What Would You Do - Considering Switching Ships

[jenne252]

Hello! Currently, we are booked on Carnival Conquest 8 Night Southern Itin in an oversized albeit noisy OV, room 2470, cruise is 9/13 - 9/21 from Fort Lauderdale. Our price is $1637.70. Ports are: Grand Turk, La Romana, Curaco in the evening and Aruba. We have faster to the fun for this. We will be in Florida from 9/10 until 9/22.

 

While playing around on the website I noticed that Sunshine has a cruise out of Port Canaveral 9/11 - 9/19, 8 night, Southern Caribbean, ports Grand Turk, Aruba in the evening and Curacoa. One more sea day. The price is lower for an OV, although there are no "odd size" rooms available. Price is 1487.92 for an OV. FTTF is not available.

 

I called Carnival on a whim just bc I didn't even think we could switch and we can for $100 total if we did so before final payment.

 

Would you do this? Why or why not? Our only other cruise has been on Valor in 2013, Southern Carib, none of these ports and it is our honeymoon.

 

Misc info: We fly into FLL and have a rental car for free with airline miles. We don't have a pre cruise hotel booked yet. We do have a non refundable post cruise hotel booked in FLL for 9/21.

[jenne252]

Oh one other piece of info. We have $50 OBC currently and we would lose that.

[sjn911]

For your honeymoon and redone ship...albeit some say over crowded....hmmmm...well you also have the driving and different losses with room...I think Conquest has the Steakhouse and Chef's Table and your FFTF for getting off all handled and all your hotels and everything paid for it is about a wash on losses and gains..there is the NEW Redone ship thing but more crowds for sure they say...I think I would stay if room is not too noisey...is this just back of ship noisey...I think I would relax with the plan..but I have always liked the Conquest theme and decor and want to try her for this ship class..silly as this sounds...Sarah

Edited April 24, 2015 by sjn911

[jenne252]

It would definitely end up being more money to go on the Sunshine, bc I would want to buy the spa package for the week which is pricey plus the 3 or 4 extra "pay for" restaurant options on the Sunshine. Right now I'm just thinking of how nice it will be to use those spa services, but that seems like a silly reason to uproot our plans for sure. My fiance isn't sold on this idea at all but has ultimately left it up to me. Since we are flying back out of FLL, we would still use that post cruise hotel the night before, no idea where we would stay Sat, Sun though

[jenne252]

We stayed in 2470 on Valor and omg is it noisy on port days. For anyone who wants to sleep in, this is not the room for you. But it's oversized and has two huge windows. I wanted a balcony on Conquest and my fiance vetoed it in favor of this larger room.

[Singer4Him]

I think I would stick to the original plan for a few reasons:

 

• FTTF has already been purchased and currently unavailable for the Sunshine cruise (this is a biggie for me)
  
• An extra port, La Romana
  
• You'll have about a three hour drive to Port Canaveral once you land in FLL and then returning to FLL
  
• Although the Sunshine has been upgraded, it's still a smaller ship and the Conquest has the 2.0 upgrades, as well
  
• You would lose your OBC
  

 

We cruised on the Conquest in 2013 and then on the Freedom, another Conquest class ship, in 2014 and I love this class of ships. My favorite so far but that's subject to change once we sail on the Dream in November. ;)

 

Either way, I think you'll have an amazing time on your honeymoon cruise!

 

[jenne252]

The more I think about it, the more I'm leaning towards just keeping it like it is. With the extra money we would spend in "extras" on the Sunshine, plus the $100 I would lose, driving places, etc, we could just upgrade to a nicer room! Maybe I will try for that instead :)

 

I didn't realize the Sunshine was smaller!! That's a good point!

[CaliCash]

The cruise you're currently booked on is the cruise right after mine. If you decide to stay with the Conquest, I'll make sure to leave her in tip top shape for ya :)

[rtap23]

I would hate to loose out on La Romana. The DR is one of our favorite ports

[jenne252]

Really? That is the one I am not really sure what to do. Why is it your favorite?? What do you do there?? Tell me more :)

[rtap23]

The Seavis tour to Saona is one of the best excursions we have ever done. The 2nd time we rented a car and drove to some beautiful secluded public beaches and did our own sightseeing. Once you get away from the port area it is a very beautiful place.

Edited April 24, 2015 by rtap23

[DebJ14]

I would hate to loose out on La Romana. The DR is one of our favorite ports

 

We like it too - great beaches.

 

I would stick with the Conquest - one of my favorite ships!

[jenne252]

Awesome, just sent Seavis an email

[Tapi]

We loved La Romana. Keep it the way it is.

[Jimmy Geegitz]

Sunshine blows Conquest away shipwise. FTTF worthless in my opinion. Also conquest has no Serenity area.

[sjn911]

I after reading more I say Conquest for sure...can you keep it all and upgrade your room as time moves along with deals..be sure Faster to the Fun moves with new room...that may be an issue and more I read....what a deal for certain stressless port situations..I say less crowding will be huge for you not having a balcony..there is a quiet deck on these ships someone else will mention..get your chairs picked out there for covered ocean gazing hand holding smooching solitude (hopeless romantic here)..I think you most certainly deserve a less noisy room on your honeymoon.

 

If you just want a quiet OV go under the dining room...it is still 220 sq. feet while insides of the balcony cabins are 185 with rest of space going to balcony...I am praying for a huge upgrade for your honeymoon right now...I think it is ok to ask for things like special honeymoons...there are enough angels out there..Sarah

Edited April 24, 2015 by sjn911

[jenne252]

Thank you Sarah!!! It's only when approaching ports that the room is very noisy. Other than that we had no issues whatsoever. I'm hoping for a good price on a Premium Balcony but we shall see. At this point we are definitely keeping Conquest

[sjn911]

Thank you Sarah!!! It's only when approaching ports that the room is very noisy. Other than that we had no issues whatsoever. I'm hoping for a good price on a Premium Balcony but we shall see. At this point we are definitely keeping Conquest

Sounds great!!! So no worry on noise and larger room is yours...that will be fun and good plan, thank you...Sarah

[T. Advisor King]

I agree with most of the responses you've received. In fact, I can't really figure out why you would consider switching in the first place. The costs seems to be about the same, after you factor in all the extra charges and lost payments. Is it that you think one ship is better than the other? I'm generally of the view that a ship is a ship. They are all far more similar to each other than they are different, refurbished or not. But I'm not really into the ship details. I mainly enjoy the ports. On sea days, I usually sit in a deck chair, and maybe play some games with my kids if they're not busy hanging out with new friends.

[SadieN]

We were in 2470 in 2013. Rarely did we hear noise from the stairwell. Only once did we hear Happy Birthday (extremely faintly) being sung during lunch. We'd book that cabin again without hesitation.

[jenne252]

The only noise I heard in that room on Valor was approaching ports. The thrusters and vibration would wake me up.

[jenne252]

I agree with most of the responses you've received. In fact, I can't really figure out why you would consider switching in the first place. The costs seems to be about the same, after you factor in all the extra charges and lost payments. Is it that you think one ship is better than the other? I'm generally of the view that a ship is a ship. They are all far more similar to each other than they are different, refurbished or not. But I'm not really into the ship details. I mainly enjoy the ports. On sea days, I usually sit in a deck chair, and maybe play some games with my kids if they're not busy hanging out with new friends.

 

I was thinking that it would be a "nicer" ship with more restaurant options, but way more of interest to me was the Cloud 9 spa. And we were already on Valor, so I figured it would be nice to do something "different". At any rate, it's not worth the hassle and from what I'm understanding people prefer the Conquest anyway!

[dbrucern]

We are on the Conquest in a few weeks for this cruise and have done these ports many times and love them so for me it would be whether I want to spend the time at Cocoa Beach or Ft Lauderdale and Ft Lauderdale would win out each time. The beach is beautiful and there is so much to do like the water taxi's and all the bars and dinning along the beach and Las Olas Blvd. I'd stay with what you already have, you probably will not be in your room that much even if it is your honeymoon.

[kingoftheicedragons]

I vastly prefer the Sunshine to the Conquest, and they're the last two Carnival ships I've sailed on. If both ships sailed out of the same port, I would recommend switching to Sunshine. The hassle since they don't, though, is a lot of effort, paying more, more time to get from FLL to Port Canaveral, etc. Plus, I agree that La Romana is a port not to be missed.

[jenne252]

The general consensus is Sunshine next time! And good advice. Thank you all for weighing in ;)