Mini Review - Conquest 6/17-6/24

[joshd33]

Hey everyone,

My family and I (Me 27, DW 28, DS 10, DD 8) just got back on Sunday from a great 7 day Wester Carribbean cruise. Now, I'm not going to do a full fledged review, but thought I'd share some quick thoughts about the trip and answer any questions you might have...

 

 

Embarking:

We got to port around 10:30 on Sunday and it was honestly a little chaotic. Nothing too terrible, but it was definately not smooth. Took about an hour to get from car to ship, which isn't bad, but the whole process made it feel longer than it really was, if that makes any sense???

 

Also, security was really checking for alcohol in carry-ons. We brought two 6-packs of soda and two 12-packs of water on. Every single bottle/can was checked and all the water bottles were shook to ensure that it was actually water. I thought for a second that he might actually open one up and take a sip!

 

 

Cabin

We stayed in a balcony cabin (First time!) on the Lido deck. It was room 9273, I believe. Now, I was very nervous when I realized that this room is by the elevators and I mean RIGHT by the elevators, but honestly, we never had any issues with noise. This cabin location was just perfect. We will try to book Lido deck from here on out as it was so nice to just walk a few steps to get food and/or to swim. The balcony was just fantastic and my wife and I enjoyed eating room service at midnight having a "Funship Special" outside while our kids slept. Just so peaceful.

 

Our room steward was awesome as well. I asked him for ice for our cooler the first day we met him and it was never empty after that! Now, we didn't become "lifelong friends" or swap stories about the meaning of life, but he was everything that we needed him to be during our week aboard and we were very thankful. Always greeted us by name and with a smile each time we saw him as well.

 

 

Food

 

We had ATD in the Renior dining room and had a great experience in there. Never had to wait more than 5 mins for a table and the service from each of the wait staff we had was great. On the 3rd night we had Nicoletta as our waitress and she was so great that we asked for her each night after that! The food ranged from good to great, but never had a "bad" meal at all. Tried Bitter and Blanc for the first time and LOVED it and my wife had the diet dessert most nights and she said that they were all very good. I believe her favorite was the Diet Lemon Cake, or it may have been the Diet Coconut cake.

 

The Lido food was just fine. Breakfast and lunch was pretty busy at the times you would expect it to be, but if you just waited until an hour after rush time, you could usually get your food without a wait. Plus they were usually restocking everyone from the initial rush, so the food was extra hot and fresh!

 

Sur Mer was my son's favorite place by far. And there was always seating available upstairs by Sur Mer. The Deli and grill were great as always. I eat way to many Reubens when I'm on cruises. And I know this may be blaspemous to some, but we did not have a single slice of pizza on this trip! Not sure why, but just never got to it for some reason.

 

 

Shows

 

We saw a few shows in the main show lounge. The Illusionist was pretty good, but the other "Las Vegas" type shows just weren't for us. My wife and I could definately appreciate the ability of these dancers to do all their moves on a moving ship, but the songs and storyline were just a little cheesy to us. Again, not terrible, just not our thing.

 

The comedians on this trip were all very good. I will say that Carnival really needs to consider moving the comedians to the main lounge as it was VERY hard to find a seat at all of the shows. Almost to the point where we just wanted to leave because it was so frustrating. I'm glad we stuck around for the shows, because they were all pretty funny, but there has to be a better way.

 

 

Camp Carnival

 

Camp Carnival really delivered for our kids on this trip as we had to literally drag them out of there every day. Tons of organized activities and great counselors really made the trip fun for our kids. One night they even had a party till 3am for the older group (9-11) that my son attended and he said it was a blast the whole time. My wife and I really appreciated the care that the counselors provided on this trip.

 

Public Areas

 

This was our first time on the Conquest and we were very pleased. Much more toned down decor from the fantasy class ships we had been on before and plenty of great places to find a seat and people watch. The Lido pool area was usually very busy on Sea Days, but we could still always find a couple seats together when we needed one. Didn't have any issues with choggers on this trip!!

 

The Disco seemed to rocking every night as well... The Wine Bar is where they do the Martini tastings, which I just had to try. Let me tell you, those "tastings" are STRONG!!! I had all four of the tastings as my wife doesn't drink those and I got a pretty good buzz going by the end of that session. :eek: Unfortunately, we didn't make it to the piano bar on this cruise, so I cannot comment on that.

 

 

 

Casino

 

Ok, I'm going to be honest here.... The Casino kicked my ARSE this trip! I play Craps and Three Card Poker, and man, I couldn't get anything going. Now, why did I keep going back? Because the Conquest had the BEST Casino staff I have ever sailed with! I love the dealers that have just the right mix of sarcasm to generosity. I don't want a bunch of super nice dealers and I don't want a bunch of jerks, but those that can find the right mix of the two are great in my book. Even got a free drink or two from the Pit Boss, and trust me, I am NOT a high roller at all. So I really enjoyed myselft here, even though I didn't end UP like I had hoped.:)

 

 

Ports

 

Cozumel - I was sick in the cabin all day, but my wife and and kids went to Mr. Sanchos beach. I wasn't too bummed about missing Coz as we have been there several times before. My wife said that Mr. Sanchos was a decent beach, but the service wasn't all that great. We paid for the All-Inclusive, but she says the waiters were way to overwhelmed with the amount of peolpe there that day... I think we will stick to Nachi for our Cozumel days in the future.

 

Grand Cayman - Now this day was kind of a bummer as we were supposed to do a Reef/Ray excursion with Moby Dick tours, however the weather had different plans for us and the excursion was cancelled. After meeting the tour owner for Moby Dick, I wouldn't hesitate to book with him whenever we go back. He was very honest and probably could've just taken us out to the sandbar and we would've had a horrible time, but he said he had two many kids scheduled for the trip that day and he didn't want to chance it with the bad weather. Seemed to be an honest thing to do.... We ended up just taking a cab to Publix beach and had a very nice time just playing in the (rough) water that day. Bought some rum at the duty-free store and headed back for lunch on the ship.

 

Montego Bay - This was the day we were a little nervous about because of reviews we had seen about Jamaica. Turned out to be our favorite stop of the cruise! We grabbed a JUTA cab and was just planning on heading to Dr. Cave Beach for the day, but the tour operator asked if anyone would be interested in a tour of the area for just $10 a person. A good group of us were interested so we dropped off those that weren't at their destination and then we started our tour. Now, this wasn't a "in-depth" tour by any means, but it was a nice, safe way for my family to see some of Montego Bay and learn a little history along the way. We stopped at the Rose Hall plantation, drove by Johnny Cash's old house, and did some shopping at a shop there in Jamaica... I was a little leery of the shopping, but the store was so busy that day, that we had to actually hunt down a worker when we wanted to bargin. It was kinda nice actually. After shopping, we went to Aquasol beach and spent the rest of the afternoon there drinking Red Stripe and eating some nachos...

If you are ever in Montego Bay, try to look up Debbie (tour guide) and Peter (driver). They were just fantastic and were very sweet to my kids.

 

Debarking

 

After the hectic embarking process, I was very nervous about debark day, but it was honestly the easiest-stressfree debarkation I have ever been a part of! The weird thing is that it seemed that all the passengers actually heeded the announcements as well! How about that, actually follow the instructions and the process would be easier for everyone. :D They started debarking at 7:30ish and we were off the ship by 9am and in the car by 9:30.

 

 

Well, I hope this help someone, and if you have any questions, please don't hesitate to ask... I'll try to post some pics later when I get home as well... Thanks for reading!!

 

 

-Josh

[FirstTimeCruisr]

Thanks for the review on the conquest we will be on her in 102 days ... Can't wait!!!

[cruzkitty]

Thanks for your Honest review! We will be cruising on her in October. Same Ports.

[H3Go]

Nice summary and thanks for the information! Sailing in September and sounds like a good decision to sail on the Conquest.

[nlktx49]

Thanks for the review, it was just right! And I'm glad to hear your take on Jamaica, as I'll be going there in February and have read bad comments about it.

[jbh1993]

Thank you for posting your review. we sail her in October and I search "everything" about her. :D

[hassellcastle]

Thanks for your mini review. Sounds like you had a good time. We sail out on Conquest on July 8th and we can't wait.

 

Glad to hear your kiddo's had a great time in Camp Carnival. This will be the first cruise with our boys (5 & 9) and I'm hoping they like Camp Carnival as much as you said your kids did. I think having a good thing for kids to do on the ship, results in the parents also having a good time on the ship as we all get to do things we like.

 

Thanks again for the review. Looking forward to seeing some of your pics and anymore info you can dish out.

[joshd33]

Thanks for your mini review. Sounds like you had a good time. We sail out on Conquest on July 8th and we can't wait.

 

Glad to hear your kiddo's had a great time in Camp Carnival. This will be the first cruise with our boys (5 & 9) and I'm hoping they like Camp Carnival as much as you said your kids did. I think having a good thing for kids to do on the ship, results in the parents also having a good time on the ship as we all get to do things we like.

 

Thanks again for the review. Looking forward to seeing some of your pics and anymore info you can dish out.

 

 

Completely agree with your thoughts about kids having fun= parents having fun... I was very pleased to know that my kids weren't just stuck playing video games all the time, but that the counselors were actually having the kids "learn" some things without the kids realizing they were "learning." The counselors were all really great and I think your family will have a great time!!

[joshd33]

Thanks for the review, it was just right! And I'm glad to hear your take on Jamaica, as I'll be going there in February and have read bad comments about it.

 

 

Jamaica seems like one of those ports where if you use just a little common sense, you will be just fine... I mean there's some area's that you don't want to get stuck in I'm sure, but if you use some common sense and stay in the right area's, you'll have a great time... And honestly, the people were really nice and seemed to be happy to have the ship in port.

[joshd33]

Nice summary and thanks for the information! Sailing in September and sounds like a good decision to sail on the Conquest.

 

 

I think you made a great decision... She really is a fantastic ship with a great crew!

[Yvonne]

We have 7-months yet before our Conquest cruise, in January...

 

But I read almost every review I can get my eyes on. :)

 

I'm glad you had a good time, I do have a question about the comedy shows. We were on the Freedom this past January and one night we got there for an early show and ended up staying for 2 more shows after that, in the same seats. But, in someone's review (and I can't remember if it was the Freedom or Conquest) they said people were forced to exit after each comedy show and then people were allowed back in after the room was empty. Do you know if that is what they did on your cruise? I hope they don't do it on ours. I think if people are willing to sit and wait between shows, they should be allowed to stay in the seats they chose.

 

I agree with you that they should move the comedians to the main show lounge, so there would be plenty of seats for everyone.