Conquest 10/12/14 Review !

[beamqueen]

So...back in Ohio again! Brr. But I am taking it easy today so I thought I would do a review of our sailing! Before I start....we had a GREAT time! Can't wait to book another cruise :)

 

 

Pre Cruise-

 

We stayed at the Comfort Suites Miami Airport North. I had some mixed feelings about this hotel. The shuttle service was nice as it picked us up from the airport and brought us to the hotel. The next day the shuttle also brought us to port for no additional cost! The hotel itself is not in the nicest location, but we didn't feel unsafe. We bought a drink from the bar in the lobby....extremely expensive and not made well. We didn't think much of the complimentary breakfast either. For dinner the previous night we ordered take out and it may have been the worst meal we have ever had! Although...that cannot be the fault of the hotel. Overall...I might stay here again due to cost and shuttle service.

 

 

Embarkation

 

We got to port around 10:30. Check in was very quick and easy! I think we were on the lido deck by like 12:15 (We did not have FTTF). Overall not too bad of a wait and it was extremely painless ;)

 

Now onto the cruise itself!

 

The ship

 

The only other ship I have ever been on was the Fascination so the Conquest was a little bit bigger than my other experiences. We thought she was very nice! I had seen a lot of reviews prior about her being old and worn out. That was not our experience at all. I don't have much to say here...I will get into our stateroom and other venues we saw a bit later.

 

Stateroom/Room Steward

 

We were in room 7385. We thought it was a nice room/location. Our room steward was Joseph and he did a great job taking care of us and keeping the ice bucket full for our wine :) He was so friendly and we have absolutely no complaints about him. The room was very quiet.

 

 

Food/Dining Experiences

 

Alright...the Food!! I had some hits and some misses on this cruise. One miss for me was the buffet. I did not enjoy most of the things I ate from the buffet and we avoided eating there except the first day for lunch and the final day for breakfast. I did find one or two things I enjoyed but the buffet is not for me!

 

Guys Burgers- Alright. I will put a disclaimer first saying I am NOT a burger fan. But I did try one on this cruise. It was okay for me, I have never had a burger that I loved so this was not a highlight for me but the flavor was good and I liked being able to put all the toppings on.

 

Blue Iguana- I liked this place! Burritos/Tacos were delicious and the salsa bar was a nice addition to them! I had heard from others to try the breakfast burritos but we never got a chance to do so!

 

Taste Bar- This was hit/miss for me too. I liked it 2 nights and disliked it the other 2 nights! However the guys working it were FABULOUS so it made it all okay. We loved going to the taste bar each night.

 

Room Service- Yes we ordered room service once! It was quick and yummy. My husband got a grilled reuben and I got a salad.

 

Main Dining Room-

 

I loved eating dinner each night here. We also frequented brunch on sea days and breakfast at port. We had the fabulous staff of I Made, Learoy and Alexandra. They took great care of us. Some favorites of mine were the Chateaubriand, Prime Rib and Lobster. I had a couple sides that came with my meals that I wasn't a fan of but it was not a big deal. I got the Shrimp Cocktail almost every night along with trying a new app as well. Overall a few misses but for the most part a good experience...service took maybe 1.5 hours but about 2 on elegant night. We had some great tablemates so it seemed to go quick!

 

We enjoyed the staff dancing as well....how fun!

 

 

Chef's Table-

 

We decided to do the Chef's Table for my husbands birthday! It was PHENOMENAL! I can't say enough great things about this dinner. It was a 7 course meal with a tour of the galley prior + unlimited wine! Everything we ate was fantastic....I do have the menu so if anyone wants to know I can post that too. It was cool to hear the chef talk about what each dish was and the flavor combinations. This may have been my favorite event on the cruise!

 

 

Ports of Call

 

Due to the hurricane our ship did a Western Caribbean instead of the Eastern Route. This did not really bother us and we just went with it!!

 

Cozumel- In Cozumel we did a Dolphin Encounter. It was fun, but the part we liked most was being able to use the paddleboards at the resort. We spent a lot of time out in the water (and at the complimentary open bar!) After the excursion we just shopped around until we got hit with a massive rainstorm!!

 

Belize- We loved Belize!! We did a kayaking excursion at the eco park. It was about an hour kayak through the jungle and then you can swim at the pool and they had a buffet for us. It was about a 40 minute drive to the park so our guide gave us a city tour of Belize too and it was so interesting to see the culture. Overall we thought this was our favorite experience of the week. The kayaking was very leisurely and we only had one other couple on the trip so it was almost a private tour!

 

 

Mahogany Bay-

 

We enjoyed this port too. We went on a snorkeling trip with Jolly Rogers. I had never been snorkeling so this was fun! We saw lots of sea creatures (including a barracuda!) and they did a great job of keeping us entertained! We spent some time back at port as well- this was our favorite port with the beach and nature trail. It was fun to see some wild life out and about on the trail!

 

 

Costa Maya-

 

Not our favorite port. However...we did not book anything here and didn't really venture out. The vendors were very pushy here. We didn't spent much time out...we went back to the ship and took advantage of no lines at the water slide.

 

 

Miami- We took the everglades excursion when we got back! It was okay....we were so tired we just wanted to be home! If you have any questions about it I would be happy to answer.

 

 

Other notable things

 

Our cruise director was Mike with assistant Roly. We enjoyed them both and went up the the musical trivia at the casino often! That was a lot of fun!!

 

We watched one movie on the lido deck and I really enjoyed being outside with the movie!!

 

We also gambled...lost $80 but won a free t-shirt.

 

Shows- We went to 1 show (Divas) and I disliked it.My husband thought it was entertaining. We also went to the Love Game which was funny and Hasboro game show which was cute but I was surprised that was not during the day!

 

Overall...we had a fun cruise and met some fun new people. I tried to condense everything down so if you have any questions I would be happy to answer!!! Thanks for reading!!

[maryhou]

Did you book all the excursions thru Carnival besides the snorkeling? We are going to be on the Conquest for New Years and I was hoping the ship was in tip top shape :) I had wanted to go on the Freedom or Liberty again but this one was much more affordable. I guess any day on a ship is a much better day than being at work in snowy Indiana in December

[beamqueen]

Maryhou- we booked all of our excursions through Carnival. Due to our itinerary change we didn't have time to research any other excursions. I had originally planned some outside excursions but no time to research for these so we stuck with carnival!

 

The ship was nice we thought :) It was a great vacation...you won't be disappointed.

[CRUISESTARR]

We are staying in that hotel in December for our cruise the 14th! Do you know how much people the shuttle holds, and how often they come? we're traveling in a group of 10 and i want to know if we can all hold.:)

[beamqueen]

It holds quite a few...it is like a bus. It is first come first serve to sign up for the early times...I thought it was only once an hour though. 9:45 and 10:45 was what she offered to us!

[cruiseelady]

Thanks for the thorough review. I have a question about the hotel, is there a drugstore nearby or a liquor store with in walking distance of the hotel? I was thinking of picking up a bottle of wine if possible.

[beamqueen]

Honestly...I am not 100% sure. However the lady at the front desk told us there was a liquor store about 10 minutes walk away. It is not a nice neighborhood though! When we walked outside I saw a gas station and a subway. A lot of the shops I noticed seemed closed! We did not venture out far though so it's possible there may have been more within a 10 minute walk.

[beamqueen]

I also wanted to add....we did also go to the Adult comedy shows. They were okay. It seemed like they had some funny jokes but overall a bit lackluster. I did not go to the family friendly comedy so not sure if that was better or not!!

[cruiseelady]

Honestly...I am not 100% sure. However the lady at the front desk told us there was a liquor store about 10 minutes walk away. It is not a nice neighborhood though! When we walked outside I saw a gas station and a subway. A lot of the shops I noticed seemed closed! We did not venture out far though so it's possible there may have been more within a 10 minute walk.

 

Ok thanks. Since I am a solo traveler, I guess I'll just stay put since you say its not a good neighborhood.

[Yuridog]

Thanks for taking the time to post about Conquest. Not too many post reviews about Conquest for some reason, so we appreciate the feedback.

 

Welcome back to reality :rolleyes:

[michigyrl]

Thanks for the review! I will be on her the first week of February with some cruising newbies. Can't wait! :)

[aprilgurlie]

I would love to see the Chef's Table menu if you have it! Hubby and I are planning on this for our Thanksgiving cruise coming up soon! :)

[mishka422]

Does the Comfort suites offer transportation back to the hotel after the cruise or is that on your own? Do they offer parking for the duration of the cruise? We are driving down and looking for a place that would offer both.

[sjb.illinois]

I would love to see a menu from the Chef's Table! We sail December 7th and have the Chef's Table booked for the first time. Can't wait!

[Cruise-Crazy]

Nice review! I will be on there this Sunday :D

[mommom1]

Hi Beamqueen, thank you again for the review DH and I will be on Conquest Jan. 24th. I would love to see the chef's menu as we were just talking about this the other day. Also do we book this on the ship and where? Thank you again Vicki.