This was our second cruise on carnival.our cruise was an oldies cruise with guest stars, the four tops,bill medley, paul revere and the raiders, and andy kim. the shows were great.we had been on carnial before and knew what to expect, however when we arrived at the port of miami, all passengers arrived at the same time and once on the ship all passengers were directed to the lido deck for lunch.you can guess with nearly 2,900 passengers what that was like. I know carnival was overwhelmed with the crowds, but I saw no effort from carnival staff to help.once in our room we were very surprised.we had stateroom 6432 on the upper deck. this was an 8-a category room and much larger than all other 8-a staterooms,and a large balcony.

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I would recommend 6432 to any first time balcony passengers.the food was great, as usual and our head watier was the best.we had no time for on board activities, as we had concerts with the stars during the day, so I can't commment on shipboard activities.our room steward was good, but hardly ever saw him.I feel that carnival taking out tips the first day lends staff not to work as hard for tips.overall the ship was in great shape, and the triumph was the largest ship we had been on.for those who like casinos, this casino on the triumph was huge.bars and dance clubs are everywhere and you can stay out all night and have a great time. I would rate the triumph an overall 4 out of 5 stars.shore excursions are what you make of them.we had been to cozumel mexico, grand cayman, and jamaica before and my wife knew that shopping was a must in cozumel, great deals and the best part is they give you free tequila just to come into the store, even without buying anything.we love carnival and will most likely only cruise on carnival.some people say carnival is too much of a party boat, but you can have a great time on carnival even if you don't party. we have never had problems kids on ships, but as I say we have on been on two cruises, and I have read reviews of terrible brats running up and down, but we have been lucky so far.the triumph is a large ship and hard to get around on at times, there are floors you can not get to from other floors without getting on elevators and knowing which floor to get off on, and all elevators don't go to the same floors, but after a day or two you can get around just fine.I highly recommend carnival.