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Just back from Carnival Conquest, Exotic Southern Caribbean

zebramatie1

By zebramatie1,
in Carnival Cruise Lines

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zebramatie1

zebramatie1

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We just got back from our 8 day cruise today. Overall, had a good time! I plan on doing a brief review, but I do ask one thing. This is my opinion, please don't correct my English, grammar or spelling. Also, if you don't have anything nice to say, go somewhere else and take the negativity with you. Ha, Ha, now I'm sure to get some comments, :), now be nice. Other people's opinions and views are always welcome. I have cruised 13 times and only with Carnival and have never posted a review. I love cruise critic because it is just another avenue for information. Everybody's taste is different, but reading different reviews you can be able to make some better decisions.

 

So here it goes.

 

We live in Florida, so of course we drive to the port. We usually use Luxury Airport Parking and by no means is it luxury. It serves a purpose. We never realized it was so close to the port. I booked the wrong reservation and paid for airport parking, this was easily rectified, had to pay more money. We utilized a taxi to get to the port and it was about $10. We like to get to the port early, so we dropped our luggage off first and then went to park our car. We got to the port around 10 am. Embarkation was fairly smooth, but had a few snags since we paid for an upgrade a day earlier. We didn't get our sail & sign cards because they weren't ready, so we got a badge instead. We are platinum so we got on first, about noon time.

 

We booked an inside cabin thru Carnival. The day before we sailed we got a call to upgrade. We paid $250 more, some call it an upsell. Well anyway we took it and got a balcony deck 6 midship. We were located on the starboard side, which were odd numbered cabins. We saw beautiful sunsets, but for the ports that mattered we were on the wrong side. I enjoy sitting on our balcony in ports and seeing the activity below.

 

Our cabin was not ready (platinum benefit), and the literature was for the previous guests who were upgraded to a suite. We had some other issues, but in the end it all worked out. I'll have to continue tomorrow. Late ship nights have caught up with me :)

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Elaine515

Elaine515

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While I'm not doing the same Ports that you did, I will be on the Conquest in January and totally looking forward to your review...

 

It has been years since we cruised out of Pt Everglades, can you tell me, if you saw because you parked some wheres else, how far was the parking from the ship, and is there a separate room/line/place that Diamond/Platinum guests go to? Also, unlike my last cruise leaving out of Miami, were they organized in letting the Wedding Parties, Diamond/Platinum then FTTF get on first ? Miami just let everyone go at the same time and it was crazy...

 

The same thing happened to my Parents a couple of cruises back.. they got a Handicap cabin at the last minute (they both NEED it) and when we arrived to their cabin, the previous passengers information and drink coupons etc were still on the desk!!!

 

Looking forward to your review and anything/everything you can tell me about the Conquest herself...

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zebramatie1

zebramatie1

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Before I continue with the review I will try to answer some questions that were asked. http://luxuryairportparking.com is only a couple of miles from the Port, actually a couple of blocks from the Port but once you enter the Port area it is quite big and that's where it takes time to travel around the Port. We left from gate 19. We parked for 8 days and it was around $64 if you prepay. Like I said earlier we took a taxi upon our arrival at the parking lot and took their shuttle back on our return.

 

If you are a platinum/diamond or fttf passenger, they have a separate line going into the cruise terminal and also a separate area to wait. Our area became full and then they brought us upstairs to a larger room to board. I believe they were trying to have diamond and platinum board first, but the gentlemen that was announcing didn't have a loud voice. They took our embarkation photo first before we went on the ship.

 

Platinum/Diamond/fttf get to drop off luggage in room before venturing out and that is just what we did. On to our first of many anticipated meals. We chose to go to Blueiguana Cantina to eat lunch. They had all the fixins for tacos and burritos. We weren't disappointed. We were disappointed this ship didn't have the Mongolian Grill (that's our favorite) The ship was full, so we decided to have a certain area to eat at if we chose not to eat on the Lido Deck. Our area was deck 10, in the Fish & Chips area. On some days it did seem to be hot in there as noted by some reviews. We did smell a sewer smell once we got onto deck 9, but that didn't continue during the cruise. I was hoping it was only temporary and it was!

 

Drinks were flowing and we enjoyed the drink of the day while listening to music played by DJ OJ sitting at bar stools at the Blueiguana Cantina. We went back to our cabin to unpack and I noted the temperature in our cabin. On the lowest setting it was comfortable, but definitely not cool. We did notice some wear on the curtains, the backing was coming off and it allowed bits of light thru it. No big deal, but we like our rooms dark.

I believe the safety drill was around 3:30pm and they don't mess around with people talking. I can honestly say this is the first time I REALLY paid attention since there have been some recent mishaps. If you wait a little bit you might be lucky to get in the front rows so you won't feel claustrophobic. After the drill we went on the Lido Deck for the sail away party, that was ok, nothing special but they did have Caribbean music by SHIPLASH, I think you can google them. They played at various venues during the week. We loved all of the live entertainment (more later)

We walked around a little bit and soon it was time to eat again:D . We like anytime dining because it is flexible. The Renoir Restaurant is located midship and on deck 3 for anytime dining. One thing I forgot to mention is the ship's decor is not glitzy like some of the newer ships, but it is classy. We didn't notice major issues with rugs or too much wear and tear, but then again we weren't looking for it either. Take note, if you like to eat with other people request a shared table. The first night in the dining room we had a table for two. I politely said to my husband not to take offense but I would prefer to share our dining experience with other cruisers. After 34 years of marriage he welcomed it as well.

I had read an earlier post that the new American Table was introduced and there were some glitches. We had different wait staff and there was no complaints on our part. I did notice, sometimes we would be the last to be seated and the other guest had already started on their appetizers. That felt a little weird and sometimes we would politely say they could have dessert and leave before us. The American Table was ok. I thought that it was a waste of time for the waiters to ask if we wanted to purchase Perrier every evening. There is also a bottle of wine and glasses on every table. This takes up way to much space and after about 4 evenings we asked to have the glasses removed (broke one when putting down the heavy glass carafe full of water) Tablecloths were on only for Elegant nights which were Sunday and Friday. I found the food to be just ok in the dining room. I did come to the realization that I am a creature of habit and also getting old, so change is sometimes not welcome. My husband and I enjoy flavored food with lots of spices and seasonings. We did feel some of our choices were bland and lacked flavor, but they have to cook for the masses. I suggest if you like a blend of spices bring it and make sure it is new and sealed. We prefer olive oil vs butter for the bread and upon our request it was brought to the table (Italian seasoning would have been perfect). After a few days our choices for dinner had more thought put into it and that helped. Desserts were great, and remember you can get desserts from the kids menu (banana split) .

Ok, time to go for now, to be continued......

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Ctrain246

Ctrain246

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BTromboneFrack, I am zebramatie's other half and will address your inquiry. For most of the cruise the waves were calm and no issue. On the way back to Lauderdale, and not long after leaving Curaco, the seas were a bit rougher (not sure why) but after that the sailing the last 2 days was calm again.

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BTromboneFrack

BTromboneFrack

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BTromboneFrack, I am zebramatie's other half and will address your inquiry. For most of the cruise the waves were calm and no issue. On the way back to Lauderdale, and not long after leaving Curaco, the seas were a bit rougher (not sure why) but after that the sailing the last 2 days was calm again.

 

Thanks. Never sailed this route before, and for the most part, we've always been sheltered by islands.

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Ctrain246

Ctrain246

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I'm picking up where zebramatie left off if you all don't mind. I'm her other half. I'll address entertainment in this segment.

We saw many, but not all, of the shows in the "Toulose Lautrec" lounge. We did not attend the welcome aboard show, although we did catch a little of it on TV and it looked really good. We thoroughly enjoyed the Epic Rock show, and oddly enough with the 7 person cast, it was not always clear who were the lead singers, male or female.....not an issue just an observation. In most of the shows Carnival used a lot of graphics which we've never seen before. Some were a bit over the top but all in all they did a fine job with the productions. Additionally, this was the first cruise where there was no show band which I greatly missed.

All of the bands in the deck 3 lobby area were extremely entertaining and some lively trivia/sing along took place in the area. The bands Take 2 and Shiplash were very good. Deck 5 promenade also had very good music and that area was quite the gathering location on many evenings. we made a few appearances in the club, but were never there much past midnight. This ship had a large number of singles on-board, reportedly about 500, so the club became very crowded and lively after the last adult comedy show.

We managed to see each of the 4 comedians perform at least one of their adult comedy shows. Of the four comedians, we enjoyed Mike Macey the most. We did not attend any events in Alfred's, Alchemy bar or the Blues venue.

 

Both of us had massage sessions in the spa and the sessions were good. As typical the therapist do try to sell products, to no avail with us. We watched a couple of "dive-in movies" on Lido deck. Popcorn is available but is not available after 11 pm. On Lido deck music is supplied by a DJ, still no Caribbean steel band...yet. The entertainment, both ship sponsored and customer driven was fun to watch. We have seen better deck parties but the ones we saw on the ship were OK. The CD,"Wee Jimmy" and his staff, work very hard to provide fun and entertainment. Some might think him corny, but he does work hard. Neither of us used the water slide so can't comment on that.

I'm going to sign-off and zebramatie will address ports of call soon. Feel free to ask any and all questions.

Edited by Ctrain246
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zebramatie1

zebramatie1

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I sure do appreciate other people's reviews, it takes a lot of time. My other half is helping me. I will briefly touch base with the excursions we took. I must say I didn't do my due diligence on this cruise researching cruise critic to enhance our experience. Despite the bumps in the road we had a great time.

 

Grand Turk

 

One thing I did notice for most ports, we arrived early. They would say not to clutter the stairs or congregate on Deck 1 or 2 and that there would be an announcement to disembark. We never did hear it, and eventually we would go down to Deck 0 forward to exit the ship. We've been to Grand Turk before so we opted to go to Jack's Shack! We weren't disappointed. The cost for use of 2 chairs and an umbrella was $10. The water was crystal clear and no seaweed. We didn't see any fish but other's said there were some fish near the beach when you get off the ship. I thought the drinks were a little pricey, but the Jerk Chicken was amazing. We even purchased their barbecue sauce for $10. On our return to the ship we did pass a few small shops that had drinks and jerk chicken. Maybe someone is willing to try it out and let others know how it is. Time is short in this port and we opted not to shop. We did purchase some tequila for home.

 

NOTE: My husband was introduced to Hennesey Pure White Cognac on our last cruise. The ships price is either $46 or $49 a bottle. It can not be purchased in the states. The cheapest Island price was La Romana for $40 a bottle, take a picture and the ship will honor it.

 

La Romana

 

We had planned a private tour at 10am for the Tabacalera De Garcia Cigar Factory. We had to get our own transportation to a Cigar Factory Store and then to the real factory. That never happened:mad: First off, the time change messed everything up and that affected our scheduled tour. We hired a taxi for four of us for 4 hours and I thought it was pricey $150. This is where I didn't do my research. The taxi drive didn't speak very good English so there was a communication gap with us. We did get to go to Matilde Cigar factory which was a condensed version of the makings of a cigar. We paid $5 for me and $35 for my husband (included 4 cigars) and got to take some pictures. He was happy with that part of the tour. Later our taxi driver took us to Altos De Chavon and we opted not to go. We stopped at a grocery store at Casa De Campo and purchased some Dominican Coffee and my husband got some more cigars. (Their tax rate is very high) Our driver wasn't very knowledgeable and at this point in time he drove us around.

 

I did go to the shore talks prior to our ports and they did say there was nothing to do in La Romana but shore excursions through Carnival. I must say I have to agree with this. We normally find our own excursions through cruise critic recommendations. This is where I didn't research very well. Sometimes we like to get off the ship and wing it and know that our money goes directly to the little guy promoting their business. I was surprised that once we got off, we weren't bothered by locals trying to get you to go on their tours.

 

Curacao

 

I contacted Ire Tours and they got back to me a few days before the cruise. We paid $25 for a 3 hour tour. We did the Eastern Island tour which was fine. The tour guide was awesome and this included unlimited beer, water and soda. We arrived early but had to wait for our tour bus (multiple tours) We wasted about an hour there, but I thought that was no big deal because they have some local crafts right there. My mistake was to not purchase the Blue Curacao liqueur at either the port or in town at the factory. Also NOTE stores in town close early 6pm. I planned on doing some shopping after the tour, but that didn't happen.

We toured the Curacao factory and had some tastings :D There were plenty of photo ops and also 1 hour beach time at Mambo Beach. We did get some souvenirs at the craft market located near the pontoon bridge. This bridge was reopened about 2 weeks ago. It's pretty amazing to see it in action. We went back to the ship to freshen up and eat a quick supper in the Renoir Restaurant. After dinner we walked across the bridge and met some shipmates at an open air Restaurant, I think it was called Iguana Cafe. We relaxed, drank, talked and listened to music and enjoyed our evening there. Note that you may get stuck over there and have to take the ferry across if the bridge is open. The ferries are quick, but allow time to return to the ship.

We stopped at the local casino, hoping our luck would be better than on the ship, wrong. Oh well you can't always win. Time to end it for tonight.

 

Happy Veterans Day to those that served, those that are currently serving and most importantly those that lost their lives.

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