Chillin’ on the Conquest: April 2nd, 8 night Eastern

Hi, all.

I recently returned from a very relaxing cruise on the Conquest.

In the past I’ve done lengthy trip reports with lots of pictures. But, Photobucket and I have a love/hate relationship. I love to post photos and Photobucket hates me. ;)

This time, I’m doing a report with less pictures; and sadly no food porn. :eek:

But, if you’d like to hear about a relaxing cruise with a few stories along the way; stick around. We got off at every port; but didn't do any shore excursions. That doesn’t mean we didn’t have fun ashore – stay tuned!

We’ve been doing family cruises the last few years; it’s a great way to visit and vacation at the same time. This year we had a group of 9. Along with me is DW, two brothers and SIL’s, an adult niece, plus my 90+ year old Pop and his better half.

Let me introduce myself; chillin’ on the balcony on a sea day:

If you were on this cruise, or any past Conquest voyage; please feel free to join in and share your experiences as well.

Coming up: Embarkation

Looking forward to more.:)

We were on this ship, and I'll be posting a summary of our experiences today as well!! (I still have to write up the onshore portions, though!)

Looking forward to more.:)

Thanks for following; I'll have a little more ready to post this afternoon.

We were on this ship, and I'll be posting a summary of our experiences today as well!! (I still have to write up the onshore portions, though!)

Following your report as well. I like when others on the same cruise post; its nice to see how everyone spent their time.

Saturday, April 2nd: EMBARKATION DAY

Was on this ship in September. My first Carnival cruise and I loved it. Trying to plan another one for next year. Can't wait to read about your cruise.

We had a bit of a hiccup this morning; a dead battery. :eek:

Thanks to AAA and the fact they carry batteries for all makes of cars; we were on our way only about an hour later than planned for our 90 minute drive to the port. What makes this more unusual is the fact that a few years ago, one of our family members had a dead battery at the END of the cruise. So, if you a driving to your next cruise destination, my family has reduced the odds of you having a dead battery dramatically. You’re welcome. :)

I had heard a lot about Embarkation at Port Everglades. Some good, including from family members with us; but a lot of negative info here on CC. Overall, things went well. But, we did have some problems specific to our group.

Finding the port, getting thru the drive-thru security (have your passports ready), finding the terminal (#19 as long as there is only one Carnival ship in Port Everglades), and parking all went very smoothly.

We had a slow-down when entering the terminal. We had FTTF and Pop needed a wheelchair; but just for getting up the gangway. We had no trouble with this at Port Canaveral and found Port Everglades lacking. Here, we had to wait 30 minutes just inside the terminal waiting for a porter to wheel Pop thru Security and the rest of the check-in process. In hind-sight; we should have just stayed in the FTTF line and asked for a wheelchair later.

They then have a Special Assistance waiting area to wait until after Diamond/Platinum/FTTF have boarded. Even if you are IN one of those categories. I had to continually remind the guy that we should have priority and we finally did get on with other family members who also had FTTF.

Boy, were we glad we had the wheelchair for Pop to get on the ship. Most gangways go back and forth as you go up the incline to the ship. This one is very short and goes directly up to the ship; at a very steep angle. By far the steepest walk we’ve ever seen.

It’s hard to get a good picture of the ship during embarkation, so here’s one from our beautiful day in St. Maarten.

Coming up: What’s for lunch?

Looking forward to more....:)

Was on this ship in September. My first Carnival cruise and I loved it. Trying to plan another one for next year. Can't wait to read about your cruise.

You always remember your first cruise! Thanks for following along.

Looking forward to more....:)

Thanks for reading; I'm glad you are enjoying.

I believe they started boarding just after noon. We dropped our carry-on bags in our cabins (because we all had FTTF or are Platinum), and headed to the Lido Deck for lunch.

Even with no pics, I will talk about food; just not as in-depth as I have in the past. Also, keep in mind that food is very subjective. While most people like Guy’s Burgers; there are some that don’t.

Speaking of which, if I am on a ship that has Guy’s, it is my go-to spot on Embarkation Day. It’s 12:30 when I sit down for lunch. Now – vacation officially starts. :D

For dessert, I do want to mention the cake pops. The first few years, these were fantastic! I noticed last year on the Sunshine that instead of delicious cake, they were very undercooked. I thought it was just a fluke on that ship, it happens. But, I found the Strawberry (on Embarkation Day) and Chocolate Cake Pops (on another day) to be undercooked. To the point we couldn’t eat them. But, there were plenty of other desserts to choose from; I can assure you we ate well at every meal.

Instead of our normal routine of taking in the sights of a new ship; we’re in chillin’ mode, so we headed to our cabins. Our bags had arrived, we unpacked and relaxed. We also watched for quite a while as they loaded crates and crates of food on board. Have you watched this? We didn’t know it takes three separate forklifts to get food where it needs to be stored on the ship. One is to get it off of the truck. A second one has longer “forks” to reach and put the crate on the ship. And finally, a forklift on the ship to move things into place to make room for more. Boy, was there a lot of cabbage and beans. LOL And, not enough bananas in our opinion. We had a running joke because the last time we took an 8 night cruise; they ran out of bananas on day 6. I guess there were more than we though, we did not have to go banana-free this cruise. ;)

Soon, it was time for the Muster Drill. Folks, please arrive on time and stay off of your phones. This is mandatory and doesn’t finish until everyone complies. It was warm; but thankfully it was April (as opposed to August) and we were in the shade.

We headed up to Deck 10 for Sail Away. At Port Canaveral and POM, I’m used to a 4PM Sail Away; at Port Everglades, it was scheduled for 5:15. We heard an overhead announcement that we would be delayed because not everyone was on board. I guess it must have been people that flew thru Carnival?

The first to leave is the Oasis of the Seas, you can also see a Celebrity and a Princess ship.

There was also another Princess ship and the Navigator of the Seas. Just when we thought we’d be left in the dust; we departed after the last Princess ship.

Coming Soon: Our first evening at sea

It’s time for dinner, we chose Your Time Dining. With a large group, we usually go right when they open to make sure we get a large table and usually the same wait staff each evening. Today, beginning with the dead battery, the entire day seem to be running late. Since most of us had not departed from Port Everglades, we wanted to see Sail Away. We arrived at the Renior Dining Room at 6:40, hoping a lot of people were also running late. Alas they were since there was no line at all!

This is our 2nd cruise with the new American menus. There are some things on both menus: lobster, filet mignon, prime rib, BBQ ribs, crème brulee, and of course, WCMC. I must say, my family finds plenty of things on both menus that we like.

But, let’s discuss the American menu table settings. Even though the wood tables are beautiful; most in our family did not like the loss of table cloths except on formal night. Having water pitchers on the table was great; but even with the containers they were in, they still dripped everywhere when you poured from them. And, most importantly; we really noticed an increase in noise with no table cloths compared to the formal nights.

Now, on to the food. My choices tonight included the fried oysters, which were better than the ones at the Fish and Chips. I also had the bean quesadilla and from the Port of Call menu I chose the Mahi Mahi. This was a great dinner.

I have a little story about dessert. I’m not sure why the waiter thought I was the head of the table – maybe because I talk a lot and asked more questions? LOL Anyways, he mentioned something about a cake. I hadn’t ordered a cake; yet a beautiful Bon Voyage cake was delivered to us – but with no note.

So, now, we have to go back a little bit, to before the cruise.

I follow John Heald on Facebook. He had requested to be notified a few days ahead of time if any WWII vets were cruising. My Pop is a WWII vet, so I posted and received a reply from him that he would let the ship know and they would do “something special”. I had purposely not told anyone in my family, not even DW. I wanted whatever happened to be a surprise for all. Well, with no note, I presumed that the cake was from John. So, I shared the story with everyone and we told Pop the cake was from John – this Carnival guy on the computer that he’s never heard of. LOL

Then, a sister-in-law overhead the waiter mention a note with the cake. It was interesting how well their computer systems work that they could track us down since we had YTD; they would have no idea when or even if we would show up.

Anyways, I asked the waiter for the card. He was surprised, but gave it to me. So, after spilling the beans about a John Heald surprise; it turns out the cake was from a niece who had cruised with us before; but couldn’t make this trip. How sweet! Thanks, Niecy; she will be reading this. I hope things work out for you to join us next time! The wait staff mentioned that there was a disconnect with the cake. A card should have been sent to my brother/SIL's cabin telling them it would be there; that’s why they didn’t give us the card.

After dinner, a few of us decided to do something different. We went into the art gallery to look around. We’ve done this before; but stayed for more than just a minute or two this time. We stayed long enough to get a free 8x10 picture of a flower.

When we were in the art gallery DW and a few others heard an overhead announcement of a Medical Emergency in the Renior Restaurant we had just left. We wondered what happened? We did find out; you’ll find out a little later, as well.

We then hit the gift shop. We’re not much on souvenirs, but we do like t-shirt with the ship’s logo. They had some, we’ll decide later in the week if we want to purchase; we’re holding out for the t-shirt sale on the last night.

We headed back to our cabin to relax on the balcony for a while. Since we’ve been lucky enough to cruise more often recently, we don’t feel the need to do everything and run ourselves ragged. This really is a chillin’ cruise. We were in bed by 10:30.

So, everyone loves Towel Animals, right? We do, and I admit, we had trouble figuring out what a lot of the animals were. Our room steward must have taken a different class than everyone else. ;) We could tell the dog, elephant and the frog; but the rest, not so much. I’m only going to post one towel animal; it’s from the first night.

Any ideas what this is?

Coming soon: Sea Day #1

Seal?

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Seal?

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

That was our most common guess. I'll have the next section done soon with the reveal. ;)

Thanks for reading.

Enjoying your review so far! Thank you!

On the port parking, did you choose an indoor or outdoor lot? We will have a car topper (driving from Wisconsin) so indoor will not work for us. The port map shows a few outdoor lots near pier 19 but insinuates that the outdoor lots aren't open unless overflow is needed. Any feedback is appreciated!

Enjoying your review so far! Thank you!

 

On the port parking, did you choose an indoor or outdoor lot? We will have a car topper (driving from Wisconsin) so indoor will not work for us. The port map shows a few outdoor lots near pier 19 but insinuates that the outdoor lots aren't open unless overflow is needed. Any feedback is appreciated!

Thanks for reading; glad you like it. :)

You may want to call the Ports Authority. The parking garage is VERY close to the terminal; much closer than some other ships that also use this garage. When we watched them loading luggage and food on the ship, we did notice an outdoor lot right on the other side of Pier 19. But, it seemed we only noticed Carnival personel leaving from that lot. I'm not sure if you would park there or not.

Slightly off subject, but this may be your answer: what we did find strange is how small the parking area for the Oasis of the Seas seemed to be. That ship was perpendicular to the Conquest and didn't appear to have a garage. We could only see a small outdoor parking lot. And, it wasn't full, so maybe more most people on that ship fly in?

Sunday, April 2nd: SEA DAY #1

So, let’s talk about the ship and its décor. When we first booked, it seemed all the recent comments on the Conquest were negative as to missing amenities, rust, a dark décor, and not liking and/or being offended by the artistic theming of the ship.

First, I’ll discuss rust. I will say I saw rust on the outside of the Navigator of the Seas when it was docked next to us in St. Kitts. These are sea-going vessels; rust happens. Having said that, we did notice a lot of rust in the rear adult Lido area; particularly in the adult pool. I see the Conquest doesn’t dry dock until the fall of next year; I do hope they take care of this then.

Let's also discuss missing amenities. The Conquest doesn't have the Mongolian BBQ. I had seen references to this, but didn't know why. The stairway up to the Steakhouse is in the front of the buffet area, this was done before the BBQ came into existence. We did miss this; but it wasn't a deal breaker. The other main thing lacking is the adult Serenity Deck. We're don't use this area much, so it didn't bother us.

On to the dark colors. Today, dark hardwoods and dark kitchen cabinets really seem to be in style; so I don’t quite get this comment. Here’s a picture of the Lobby:

To me, this seems pretty tame for a Farcus design. Plus, I was on the Sunshine last year and have and seen pictures of the Breeze and upcoming Vista. They look way too similar. I've heard on one line, maybe Princess(?); that they all look so much alike you can't tell what ship you are on. I don't care for that; I like the differences.

Here’s a better picture of the carpeting in the hallway.

It looks OK to me, and not tired and worn as I had read about.

Here is the Toulouise-Lautrec Theater:

OK, so this room is a little dark; but the lighting is low and you are focusing on the stage when in this area. Plus, this is a French themed theater. I would expect red or maroon to be the color in this setting.

How about something else that is not as dark? Here is Vincent’s Lounge:

This small lounge was beautiful. I wish they had used this theme in a larger venue.

Coming soon: The towel animal reveal, and starting our day at Sea

 

This is our 2nd cruise with the new American menus. There are some things on both menus: lobster, filet mignon, prime rib, BBQ ribs, crème brulee, and of course, WCMC. I must say, my family finds plenty of things on both menus that we like.

 

But, let’s discuss the American menu table settings. Even though the wood tables are beautiful; most in our family did not like the loss of table cloths except on formal night. Having water pitchers on the table was great; but even with the containers they were in, they still dripped everywhere when you poured from them. And, most importantly; we really noticed an increase in noise with no table cloths compared to the formal nights.

 

My husband and I were on this cruise with you along with 2 friends, and I couldn't agree more with the comments about the tablecloths. I also didn't really like the waste of bread by setting a full basket on the table each night, and would have been a lot unhappier if we'd been sitting at a large table with strangers all pawing through the bread basket before us. Also, no clean place to put silverware truly annoyed my husband (the germophobe). Interestingly, he's the one that got terribly sick on this cruise with the creeping crud (cough, congestion) that just *won't* go away. He's convinced it is from his silverware touching the dirty tables in the main dining room.

I'm enjoying your review very much - great memories!

Janis

I got to the end of the posts and realized I'd have to wait for the rest. Netflix has spoiled me with all it's binge watching of Daredevil and such.

But I will patiently wait for more as this is very relative to my interests. My wife and I will be celebrating our 30th anniversary on the Conquest in July - our first "real" cruise - and we can't hardly stand the wait. Your review is helping me stand it. lol.

Also I finally figured out how to do those countdown things many users have in their sigs so I wanted to see mine.

We are onboard this Sunday !!!

My husband and I were on this cruise with you along with 2 friends, and I couldn't agree more with the comments about the tablecloths. I also didn't really like the waste of bread by setting a full basket on the table each night, and would have been a lot unhappier if we'd been sitting at a large table with strangers all pawing through the bread basket before us. Also, no clean place to put silverware truly annoyed my husband (the germophobe). Interestingly, he's the one that got terribly sick on this cruise with the creeping crud (cough, congestion) that just *won't* go away. He's convinced it is from his silverware touching the dirty tables in the main dining room.

 

I'm enjoying your review very much - great memories!

 

Janis

Thanks, I appreciate the feedback. It was such a great cruise, wasn't it?

I didn't think about the wasted bread, nor the ackwardness if you were at a table with people you didn't know.

It's interesting that out of our group of 9, two of us also came home with the crud. That would be me and DW...

Feel free to keep commenting along the way; I wonder if we crossed paths? Stay tuned.

I got to the end of the posts and realized I'd have to wait for the rest. Netflix has spoiled me with all it's binge watching of Daredevil and such.

 

But I will patiently wait for more as this is very relative to my interests. My wife and I will be celebrating our 30th anniversary on the Conquest in July - our first "real" cruise - and we can't hardly stand the wait. Your review is helping me stand it. lol.

 

Also I finally figured out how to do those countdown things many users have in their sigs so I wanted to see mine.

Thanks for reading; glad to have you along for the ride. :) Feel free to ask any questions you might have.

Oh, how I love to binge watch shows. And, I've been known to wait until I think a trip report is almost finished before I finally start reading it. LOL

CruzinScotty,

Can't wait for the rest of your review. Do you have the FunTimes and/or Entertainment schedule and if so can you please post.

Thanks in advance.

We are onboard this Sunday !!!

Oh how I wish I was packing to go back on with ya!

Thanks for reading, I hope it helps whet your whistle and makes the time go by more quickly.

Enjoy your cruise.