Looking for Conquest Reviews from 10/16-23 Cruisers THANKS

[b8tzm]

How was Conquest:

 

embarkation

 

food

 

were there smoke issues

 

other pros & cons

 

disbarkation

 

anyone have capers they can upload to webshots

 

THANKS & I WILL do review when I get back

[greatful]

I would be interested in Conquest reviews as we are scheduled for 12/04/05. Our first cruise was on the Celebrity Summit 07/05 and I really don't have any negative memories. We are non smokers and weren't bothered by the smoke. The food was great. The personnel were great. Getting off & on was EZ. I hope that wasn't the last time I had it good on a cruise. Some people on this board (and I'm not saying they're wrong) are giving me bad vibes. Thank you to all who post their reviews.

[Rowan555]

We'll be just getting off the Conquest as you're getting on, so my review won't help you. There are a few people here cruising in the next week or two, though, and I'm sure they'll post their experiences and thoughts. I'll be reading them along with you - even though we've done Conquest before, I'm just as eager to read what everyone has to say.

[greatful]

I know I shouldn't get scared but some of the negativity gets you thinking. I have to remember that it is mind over matter (or something like that) and look for the goods not the negatives :) Maybe if the negative people lower my expectations enough I will have a great time :)

[ksujason]

How was Conquest:

 

embarkation

 

food

 

were there smoke issues

 

other pros & cons

 

disbarkation

 

I just came off of the 10-16-05 sailing. Embarkation went very well and smooth. I took the advice from these boards and sat in the back chairs, and managed to get right on the ship by 1:00pm.

The food I thought was very good but not great. The dining rooms seemed to be better thatn the buffett areas of course. The steak was always very good. Desserts were not the best, but of course ice cream is never far away.

Yes there were smoke issues in my opinion. Of course you could avoid them, but at times you have to go through the smoking areas to get to a public area.

Some of the pros in my opinion were the late night comediens and shows. They were very funny. Phat Kat was great, as was the last night Improv of the cruise director and staff.

Debarkation was horrible. Im sure most people have already heard the stories anyway, but it was worst than I thought. We cleared ship at 1:00pm, and didnt make it through customs until somewhere around 2:30. It was not a big deal for us as we had a 6:00pm flight, but some people were furious mad about missing flights. The way they pack you into this area like sardines makes people very testy.

All and all though, we had a great time on the cruise. I cant wait to go again.

[greatful]

"Debarkation was horrible. Im sure most people have already heard the stories anyway, but it was worst than I thought. We cleared ship at 1:00pm, and didnt make it through customs until somewhere around 2:30. It was not a big deal for us as we had a 6:00pm flight, but some people were furious mad about missing flights. The way they pack you into this area like sardines makes people very testy."

 

 

Is this a Carnival issue (packing like sardines) or a Customs Issue? Thanks

[Newcastle]

Is this a Carnival issue (packing like sardines) or a Customs Issue? Thanks

 

It is a Customs issue, Galveston is not ready for a ship this size.

[rsjc]

I won’t be so sure about that (Customs)… We were on the Grand Princess back in March and did not have problems like have been described with the Conquest. Princess was doing the typical Color Tag system and we were off by 9:30am. I am very concerned about the issue as well. The disembarkation process is the only thing I hate about cruising. Can anyone describe what some people have said “Self Disembarkation”? People have been claiming they were off the ship by 7:30 to 8:30 am.

[Newcastle]

I won’t be so sure about that (Customs)… We were on the Grand Princess back in March and did not have problems like have been described with the Conquest. Princess was doing the typical Color Tag system and we were off by 9:30am. I am very concerned about the issue as well. The disembarkation process is the only thing I hate about cruising. Can anyone describe what some people have said “Self Disembarkation”? People have been claiming they were off the ship by 7:30 to 8:30 am.

 

 

They did not have "self disembarkation", I was of the ship by 10:20 or so and it was a customs issue. Customs was only allowing 50 people at a time to come down to get there bags and clear customs.

[greatful]

Is self disembarkation the way to go if you can handle your own bags? We are using the cruiselines transfer service to IAH so I imagine we'd be off fairly early for a 1:45pm flight wouldnt we. Then you wait for a full bus probably? Anyone with this type schedule on a recent cruise? Thanks

[Rowan555]

Self assist is definitely recommended if you want to get off the ship quickly - we did it on the Sensation and were in our car by 8 AM. Of course people are saying they were not ALLOWED to do this on the last Conquest sailing. I sure am hoping that was a one-time thing, because we are counting on using self assist next month.

[ETConquest]

We were also on the Conquest 10/16 sailing. Embarkation was easy, but I dont understand the big deal about getting on the ship early. I have been on five cruises, and this one was the first one that I got on early. Once we ate and walked around, there wasnt much going on til late afternoon. The lifeboat drill went smoothly, and then we were hit with the news that we were going to Costa Maya, Cozumel, and Progresso. Quite a letdown from Grand Cayman and Montego Bay.

Dining was very good, especially dinner. We also went to the Point one night, and it was incredible!

Entertainment was also good, especially the late night comedians. The ventriloquist was histerical, as was Phat Kat. The guest talent show was also very good.

The pools were crowded, but not too bad, and there were always chairs available somewhere. I never saw the war over chairs that people had described. Carnival doesnt enforce its own rules about hot tubs and kids. There are signs on the Aft hot tubs saying Adults Only, but there were always kids in them, which irked several people in the back . I heard many of them complaining, but apparently no one cared.

 

Costa Maya was really fun! We went on the boat blast/snorkle/beach tour, and had a great time! Then we went to the big pool at the port. It has a huge swimup bar, and the drinks are wonderful!

Cozumel was not so great. The water was so rough that almost all tours were cancelled. We ended up at Playa Mia Beach Resort, which was nice. It has a pool as well as beach chairs and water activities, and an open bar. Then we went to Carlos and Charlie's, which is WILD!

If you have never been to one, I highly recommend a trip there!

We were the last ship out, and you could see bad storms approaching behind us. It was a little eerie, knowing that such a bad storm was about to hit. Places we visited are now gone, and I have heard that the pier we docked at is heavily damaged. The sea was extremely rough on our way out, and stayed that way into the night.

Progresso is not exactly the garden spot of the world. There is no nice way to say it...it is horrible! I feel bad for anyone that has to go there for a day.

The last two days were calmer, and the weather was great! Sunny, but not too hot, and much calmer seas.

Debarkation was the worst part of the trip, yes even worse than Progresso! Everyone blames everyone else for the problems, but the bottom line is this: If you have any other options, DONT go out of Galveston. Unless people stop going, nothing will change. Carnival kept saying things were improving, but no one was believing them. We didnt get off the ship and through customs until 1:40. The self assist option is not available in Galveston, so you wait until they call your color. To add to the problem, Carnival wasnt monitoring what color tags people had, and so it became one huge line to get off the ship. Our color was green, and a whole group of people with brown tags jumped in ahead of us. I also saw other colors that hadnt been called yet in line on the way out. Customs would only let 50 people at a time off the ship, so it took forever. Everyone was upset, but there was nothing anyone could do.

Overall, we had a fun time, relaxed lots, ate and drank lots, and enjoyed the cruise. But what we had anticipated for a year was NOT what we got. One other passenger said it best..."We didnt pay all this money to go to Mexico."

Hope this hasnt been too long, and is informative.

[greatful]

We were also on the Conquest 10/16 sailing. Embarkation was easy, but I dont understand the big deal about getting on the ship early. I have been on five cruises, and this one was the first one that I got on early. Once we ate and walked around, there wasnt much going on til late afternoon. The lifeboat drill went smoothly, and then we were hit with the news that we were going to Costa Maya, Cozumel, and Progresso. Quite a letdown from Grand Cayman and Montego Bay.

Dining was very good, especially dinner. We also went to the Point one night, and it was incredible!

Entertainment was also good, especially the late night comedians. The ventriloquist was histerical, as was Phat Kat. The guest talent show was also very good.

The pools were crowded, but not too bad, and there were always chairs available somewhere. I never saw the war over chairs that people had described. Carnival doesnt enforce its own rules about hot tubs and kids. There are signs on the Aft hot tubs saying Adults Only, but there were always kids in them, which irked several people in the back . I heard many of them complaining, but apparently no one cared.

 

Costa Maya was really fun! We went on the boat blast/snorkle/beach tour, and had a great time! Then we went to the big pool at the port. It has a huge swimup bar, and the drinks are wonderful!

Cozumel was not so great. The water was so rough that almost all tours were cancelled. We ended up at Playa Mia Beach Resort, which was nice. It has a pool as well as beach chairs and water activities, and an open bar. Then we went to Carlos and Charlie's, which is WILD!

If you have never been to one, I highly recommend a trip there!

We were the last ship out, and you could see bad storms approaching behind us. It was a little eerie, knowing that such a bad storm was about to hit. Places we visited are now gone, and I have heard that the pier we docked at is heavily damaged. The sea was extremely rough on our way out, and stayed that way into the night.

Progresso is not exactly the garden spot of the world. There is no nice way to say it...it is horrible! I feel bad for anyone that has to go there for a day.

The last two days were calmer, and the weather was great! Sunny, but not too hot, and much calmer seas.

Debarkation was the worst part of the trip, yes even worse than Progresso! Everyone blames everyone else for the problems, but the bottom line is this: If you have any other options, DONT go out of Galveston. Unless people stop going, nothing will change. Carnival kept saying things were improving, but no one was believing them. We didnt get off the ship and through customs until 1:40. The self assist option is not available in Galveston, so you wait until they call your color. To add to the problem, Carnival wasnt monitoring what color tags people had, and so it became one huge line to get off the ship. Our color was green, and a whole group of people with brown tags jumped in ahead of us. I also saw other colors that hadnt been called yet in line on the way out. Customs would only let 50 people at a time off the ship, so it took forever. Everyone was upset, but there was nothing anyone could do.

Overall, we had a fun time, relaxed lots, ate and drank lots, and enjoyed the cruise. But what we had anticipated for a year was NOT what we got. One other passenger said it best..."We didnt pay all this money to go to Mexico."

Hope this hasnt been too long, and is informative.

I (the one time I cruised:) loved getting on early & looking around however this time we have 2 sea days before we stop anywhere which I didnt have last time, we stopped the next AM. The meals/food I'll have plenty of LOL. No your comments weren't to long for me I love reading this stuff. Have fun on your cruise.

[Rowan555]

Frankly, I would have preferred Costa Maya, Cozumel, and Progresso to the Conquest's normal itinerary - I can do without Jamaica and Grand Cayman. Unfortunately, it looks like on our sailing we may get JUST Jamaica and Grand Cayman! Ack! We're looking forward to it regardless.

[Salty Dawg]

Is self disembarkation the way to go if you can handle your own bags? We are using the cruiselines transfer service to IAH so I imagine we'd be off fairly early for a 1:45pm flight wouldnt we. Then you wait for a full bus probably? Anyone with this type schedule on a recent cruise? Thanks

On the 10/16 Conquest I did the 'self assist' disembarkation since I was taking the cruise line transfer service to IAH to catch a 1:20 flight home. Once finally clear of the Carnival warehouse I was fortunate enough to get on a full bus that was immediately leaving for the airport. Made it to the Continental terminal with only 20 minutes until my flight departed. Luckily I encountered numerous friendly passengers that allowed me to go to the front of the line to get through the TSA screening quickly and they encouraged me to run through the concourse like I was on a marathon. I made it on the plane as the last person on-board just as they were preparing to close the doors!

[frstcruz]

This was my first cruise 10/16 on Conquest. I read comments from these and other boards before sailing. I came on board with an open mind and truly a positive attitude. My group arrived in Houston around 11 am but waited until 1pm for a transfer bus to the ship. Embarkation was very smooth, we had no problems and spent maybe less than 25 minutes to board the ship. This is when we were told of the itinerary change. It was a little disappointing but safety first! The food was typical buffet food, which was ok considering. Its like excellent when you first get on because you are starving and then day by day it gets less appealing. The dining room was just the opposite, by the last evening the food was awesome. The staff was a bit cold. I had heard stories of how they went above and beyond to accomodate the guests, but I didn't really feel that on this cruise. The entertainment was really good. The only con was the Hawaiian Mystery, Not good at all!!! I loved the red,white and blue competition----GO RED HOT! I was with a smoker and yes it did start to get a bit smokey by on the main lobby. The Progresso port was terrible (we were closed in the store by the employees when it was raining---they literally would not let us out) The debarkation was horrible. It took us at least an hour to get off the ship and to customs, once in customs we were out in maybe 15 minutes. We nearly missed our plane and we had the first debarkation color. We arrived at the airport at 1:15 our plane took off at 1:40-- Overall, I feel my expectations my have been a tad bit too high, or (as my fellow veteran cruisers say) this sail was a bit "off". All in all it was good to be on vacation, I will try a smaller ship next time.

[NoNoNanette]

It is a Customs issue, Galveston is not ready for a ship this size.

 

Getting off of the Grand Princess in Galveston back in January was a BREEZE. We were headed off of the island by 10 am. It ISN'T a "Galveston" problem.

 

One of my cruise buddies said that the entrance ramps (multiple storied enclosed walkways) onto the ship were not lined up properly, thus slowing down the disembarkation.

 

There were also approx. 100 (?) disabled old folks in walkers, wheelchairs and scooters that might have held us up a bit.

 

Once getting to the luggage storage area, one had to search and search. It was a mess. :(

[greatful]

This was my first cruise 10/16 on Conquest. I read comments from these and other boards before sailing. I came on board with an open mind and truly a positive attitude. My group arrived in Houston around 11 am but waited until 1pm for a transfer bus to the ship. Embarkation was very smooth, we had no problems and spent maybe less than 25 minutes to board the ship. This is when we were told of the itinerary change. It was a little disappointing but safety first! The food was typical buffet food, which was ok considering. Its like excellent when you first get on because you are starving and then day by day it gets less appealing. The dining room was just the opposite, by the last evening the food was awesome. The staff was a bit cold. I had heard stories of how they went above and beyond to accomodate the guests, but I didn't really feel that on this cruise. The entertainment was really good. The only con was the Hawaiian Mystery, Not good at all!!! I loved the red,white and blue competition----GO RED HOT! I was with a smoker and yes it did start to get a bit smokey by on the main lobby. The Progresso port was terrible (we were closed in the store by the employees when it was raining---they literally would not let us out) The debarkation was horrible. It took us at least an hour to get off the ship and to customs, once in customs we were out in maybe 15 minutes. We nearly missed our plane and we had the first debarkation color. We arrived at the airport at 1:15 our plane took off at 1:40-- Overall, I feel my expectations my have been a tad bit too high, or (as my fellow veteran cruisers say) this sail was a bit "off". All in all it was good to be on vacation, I will try a smaller ship next time.

 

Thanks for your review. I can hardly wait for people that left on 10/23 to get back Im hoping things are improving.:)

[dave.owens]

I know this is long but I hope you can get something out of it. I know that I am not alone in my feelings towards this cruise.

 

 

 

Booking: I went on the Carnival Conquest on Oct. 16, 2005. This was my sixth cruise and my first with Carnival. The entire process from booking the cruise to the cruise itself was a horrible experience. First, I booked a seven night cruise on the Elation leaving from the port of Galveston in early August. When hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans Carnival leased a few of their ships to FEMA for $200+ million. I read the article and I was happy that the Elation was not one of those ships. Well, much to my chagrin my traveled agent called me the next day to inform me that Carnival had cancelled my cruise. Carnival had chosen to take the Elation and use it for the cruises that the ships that were leased to FEMA were doing and cancel all of the seven day Elation cruises. My travel agent told me that Carnival was moving the Conquest from New Orleans to Galveston and I could book a cruise on the Conquest and get a $100 per person ship board credit for doing so. Sounds great except for the fact that they wanted $600 more than the cruise that I had booked on the Elation. Carnival’s reasoning was that the Conquest is a better ship and the itinerary was different. Since it is very hard for my girlfriend and me to coordinate vacation schedules we decided to go ahead and book the cruise. I thought the pricing was unfair since they are the ones that canceled the cruise not us. When my credit card statement came in I noticed that the first cruise that they canceled had not been credited back and that Carnival had overcharged me by $138 on the Conquest cruise. I called Carnival to try and get everything straightened out but they said since I had booked through a travel agent that I needed to deal with them even though Carnival was the one that charged my CC not my travel agent. I went ahead and filed a credit dispute with my CC company and that finally got resolved.

 

Embarkation: It took about two hours to get on the ship. All in all not that bad of a process.

 

Food: The food is pretty bad. The quality of the food on the Lido desk was the worst. Breakfast was about on par with an IHOP and the lunches were tasteless like a cheap cafeteria. However, the food served at the main dining room was okay. My girlfriend found a hair on her plate one night and the husband of the couple sitting at our table found one on his the next night.

 

Staff: I found thestaff on this shipto be rude and very unhelpful. It was rare to find one of them smiling. I always felt like I was an inconvenience to them. I went to the wine tasting and when I walked in I noticed some really nice wines on display at the front of the room. I asked one of the girls working the event what wines they were tasting that day and she told me the wines they were serving. I asked her when they were they were going to taste the wines on display and she said that they were not tasting them today in a very rude way and turned and walked away. I was going to pay to taste the wines they were offering that day but when she treated me like that I turned and walked away. My girlfriend and I went down to get pizza one day and the guy working the counter all but ignored us for about ten minutes while he talked with a coworker before he came over to help us. Again, I felt like a big inconvenience to him. Our waiter was very good and I was very happy with his attitude and service. In fact he was the only one that I felt compelled to increase my gratuity for. Also, Gustav in the photo gallery was very nice and helpful as well as Ciala Ambrose at the purser’s desk. The casino was okay but not overly friendly.

 

Excursions: Since our ports of call had to change due to hurricane Wilma all of the excursions that we had booked through agencies outside of Carnival were canceled. We were supposed to go to Jamaica, Grand Cayman and Cozumel. The ports were changed to Costa Maya, Cozumel and Progresso. Since we did not have anything booked for these ports we went ahead and booked an excursion for Costa Maya and Progresso through Carnival. Throughout the trip the cruise director urged everyone to book their excursions thru them to avoid any problems. We booked the Clear Kayak and Beach tour. The tour was supposed to be about 45 minutes to an hour riding in a clear (see through) kayak exploring the reefs and looking at the fish. At the beginning of the tour they told us that we were not allowed to wear shoes on the kayak and to leave our valuables at the secure site. They told us we could take underwater cameras with us but if we had a regular or digital camera we needed to give it to them for safe keeping. So, I removed my digital camera from the plastic Ziploc bag I had it in and gave it to them as requested. The kayak part of the trip was nothing more than an endurance test. They had us rowing against the current and the wind and it was all my girlfriend and I could do to keep up with the guide. We did not see any fish or any reefs and were so busy rowing that we would not have been able to enjoy them if we had. If I had to guess I would say that at least 30 percent of the people were unable to make the kayaking trip and had to be rescued. We finally made it to the beach were we had some drinks and fruit to eat. When we arrived at the beach there were no lounge chairs left for us. The beach was okay and my girlfriend and I walked around and checked out some of the local vendors. When we returned I noticed that people were getting their cameras back but were filling out some sort of paper work. When I went to get mine I found out that the tour people had taken all of our cameras with them on the jet ski without putting them in some sort of water proof container. Well, somehow the jet ski capsized and all of our cameras were completely submerged in water and ruined. The tour operator asked all of us to give him our contact information and to leave our cameras with him so he could file an insurance claim. He gave us his contact information so we could contact him to get the cameras replaced. I did get my memory stick out of the camera to see if I may be able to salvage the pictures I had already taken. Once we were back on the ship I went to the excursion desk to see what could be done to resolve the issue. Again we were greeted with a rude and non caring attitude. I was told by the excursion desk people that I would have to work directly with the tour operator to resolve the issue and there was nothing they could do to help us. I told them the least they could do was to provide us with some disposable cameras so we could take pictures the rest of the cruise and they again said I would have to work with the tour operator. I explained to them that I paid Carnival not a tour operator to no avail. I decided to take my memory stick to one of the readers in the photo gallery to see if I could read it and I was unable to get either of the two machines to read it. This is when we finally met a friendly and helpful person, Gustav. I told him about my situation and he said that the machines in they gallery did not always read my type of memory stick and that he had a machine in the photo lab that may be able to read it and he could burn them to a CD if it worked since you could already see corrosion building up on it. That is when the photo manager, Ryan Simon came over. Ryan told me that they would have to charge me ten dollars to create a CD for me. I explained my situation to him and his basic response was the he did not ruin my camera and I would have to pay for the CD. Ryan probably had the worst attitude on the ship. Fortunately Gustav was able to read my memory stick with the machine in the lab and burn a CD for me before the stick became unreadable. I was charged the ten dollars for the CD. Still not happy with how things were handled I took the mater up with the purser’s desk. I basically got the same story from them that there was nothing they could do to help me and I would have to deal with the shore excursion desk. At this point I asked if there was anyone on the ship that could make some kind of decision to assist us. I was told that I could take the matter up with guest relations when I returned from the cruise. That is when I asked to talk to the Hotel Director. I was told that he was unavailable that day and I would have to make an appointment. I said fine make me an appointment to speak with him. I finally got an appointment to talk to him two days later after our last port of call. I spoke with the hotel director about our situation and the treatment we received and he was apologetic and asked what he could do at this point. I asked him to credit back the money that they charged me to create the CD and to provide us with some of the photos from the photo gallery since we did not have a camera. To his credit he did take care of these things and also sent us a bottle of wine to dinner that night. We did have a disposable camera in our cabin when we returned from our last port of call. I guess it was better than nothing but a little too late to take pictures at the ports. The next port was Cozumel. We booked a snuba excursion with a company outside of Carnival and were really looking forward to it. Unfortunately all excursions that had anything to do with water were canceled due to hurricane Wilma approaching. We just walked around town and did a little shopping. The last port was Progresso. We booked the Meridia city and shopping tour through the ship. There are not a whole lot of things to do in Progresso. The tour was okay and the tour guide was very informative and knowledgeable about the city. The shopping part of the tour was a joke. We were basically taken to a couple of t-shirt shops.

 

Entertainment: The professional entertainmenton board was average at best. We had a few comedians two of which were okay and the other not very good at all. They had a “Vegas Style” magic show that was not very good. In fact, they had to take about a five minute break and start the show over when the first magic trick did not work. Since our seats were on the side of the stage we were able to see how almost all of the tricks were performed. I honestly doubt this person performed at any of the quality hotel in Vegas. They also had a juggler who was okay and kind of funny. He had at least five drops during his routine which I thought was a little excessive but who am I to argue? The best shows were the dating game with the participants being from the audience, the talent show and the improv show that the cruise director and some of his assistants put on.

 

Debarkation: We did not make it off of the ship until 11:00am and we were some of the first ones to make it off. This process was unorganized chaos at best. A bad way to end a bad vacation.

 

Final Comments: I would have to think long and hard before I would ever take a Carnival cruise again and at this point I could not recommend them to anyone. I will give them a chance to respond to me and see what can be done about my camera before I make a final judgment. I hope that they can get their staffing issues resolved and get people that want to work on the ship and will treat their customers the way they should be treated.

[greatful]

"Final Comments: I would have to think long and hard before I would ever take a Carnival cruise again and at this point I could not recommend them to anyone. I will give them a chance to respond to me and see what can be done about my camera before I make a final judgment. I hope that they can get their staffing issues resolved and get people that want to work on the ship and will treat their customers the way they should be treated."

 

 

Kind of scary considering we're going in December :(

[b8tzm]

Is it possible that some of the posts are made by people that find something wrong with everything? I'm hoping so because one way or another I'm going to have a good time 12/11 :)

[CordovaMom]

Is it possible that some of the posts are made by people that find something wrong with everything? I'm hoping so because one way or another I'm going to have a good time 12/11 :)

 

I've read reviews of that particular cruise on another cruise board which shall remain nameless -- 4 reviews of the same cruise -- 2 were very positive -- 2 negative. No two people will see the cruise in the same way or experience it in the same way. I think you have to make your own experience. Go into it with a positive attitude and pray for the best, you may still experience the same problems that others have, but on the other hand you may still enjoy the cruise as others have as well.

[TxStacey]

Is it possible that some of the posts are made by people that find something wrong with everything? I'm hoping so because one way or another I'm going to have a good time 12/11 :)

You will have a great time if you go in with a great attitude..I sailed the Conquest in June and while I had a great time, I liked the Elation's size and layout better. I am wondering how full the Conquest has been..I live in the Dallas/Ft. WOrth area and Carnival has been advertising the Conquest specifically on the radio ALOT within the last couple of weeks....Most likely it's because most Texans don't realize that Galveston now has a Mega-ship.

[ab5cc]

We had a really good time on the cruise 10/9. I was kinda embarrased because I had recommended the cruise to 4 friends and relatives who had not cruised Carnival before and the embarkation and debarkation were both terrible. Some of them had been on NCL and Princess before and I have been hyping Carnival for 4 months. What a letdown. I always said I would never cruise any line except Carnival because it was always fun so why take a chance. But after the embarkation and debarkation on Conquest, I would take a chance.

 

Also, I would like to say that I have been on Elation twice from Galveston and Jubilee once. So, I am sure it isn't a Galveston problem. Also been on 3 cruises from Miami Destiny, Destiny and Triumph (all large ships). As far as ships, Conquest beats Elation imho, because it is larger, newer and has more to do. I didn't find the lines excessively long. They are longer than a smaller ship, but I am pretty patient.

[christicruiser]

I too was on that cruise and have had better cruises.

 

To me, cruises are like pizza - even bad ones are still pretty good.

 

I've traveled on Princess (3), Carnival (3) and Celebrity (1). In my opinion, there were only 2 negatives worth posting about - the casino was tight w/ a capital T. I know that cruise casinos are usually not our friends - but this one was WAY tight.

 

Disembarkation is a complete disaster. Have a mimosa - and be mentally ready for it to be a disaster and you'll be fine.

 

Don't trust the color coded signs hanging from the ceiling in Gavelston when you are trying to find your luggage. I was on the Verandah deck so I went to the orange Verandah sign to do the traditional easter egg hunt for my luggage. It wasn't there. I asked a port rep if there was another area for Verandah tags and she told me you can't go by the signs - due to Hurricane Katrina they were not able to line luggage up by the signs hanging. Sounds like a lame a** excuse to me. Hurricane Katrina did lots of damage and ruined lots of people's lives. Now she's to blame for me not being able to locate my luggage? I don't think so.

 

My luggage (and several others from the Verandah deck) was finally located back in an area that was coded for another deck.

 

The port changes were not a huge surprise to me b/c I had been using this site to track the path of Wilma and fully expected the Captain would have to change our itinerary. There were many other VOCAL people who did not seem to care that Wilma was in our way (at that time a Cat 5), they were determined that we should have gone to Jamaica & Grand Cayman anyway. Pretty scary the way some people think. We had no business trying to go to Jamaica or Cayman.

 

If your mind is in the right place, you'll have a great time.

 

Happy Cruising!