Adventures on the Carnival Conquest… a review of the Sep 26 7 day cruise to Cozumel

There is no such thing as a bad cruise… end of discussion.

Every cruise and therefore every review of a cruise begins somewhere. This one begins on September 25th of 2010 when we finally headed to Galveston, Texas to meet with the Crazies for our second annual cruise on the Carnival Conquest. The cruise was named ‘Cruisin’ With The Crazies Too’ as I am far too lazy to number things.

My vastly better half, Stitch, had invited a life long friend to come along, meet some of the Crazies and enjoy a week away from the daily grind. We’ll call her ‘Charlotte’ as that just happens to be her name.

We met at Charlotte’s house at about 11 AM as we were riding along with her to the Island. She was ready to head out so after just a very few minutes of repacking the suitcases into her vehicle and watching her adorable black Cocker Spaniel run around the house at speed that defied logic we were off.

Charlotte wastes no time. Once on I10 I started counting the cars we passed as a method of making the time go by. I lost count. Let’s just say that my GPS was having a hard time keeping up. We ran into typical Saturday afternoon traffic in Houston that was disorientingly slow. Despite the bumper to bumper occasionally zero mph traffic we found ourselves pulling into the Hilton on Galveston about 3:45. Great job, Charlotte!!!

Checked in and refreshed thanks to a quick vodka and tonic we headed down to the pool where the Crazies were gathering. The party was already in full swing at the Lobby bar with a dozen or so of the kids enjoying a variety of libations and looking like they had pent up fun in their souls that needed to get out or explode and that really was the case.

We adjourned to the pool where Dread Pirate Robert elected to gather up lounge chairs for us and quite quickly we had hoisted our flag, literally, and claimed that side of the pool in the name of the Committed Conquest Crazies. Suffice it to say that everyone had brought appropriate supplies for the event and we were soon in full swing. Some folks spent time in the pool, some folks lounged soaking up the remains of the day and some folks, the guys in particular, were distracted. Ya’ see, there was some kind of sorority convention at the Hilton that weekend and the required uniform was the smallest bikini possible. Now, all of the Crazies girls are lovely and I wouldn’t give up a single of ‘em but I’m a guy and nature dictates that I look… not touch… but looking is impossible to avoid. The same seemed to be true of other Crazies males.

Before too long folks wandered off to dinner and the remaining members of our group elected to get pizza! Pizza by the pool at sunset… there’s a brilliant elegance to that. Teri1 passed the hat, so to speak, and in no time had assembled the dollars necessary for about ten pizzas. Perfect!

Twenty five minutes later the Pizza Hut pizza guy arrived with a formidable stack of pies properly ensconced in their table top flat cardboard houses. For the first time the pool area grew quiet with the exception of ‘Ummmmmmm’s and some utterances of ‘great stuff!’ As is the way of pizza it attracted attention and a few non-Crazies got to enjoy our bounty as well.

It has become tradition that some of the ladies and a guy or two will make their way across the street, over the seawall and onto the beach for a late night stroll and they honored that tradition well. So well, in fact, that Stitch finally returned to our room at about 12:30 AM. They all had a great time but a VERY important event lay before us in the early morning… the arrival of the Conquest.

We had agreed to meet at the Patio (the open area of the pier directly before Harbor House hotel…http://www.galveston.com/cruisecam/) at no later than 6:15 to welcome our ship home. There were about 15 Crazies out there and one viewing from Her Royal Window that overlooks the Harbor. Our Pirate and his Princess had stayed at the Harbor House making it very convenient for them to watch the sail in.

I monitored the Galveston Bay Cam that’s provided by the folks over that the Cavalla museum (www.cavalla244.org) for first sign of her. As dawn approached so did the Conquest. Festooned with the strings of lights that have adorned Carnival ships for years she was a vision in the slowly brightening Galveston morning.

About 7:10 or so she halted directly before us and began here ‘dance.’ The ship pirouettes 180 degrees to allow the bow to face toward the channel for departure later in the day. I’ve seen it many times but watching that huge ship being to barely move, gather speed and finally halt again is a remarkable sight.

All eyes were fixed on the Conquest as she ghosted along toward the dock to be greeted by a bevy of scurrying longshoremen intent on making her fast to the pier. Their duties done they vanished inside the cruise terminal to make ready for the vessel’s departure a mere eight hours away. We, on the other hand, were making ourselves ready to board that beautiful ship for a week of fun, laughter and time with all the great folks who we have had the pleasure of calling family for the last three years.

We broke up, headed our separate ways across the Island in preparation of our return no more than about two and a half hours later.

The Crazies were, once again, ready to take on the high seas…

Ahhh, here I sit, waiting for the next installment of a Masterpiece! Tuned in and ready to relive the Crazies adventure on the "high" seas aboard the Conquest! (no pun intended! ;))

There's the ship I fell in love with! We took the same trip as you just 2 weeks before hand. There was apparently a tropical storm then but we were oblivious to it. Tuesday was a choppy wet rough day at sea.... but we were able to make all ports of call. Saturday was similar to Tuesday. Glad you guys had a good time. How can you not onboard a cruise?

In my bucket list I have "sail out of Galveston - see Texas - Houston, Alamo, etc." Guess I will have to live thru this review till I ever get to do it. Great start - can't wait for the rest!

Luvin the review so far!!! Thanks for letting us hang out with yall at Nachi!!!

Michelle

Luv your reviews! We were fortunate enough to get a steal of deal on the Serenade of the Seas out of San Juan on 9/5/10 otherwise we would've joined everyone on this sailing. Maybe one day we'll sail with you crazies!

Luvin the review so far!!! Thanks for letting us hang out with yall at Nachi!!!

 

Michelle

It was a pleasure, Michelle!

The more the merrier!

Y'all need to join us for a cruise.

:)

I have butterflies in my stomach as I await our Sunday departure. I can't wait to read the rest!

patiently waiting.....:)

Great so far, and great pictures!

Vicki

Loving the review so far Mach!! Can't wait to read more!! :D I'm so ready for my turn on the Conquest.

We went over to Galveston early one morning to watch Her come in, she turned the other way when we were there. It is an amazing thing to see, so awesome!!! I agree.

Here's a picture from when we went to watch from the 'patio' that morning.

Keep posting more, it sounds great so far

There is no such thing as a bad cruise… end of discussion.

 

Every cruise and therefore every review of a cruise begins somewhere. This one begins on September 25th of 2010 when we finally headed to Galveston, Texas to meet with the Crazies for our second annual cruise on the Carnival Conquest. The cruise was named ‘Cruisin’ With The Crazies Too’ as I am far too lazy to number things.

 

My vastly better half, Stitch, had invited a life long friend to come along, meet some of the Crazies and enjoy a week away from the daily grind. We’ll call her ‘Charlotte’ as that just happens to be her name.

 

We met at Charlotte’s house at about 11 AM as we were riding along with her to the Island. She was ready to head out so after just a very few minutes of repacking the suitcases into her vehicle and watching her adorable black Cocker Spaniel run around the house at speed that defied logic we were off.

 

Charlotte wastes no time. Once on I10 I started counting the cars we passed as a method of making the time go by. I lost count. Let’s just say that my GPS was having a hard time keeping up. We ran into typical Saturday afternoon traffic in Houston that was disorientingly slow. Despite the bumper to bumper occasionally zero mph traffic we found ourselves pulling into the Hilton on Galveston about 3:45. Great job, Charlotte!!!

 

Checked in and refreshed thanks to a quick vodka and tonic we headed down to the pool where the Crazies were gathering. The party was already in full swing at the Lobby bar with a dozen or so of the kids enjoying a variety of libations and looking like they had pent up fun in their souls that needed to get out or explode and that really was the case.

 

We adjourned to the pool where Dread Pirate Robert elected to gather up lounge chairs for us and quite quickly we had hoisted our flag, literally, and claimed that side of the pool in the name of the Committed Conquest Crazies. Suffice it to say that everyone had brought appropriate supplies for the event and we were soon in full swing. Some folks spent time in the pool, some folks lounged soaking up the remains of the day and some folks, the guys in particular, were distracted. Ya’ see, there was some kind of sorority convention at the Hilton that weekend and the required uniform was the smallest bikini possible. Now, all of the Crazies girls are lovely and I wouldn’t give up a single of ‘em but I’m a guy and nature dictates that I look… not touch… but looking is impossible to avoid. The same seemed to be true of other Crazies males.

 

 

Before too long folks wandered off to dinner and the remaining members of our group elected to get pizza! Pizza by the pool at sunset… there’s a brilliant elegance to that. Teri1 passed the hat, so to speak, and in no time had assembled the dollars necessary for about ten pizzas. Perfect!

 

Twenty five minutes later the Pizza Hut pizza guy arrived with a formidable stack of pies properly ensconced in their table top flat cardboard houses. For the first time the pool area grew quiet with the exception of ‘Ummmmmmm’s and some utterances of ‘great stuff!’ As is the way of pizza it attracted attention and a few non-Crazies got to enjoy our bounty as well.

 

It has become tradition that some of the ladies and a guy or two will make their way across the street, over the seawall and onto the beach for a late night stroll and they honored that tradition well. So well, in fact, that Stitch finally returned to our room at about 12:30 AM. They all had a great time but a VERY important event lay before us in the early morning… the arrival of the Conquest.

 

We had agreed to meet at the Patio (the open area of the pier directly before Harbor House hotel…http://www.galveston.com/cruisecam/) at no later than 6:15 to welcome our ship home. There were about 15 Crazies out there and one viewing from Her Royal Window that overlooks the Harbor. Our Pirate and his Princess had stayed at the Harbor House making it very convenient for them to watch the sail in.

 

I monitored the Galveston Bay Cam that’s provided by the folks over that the Cavalla museum (www.cavalla244.org) for first sign of her. As dawn approached so did the Conquest. Festooned with the strings of lights that have adorned Carnival ships for years she was a vision in the slowly brightening Galveston morning.

 

 

About 7:10 or so she halted directly before us and began here ‘dance.’ The ship pirouettes 180 degrees to allow the bow to face toward the channel for departure later in the day. I’ve seen it many times but watching that huge ship being to barely move, gather speed and finally halt again is a remarkable sight.

 

 

All eyes were fixed on the Conquest as she ghosted along toward the dock to be greeted by a bevy of scurrying longshoremen intent on making her fast to the pier. Their duties done they vanished inside the cruise terminal to make ready for the vessel’s departure a mere eight hours away. We, on the other hand, were making ourselves ready to board that beautiful ship for a week of fun, laughter and time with all the great folks who we have had the pleasure of calling family for the last three years.

 

 

We broke up, headed our separate ways across the Island in preparation of our return no more than about two and a half hours later.

 

The Crazies were, once again, ready to take on the high seas…

Ahhhh....I will be board her on Oct. 17th....been a long wait.

Can't wait for the rest of your review!!:)

There is no such thing as a bad cruise… end of discussion.

Mach, thank you so much for getting this posted so quickly! I wish I could have joined the Crazoes for this one, but the anniversary is in November, so we'll be trying the Conquest then. I'm also buttering up DH for the February Crazies' cruise on the Ecstasy, since last Feb. was so much fun! I'm workin' on it.... ;)

Can't wait for more!!:D

Hey Mach, great review.....as always. I'm so excited to see what I missed.

I do have a question.....:confused::confused: didn't you leave out some special details about a "special" presentation that was done at the pool at the Hilton??? Or is that hush hush?? ;):p

Great Review Mach -- Keep up the good works!

I can't wait for this review...I've been checking in all day to see when you were going to post it...more please =)

Went on the Conquest last January and taking the kids on the same cruise in January 2011. Loved it. Im sure there are nicer ships, bigger ships,etc, but we love the Conquest. I cant wait until January! Thanks for the start of an awesome review.

We returned to the Hilton with fleeting thoughts of grabbing a bit of additional sleep but it took no time at all to figure out that we had just about enough time to finish packing, zip up the cases and head to the shuttle.

Once outside the hotel and at the designated gathering spot we waited for the 10 AM shuttle that didn’t arrive at 10 AM or at 10:10 or 10:20 but much closer to 10:30, not a good thing for a bunch of overly anxious Crazies.

Our bus driver decided it was necessary to lecture us on boarding procedures, baggage handling and a few other items that really had little to do with getting us to the pier. For the second time in two years the bus was overloaded and I ended up sitting on the exit stairs. No biggie… I was headed for my favorite ship and my favorite ports of call.

I’ve never been able to fathom how a ride that takes six minutes in a car takes 25 minutes in one of the Hilton vans but it does. I’m guessing that it has something to do with Einstein’s Law of Anxious Behavior… the more anxious you are to get to a day, date, time or place the longer it will take to get there. I think I read that in college physics.

At all cases, we arrived at the cruise terminal, helped Capt. Lecture get the luggage out of the back of the bus and connected with a porter ASAP. Bags gone save our carry ons we wended our way toward the doors on the faaaaaar end of the building marked ‘Embarkation.’ It’s never an easy journey occasionally being impeded by debarking cruisers who had significantly too much fun on the last night resulting in immobile individuals staring blankly into space as if they just experienced an alien mind probe. Also, there’s always the couple who began an argument on board and just have to allow the rest of the world to enjoy their domestic bliss as well. All that notwithstanding, we got there in fair time.

As I was about to enter the building, airline standard carry on in tow I was greeted, and I use that term VERY loosely, by a ‘robust’ black lady in a uniform emblazoned with ‘SECURITY.’ Without even looking at my carry on she DEMANDED that I deposit in the ‘Your bag must fit in here’ thingy that I had walked past about 50 feet back. I responded that I’ve used this bag on many cruises and flights and it’s never been an issue. Well, it was to Mrs. Barney Fife so I had to backtrack, deposit the bag in the frame thingy, drag it back out and wave it at her to get her attention. A little authority goes a long way with some folks. I was later told that a gentleman behind me had a smaller bag than mine and he was turned away, forced to check his bag. Nonsense… utter nonsense.

So, my ‘Welcome to Carnival’ was delayed until I ran into someone wearing a red blazer and a name tag. I got the ‘Welcome to Carnival’ as I started up the escalator… Stitch got ‘You can’t use a rolling bag on that escalator’ as I proceeded up the automated stairs, rolling bag behind me. Stitch had to heft her carry on as did a few of the folks behind her. I find it very disappointing that Carnival can’t at least get signage out to tell people such things. How many people DON’T have wheels on a carry on? Show of hands… you… the one with his hand up… go get a proper carry on NOW!!! There… I feel much better.

Have y’all ever boarded a ship at Galveston? If you have you’ll probably remember the interminable zigzag through the maze of those nylon strap things designed to control the flow of human traffic. No fun… none. On this cruise we had at least 20 Platinum guests in our group. Platinum guests are supposed to get priority treatment but nope… we got to trudge through the same tedious process until we reached security where a small sign declared that this specific x-ray machine… that one over there… was for VIP boarding. It was at that point that we separated for the time being from our friends to experience the ‘joy’ of VIP embark at Galveston. There’s really little that’s VIP about it. You get directed to a little room with space for six folks that’s occupied by a dozen or so. There’s no proper place to fill our the necessary health questionnaire, insufficient seating and only two folks to process check in for what ever number of VIPs are present. So, we waited. I stood. I think Stitch was sitting on her suitcase.

As we shuffled our feet and awaited our turn we noticed that a few of our friends, Keith and Elaina, had already gotten their Sail & Sign cards, zone boarding card and were headed to have a seat and await embark. Hummmm… something is amiss.

Eventually, our names were called… well, really Stitch’s name was called as it appeared that the agent might have had a difficult to impossible time with an Italian last name. We dutifully dragged our bags, Crazies flags and all, to the desk where we plopped down to finish out check in. Now, I really appreciate having a conversation with folks… I love chatting but sitting here exchanging pleasantries while other Platinum guests waited in that cramped, hot little room really isn’t good form. There’s got to be a much better way to manage the system.

Finally, S&S cards in hand we headed out to the VIP waiting arena. There we found a number of our folks, quietly sitting gazing through the glass at our home for the next week. Among these esteemed visitors were two wonderful friends, Al and Mary, who previously had to cancel our cruise. A number of weeks previous Mary had called Stitch bubbling over with the news that they were able to join the cruise. Of course, we were thrilled and promised to keep the news secret. I’m sure that the looks on the faces of our group had to be priceless as Al and Mary sauntered past wearing t-shirts with ‘SURPRISE’ emblazoned everywhere!! Ya’ gotta love folks like that.

We were all ready to board, in fact the lone wedding party had boarded, when we were told that they were conducting a ‘test’ that would delay us 20… maybe 30 minutes. FOO!!! The folks on the non-VIP side of that nylon strap thingy that the zigzag is also constructed of had a shore side agent leading them in cheers and such. We had the windows with sun pouring in… warm.

It was about this time that Stitch decided to take advantage of the break to find the ladies room. This struck a cord in my memory. Just six months previous, waiting to board the Ecstasy from Galveston she said the same thing… similar situation… VIP boarding. Then as now, as soon as she left the area one of the agents came up and headed the group toward the gangway… no Stitch. I watched as lightening struck twice and every single VIP boarded leaving me standing there holding the bag, or many bags, in this case.

Shortly, Stitch arrived; we gathered our goodies and proceeded up the gangway dead last. It really made little difference as not too far ahead of us the line was stopped cold. The ‘Test’ is seems was to ensure that the hydraulics on the gangway would manage the weight… some leak thingy had occurred and only 30 people at a time were allowed up and into the ship. We stood almost quietly until it was our turn. Irrepressible smiles broke out on our faces as we finally set foot back on the Carnival Conquest. We were home again. Let the fun begin!!!

Hey Mach, great review.....as always. I'm so excited to see what I missed.

I do have a question.....:confused::confused: didn't you leave out some special details about a "special" presentation that was done at the pool at the Hilton??? Or is that hush hush?? ;):p

Ummmm... since you asked... yeah, there was an you know it darn well!!

As it Stitch's story I'll ask her to tell it here. It really was priceless!!!

Thanks, Julie!

;)

Mach,

We'll be on that beautiful ship for the first time in November. I'm loving your pics & can't wait to read the rest of your review. Thanks for all you do!

Dorothy

Mach,

 

We'll be on that beautiful ship for the first time in November. I'm loving your pics & can't wait to read the rest of your review. Thanks for all you do!

 

Dorothy

Trust me... it's a pleasure!!!

:)

Very interesting review so far...

However...why do you point out that you were greeted by a "robust" black lady in a uniform emblazoned with 'Security'?

Very interesting review so far...

However...why do you point out that you were greeted by a "robust" black lady in a uniform emblazoned with 'Security'?

Because I'm setting a mental image.

Please, it's obvious from the other thread that you don't like me or the Crazies so I invite you to not read any further.

Thank you.

All the best.

- Mach