My (better late than never) Conquest Review! 12/12/15 - Eastern Carib.

[iheartmarshall]

GRAND TURK: PART THREE

Our excursion was only three hours, so we were back at the cruise center around 1:00pm. We wanted some beach time (once I reapplied sunscreen, of course) so we walked down toward Jack’s Shack for some lunch and loungers. We tried the conch fritters and they were delish! Also, the beach is much nicer in this area – the beach at the ship had a lot of seaweed, so we much preferred where we were.

 

Unfortunately, by the time we arrived here, the weather was mostly overcast and rain was drizzling on and off. We still enjoyed or time in the water though and I definitely understand why many people say the water in Grand Turk is some of the best out there – it’s so clear and warm! We stayed on the beach for a couple of hours then ventured back to the ship and the other side of the beach area around 3:30 – 4:00pm. I was drained from being in the sun and it was also the second formal night so we wanted to take showers and be halfway decent for that. I won’t post any pictures of us this night because we wore the same thing we did on the previous formal night (well, Jon wore a different shirt but my dress was the same). Anyone else do that or are we just weird (and “ew”)?

 

 

 

Oh my, the hat is gone! How will anyone know who we are?

 

 

[iheartmarshall]

FINAL SEA DAY

After four port days in a row, we were tired so we slept in a bit on our final sea day before going to get a last Sea Day Brunch. I haven’t talked much about the brunch, but I think Carnival’s Eggs Benedict is my favorite of life. Jon loved their steak and eggs too, so we were both happy with the brunch offerings. We never did brunch on our first cruise and always ate on Lido so I was happy to try it this time.

After brunch, we went up to one of the top aft decks to once again lay out, relax, read, listen to music, and just be. Unfortunately this was short-lived as the weather turned on us around 12:30pm and it was stormy the rest of our way home. However before that happened, we did enjoy a little bit of sun. I even think I got a small tan (er, darker shade of pale) on this cruise! Keep in mind that was with applying 70 SPF multiple times a day, but still. Progress.

 

 

The rest of the afternoon was spent doing a bit of packing, participating in a couple of games of trivia, getting some last-minute purchases at the Fun Shops, and so on. I typically don’t purchase many souvenirs as I like to take pictures (I have many more than what I’ve posted here) but I do like the occasional t-shirt. Instead of buying one in the Fun Shops, I paid $10 and bought the Groove for St. Jude one which I plan to tie-dye at some point (I don’t like white t-shirts because within 10 minutes of wearing them, I'll spill something -- it never fails). I was actually looking forward to participating in the Groove for St. Jude Deck Party but because of the weather, it was cancelled. At some point we ended up back in the room while I sat in the window and read and Jon packed and did whatever it is that Jon does.

Fun fact: my book was Tim Gunn's Golden Rules, which I found in the Conquest's library (I love Project Runway and Tim Gunn!). I actually loved the library space on the Conquest -- it has plush purple couches and although it was right in the atrium, it was quiet in there and I never saw anyone else. I picked up this book on our second or third day and finished it this afternoon.

 

You know, after typing what we did on our last sea day, I will admit that to some people, we probably sound like the most boring cruisers ever, especially for being in our (late) 20s. But keep in mind that this was our vacation and we chose to relax, be lazy, and just disconnect. It was truly what we needed after a busy few months at work (and school on top of that for me), and I wouldn’t have had it any other way.

Edited February 27, 2016 by iheartmarshall

[iheartmarshall]

DISEMBARKATION

….and that, ladies and gentlemen, is basically the end! The morning of disembarkation, we ate a final breakfast on Lido then made our way off the ship with the other self-assist passengers around 8:30am. This was earlier than I expected and our airport shuttle wasn’t scheduled to arrive until 10:00am, so we had to wait for a bit outside near the shuttle drop-off. Luckily it was a pretty morning so it wasn’t an issue and before we knew it, we were at FLL by 11:00am.

Now, the airport – OH. MY. GOODNESS. Maybe it’s because we were flying the Sunday before Christmas, but I have never seen an airport so crowded in my entire life (that, or because I’m from West Virginia and Charley West isn’t exactly a bustling airport). Our flight wasn’t until 1:00pm so we had enough time but it was an absolute mess. We managed though and once we got through security, our flights home were safe and incident-free. After two layovers in Charlotte and DC, we made it back to West Virginia around 10:00pm and our vacation had officially come to an end.

Some final thoughts:

In my first post, I mentioned that I wanted to do this review to show bring some positivity to the Conquest as many recent reviews are negative, complaining that she is showing her age rather badly. Although I didn’t focus much on the ship and instead highlighted our excursions, I will say that yes – she needs a paint job. And yes – some of the loungers need cleaned. And sure, her décor is a bit much at times. If you go looking for things to complain about, you will always find them. And although I did notice a few items that could benefit from an update, overall I think she is just fine and I would have no problem cruising on her again at some point.

That said, the Conquest is the only ship we have ever been on and we are ready to experience a different one. We’re cruising on the Pride out of Baltimore in May 2017 and are incredibly excited! We also have the Vista on our radar and would like to try one of the Fantasy-class ships in the future. We fell in love with Carnival on our first cruise in 2014 and are looking forward to making cruising her a regular activity in the future.

Thank you so much to everyone who read this review and commented. I’ve enjoyed sharing our trip with you and hope that if you’ll be on the Conquest soon, that you have a wonderful time as well!

[RiotAct]

Thank you again for a lovely review!!!

[swalton85]

thanks for the great review! i think you will love the pride! the adult only serenity area on that ship really is the best! you have to go early though to get a chair which stinks. who knows... maybe we will be sailing with u next yr! haha the pride will most likely be our cruise for 2017 as well and we like going in april or may :)

[iheartmarshall]

thanks for the great review! i think you will love the pride! the adult only serenity area on that ship really is the best! you have to go early though to get a chair which stinks. who knows... maybe we will be sailing with u next yr! haha the pride will most likely be our cruise for 2017 as well and we like going in april or may :)

 

Maybe so! Since the Conquest doesn't have a Serenity area, we usually hung out up on the top aft deck where the jogging track was. I liked the location because it was near the aft pool but it wasn't very crowded. I've heard people say that the Pride has an excellent space-to-passenger ratio and it never feels crowded either so I'm looking forward to that.

 

Thank you for following along :)

[*Cassie*]

Great review! Thanks for sharing.

[tilliebob1919]

Great review, trying the Conquest in mid October. Will be our first time on it.

 

 

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[riclop]

Thanks for the great review.

[cruisexlife]

Thank you so much for the great review, I really appreciated it!