My Conquest 9/11/05 review -- not all good

[dspyder]

First, let me preface by saying it's really hard to have a bad time on any cruise ship.... that being said, as much as we tried to enjoy our time I highly doubt we'll be back on a Carnival cruise anytime in the near future.

 

In general I think the best word to describe the whole experience was "disorganized".

 

I think the bottom line is that the majority of the people on this sailing were NOT from the New Orleans sailing. Few took up Carnivals generous (HA!) $50 offering to find a way to Galveston. I would say most people on the ship were those that got bumped off the Elation and/or people from Texas. At the casual question&answer on the last night there was roughly 2 couple that responded when the cruise director asked if everyone was from N.O. When the Elation moved to wherever it went, they should have (as many suggested) just brought the Conquest over to cover its itinerary and preserve the bookings of those people scheduled to leave out of Galveston. Carnival made their own lives difficult and pissed off many people by playing musical chairs for what turned out to be nobody's benefit in the end.

 

I think for most of the trip (certainly the first few nights as people were trying to get their original category rooms back) there was a certain amount of animosity. Nobody was happy at the way Carnival handled things, and I think their animosity was reflected back in the service received. Tensions were high throughout the cruise.

 

Others have mentioned the lines at embarkation and debarkation. Admittedly it's not Carnival's fault entirely, but they certainly weren't doing much to make things better. Baggage dropoff was complete chaos! Caused largely by the last-minute cancellations everyone having to pick up the correct tag (a lot of people with unknown room assignments). That would have been fine if there had been a plan in place to deal with it... there just wasn't. The rest of checkin was just waiting in long lines... not much that can be done about it. Although I don't think the port of Galveston was ready to receive a larger ships worth of people. Debarkation I would bet was almost entirely customs fault not being ready to cycle people through as quickly. Again, the small port only having one elevator just didn't help. And although the self-assist is a great idea... when so many people (with so many big bags) try to take advantage of it... it just doesn't work.

 

About the ship: Quite honestly I don't know what all the raving on this board is about. It looked fully and completely like every other cruise ship I've ever been on. Nice lobby, couple bars, restaurants, a disco, a theater, spa... nothing special. Sure, it's nice and new and it's big.... but who cares?

 

The elevators on the ship are THE WORST. EVER. On any ship and any building I've ever been in. I don't know who was getting a ride, because we ended up taking the stairs almost every single time (11 decks and it was still faster!).

 

The staff at Carnival (in the port and on the ship) were exactly as helpful as they were on the phone over the preceding week. It was as if they felt we were lucky to be allowed to pay them more money to come on their ship. The pursors were never friendly, never helpful. The buss staff in the buffet were pushy and rude.

 

That being said, our waiter and assistant and the maitre d in the formal dining room were great! Fantastic! Food was good too (only slightly bad thing was the lobster bisque).

 

Ports were alright. Thanks to the cruise director for recommending to definitely take a shore excursion in Montego Bay! I would not want to be out alone there (our tablemates bus driver had to pull a handgun on an overzealous beggar). Grand Caymen was WAY too crowded with FIVE ships in port on the same day. Cozumel seemed to be the best, and we had a good time there (and it sounded like a lot of others did too). We'll be back there for sure, in conjunction with Belize as originally planned.

 

Other problems:

o No hot water in our room the first night, giant water stain on the floor in the hallway the rest of the trip... related? :)

o Extremely strong diesel smell in our room and in the hallway at the first and third ports (refueling?)

o Correct credit wasn't applied to our account and when we asked the pursors desk to look into it we were told quite rudely "well do you have any paperwork saying you're supposed to get any credit". [This after two discussions on the phone prior to the trip]

o Stairways and aisleways blocked for pictures. Traffic did not flow well.

o The lines at the buffets were WAY too long all the time. I don't know if it was just slow people, or the arrangement/layout of things... but it made it really frustrating and tedious to eat.

o Our Spa session (that we booked during the tour on the first day) had to be rescheduled 2 time until the last sea day. The spa staff were so disorganized and slow it was amazing anyone got anything done!

 

You'll notice Carnival has gone on a PR offensive, with commercials on every tv break. I think there's been some serious damage done in the way they handled this, and they know it! They may attract a few new customers, but I would expect returning guests (of which I was one) to look elsewhere where customer service means more than just smiling or talking politely while they screw you.

 

--D

 

p.s. 75 cents/minute for Internet is highway (seaway?) robbery. It costs them practically nothing.

[cruisecastle]

Funny after we came off the conquest last november we swore off Carnival forever. When the Liberty came along with the european itinerary I though I'd give them one more chance. Man am I glad I did as the cruise was incredible--far superior to my previous 7 cruises.

[mrdood]

The water problem in your room and diesel smell are definite complaints. Otherwise you seem to just be angry with Carnival that they did not buy you a new Cadillac because of the turmoil with cancellations and cost differences. You scoff at the onboard credit - that they per contract - don't have to give to anyone. Where is the happy line - $500? $5000?

 

With the itenerary changes came a BUNCH of crew and staff changes, no excuse for not providing cheerful service, but really, it sounds like you had it out for them before you boarded the ship.

 

You were dissatisfied - nothing will change that, if you love to cruise, go and do it on another line - no problem, if you cruise enough, statistically you will have a bad experience there too! Everyone can have a bad cruise - even the crew and port staff! No excuses and no I am not defending Carnival, don't spend a another dime with them ever! Funny though, lots of positive reviews from the same cruise, and no surprise, you will find bad reviews of almost every sailing - even on the other lines - negative experiences have a 10X rate of telling - or so the Wharton Business School propeller heads claim.

 

2,700 guest could have been on the Conquest, 90 extremely dissatisfied guests still gives them 97% with another opinion...

 

But truly sorry about the hassles, not why you go on a cruise!

[Hebejeebe]

Well, your cruise started out under very trying circumstances. Sorry it didn't turn out well for you.

 

What I would take from your experience:

 

If you are owed a credit (for whatever reason) then you need to resolve that issue with Carnival before getting on the ship. I'm sure the Purser has no knowledge of any previous conversations with Customer Service.

[tony&jackie]

Dspyder,

I was on the same cruise, and this was my 4th. It was my first on a ship this big, but soon i began to realize that the ship was only bigger so it could accomodate more passengers, and i think thats where 90% of the problems you mentioned stem from. It didnt necessarily have more deck space or anything that i could tell (actually, i thought the Fascination had more).

 

My wife and i had a great time, even though we did experience some of the things you said (long lines and such). We are looking to book our next one, and while we will stay with Carnival, we may book a smaller boat (such as the Fantasy or a Fantasy-class).

 

Oh yeah, we were originally booked on the Conquest and had to buy 500 bucks worth of plane tickets. I did meet a few people who were booked on the Elation, though.

[shungirl]

I went on the Conquest last year for my honeymoon... and I swore Carnival off forever too. It was the worst cruise I have ever been on... I have been on every line, and CCL about 10 times prior. When I voiced my complaints, the guy who called me back said please give us another chance, and try a Spirit class ship. I went on the Spirit in April. ( I was terrified) and it was WONDERFUL. I also have a huge group that was supposed to go on the Holiday in December, we had to rebook on the Inspiration and pay $50.00 more per person, plus drive a lot further. We are upset about it too. They didnt think things through very well... Dont give up on CCL. We had awful people on our cruise, the ship was NASTY, and the service was PITIFUL. But the Spirit made up for it. I have convinced my husband to go on the Inspiration... and he swore off cruising too.

[sgriff17]

I think it has something more to do with the size of ships rather than the line. I have been on 4 Carnival Cruises...I'm very happy with them! I recommend them to every and anyone! The only "bad" cruise I had was on the Triumph. I really can't even put a finger on what the problem was. The crew was nice as usual...clean ship, no REALLY long lines. I dont know waht the problem was other than maybe the ship just fealt TOO big.

 

We recently went on the Pride and OMG, it was the BEST TIME I have EVER had!! Whatever class that is, it's my favorite class of ships in the world. I had so much fun.

[leno]

Wow, I was on this cruise and feel very different. Other than the embarkation and debarkation horrors the only other problem I encountered were the long lines. I do think they need to improve on that and get more organized. I was a little prepared for it due to having so many passengers.

This was my 21st cruise and I think the ship is beautiful. We never had a problem with the elevator and used them frequently. I thought the staff was wonderful.

It is unfortunate that you had these problems. As someone said, it can happen on any ship. I wouldnt turn my back on Carnival though. Give them another try.