Rethinking Carnival Conquest??

I recently booked the Conquest for next year because of the different ports that Royal Caribbean does not go to. Now after reading the reviews, which are mostly bad, I am thinking of maybe jumping to another Carnival ship that has different ports like Grand Turk. Anybody have any recommendations? Not really familiar with Carnival. Thanks in advance!

Karen

Not sure which "mostly bad" reviews you've read.

Are you reading on the main Review board? Because I stopped reading there years ago.

I read reviews posted here, on the Carnival board. The people who take the time to write reviews (usually with photos) here tend to be much more objective and thorough.

OK, maybe that's just me, but I don't think so. ;)

If you've been reading "over there," I recommend you click the ship's name at the top of this board and find some recent review threads. I wrote reviews of both my Conquest sailings.

I sailed her first in November 2013 from San Juan to Miami, then was on her for my most recent cruise.

No, she doesn't have a Serenity Deck, but has all the other 2.0 improvements. I like her decor better than most (Impressionist art).

We don't know what you're looking for, so don't know what's important to you. Only you can decide that.

I don't really sail for the ship, and am perfectly happy on Fantasy, the oldest in the fleet. But I like the Conquest-class.

I had a look at the member reviews and couldn't figure out where the "mostly bad" came from. Looking at the most recently posted ones (from June on), 79% rated the cruise "average" or better. The ones that rated it "better than average" outnumbered the ones that rated it "worse than average" by more than 2-to-1.

The ratings were:

1 out of 5 - zero

2 out of 5 - five

3 out of 5 - eight

4 out of 5 - six

5 out of 5 - five

Not sure which "mostly bad" reviews you've read.

 

Are you reading on the main Review board? Because I stopped reading there years ago.

 

I read reviews posted here, on the Carnival board. The people who take the time to write reviews (usually with photos) here tend to be much more objective and thorough.

 

OK, maybe that's just me, but I don't think so. ;)

 

If you've been reading "over there," I recommend you click the ship's name at the top of this board and find some recent review threads. I wrote reviews of both my Conquest sailings.

 

I sailed her first in November 2013 from San Juan to Miami, then was on her for my most recent cruise.

 

No, she doesn't have a Serenity Deck, but has all the other 2.0 improvements. I like her decor better than most (Impressionist art).

 

We don't know what you're looking for, so don't know what's important to you. Only you can decide that.

 

I don't really sail for the ship, and am perfectly happy on Fantasy, the oldest in the fleet. But I like the Conquest-class.

Thanks I will look at that. Yes I was reading the main review board :eek:

I was just on the Conquest. I liked the ship. I would go on it again.

We did the Conquest when it was in Miami last November and loved it. Would not hesitate to jump on the ship again.

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

Sailed Conquest in October of last year and am seriously thinking of booking it again in February 2016. If it was that bad, I wouldn't do it again. We all had a wonderful time and I love the Conquest-class ships. The only thing missing on the Conquest was the Serenity area, and not a big deal because we always found a nice area to sit in out on deck. Alchemy Bar also on board. I think you'd have a good time!

I liked the Conquest so much I got married on her!!!! She is a beautiful ship!!

I sailed on her in 2004 from NO to Jamaica, Cozumel, and GC. Went by myself

I recently booked the Conquest for next year because of the different ports that Royal Caribbean does not go to. Now after reading the reviews, which are mostly bad, I am thinking of maybe jumping to another Carnival ship that has different ports like Grand Turk. Anybody have any recommendations? Not really familiar with Carnival. Thanks in advance!

Karen

I think thats a good call as we recently got off the Conquest in August and we were not impressed at all. Although none of the issues with the ship ruined our cruise, this was the first time in any of our previous cruises we noticed multiple things wrong with the ship. Some of the things we noticed were

1) Many of the machines in the gym were out of service for the entire cruise (almost half the elliptical and treadmills)

2) Broken windows in the main dining room (including the window that we sat next too)

3) Broken down arcade games

We also noticed that the staff were not as friendly or available as they were on our previous cruises. We had an upcoming cruise booked on the Conquest for next year, but instead we moved it to another ship as this will probably be our first and last cruise on the Conquest.

Not sure which "mostly bad" reviews you've read.

 

Are you reading on the main Review board? Because I stopped reading there years ago.

 

I read reviews posted here, on the Carnival board. The people who take the time to write reviews (usually with photos) here tend to be much more objective and thorough.

 

OK, maybe that's just me, but I don't think so. ;)

 

If you've been reading "over there," I recommend you click the ship's name at the top of this board and find some recent review threads. I wrote reviews of both my Conquest sailings.

 

I sailed her first in November 2013 from San Juan to Miami, then was on her for my most recent cruise.

 

No, she doesn't have a Serenity Deck, but has all the other 2.0 improvements. I like her decor better than most (Impressionist art).

 

We don't know what you're looking for, so don't know what's important to you. Only you can decide that.

 

I don't really sail for the ship, and am perfectly happy on Fantasy, the oldest in the fleet. But I like the Conquest-class.

I'm booked on Conquest for December; I really enjoyed its sister Freedom last year. But I see what the OP sees, also. I read the reviews on the Carnival board and the main board, fully understanding differences in perspective. You are right; this board's reviews tend to be more specific, but there are not near as many recent reviews for Conquest as the main board. I'm not letting the reviews diminish looking forward to my cruise; actually, I stop looking at them after I have made a decision to book. The main board average rating of the 22 reviews from June 1 to August 31 is 3.4 - above the "average" rating of 3 but not necessarily a ringing endorsement. But it is certainly good enough for me!

Not all the 2.0 improvements have been added other than the Serenity deck. I also believe Conquest does not have a Red Frog Pub which I found to be a great addition to Freedom and Pride.

The thing I wouldn't like about the Conquest is no serenity area. Not sure why they left it off this 1 ship.

If you don't think you will btw happy, change your cruise. Nobody here can tell if you will like a shop and I can guarantee those reviews you have been reading mean nothing.

Sent from my SM-N910V using Tapatalk

Just got off her in August, this was not a ship I will go on again anytime soon. The air conditioning was the worse of any of the ships we have been on and not just in our cabin. The only place that was cool was the library and tons of screaming teenagers would come barreling in and disturb others that were actually trying to enjoy a good book in the "library". Our room steward was very sub par, thank goodness his assist was efficient and friendly. We know the CD, Jase, who has been assigned to her to get her crew into shape. So, maybe when that happens and I hear the A/C is working better we might try her again.

The thing I wouldn't like about the Conquest is no serenity area. Not sure why they left it off this 1 ship.

Thought that was very strange.

Excellent ship only negative is the playlist production shows.

You have to remember, too, that people tend to write reviews more when they have a bad experience, and not as often when they have a good one. I mean, think about when you buy something or eat at a restaurant. If you have a bad experience, the first thing you think about is "I have to go write a review! Rawr!" But when the experience is pleasant, how many people take the time to write a good review? Personally, I take other people's opinions with a grain of salt. I like to develop my own opinion.

Went on the Conquest last Feb, had a great time. The aft area never had any kids hanging out. The only thing that was not great I had luke warm food in the Lido a few times and getting from aft forward I always ended up in the dining room, IM used to spirit class ships. You would have a great time unless you think you will not before you go.

We have our next cruise booked on the Conquest (May/2016), and we're looking forward to it. We've been on her sister ship, the Liberty, twice, and so at least we know the layout of the ship will be pretty much identical. Not having the Serenity deck is no big deal to me. We've never been able to find a vacant place on the Serenity deck (of the ships we've been on) anyhow. As far as reviews go, I don't really put a lot of stock in them. We all have our own opinions about things, and what one person finds bad may not be so for someone else. Now, if a large number of people state the same facts about something, on cruise after cruise after cruise, on the same ship, that's definitely worth paying attention to.

We have our next cruise booked on the Conquest (May/2016), and we're looking forward to it. We've been on her sister ship, the Liberty, twice, and so at least we know the layout of the ship will be pretty much identical. Not having the Serenity deck is no big deal to me. We've never been able to find a vacant place on the Serenity deck (of the ships we've been on) anyhow. As far as reviews go, I don't really put a lot of stock in them. We all have our own opinions about things, and what one person finds bad may not be so for someone else. Now, if a large number of people state the same facts about something, on cruise after cruise after cruise, on the same ship, that's definitely worth paying attention to.

They talk about doing some thing about the CHOGS on lido but for some reason do not address it on serenity.

I recently booked the Conquest for next year because of the different ports that Royal Caribbean does not go to. Now after reading the reviews, which are mostly bad, I am thinking of maybe jumping to another Carnival ship that has different ports like Grand Turk. Anybody have any recommendations? Not really familiar with Carnival. Thanks in advance!

Karen

The things we all enjoy or expect on cruises can be very different from person to person. Maybe if you could give some examples of the things read that concern you, or things that you know would bother you, we could give you more specific advice.

Generally, we sailed the Conquest and enjoyed it just fine. We never had a significant issue, but there might be things that would bother you and not me.

I was on the liberty in 2007, now while the cruise and ship itself was great, my only issue was with the cabin steward. he kept coming in the room while my daughter was getting dressed. it was almost as if he knew when her clothes were off. we complained a few times but nothing was done.. other than that, no bad reviews! well.... the layout was confusing, but nothing to stop me from going again. carnival's ships are small enough to go to different ports, which is a reason why I would go with this line! I'm excited about going to grand turk. in 2007, we hit Belize, Costa Rica and Panama.

We were on the Conquest in February. We enjoyed the trip so much we have scheduled the same cruise again in February of 2016.

I do not want a hot room, but we had no temperature issues in our cabin. It was a little warm when we first boarded, but we turned down the thermostat and it cooled right up.

All the staff we came into contact with were great.

This was the first Carnival cruise we had taken in five years, as we are platinum on Princess. We would not hesitate to sail Carnival again. Princess needs to expand on their itineraries.

We were on her in April and it was one of the best cruises we've been on.

The ship is decorated with artists-Van Gogh, Degas, Renoir Manet. The murals copying the works of these artists are so fun and everywhere from the elevator ceilings to the atrium. I loved this ship so much more than the magic. Beautiful ship. Great service when I was on board! Loved the set up of the ship. Did have an adults only area but it wasn't serenity. We don't go during school breaks so don't really a specific adult area.

I've was on b2b on Conquest out of new Orleans didn't have a problem seemed like glory or liberty should of read more what problems were talked about specifically?