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Help choosing between Carnival Splendor and Carnival Conquest

bzzztobee

By bzzztobee,
in Carnival Cruise Lines

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bzzztobee

bzzztobee

Posted
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I cant decide between the following two Caribbean cruises for this coming July.

 

1st: 8 Night Southern Caribbean cruise on the Carnival Splendor with the following ports:

 

Miami, Florida - At Sea - Grand Turk Island, Turks and Caicos Islands - La Romana, Dominican Republic - Curacao, Netherlands Antilles - Oranjestad, Aruba - At Sea - At Sea - Miami, Florida

2nd : 7 Night Eastern Caribbean cruise on the Carnival Conquest

with the following ports:Fort Lauderdale, Florida - At Sea - Grand Turk Island, Turks and Caicos Islands - San Juan, Puerto Rico - St. Thomas, Virgin Islands - Amber Cove, Dominican Republic - At Sea - Fort Lauderdale, Florida

 

Destination wise, I slightly prefer the 8 night cruise but having read mixed reviews about the Splendor and the fact that it didnt receive a 2.0 upgrade deters me from booking it. We traveled on the Freedom two years ago and LOVED the ship. I understand that the Conquest has also received the full 2.0 upgrade recently and so is a lot more like the Freedom as opposed to the Splendor.

 

I would like to know if there are a lot of differences between the two boats, activities wise and food wise. Which cruise would you choose if you were me? Any feedback would be greatly appreciated! :)

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FloridaGram

FloridaGram

Posted
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This is a hard one. I would choose the Conquest and Ft Lauderdale for the port to sail from. But the itinerary is better on the other one, except LaRomana. That place is a dump, wait til you see where you dock. We did not even get off the ship. I don't know why they go there with Amber Cove open now.

 

I do not prefer San Juan either unless you like old forts and old small narrow streets to walk around. It is Ok if you have not been there before but so many CCL cruises go there. (Knock it off Carnival, lets go some different places)

 

It really depends on you on which ship to do. We have been on 24 cruises and never had one we did not enjoy, that is why we keep going back. We don't knit-pick things, we just are happy to be away and on a cruise. If that is how you are and you have not been to Aruba and Curacao I would do that one. (If you have been to St Thomas and Grand Turk, you did not specify) If you have not been to ST and GT I would give them a go.

 

Port in Ft Lauderdale is very near the airport and it is just so convenient. Many love Miami, and they have made great improvements there, but it is farther from the airport if you are flying and traffic is so heavy there. Please let us know what you decide! Happy sailing.

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CocoCandy

CocoCandy

Posted
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Definitely the 8 night cruise based on ports alone.

 

We did that route on the Breeze in November out of Miami and it was amazing! Loved Grand Turk, Curacao, and Aruba... gorgeous beaches!

 

I was not a big fan of La Romana, but we did get off the ship and take the shuttle to Altos de Chavon, so I can't speak on the beaches there.

 

 

Either cruise you pick, I am sure you will have a great time!

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Florings

Florings

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Loved the Conquest - it has all the 2.0 food places. Splendor does not - so if you want Guys or Blue Iguana, go for the Conquest.

 

Still, 8 days on a cruise is the one reason I would choose the Splendor! Any extra day is worth it, regardless of what food there is to eat...

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evandbob

evandbob

Posted
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I cant decide between the following two Caribbean cruises for this coming July.

 

1st: 8 Night Southern Caribbean cruise on the Carnival Splendor with the following ports:

 

Miami, Florida - At Sea - Grand Turk Island, Turks and Caicos Islands - La Romana, Dominican Republic - Curacao, Netherlands Antilles - Oranjestad, Aruba - At Sea - At Sea - Miami, Florida

2nd : 7 Night Eastern Caribbean cruise on the Carnival Conquest

with the following ports:Fort Lauderdale, Florida - At Sea - Grand Turk Island, Turks and Caicos Islands - San Juan, Puerto Rico - St. Thomas, Virgin Islands - Amber Cove, Dominican Republic - At Sea - Fort Lauderdale, Florida

 

Destination wise, I slightly prefer the 8 night cruise but having read mixed reviews about the Splendor and the fact that it didnt receive a 2.0 upgrade deters me from booking it. We traveled on the Freedom two years ago and LOVED the ship. I understand that the Conquest has also received the full 2.0 upgrade recently and so is a lot more like the Freedom as opposed to the Splendor.

 

I would like to know if there are a lot of differences between the two boats, activities wise and food wise. Which cruise would you choose if you were me? Any feedback would be greatly appreciated! :)

 

Sounds like you are leaning towards the Conquest already. But I'm a beach person, and I would pick LaRomana over Amber Cove any day, week or month of the year. You also get an extra day on the Splendor.

 

Guy's burgers are a non issue for me too.

 

.

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menchera

menchera

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Obviously everyone has their own experiences. Ship wise they are very similar but I had a much better experience on the Splendor. I did not care for my experience on the Conquest due to numerous issues with the crew who couldn't seem to do anything right. It almost turned me off to Carnival, but the crew on the Glory and Splendor really made up for it this year. The ports you mentioned are all good so you really can't go wrong there. Maybe look at the shore excursions and find bucket list items that you have always wanted to do and let that decide for you.

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ja_martin

ja_martin

Posted
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I love , love the Splendor... Been on it 9x. They are like my family . Very sad it left New York .

 

Agree completely. Just did 8 straight weeks and didn't want to get off. Sad she left NYC (quick train ride from home), but also sad she's supposed to go to China.

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JKirkN

JKirkN

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Not much difference between the two food and activities-wise:

 

Conquest: Guys Burgers, Fish and Chips

Splendor: Tandoor

 

Both have Hasbro Game Night and poolside movie screen.

 

Splendor doesn't have a Guy's Burgers, but it does have a hamburger/Hot dog grill.

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coasterjan

coasterjan

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I know this is strange, but weirdly, I prefer Splendor to Conquest because I adore the inside hot tubs on Splendor deck 10. What can I say? And I also missed not having a Serenity deck on Conquest. Little things I know, but if I was choosing between Splendor or Conquest with comparable itineraries and prices, I'd choose Splendor. I enjoyed Conquest too, so neither choice is going to be "wrong".

 

Janis

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christinacruisin

christinacruisin

Posted
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I was on the Splendor in Jan. It's a great ship! Don't believe any of the negative things you may hear. It was a fabulous ship…a little pink, but that did not bother us at all! You'll have a great time.

 

I'll be on the Conquest later this year and am looking forward to that too!

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  • 2 weeks later...
RjayB

RjayB

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Does Conquest have any adults-only pool areas, or other spots where children are discouraged? We usually spend sea days on the Serenity deck, but apparently that does not exist on the Conquest.:(

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hapytobehr

hapytobehr

Posted
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Does Conquest have any adults-only pool areas, or other spots where children are discouraged? We usually spend sea days on the Serenity deck, but apparently that does not exist on the Conquest.:(

 

Conquest has an adults only pool. No Serenity. Love, love the Conquest..........

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missholly24

missholly24

Posted
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Not much difference between the two food and activities-wise:

 

Conquest: Guys Burgers, Fish and Chips

Splendor: Tandoor

 

Both have Hasbro Game Night and poolside movie screen.

 

Hasbro was not on our Splendor sailing in April.

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  • 2 weeks later...
joanskid

joanskid

Posted
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I really appreciate all of your feedback. Finally we booked the 8 days cruise on the Splendor based on the itinerary. Im sure my whole family is going to enjoy it. Im too excited!! :D

 

 

What date? We are on the 10/22/16 sailing.

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vacruisin

vacruisin

Posted
Posted
Conquest has an adults only pool. No Serenity. Love, love the Conquest..........

 

 

 

Same here. We LOVE the Conquest also. Then again we are not huge Serenity deck folks. Too many adults hogging the very limited loungers and clamshells. Unless you get up super early, you can't seem to find a free space most of the time. Just the same people taking up the loungers for hours and hours!

 

The adult only pool and hot tubs in the back area of the Conquest works just fine for us.

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