I Will Triumph
The departure of Elation brought the arrival of a bigger ship to New Orleans. I booked Triumph for six months after my last Elation cruise.
Embarkation
During embarkation I was stopped when my backpack went through the X-ray machine. The security guy grabs my backpack and asks me to open one of the pockets. I comply. He digs through it and doesn’t find anything. He looks back at the picture on the screen then asks “Did you forget to take something out of your backpack?” I asked what he was referring to. He looks back at the screen then asks “Did you bring a gun, sir?” I told him I don’t own a gun. He looks back at the screen then asks “Is there a chance you may have left a magazine for your gun in this backpack?” I reiterated the fact that I don’t own a gun. He says “I don’t know that.”
We take my backpack over to a table where he proceeds to take everything out of the main compartment of my backpack until finally he finds what he’s looking for. An empty hard case wallet.
I continued to bring that hard case wallet with me on subsequent cruises but I pack it in the small top unlocked compartment of my checked luggage. That way I’m not bothered with it and they have access to it if they want to check it out. I wish I could say this is the last cruise where security goes through my backpack looking for an imaginary weapon but it isn’t.
I finally made it on the ship! This is the cruise where I started the tradition of drinking fun ships on embarkation day. Theresa was the atrium bartender on this cruise and my Triumph cruise the same week the following year. She was an outstanding bartender.
Triumph was a big upgrade for me. This is the first class that had the tiered Lido Deck and staterooms on the Lido Deck. I still haven’t eaten in the MDR yet so adding Guy’s burgers and the Blue Iguana was huge.
Bar upgrades going from Elation to Triumph included the Red Frog Rum Bar, Blue Iguana Tequila Bar, The EA Sports Bar, and the Alchemy Bar.
Stateroom
I’m still experimenting with stateroom locations. Triumph is the first ship I’ve sailed on that has rooms on the lido deck. That sounds like a great location so I start to look at those rooms. I read about the “secret” decks at the front of the ship. I book a lido inside all the way up front so I only have a neighbor on one side and I’m just steps from the “secret” deck.
I thought I would use the secret deck a lot but every time I went out there it seemed like a couple was out there looking for privacy or a crew member was out there trying to get away from guests. I didn’t use it as much as I thought I would and I really didn’t like the long walk down the hallway.
One night I came back to the room and found the door knob was on the floor inside of my room instead of on the door. It turned out the steward reported an issue with the lock on my door and the person replacing it had stepped away to grab a tool. I wasn’t excited about my room being left unlocked and unattended.
On my second Triumph cruise I finally found the perfect room for me. A room I still book today. It’s a lido inside but instead of being all the way down the hallway, it’s right by the elevators. It’s also extremely close to the laundry room.
If you’re like me and want to go home with clean clothes, it sure is nice to be able to easily drop a load in the washer, then head out to the lido deck. Come back 45 minutes later and move it to the dryer. Then head back outside.
I had been booking a 5-day cruise in early September for a few years. For the past couple it had been the first week of the NFL football season. No big deal. I watch Monday night football and Thursday night football in the sports bar. Now that I have a specific room I want, I need to book earlier to ensure I get it.
I booked before the NFL schedule came out and as luck would have it, the Saints are playing on Monday Night Football to open the season. That is not a good thing in my world. I do not want to be on a cruise during a Saints game. This would mark the last time I book a cruise during football season before the NFL schedule release.
Entertainment
One of my favorite things about Triumph was the shows. Even after the rest of the fleet went to playlist productions, Triumph was still on the older shows with the live Orchestra. They also flew in a magician from Vegas to do a big Vegas style magic show with the dancers in the main theater one night. Then later that night he did a burlesque show with some of the dancers in the comedy club. It was a nice change of pace from playlist and Hasboro.
Alchemy Bar
Triumph was my first introduction to the Alchemy bar which quickly became my favorite place to have a drink. Below is the spicy chipotle pineapple martini which is usually the first drink I get at the Alchemy. On the second Triumph cruise I had a goal of drinking the Alchemy menu. I believe I did with the exception of a couple drinks with ingredients I didn’t want.
My second cruise on Triumph would be my last on that ship. I was ready for bigger ships, longer cruises, and different ports.
