Carnival 8 Night Conquest Southern

[manmachine]

Just off the 8 Night Southern itinerary for the Conquest... Dominican Republic, Grand Turk, Curaçao, and Aruba.

 

We're veteran cruisers, so I just want to share a few things.

 

Ship overall: just beginning to show its age, but kept very clean. No serenity area on Conquest, but most of the other 2.0 upgrades.

 

Food: on par or slightly better than our more recent cruises. Table service was VERY good, as was our Maitre 'd, who checked on us twice over the 8 nights. Old menus on Conquest, which I prefer. Did steakhouse once, Chef's Table once-- both great as always. Only small complaint was one night 90 minute wait for room service (?!)

 

Cabin steward: A-1

 

Ports: loved the excursion in DR-- Seavis Bayahibe Sayona Island and La Piscina. The starfish were unforgettable, and top-notch crew. Fast boat, beautiful island, great fun lunch with drinks included. What's not to like?

 

Go see Topher dig at Jack's Shack at least once in your life when in Grand Turk.

 

We did day passes at Marriott Curaçao and Grand Occidental Aruba. Snorkeling very good at Marriott.

 

Casino: very friendly staff. We lost a goooood bit (for us) though. At least we were rewarded with 2 free cruises-- up to 15 days each!

 

Listening to one couple at brunch (have the Hen Diavola) say that this would be their last Carnival cruise, I was reminded again how different people are. She complained about the 'yuck' factor of the buffet and the pushy people there. Would not know... Closest we got was fish and chips. We had a great time, great service, and good to very good food elsewhere.

 

Carnival continues to give a lot of bang for the buck. And no one mentioned the lack of chocolates on the pillows!

[babys mom]

So glad u had a good time ! Hope later there will be more . We will be on Conquest in Sept . Thank you for posting!!

[Momof3bobos]

Sounds like you had a great time! I've never been on a Carnival cruise, but am looking to book my first. Contemplating booking the July 25 sailing by Conquest to the Southern Caribbean. It only lists three ports, Grand Turk, Curaçao, and Aruba, leaving from Ft. Lauderdale. The other one I've been looking at is leaving on the same date on the Carnival Glory- stops to Half Moon Cay, St. Thomas, San Juan and Grand Turk. Been to St. Thomas and San Juan before, so seriously considering the Conquest.

 

Thanks for your review- I think it's time to book! :)

 

-J

[momonthego17]

We will b on the conquest next thanksgiving, which will b our first time sailing on this ship. Great review and happy to hear such positive feedback! Thanks for posting!

Ps how did you get 2 fifteen day cruises for free? Nice!

Edited March 29, 2015 by momonthego17

[manmachine]

Sounds like you had a great time! I've never been on a Carnival cruise, but am looking to book my first. Contemplating booking the July 25 sailing by Conquest to the Southern Caribbean. It only lists three ports, Grand Turk, Curaçao, and Aruba, leaving from Ft. Lauderdale. The other one I've been looking at is leaving on the same date on the Carnival Glory- stops to Half Moon Cay, St. Thomas, San Juan and Grand Turk. Been to St. Thomas and San Juan before, so seriously considering the Conquest.

 

Thanks for your review- I think it's time to book! :)

 

-J

 

I bet if you look hard that 7/25 sailing will also include the DR... Is it 8 nights? If 7, they may skip the DR. Both itineraries sound nice... Love San Juan and Half Moon Cay is all it's cracked up to be... Just beautiful!

[manmachine]

We will b on the conquest next thanksgiving, which will b our first time sailing on this ship. Great review and happy to hear such positive feedback! Thanks for posting!

Ps how did you get 2 fifteen day cruises for free? Nice!

 

I think they are drooling at the thought of having my wife in front of their slot machines for 2 weeks!

[pusywillow]

I'll be onboard in two weeks. Did you only play slots in the casino? How many video poker machines did they have? That's my game of choice. Did you need a certain amout of points for a free drink card or to get a free cruise? This is my first time on Carnival so I'd like some info on their casino.

[stargate fan]

Just off the 8 Night Southern itinerary for the Conquest... Dominican Republic, Grand Turk, Curaçao, and Aruba.

 

We're veteran cruisers, so I just want to share a few things.

 

Ship overall: just beginning to show its age, but kept very clean. No serenity area on Conquest, but most of the other 2.0 upgrades.

 

Food: on par or slightly better than our more recent cruises. Table service was VERY good, as was our Maitre 'd, who checked on us twice over the 8 nights. Old menus on Conquest, which I prefer. Did steakhouse once, Chef's Table once-- both great as always. Only small complaint was one night 90 minute wait for room service (?!)

 

Cabin steward: A-1

 

Ports: loved the excursion in DR-- Seavis Bayahibe Sayona Island and La Piscina. The starfish were unforgettable, and top-notch crew. Fast boat, beautiful island, great fun lunch with drinks included. What's not to like?

 

Go see Topher dig at Jack's Shack at least once in your life when in Grand Turk.

 

We did day passes at Marriott Curaçao and Grand Occidental Aruba. Snorkeling very good at Marriott.

 

Casino: very friendly staff. We lost a goooood bit (for us) though. At least we were rewarded with 2 free cruises-- up to 15 days each!

 

Listening to one couple at brunch (have the Hen Diavola) say that this would be their last Carnival cruise, I was reminded again how different people are. She complained about the 'yuck' factor of the buffet and the pushy people there. Would not know... Closest we got was fish and chips. We had a great time, great service, and good to very good food elsewhere.

 

Carnival continues to give a lot of bang for the buck. And no one mentioned the lack of chocolates on the pillows!

 

We sailed this itinerary on Conquest on February 21. We also loved the Seavis excursion. Of all the ports on the cruise, this was definitely our favorite.

[manmachine]

I'll be onboard in two weeks. Did you only play slots in the casino? How many video poker machines did they have? That's my game of choice. Did you need a certain amout of points for a free drink card or to get a free cruise? This is my first time on Carnival so I'd like some info on their casino.

 

Ah, I can help there. I do not really play slots-- poker, a little BJ, and a little craps. I typically play $25.00 BJ, if going ok 2 hands of that. If going well-- I try to keep moving up. I did play video poker, 10 machines I believe-- payout schedules are less than stellar, but better than a regular slot machine, right?

 

1500 points gets the Drinks on Us card. Not sure what the actual of points is in VP but you can check after a few hands to see....

[manmachine]

We sailed this itinerary on Conquest on February 21. We also loved the Seavis excursion. Of all the ports on the cruise, this was definitely our favorite.

 

We agree with you... Got lucky in that our tour guide was the daughter of the owners... Really super nice, and it's her work that is guiding their social media efforts... They really want you to like the tour, and I did not mind rating them that way on some of the 'rating' sites.

[Coopdog08]

Ah, I can help there. I do not really play slots-- poker, a little BJ, and a little craps. I typically play $25.00 BJ, if going ok 2 hands of that. If going well-- I try to keep moving up. I did play video poker, 10 machines I believe-- payout schedules are less than stellar, but better than a regular slot machine, right?

 

1500 points gets the Drinks on Us card. Not sure what the actual of points is in VP but you can check after a few hands to see....

 

What was the pay out on bj tables? What was the side bet game?

[l2f]

Manmachine. For some reason the quote feature isn't working.

 

We have a tour booked with Seavis. The time seems real close for getting back to the ship.

 

The Seavis Tour you took. Was it the Saona Carnival Special and if so what time did you make it back to the ship.

 

Thanks

[TeresaJ]

We just got off this cruise too. The itinerary is awesome! Loved Aruba and Curacao especially. Conquest is a great ship and cruise director Mike was fun!

 

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I337 using Forums mobile app

[TeresaJ]

Manmachine. For some reason the quote feature isn't working.

 

We have a tour booked with Seavis. The time seems real close for getting back to the ship.

 

The Seavis Tour you took. Was it the Saona Carnival Special and if so what time did you make it back to the ship.

 

Thanks

 

We did Saona special too. The excursion ends around 2:30 and taxi back to port just about 30 minutes so we were back by 3pm (4pm port departure so plenty of time).

 

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[bigmama9224]

Hi Manmachine glad you had a blast. I am doing that cruise on May 23.

Wanted to know about the Marriott Day pass in Curacao. How much and can we use the chairs at the Resort.. Did they have chairs available cause I have read others complain from other resorts that no chairs available..

[carolinaviking71208]

I bet if you look hard that 7/25 sailing will also include the DR... Is it 8 nights? If 7, they may skip the DR. Both itineraries sound nice... Love San Juan and Half Moon Cay is all it's cracked up to be... Just beautiful!

 

 

Not necessarily. I'm on the Conquest 8nt 11/28. We're not stoping in the DR. Only Aruba, Curaçao and Grand Turk. When I booked it was going to DR but that stop was cancelled. The email I got mentioned 4 or 5 other dates where DR was also cancelled. Didn't really break my heart though.

[jenniferop]

Hi Manmachine glad you had a blast. I am doing that cruise on May 23.

Wanted to know about the Marriott Day pass in Curacao. How much and can we use the chairs at the Resort.. Did they have chairs available cause I have read others complain from other resorts that no chairs available..

 

Dh and I will also be on the 5/23 sailing and we'd also be I interested in the Curacao info. Only thing we have decided on is the helicopter tour of Grand Turk.

[sweetp0618]

"We did day passes at Marriott Curaçao and Grand Occidental Aruba. Snorkeling very good at Marriott."

 

Were you able to buy the Marriott passes before hand, how much were the passes, and what was included in the price?

 

Thanks!

[cruisegirl29]

Thanks for the review! Super excited to sail her 4/4/15!

[l2f]

We did Saona special too. The excursion ends around 2:30 and taxi back to port just about 30 minutes so we were back by 3pm (4pm port departure so plenty of time).

 

TeresaJ. Thanks so much. We usually don't cut it that close. But have read so many good things about this tour.

[TeresaJ]

TeresaJ. Thanks so much. We usually don't cut it that close. But have read so many good things about this tour.

 

I like to be back early too. It's a very organized tour and the same taxi will be waiting for you to take you back to the ship. Hope you enjoy the tour!

 

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[rtap23]

Not necessarily. I'm on the Conquest 8nt 11/28. We're not stoping in the DR. Only Aruba, Curaçao and Grand Turk. When I booked it was going to DR but that stop was cancelled. The email I got mentioned 4 or 5 other dates where DR was also cancelled. Didn't really break my heart though.

 

We are doing these ports in July and I will be very upset if they canceled the DR. It is my favorite port

[pusywillow]

Ah, I can help there. I do not really play slots-- poker, a little BJ, and a little craps. I typically play $25.00 BJ, if going ok 2 hands of that. If going well-- I try to keep moving up. I did play video poker, 10 machines I believe-- payout schedules are less than stellar, but better than a regular slot machine, right?

 

1500 points gets the Drinks on Us card. Not sure what the actual of points is in VP but you can check after a few hands to see....

 

Thanks for that info. Yes, anything is better than a slot machine. LOL

 

Sue

[deehnsly]

Just off the 8 Night Southern itinerary for the Conquest... Dominican Republic, Grand Turk, Curaçao, and Aruba.

 

 

We did day passes at Marriott Curaçao and Grand Occidental Aruba.

 

I JUST found a link for the Grand Occidental and it only had 3 reviews. How did you book it, directly through them? Was it worth it? We will be a family of four with kids 10 and 4. Thanks for your input!

Edited April 7, 2015 by deehnsly

[Brighton Line]

Thanks, thinking of doing this cruise in September, first one in years not leaving out of NY so these will be all new ports for us.