CARNIVAL CONQUEST 1/31/2010 Day by Day

[robtx100]

Day -1 Saturday

 

We drove from Dallas on Saturday after dropping the pups off for their doggie vacation. They go their for day play often, but this is the first time the youngest has been boarded there, so we're a little worried to see how he does due to his separation anxiety.

 

Our drive down was fun and yet uneventful. We hit I-45 at 10:30. There was a little snow through Fairfield. It was interesting to some of the cars and trucks with ice still on them that had driven through Oklahoma. At 1 we had made it to Conroe and decided it was time to stop and eat lunch and stretch. We took the FM 3083 exit and saw a new Subway Sandwich shop just to the right and stopped there. This restaurant was immaculently clean, I must say.

 

We continued our drive through the wonderful Houston traffic. I couldn't believe all the banged up cars and the way people were driving without any consideration whatsoever for other drivers. After making our way through downtown, traffic eased up and we started to discuss the things we forgot to pack. Corkscrew the the bottle of wine I'm bring on and the one for the hotel and batteries for the camera (I just bought a mega pack of batteries at Cosco specifically for this trip). So as we drove across the bridge to Galveston I remembered there is a Target just up the road so we stopped there.

 

We arrived at the Tremont House around 330pm and their valet staff was busy with guests arriving and a wedding party. They were fantastic, though. I meant to leave my duffle bag with bottle water in the car and instead, I took it and left my carry on bag with toiletries. By the time I realized it, they had already moved the car. No worries, one of the valet guys was moving a car and took my duffle with water and grabbed the correct bag and brought it back to me. Here is where an experience cruiser made a rookie mistake. I had no bills smaller than a $5, so I tipped him that, the service was well worth it.

 

We checked into room 425. It is much smaller than room 325 we had a couple of years ago. But again, not worth complaining about. The room overlooks the atrium and down to the restaurant. I am a ByRequest member at Wyndham, so they had a bottle of Chardonnay and a box of nuts in the room. We ate dinner at Fisherman's Wharf and hit a club or two on the way back to the hotel. As I'm trying to sleep, I notice that every 17 seconds, the toilet runs water. I try to sleep, but all I can do is count, one Mississippi, two Mississippi, the as I get to 17, there goes the toilet running again. Todd tells me it is one of those self cleaning toilets, so it runs water to clean itself. I believe him. Until I woke up at 4am, tried to go back to sleep; one Mississippi, two Mississippi, 17; I get up and jiggle the handle and it stops. I can't believe I fell for that self cleaning toilet bs. LOL.

[robtx100]

Day 1 Sunday

 

I couldn't sleep very long so I got up, showered and walked over to the rooftop patio door. It was locked unlike last time we stayed here. So, off I went walking over to Starbucks. I noticed a liquor store around the corner from the Tremont, but it will be closed on Sunday because of state law. 6:05am and Starbucks is closed. ?? What Starbucks isn't open this early. There are 5 people standing in front waiting for it to open. I nod hello and walk across the street to where the pier is by Harbor House to watch the Voyager come in. The gate is locked. So I walk back across the street to Starbucks which is now open. This store sits a little higher than street level so I got a nice view of the Voyager sailing by. It is very quiet. Still no sign of the Conquest. I go inside and order my tall one splenda late. As I'm leaving I see big trucks starting to line up with provisions for the ships.

 

I go back to the hotel, rooftop is still closed. I decide I will type a day by day review. So here I sit with my laptop, sipping my late, trying not to wake Todd up, enjoying the silence of no running toilet. We are parking at the Galvez and the valet here signed us up for the 1130 shuttle from the Galvez. We have VIP finally (10th Carnival Cruise) and hope the lines won't be long by then. That's all for now, I think I will go down the hall to see if the rooftop is open yet.

[Cindy]

I am going to LOVE this! Thanks so much for posting this thread!:D

[GranthamMommy]

Enjoy the cruise! I love the running toilet story. We were on our honeymoon in Barbados. Middle of the night and I could see this huge bug on the ceiling. I woke up my husband who "handled" the situation.

He said the bug ran underneath the door to the connecting room.

Okay, back to sleep....

 

Years later...he confessed. No, it didn't go underneath the door, just out of his bride's sight......No he's not a liar. We're celebrating our 25th anniversary on the Valor in June 2010.

[robtx100]

Day 1 (continued)

 

We checked out of the Tremont at 9:30 and started our way to breakfast at Denny’s on the Seawall. As I rounded the corner, I looked at my hand on the steering wheel and noticed I didn’t have my ring on. I turned around and went back to the hotel, got the key back from the front desk and proceeded to the room to look for it. After 10 minutes of searching, I came up empty handed. Again, the valet service was exceptional as I left my car running right at the door.

 

After breakfast, we made our way to the Hotel Galvez for our 1130 shuttle time even though it was only 1030. As we approached the hotel we noticed there was a line of cars and didn’t want to get in the way so we went off to Starbucks. There was a line of ship personnel waiting on taxis there and it was plenty busy there unlike it was at 6am when I was there earlier. We grabbed out coffees and left since it was so busy. As we made our way back to the Galvez, we were relieved when we got there and the line of cars was gone.

 

The young guy at the valet desk took our luggage and stacked it close to other luggage waiting for the 11am shuttle. He said if there was enough room, we could get on the earlier shuttle. It was a good thing since the 11 o’clock shuttle didn’t leave until 1130. The valets were really hopping with passengers that just disembarked and passengers waiting to embark. There was room on the shuttle thankfully and we got to the pier around 1145. The porter that came over only had a small cart. He started stacking luggage on this tiny cart up to about 8 feet high. We all looked at each other like there is no way this is going to work. All of sudden, someone’s black bag fell off the top, that started a domino effect as another bag fell and another. He simply put the bag back on. He started to roll the cart and as he went up the incline, the whole cart of luggage tuned over with women screaming as it did.

 

It was then the ported decided he needed the help of another porter. We made our way up the escalator to the VIP line metal detector. It still amazes me at the number of people who to this day get discombobulated at emptying their pockets and walking through a metal detector. Some people looked as though they were going through the Gates of Hell and didn’t know if they wanted to or not or what they needed to take off or leave in their pockets.

 

After that experience we were led to a nice lady who took our names and room number and walked us to the VIP overflow room while the two desks checked those that were there in. Well, we waited about 15 minutes and noticed that everyone else was just walking in and going straight to the desk, while we were being passed up. Luckily, the nice old lady noticed we were still there and told the two people at the desk to take us next no matter who walked in. Slight elevated blood pressure by that time, but it ended up for the best as we were checked in, told to pass the thousand or so people and go straight to the back wall in the VIP waiting area. As we got there, they had already started boarding, so we went straight to the embarkation photo taking, and up the ramp to where we took our Sail and Sign photo. We started our usual ascent up the gangway and then I realized we are descending down the ramp we usually go down for debarkation.

[robtx100]

We were led into a very large room where they were x-raying the bags to be loaded, then outside to board on deck 0. I remembered reading about the Ecstasy hitting the ramp on Thursday, so I sure this was a direct effect of that accident. Todd and I decided before this cruise that since we were not going as a group, we would implement the rule of no elevators and only take the stairs. Well, deck 0 to deck 9 Lido was a haul. After a slight heart attack and catching my breath, we made our way to the Cezanne Restaurant for lunch. I wasn’t really hungry, so I’m not sure why I got in line for the buffet. Habit, I guess. Todd took forever in line and when he finally got to the table I asked him what took so long. I got the look from him sometimes that I know I shouldn’t have asked. Apparently, the lady in front of him had to look at each item and take her time about it and when she had her plate full, she spilled soup all over everything. I’m surprised his patience held up.

 

After 50 or so requests to buy the Fun Ship Special, it was finally 130 and time to go to the cabin. It is 39 degrees outside, so too cold to stay outside very long. We have cabin 8348, a mid ship balcony port side. We usually do aft balconies so were unsure about this one, especially being under Lido. The balcony is smaller than the aft but adequate for two people. I usually scramble to find something to chill my bottle of champagne I bring for our traditional Champagne Sailaway, but this time I simply put it our on the balcony.

 

We muddle about the ship a little while. As we pass the shore excursion desk, we stop to by tickets for the Behind the Fun Tour set for Saturday at 845am. Then over to the meet with the maitre d’ to check and see that we have a private table for two. All but two of our previous cruises have been with family or group of friends, and those two didn’t wield good results with our table mates. Plus, we deal with people all day everyday at work and decided a table for two would be nice. Well, we found out our assigned table was a 10 top, but Ryan changed us to a table for two, but said we may not like it because it is in a corner, but to try it tonight.

 

We did the safety briefing at 3:40, life jackets no longer required. Our person in charge had a very authoritative voice and people listened to her instructions. Still others thought they were at a parade and paraded around as such in front of everyone. We were in Station F. Some lady named Lee paraded by and about 10 people shouted her name at the top of their voice. There were lots of laughs and hugs amongst them, then Chris the CD released our station. We then had to wait for the Lee Reunion to break up took get by them. We went back to the room (more stairs) and within minutes we were pulling away from the pier. I popped the cork and we were officially on vacation. Birds are flocking to the fish being stirred up in the water. Some guy forward of us is trying to make hawk sounds to scare the birds, while others aft of us are making fun of his bird call as I’m thinking bad thoughts of my fellow passengers. But I’m feeling warm and fuzzy and happy again as I remember that I am on vacation. Or maybe it was the champagne.

 

Our luggage arrived around 5pm as we were getting ready for dinner. We left our cabin at 5:30 to go the wine bar to search for Janenna, our favorite bartender from the last few cruises. She was not there, but I asked about her and the new bartender told me she now works at the casino bar. We enjoy a glass of wine before dinner and meet a great couple Bob and Kathy. They are from LA and as we talked, realized we had a lot in common. Their VIP embarkation was not as nice as ours as they arrived later than we did.

 

At 6, we were off to find table 300 in the Monet dining room. We saw were very happy when we saw where the table was. It’s to the port side as you enter Monet on deck 3 next to the window and some sort of emergency exit. What more could you ask for when you want a nice private dinner. I highly recommend this table to anyone who wants a nice quiet and private setting. Mr. Pong (don’t call him Ping) is our waiter and he is good. I order the wine package that is $110 (125.50 with gratuity). Dinner was good, but I can’t wait for our night at The Point. We then headed off to the casino bar to find Janenna.

 

We went to the non-smoking side of the Casino bar and stood for a moment until Janenna saw us and she screamed and climbed over the bar and gave us hugs. We caught up with what all was going on with each other since June. Had some more wine and then off to bed at 9:30.

[arthierry]

Day -1 Saturday

 

We drove from Dallas on Saturday after dropping the pups off for their doggie vacation. They go their for day play often, but this is the first time the youngest has been boarded there, so we're a little worried to see how he does due to his separation anxiety.

 

Our drive down was fun and yet uneventful. We hit I-45 at 10:30. There was a little snow through Fairfield. It was interesting to some of the cars and trucks with ice still on them that had driven through Oklahoma. At 1 we had made it to Conroe and decided it was time to stop and eat lunch and stretch. We took the FM 3083 exit and saw a new Subway Sandwich shop just to the right and stopped there. This restaurant was immaculently clean, I must say.

 

We continued our drive through the wonderful Houston traffic. I couldn't believe all the banged up cars and the way people were driving without any consideration whatsoever for other drivers. After making our way through downtown, traffic eased up and we started to discuss the things we forgot to pack. Corkscrew the the bottle of wine I'm bring on and the one for the hotel and batteries for the camera (I just bought a mega pack of batteries at Cosco specifically for this trip). So as we drove across the bridge to Galveston I remembered there is a Target just up the road so we stopped there.

 

We arrived at the Tremont House around 330pm and their valet staff was busy with guests arriving and a wedding party. They were fantastic, though. I meant to leave my duffle bag with bottle water in the car and instead, I took it and left my carry on bag with toiletries. By the time I realized it, they had already moved the car. No worries, one of the valet guys was moving a car and took my duffle with water and grabbed the correct bag and brought it back to me. Here is where an experience cruiser made a rookie mistake. I had no bills smaller than a $5, so I tipped him that, the service was well worth it.

 

We checked into room 425. It is much smaller than room 325 we had a couple of years ago. But again, not worth complaining about. The room overlooks the atrium and down to the restaurant. I am a ByRequest member at Wyndham, so they had a bottle of Chardonnay and a box of nuts in the room. We ate dinner at Fisherman's Wharf and hit a club or two on the way back to the hotel. As I'm trying to sleep, I notice that every 17 seconds, the toilet runs water. I try to sleep, but all I can do is count, one Mississippi, two Mississippi, the as I get to 17, there goes the toilet running again. Todd tells me it is one of those self cleaning toilets, so it runs water to clean itself. I believe him. Until I woke up at 4am, tried to go back to sleep; one Mississippi, two Mississippi, 17; I get up and jiggle the handle and it stops. I can't believe I fell for that self cleaning toilet bs. LOL.

 

 

Welcome to Houston! Please keep your arms and legs inside the vehicle at all times. You may get stuck in traffic for hours at a time, but please don't hunk your horn, point the finger, swear at others, and most certainly, don't cut others off. We hope you enjoyed your visit, please come back!

 

 

Loving the review, keep it coming! I'll be on the Conquest on the 14th.

[Fighterone]

Can't wait for more, I read every word and relate so well to everything you mentioned about popping that cork, a table for 2, finding the old bartenders!

Guess you wrote this daily while on the ship.That is a great idea...next time!

[Fighterone]

I am so sorry! I just entered my post on your thread by mistake. I hope you will forgive me!

[Cindy]

We muddle about the ship a little while. As we pass the shore excursion desk, we stop to by tickets for the Behind the Fun Tour set for Saturday at 845am. Then over to the meet with the maitre d’ to check and see that we have a private table for two. All but two of our previous cruises have been with family or group of friends, and those two didn’t wield good results with our table mates. Plus, we deal with people all day everyday at work and decided a table for two would be nice. Well, we found out our assigned table was a 10 top, but Ryan changed us to a table for two, but said we may not like it because it is in a corner, but to try it tonight.

 

 

How early did you have to go to the Shore Excursion Desk to get a spot on the Behind the Fun Tour? We'd like to do this on our cruise in March, and I'm wondering if it should be one of the first things we take care of. Thanks!

[Meyer2]

Great review do far. Great details.

[SoonerOne]

I'm enjoying your review, we'll be on her in just a few days, please continue:)

[Lovharvey]

There is another way to go to 45 North without having to go through downtown. When you get to the Webster/Kemah area, if you will watch for Beltway 8 and go North, you can take it all the way to 45 North. You will pick up 45 N at the Greenspoint area. There is also another way, but, there are several turns and the way above is just as easy. You will run into several places where you have to pay a toll, but, this will also take you across the ship channel bridge, which is neat on a clear day. Have a good cruise and looking forward to more posts.

[robtx100]

Day 2...Monday

 

We woke up around 7am and it was cloudy and cold outside. We showered and made our way upstairs to Lido for breakfast. One note about the shower. I noticed about an inch of water on the floor on Sunday each time we showered and thought it must be from the shower curtain (I didn’t bring clothespins to hold the shower curtain inside, but it was fine). We arrived just as they opened the buffet. I chose the eggs and potato wedges and some bacon from the bacon police and grits. The eggs were very runny, the bacon fatty and soft and the grits were cold, so I didn’t eat much of what was on my plate. I decided to get a bowl of Cherios instead, probably better for me anyway. I did notice as the morning progressed that the eggs on people’s plates were cooked, so it must be an early morning thing.

 

We milled about the ship a little and went back to the room. We passed the Piano Bar and there was an 8 o’clock Catholic Mass with a priest inside giving communion. 10 o’clock and our steward still hasn’t come by the room. No worries, it’s just that I wanted to be there to mention to him about the water in the bathroom. We left the room and walked around the ship again. We went to the shore excursion desk to book the Negril Margaritaville tour and was told it was sold out. But the Beaches Negril family all inclusive was still available. I debated on this one as it stated “Family” which would mean dirty little rug-rats running around all over the place. But we booked it anyway as we wanted to do something different in Jamaica this time.

 

It is too cold to be outside on the deck, so the Promenade is very busy for daytime. There are more kids on this trip than I remember on all of our other January/February cruises. I vowed to never cruise again in the summertime because of the 1600 unruly kids that ran about on the last one.

 

Our cruise critic meet and greet was scheduled at noon in the piano bar. We went back the room and it was clean. I laid down and fell asleep and missed our meet and greet. We decided to go the wine tasting in the Point at 230, but when we got there it was packed. No worries, there is another one scheduled tomorrow and hopefully it won’t be as packed. We met Chris the cruise director and saw the Maitre d’ Ryan and spoke to him. We ran into Bob and Kathy again in the stairwell and they were on their way to make donations in the casino. Tonight is elegant night and the show is Formidable. We’ve seen the show in 2007 and twice last year, you would think they would mix it up every few years. We started to shower and get dressed around 445 and I wanted to investigate the water issue while Todd was in the shower. Sure enough, it was not the shower curtain. There was a drain issue and water came out of the overflow drain outside the shower.

 

After getting dressed we went down to the purser’s desk. I finally got to use the Concierge line, although no one was in the other line. She stated she would send someone up while we were at dinner. We went to the wine bar for a glass of wine before dinner. Rattana is the bartender and she is great and very personable. Captain called her his smiling star. The Captain and Chris and many of the officers were there for photo opportunities. At 6 o’clock we were off to our perfect table 300 in Monet.

 

Mr. Pong was busy as usual when we arrived, but service was not lacking at all. We both had the Shrimp and Lobster. We took a few photos along the Promenade. We listened to the group Music Manila playing along the Promenade at the Casino. They were very good, I would say even better than Blood Power. The base player did a set that had him playing a very long time and he didn’t miss a note. There was a Blues Band playing there earlier and they were good, also. Janenna ran down to her cabin while on her break and gave us both key chains from Peru that she bought while she was home on vacation. The Promenade cleared out about 830 with people going to the show and those who went to the late seating dinner at 8.

 

Todd decided he had enough at 930, so he went off to bed. I was visiting with Rattana when I heard something I had never heard before on the Conquest; a good piano player/singer. I took my glass of merlot and had a seat. There were a few other people already there. Jason, the piano man, did a great job interacting with the crowd. He named me Mr. Rogers because I was wearing a sweater vest. I read on here previously that he named someone Wilford Brimley, so I guess Mr. Rogers isn’t so bad. He really packed them in. Some people even had to stand.

[robtx100]

Day 3 Tuesday

 

I cannot seem to sleep in on this trip. I woke up at 6:30. We muddled about and got ready for the day and headed to breakfast on Lido at 7:30. The sun is out and it’s nice and warm, almost too warm compared to the days we started this trip with. We watched the news out of Denver and they stated Dallas had freezing fog, whatever that is, so we were glad not to be experiencing that.

 

We found a nice set of chairs to lay out on and enjoyed an hour or so of sun. I can’t handle too much sun, so I went back to the room. There were lots of people; short people, tall people, round people, skinny people, old people, young people. The typical dichotomy of a cruise. It’s what makes it fun. After a while, we decided to eat lunch at 11, but nothing was open except for pizza and burger grill/hotdog grill. The pizza was not as good as I have had in the past on this ship, but still adequate. At 1230, we made our way to the Point for the wine tasting. There were only 25 of us, compared to the hundred or more the prior day. One note on this: The wines tasted are different each day and is $10. Monday, they did new world wines and Tuesday was old world wines from France, Germany, and Italy. This lasted until 2pm.

 

We went back to the cabin for a nap until about 4:30 and needed to get up and get ready for the past guest party at 5pm. As I’m getting ready, the phone rang and it was room service. She stated they needed to deliver my canopy tray and I would need to be in the room when it is delivered and would 6pm be OK. I stated we have the past guest party 5-530 and reservations at the Point at 6:30. She was almost argumentative and asked when I would like it delivered. The past guest reception was good, one of the best. Chris is a great cruise director. We had a tuna thingy and two salmon balls and two drinks. They kept trying to serve us more, but we didn’t want any so told them no thank you.

 

Back to room by 6, and the canopy tray was delivered at 610. It was nice with things we wouldn’t normally eat, but we wanted to try new things. A quick jaunt up to flights of stairs and to the Point. I should also mention that originally we were told they were booked, but I wielded my platinum card and they found us a table for 6:30. The compliment I received was the beef tartar and Todd had the potato garlic soup. Then I had the Portobello mushroom in balsamic vinegar and Todd had the French onion soup. Yum! We both had the surf and turf (4 oz lobster and 4 oz filet) with wasabe mashed potatoes. Then I had the ice cream for desert and Todd had the Washington Apple Torte.

 

Then we went off to the Latour wine bar to have a bottle of wine with Rattana. Tonight’s show is Motown with Ron Joseph, he is great, but we didn’t go since we’ve seen him twice already. Our nice quiet wine bar was disturbed by the color parade: Go white team, go white team go. Blue there it is, and Red something. We headed off to the Piano bar and there was a good crowd there already. On previous cruises, it was fun to make fun of the parade as they went by. This time, as the crowd went by, everyone in the piano bar shouted Jason’s Bar, Jason’s Bar, Jason’s Bar, totally confusing the crowd outside. LOL.

 

We stayed up until 11:30 and went to bed. It was a great day. Relaxing, nice weather, met some good people. What more could you ask for?

[robtx100]

Day 4 Montego Bay/Negril

 

The ship made it’s turn in the morning, which was different from our prior cruises. My guess is that it would be after sunset when we left, so better to make it while there is light. When I gave security my card it made the wrong noise very loudly. It had done this when we checked in at Galveston and they said don’t worry about it. I forgot to take my blood pressure medicine in the morning, so it shot up because I couldn’t figure out how I had made all these charges since Sunday with an invalid card. He took my picture again, holding up the line, embarrassing to say the least. Sorry to all those behind me. Again, just my assumption. We made our way inside the terminal and say two nice ladies and a gentleman holding signs reading Beaches Negril. They confirmed we were at the right spot. Our meeting time was at 9:30 and it was 9:25 and so far no kids. A couple arrived with their teenage son and another couple with a teenage daughter. Finally at about 9:35, a family arrived with their 4 sons. They seem well behaved at this point.

 

We met our driver Patrick and our guide Carlene and we were off driving toward Negril, by way of Montego Bay road construction. There was a free car massage as part of the package apparently. The kids were extremely well behave on the bus ride, one even slept. The ride there took 1 hour and 20 minutes. The streets are very narrow through some of the villages. There are free ranging goats along the road and there were a few who didn’t look both ways before crossing the road. We didn’t hit them, some other car or van did.

 

We arrived at the resort and were led to a great room that had high end antiques and furniture; very well put together. Carlene gave us a brief tour of the resort and we were off to the bar and to find the beach. There beach is beautiful and wide. We found a couple of chairs under a palm so I could stay in the shade and Todd could lay in the sun. This spot is just past the main pool on the other side of the beach volley ball court. It was great and only steps from the restroom and main pool bar. They were presenting a time share or some type of seminar nearby, but it didn’t last long and didn’t bother us. The water was fantastic and not too cold, but cool enough to enjoy when we got too hot.

 

We had lunch around noon. It was buffet style and good, not great. We went back to our little spot until it was time to meet Patrick just before 3pm. This would be a good excursion for families as there is an xbox 360 garage (not sure what that is) and a water park. They even had a pizza making class with the little ones. We never saw only a few kids the entire time we were there, and those were staying at the resort.

 

Our trip back was great. The co-pilot Martha was critiquing Patrick on his driving. We made it back in just under an hour. I wasn’t patted down (felt up) as I had been on our prior cruises as I went through security. As I entered the ship’s security, you guessed it. BAAAAA instead of bing! They took my picture again and told me to go to the purser’s desk. She gave me new card and said everything would be OK. (More on this later as we start to leave the ship in Grand Cayman). We were back on the ship by 4:15 and started to get ready for dinner and a quick pre dinner wine with Rattana. We met some nice guys there who were going to the Point. I didn’t realize until later that we met their wives the night before. Dinner was good. Todd had the Pork Chop and said it was great and I had the medley of seafood and it was good.

 

The show for Wednesday is Lady Hellevi. I’ve seen this show 3 times and cannot get enough of it. We went 30 minutes early to get good seats. There were two older couples behind us saving seats, but as soon as the lights went down, they couldn’t hold them any longer and let people sit there. It was interesting listening to the one lady tell the other couple how she convinced her friend Idelle to commit insurance fraud by stating her diamond ring was stolen when it really wasn’t. Idelle, not sure who you are, but get some new friends. This lady is a tell all. I feel like I know you so well.

 

The show was fantastic as usual. I highly recommend this show to anyone on the Conquest. In fact, any time I met someone and found out it was their first cruise or first time on the ship, I told them not to miss this show.

 

We went back to the wine bar and the couples we met previously here were all there, so we had a good time and drank until 11 or so, can’t really remember, then off to bed after an almost perfect day.

[sixgun8]

Have you met Lambie yet?

[bonstersd]

Loving the review, thanks!

[arthierry]

I am really enjoying the review, please keep it coming. I will on the Conquest in 9 days!

[robtx100]

Day 5 Grand Cayman

 

We seemed to arrive a little later than usual. There were already 3 ships there when we arrived, then us, then the HAL Rotterdam. We didn't have a ship tour booked, so we had to wait for them to leave first. They stated that if you didn't have a ship's tour, you could still come down to get a tender ticket and they would fit you in where there was room and it would open at 9am for everyone. So at 8:30, we went down to see about getting a ticket at the Lobby and the guy handed me a sticker that said 5. I'm thinking I have to wait for 5 boats, so I take out my Platinum card and ask if there was priority tendering. He said, yes, just go down. I pointed out that he handed me a sticker with 5 on it. He said, "Sir, you don't understand, no one wants to leave the ship. The first tender is there waiting to board." We head down to deck 0, scanned my card, you guessed it, BAAAAAAA instead of bing. There were only 5 people already on board. I realized my mistake after sitting down. Being the first on the tender is NOT a good thing. You have to sit there bobbing up and down, banging against the ship until the two deck tender gets full. 20 minutes later, we were full. I never get seasick, but I was getting a little seasick on this thing.

 

We wanted to shop around a little and I had chair and drink coupons for the beach just past Sea Grape from our cruise there before that we didn't use and planned to use it this trip. We shopped and shopped and shopped, then off to Paradise restaurant to see our favorite waitress there Sonia. My almost famous fish sandwich was fantastic and my two drinks were great. We decided to forgo the beach and just head back to the ship. We got on the small tender boat this time. Of course, the boat had to fill to over capacity before we left, but the wait wasn't long at all.

 

Back on the ship, it was nice and quiet. We went up to the main pool and took a dip and laid out in the sun a while. I got a little sunburned from walking around Georgetown. We took a nap and then it was time for the Future Cruise talk at 4PM.

 

This is where I will rename my blog:

 

Rude American Tourists

 

At the future cruise talk, they were running a little behind. No worries. I found a nice quiet spot. An older gentleman came in and sat down between me and the stage. He was a step down so he wasn't in my way. Brandon, the future cruise consultant move a small band stand on the stage and put his laptop on top. It may have covered 2% of the screen. Well, this old man starts yelling "It's in our way!! It's in our way!" He thinks he is doing everyone a favor and walks up to the stage and puts his hand on the stand and I'm thinking there goes Brandon's laptop. His assistant came over and asked if there was a problem and he yells at here that we can't see. I can see fine, as I'm sure the other people could. She told him she would tell Brandon. Mind you, all this time he is running frantically trying to get the show started. Brandon re-enters and the old man goes back to him. Brandon said no problem and moved the stand two feet to the left, which meant he could not stand where he needed to. The entire time, it never dawned on this old coot to move chairs.

 

We did our usual wine stop before dinner at the wine bar. I was raised properly and do not listen to other people's conversation unless they are talking loud and I cannot tune it out. There was an old man with is young wife at the other end of the bar and I hear him say some very racist things to her. Todd and I just look at each other in disbelief. Then at dinner, the table next to us had an old man that made a severe derogatory comment about Asians while the assistant Inoyman poured his tea. I would have poured it over his head if I were him. We met enough nice people to more than make up for it and didn't let it ruin our evening. I just don't understand the lack of intelligence of some people. We stayed out with the group from Rhome, Texas until the wee hours.

 

Rude American Tourists will be continued on the next day.

[robtx100]

Day 6 Cozumel

 

We got to Cozumel a little late around 10:20. We made our way off the ship at 11AM and went to the cab stand outside the shopping area. We were immediately off to Nachi Cocom. We have done Playa Mia, Passion Island, Paradise and other beaches but they all have gotten very crowded. We wanted something nice and quiet and with 6 ships in port, Nachi Cocom sounded like the place for us. You have to put a deposit to reserve before you arrive. They only allow 100 people. We arrived and paid our drive $20 ($15 + tip) and we then paid our remaining balance to the lady there and were led by Manuel to our private water front palapa. We passed the pool and jacuzzi on our way there. He asked what we would like to drink and we both decided on Dos Equis. Manuel came back every 20 minutes with new fresh beers. We met Susie from our cruisecritic group there. She was at the palapa next to us and more people from the ship behind us who rode our Hotel Galvez shuttle. So lots of familiar people.

 

We had lunch there and stayed until 2:30. I found Manuel and tipped him for his great service throughout the day. We will definitely do this beach again. I'm already the next trip to Cozumel just to spend more time on this beach.

 

We did more shopping at the shops at the pier and stopped by Fat Tuesday's for our obligatory margarita. We noticed the sky was turning black and decided we better pay and make our way to the ship. We were halfway down the pier and it started pouring rain. What are you going to do? We had fun, as did the nice lady behind us who said it reminded her when she was a kid and stomped in the puddles. People were running like they were going to melt. We got to the ship and there was a small line of about 50 people waiting to get on.

 

Rude American Tourists (continued)

 

As we were waiting, two crew members went past the line to the crew entry area. There was almost a mob with people yelling at them and swearing at them. One person even said he would "drop kick him in the face for cutting in line". I pointed out that there was a separate crew entry area and if they want to be fed tonight, these guys need back on board. I got lots of dirty looks from these people, but I didn't care. I had enough of rude behavoir. We got back on the ship soaking wet, cold, but it was OK, fun even. It's been a long time since I was caught in a rainstorm without an umbrella.

 

I spend some time on the balcony looking across at the Valor. As I leaned on our railing, someone from my ship threw a whole glass of ice across to the Valor without any regard to the pier workers down below. I heard some comments my fellow passengers made across to the Valor passenger and thought to myself, "God, help me. I'm on a boat full of Rednecks".

 

Enough for now on the Rude people.

 

We had another enjoyable night out and about the ship. We met some more great people and ended by listening to a song or two from Jason at the piano bar. It was another good day in Paradise.

[robtx100]

Day 7 Sea Day

 

We woke up a little late at 8AM. I had a slight hangover and our tour starts at 8:45. We went up to Lido for breakfast and coffee (lots of coffee) and made our way to the Library to meet for the tour. There are about 20 people there and I was under the assumption the tour was limited to 16. One lady was there with her camera even though the first thing on the envelope and the sheet they give you when you book is NO CAMERAS ALLOWED. Someone told her about it and I confirmed that they wouldn't let her bring it. She stated she did not intend to take pictures (??wth). She left to bring her camera back to her stateroom and more people arrived.

 

Terra our guide arrived and I learned there were two tours. One at 8:45 and one at 9:15 and some of the 9:15 people arrived early. There were refreshments there in the library. We were led out and wanded by security. This tour is so extensive and I highly recommend it to anyone interested in the behind the scenes goings on.

We toured the crew's dining room, staff dining room, officer's dining room, Captain's private dining room, crew galley, Laundry facilities, behind the stage with the light tech, the dancer's dressing room, the main galley, the bridge, the Point galley, the Engine Control room, the trash facility, the freezer and the liquor storage room and passed the brig and morgue. It was well worth the price with all the extras they give you.

 

The rest of the day was lazy and relaxing with a nap before getting ready for dinner. We went to the Fun Farewell at 5pm and I was surprised the Degas Lounge was not packed to capacity. There were as many bar servers as guests in the beginning, but I saw some guy run and use the phone to call his friends. There was a small group there who were slamming them and having a great time. They were fun to watch.

 

Dinner was a little interesting. Some guy came in yelling "free drinks on 3, Who Dat!" I can't remember what else. He was asked to keep it down, but he didn't. Security came and escorted him out. After dinner, someone from the same table was dropping her top for photo ops at the Wine Bar. I'm thinking Gaugins would be a better venue for that, no the Wine Bar. lol.

 

Day 8 Galveston

 

We went to the designated waiting area at 8AM and it was jammed packed. I asked the girl if this was the right place for priority and she confirmed it was. I could not believe the number of wheel chairs there. As we sat, I noticed a number of people who were walking fine around the ship and in port were now in wheel chairs being led around by a Carnival employee. Now, I'm not trying to say anyone was faking, but come on, I saw some of you running to the buffet when it first opened and now you're in a wheel chair. (??wth).

 

Being a smart cruiser, we left the room at 9:30 and made our way to the front of the ship and down to deck 0, the platform to get off on deck 3 is still not repaired. We walked right off the ship and to the luggage holding area 1 and our bags were there, we grabbed a porter and were waiting outside by 9:45. The shuttle picked us up at 10, a quick stop by Voyager for other passengers and we were on the road at 10:30 and home at 3:30.

 

Even with the few instances with rude people, we still consider this one of our top and best cruises ever.

[Mom2JJandJ]

Thank you so much for a very detailed and very nonpartisan view of your vacation! We leave in 2 weeks and can't be more excited!

 

We appreciate your views of both good and bad... that's what makes a great review. Thank you again for taking the time to note each days' comings and goings. It makes me want to do the same when we go.

 

Happy Cruising!

[LambKnuckles]

Sorry we never crossed paths till last night before our early seating dinner!!!

 

Thanks for posting your review... I hope to get mine up in this day by day manner too!!! I have posted the group photos of our roll call on the roll call page...

 

you're right!!! CHRIS, the CD, was GREAT and hard working on this cruise!!! :)

[MicksMom]

Thanks for the great review! We were on the Conquest the first week of January. We will be back on her in October, can't wait.