Conquest - What Do You Want to Know/See?

[kevin_ga]

We leave for a 6-day Western Caribbean on Conquest this Sunday. As much as I enjoy reading other's reviews before cruising... I never got around to it on our last trip. So I put this out there... if I were to write one after this trip, what specifically do you guys want to know about and/or see (pics or video)?

 

Our ports are Ocho Rios, Grand Cayman, and Cozumel.

[lucymay519]

I have booked this ship for next February 2016. The brochure that I am looking at says that the Conguest has been newly enhanced. I am assuming this is an older ship so I would be interested if the ship is showing some age and/or the enhancements that were made were nice ones. I would also like to know if it was difficult to communicate with the ships personnel. Most of them are from other countries. I just returned from the MSC Divina and it was very difficult to communicate with the staff. I would also like to know how fast your embarkment process was (how long of a wait to get onto ship and into your cabin). thanks:)

[dyesalot]

I'm interested in the pool area, the indoor pool area, and room photos/videos. :)

[PurdueChefAmber]

The aft pool area including pizza pirate, the atrium, and your favorite piece of artwork!

[sandybeaches44]

We leave for a 6-day Western Caribbean on Conquest this Sunday. As much as I enjoy reading other's reviews before cruising... I never got around to it on our last trip. So I put this out there... if I were to write one after this trip, what specifically do you guys want to know about and/or see (pics or video)?

 

Our ports are Ocho Rios, Grand Cayman, and Cozumel.

 

Hi Kevin,

 

We will be on our first family vacation next month. Our dinner reservations are linked for early dining. Want to find out if there is a table in the Renoir Restaurant that will accommodate 14 people.(adults and children)

 

We will be travelling with vegetarians and vegans. Is almond and rice milk available on the ship.

 

Also, is your cabin ready when boarding the ship? We will have carry-on of water, almond milk and rice milk in addition to our carry on luggage.

 

Have a great vacation.

 

Thanks,

Sandy

[pusywillow]

We leave for a 6-day Western Caribbean on Conquest this Sunday. As much as I enjoy reading other's reviews before cruising... I never got around to it on our last trip. So I put this out there... if I were to write one after this trip, what specifically do you guys want to know about and/or see (pics or video)?

 

Our ports are Ocho Rios, Grand Cayman, and Cozumel.

 

I want pics of the casino esp the video poker machines. I board on the 12th. Thanks!

 

Sue

[kevin_ga]

I have everyone's request and will do my best to answer questions & post pics & videos that meet your needs. More to come later...

 

We boarded today and so far everything looks great. Staff are very friendly. Ship seems to be in relatively good shape (I think better than our Freedom experience last Nov, but even then I had ZERO complaints).

 

We had FTTF so our room was ready when we boarded. At port around 10:45, unloaded luggage with porters by 11:15ish. Parking in the garage took a few minutes (lots of traffic coming in). We got inside around 11:30 and we cleared through check-in & security by noon. It was really fast thanks to FTTF, but even the normal lines weren't that bad at this time. Longest wait was the ~45 mins to an hour between getting to the terminal and loading the boat.

 

Quick lunch, meet & greet with some of our fellow CC passengers, and getting ready for Muster drill shortly.

 

Our rooms were ready when we boarded thanks to FTTF. But all of the rooms were announced as being ready around 2:30ish.

 

Off to a great start! Will check in as internet permits... Review to follow shortly after the week.

 

Thanks!

[PurdueChefAmber]

Have fun and thanks for being so kind!!

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[cruisegirl29]

Have a great cruise... I will be boarding on Saturday when sadly you'll be disembarking.

[kevin_ga]

I still have to pool all of the pictures & videos later tonight, but for now... I will try to answer all of the questions. Short review -- we all had a BLAST on Conquest. I would sail her or Carnival again RIGHT NOW if I could. The Western itinerary, passengers, and staff were all a LOT of fun!

[kevin_ga]

I have booked this ship for next February 2016. The brochure that I am looking at says that the Conguest has been newly enhanced. I am assuming this is an older ship so I would be interested if the ship is showing some age and/or the enhancements that were made were nice ones. I would also like to know if it was difficult to communicate with the ships personnel. Most of them are from other countries. I just returned from the MSC Divina and it was very difficult to communicate with the staff. I would also like to know how fast your embarkment process was (how long of a wait to get onto ship and into your cabin). thanks:)

 

First off, I could NOT imagine having to wait almost a year. The anticipation for just a couple of months is enough to drive me crazy. With that said, I am envious of anyone with a future cruise!

 

The ship does have the 2.0 upgrade (Blue Iguana, Guys Burgers, etc.) The only thing that people seem to complain about is the missing Serenity deck. We didn't really miss it. There is still an Adults Only pool & hot tubs in the aft of the ship -- this seems to be a relatively kid-free zone except the occasional passers-by.

 

As for people complaining about the ship showing it's age -- I don't get it. It is a ship, so it shows normal wear & tear of a salt-water vessel. Otherwise, I think it is in pretty good shape. I didn't feel envious of too many ships when we pulled into port (Conquest was one of the better looking from a distance). And I certainly did not have any complaints walking around on board.

 

With that said, we did have one MINOR issue with the AC in the room. It started getting a little warmer than I like (not hot, but I like to sleep with covers in a cold room) . We called Guest Services... they had someone there to test temp in less than 15 minutes and someone there to fix it less than 30 minutes later. Afterwards, no issues.

 

Communication with the staff is definitely not a problem. They are from all parts of the world, but overall they speak VERY good English. There are some that struggle more than others, but they are in positions where they don't have to interface with the guests directly (i.e. cooks, cleaning, etc.) Everyone is friendly and speaks MUCH better English than I do Italian, Portuguese, etc. :)

 

Getting onboard was not bad at all. We had FTTF so we got there early with hopes to spend all day on board. Port Everglades was easy to get into, park, and clear security. We waited in the Terminal for about an hour until they were cleared to start loading. But they had a nice older lady walking around with a microphone getting people to sing and have fun. It wasn't a bad wait at all.

 

They were not as good getting people off the boat (at the Ports or final Disembarkation back in FLL). I'll put the details in my review the next day or two. Let me know if you have any other questions....

[kevin_ga]

The aft pool area including pizza pirate, the atrium, and your favorite piece of artwork!

 

I was "distracted" enough to leave my cell phone at the gym the morning of the Cozumel port. When I made it back there, it was gone. I reported it and unfortunately it was never found or turned in. It was in airplane mode so also no way to track it.

 

With that said... I did get photo & video of most everything on my GoPro. I'll be pulling those tonight and will share. In the meantime... we took Freedom back in Nov for the Thanksgiving cruise. I liked Conquest MUCH better because of the colors & artwork. It was less "stuffy" and more colorful & energetic. I loved both ships, but Conquest just a little more.

 

Pizza Pirate was a HUGE hit all week long. They do serve pizza 24 hours a day and there is almost always someone in line to get some -- not matter than time of day or night!

[kevin_ga]

Hi Kevin,

 

We will be on our first family vacation next month. Our dinner reservations are linked for early dining. Want to find out if there is a table in the Renoir Restaurant that will accommodate 14 people.(adults and children)

 

We will be travelling with vegetarians and vegans. Is almond and rice milk available on the ship.

 

Also, is your cabin ready when boarding the ship? We will have carry-on of water, almond milk and rice milk in addition to our carry on luggage.

 

Have a great vacation.

 

Thanks,

Sandy

 

So here is what I was told by both the Dining Room staff and Guest Services.... hopefully you are booked for reserved seating (rather than Anytime Dining). While it *can* be possible in Anytime Dining, both the combined seating and special dietary needs are MUCH easier when coordinated in advance. As you can imagine the table configurations are locked down (tables are literally bolted to the floor) so it is easier when they plan for the larger parties. Make sure to call Carnival ahead of time and let them know. They told me they do have Almond and Rice milk available, but not necessarily readily handy. If they know in advance, they can accomodate much better. We saw the same asking for Skim Milk with coffee at night. They don't have it right by the tables and usually had to send someone to the kitchen to grab it. It took a few minutes longer, but they always were glad to provide.

 

As for boarding, we had FTTF and our cabin was ready when we boarded shortly after noonish. They called for everyone at about 2:30 as all rooms were ready. From my experience, most stewards don't mind you dropping off a few bags in the room even if it's not ready. Just make sure to stay out of their way and don't try to unpack before they are done. (Note* I'm sure some people would adamantly disagree with my suggestion to not follow the rules -- no need to flame here... because to each his own, and I have never been one to get caught up on what someone else thinks of me or my actions! :D

[kevin_ga]

I want pics of the casino esp the video poker machines. I board on the 12th. Thanks!

 

Sue

 

I do have pics & video of the poker tables and casino. I'll post them later tonight. The poker tables are literally like a normal table, but with video screens at each seat. Unfortunately this was one area I never saw in action. I only spent time at the Roulette & Craps tables the short time I was in the Casino (while it was open).

[kevin_ga]

Have a great cruise... I will be boarding on Saturday when sadly you'll be disembarking.

 

I am so jealous! I'm sure you're enjoying your nice day at sea right about now! I hope you have a much fun on Conquest as we did!

[Crazeecat5]

Question.....did the Conquest have the new internet packages? Sorry to ask if you already mentioned this!

[CruisinWithFamily]

Question.....did the Conquest have the new internet packages? Sorry to ask if you already mentioned this!

 

As of two weeks ago they did not.

[Crazeecat5]

Thanks for your quick reply! I'll be on her in August so, hopefully, by then.......

[pusywillow]

I do have pics & video of the poker tables and casino. I'll post them later tonight. The poker tables are literally like a normal table, but with video screens at each seat. Unfortunately this was one area I never saw in action. I only spent time at the Roulette & Craps tables the short time I was in the Casino (while it was open).

 

Thanks, but I am not interested in poker tables. I am interested in video poker slot machines. They are usually mixed among the regular slot machines on the casino floor. Do they have deuce's wild, double double bonus, jacks or better, etc.

 

Sue

[Gabby229]

First time cruiser so sorry if this is a silly question. What is FTTF? Also, is the steakhouse worth going to?

Edited April 6, 2015 by Gabby229

[kevin_ga]

Question.....did the Conquest have the new internet packages? Sorry to ask if you already mentioned this!

 

Post above, unfortunately, was still true for us as well. They did NOT have the new internet packages (which we did have on Freedom in Nov -- and were awesome). I bought two of the $29 / 45 mins packages -- and the connection was ridiculously slow. It timed out loading most of the pages and I had to keep logging back in and starting over. It was nearly useless for anything other than a quick email check.

[kevin_ga]

First time cruiser so sorry if this is a silly question. What is FTTF? Also, is the steakhouse worth going to?

 

FTTF is Faster to the Fun. It costs $50 per room and gets you a taste of loyalty privileges: load right after Platinum & Diamond members on boarding, room is guaranteed ready by the time you board, luggage delivered with priority (ours was in room by 2ish), special phone number & line for Guest Services (this was REALLY nice), and priority tendering if at any of your ports (also was awesome for us at Grand Cayman). And when you disembark, you are in Zone 1 so can leave just about any time after self-assist.

 

They only sell so many for each cruise depending on how many high level loyalty members. They sell out quick, but sometimes will list more closer to sail time. Always good to keep checking. Under your Cruise Manager page, go to the excursions for the embarkation port (i.e. Ft. Lauderdale) and it will show FTTF and whether it is sold out or available. I highly recommend it if you can get it!

[Honolulu Blue]

I am interested in video poker slot machines. They are usually mixed among the regular slot machines on the casino floor. Do they have deuce's wild, double double bonus, jacks or better, etc.

 

Sue

 

I was on the Conquest in September. They had about 8 of the Game Kings, which offered most of the standard video poker games. The pay schedules I checked were horrible, so I wouldn't recommend that anyone I liked actually play them.

[tony_g51181]

I am intersted in what alcohol they sell in the shops and what the deals are when they have the alcohol sale, like usually 4 bottles for a certain price!

[pusywillow]

I was on the Conquest in September. They had about 8 of the Game Kings, which offered most of the standard video poker games. The pay schedules I checked were horrible, so I wouldn't recommend that anyone I liked actually play them.

 

Thanks for that info. It's very disappointing since I love video poker. I guess I'll have to try something else.

 

Sue