Not impressed with Conquest

[grandmacani]

A little FYI. Your family member didn't need to run down to guest services. I don't think people notice the house phones that are put in hallways. You can call rooms or guest services...

[Moonarino]

You do not go through customs during embarkation only debarkation.

 

Yes indeed we go through a customs checkpoint during embarkation - scanners, metal detectors, laptops out and so on. It's just not as obvious as it is coming back.

 

Also on Conquest in October and hoping for at least an average (i.e., great) 8-day cruise.

 

OP, sorry it didn't work out better for you, but I wouldn't give up on CCL just yet. I've cruised on 3 lines but mostly on Carnival (#7 coming up), and in my experience they're no (better or) worse than Royal or Celebrity as a whole.

Edited September 24, 2015 by Moonarino

[riclop]

Just got home from an 8 da Conquest cruise. It had been a while since we were on a Carnival cruise and boy were we disappointed with the Conquest. Embarkation at F Lauderdale was a mess. They asked us to check in between 12:30 and 1:30 which we did and we had to stand in those crazy lines for an hr and a half. Very tiring since we are 85 and 75. We had 6 pm dining only because the anytime was booked up but the Carnival travel agent said it would be easy to change to Anytime. Well, that wasn't! It took them close to an hr to change the time and had us going to both dining room and in circles trying to talk to the maître di at both dining rooms.

 

My real complaint is the A/C issue. Our aft balcony was fine but the dining room was often so hot as was the casino. I am not kidding when I say that one night the waiter asked for my order and he was sweating so much that he dripped sweat on my charger plate! I wiped the sweat off with my napkin! People in the casino were so warm and I am not talking menopausal warm. Men were commenting about it too. Seriously they should do something to correct the A/C problem. On our other 2 Carnival cruises years ago the food was very good. Not so on this cruise. Guys hamburgers was great !! but the dining room steak and chateau b and prime rib looked gray and tasted totally blah. Have to say the desserts were fabulous as were the buffets.

 

We like smaller ships so thought this would be right for us. Back to NCL. Believe me I felt so sorry for the waiters/ waitresses in the dining room as they were all hot and sweaty. Some nights the temp was ok and other nights really bad.

 

There is nothing impressive about the Conquest.

[PoppyandNana]

Yes indeed we go through a customs checkpoint during embarkation - scanners, metal detectors, laptops out and so on. It's just not as obvious as it is coming back.

 

Also on Conquest in October and hoping for at least an average (i.e., great) 8-day cruise.

 

OP, sorry it didn't work out better for you, but I wouldn't give up on CCL just yet. I've cruised on 3 lines but mostly on Carnival (#7 coming up), and in my experience they're no (better or) worse than Royal or Celebrity as a whole.

 

No, you really don't go through customs on embarkation. What you are referring to are pier and cruise line security checkpoints.

[Moonarino]

Port authorities, using US Customs and Border Protection equipment and general operating rules. Semantics ;)

[Havingfun2010]

Next time ask for a wheel chair for one of you. You will breeze right through.

 

why would you ask for a wheel chair? Because of age? Really? Is that what you do? :eek:

[PAPERBKWRITER]

Next time ask for a wheel chair for one of you. You will breeze right through.

 

Carnival is always accommodating to guests in need. At your age it is reasonable that standing for an hour is to much. You should have asked for help. The prime rib? Not what you'd get in a good restaurant but no worse than the rest of the competing cruise lines serve.The rest of the food, a matter of opinion. Too hot? Something must have been wrong with the AC. That had to be a bummer. Lastly, Conquest is getting old and may need a face lift.

[rtap23]

Yay! Love seeing this, since I leave in a few short days to sail Conquest. All the negative and ho-hum comments were getting me down. Love the positive comments, thank you very much!!:)

 

Florings we had probably one of our best cruises ever on the Conquest this July. Hopefully you will enjoy yours as much as we did ours.

[CruisingFamilia]

My wife and I sailed on the Conquest 8/15/15. We thought the ports, and were great. The entertainment was good as well. The CD was a little corny at time but he did a good job. We were not impressed with the ship itself. Our only concern was with the ship's condition. The wear and tear was very noticeable even if you were not looking for it.

 

We are not loyal to any one cruise line. We like them all or at least the three different lines that we have tried. Even though we do not recommend the ship itself until it is dry docked, we would still sail with Carnival again.

 

Air Conditioner

I have read several post indicating the air conditioner was faulty, and even heard this while sailing form other passengers. We were on the 8th forward which is under the Lido deck, but it is located under cabins not the pool or bufet. Our air conditioner worked fine. What we did notice was in certain spots here and there throughout the ship it did feel a little warm and muggy. The vent in the casino can’t keep up with the cigarette smoke, but I the air did work.

 

Embarkation

We flew in via Miami. We used the airport check which was very fast because we had FTTF, but it took 2 hours for the shuttle bus to pick us up at MIA. Once we arrived at the port we walked right in but let me tell you the scene there was chaotic.

 

Guest Services

We encountered several issues which were quickly resolved. We used the phone in the room and the matters were addressed and rectified. On the second day we only had hot water. We called maintenance and they showed up right away to correct the problem.

[Florings]

Florings we had probably one of our best cruises ever on the Conquest this July. Hopefully you will enjoy yours as much as we did ours.

 

That is awesome! Thank you very much for your comments. We are really excited and it is always a dash of cold water to read such bad reviews - I do take it with a grain of salt usually, but so close to sailing - I'm really pleased to see a lot of good comments too.

 

Actually the good comments are far outweighing the negative!!

[CruisingFamilia]

A week cruising is 100 times better than one week at work hands down. We love cruising and as stated in my posts we enjoyed ourselves. I know its a cliché but a cruise is what you make of it or any trip for that matter. We do not recommend the ship itself (Conquest) but this doesn't mean that you will not have a great time. Perception is reality. You may not encounter or be bothered by things that affect other people.

 

Have fun. Go in with a positive attitude and remember you will be on vacation so relax and enjoy.

[mediccruzin]

I won't be sailing on her until July. I wonder is it a particular floor or type of room that has these a/c problems? I am booked on the 7th deck in a ocean balcony suite. I guess we could always sleep outside. Could you guys tell me which room numbers or floor that had that problem, I'd really appreciate it. Thanks:)

 

They stated the AC in their room was fine. They stated that the dining room and casino had AC issue.

[mediccruzin]

A week cruising is 100 times better than one week at work hands down. We love cruising and as stated in my posts we enjoyed ourselves. I know its a cliché but a cruise is what you make of it or any trip for that matter. We do not recommend the ship itself (Conquest) but this doesn't mean that you will not have a great time. Perception is reality. You may not encounter or be bothered by things that affect other people.

 

Have fun. Go in with a positive attitude and remember you will be on vacation so relax and enjoy.

 

So ignore a hot and muggy dining room ?

[riffatsea]

It is not semantics. It is accuracy!

There are NO customs checks when leaving the USA.

That is why you fill out a declaration for customs when you come back and are entering the USA!

You go through security when you board the ship the same as you do when you get onto a plane. That is not "customs". Customs has to do with checking what you are bringing into the country! They do not care what you take when you leave.

[CruisingFamilia]

No one has said to ignore anything. Since returning from this cruise I written several post indicating issues with the Conquest's condition. It would be hard to ignore a hot dinning room as you try to enjoy your meal. As I stated we would not reccommend this ship because of he wear and tear (this includes maintenance issues) but I would reccomend to make lemon aide when given lemons. We enjoyed ourselves despite the issues and focused on the good. Upon our return we wrote to Carnival and posted comments.

[CruisingFamilia]

Hopefully the crew is working on resolving any maintenance issues but this may be of little consolation for those of you sailing soon. My suggestion is if you have not cruised on the Conquest to research her first so that you can make an informed decision. We knew going in somewhat to expect. We chose the Conquest for its itinerary. If you are not satisfied with what your research turns up then look into alternatives. I believe the Breeze offers the same itinerary and its a much newer ship.

 

Many post have been very favorable and others have not. Do your research and make your choice.

[Moonarino]

riffatsea, just for the record, when we go through metal detectors before we get on the ship, and our baggage is scanned for hazardous materials (etc) before we get on the ship, that should suggest that they do care what we might or might not be embarking with. It's for the protection of the ship and its passengers. Customs and Border Protection do work both ways and it's not just about asking us if we have violated policies of economics. I'm retired from military service, and the daughter of a former civilian employee of mine works for US Customs. I'm not just playing guessing games. Port authorities, TSA, it's all a concerted (we hope) and more or less integral part of Homeland Security.

Edited September 24, 2015 by Moonarino

[PoppyandNana]

It is not semantics. It is accuracy!

There are NO customs checks when leaving the USA.

That is why you fill out a declaration for customs when you come back and are entering the USA!

You go through security when you board the ship the same as you do when you get onto a plane. That is not "customs". Customs has to do with checking what you are bringing into the country! They do not care what you take when you leave.

 

Thats not true either. They do care if you are bringing liquor, firearms, knives, certain food groups, drugs, and so forth.

[NHNEV2003]

We sailed on the Conquest the last two Decembers and had no issues--with A/C or any other "wear and tear" problems.

 

There may have been things that we didn't see obviously.

 

We will sail this ship again if given an opportunity.

[Green Boy]

I was on this same cruise and I thought the dining room was just fine with the a/c ( and the food ) the casino was a little warm but I think it was because it was packed wall to wall with people the entire time.

 

our room did stay warm but nothing that I could not deal with,

 

the ship is showing it's age and needs a good cleaning and paint job but the crew and staff were totally awesome, the wait staff in the dining room were the best I have ever had, and like I said before, I thought the food was very good in the dining room.

[Moonarino]

... but the crew and staff were totally awesome, the wait staff in the dining room were the best I have ever had, and like I said before, I thought the food was very good in the dining room.

 

That's great to hear, just wanna say thanks for the input.

[cruiser1220]

I cruised on the a Conquest twice this summer and had 2 totally different experiences! For those of you considering sailing on her I hope I can help with my good/bad/ugly:

 

May- deck 10, balcony cabin

 

Cabin itself was okay, only issue we had was the A/C not cooling down the first two days. We were told that the A/C had to be shut off while in port Everglades (that was new lol) and that it would begin to cool down as we sailed. Eventually we had the floor supervisor call maintenance and it was fixed. Room steward was horrible! no joke he had to ask his floor supervisor for everything. The conquest no longer gives you ice buckets unless you request it. Took us 3 days to get one because he had to ask her for permission first. We asked him for extra pillows again took a day as he had to ask, etc. etc. not that I minded this part but he didn't give us the 4 platinum pins/gifts either. His cleaning was literally 5 minutes and he never dusted the room (someone in our group has bad allergies so needless to say that was a no no) and fingerprints all over the mirror. Nothing to get terribly upset about/ruin the cruise though.

 

CD and his staff- we had Brian and loved him! Amazing CD! 4 guests had to be debarked for medical emergencies and he was very respectful but also alerted the cruise passengers what was going on. He had activities scheduled at all times, was very approachable and lots of fun. His ACD Stephanie...not so much but the rest of the staff was amazing. Great DJ and playlist performance cast was THE best group I've ever sailed with. Deck parties went on until 12:30am, club and comedy club were packed, great nightlife overall.

 

Dining room- bad senior head waiter- he honestly didn't care. His assistants were wonderful and really worked hard! Food was good,

Dining room was okay temperature wise.

 

Ship- compared to her sister ship the Glory, the conquest was extremely well maintained! The Glory had exposed wires everywhere, holes in the tile on the floor, broken spa facilities and restrooms on decks 9 and 10. The conquest was always being given maintenance.that being said she is an older ship (13 ears old now) so she does show some wear.

 

Guest services and lifeboat drill- DISASTER! Always a line (even platinum) that would go around the floor, and they wouldn't care. The phones would ring non stop and no one would answer. Lifeboat- someone in our party needed assistance and no one offered to help not even when we asked.

 

Steakhouse experience was amazing night, just took 4 hrs instead of the normal 2 and we almost missed one of the deck parties because of that (reservation for 7pm, deck party started at 11:30 and we got out at 11:00). Lido buffet was not as crowded as it has been on previous ships, which was a perk :)

 

That way May...

 

July 2015: was looking for a last minute getaway and the price on the conquest was too good to pass up. We didn't mind returning because of this and were very happy we did! We had an OV cabin on the Main Deck (Deck 2), ship was completely sold out.

 

Cabin- room was nice and cold, A/C worked perfect. Amazing room steward who was always passing by and talking to us, asking how the day went, if there was anything we needed, giving us ideas of new places to try in the various ports etc. no issues at all with him. Cabin carpet and couch had to be changed as they were very worn out and filthy. He called the head of housekeeping directly to the cabin and it was taken care of the day we got to our first port of call. Cabin was spotless at all times.

 

CD/entertainment- New CD and assistant CD, the rest of the team was identical. Jace, our CD, had been featured on John Heald's blog and I was very excited to sail with him. Found him to be a poor cruise director in terms of activities planned. He was a great guy to talk to during port days and at night during the comedy club shows, but as a cruise director, I've had much better (Brian, Malcolm, James Dunn, Butch, etc.) he did not have a lot of night life activities on the ship compared to Brian, but the ones he planned were okay. Playlist production cast was still the same. The theater's sound system went down mid way through epic rock and everyone worked through the delay and reboot amazing.

 

Dining room- cold temperature wise, but excellent service and the food was good too! Our waiters this time cared and truly catered to us. They knew our likes, dislikes and preferences by the second night and worked hard. Our head waiter had a bad eye allergy one day and he was so happy to see us the next day because we told his team to please let him know we hoped he was able to rest and recover quickly, and he really seemed to appreciate that.

 

Ship- one bathroom was closed for maintenance the entire trip, and it was on the lido deck. Otherwise, same as before.

 

Guest services- we only went once to pay off our sail and sign account. Didn't have a problem this time, but the majority of the staff was new (compared to May). Lifeboat drill- this time they were very on the ball for guests who needed assistance. Only downfall was the drill happened during sail away- poorly planned for those who wanted to experience sailing away from port Everglades but again, we've done so before and didn't have an issue with it. (Many people did).

 

Lido deck- longer lones than in May, but shorter than the Glory by far, and there was almost always a table available somewhere. Guys and blue iguana cantina had very long lines this time.

 

Ports during both trips were beautiful and overall we had a good time. What tenders really give you your money's worth on the booze in the drinks on this ship (very strong drinks both times we sailed). Would I sail on the conquest a third time? Probably not, unless it was a steal of a deal again. Would I recommend the conquest? Over the Glory? Yes! Overall? Probably not. I would tell people to take the Breeze or Splendor.

 

Again, this was my group's experiences and thoughts.

Please feel free to ask any questions about the Conquest or my experience of you have any. To all the soon to be Conquest cruisers...enjoy your cruise and vacation! Make it the best one yet!

Edited September 25, 2015 by cruiser1220

[ldlewis45]

riffatsea, just for the record, when we go through metal detectors before we get on the ship, and our baggage is scanned for hazardous materials (etc) before we get on the ship, that should suggest that they do care what we might or might not be embarking with. It's for the protection of the ship and its passengers. Customs and Border Protection do work both ways and it's not just about asking us if we have violated policies of economics. I'm retired from military service, and the daughter of a former civilian employee of mine works for US Customs. I'm not just playing guessing games. Port authorities, TSA, it's all a concerted (we hope) and more or less integral part of Homeland Security.

 

I work for CBP. Unless they are operating an outbound operation (very rare for cruises), you DO NOT go through Customs when you are boarding a ship. You're going through port security, who enforce the rules of the cruise line, so that the port and ship can confirm that you aren't bringing anything dangerous or otherwise prohibited (alcohol, drugs, weapons, etc.) onto the ship. Just because it's a security line, does not mean that it's a Customs line. Customs is CBP and CBP alone, not TSA, not Port Authority, not Air Marshals, etc.

 

Believe me, I've had variations of this argument with passengers that I've taken stuff from before. "But I asked you guys on my way out what I could bring back!" "Did you ask the people in bright blue shirts or dark blue shirts?" "Bright blue!" "That was TSA. TSA has nothing to do with what is allowed INTO the country, they only regulate what is allowed ONTO THE PLANE once you are ALREADY in the country, and they generally have no clue about CBP regulations. You asked the wrong people. So yes, I'm taking your stuff."

[CJinFLA00]

I have not cruised on Conquest (going in Feb) but I have cruised out of Ft Lauderdale at least 8 times. This port suks! for embark and debark, period. Staff need re-training and attitude adjustments.

[NPCIN]

I work for CBP. Unless they are operating an outbound operation (very rare for cruises), you DO NOT go through Customs when you are boarding a ship. You're going through port security, who enforce the rules of the cruise line, so that the port and ship can confirm that you aren't bringing anything dangerous or otherwise prohibited (alcohol, drugs, weapons, etc.) onto the ship. Just because it's a security line, does not mean that it's a Customs line. Customs is CBP and CBP alone, not TSA, not Port Authority, not Air Marshals, etc.

 

Believe me, I've had variations of this argument with passengers that I've taken stuff from before. "But I asked you guys on my way out what I could bring back!" "Did you ask the people in bright blue shirts or dark blue shirts?" "Bright blue!" "That was TSA. TSA has nothing to do with what is allowed INTO the country, they only regulate what is allowed ONTO THE PLANE once you are ALREADY in the country, and they generally have no clue about CBP regulations. You asked the wrong people. So yes, I'm taking your stuff."

 

ldlewis45 should know as they work for CBP. When going through metal detectors and cruise lines scanning or checking bags they are security officers looking for prohibited items as mentioned...weapons, alcohol, drugs. One time going through the ships security during embarkation the security officer saw my badge in my wallet as it was getting scanned. He stopped me and specifically asked if I was bringing handcuffs on the ship. I told him "No" and he said OK and let me through. I'm not sure what that was about...but an odd question for me.