Conquest Premier Casino 5/31-6/8/15 Review

[NCTribeFan]

OK, so now for the meat of the cruise. I'm sure you're all bored with the minutiae of my sea days!

 

I'd only been to St Maarten once, on my prior Conquest cruise (leg 2 of the repositioning in November 2013). That time, I did Tour #2 with Bernard and had Mailman as our driver, who was very good. This time, I decided I didn't need to stop at Orient Beach again, so I opted for Tour #1, which goes to the same places but gives a little more time in Marigot and arrives at Maho a little earlier. Thanks to the laggards on the previous tour, we missed the landing of the 747, so I was hoping to see that this time.

 

Our driver was Fleming (with one M). He was pretty dull, but nice. I stay away from their homemade rum punch and was disappointed when he said there was no beer! I'd had about a six pack on the last one (I was self-medicating my bad back; no really, I was!).

 

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I love iguanas!

 

Marigot

 

I ordered (in French!) my deux pain au chocolat at Sarafina's, ate one, and wrapped the other up in beaucoup de serviettes and crammed it in my little bag to have later. So, I got to use about ten words of French. Hmmm. Maybe I should do a land vacation in St Martin so I can brush up on my French-speaking skills, oui?

 

One of the folks on our van discovered that there was, indeed, Carib beer at the bottom of the cooler! I decided to wait until we were headed back to the pier to have any adult beverages.

 

Then it was on to Maho. The place is always packed. Seeing the planes land is cool, but I'd never spend the day there. The beach is so small and so crowded! Have I mentioned that I don't like crowds? This time, we were too early for the big jet. Oh well. It's still neat. No, I do not get right under them when they land and stay well away from the fence when they take off.

 

This is actually a video. If you click on the pic, I think it will take you to my Flickr page and you can watch the video there. I can't quite figure out how to post video directly.

 

On the way back to the ship I decided to try the rum punch, just to be able to add that to the things I've actually done on my travels. It was very, very strong, as I expected it would be. I chased it with a Carib and enjoyed them both.

 

I was back on board at 2:10. And then I realize that most of the food venues are no longer open. I know there have been threads about these changes here. Used to be Guy's was open all afternoon. F&C, Guy's, and the buffet all closed at 2 pm. Makes sense, right? People are out in the ports during the day, so they close the places just before they get back from their excursions? As far as I could tell, the only food available was pizza, deli, Blue Iguana, and room service.

 

I think I opted for a burrito with shrimp, chicken, rice, cheese, pico de gallo, and guacamole. Which I took to a table, unrolled, and ate the stuffing with a fork. Braces. What a pain (literally and figuratively).

 

I have no recollection of what I did the rest of the day. I imagine it was read, dinner, casino, bed. Apparently I wasn't a big winner in the casino because I usually remember when I do well and block out the memories of when I don't!

[Zeta3]

Thanks for posting this review. We will be on Conquest for the first time in August.

[jrgreiner]

Great pictures! What kind of camera do you use?

[RaMar]

Loving the review and great pictures.

[NCTribeFan]

My photos were all taken with my phone - a Samsung Galaxy S5 - the one that was The Next Big Thing when I bought it last summer. I upgraded to this phone specifically for the camera.

 

And I'm very, very careful about taking photos from the rail. For my personal reasons, you can go back and find my review from my Fascination cruise in November 2011. :o

 

I must contact P&P I've mentioned. He had some sort of neat strap on his phone that makes it so you can securely hold the phone in one hand. I need that, because I'm paranoid about dropping the phone, especially when standing at the rail trying to get just the right photo.

 

I left the FunTimes sitting in a folder on the stairs (where I'd put it so I wouldn't forget to bring it to the office and do some scanning). Sorry folks. I'll try to remember to bring them tomorrow.

[johnnyjay]

Great review. I hope you haven't already mentioned this and I just overlooked it, but I was wondering how was the temperature in your cabin during the cruise. I am also from NC, and trying to get away from this heat wave!

[NCTribeFan]

It was fine. I'm an always-cold woman, so often walk around the ship with a light sweater. Now, I like it cold at night so I can snuggle down into that nice comforter, but when I'd first get up in the morning, or when I was going to shower and dress for dinner, I'd cut the a/c way back so I didn't freeze.

 

The only place I had problems was in the casino and the Lido dining. There were spots in both that were really warm and other places were frigid. So, for the most part, I wasn't freezing. That means some people (men, mostly) might think it was a bit warm.

 

Sorry if that's not very helpful. Let's just say I felt a little like Goldilocks. Some places were TOO COLD. Other were TOO WARM! But some were just right (for me). :p

[johnnyjay]

Thanks, I was just checking. Trying to be prepared for this Sunday when we start our Conquest b2b.

[JJInc]

I'm a CPA, so I'm pretty conservative (unlike some people who were throwing down $100-$200 in chips each spin!! :eek: )

 

Great review! Sorry that this question is not cruise related, can you offer any advice for my daughter who is studying the Becker course right now and stressing over taking the CPA exam? * Cruise related, she will be going on Harmony of the Seas with us next year* LOL!!

[rtap23]

Great review. I hope you haven't already mentioned this and I just overlooked it, but I was wondering how was the temperature in your cabin during the cruise. I am also from NC, and trying to get away from this heat wave!

 

You can always come up to the mountains in NC. Even though today has been pretty warm for our standards up in Boone it is still in the upper 70's

[NCTribeFan]

My parents were from Watauga County. Although I grew up in Cleveland, I moved to the mountains when I was 21, stayed a few years, went back to Cleveland, then to Atlanta while I was pregnant, then back to the mountains when DD was 3-1/2, where I put myself through school at Appalachian as a single mother, worked 20-30 hours/week at a minimum-wage job, had a 4.0 GPA until the end of my junior year, went to school every summer session to keep up with my classmates, then passed all the CPA exam on the first attempt.

 

Whew.

 

I only make it back up there maybe once or twice every summer. The friend who introduced me to cruising in April 2001 (it snowed at her house in Sorrento Skies while we were on the cruise), called me yesterday and invited me up.

 

I do miss the mountains in the summer. Not in the winter! I hate snow. I hate being cold. I hate winter. It's too cold here in the winter! I mean, we're supposed to hit triple-digits tomorrow and it seems like it was just yesterday I was whining about the cold. :p

 

As for the CPA exam, I really think the way they do it now (computerized; individual parts taken separately) has to be easier than when I took it. But it certainly isn't easy! I worked my butt off and it was the most difficult thing I've ever done (other than being a single mom). Really. It's tough.

 

As for passing it? If she studied hard during classes, she should have a good foundation. IMHO, it's a crap-shoot when you take the exam. There's SO much material that mere humans can't possibly know it all, so you just get lucky in some respects, if they ask question you actually know. There were questions that I read and thought "I have no clue what they're talking about" and just took a guess. :p

 

I'll try to post at least another day's worth to this review tonight.

[NCTribeFan]

I'd been to St. Kitts twice before and did Thenford Grey's island tour both times (went to different beaches). So, this time, I decided I'd like to visit Nevis. It isn't often that you can do a tour of a neighboring island, especially one that the cruise ships don't visit.

 

But I couldn't get anyone interested. Now, I have absolutely no problem signing up for independent excursions even when I'm solo, but I am not going to just get on a ferry and go alone, especially when I can't discover whether or not there will be taxi tours waiting when I arrive.

 

Mr. Grey only needed FOUR people to schedule the tour, and it didn't happen. Besides striking out on the Roll Call, I asked multiple times "over there" and got no response. So, I found something else to do.

 

Then, of course, there started being posts "over there" about a week prior to the cruise saying "maybe we'll go to Nevis." I was especially impressed by the person who responded, "what's Nevis?" I promptly advised this person to just GOOGLE IT! I mean, seriously, people. Rather than look stupid by posting that and waiting for someone to spoon-feed you the answer, you could just Google it and get an instant response and not publish your lack of knowledge!

 

Sigh. Yes, I know. I'm just a Big Meanie!

 

Anyway, I can't give you the details of my day in St. Kitts because Brian, our cruise director, swore me to secrecy.

 

So here are a couple of pictures. The first is NEVIS. The 2nd is the view looking up from the lounger on which I spent most of the glorious day. :D

 

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Back on the ship, needing food, went to the deli and dismembered my turkey sandwich. The fun-in-the-sun had me thinking this might be a good afternoon for a nap. I rarely take a nap since when I go to sleep, my brain wants to sleep for about 8 hours and I wake feeling awful. But I sort of dozed a little bit, then got up and had my shower and got ready for dinner early. I stopped in the casino but didn't have much luck, again. Got a glass of wine to take with me to the dining room.

 

No luck in the casino after dinner, either. It would've been nice to have been able to watch the Cavs game in the sports bar, but it was packed. They actually had the game on on the big screens over the tables so I went back and played a bit more and watched as I was playing. Sadly, my lack of luck extended to the Cavs, too.

[cru-cru]

Small world. I'm originally from China grove. Not too far from Cleveland. My mom went to App state.

[quickrate]

Thanks, I was just checking. Trying to be prepared for this Sunday when we start our Conquest b2b.

I would agree with the OP on the air conditioning. Our cabin was always cool and most of the ship was downright cold at times!

Pat

[NCTribeFan]

OK, I'm scanning portions of the FunTimes and will see if I can at least attach them. I'm skipping the cover page and scanning only the back page of embarkation day since most of the "For Your Information" and "OpenTimes" are the same. Not always, but if anyone has a specific request that I don't include, just lmk.

 

Let's see if Day 1 works before I continue.

 

Didn't work. Just those 3 pages far exceeded the allowed kb size to attach a pdf.

 

Sorry! :(

[quickrate]

Hi Joan, saw your reference to Paul's strap on his phone. Google cellgrasp. Really enjoying your review!! Reliving the cruise all over again!!

Pat

[NCTribeFan]

I love San Juan, especially the old city. Just love it. We had a short day here, which is too bad because I could just wander up and down the blue cobblestone streets all day, stopping in the squares, finding interesting shops, having a drink and delicious local food.

 

Met P&P at 9 and we headed out to wander around. I took them to Cafeteria Mallorca. I'd already had breakfast but just had to have a cup of coffee and a mallorca. We strolled around and passed Hotel Milano. Checked the sign outside to see what time Punta de Vista opened for lunch (yes, I know we'd just eaten but some people wanted to try mofongo; I'd had it there back when the restaurant was across from the pier).

 

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We went across the street to a shop with all sorts of natural vitamins, supplements, and other healthy stuff. Then down and around and found ourselves at Plaza Colon. I'd purchased earrings from a vendor there in the past and thought about getting another pair for DD and realized I couldn't remember which I'd bought and was afraid I'd get the exact same ones! There was an artist with some interesting paintings on wood plaques. She was working on some and we had her put some aside to dry while we went around the corned, past The Parrot Club, and on to lunch.

 

While the sign had said they opened at 11:30, they weren't open when we arrived, so we sat in the lobby for a few minutes. I told the desk clerk I'd be back in December (the Sunshine Journeys sailing on 11/28 is Port Canaveral to San Juan) and asked if they had a 2-night minimum. Yes, they do. Most OSJ hotels require two nights, especially in season. With 8 ports in 10 days, a couple of post-cruise nights in San Juan to recuperate sounds pretty good to me!

 

Anyway, we were told we could go up and took the old elevator up to the top floor. Well, next to the top floor. Had to take the stairs up to the restaurant, where we were told the kitchen was not yet open.

 

No problem. We went ahead and ordered mojitos (2-for-1 all the time), and chatted with the American girl who was our server. I was pretty full, so just ordered some cheese fries. Not very Puerto Rican, for sure, but I've tried mofongo twice and while I loved it, it did not love me. Plantains really, really don't agree with me.

 

NOTE: do NOT be in a hurry when you're in San Juan, especially when eating/drinking.

 

The three of us shared my 2nd mojito, then went back to the artist to pick up our paintings. I found another vendor selling hand-made jewelry and bought DD a pair of earrings there. Then it was back to the ship as we were sailing at 2 pm.

 

Sailing from San Juan, you miss these beautiful scenes as you leave port. I took a ton of photos (many of which look very much the same!). It was very, very windy up there, even as slowly as we were moving, so some of the pics are slightly blurry.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Time for gambling! I went to the casino and decided to play some slots, since I don't do well at Roulette during the day. I sat down at one of the non-smoking (what a joke) hot dice penny machines. Being the conservative bettor that I am, I usually play the lower bets. The one time I hit "max bet" I actually got the bonus. Next thing I knew, I'd won $240. Whee! I immediately uploaded my funds and went to the cage and got $200 of it.

 

I'd received a bottle of bubbly from the casino (this is one of the standard Premier gifts), so I took it to the MDR that night. Back to the casino after dinner, I again didn't do much at Roulette. But while sitting there, I was selected as one of the Hot Seat winners and picked a card that gave me $75. So, all-in-all, not a bad day.

Edited June 16, 2015 by NCTribeFan

[modernscarlett]

Great review, Joan. I'm the person who recognized you at tea! We really enjoyed our time on the Conquest.

[NCTribeFan]

Yes, so besides the person in the piano bar, and the casino bar server, I was "known" when I went to afternoon tea, too!

 

Guess I need to start wearing my big black sunglasses and a hat wherever I go to keep from being recognized! I had no idea I was so famous! :p

 

Pat - I need to send Paul my story about Phone Overboard, don't I?

[dapaddo]

Can you share what other items the casino sent to you through out the cruise? We are going on one in Sept. Thanks

[lorib927]

Small world. I'm originally from China grove. Not too far from Cleveland. My mom went to App state.

 

I can top that. I am from Port Saint Lucie now, but born in Burlington, NC and raised in Black Mountain NC-family still all there. And I agree, if I can help it I will NEVER again live where it snows and is cold all winter long!

[cru-cru]

Very very small world. I love it in PSL.

[momonthego17]

Great review! We will b on Conquest over this thanksgiving. I have enjoyed many a bison burger at Ted Turner's Bison Grill over in Southpointe. I love Carnival's fish and chips as well, especially for the bouillabaisse. Looking forward to the rest of your review!

Edited June 16, 2015 by momonthego17

[NCTribeFan]

Let's see - Premier Casino Cruise - I know there are threads here but I may as well give some details.

 

I imagine different people get different fare codes. Mine have all been PC4. The cabin was less than ES but wasn't all that cheap as a solo. Still, a 4B was the same as a 1A, so I got a regular, large bed.

 

My rate also gave me $300 in casino cash. That's cash, not some sort of credit. You can spend it however you want.

 

When you enter your cabin, there's a Goody Bag waiting. I didn't take a picture but here's one from my Freedom cruise...

 

 

The differences this time: there were no bags of trail mix, the lanyard was white instead of black, there were two lanyards (if I'd had a cruise buddy, I believe they would've also received a drink card). In the envelope is the invitation to the cocktail party at 5 pm. The sheet lists all the main events and some other details (no service charge to use your S&S card at the tables and other info). I got two clear cups this time (gave one to P&P; I gave both mine to DD after last cruise).

 

I remembered to go to the service desk and tell them to not send my Platinum chocolates to the cabin but forgot to mention to the casino staff that they could refrain, too. So, I got a plate of chocolates that I didn't touch.

 

Got the bottle of Proseco one day, a dozen large (good) cookies from Cherry on Top one day, and the big gift was a plush, yellow beach towel. Last time, it was a large notebook (big version of the ones I won in the casino that night). I didn't bother to bring that one home from Freedom (no use for it, big and heavy and not needed when flying).

 

I think that's everything.

 

I don't know why I started getting these offers. I've whined many times about the free casino cabins (I certainly never get those), and I've never gotten the pack-and-play offers.

 

I did not get a bounce-back offer on the last night. Many have said they don't give those to people who have another cruise booked and, imho, that is just wrong. If you have the points to qualify, having a cruise booked should have absolutely nothing to do with it!

 

I plan on emailing Michael at the Players Club yet again about this stuff.

 

Anyway, my Sunshine 11/28 11-night sailing (that I'd already booked) came out on the list of the next round of Premier sailings. My PVP changed my booking to the casino code. I had originally booked under the VIFP offer so I lost the $100 OBC, but the cabin was $120 less, so I'm ahead $20 already, plus I'll get $300 cash and all the other goodies!

[NCTribeFan]

I don't have any notes after San Juan, so the rest may all be scrambled rather out of order.

 

Apparently Grand Turk is now my Nassau. This was the fifth cruise in a row where we've called there. I think I'd been there 4 or 5 times earlier in my cruise career.

 

I think I did the horseback ride & swim on my first four stops there. The water part is great fun. Maybe I should do that again next time.

 

Anyway, I now don't do much of anything. I don't care for Margaritaville and the noise and crowds. I'm not impressed with Jack's Shack. I like my (relatively) quiet sit-and-read time on cruises.

 

So I head through the duty-free store, turn right, and head down toward the south end of the beach. I was happy to see that they were working on the bar there (and that meant I wouldn't be subjected to Jimmy Buffet Live (ugh)).

 

But where were the loungers? In the past, there have been dozens and dozens of them from the beach up several rows in partial shade under the palms.

 

Not this time!

 

Splendor was in port with us, too, and had arrived before us, so there were a lot of people about. I managed to find a chair and sat down to read. And then the helicopter tours started buzzing by.

 

Sigh. I just want to sit in semi-sun, read and relax!

 

I gave up before lunch and just went back to the ship.

 

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I decided to go up to the service desk and inquire about the past guest party. I know there was lots and lots of grumbling and complaining when they cut out the gold VIFP people, so I didn't pay that much attention to the threads and hadn't realized that the party is now held on the last day.

 

There were two girls behind the counter. Each was talking to an elderly women (who were together because I'd seen them in the Lido buffet). Only the one at the far end was actually being helped. I could hear part of the conversation. She kept asking the girl about future cruises. Girl kept telling her she didn't know and she'd need to talk to the future cruise desk. And the woman would ask about another ship or date. And the girl would repeat that she really didn't know and she'd need to talk to the future cruise desk. And the woman would ask about another ship or date.

 

Meanwhile, her friend was chatting with the other girl. I couldn't hear the details but could tell that she wasn't actually asking for help, she was just chatting. The girl was pretty much just standing there, smiling.

 

So I stood there and waited. Another person comes up and gets in line. And then two more in the regular line. And the old woman just stands there chatting while the girls nods and smiles.

 

Now, see, this is where I start to lose it. It's almost as though NO ONE on a Carnival ship is allowed to say anything that they think might even remotely upset a guest. But it's perfectly okay for their actions (or lack of) to annoy many other guests.

 

Is that their idea of good customer service? It isn't mine!

 

All the girl had to do was look up and ACKNOWLEDGE THAT I WAS THERE! A simple "I'll be with you shortly" would've sufficed. And that probably would've alerted old Chatty Kathy that she wasn't the only person on the planet and maybe the girl needed to be allowed to do her job!

 

After the woman on the scooter in the regular line interrupted and said she needed to get down to the doctor did the girl ask the old woman if it was all right if she took care of someone else. Old woman looked up and appeared very surprised that there were other people on the ship!!!

 

So girl finally comes over to me and I say, "I just wanted to ask about the past guest party. Did I miss it?"

 

"No, it's tomorrow," in a rather curt response.

 

"Oh, I thought maybe I hadn't received my invitation. We're sort of running out of time."

 

"No we aren't."

 

"Well, tomorrow's the last day of the cruise."

 

"It only takes one day to have the party!"

 

"This is my 22nd Carnival cruise and the party has never been on the last day."

 

"They've often been on the last day."

 

"No, they haven't!"

 

"Well, you'll get your invitation in your cabin."

 

"Yes. Thanks."

 

Sheesh! :mad:

 

I really wish I'd gotten her name because I think, for the first time ever, I would've complained about a Carnival employee.

 

We all have bad days, but when you're at the customer service desk, you need to be a little more pleasant (or at least less rude) to the customers. She had all the patience in the world for oldster standing there blabbing at her but couldn't be civil to the rest of us?

 

I imagine I had fish & chips for lunch again and sat out and read some more.

 

 

This is now one of favorite cruise photos. I have it as my desktop on my three monitors at work. Look how calm the water was after we left! This really was one of the smoothest sailings I've ever had. Most of the time I couldn't tell the ship was moving.

 

 

Now that the FunTimes are at the office and I have no notes, I may have things a bit scrambled, but I think this must have been the 2nd Elegant night.

 

The past two cruises, one of the movies on the big screen has been Guardians of the Galaxy. I don't watch a lot of movies and almost never anything fairly current, but I'd kept trying to get up there to catch the early part of the movie. And old friend wrote a song that's on the soundtrack. He was in a band my sister and I and our friends used to hang out with in Cleveland in the early 70s.

 

My issue with the movies is the times they're on. They're either on during dinner or don't start until my bedtime. Yes, I'm old.

 

But this time, with being done with dinner at about 9:10, I had plenty of time to get up there for the 9:30 start time. Except it didn't start at 9:30 like the FunTimes said. It didn't start until 10. So I sat there on a stool in front of the bar and waited and tried to not pay any attention to the movie that was ending, just in case I maybe wanted to watch it one day!

 

Movie finally starts, and I got to see the part with my friend's song. It was pretty cool, really.

 

Back to the casino. Tonight's drawing was playing cards. I'd received two in my cabin and one of them was drawn (several people receive the same cards). Luckily, the table was right behind the Roulette wheel and I was able to grab the next-to-last bag, which had $50 and the suede diary/notebook (have I already talked about them?), which I gave to the dealer. Or maybe that was a different night and I've already told you. This is why I need to take notes! It's all a blur!!!