MsJersey84

I just call MSC asking about this package. The package that goes with this offer does not included frozen drinks or cocktails like mojitos and margaritas, ect. If you want those drink you can upgrade the drink package up until 4 days prior to your cruise for additional $27 per person per day. That would give you the premium drink package and with that you can get an drink as long as you don't go over the maximum drink allow of $12 per drink

10 hours ago, CRUISERMOMX3 said:

I just found your review and it's awesome. Sounds like you guys had a blast. We're practically neighbors (I love in Canton) and just wondering about the drive to Fort Lauderdale. My man and I will be going on the Sunrise in October and we will be driving. Did you plan to cut over to the coast to jet ski? I was thinking the turnpike would be the fastest way. Thanks for all the food and drink porn too!!

Hi,

The drive wasn't that bad because my husband planned stops like breakfast, and jet skies. So we were there in no time. We did not take the turnpike because we did not want to pay extra for the tolls. So instead we took I-75 south to I-10 to I-95 south.

I am so glad you enjoyed the review. Happy Sailing

On 12/2/2018 at 3:38 PM, GMRPHRN said:

Thank you so much for this review, I know it took you a while to complete it and I appreciate you sticking with it. I sailed the Conquest a few years ago and they didn't have Serenity or BBQ so I guess that was before dry dock. 

1) Wonderful review of HMC - the one time I managed an itinerary that included that port, weather forced us to skip it hasn't worked out since

2) Thanks for that info on Amber Cove. On my Dec 2017 cruise, my cruise mates ditched me (long story) and I walked around looking for something to do. I almost walked all the way to the highway but turned back. Now I know there are options. I will be in AC in Feb 2019.

3) Thanks for the food porn. Getting hungry just reading your posts.

4) You were on my ideal cruise, nap, drink, sleep, eat, beach, repeat.

 

Thanks

You must tell me how AC is in Feb!! Please!! Lol

26 minutes ago, sid_9169 said:

Whilst counting chogs, Jovo the hotel director walked by and we chatted for a bit. He asked me for my cabin number, so fingers crossed for an invite to the Haven restaurant. At the very least, I'm going to end up with some special gifts magically appearing in my room.

I wonder what special gifts you might get?!?!?!?!

5 hours ago, CoolOne56 said:

MsJersey84, love your review & photos. We were on the Conquest last year.  I hope I'm not high jacking your post.

GNRPHRN, there is a large pool in walking distance from the pier with a zipline over the pool - also food & drinks.  We were there Oct. 2017.  Nice relaxing time.

I dont mind at all!! LOL

Following Sid I love your reviews I have followed you on Carnival cruises and now my husband and I have booked our first NCL and I was checking out their board and saw you over here. AWESOME!!

We are super excited about our a Breakaway cruise in Oct but are worried about the night life.. On Carnival we normally do a comedy show or productions list show, drinks and then late night pizza.  Maybe a stop by at the dance club if it looks like the spot to be, but I have seen some reviews that says NCL night life ends at about 11pm.. Can you give some insight to this??  

Thank you and Great Review!!!

16 hours ago, Tigergenesis said:

Thank you for sharing!  I apologize if I missed it, but when was your first formal night?  I did notice that you mentioned Amber Cove was the 2nd formal night.  🙂

And I see you are getting married on the conquest in April Congratulations. Nick and I got married April 2, 2016.. April wedding are perfect not too cold and not too hot. Just perfect!!

16 hours ago, Tigergenesis said:

Thank you for sharing!  I apologize if I missed it, but when was your first formal night?  I did notice that you mentioned Amber Cove was the 2nd formal night.  🙂

No Problem. The first formal night was the second night of the cruise this would have been under Nassau port day, Sept 24.

On 10/29/2018 at 3:56 AM, momof3cruisers said:

This was a great review! I really enjoyed reading it so thank you so much for taking the time to do it. I would love to sail with you. You seem like a delightful couple.

 

can you tell some more about the shops area you went to outside of the port area at Amber Cove? We will be there in Feb and I just can't decide what to do.

Are all ready for your cruise in Feb??

9 hours ago, dolita22 said:

I would say the NCL atmosphere, food, and nightlife is a step up from Carnival. My DH and I sailed the Carnival Glory this year -- his first Carnival cruise, my fourth. We also just sailed the NCL Getaway a few weeks ago -- and have cruised NCL and RCCL previously together. We liked the food in the MDRs, buffet, and steakhouse on the Glory and enjoyed the entertainment -- especially a Latin band that played nightly! We saw them 3 or 4 times that week. The staff were all friendly, too.

 

There are definitely a few more things we like about NCL. For one, there are no dancing waiters in the MDRs on NCL. We weren't sure about them the first time they did it on the Glory, but the second time was annoying. I dunno. We just don't get into that. Some do and enjoy it. We just didn't.

 

Specialty dining: There are a number of specialty dining options on NCL ships, more so than the handful on Carnival. The food and dining experiences at the ones we've eaten at (Cagney's, La Cucina, Margaritaville, Food Republic) has been some of our more memorable at-sea experiences. Also, a super nitpicky thing, but the tablecloths on NCL made the dining experience in the MDRs just that little step up from Carnival that much better to us. Staff in the Carnival MDR were funny and nice, and I think they're comparable to staff in NCL's MDRs.

 

Vibe!: On our Getaway cruise a few weeks ago, we bought passes for the adults-only area, Vibe. It's limited to something like 60 guests. Bartenders get to know you, welcoming you each day you go there. They bring drinks and fruit skewers and cookies and water, and you have a quieter area of the ship that's yours, along with comfortable lounge chairs and two hot tubs. That purchase ($129 each) made our vacation! Don't recall seeing anything like that on Carnival.

 

Comedy shows were always packed on Carnival, so we didn't stop by any of them, and we're in our late 30s so don't really do dance clubs. Sorry! I should note that we are pretty easy-to-please cruisers. 🙂  Put us on a ship in a balcony and we are happy.

 

We enjoyed Carnival and would cruise again, but on a newer ship. The Glory was a bit outdated for us after cruising some of NCL's latest and greatest. Carnival is our second choice, after NCL.

 

If you find the right price and itinerary and you're intrigued by NCL, check it out! You may enjoy it. Happy cruising!

i 

9 hours ago, dolita22 said:

Thank you for your insight this was exactly what I was looking for!!

On 10/29/2018 at 3:56 AM, momof3cruisers said:

This was a great review! I really enjoyed reading it so thank you so much for taking the time to do it. I would love to sail with you. You seem like a delightful couple.

 

can you tell some more about the shops area you went to outside of the port area at Amber Cove? We will be there in Feb and I just can't decide what to do.

The shopping area we went was just ok. Nothing fancy just close by. To be truthful there is really nothing to do in this port unless you book an excursion or you stay in the port area and do the water slide or the sky box.. I am sad to say this is one of our least favorite ports because of the lack of options. 

On 10/27/2018 at 12:49 PM, njoyndride said:

Loved the review, thanks for doing one.  How was disembarking?

Disembarking was kind of slow when it came to customs it took us about an hour.

Hello Everyone,

My husband and I always have sailed Carnival, but now we want to try something different. Can you please way in on who is better or your different experiences. How is NCL food, nightlife and overall experience compared to Carnival? We are big comedy show and sometimes dance club goers. Thank you in advance for your thoughts and experiences.

On 10/25/2018 at 2:00 PM, jeanneful said:

Loved your review!! You two are so cute!!

Thank you

As the show was coming to an end they started making announcements that the final Bingo of the cruise would be next.. So we were supposed to go to Tea Time next my favorite thing to do on sea days. But I heard Bingo and tea time took a back seat. I should have went to Tea Time because I didn’t win in Bingo. Aww man.

After Bingo we ventured off to find Guess the game in the Vincent lounge. You have two teams of 10 with life size Guess cards and you play Guess who. We only stayed there a moment before we both heard Guy’s Burger calling us for the last time. So off we went to get our last Guy Burgers and a Red Caribbean for me and a Miami Vice for Nick.

(When your kids IM you and ask for a picture and you are waiting in line for your lunch)

Our only sea day is half over and I am just starting to have fun!! We ate our burgers and ordered another round of cocktails before we went up to the serenity deck to find us a clam-shell to lay in. As we climbed the stairs to our mini heaven I could hear the brass drum playing Caribbean sounds. This is why I truly love cruising. Music, drinks, wonderful views, my husband, there was no place I would rather be. I was truly in heaven.  We stayed on the serenity deck until the sun started to set and it was time to get ready for dinner. On our way to the cabin we stopped at the guest services to make sure our account had been fix. It wasn’t but the lady remembered this was my third time checking and they did not have the slips from the previous day so she just removed the charges. We headed to our cabin to get dress for our last night on the ship. The night was young and we still have 12hrs until we make it back to Fort. Lauderdale let the Carnival Conquest night begin. . For dinner Nick had the beef carpaccio and the flatbread to start, then he had the Tiger Shrimp Creole, Cinnamon Pumpkin Cheese Pie, and The Melting Cake to finish off with. I had the Shrimp cocktail, and Caesar salad to start with, then I had the beef prime rib and I passed on dessert because nothing seemed worthy. 

After we raced off to the Punchline there were two R-rated shows back to back this evening one at 10:30 and then another show at 11:30 and we wanted to see both. We found sits in the middle of the room to enjoy the evening in. While we waited for the Ronnie’s show to start we orders the Zany Zombie and the Punchliner. Ronnie was great I hope to see him again on another ship. While we waited for Sam’s show to start Nick and I ordered shots (Not your grandma’s cinnamon and walk the plank)

and another round of cocktails. It was our last night and we had drinks to still get on our drink package. So we said what the heck line them up. After the shows we stopped by the dance club for a few two steps and then we were off for our nightly pizza pirate tradition. We ate our pizza and then ordered another round of drinks from the casino bar before returning to the room. Because guess what we still hadn’t packed our bags. So when we got to the room we literally throw everything into our luggage and after 5mins were done and getting ready for bed. We finally got in the bed between 1:30 and 2am. I drifted to sleep thinking why lawd? Why did this cruise go by so fast!!

I just want to thank everyone for following along on my journey and at the bottom I am just going to write an overall summary of how I felt the food, entertainment, and wait staff were.

Overall this cruise we the best sailing I have been on. I am not sure if it was the ship or the drink package that persuade my perception, but it was the best. The dining staff in the main was great. Our main server was Hugo and I don’t remember his assistant name but they went above and beyond. They remember what Nick and I like and ordered it without asking. They were always kind and had a smile on. I have two complaints about this cruise the first was of course our room wasn’t completely clean when we entered it on the first day and that I wish carnival would upgrade their food wow factor there was only one night were Nick and I were like OMG we want to try everything literally give me one of everything. I just wish the menu options were like that every night with us going wow. By far the desserts on the Carnival line are horrible there are maybe one or two good desserts and that is all.. Lastly about the food I understand when eating on the ship they are severing thousands of people at one time but the food never comes out hot never.. Just luke warm or warm. Carnival please please upgrade your wow factor when it to the food. All and all this is my 4^th Carnival cruise, will any of these factor stop me from sailing Carnival again? Heck no! In fact we are already booked for Oct 2019.. LOL. These are just my hopes and dreams.

HAPPY SAILING EVERYONE!!

Sept 25: Seaday

Sleep was way too short for me. I woke up at 6:30 am. Why lawd why?? The one day I can sleep in and still eat in the main dining room after 9:30 am and I am up at 6:30 am. Nick was snoring away so I let him sleep. I got dressed and headed up to the customer service desk. I forgot to put in yesterday’s post that yesterday afternoon we noticed two charges to our account that where not ours it was two souvenir alcohol drink charges. First off we were at the serenity deck and there were charges from the serenity deck and the other bar put in 1min apart it’s impossible to be at two bars within a min. Secondly we have the drink package we would never get the souvenir drinks because we know they are not included. So I reported the charges yesterday afternoon around 3pm and they told me to come back after midnight because that is when they get all of their sign slips. Once at customer service desk they informed me that they still hadn’t got the slips from the previous day for me to come back after 2pm. So I went up to the lido deck to see what bar was open because I was craving a coke. I hadn’t had one the whole cruise. Now just so you know coke is my morning coffee and I hadn’t had one in 6 days. And that wasn’t going to change, when I got my coke and took two sips I found out that I could not swallow my throat was so sore and dry. Our room air had been dry the whole cruise and it had been bothering my nose but now it was my throat too. So feeling disappointed I decided to check emails since we got internet just for one day the last day to check in on some things. Why did I ever open my emails?? The madness of life set in and I was not ready yet so I closed my emails right away because I don’t have time for that!! So instead I just walked around the empty ship and looked at the water. Finally around 8:30am or so I went back to the room got back in bed and went back to sleep. I woke up around 10am and woke nick up because I was starving and wanted to go to seaday brunch. Finally a change in the breakfast menu.. Thank you Jesus. This morning for breakfast I had a hot cup of tea to help my throat, the pork chop and the grilled salmon. I didn’t eat the sides that they came with them but they were both so awesome. Definitely worth the wait. Nick had the huevous rancheros which he loved, and the caramelized cheesecake.  Now that stuffing our faces was out of the way, we were off to just walk around and see what could be seen and what we could get into. After sometime we heard the announcement for the hairy chest contest, this was on my list of things to do because in all 4 of my cruises I have never witnessed a hairy chest contest and I vowed to Nick before the cruise that this year, that was going to change. We found a place to stand in front of the life vest rental kiosk which was great because it was shaded. While we waited for the contest to start I ran over to the Blue Iguana and grabbed me a mojito. The show was starting and I was super excited. We had some contenders in our batch of men.

This was so hilarious even Nick couldn’t help himself. When everything was said and done, after every body voted this was our winner.

( The winner)

(Matt the CD and I after the Hairy Chest Contest)

I didn’t care who won it was so fun to watch.  Nick was curious to find out what Lights! Camera! Interaction show was about, so we off to the main theater to investigate. Lights! Camera! Is a show completely based on audience interaction. There would be no show without the audience. The volunteers/ or people pulled on stage must reenact movies that your cruise director gives’ you.  You get to use all the sound system and special effects to help you along the way. Yours truly got picked and I was super excited Nick recorded the whole thing. I had to play the male lead role from the God Father.. Number one I am the girlish girl you will ever met and 2. making my voice deep like a man was hilarious in itself then to act like a father figure.. LOL. My opponent a man who had to reenact Legally Blind and he was Elle Woods. Well we all know who won. ME!!!! Oh yeah!! LOL.

Sorry for the delay in the post of my last day aboard the conquest. I will be posting the last day within the next 10mins. Life has just really set in since returning home

9 minutes ago, scoobikins said:

Fantastic and entertaining review! You and Nick sound like fun cruisers. Your review is helping tide me over until my trip in May.

 Thank you Scoobikins!! We try to be laid back and fun going people!! Happy Sailings in May!! I always tell Nick it takes forever for the cruise to get here and then its over in a blink of an eye.. Uggh!

After dinner we ran off to find seats in the theater so we could watch the show Flick. The flick was a music show that had songs from all the famous movies over the years. Nick ordered a white Russian and I got a mango mojito. To help make the show even more interesting. After the show the race was on to make it to the punchline in the aft of the ship. It was an adult only show by Ronnie Bullard and everyone leaving the flick show was going to the punchline as well. Nick and I got ahead of everyone by not waiting for the elevators we just walked up the stair and v-lined to the Punchline where we found of plenty of seats, but those seat were only open for a few minutes and then the mob came in.. As we waited for the show to start Nick decided to try the Punchliner cocktail and I ordered the Zany Zombie. The Zany Zombie has become my new favorite comedy club drink.

The show was great Ronnie just cracks me up. As the night whined down it was now time for our bedtime pizza. We made it to the back of the ship just in time, the bar in the aft of the ship by the pizza was serving its last couple of drinks of the night so nick and I grabbed our cocktails and our pizza and seat down to enjoy.. Man I am going to miss this. We made back to our room and prepared for bed.. As my eyes started to get heavy I began to think this cruise has been get and tomorrow we must make the best of the of our only sea day and the last day of the cruise.

las

Up Next: Our only sea day (Last day) 😪

After sail away we decided to go to the room and take a nap before getting ready for our final formal night. I must have been really feeling the drinks because that nap was the best sleep I ever had. We hit the snooze button on the alarm like 3 times and talked back and fourth about skipping dinner. In the end we made it to dinner just in time and boy were we glad we decided to go to dinner. The options tonight we awesome. We wanted to order everything literally.

Nick had the stuffed mushrooms, 2 crabcakes and the clam chowder to start. Then he had Fusilli cream mushroom, and the stuffed peppers. To finish dinner off he had the Carnival melting cake, and a cappuccino with an Irish cream shot. I had 2 crabcakes the stuffed mushrooms to start. Then the teriyaki salmon, to finish dinner off I had the grand marnier soufflé, with a Malibu and pineapple cocktail. By far the crabckaes and teriyaki salmon are the two dishes of the cruise for me.

(Crabcakes)

(Salmon)

(Stuffed Peppers)

Then we found out there is a small shopping area that is a 5 min drive but a 20min walk with hills.. None of the taxi’s wanted to take us to this shopping area, they all wanted to take us to Puerto Plata which was a $30 drive. So we walked out to the port gate where we found a local taxi driver that was willing to drive us there, wait on us and then back all for $20. While we were shopping in this little village one of the store owners, come to find out knows my grandfather and uncle (they were twins). Small world!! When we returned to the port we did some more shopping in the stores, and taking pictures along the way. Even though we did not visit the SkyBar I took a picture of the menu for you guys.

(Sky Box Menu)

 We were back on board sometime around 1pm. We dropped our bags off in the room and headed straight for the lido deck I was starving. We opted to try the deli for the first time. We both got the Cubano Mixto and nick added a hot dog to his order. We got our sandwiches, ordered some cocktails (Hurricane wave and the Red Caribbean)

We found our favorite table in the back by the pizza pirate. The Cubano was so good. I just need a little more mustard. Nick added honey mustard to his. As we were making our way to the Serenity deck to find us a clam-shell to lay in until sail away Nick noticed the sweet spot. So we stopped and made a dessert plate for us to share, ordered Rum Treasure and a mojito. We finally made it to the Serenity deck to relax until after sail away.

** Side Note: Nick and I visited the serenity deck every day during our sailing we always found a clam-shell to relax in but on this day the clam-shell next to us stayed like this (Empty) for the whole 3 or 4 hours we were out there. So clam-shell hoggers do exist.. IJS. LOL**

Sept 27: Amber Cove!

 This is the morning that I could not find anything to eat on a ship full of food. First world problems. LOL. We woke up around 830am showered and dressed and off to breakfast in the main dining room. If you haven’t notice by now we aren’t buffet people. Wait… Let me fix that. Nick is not a buffet person.. LOL. So when we arrived at breakfast this morning I couldn’t find anything on the menu that I was like oh yes I think I will have that.. Eating in the MDR is the least I can do after dragging Nick on cruise year after year with me!! Nick had his usual Omelet, a side of sausage and bacon, and this time he wanted to try a stack of pancakes.. The outcome was not good. When it was time for me to order I asked our server even though I don’t see BLT on the menu can they make one anyway? He informed me that he could get a side of bacon, white toast, and a side of Lettuce and tomato but I would have to put it together.. I told him that would be fine but I need three sides of bacon (don’t tell anyone), hold the lettuce, and please add a side of hash browns. I ate only half of my sandwich and then we ordered cappuccino and tea with our Irish cream shot for each. Since we were in no hurry to get off the ship since my family is from Dominican Republic and we wanted to treat today like a sea day since we only have one sea day on this sailing. I was able to sweet talk Nick into going to the lido deck since I had only eaten a little bit of my breakfast to see if they had anything different. They didn’t so off we went to the room to grab our shades and cash. We had nothing planned for Amber Cover so we walked around the port, and took pictures.

(Amber Cove Map)

(Amber Cove Port Rental Rates)

Sept 27: Amber Cove!

 This is the morning that I could not find anything to eat on a ship full of food. First world problems. LOL. We woke up around 830am showered and dressed and off to breakfast in the main dining room. If you haven’t notice by now we aren’t buffet people. Wait… Let me fix that. Nick is not a buffet person.. LOL. So when we arrived at breakfast this morning I couldn’t find anything on the menu that I was like oh yes I think I will have that.. Eating in the MDR is the least I can do after dragging Nick on cruise year after year with me!! Nick had his usual Omelet, a side of sausage and bacon, and this time he wanted to try a stack of pancakes.. The outcome was not good. When it was time for me to order I asked our server even though I don’t see BLT on the menu can they make one anyway? He informed me that he could get a side of bacon, white toast, and a side of Lettuce and tomato but I would have to put it together.. I told him that would be fine but I need three sides of bacon (don’t tell anyone), hold the lettuce, and please add a side of hash browns. I ate only half of my sandwich and then we ordered cappuccino and tea with our Irish cream shot for each. Since we were in no hurry to get off the ship since my family is from Dominican Republic and we wanted to treat today like a sea day since we only have one sea day on this sailing. I was able to sweet talk Nick into going to the lido deck since I had only eaten a little bit of my breakfast to see if they had anything different. They didn’t so off we went to the room to grab our shades and cash. We had nothing planned for Amber Cover so we walked around the port, and took pictures.

(Amber Cove Map)

(Amber Cove Port Rental Rates)

2 minutes ago, missallyn said:

Loving your review! We were in GT on the Pride. Was very cool watching you come into port!

 

Those pictures were on my phone but yes. My husband and I ran up to the top deck all the way in the front to watch the sail in.. Everyone on your ship was waving.. I have never been up close to another ship like that before while pulling into port it was very very exciting.. I watched your sail away from Jack's while sipping my rum punch!!

Thank you for following

Once a board the ship we showered and headed to find us a clam-shell on the Serenity. We found one right next to the bar which was great we grabbed some more drinks and settled down.

Somewhere we must have fallen asleep because the next thing I know the horn is going off for sail away.. We woke up just in time to see the sail away. Within us being a couple miles from the island the wind started to pick up really bad. The clam-shells were vibrating, people were almost being knocked over when they were trying to walk down the serenity deck. It was horrible. We tried to stay and see if the winds would die down but they never did.. It just got worse. Finally we decided that we would go to the room and get ready for dinner.

For dinner Nick had the Cannelloni, shrimp cocktail, Seabass fillet with plantain crust, Salmon cake, and the Carnival melting cake to finish up. Nick loved the Seabass. I had the Prosciutto Ruffles, Peach Soup, Salmon Cake, and the Bitter N Blanc. The Peach soup was not my favorite I guess I just expected it to be not so soupy. Why did I expect that? When that’s literally what the dish is soup, who knows?? When you figure it out let me know. LOL. After dinner we headed to see the Carnival Quest. It was a great interaction show, with lots of laughs. After the show we went to the LGBT Mixer which was supposed to be on the Serenity deck, but due to high wind the Serenity deck was closed and the mixer was moved to the nightclub.. The mixer was great, the music was booming, the drinks were flowing and everyone was dancing. Around 1am we left the club for some pizza. The line wasn’t that bad this time. After pizza I wanted another drink but for some reason on this ship after 1am there are only 2 bars open, the one in the club and the one in the casino. So off we went to the casino for our final night cap. Our night cap ended up being another hour of drinks and talking to random people doing the same thing we were doing. Looking for their final night cap. We crawled into bed somewhere between 2am and 3am.

Up Next Amber Cove!!