We are first time cruisers and have booked through
Carnival directly. Although the girl we are dealing with is very nice she doesn't seem to be able to give me any price idea for the excursions. We hope to do at least one for each port, but are afraid we will get on the ship and they will be outragous. If anyone has cruised the Triumph recently and has an idea of the prices please let me know, Thanks!

Use the internet and find your own excursions. Jamaica, Cozumel, Grand Cayman all have websites with numerous descriptions and prices for excursions.

If you are interested in swimming with the stingrays, the best is Captain Marvin's at www.captainmarvins.com. The groups are smaller than throught the cruise ship, the trip is longer, and it's cheaper. We went in April and had a blast.

We were on the Triumph April and had a great time. After a lot of research online we booked the follwoing excursions ourselves. Saved a lot of money over Carnivals prices.
Cozumel Take a taxi to Chakanaub (sp). Great beach with lounge chairs and sun or shade. Very good snorkleing. Dolphin swim is available but a little pricy. Taxi cost $10 each way and admission is $10 per person. Total for family of 4 $60.
Grand Cayman 1/2 day trip with Captain Marvyn's. Two snorkeling stops and a stop at Stingray City. This is on a smaller boat. We had 12 people on board, so you get personalized attention. Much better than going on the cruise lines cattle boats with 100+ people. $39 per person. Total for family $156
Jamaica Full day tour by Peete Taylor. One of the first people to the falls so we got to go up at our own pace without waiting for ohter groups. By the time we were done the lower falls were packed with the cruise ship tours. The we took us sightseeing around the island. We will take you anywhere you want and will even split up the group. Bus only holds about 20 people. One big hint. When leaving the falls if you don't want to go through all the shops and get hasseled just go back the way you came in. Remember the shops are to the right, the bus is to the left. Ignore the signs that say "THIS WAY TO THE BUSES". $30 per person. $120 for the family.
Total for all shore excursion $336

Good inf. Is it hard to hire a cab or car to take you where you want to go?

I do not mean to dispute the well-meaning views of the other, more experienced cruisers who have done perhaps scores of cruises. But I went through Carnival on all my shore excursions for one reason and one reason only. If your private contractor's boat breaks down, and you don't get back to the port on time, Carnival has no duty to get you and your family to the next port. So that means you have to fly the family to the next port, or find some other way to get them there. If the CCL people get in a bind, the boat waits for you, or CCL gets you to the next port. To me, the peace of mind of knowing my shore excursion would end with me back at the boat no matter what was more than worth the extra five or ten bucks I paid to book through CCL.

That said, much of the criticism of the others with respect to the "cattle call" like nature of the shore excursions cannot be over-emphasized. I would stay away from the Tulum tours because they are long and keep you away from the ship for a very long time.

We did Jamaica on our own (We went to Jimmy Buffet's Margaritaville and had a blast, and recommend it) and we did the Sting Rays in Cayman. We recommend it. We did the Playa Del Sol Beach Break in Cozumel. My wife liked it more than I did, but we both thought it was money well spent versus what others paid to do basically the same thing.

That's my view.