Freedom2014 Posted April 7, 2014 #301 Share Posted April 7, 2014 That has been a big debate in our household! Do we cruise for the ports or the ship? This Conquest cruise was for the ports since we had never been to the Western Caribbean route. Now that we have been to both the Eastern and Western, we really have some hard decisions to make because at this point, we will be repeating some ports. We have already repeated Grand Cayman (in which case we chose to stay on the ship because we had excursions booked for different ports instead). We both really want to see some Southern Caribbean ports (St. Kitts, St. Lucia, Aruba, Curacao, St. Maarten, Antigua), but our struggle is that we'd have to either book the Valor out of San Juan and pay an arm and a leg for flights or book an Aruba cruise and pay an arm and a leg for the cruise (OR book a cruise with just one or two of these ports). Still hashing it out on what our 2015 cruise will be. Yes. They have quite a few ships out of florida going to southern. Living in florida makes it much more affordable for us. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lovestocruise19 Posted April 7, 2014 Author #302 Share Posted April 7, 2014 Yes. They have quite a few ships out of florida going to southern. Living in florida makes it much more affordable for us. You suck. Lol! ;) I have half jokingly/not so jokingly asked DH if he wants to move to Florida. :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CityGirl214 Posted April 25, 2014 #303 Share Posted April 25, 2014 I spearheaded an Eastern Caribbean family cruise for December on the Conquest and (after incessantly chatting up how amazing our Carnival cruises have been) a few months ago our aunts, uncles, cousins, and my family of 5 booked rooms. This morning I came onto Cruise Critic and started reading horrible reviews of the Conquest on the Review page including one warning of the exact room I booked; had a stroke, called my travel agent practically in tears to cancel, and was preparing to fall on my sword to the family. I really appreciate your review, especially the pictures of food. I know everyone has different tastes but we have heard so many complaints from "veteran" cruisers that things have declined drastically from what they used to be. I am still mid-stroke but I have decided to wait until the last minute before I cancel. The reviews of the Conquest include everything from urine smell in the hallways to dining room food being almost inedible and mattresses so bad that stewards brought pads to try to help it. I am hoping to get some input and considering starting a thread of my own so I can get some real opinions to weigh. I hate the idea of saving then spending THOUSANDS of dollars for a week long vacation only to end up with regrets that I should have heeded warnings. Thanks for sharing and any input is welcomed! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lovestocruise19 Posted April 25, 2014 Author #304 Share Posted April 25, 2014 I spearheaded an Eastern Caribbean family cruise for December on the Conquest and (after incessantly chatting up how amazing our Carnival cruises have been) a few months ago our aunts, uncles, cousins, and my family of 5 booked rooms. This morning I came onto Cruise Critic and started reading horrible reviews of the Conquest on the Review page including one warning of the exact room I booked; had a stroke, called my travel agent practically in tears to cancel, and was preparing to fall on my sword to the family. I really appreciate your review, especially the pictures of food. I know everyone has different tastes but we have heard so many complaints from "veteran" cruisers that things have declined drastically from what they used to be. I am still mid-stroke but I have decided to wait until the last minute before I cancel. The reviews of the Conquest include everything from urine smell in the hallways to dining room food being almost inedible and mattresses so bad that stewards brought pads to try to help it. I am hoping to get some input and considering starting a thread of my own so I can get some real opinions to weigh. I hate the idea of saving then spending THOUSANDS of dollars for a week long vacation only to end up with regrets that I should have heeded warnings. Thanks for sharing and any input is welcomed! Wow! I didn't experience anything like that at all! The only bummer of this particular ship is that she doesn't have a Serenity Deck like all the other Conquest class ships have. DH and I definately didn't go hungry on this cruise and you always have the choice of eating via room service, the Lido deck or in the MDR. DH and I always think that the beds are comfy (especially the duvets!). And I find it hard to believe that the mattresses were horrible because I went on the Behind the Fun tour on the Liberty and they mentioned they had a program of donating old mattresses. I just booked the 12 day repo on the Freedom! I hope you enjoy your Conquest cruise. The mosaic near the entrance of the Lido deck of a Carnival funnel is so beautiful and I thought that the Monet MDR (the one in the aft) was the prettiest MDR I've seen so far on Carnival. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CityGirl214 Posted April 25, 2014 #305 Share Posted April 25, 2014 Wow! I didn't experience anything like that at all! The only bummer of this particular ship is that she doesn't have a Serenity Deck like all the other Conquest class ships have. DH and I definately didn't go hungry on this cruise and you always have the choice of eating via room service, the Lido deck or in the MDR. DH and I always think that the beds are comfy (especially the duvets!). And I find it hard to believe that the mattresses were horrible because I went on the Behind the Fun tour on the Liberty and they mentioned they had a program of donating old mattresses. I just booked the 12 day repo on the Freedom! I hope you enjoy your Conquest cruise. The mosaic near the entrance of the Lido deck of a Carnival funnel is so beautiful and I thought that the Monet MDR (the one in the aft) was the prettiest MDR I've seen so far on Carnival. I am hoping that the reviews were inaccurate although I can't understand why anyone would want to be so untruthful. I'm just glad to find live people who had GOOD experiences, especially seeing you have returned twice to the same ship. Can I ask what cabin/deck you were in? We had such an amazing experience on the Liberty in a spa deck cabin with the ceiling to floor window that we chose the "Scenic Oceanview" on the Conquest. A bit extra but we're hoping it will be worth the upgrade. The review I read referred to it as a solar panel which heated the room to over 90 degrees and an AC problem but my travel agent says no report of ac maintenance has ever been made in that cabin. I'm keeping my fingers crossed and trying to stay hopeful. Thanks for your response! Oh, and one more question...do they still have the chocolate melting cake? =] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lovestocruise19 Posted April 26, 2014 Author #306 Share Posted April 26, 2014 I am hoping that the reviews were inaccurate although I can't understand why anyone would want to be so untruthful. I'm just glad to find live people who had GOOD experiences, especially seeing you have returned twice to the same ship. Can I ask what cabin/deck you were in? We had such an amazing experience on the Liberty in a spa deck cabin with the ceiling to floor window that we chose the "Scenic Oceanview" on the Conquest. A bit extra but we're hoping it will be worth the upgrade. The review I read referred to it as a solar panel which heated the room to over 90 degrees and an AC problem but my travel agent says no report of ac maintenance has ever been made in that cabin. I'm keeping my fingers crossed and trying to stay hopeful. Thanks for your response! Oh, and one more question...do they still have the chocolate melting cake? =] Actually, we've only sailed the Conquest once. We were in room 2465, which was in the aft of the ship. It was an ocean view with two windows. While we liked the windows, we weren't fans of the vibrations in the aft. I'd love to stay in a scenic ocean view someday! I'm sure you'll have a great time! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lovestocruise19 Posted April 26, 2014 Author #307 Share Posted April 26, 2014 I am hoping that the reviews were inaccurate although I can't understand why anyone would want to be so untruthful. I'm just glad to find live people who had GOOD experiences, especially seeing you have returned twice to the same ship. Can I ask what cabin/deck you were in? We had such an amazing experience on the Liberty in a spa deck cabin with the ceiling to floor window that we chose the "Scenic Oceanview" on the Conquest. A bit extra but we're hoping it will be worth the upgrade. The review I read referred to it as a solar panel which heated the room to over 90 degrees and an AC problem but my travel agent says no report of ac maintenance has ever been made in that cabin. I'm keeping my fingers crossed and trying to stay hopeful. Thanks for your response! Oh, and one more question...do they still have the chocolate melting cake? =] Oh, and yes, there was definately WCMC on the cruise! :D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
amyrferg75 Posted July 20, 2014 #308 Share Posted July 20, 2014 Fantastic review of the Conquest! I will be sailing her next Sunday on July 27, so this is just getting me very very excited! Amy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lovestocruise19 Posted July 21, 2014 Author #309 Share Posted July 21, 2014 Fantastic review of the Conquest! I will be sailing her next Sunday on July 27, so this is just getting me very very excited! Amy Thanks! Have an amazing cruise! :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PathfinderEss Posted July 21, 2014 #310 Share Posted July 21, 2014 Thanks for your very complete review of the Conquest.:) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lovestocruise19 Posted July 22, 2014 Author #311 Share Posted July 22, 2014 Thanks for your very complete review of the Conquest.:) You're welcome! I love doing reviews! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CityGirl214 Posted July 22, 2014 #312 Share Posted July 22, 2014 Fantastic review of the Conquest! I will be sailing her next Sunday on July 27, so this is just getting me very very excited! Amy Have a great cruise! We'd love to see some more pics and a review! =] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bigun60 Posted July 23, 2014 #313 Share Posted July 23, 2014 What a great review. You did a wonderful job. I will be on the Conquest, solo, Dec. 14-21 and can't wait. Also, I booked a room at the Element after reading your review. Excited to stay there. Thanks for such a great review. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sharkaymon Posted August 11, 2014 #314 Share Posted August 11, 2014 We ended up on Deck 7's secret deck for sailaway. We had it mostly to ourselves save for a few people who popped by and then were gone. We watched the Norwegian Sun, Carnival Breeze and Carnival Glory all use the turning basin, which I commented to DH that that was probably cooler to see than your own ship turning since you can't see the entire scope of it when you're the one turning. How do I find this "secret deck" We will be in an inside cabin on the Rivera Deck and would love to find an uncrowded spot for Sail-away:) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lovestocruise19 Posted August 11, 2014 Author #315 Share Posted August 11, 2014 We ended up on Deck 7's secret deck for sailaway. We had it mostly to ourselves save for a few people who popped by and then were gone. We watched the Norwegian Sun, Carnival Breeze and Carnival Glory all use the turning basin, which I commented to DH that that was probably cooler to see than your own ship turning since you can't see the entire scope of it when you're the one turning. How do I find this "secret deck" We will be in an inside cabin on the Rivera Deck and would love to find an uncrowded spot for Sail-away:) Simply go all the way forward past the rooms on Deck 6 or 7 and then you'll see a door leading to the outside "secret" decks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dbail4 Posted August 19, 2014 #316 Share Posted August 19, 2014 We just got off the Conquest on Sunday. Had a fantastic time. Mike the cruise director and his assistant Rolly were very entertaining. The ship is in great shape and we have no complaints.. :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
funinthesun1964 Posted August 24, 2014 #317 Share Posted August 24, 2014 We got off the ship a little after 10 a.m. and wandered around the shopping area. I bought a magnet for our collection and proudly told DH that I conducted the whole transaction in Spanish. I went up to the counter and said "Hola!" The lady at the counter said "Tres dolares" and I handed over three bucks and then said "Gracias!" Three years of high school Spanish finally paid off! Lol! I am really laughing at this! I had three years of Spanish in high school also and this would be about the extent of my abilities! BTW- I am reading this over again, because I am getting super excited for our Conquest cruise coming up in less than 2 months! I can hardly wait!! Our ports are slightly different though: Cozumel, Belize, Roatan, and Costa Maya. Enjoy your next cruise! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BiscayneBay460 Posted August 25, 2014 #318 Share Posted August 25, 2014 First time on Conquest, loved Freedom. Great review. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NLightNdOnE Posted September 3, 2014 #319 Share Posted September 3, 2014 great review! I will be sailing on the New Years cruise, big group, all different ages... is that mocha chocolate getaway part of the cheers program? I believe they don't allow specialty drinks? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare ncovert Posted September 3, 2014 #320 Share Posted September 3, 2014 Loved the many pictures! Thanks for taking the time to write your review. Can't hardly wait for October time on the Conquest! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lovestocruise19 Posted September 22, 2014 Author #321 Share Posted September 22, 2014 great review! I will be sailing on the New Years cruise, big group, all different ages... is that mocha chocolate getaway part of the cheers program? I believe they don't allow specialty drinks? The mocha chocolate getaway is a frozen alcoholic drink and I'm pretty sure Cheers includes all types of alcoholic drinks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jefferyrachel Posted October 2, 2014 #322 Share Posted October 2, 2014 We leave on May 18th on the Conquest out of Ft. Lauderdale. Can't wait! This will be our 2nd cruise. We were on the Fantasy the first time. We hope the Conquest will be better. Great review. Thanks for sharing! Sent from my iPhone using Forums Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lovestocruise19 Posted October 4, 2014 Author #323 Share Posted October 4, 2014 We leave on May 18th on the Conquest out of Ft. Lauderdale. Can't wait! This will be our 2nd cruise. We were on the Fantasy the first time. We hope the Conquest will be better. Great review. Thanks for sharing! Sent from my iPhone using Forums You're welcome! I love doing reviews! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lovetoocruise2015 Posted January 10, 2015 #324 Share Posted January 10, 2015 Help. Can't see pitcures Sent from my iPad using Forums Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sandij Posted January 10, 2015 #325 Share Posted January 10, 2015 They wouldn't open for me either but I have seen her video on UTube, we are in the same cabin in four weeks, can't wait. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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