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Just back from Carnival Conquest, Exotic Southern Caribbean

zebramatie1

By zebramatie1,
in Carnival Cruise Lines

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bankofdad

bankofdad

Posted
Posted

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

 

Thank you very much for the great review so far and for recognizing those that served!

 

USMC Veteran 1980-87

Gold Star Father (Marine LCPL Ryan McCaughn - Ramadi Iraq November 7, 2006, 1st Battalion 6th Marines)

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sophia37

sophia37

Posted
Posted

Thank you for the review! My husband and I live in San Diego, and are taking this cruise March 19th. We loved Jack's Shack when we were in Grand Turks . Are the 2 dogs still there? Topher and a black dog that loves to lay under our chair

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KARTI1955

KARTI1955

Posted
Posted
Yes, the dogs are still there. ...it was hilarious watching Topher digging like there was no tomorrow.

 

Thanks for the review. I have 30 days to go until the Conquest!

We want to go to Jack's also. When you come off the pier, do you just head left and walk down the beach?

TIA.

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Rosesgt

Rosesgt

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Posted

I hope y’all don't mind if I add my 2 cents, we were on this same cruise and it was awesome. I’ll try and keep this short. We stayed at the Best Western Plus Fort Lauderdale Airport South Inn & Suites. A very nice, comfortable hotel about 5 miles from the port, about $120.00 for the night and it included breakfast. We stopped at a Kmart on the way to the port and picked some last minute items before going to the port. We parked at the Park N Go and pre-paid about $80.00. We dropped off our wives and the luggage, (we cruised with our friends who were cruise virgins) and headed to parking lot. The Park N Go keeps your keys and shuttled us back to the ship. It was very convenient and we would definitely do it again. We had purchased FTTF and were quickly through security and waiting to board. Going through security, we told one of the security guards that our friends had never cruised before. She said she would have the DH go through the security screening again, which she did. We all got a good laugh out of this. We had purchased Carnival gift cards through Verizon and used them for our Sail and Sign bill. This took a while as each gift card had to be scanned and signed for. But it saved us 10% so it was worth it. The boarding process was very smooth and we were also on board around noon. Our rooms were ready and we dropped off our carry on luggage and headed up to lunch. We had a porthole cabin on the second deck. It's an interior rated room and was terrific. On our trip back, we had a little bit of rough seas and we heard the waves crashing against the ship. It was pretty loud but once we figured out what it was it never really bothered us.

 

We chose Guys burgers for lunch and the burgers are awesome. We purchased the Cheers package, which we’ve done before and this time we didn’t make our limits every day as in the past. It was still good since we were able to try different drinks without worrying about wasting them. All the food venues were great. The sea day brunch was the best, the Fish and Chips closed at 2:30 so we missed it one day but made it the last sea day and it was pretty good and the pizza was also pretty good per usual. Didn't try the Deli as the line was always long each time we checked it.

The American Table menu as stated had no table cloths except on elegant nights. Each table gets a small box of assorted breads to eat instead of a server coming around and offering some. Never thought of asking for Olive oil instead of butter, great idea. The food was fantastic as usual and we still had our favorites, Lobster tails, prime rib, escargot, frog legs, assorted fresh fish, etc. We ordered a couple of appetizers each night with no problem. We had the late seating at the Monet dining room. Our servers were great and after the first night, they anticipated a lot of our wants (like WCMC with peanut butter, Yummy). Thanks Olga and Andy, you helped make our cruise wonderful.

 

We did private excursions except in Dominican Republic, we had contacted a company, but they got back to us and said there wasn’t enough people signed up to do it. We signed up for the Top 10 of La Romana excursion through Carnival and it was great, got to see everything we wanted to and it was very reasonable.

 

At Grand Turk we did the Island Tram tour, we usually head to Jack’s Shack, but decided to see the rest of the Island. It was a very good tour and I would suggest it if you want to see the sights. $25.00 and it lasted about 3 hours. Had plenty of time to have lunch and a drink at Margaritaville and do some shopping.

 

At Curacao, we also did the Irie Eastside Tour. It was a fantastic tour that showed us a lot of the Island. Definitely worth the $25.00. They had plenty of beer and water on board, I don’t know how they make money at that price when they serve drinks. The liquor tasting at the Curacao liquor factory was great. FYI, the tour guide told us it’s cheaper to purchase the liquor at the port instead of at the factory. The pontoon bridge was awesome, we watched it open twice. There was a lot of shopping where the tour let us off, approximately a 10 minute walk back to the ship. We got some terrific pictures of the ship all lit up at night which was a first for us.

 

At Aruba, we did a tour with Sonny Binns. Again, it was a wonderful 3 ½ hour tour for $30.00. He has a nice air conditioned bus and we saw all the main attractions of the Island. At a few of the stops, we saw a bus contracted by Carnival. I checked the Carnival cost and it was almost twice the price. Sonny was great, and I would tour with him again. He doesn’t offer water or beer, but he did stop at a grocery store and we were able to try a local Balashi beer. Very tasty! He dropped us off at the main street where we were able to finish up our souvenir shopping. Again it was about a 10 minute walk back to the ship.

 

The entertainment was good, the comedians were really funny at the adult shows, not too over the line. The shows at the Toulouse Lautrec theater were good. We’ve seen the Brits show numerous times, so it would be nice it Carnival updated the venue. We also miss the live orchestra, but they were lost to cuts. The magician was funny and great and the juggler was also real good. We also missed the opening night show. SHIPLASH was awesome and Take 2 were also very entertaining especially the female signer.

 

We were part of CC's group for this cruise and had a great M&G as well as a cabin crawl and a wine tasting. Always enjoy meeting new people on CC.

 

All in all it was the fastest 8 days we’ve ever spent on a cruise ship. We kept saying the Carnival must put something in the water to make the time fly by. Or maybe in the margaritas.:o Wee Jimmy was awesome, we usually don’t get too involved with the CD’s, but he and his staff were the best.

 

Again, my apologies to the original poster for adding our take on the cruise, hope you don’t mind.

Thank you and happy cruising.

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Rosesgt

Rosesgt

Posted
Posted (edited)
Many thanks for the additional review. We are thinking about doing a Sonny Binns tour. Any specific tips about his tour?? Thank you!! John & Priscilla :)

 

I found him on TripAdvisor, and contacted him months before the cruise. He said he would need at least 6 to do the tour. He again contacted me and said he had enough to do the tour. We ended up with 13 on the tour and he told me that there were a couple more that didn't make it. We toured right after we changed our clocks. I asked on board the ship if there would be a time difference and was told yes. Be sure to check. Sonny's email to me stated we would meet at 1030 local time, they're an hour ahead right now.

Sonny was great, he used to work for the largest company and he branched out on his own. He had lots of great info about his island and he was very amusing. At the rock formation, he asked who wanted to climb to the top. I think he said it was about 50 steps, but the steps are man made and at one point you have to climb through a rock area. It wasn't too bad and Sonny helped all that went. Those that didn't climb still had things to see and do, but the view at the top was pretty nice.

Bring your camera, some water and comfortable shoes and enjoy the sights. Try the Balashi beer if you imbibe. $2.00 a bottle and it's good. We didn't have to pay anything up front and he collected at the end of the tour.

 

Absolutely no issues and no need to apologize. We definitely appreciate your perspective and you touched on a couple of points that we neglected to mention.

 

Thanks, I'm not the type to step on toes, but I wanted to add how much we enjoyed the Conquest and all the ports.

We were on the Irie bus with Aisha Rooker in Curacao, she was guiding her second tour and she was very good. I can't remember the name of our driver but he and Aisha both took great care of us. Glad it wasn't too hot since the buses have no AC and no windows. I would definitely tour with them again.

Edited by Rosesgt
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TerReuv

TerReuv

Posted
Posted

We were on the Conquest in October and loved Shiplash. They were really great and sang such a variety of music. We loved Wee Jimmy (the Cruise Director) and would love to sail with him again.

 

We hit Jack's Shack also and I have to say those are the most well behaved dogs around food. My dad is not a dog lover and even he could not believe that they would come and sit or lie down next to you and no begging. But, if you did give them something they took it from your hand very gently with no snatching!

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Florings

Florings

Posted
Posted

Really enjoying the reviews! We sailed on Conquest in September and these reviews bring back fond memories....

 

I especially enjoy reading about the ports of call, as our next cruise on the Splendor will be visiting those same ports. Good to know about LaRomana...I will have to see what Carnival offers for tours.

 

I have contacted Sonny for Aruba - but as stated, need 6 people. It's early days yet, so I am sure it will happen.

 

Thanks for all the wonderful tips!!

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tawaik

tawaik

Posted
Posted
I hope y’all don't mind if I add my 2 cents, we were on this same cruise and it was awesome. I’ll try and keep this short. We stayed at the Best Western Plus Fort Lauderdale Airport South Inn & Suites. A very nice, comfortable hotel about 5 miles from the port, about $120.00 for the night and it included breakfast. We stopped at a Kmart on the way to the port and picked some last minute items before going to the port. We parked at the Park N Go and pre-paid about $80.00. We dropped off our wives and the luggage, (we cruised with our friends who were cruise virgins) and headed to parking lot. The Park N Go keeps your keys and shuttled us back to the ship. It was very convenient and we would definitely do it again. We had purchased FTTF and were quickly through security and waiting to board. Going through security, we told one of the security guards that our friends had never cruised before. She said she would have the DH go through the security screening again, which she did. We all got a good laugh out of this. We had purchased Carnival gift cards through Verizon and used them for our Sail and Sign bill. This took a while as each gift card had to be scanned and signed for. But it saved us 10% so it was worth it. The boarding process was very smooth and we were also on board around noon. Our rooms were ready and we dropped off our carry on luggage and headed up to lunch. We had a porthole cabin on the second deck. It's an interior rated room and was terrific. On our trip back, we had a little bit of rough seas and we heard the waves crashing against the ship. It was pretty loud but once we figured out what it was it never really bothered us.

 

We chose Guys burgers for lunch and the burgers are awesome. We purchased the Cheers package, which we’ve done before and this time we didn’t make our limits every day as in the past. It was still good since we were able to try different drinks without worrying about wasting them. All the food venues were great. The sea day brunch was the best, the Fish and Chips closed at 2:30 so we missed it one day but made it the last sea day and it was pretty good and the pizza was also pretty good per usual. Didn't try the Deli as the line was always long each time we checked it.

The American Table menu as stated had no table cloths except on elegant nights. Each table gets a small box of assorted breads to eat instead of a server coming around and offering some. Never thought of asking for Olive oil instead of butter, great idea. The food was fantastic as usual and we still had our favorites, Lobster tails, prime rib, escargot, frog legs, assorted fresh fish, etc. We ordered a couple of appetizers each night with no problem. We had the late seating at the Monet dining room. Our servers were great and after the first night, they anticipated a lot of our wants (like WCMC with peanut butter, Yummy). Thanks Olga and Andy, you helped make our cruise wonderful.

 

We did private excursions except in Dominican Republic, we had contacted a company, but they got back to us and said there wasn’t enough people signed up to do it. We signed up for the Top 10 of La Romana excursion through Carnival and it was great, got to see everything we wanted to and it was very reasonable.

 

At Grand Turk we did the Island Tram tour, we usually head to Jack’s Shack, but decided to see the rest of the Island. It was a very good tour and I would suggest it if you want to see the sights. $25.00 and it lasted about 3 hours. Had plenty of time to have lunch and a drink at Margaritaville and do some shopping.

Can you please provide the information on how you found this tour. I will sailing the Conquest and would like to see some of the island before relaxing on the beach. Oh, and thanks for adding your two cents, very good information. TIA

At Curacao, we also did the Irie Eastside Tour. It was a fantastic tour that showed us a lot of the Island. Definitely worth the $25.00. They had plenty of beer and water on board, I don’t know how they make money at that price when they serve drinks. The liquor tasting at the Curacao liquor factory was great. FYI, the tour guide told us it’s cheaper to purchase the liquor at the port instead of at the factory. The pontoon bridge was awesome, we watched it open twice. There was a lot of shopping where the tour let us off, approximately a 10 minute walk back to the ship. We got some terrific pictures of the ship all lit up at night which was a first for us.

 

At Aruba, we did a tour with Sonny Binns. Again, it was a wonderful 3 ½ hour tour for $30.00. He has a nice air conditioned bus and we saw all the main attractions of the Island. At a few of the stops, we saw a bus contracted by Carnival. I checked the Carnival cost and it was almost twice the price. Sonny was great, and I would tour with him again. He doesn’t offer water or beer, but he did stop at a grocery store and we were able to try a local Balashi beer. Very tasty! He dropped us off at the main street where we were able to finish up our souvenir shopping. Again it was about a 10 minute walk back to the ship.

 

The entertainment was good, the comedians were really funny at the adult shows, not too over the line. The shows at the Toulouse Lautrec theater were good. We’ve seen the Brits show numerous times, so it would be nice it Carnival updated the venue. We also miss the live orchestra, but they were lost to cuts. The magician was funny and great and the juggler was also real good. We also missed the opening night show. SHIPLASH was awesome and Take 2 were also very entertaining especially the female signer.

 

We were part of CC's group for this cruise and had a great M&G as well as a cabin crawl and a wine tasting. Always enjoy meeting new people on CC.

 

All in all it was the fastest 8 days we’ve ever spent on a cruise ship. We kept saying the Carnival must put something in the water to make the time fly by. Or maybe in the margaritas.:o Wee Jimmy was awesome, we usually don’t get too involved with the CD’s, but he and his staff were the best.

 

Again, my apologies to the original poster for adding our take on the cruise, hope you don’t mind.

Thank you and happy cruising.

 

Thanks!

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Rosesgt

Rosesgt

Posted
Posted
Can you please provide the information on how you found this tour. I will sailing the Conquest and would like to see some of the island before relaxing on the beach. Oh, and thanks for adding your two cents, very good information. TIA Thanks!

 

I found Island Tram tours on TripAdvisor. When you get off the ship and walk down the pier, on the left side before you walk into the shopping area, you'll see people with signs for the tour (I think there was a yellow umbrella that they were by). You'll have to go into the shopping area and then walk back to the beach. If you pre-pay online it's $30.00. If you pay at the beach, it's $25.00. Have cash, when you pay they give you a wrist band and you have to walk out of the complex. It's about a 5 minute walk to get to the trams. We really enjoyed our tour and our driver was Tracy. Hope this helps.

Happy Cruising.

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Rosesgt

Rosesgt

Posted
Posted
Can you please provide the information on how you found this tour. I will sailing the Conquest and would like to see some of the island before relaxing on the beach. Oh, and thanks for adding your two cents, very good information. TIA Thanks!

 

I found Island Tram tours on TripAdvisor. When you get off the ship and walk down the pier, on the left side before you walk into the shopping area, you'll see people with signs for the tour (I think there was a yellow umbrella that they were by). You'll have to go into the shopping area and then walk back to the beach. If you pre-pay online it's $30.00. If you pay at the beach, it's $25.00. Have cash, when you pay they give you a wrist band and you have to walk out of the complex. It's about a 5 minute walk to get to the trams. We really enjoyed our tour and our driver was Tracy. Hope this helps.

Happy Cruising.

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tawaik

tawaik

Posted
Posted
I found Island Tram tours on TripAdvisor. When you get off the ship and walk down the pier, on the left side before you walk into the shopping area, you'll see people with signs for the tour (I think there was a yellow umbrella that they were by). You'll have to go into the shopping area and then walk back to the beach. If you pre-pay online it's $30.00. If you pay at the beach, it's $25.00. Have cash, when you pay they give you a wrist band and you have to walk out of the complex. It's about a 5 minute walk to get to the trams. We really enjoyed our tour and our driver was Tracy. Hope this helps.

Happy Cruising.

 

Thank you so much for the this information. I'm going to add it to my cruise folder.

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