Carnival Conquest July 28th - Best Carnival Cruise Ever?

[hayesktrm]

Oh, one more thing about the ziplining here--you didn't have to use the brakes like the other place. My DD was younger then and she had a hard time figuring out when she should start braking. She would always do it too soon so she would stop out in the middle of the line and someone would have to come out and get her. This was a real pain. On this one, we lifted up our legs and they basically caught us. I felt bad as I ran into them a couple of times. I think they're used to that, though.

[amor1964]

Great review so far. We were on this cruise and I KNOW that we encountered the lil terror several have spoken of. Twice on the glass atrium elevators . Gave him a piece of my mind the second time and he proceeded to press every button before running out.

[cream_supreme]

Wow, $60!! Let me know if you have any questions. If you don't have a lot of luggage, it's quite easy just to walk. I can give you directions.

 

Yeah just my GF and I, one suitcase and carry on pp. Directions would be great!! Thanks!

[hayesktrm]

Yeah just my GF and I, one suitcase and carry on pp. Directions would be great!! Thanks!

 

If you are facing the convention center in front of the hotel, go left (towards all the touristy areas). At the light, cross to street towards the convention center. That should be Julia Street that you're now walking on. Go over the trolley tracks (Julia Street station should be on your left). After the tracks there is a road. Take a right and keep walking until you reach the terminal.

 

 

It should be less than a 1/2 mile.

 

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[backnine05]

If you are facing the convention center in front of the hotel, go left (towards all the touristy areas). At the light, cross to street towards the convention center. That should be Julia Street that you're now walking on. Go over the trolley tracks (Julia Street station should be on your left). After the tracks there is a road. Take a right and keep walking until you reach the terminal.

 

[ATTACH]281703[/ATTACH]

 

It should be less than a 1/2 mile.

 

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We tried to walk down that road from Julia street on Saturday just to check it out and a lady with security said it was closed to pedestrians. Not sure if it opens back up on Sundays, but that was my experience.

[hayesktrm]

We tried to walk down that road from Julia street on Saturday just to check it out and a lady with security said it was closed to pedestrians. Not sure if it opens back up on Sundays, but that was my experience.

 

Several people were walking that way on Sunday, so I'm not sure. There are no sidewalks, though. I didn't see any signs that said no pedestrians. Thanks for letting people know that it may be closed.

 

 

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[hayesktrm]

Great review so far. We were on this cruise and I KNOW that we encountered the lil terror several have spoken of. Twice on the glass atrium elevators . Gave him a piece of my mind the second time and he proceeded to press every button before running out.

 

I haven't even told you about what happened the last day at sea :eek:

[hayesktrm]

Next we went to see Victor’s animals, which was the highlight of the trip for all of us. I wish we had more time with the monkeys. It was INCREDIBLE! DD and DS were too chicken to go in the cages (they were worried about getting bit and getting Ebola), but enjoyed watching them from afar.

 

 

 

 

 

The first cage we went into was the lemurs. They were so cute and loved my husband. So much so that one of them peed all over him. He just laughed and said that she must have felt very comfortable with him. We rinsed him off and went to the next cage.

 

 

 

 

 

As you can tell from the pictures, we enjoyed it very much. They were so playful. The picture of me looking like I was freaking out was when one of them went down the back of my shirt. It was funny seeing this big bump on my back. We played with them for a while and then saw some birds. We forced DD to hold one of the birds…I’m not sure she enjoyed it, but was happy she did it.

 

 

 

[hayesktrm]

I had a monkey down my shirt in the back and this monkey on my front. My DSGF says this is her favorite picture of the cruise. I look hideous, but it's funny.

 

 

 

[jaxfl]

Well we are waiting..... where is the rest of teh review and pictures of the beach?????????? I can't go back to work without the rest of the report.

[hayesktrm]

Here's a little more before I have to go out school clothes shopping.

 

We found our driver and headed off to the beach. He picked Foster’s on West Bay Beach. We paid $10 for admittance and chairs. We were each supposed to get a drink coupon worth $5 each, but that never happened. We tried to fix it after the fact, but no one would help us. The food was good and reasonably priced, as were the drinks. It was really beautiful. If we went back, I think we would pick a different place, though.

 

 

 

 

 

The restaurant

 

 

The beach

[hayesktrm]

Kids in the water.

 

Lounge chairs available for rent (included in $10 price)--$5 if you didn't get the lounge chairs.

 

The driver stopped so we could take this beautiful picture.

[jaxfl]

Thanks we are schedualed for the same ZIP & Dip tour you just did but I have told them I want to go to Bananarama Dive & Beach Resort which is located directly on West Bay Beach. Everything I have read that is nicer than Fosters but a little more costly to eat and drink... but you can walk of the beach and snorkle a small reef.

[hayesktrm]

We headed back to the port around 2:30 pm ship time. Here’s a suggestion, make sure you take the Fun Times with you so you know what time you need to be back on the ship. I thought it was around 6, but then I panicked and couldn’t remember. I asked a couple other people from our ship that were at Foster’s and they didn’t know either. Finally we found someone that knew. I think we needed to be back on the ship by 4:30 pm. This added some stress to our day, so I made sure I took the Fun Times with us to all the other ports.

 

We had dinner and I don’t think too much else. This night I don’t think there were any shows planned (I don’t count Hasbro). I really wish they would have had a real show every night. We really missed having a magician/illusionist on board. I understand that they can’t do a full production every night with those 8 dancers and singers, but there was one night where there were no comedians and no playlist shows. Luckily I was reading a good book and enjoyed relaxing in our cabin.

 

I believe this was the night of Trevor screaming. It was so bad that 2 cabins down (the kids were in the cabin next to Trevor and we were next to them), we could hear him quite clearly. I know it was sometime in the middle of the night, but I don’t know what time it was. There was more screaming in the morning and slamming of doors. It wasn’t a kind of scream that you can tell the child has been hurt, it was a kind of screaming like I want my way and I know if I scream loud enough and long enough, I’ll get my way. I know the kids called security that time. Eventually he stopped screaming. We heard him lots more throughout the cruise and there was another incident at the end of the cruise that I’ll tell later. I felt so bad for the people below him. There was a lot of jumping around and screaming. I don’t know how many times the kids heard him scream, “Get off my bed!” It became a joke and our kids would yell it when they would enter their cabin. We did hear through the Carnival grapevine that Trevor and possibly all the kids were kicked out of the kids’ club. Well, that’s a surprise. It does explain why he was wandering around with his sister a lot. She seemed like she was the caretaker. We would walk by their table in the dining room (thankfully we weren’t near them) and she would be yelling, “Trevor, you need to settle down.”

 

We had a very early morning tomorrow in Belize—Cavetubing!!

[hayesktrm]

Day 5 – Belize

We got to the guest services desk by 8 to get our FTTF priority tender. One thing I didn’t like was that except for Cozumel, I never heard when we were cleared to disembark. So, we had read that it was going to start at 8:00 am and didn’t head there until 8:00. Well, I think they had already started tendering people by this time. We were escorted down immediately, but a tender had just left and so we had to sit around for the next tender to come and then for it to fill up. We didn’t get going until after 8:30 am. Then I started to panic. We were supposed to meet Cavetubing.bz by 9:00 am or they would leave. There was no way we were going to make it by then. I think we got off the tender at 9:04 am. I asked security where terminal 2 was and ran there, but couldn’t find the way out the other side. Finally, I went inside Diamonds International and saw the corridor. We found Cavetubing.bz and they hadn’t left us (yay!!). We had fun, but this was a long day.

 

On our bus, we had some pretty racist people (who apparently didn’t know they were racist) who made the journey not very fun. I cringed each time they would say things to the very nice guides. We got to go through 3 caves, which was great! The only bad thing about going through 3 caves is that you have to walk a bit farther to get to your starting point. Since it’s hot and you’re carrying a big inner tube, by the time we got to the river, we were quite tired. We got a guide to ourselves and that was wonderful. Junior was such a great guide.

 

No pictures from cavetubing. We bought one of those disposable cameras and haven't had the pictures developed yet.

 

After tubing, we got back on the bus and drove to the place for lunch. It was yummy. On the way back, they offer you rum punch. Adding alcohol to the group on the bus really didn’t help things. Anyway, we got back, shopped for a few minutes and got back on board.

 

Tonight was the second elegant night and I was just too exhausted to get dressed up for dinner, so DS and DSGF had a nice elegant dinner by themselves and we ate at the buffet.

 

Tonight it was either the Legends show or Latin Nights. We didn’t go to the Legends show. Latin Nights was very good.

 

Friday it would be our day in Cozumel at Mr. Sanchos…and badly behaved Royal Caribbean guests!

[Jisten]

I've never understood the "dear-daughter, dear-husband" thing.. But I digress.

 

 

Can you be more specific about your negative encounter on Bourbon Street? What were the sights and the smells you speak of?

 

We arrive tomorrow, and would love a heads up prior our visit.

[backnine05]

I've never understood the "dear-daughter, dear-husband" thing.. But I digress.

 

 

Can you be more specific about your negative encounter on Bourbon Street? What were the sights and the smells you speak of?

 

We arrive tomorrow, and would love a heads up prior our visit.

 

The streets smell like garbage. I hate to be rude and say that, but they do. They smell bad at night and also during the day. Also, you will see the normal Mardi Gras style party (yes with girls "earning" beads). The party atmosphere at night didn't really bother me, but I can see how it would for some. There are also strip clubs frequently located up and down Bourbon St. No big deal, you can enter as you wish. There are a lot of people trying to steer you into clubs and trying to solicit merchandise. Also, not many restrooms unless you enter a bar or restaurant and purchase something.

[nitro2448]

I've never understood the "dear-daughter, dear-husband" thing.. But I digress.

 

 

Can you be more specific about your negative encounter on Bourbon Street? What were the sights and the smells you speak of?

 

We arrive tomorrow, and would love a heads up prior our visit.

 

It's not for everybody but I enjoy bourbon street. I enjoy the drinks, the food, the overall atmosphere. You will have people pester you, but never been harassed. It is more for drinkers and people who like to party.

 

 

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[Future_Mrs_Wetzel]

The streets smell like garbage. I hate to be rude and say that, but they do. They smell bad at night and also during the day. Also, you will see the normal Mardi Gras style party (yes with girls "earning" beads). The party atmosphere at night didn't really bother me, but I can see how it would for some. There are also strip clubs frequently located up and down Bourbon St. No big deal, you can enter as you wish. There are a lot of people trying to steer you into clubs and trying to solicit merchandise. Also, not many restrooms unless you enter a bar or restaurant and purchase something.

 

 

Bourbon Street isn't for everyone, but I enjoy going there and have never really noticed an over-powering smell. I love the atmosphere.

[backnine05]

Bourbon Street isn't for everyone, but I enjoy going there and have never really noticed an over-powering smell. I love the atmosphere.

 

Personally,

 

I enjoyed it also. Just pointing out some of the things that I noticed that would make some people not care for. I heard from a lot of people that the smell is from the lack of places for restaurants to store garbage.

[Jenny in TX]

I am enjoying your review! We sailed the Conquest twice when she was in Galveston.

[firefly333]

I agree with OP that this one one of my best conquest cruises. Cant put my finger on it, but it was just a really good cruise. We got a really nice table for dinner and a great waiter and fun people at our table which helped. We could see the ocean as this table was near the back of the aft lower dining room.

[hayesktrm]

I agree with the others about Bourbon Street. There was a garbage/pee smell. I asked my DD why she didn't like it and she said it was because of the smell and because it was so in your face. Ladies (with not much on) and men trying to get you to go into their strip clubs and bars, etc. We went in the late afternoon and still experienced that.

 

We lived in Los Angeles and frequented Vegas (with the kids) and so we're not prudes, but this was different and just something we didn't care for.

 

I have talked to girlfriends about going to NOLA and maybe in that context we would have fun, but knowing that my DD didn't feel comfortable made me just want to get out of there. And the smell, yuck!

[alreadypacked]

We headed back to the port around 2:30 pm ship time. Here’s a suggestion, make sure you take the Fun Times with you so you know what time you need to be back on the ship. I thought it was around 6, but then I panicked and couldn’t remember. I asked a couple other people from our ship that were at Foster’s and they didn’t know either. Finally we found someone that knew. I think we needed to be back on the ship by 4:30 pm. This added some stress to our day, so I made sure I took the Fun Times with us to all the other ports.

 

We had dinner and I don’t think too much else. This night I don’t think there were any shows planned (I don’t count Hasbro). I really wish they would have had a real show every night. We really missed having a magician/illusionist on board. I understand that they can’t do a full production every night with those 8 dancers and singers, but there was one night where there were no comedians and no playlist shows. Luckily I was reading a good book and enjoyed relaxing in our cabin.

 

I believe this was the night of Trevor screaming. It was so bad that 2 cabins down (the kids were in the cabin next to Trevor and we were next to them), we could hear him quite clearly. I know it was sometime in the middle of the night, but I don’t know what time it was. There was more screaming in the morning and slamming of doors. It wasn’t a kind of scream that you can tell the child has been hurt, it was a kind of screaming like I want my way and I know if I scream loud enough and long enough, I’ll get my way. I know the kids called security that time. Eventually he stopped screaming. We heard him lots more throughout the cruise and there was another incident at the end of the cruise that I’ll tell later. I felt so bad for the people below him. There was a lot of jumping around and screaming. I don’t know how many times the kids heard him scream, “Get off my bed!” It became a joke and our kids would yell it when they would enter their cabin. We did hear through the Carnival grapevine that Trevor and possibly all the kids were kicked out of the kids’ club. Well, that’s a surprise. It does explain why he was wandering around with his sister a lot. She seemed like she was the caretaker. We would walk by their table in the dining room (thankfully we weren’t near them) and she would be yelling, “Trevor, you need to settle down.”

 

We had a very early morning tomorrow in Belize—Cavetubing!!

 

Omg! That is awful. You might have said and perhaps I missed it, but how old of a kid is this Trevor? I mean, are we talking about a little kid (under 10 yrs), a tween (11-13 ish), or a teenager?

 

Anyway, really enjoying your review. Thanks!

[hayesktrm]

Day 6 – Cozumel

 

We got up and went to the buffet for our regular breakfast, which consisted of oatmeal, hash browns and a little bacon. I would ask for just a piece and they would pile it on my plate. I really liked their oatmeal.

 

I told my DS that if they didn’t want to go with us to the beach, that was fine. He said he was a little beached out (what, you were at the beach for about 2.5 hours a few days ago...whatever). I think he was a little tired of his family and wanted some time with his GF. That was fine, I wanted them to have fun, too. Besides, it would save us about $100 so I was fine with it. We had reserved Mr. Sancho’s for $5 each and then we would pay $40 when we got there ($30 for DD). We got into a taxi with 2 other couples and off we went. One group was going to a beach I can’t remember the name of and the other couple was going to Carlos and Charlies (I think). The taxi driver tried to talk them out of it since they would have to pay $90 and they would be kicked out after 3 hours. He said Mr. Sancho’s was better. Well, since we had already paid a deposit for the other 2 kids, I offered the two spots to them. That way they would only have to pay $40/each. They thought that was great and I hope they had a nice time. We paid the balance when we got there and went our separate ways. Taxi was $20 including tip for the 3 of us.

 

After paying they assigned a waiter to us. His name was Edgar, but also went by Elvis. Edgar was wonderful and so attentive. He told us that we could order any drinks we wanted and either get food from the buffet (that’s what we did) or order off the menu. All was included. Also included was kayaking and snorkeling. We didn’t pay the extra $10 to use the water toys. We had a table with a grass umbrella over it and in front of that our beach chairs. We immediately ordered some drinks (mango smoothie for DD, a margarita for DH and a pina colada for me). All the drinks there are yummy and I especially recommend the Dirty Monkey. The food was really good, too.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

After getting some food and drinks, DH decided that he would like to hang out at the pool (swim up bar) and we wanted to stay at the beach. We ended up going kayaking ($5 deposit) and then snorkeling ($5 deposit). There was a really strong current, so we didn’t stay in long. I didn’t see a lot of fish, but there was something that they sunk in the water and there were some pretty fish around it.

 

We then went into the pool for a while and told DH that we were ready to go back to the ship. DH wanted a little more food so we said we would wait for him. We sat ourselves on a lounger by the pool and waited. Well, then things got a little exciting. A couple was sitting in the loungers next to us and a very drunk 18 year old said, “hey, those are our chairs.” The gentleman in the lounger said “no, we’ve been here since 9:00 am.” This went back and forth for a little while and then the 18 year old also accused him of taking his Royal Caribbean towels. The gentleman in the lounger said they were his and counted them. Well, all of a sudden the 18 year old’s dad came like a whale coming out of the water and landed on the gentleman and started wailing on him. I grabbed DD to get out of the way. The guy was saying that his son was only 18 years old and to leave him alone. HELLO…the 18 year old was the one harassing the other guy. Anyway, whale guy had a bunch of friends and there was a lot yelling going on. Luckily, a bunch of waiters came running and eventually pulled whale guy off. It took a long time because the guy was so big. Now, I don’t call this man whale guy because of his size, I call him that because of the way he jumped in the air and landed on the guy. Wow, it will be something that I will remember forever. I’ve had nightmares about it. I cannot believe that the other gentleman didn’t end up in the hospital. He never got a punch in and really took a beating. I hope they cut all those people off from alcohol because that was just ridiculous.

 

We went back to our original table and told DH that it was time to go. We tipped Edgar $30, which I thought was fair. Well, Edgar started gushing and calling me beautiful and wonderful, etc. He wanted to know if he could get me anything else, etc. So, I think he must have appreciated the tip. He really deserved it.

 

We got a taxi right away, did some shopping (I bought earrings and vanilla) and went back to the ship. We had dinner and went to the family friendly comedy show (I think).