Page-a-Day Review of the Carnival Conquest (June 20-27, 2010)

[cruisegirl36]

I wonder if thats the excursion I looked at and thought we may not be able to do it because of weight limit. My husband is 6'4 300lbs and wondered if we together would be too much

[cjt3]

Friday, June 25th - Cozumel, Mexico

 

Drink of the Day: Mexican Mama

Tonight's Show: Variety Showtime

 

 

We arrive in Cozumel on Friday morning to threatening skies. We are planning to go to Isla Pasión on the northern end of Cozumel. As I look to the north, it seems like that is where the worst weather is, although at the terminal it is cloudy but not raining. We get off the boat and head to our meeting place where we find out that our excursion has been canceled due to the weather. We are all disappointed as we had really been looking forward to this excursion, but at the same time glad that the excursion company values our safety more than our money. We’ll be back to Cozumel again, I am sure, so we already know what excursion we’ll be doing then.

 

We debate going out into Cozumel on our own, but as the skies do look pretty bad we opt to do some shopping at the terminal and then head back to the boat. We had such a good time during our fun day at port in Jamaica, and this day in port is just as much fun. We are docked right next to the Carnival Valor, and it is interesting seeing a mirror image of the Conquest across the way. They are so close, in fact, that we find ourselves watching Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince on the Valor’s big screen (the Conquest was just playing the music channel). The only downside to having the Valor next door comes as the Valor is leaving port at 4:00. I am taking a nap at the time on the Panorama deck on the side closest to the Valor. This puts me no more than 30 yards from the Valor when she decides to blow her horn goodbye. Needless to say, I am awake from that point on.

 

When it is our turn to leave Cozumel, it is a little sad as we are now heading back to Galveston and the real world. To overcome some of the sadness, I head down to the Where Next desk to pick up a Future Cruise Certificate. We bought one on our last cruise, which got us $100 off this cruise (basically giving us back what we paid for the certificate) plus another $100 in OBC. We'll use this one next year when we celebrate our 20th wedding anniversary on the Carnival Ecstasy.

 

After skipping several shows this week, we do go to see the Variety Showtime featuring juggler Manuel Zuniga and comedian/ventriloquist Marc Rubben. The juggler is the same one we had seen on our last cruise and still tells the same jokes as before. We forgive that, though, since he isn’t the comedian and his juggling is very good. The comedian is pretty funny as well, particularly when he takes a newlywed from the audience and turns her into his ventriloquist dummy.

 

At dinner, I have the Fried Shrimp starter, the Duet of Filet Mignon and Short Rib Confit (very good), and the Chocolate, Raspberry and Vanilla Cream Cake for dessert. I can tell that everyone in the family is starting to get overloaded on food, because for the first time all week the kids don’t manage to finish their desert.

 

After dinner, my wife and I decide to go down to the Latour Wine Bar for a drink. The martini special of the day is a French Martini, which sounds like it might be interesting. The bartender tells me that it is vodka and pineapple juice, though, which doesn’t sound remotely French or like a martini so I opt for a Bowmore instead. My wife orders a chocolate martini, which turns out to be a concoction of Kahlua, Bailey’s, chocolate liqueur, butterscotch schnapps, and cream served in a martini glass coated in chocolate syrup. They should put this on the dessert menu in the restaurant! The atmosphere in the wine bar is a lot of fun as it appears that the ten or so people here have been regulars during the week and know the bartenders well. We make a mental note to hang out here more on the next cruise.

 

We get back to the room at about 11:30 and find that the kids are still wide awake. I see that Avatar is playing on the Seaside Theater, so my son and I head up to see the last hour of the movie. We had seen the movie before, but it’s a lot more fun watching the movie in a deck chair on the Lido deck of a cruise ship than seeing it in a theater.

 

Today's Picture of the Day:

 

 

[Prairie_Gal]

Awesome review!

[eugeniuss]

thanx for the ongoing review... going on her in August.....

 

why is that one particular door always opened whenever a ship is docked like the picture above shows?

[cjt3]

why is that one particular door always opened whenever a ship is docked like the picture above shows?

 

I know that at sail away there is usually an ship officer standing there - I presume to oversee the clearing of the lines. Not sure why it stays open the whole time, but I'm sure there are some here that do know.

[cjt3]

Saturday, June 26th - Fun Day at Sea

 

Drink of the Day: Riviera Delight

Tonight's Show: Carnival Legends

 

 

Our final day at sea is spent much as the others have been – laying out in the sun, playing ping-pong, going down the waterslide, playing shuffleboard, eating and drinking. My wife and son want to get airbrush tattoos, so while they go to do that I head down to the casino. I had collected quite a few “Match Play” coupons for the casino during the week, so I use those on the blackjack table and then head to the craps table for a while. Between the craps and blackjack I manage to play for about an hour on $50, which I consider a good day in the casino – certainly better than five minutes of bingo for $20. Surprisingly, when I head back up to the Lido deck an hour later my wife and son are still in line. They do finally get their tattoos, and my son is quite happy with the dragon across his back.

 

Dinner tonight starts with the New England Lobster and Crab Cake. That is followed by a perfectly-cooked, medium-rare Prime Rib, and then the Grand Marnier Soufflé for dessert. Maybe it's a good thing that tonight is the last night of the cruise, as I think with that meal I am done eating for the week!

 

My wife and I still have a little money left on our Sign and Sail cards from the casino, so we head down to the slot machines to give that money back while our son hits the arcade for the last time and our daughter goes to watch the Legends show. After that we go back to the room to pack, and while I am there I check our Sign and Sail account. We did manage to rack up a decent amount in charges, but we started the cruise with $100 in OBC from our Future Cruise Certificate and $1,000 in OBC from Early Saver price drops. Early Saver was a fantastic deal for us, and is great as long as you are confident that your travel plans won't change. We also received a refund of our Cozumel excursion on our account, and as it stands right now we are due a check for $5.

 

Rather than collect a check from Carnival, we decide to go for a farewell drink after we finish packing and putting out our luggage. We all go down to the Latour Wine Bar and reminisce on a wonderful vacation. Even though we have been rained on throughout the week and had one of our excursions cancelled, we all agree that this cruise was even better than the last one. We finish our drinks around midnight, and then my daughter and I decide to go up for some pizza. I guess I wasn’t done eating for the week after all.

 

Today's Picture of the Day:

 

 

[prattmom]

Love your reviews! We were also in port with Valor - it was pretty cool with the 2 Conquest class ships next to each other!

When the Valor left, I was standing next to a girl on Lido and she heard the horn and saw the ship moving and thought WE were leaving and she was freaking out because the rest of her group was still on Cozumel LOL!

[Monna]

Very enjoyable review! We took this same cruise last January, and it was our first. We had such a good time that we booked it again for January 2011. Your review and pictures brought it all back! Thank you!

 

I laughed at your comments about so much food. By the second elegant night I put my foot down and skipped supper completely, after having a very light lunch. Something had to give! Hubby didn't agree with me, and ate at the buffet. I honestly felt like I was "ready for market". LOL

 

Thanks again for your great review!

[dfmeeks]

What a perfect subject for your pic of the day! Your family is beautiful! Thank you for taking the time to write such a descriptive & informative review, though I'm guessing you still have debarkation day to write about. I didn't know it was possible but I'm looking forward to my Conquest cruise in November even more.

[pbxtech]

Thanks for the review, We look forward to our time on the ConQuest

[pooh4cruise]

Thanks so much for your great review! We were on the Valor on June 25th - right next to you! We unfortunately got off the ship around 9:30 that morning - right during the worst of the rain. Ugh! The weather got better, but we still came back to the ship around 2:00 that afternoon. I'll have to go through my pictures again and see if I can post the ones we took of the Conquest that day. It was great fun waving and chatting with some of the Conquest passengers from our balcony. :)

[cjt3]

Saturday, June 27th - Galveston, TX

 

We wake up to the sound of Cruise Director Chris telling us that we are back in Galveston. Since we’re in group 19, we have plenty of time to get ready and have a last breakfast at the buffet. Debarkation goes very smoothly, and we are off the ship and back to EZ cruise by 10:30. We stop to pick up our dog from the kennel and are back home by noon. This is definitely faster than the last cruise when we were delayed by fog coming into Galveston and didn’t even get off the ship until close to 4:00.

 

 

As we arrive back home, our vacation is officially over. Now the challenge is to keep the feeling as long as possible, which I decide will be aided by:

1) Mixing myself a tropical drink;

 

2) Taking a full week to write my review; and

 

3) Starting to plan our next cruise.

As to point 3, if anyone has recommendations for specific cabin numbers on the Ecstasy please let me know. I'm looking at balconies this time (preferably mid-ship) since we will be celebrating our 20th wedding anniversary and going without the kids.

 

Unfortunately, I don’t have any Pictures of the Day to share for Sunday, so I will leave you with a few honorable mentions from the week.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[makeup face]

Wonderful review:D Thank you....loved the "Picture of the Day":)

[pamletx]

I loved your review! Makes me want to go book the Conquest RIGHT NOW .. :p I'd like to sail her again before she leaves Galveston!

[Meyer2]

Such a beautiful family! All the pictures were wonderful & I enjoyed the daily reviews.

[bbond21]

Great review! Loved your photos!

Ready for my turn on the Conquest in 40 days!!!

[cjt3]

Thank you to all who have posted kind words over the past week. For those of you cruising the Conquest in the near future, I hope you have a great time. In addition to our 20th anniversary cruise on the Ecstasy next February, we’re thinking about another summer cruise next year on the Conquest to say farewell before she heads off to New Orleans. It will be hard to say good bye to our first love, but we're looking forward to the Magic and Triumph coming to Galveston.

 

If anyone is interested, I have posted a link to the Fun Times for the week in my signature line. Until next time, happy sailing!

[bratgrr1]

Great review! I leave on the Conquest in 6 days so I'm glad to see a current review. Thanks for sharing!

[bratgrr1]

I am looking at your Fun Times and on there it states "Get amazing discounts with the Wine Package, The Coffee Card and the Fountain Fun Card."

 

Do you know what the "coffee card" is and how it works?

[douglinc@msn.com]

Great review and pictures, we will be back on the Conquest in November.

 

Doug

[cjt3]

I am looking at your Fun Times and on there it states "Get amazing discounts with the Wine Package, The Coffee Card and the Fountain Fun Card."

 

Do you know what the "coffee card" is and how it works?

 

Sorry - didn't ever look into the coffee card. I'm sure there are plenty of others here who will know the answer, though.

[jks336]

I am looking at your Fun Times and on there it states "Get amazing discounts with the Wine Package, The Coffee Card and the Fountain Fun Card."

 

Do you know what the "coffee card" is and how it works?

 

basically same as the drink of the day card, you purchase like 5 coffee's at the specialty coffee bar, which you can have 1 a day or heck, drink all 5 in one day lol. only coffee that is free is the stuff on lido and dining room

[dane225]

Thanks so much for taking the time to post this review. I loved reading it. So ready for our cruise on the Conquest in Nov. I just loved the pictures of the day!!:D

[cruisejunkie2]

How do you book the early sAVER?

[cjt3]

How do you book the early sAVER?

 

Go to Carnival's website and select the cruise you are interested in. If the Early Saver rate is available, it will be one of the fare options (along with Fun Saver, Fun Select, etc.). The Early Saver rate is only available if you book more than 3 months in advance for shorter cruises or 5 months in advance for longer cruises, though.

 

For more information, go to Carnival's FAQ and search for "Early Saver".