GMRPHRN

The Conquest does have an adults only pool. (Although other threads suggest this is going to change). Sometimes you have to cruise for the ports a ship stops in and sometimes for the ship itself. Sometimes you have to take what you get and relax and enjoy. It sounds like the cruise is paid for by someone else? So I hope she doesn't find anything to complain about.

Speaking as someone who may be guilty of saying the same thing to someone about cruising, it's just envy. I would love to cruise more if I could get the time off work and hope my time is coming someday. BTW my biggest obstacle to cruising is airline flight prices. If I lived within easy driving distance to a good port I would probably be able to squeeze more than one in a year.

Where do you find who your CD will be? How often do they change ships? I am sailing Legend at the end of May.

And since no one asked, I was on the Conquest last June and I think the CD was named Josh. I absolutely loved him!

DH and I were assigned to a table for 4 in the MDR, with another couple. On the first night, they order pistachio ice cream for dessert. It arrives and they are shocked there are no pistachio pieces in the ice cream. "How can there be no pistachio pieces?!?! Who ever heard of pistachio ice cream with no pistachio pieces?!?!" The great pistachio rant lasted through all of dessert and coffee. DH and I could say nothing to them the rest of the meal because they never shut up about the pistachio ice cream long enough for us to get a word in.

 

The next night, they order the pistachio ice cream for dessert again. And again, they are shocked, shocked I tell you, that there were no pistachio pieces in the ice cream. The rant repeated exactly as the night before, and lasted just as long.

 

Night 3, they order the d@mn ice cream again. They are no less shocked than the two previous nights about the absence of pistachio pieces. It was like Groundhog Day. It happened every single dinner of the 7-night cruise. Each night they were legitimately surprised about the missing pistachio pieces. I can only assume the experience was so traumatic for them that they erased all memory of the pistachio ice cream each evening as some kind of coping mechanism.

 

DH and I turned lemons into lemonade (well, more like grapes into wine) and invented the Pistachio Drinking Game on night three. We were feeling no pain by the time we left the MDR each night.

I have read through this entire thread (to date). Thanks so much to all of you for the few hours entertainment. But this story about the ice cream just cracked me up. Great story and great telling. It is really hard to believe but so hilarious!! :')

Thanks for this thread. Headed to Alaska May 30th on CCL Legend. This was very reassuring about the weather and what to wear. Counting down the days now.

I went on the Conquest last June and tried to request the peanut butter to go with the melting cake. The waitress had not heard of that and after "checking" with the kitchen returned to say "sorry". I think a lot of these type suggestions depend on the ship and staff.

I cruised out of Miami in Oct of 2015. We checked in at the airport and then took the CCL transportation. We had a late am flight and had a long line to check-in. However, when we arrived at the port (maybe 1pm) we walked right on the ship after showing our S&S cards and dropping our luggage. Did we get on faster? Probably not.

How risky is an 11:25am departure out of Seattle on a Tuesday? Carnival if that matters. No FTF but capable of Self-assist if needed.

I am pricing airline flights and since we have to fly across the country and we do have to change planes and we do want to arrive the same day. The best flight is at 11:25am. The Carnival cruise is Tues-Tues if that helps. The CCL website says schedule flight after 12. How risky would you consider a 11:25

I have been to Alaska 18 times and have never found the weather to be very accurate. Alaska weather is constantly changing so I go prepared for anything and adjust accordingly. For example, on one of our B2B cruises the weather forecast showed beautiful weather for the two weeks --- didn't happen --- one week was all rain and the next week was beautiful.

 

While on the ship, I use the daily ship's paper as a guide for weather. For any excursions on the water or glacier viewings, I tend to wear/bring extra layers.

Recommendations for May-early June? We are from a warm climate (yesterday the high was 70) and would like some ideas on how much cold weather gear to pack.

I was on the Conquest on June 25 on 8th deck. None of the washing machines on deck 8 were working. I did not check the other decks. The price of sending out laundry is not too bad if you just want to do a load or two.

I don't have it in me to write a lengthy review but I'll answer any questions.

My son and daughter and I sailed on the Conquest on June 25 to Cozumel, Belize, Roatan and Grand Cayman. This is my 3rd and their second cruise. My daughter and I shared a balcony- my son had the inside room across the hall.

I love the decor on the Conquest it is all designed after Impressionist artists and very stylish. I've heard the ship is showing signs of wear but I did not notice any of this.

Our room was 8417 and it was very loud - right under the Lido. I wouldn't recommend this room but it did not really have a negative impact on our trip. It was also very hot. And we never got around to complaining. I really didn't think there was much to do about it. I've heard lower inside state rooms are cooler. Our room steward was super. Brought ice daily and serviced the room twice daily. The laundry room on 8 did not have any working washing machines. I like being on 8 on the AFT end of the ship because it is a quick stairs up to LIdo - restaurant and the adult pool. Short elevator ride down to our dining room and the Degas lounge for comedy.

Dinner - we ate every night in the dining room at 8:15. We were seated with a nice trio of travelers and enjoyed their company. Our wait staff was the best I've experienced - Ratna, Suma, Anna. They were very attentive. They made recommendations and sometimes brought extra dishes. They were very good about odd requests. The food ranged from ok to very good. The best dish I had all week was the Mushroom pasta. Other standouts were the crabcakes, the Mahi Mahi and the Flat Iron Steak. I enjoyed all of the cold soup appetizers, too. The best desserts were the carrot cake, the Smores Parfe and the cheesecake.

We didn't do any of the big shows because we had just been on a cruise in October. We did do a lot of comedy and enjoyed it all.

Josh was our CD and he was awesome. He did two history lectures one on the Titanic and one on D-Day and I enjoyed both of them. He is a very good speaker.

I tried Tea for the first time on the first sea-day. I didn't stay long. They had not turned the AC on in the dining room and we were seated at a big table with a noisy group. The chocolate cake they served was good but we could not get any service to bring ice water and it was just too hot for tea.

The Cafe has better cake than anywhere else on the ship. If you like chocolate cake and cheesecake this is worth the extra money.

I ordered the pay room service twice. I got a pizza and another time fries and chicken tenders. Both were worth the extra bit.

Guys Burgers was always good.

We ate breakfast and/or brunch in the dining room several times and really enjoyed it. The lines on Lido at breakfast were always long.

Overall it was an excellent cruise and I would not hesitate to sail the Conquest or Carnival again. We were on vacation and we relaxed and there were not hiccups that directly affected our enjoyment.

I am sorry if this is a ridiculous question. Do these places take credit cards? I wasn't anticipating taking this kind of cash on my cruise.

I see you haven't gotten an answer yet, You can search this board. I believe on most of the ships the dining room is not open yet for lunch. The pasta place on the Dream is very good.

I am enjoying your review. Will be sailing the Conquest in just 2 weeks and this really got me pumped. Thanks

I loved the Thasso pool on the dream. The ship was experiencing a lot of movement though and it would splash the water from one end to the other in big waves. I liked the stone loungers, too. Would book the Dream just for the Cloud 9 spa.

Wow! What a great deal. I am surprised because I thought the summer sailings were usually booked and didn't offer upsells.

I noticed no one has answered this so I thought I would post. There are several threads on CC about this subject. Many people will tell you to get a notarized letter. If you have your child's passport you will probably not need anything else. I took both my minor children on a cruise last year with their passports without any second glances from CCL or C&I. They are teenagers however, so you might get more attention with small children. If you want peace of mind you might get a letter.

Thanks so much for the great review. I really appreciate the amount of work that went into posting all these pictures and comments. It is so nice to look at this type of review when passing the time between cruises.

I just want to add my experience. I took my two minor children on a cruise in October. I took their Dad's death certificate just in case. I have a different last name from them. I had their passports and that was all that was ever asked for. For all anyone knew I wasn't even their parent!!! I know it is good to be prepared but it seems if you have that passport that is all that matters.

Cruises out of Seattle are not considered inside passage if they sail on the west side of Vancouver Island. In this case, you'll spend the first day out at sea and won't start enjoying the scenery until the following day as you approach your fist port of call and join the inside passage.

 

On our particular sailing from Seattle, we sailed on the west side of Vancouver Island on the way north so we were out at sea (and in very choppy waters) that day, but from day 3 until our return to Seattle we enjoyed nonstop scenery. The ship transited the inside passage from Ketchikan to Victoria and then on to Seattle.

Thanks for this info. My cruise is out of Seattle and Day 1 is a sea day and Day 2 just lists Tracy Arm Fjord but no port time. This clears things up for me,

I use poster putty. Works great!

Me, too. I know it seems silly but it makes it so much easier to find your room. I get turned around so easy in those hallways.

May I make an additional suggestion. I too have problems being on my feet for long periods. I got a TENS unit. One of those battery-operated machines that zaps you with low doses of electricity. My last cruise, we planned to visit Butchart Gardens in Vancouver. I knew there was absolutely no way I could do it without the TENS unit and even wondered if I could make it through the whole thing WITH the TENS unit. It worked like a charm! I even use it after long days when I get home from work and know I have a couple hours of chores to do and my back hurts. I just put that on and am able to do what's necessary. It really is amazing. I would suggest you forewarn the person running the metal detector at an airport or at security boarding the ship. They tend to get a little nervous when they see wires and such things on their screens.

Thanks for your advice. I have been using a TENS unit at home but not yet when out and about. I may have to soon, though because I am having problems while working.

Thanks for all the helpful replies. If I am still not getting any relief by cruise time I am going to get either portable chair or cane/chair to take with me.

I was on the Glory in October. The games were not locked up. My daughter and I played Jinga and some kind of card game. There were not a lot of choices and it wouldn't surprise me to find missing pieces.