toyaussiemom
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Posts posted by toyaussiemom
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Hi everyone!
I was on the Carnival Conquest from 10/15-10/23. It was my honeymoon & both my husband’s and my first cruise. We had an amazing time! It was so much fun, I can’t wait for the next one!
I was a little afraid going into it because I’d read reviews about carnival going downhill, but I guess since we had nothing to compare to, the issue brought up didn’t bother us at all! Here’s a review:
Room:
We had balcony room 7220. It was bigger than I was expecting. The balcony was really nice to relax on, and we could see the navigation bridge from it. The bed was comfy & everything worked. We really had no complaints about the room. Our room steward cleaned twice a day without asking. He never introduced himself to us, but he said “Hi” when we walked by. The first two days were really rough waters & I got very sea sick. At one point, I didn’t make it to the bathroom in time, and ended up throwing up on the toilet lid, which it bounced off of and splattered everywhere. I wiped it up with towels and let our steward know, and he was very kind about the whole situation. We tipped him after that. He also brought us a $50 spa gift card and a certificate for a free photo as a honeymoon gift.
Food:
I liked the food very much! This was another area I was worried about, based on reviews, but it turns out my fear was unfounded.
We ate at the main dining room most nights. We had early dining & our waitress was named Eka. She was so sweet. We got hugs everyday! The food was yummy, most nights. I really enjoyed the Indian food, that was probably my favorite dish. I also enjoyed trying different appetizers to share with my husband. Most nights we were too full for desserts. We did try the melting cake, some pies, and the grand marnier souffle. They were all great! Our waitress and her team sang “happy honeymoon” to us one night & brought a key lime cake.
We did chef’s table and it was awesome! The food was soooooo good. I was stuffed at the end of the night. I really enjoyed the galley tour too, although my husband thought it was very hot in the kitchen. A magician came and did some tricks, and he was really funny. The food was so interesting and yummy & I would do it again in a heartbeat.
We ate at the steakhouse one night and it was delicious. We had the escargot (my husband’s first time), and it was perfection. I also had the lobster bisque and he had a caesar salad. We both had the surf and turf, which was cooked perfectly and tasted great. My husband had to run to a spa appointment, so I got the dessert to go. I had the apple pastry and I didn’t like it. Maybe it was because I ate it cold & it is supposed to be hot. Husband had the cheesecake, and it was the best dessert we had all trip.
For lunches we tried the seafood place, Guy’s, the deli, the BBQ, and room service. All pretty good. We didn’t try the buffet.
Breakfast we ate at the restaurant, the buffet, and Blue Iguana. All good, really liked the arepas and the burritos.
We had drinks at the lobby bar a lot. Tried Alchemy, but what I had was too strong for me. Also tried Red Frog. Drinks had good variety throughout the ship and were nice and strong.
Entertainment:
We did all of the lobby music trivias. They were so much fun! You spend ten minutes trying to guess songs and then the rest of the time is dancing and singing along to the songs.
We listened to the lobby band a couple of times. They were called “Rick & the U-turns”. I liked them, but I wouldn’t pay to see them. The best night with them was when the playlist production singers came and sang with the band. They had picked their own songs and had a lot of fun with it.
We went to two PG comedy shows & had fun. Wanted to go to the R ones, but the line is WAY too long.
We went to one Playlist Production, the “Heart of Soul” show. It was okay.
We watched half of two Dive-in-movies, while waiting for trivia to start. I really liked the atmosphere and having the cool breeze at night.
Spa:
We did use the spa. My husband and I each got one of the specials that included a hot stone massage and exfoliation, 75 minutes for $139. Waaay more than I would spend on land, but my husband enjoyed it. It was his first massage. I didn’t have as good of an experience because the first thing my massage therapist said to me was “you should have gotten a couples massage, I would NEVER let my husband get a massage by himself.” She was also upset because it was later and I guess they had called her back to do the massage. She kept asking when I made the appointment and saying things like “oh, they let you make an appointment that late?”. The massage itself was fine, but I wish I hadn’t let her attitude get to me. My husband really enjoyed his & booked a seaweed wrap, which he said was nice.
Other things:
I enjoyed the decor of the ship. Every staff member we encountered was very nice. There was a lot of seating on deck, and we never once had a problem finding chairs.
We were stuck in an elevator for over thirty minutes coming back from one port. The troubling thing about this is that it took 20 minutes for anyone to answer the emergency elevator phone. If someone was hurt in the elevator or the ship was sinking or something, that would be bad. The elevator also got very hot, so the walls were dripping with condensation. There were seven of us on there, including two elderly ladies and a three year old. I wasn’t too upset about the situation, it happens. The other people were pretty riled up though. Carnival gave us $25pp and chocolate covered strawberries. This was really the only negative thing on the whole trip, and it wasn’t even that bad.
Ports:
St. Martin: we went on Carnival’s Starfish Cove Snorkeling & Beach Break. There were nine people on the excursion and two guides. The guides did an excellent job of giving us a history of the island while we were on our way to the snorkel spot. The snorkel spot was the same one that Carnival uses for a lot of their snorkel stops in St. Martin. It’s also where they have the floating tiki huts and the SNUBA path. The snorkeling was okay, it was my husband’s first time and he really liked it. After snorkeling, we went to a beach & they gave us rum punch and beers to drink while we floated in the water. It was very nice. Overall, I think this was my favorite excursion.
St. Kitts: we did Carnival’s City Tour and Brimstone Fortress. It was very informative and the island was beautiful. The first stop was at an old plantation that now makes fabrics and has a garden. Next we went to the Brimstone Fortress. This was so cool! It’s huge! The drive up there was crazy! I would never be able to drive in St. Kitts. Finally, we stopped at a place where you can see the Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea at the same time. It was beautiful, but there were a lot of pushy vendors. Great day overall!
San Juan: Loved this city! We did Carnival’s Bacardi Distillery and City Tour. We stopped at the capitol building, which is beautiful. Then, we had a tour of the Bacardi Distillery which was very impressive. We got two free drinks + a sample of an old fashion. Very fun tour. Our last stop was at a public square with local handmade items being sold. My husband and I got mofongo and empanadas from a little shop & ate our lunch on a bench. It was yummy & relaxing.
Grand Turk: We didn’t have anything planned here. We went to Margaritaville & ate lunch. We had an appetizer platter & my husband had one regular margarita and one large one and it came to $70. Pretty expensive, but it was vacation. Then, my husband relaxed on a beach chair while I went snorkeling (brought my own snorkel & mask from home). I was surprised that there was so much to see right in front of Margaritaville. I saw a ton of parrot fish and other larger fish. The coolest thing I saw was a group of 10 or so squid. Nice laid back day.
Summary:
Overall our first cruise surpassed expectations & I’m already thinking about the next one! Let me know if you have any questions :)
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I just did it on Wednesday, and they did not have the new menu.
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Hi,
Does anyone know if there have been updates to the October movie list?
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Is room service available on embarkation day?
Conquest 10-15 review
in Carnival Cruise Lines
Posted
Hi Kathy,
Chef's Table was held in a private dining room off of one of the main dining rooms, but it starts in the lobby and you do a walk through of the galley before you sit down. There was duck and seafood on the menu. I enjoyed all of it, and I didn't hear any complaints from the others at the dinner. I think if I remember correctly, the only seafood was salmon tartar and seabass & a little bit of lobster foam (not sure if that counts). I know that there was a guy in our group that didn't eat seafood, and they replaced the salmon with chicken for him (not sure what they did with the seabass). They ask you days before if there are any allergies/restrictions in your group. The duck was really good, and it's only one dish out of 8 + appetizers. Honestly, I was so full at the end that I think if I missed part of one dish, it would still be worth it.