PurdueChefAmber

You take such beautiful pictures! I feel like I am there! Thanks for taking the time to do a review!

We just got off the Conquest yesterday and used YTD. It took us a little while to find a great waitstaff but if you ask for Gembong and his group you won't be disappointed! It is the Renoir on deck 3 and we were always able to have a table for 2. We never waited for more than 10 mins. for a table.

Thanks for the feedback!!!

We are also on the Conquest for the first time and I asked on our roll call. I was told the Renoir dining room which is mid ship is the one for ATD.

I wonder why you are nervous about having that option?

We love ATD and will only sail now if it is available.

We love having a table for 2 and if we meet folks we like then we can arrange to eat with them.

We ask for the same table each night if we like our wait staff and they get to know us just as they would in the set time dining room. IF you don't like the wait staff you can change. I think it is just great!!

I am nervous because I like having a set dining time and a set staff. I like the comfort of it. ( this is also the reason I do not like it because I feel guilty when we don't go to the MDR for dinner ). I also do not want longer wait times and for service to be sacrificed. I am sure it will be fine. If I don't like it, I will switch back to assigned dining on the next cruise.

I have always done late dining and liked it. We never felt rushed and ate room service or sushi around 5ish. We are trying ATD on the next cruise and I am interested to see how it differs!

Later that night (read that as much later...in the neighborhood of 3:45 AM I get awoken by many voices coming from the room and balcony next door. They were not really loud, nor did it last all that long but to be honest, this was the first time this had happened to us.

 

 

 

It was not to be the last.....

Did you report them or deal with it?

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AWESOME review!!!! :D I've only made it through day 1 but I'm really enjoying all your pictures. I've never sailed on the Pride but she looks like a great ship. I'm looking forward to seeing what you did in all the ports. Sakari is quite the little diva, isn't she? :)

Gapearl!! Your two writing styles are my favorite! We should all go on the Vista together!

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Which dining room is ATD in on the Conquest? This is our first time trying it and I'm a little nervous. I am usually a late dining gal.

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Patti was too stuffed to order dessert, but she helped me with my caramelized Washington apples…..

 

 

 

 

 

 

Goodnight David. It was a wonderful meal!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Afterwards, Patti went to check out the photo gallery, shop, and check emails. I met up with Ryan and went to play some blackjack. After a couple of hours Ryan had broke even, and I had won $250 dollars.

 

 

 

Back to the cabin we found tonight’s towel creature…..

 

 

 

 

 

 

We had a great day today, and tomorrow promises too be even better. Good Night!!!!

 

Coming up next: Half Moon Cay, Heaven on earth!!

You guys are having great luck on this cruise! Does it keep up?

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Can you comment more on the chefs table?

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I don't know what made me click on this link, but then had to laugh when I seen my name. I was "almost" able to do that review for you (I almost booked this ship and then decided on the Pride). :D

 

I think you should do the review for us. :p :)

You got it! I just love your pov.

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This thread is making me hungry! Yum!! Thanks for taking the time to do this!

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I am surprised they let drinks back on!!

Day 6-FREEPORT-GRAND BAHAMAS

 

 

 

 

 

So we didn't communicate our decision with Kendra last night. Oops. The phone was ringing at 6am that morning. When I finally decided to get out of bed after several calls it was 6:45. I let her know that we were just going to relax and not do anything in port. She said it looked like it might rain and be cloudy today so she was fine with that. So much for me sleeping in....

 

I headed out to the balcony after we hung up and we were pulling into the port. It was still dark out. I can't even imagine heading off the ship at that time to head to the beach. It just felt wrong. We did that once before (another Carnival ship of course) in Costa Maya and headed to the beach. Once we arrived at the AI, they were already trying to feed us and stuff alcohol down our throats. Um, I know I'm on vacation, but I'm not going to start drinking at 7am in the morning. Yea, I think I made a good decision of not going anywhere....or did I?

 

I laid back down, but couldn't sleep on the uncomfortable hard bed. I tossed and turned. Once I'm up, I just can't ever get back to sleep.

 

At 8:30am, I couldn't take it anymore and decided to just get up and stay up. The family woke up and we decided to head up to the Blue Iguana and check out their breakfast burritos.

 

 

I ended up with the wheat wrap (once again, not much to chose from) and added the Mexican eggs, um...some type of meat I think but can't remember, hashbrowns and cheese and that was good enough for me.

 

 

 

It was actually pretty yummy or at least better than the lunch burritos I had from there.

 

 

 

 

Yum! I will definitely be trying one!

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I think we were 13 and 10 when we had our first connecting room, before that we stayed with my parents. Would you be with them all the time except at night when you are all sleeping?

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3!

January 2016 and April 2016 on the Conquest. Vista in January 2017. I can't wait!!

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I'm still working on mine, sorry for the delay. I've worked 10 of the 11 days that we've been back home. We sailed on 4/4/15.

 

I'll get back to it soon :D

I can't wait!!

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Thanks guys!! Very helpful.

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Someone like, Mitsugirly, Jamman, GAPearl, Gambee or any of you other fantastic reviewers! Haha! I sail on her twice in the next year and can't find any great, recent reviews. I vow to do one after my January sailing.

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Beautiful pictures, Mitsugirly!!

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You should frame this one - what a beautiful picture :)

I agree. It's gorgeous!! She is too cute !

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Thanks for taking the time to write a review! I can't wait to read the rest!

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Loving your review so far!! Thanks for taking the time to write it!!

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What happens with all of Ryan's money??!!?

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I am excited to hear about your day in HMC!

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Once again, have to give credit where credit is due...

 

When searching for a hotel, it was suggested to look up Trinity Reservations. They have excellent hotel/park/fly/shuttle services. I'm just sorry I had not learned about them prior to now. They are wonderful and so cheap. You really can't beat the prices.

 

I really struggled over which hotel to pick. I had read terrible reviews on 2 of the hotels I wanted. There seem to be issues with the shuttle service. Since we were flying in, we needed a place that had some type of food within walking distance for dinner that night (even if it was fast food) and also a place (whether it be a gas station, grocery or pharmacy) to get pop (yes POP, I'm from the north, we call it pop...for all you southern "soda" people that don't understand-hehe) for the cruise.

 

Everyone suggested staying at the Best Western Elkridge, which seemed to be located around...n-o-t-h-i-n-g! Ugh. Perfect place, highly recommended, good reviews, but nothing close by.

 

I contacted the person at trinity and they gave me direct numbers to all of the places and the contacts he works with. That way I could ask all the questions I had directly to them and get the answers I needed first hand. I was very grateful for this. The first 2 places (with the no-so-good reviews) was Comfort Inn and Best Western. The issues with these places seem to be the shuttle service. The way things are done there are...you don't sign up for the shuttle service until THE DAY OF the cruise and you MUST be checked out of the hotel AND put on a waiting list. The other problem is that the airport people coming in and leaving take priority over the cruise ship people. So you may be sitting around and waiting for them before they can shuttle you. (There were reports of people waiting as long as 6-7 hours and not leaving the hotel until 2pm). The other issue is that the hotel waits until they received a call from the cruise port saying "we are letting people board now" before they'll even put you on the shuttle. Well, we had purchased FTTF, so that was unacceptable!

 

Now, time for the interrogation with BW Elkridge. You sign up for the shuttle when you arrive and check in. You can leave whenever you want. They have several shuttles as well and someone to drive you 24/7. Also, they informed me that there was a restaurant on the premises in the parking lot if we wanted to eat there AND they would shuttle us to the local mall at any time we wanted day or night. They also told us that there were plenty of places to eat there and also a Walmart for our "soda" needs. I think I found the place! Something told me this was a good decision and I'm 100% satisfied I chose it.

 

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So back to the airport.

 

We gathered our luggage and called the hotel for the shuttle at 12:25. The shuttle arrived at 12:39! Just 14 minutes later and we had our luggage in the shuttle, piled into the van and on our way at 12:41. Now that's service.

 

 

 

We arrived and checked in quickly and the place looked great. You could tell it had just been remodeled.

 

 

 

 

 

This is the area off to the side of the entrance and where they served the free hot breakfast the following morning.

 

 

 

 

They also had lemon water you could get during the day.

 

There was a nice fireplace in the lobby.

 

 

 

We did a quick check of the area and took a quick look at the indoor pool. This would come in handy with trying to entertain 2 kids during the rest of the day and it was still chilly outside.

 

 

 

It also had a hot tub, which was good for us cold-natured people as well.

 

Haha I love how your grandson is still laying down for pictures!! [emoji2]

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