems with odor, brown water, or dirty carpeting.  Every time you turn around someone is cleaning her.

 I suppose as with anything else if you look for flaws you'll find them. Go with a good attitude and you'll have a blast.

We were on the Triumph a year ago.  It was our eighth cruise and I didn't have any complaints about the ship, the staff, the water.  In fact, it was a great cruise.  It is an older ship but we found it to be well maintained.  The docor was a south beach theme, but what is wrong with that?  I am so psyched it is coming to NO.  I think that might be our destination for the end of next year.

We just returned from the Triump (even before dry dock) and never experienced any of the complaints you mentioned.  We had a wonderful time and our room was big (especially the bathroom) and was very clean.  You will have a wonderful time.  The staff was wonderful and the food was great.  Don't worry you will enjoy I promise.

Just returned from the Triumph, no brown water or smells but was a little disappointed in the entertainment on the ship. Nothing like we have had on previous trips. There was not alot of live entertainment that was worth listening to. The shows in the theater were ok but not the best we have seen. The food was good and service was great but its very obvious that they are cutting expenses by cutting back on the entertainment.  In the past there was always a night where there was alot of foodcarvings and ice carvings in the dining room at midnight. We did not have this on this ship. Ship was ok but will not cruise on the Triumph again.   

Going on Triumph next week (Nov 9 -17).  A little disappointed to hear the buffets close down so quickly.  Does anyone have a time schedule of when they are open?  More so breakfast and lunch as I plan on doing the sit down dinners.  Thanks!!

Cruised on the Triumph last week and had a great experience.  The ship was renovated and was very nice and clean.  We had a balcony room with four people, we have cruised before with the same people and had plenty of room but this time the couch was not regular size so it made for cramped sleeping, but since you aren't in the room that much we didn't mind.  Hope this eases your mind and Happy Cruising!

The breakfast buffet opens at 7 and closes around 10 and the dining room was open from 8:30a to 10:30a.  Lunch was from 11a to 2:30p and dinner from 5p to 9:30p, did not have a problem with finding something to eat if the food lines were closed just called for room service, try the Rueben very good.