Newbies return from the Conquest

[jjsparkles]

We went back to our room for a bit to rest before Mark's first set. Another friend waiting for us:

 

And a lovely sunset

 

It was Motown night tonight for the band and then some 80's later on. They were fantastic as usual. I get so proud when I watch Mark play. We took lots of video and not many photos.

Mark had a couple of breaks and we had an idea to get a cheesy family photo with one of the backgrounds as we were all dressed up. The queues however were really long but we managed to find an empty space with only a few minutes to spare before Mark was due on stage. The photographer was trying to get us in all sorts of poses using a step ladder and all sorts, but in the end he eventually understood that we had to hurry and we got this picture.

 

As cheesy shots go, I think this turned out just about passable.

We'd had a lovely day together. The bonus of Mark playing in the band is that he has lots of free time during the day. The downside is that we were up late again, after 1pm this time as Lewis was determined to get some pizza! Abbey had bowed out earlier in the evening so the rest of us sat on Lido with pizza for them and hot chocolate for me. (I had laughed when I read that you could get hot chocolate on the cruise, but the air con can make you feel really cold a night so I was thankful for it) Soon we were off to bed again. Tomorrow was the day I'd been waiting for, Half Moon Cay. Night, night :)

[jjsparkles]

Saturday 23 June

I woke before everyone else (again....) and took a peek outside. I was pleased to see Half Moon Cay in the distance. It was bit cloudy but fine.

I tidied up the cabin a bit and got myself ready for the day ahead. We'd put our beach towels in the bottom of the wardrobe on the first night and our room steward had left us some more, so we now had 8 of them, lol. I'd said to Mark I'd take a towel for him as I knew we had too many. By the time we were all ready to go I looked outside and there was some rain. I could hear the tender announcements over the speakers. We'd said that we'd take it easy again today, everyone feeling tired, and met Mark for breakfast in the restaurant at 9am.

 

 

After a relaxing and filling breakfast, which Mark enjoyed because he'd never eaten breakfast there before, we headed to the gangway for a tender boat. It must have been around 10am by now, maybe later. We didn't need a number for the tender because we were with Mark, but we didn't get an advantage by doing this as the boat was half empty when it left. We must have been one of the last boats going over.

 

I would have liked a picture a the welcome sign, but it was too busy so we headed straight onto the beach. Given that we are sun wimps, I went to the kiosk and paid for a clam shell. Then we made our way further along, away from the crowds.

 

I was absolutely blown away with the beauty of this beach. The sand was gorgeous and the colour of the water like something from a movie. We walked along the shoreline to find a spot for the day. There were loads of empty sunbeds and plenty of space.

We found the staff setting up the clam shells and picked one in the shade. I'd read a tip about jamming up the back of the clam shell to let the air flow through, so i did that with a spare sunbed near us.

We ended up being in a perfect location, just in front of cabana number 8, as it was close to the toilets (sorry, restroom......a woman almost fainted in front of me when I said the word toilet...) . It was also quiet at this end of the beach. Maybe we were lucky, but I don't think you need to be off the first tender to have a decent space.

 

Abbey and Lewis went off to hire a couple of rings, which turned out to be the best thing we done. We had an absolute ball in the water and spent hours just floating about, enjoying the sun and the water.

[jjsparkles]

 

 

 

 

[jjsparkles]

 

I got some drinks for Mark and Abbey, $26 for 2 beers and a vodka/lemonade. We went to the barbecue at around 12ish, which was only a short walk away from where we were. I enjoyed a hotdog and the others had burgers. A tad annoying that there is only 1 drinks station that I could find. Very long queues all the time so I just waited until we got back on the beach and had some water I'd brought with me.

 

The last tender was at 3:15pm and despite us intending to go back to the ship after a couple of hours, we just couldn't drag ourselves away. It was really lovely today and great for Mark too as although the ship had stopped here loads of times, he'd never been off and onto the beach. So it was a first for us all.

 

Before we knew it, it was time to go.

[Cruiser 4 Life 66]

Saturday 23 June

 

Of all the beaches I've been to (and I've been to them all over the world) Half Moon Cay's water is the prettiest/clearest I've ever seen. It's like the color of swimming pool water, maybe even lighter LOL. It never fails to amaze me. These pics demonstrate how incredible looking it is. One time they had to cancel our stop there due to it being too windy for the tenders. We sailed right by it. I almost had a nervous breakdown LOL.

[cruising maniac]

I'm really enjoying your review. You are a very good story teller!!

[jjsparkles]

Despite me getting out of the water every 30 minutes or so to reapply sun cream, it was soon clear that we all had burned shoulders. All except Lewis that is. I think it's because he spent most of the time on top of the ring rather than in the water and his cream must have stayed on. Anyway, it was not pleasant getting showered and changed...

We met Mark and Macie in the Steakhouse at 5:30pm. Another early meal for us but we were fitting in around Mark's schedule so it was fine. The food in the Steakhouse was lovely, but if I'm totally honest it was just too much. You can pick 2 starters and if you only pick 1 the waiter will try to encourage you to order something else. It took about an hour just to get through all the starters. The kids didn't like a couple of the things, only ordered because they'd been encouraged to, and we felt a bit bad sending back plates hardly touched. Everyone loved their main courses though. I can't remember the name of everything, but i'll give it a try, lol:

Small baked potato with cheese/chives - no-one ordered this, it just appeared for everyone at the start of the meal

This was my starter - some kind of tuna dish

 

Mark and Abbey both had this, escargot

Lewis liked this, raw beef

Macie and John both had baked onion soup. Macie ate the lot and John didn't like it at all

 

Caeser Salad - John and I both had this a it was lovely

[jjsparkles]

Abbey and Mark both also had a lobster dish that turned out to be a soup. Neither of them liked it. So, all of that before the mains......

 

Macie and I had the grilled chops - absolutely delicious

Everyone else had some kind of steak - this is John's, sorry I can't remember the name, maybe cowboy?

 

After all of this we were absolutely full to bursting. So, no room for desserts.....boohoo.....The waiter was very nice and gave us one of each of the desserts to go. I don't have photos of them and we didn't actually ever get round to eating them which was a real shame. Honestly, I'd have enjoyed the whole experience more if I could just have had a main and dessert but I felt kind of pressured into eating endless starters. Maybe the whole experience was just wasted on us.

 

We'd had a lovely evening though and went back to the room to chill for a bit before Mark's set.

We still had some time to kill and Macie was hosting more bingo in the theatre so Abbey, Lewis and I went off to do this whilst John watched Mark in his first set. We didn't win....again...but Abbey really got into it, lol.

I'd also noticed that gratuities had been charged against my account. I'd pre-paid these before the cruise spent the rest of the evening trying to find a quiet time to speak to guest services......no such thing, lol. I eventually got to speak to someone and she said she'd investigate and get back to me. I had a letter with me from our travel agent confirming it had been paid.

 

We settled down for the rest of the night to watch Mark and the Conquistadors - it was Boogie night and the set was fantastic.

No one wanted pizza tonight so we headed off to bed around 11:45 when Mark finished playing. Lots of sun and long days were catching up with us. Tomorrow was the last full day and we were visiting Nassau. Mark wanted a bit of a long lie tomorrow so we said we'd meet up when he was ready and go and have breakfast without him. Sleep was not long in coming, although it was absolute agony turning around with sunburned shoulders, ouch!

[oncruisecontrol]

Saturday 23 June

 

I was absolutely blown away with the beauty of this beach. The sand was gorgeous and the colour of the water like something from a movie. We walked along the shoreline to find a spot for the day. There were loads of empty sunbeds and plenty of space.

I just love Half Moon Cay. It is quite literally Heaven on Earth! We were there only once back in 2011, and the weather was beautiful just like in your photos. I'm really enjoying reading your review; thanks for posting it.

[jjsparkles]

Of all the beaches I've been to (and I've been to them all over the world) Half Moon Cay's water is the prettiest/clearest I've ever seen. It's like the color of swimming pool water, maybe even lighter LOL. It never fails to amaze me. These pics demonstrate how incredible looking it is. One time they had to cancel our stop there due to it being too windy for the tenders. We sailed right by it. I almost had a nervous breakdown LOL.

 

I agree, I couldn't believe the water was actually real - it was spectacular. We said afterwards that it would be the worst thing ever if your stop got cancelled here - what a shame. I'd have been absolutely devastated :eek:

 

I'm really enjoying your review. You are a very good story teller!!

 

Thank you :)

[Cruiser 4 Life 66]

Sorry about the burnt shoulders. Whatever SPF factor you were using you might want to double it...and make sure the sunscreen is waterproof/water resistant. Then again you are Scottish. I think the only people more pale may be the Irish ;p

[jjsparkles]

This was the photo the kids got from Half Moon Cay - it's turned out nice I think

Sunday 24 June

I woke up to a bit of a noise outside so had a peek outside the balcony, still in my pj's, to see the Sensation docked beside us. We were a bit close, lol.

I was a tad disappointed - I'd really wanted to see the Disney ship!

Once we were organised, we made our way to Lido for a breakfast buffet. I really enjoyed this today. Lots of choice and the waffles and pancakes were amazing....We found a seat upstairs again, nice and quiet and enjoyed an hour or so. It turned out that Mark and Macie had to take part in a drill this morning so we had a wander around the ship and ended up in the library playing Connect 4.

 

Haven't played this since the kids were wee so it was lots of fun. John thought he'd win and ended up getting beat several times over, lol.

Then we took a stroll on the deck and got a photo of Atlantis. Abbey was mad about Mary Kate and Ashley (I used to think it was 3 people....) and she'd endlessly watched a film that had been shot at Atlantis. We wouldn't have time for an excursion today as we didn't know what time Mark would be able to get off the ship so I got a photo for her instead.

[jjsparkles]

Mark got in touch at around 10:45 and we arranged to meet him and Macie at the gangway. Once off the ship we strolled around and Abbey made a beeline for the Pandora shop. There was a decent sale on and she ended up getting 3 charms for her bracelet that she doesn't think she can get at home. She was delighted.

Not sure what to do with the day we agreed we'd do some souvenir shopping and then go back to the ship for lunch. We browsed the shops, got some t-shirts and stuff and then the rain came down. We're no strangers the rain, but it's usually fresh! This felt a bit muggy so we made our way back to the ship, via Fat Tuesdays (again) for a drink for the girls. By the time we got to the port the rain had stopped.

 

Back on board we headed to the Lido deck and the boys enjoyed a Guy's burger. I had a couple of things from the buffet as wasn't really hungry yet. Everyone was really tired today. Mark had been up early for the drill so he wanted to lie down for a bit and the rest of us did the same.

[jjsparkles]

I just love Half Moon Cay. It is quite literally Heaven on Earth! We were there only once back in 2011, and the weather was beautiful just like in your photos. I'm really enjoying reading your review; thanks for posting it.

 

Isn't it just - gorgeous! Thanks for reading along :)

 

Sorry about the burnt shoulders. Whatever SPF factor you were using you might want to double it...and make sure the sunscreen is waterproof/water resistant. Then again you are Scottish. I think the only people more pale may be the Irish ;p

 

It was water resistant, factor 30. Will need to go full waterproof next time (yes, I hope there will be a next time) :D

[jjsparkles]

Lewis and I went off to find some luggage tags for leaving tomorrow morning. We didn't yet know if Mark would be getting off the ship with us or not. So, we decided to go for one of the last numbers. That way if he didn't get off then we'd stay on the ship as long as possible to spend time with him. We took number 25.

Nothing much to do so Lewis and I headed back into the Library for some more Connect 4. This room was always quite busy which is nice to see. After this we headed back to the room so that I could pack up the suitcases and put them out for collection before we went out for the night.

Mark had an early set tonight, instrumental Jazz, so we headed off to the lobby to watch. The quality of the musicians is amazing. They are all so talented.

 

We didn't fancy the main restaurant tonight so all went to Lido for the buffet. I can't remember what we ate. All a bit of a blur to be honest, lol.

I know we did some shopping before Mark's next set which wasn't until after 8pm. Lewis got a watch, I got some souvenirs for family and a t-shirt for myself as the only ones I had left would expose my shoulders which was not a great look :eek:

 

There were a couple of showings of Flick that we considered going to see but timings didn't work out and I had to go to guest services again to try and sort out my account. In the end they removed the gratuities from my account and I just cashed out what I had left.

We did the 80's and 90's trivia quiz in the lobby between Mark's sets and got a respectable 30 out of 32. Still kicking myself for getting those 2 wrong.....

 

Then it was time to watch the last of my boy's performances....

All finished up, we headed for pizza one last time. I never did try the pizza but discovered that there were the most amazing cookies instead and enjoyed these with my hot chocolate.

One of Mark's jobs is to play the solo before the Epic Rock show. Unfortunately Epic Rock wasn't on for this short cruise so we didn't get to see it. He'd sent photos and a video to us a few weeks ago and Lewis thought the guitar that he played was awesome. Lewis is also a budding guitarist and actually very good. So, Mark had been trying the entire cruise to get him into the theatre at some point to get a shot of the guitar.

 

Anyway, we didn't think it was going to happen, until as we were eating our pizza (at midnight...) the sound guy messaged Mark to say he was in the theatre and to come on down. Without Lewis knowing, we all got in the lift and headed down to the empty theatre. He was thrilled to bits to get a shot of the guitar and I think Mark was pleasantly surprised at how good he was.

 

The night had ended on a high and Mark also said that he'd be able to get off the ship tomorrow to spend the day with us which was even better news! Off to bed for our last night.......

[spleenstomper]

I’m curious what make up she bought at Sephora!

[jjsparkles]

Monday 25 June

I was up and in the shower by 7am. Something I forgot to say was how good I thought the bathroom was. I assumed it would get steamed up really easily and therefor make it difficult to then get dressed etc but it wasn't at all.

We all got ready and then left the cabin, meeting our room steward on the way out. We gave him an extra tip as the room had always been perfectly cleaned every day, more than once. And that all important ice was always there!

Breakfast was busy as expected, but again almost nobody sitting upstairs at all. I suppose if you have lots of luggage you wouldn't want to go upstairs. We had backpacks each and one small trolley case. We took our time and heard the calls for the decks/numbers to go down to the lobby. They had only called number 6 by 9am so after breakfast we ventured out onto the deck to warm up. The air con inside was really cold (we're never happy are we ;p) Thankfully it was overcast and quiet on the deck.

 

 

After 45 minutes I wondered if maybe the announcements weren't coming through outside so I went inside to wait for a bit. Still nothing. Around 10am they started to call the rest of the numbers also saying that too many people were in the lobby that shouldn't be there and it was causing a lot of congestion. Finally our number was called. We just used the stairs and were down in no time. Turns out poor Mark had got off the ship around 8:30 and was hanging around in Starbucks waiting for us. He said he was fine though as was catching up with all the stuff on wifi he can't do on the ship.

Eventually we got through customs. It seemed to take forever. If we'd known earlier that Mark would be off too we'd have taken our own bags and been off first thing. Note to remember for the next time. Bye bye Conquest...

We flagged down a taxi for 5 and told the driver to drive to the Publix store in the retail park to pick up Mark. He was waiting for us outside and we travelled the 15 minutes or so to the Gallery One Hotel. Once inside I spoke to the concierge and he knew instantly that we were storing our luggage. Great service. Because of the time it had taken to get out of the port it was now around 12ish and as Mark hadn't had any breakfast we decided to get some lunch at the hotel. Originally we'd said we might use the pool at the hotel or do the Water Taxi with Mark, but we were all tired, burnt and didn't have much time. Mark had to be back on the ship just after 2pm.

 

We ate a nice lunch and I managed to download some of the photos and videos i'd taken for Mark using the hotel wifi. After lunch Mark, John and Lewis went to the Publix store across the road as Mark wanted to pick a few things up. Then we found a spot in the lobby showing the football and Mark and Lewis enjoyed watching some of this.

 

[sanmarcosman]

Great review and photos. Have you considered uploading some of the videos to youtube? I know we'd like to see!

[jjsparkles]

 

All too soon it was time for Mark to go back to the port. More tears and cuddles and then we waved him off :loudcry:

 

We had an hour or so before our car was due so I got the luggage from the concierge and sorted a few things out ready for our flight. Our car arrived on time, around 3:30pm and soon we were off. The fun of the limo wasn't the same on the way back as it was getting here.

 

Miami airport was quite busy, but not too bad. Our boarding cards wouldn't print at the self serve machines so we had to join a queue. I was a bit worried we wouldn't make it through security quickly but it was fine. Soon we were at the gate waiting for our 6pm flight. We didn't wait long before boarding, but just as we were about to take off we had to head back to the gate for some paperwork to be signed....Eventually took off around 30 minutes late. It was quite a turbulent flight and as a result the seatbelt sign was on most of the flight. None of us manged to sleep so by the time we got to London we were all exhausted. My legs had also swollen badly and I was a bit worried about getting on the next flight. We had to transfer terminals again and then board our final flight to get back to Glasgow.

 

We landed in Glasgow at 11:15 am on Tuesday 26 June. I calculated that I'd been awake for 23 hours. Luckily we only live about 10 minutes from the airport and were soon home. We stopped at a shop for some milk and bread and after lunch we all slowly crashed out, one by one.

 

Somehow I managed to wake up and do some laundry and got two full loads dry because, guess what......there is a mini heatwave in Scotland right now. When the sun is shining I've absolutely got to have some laundry drying outside. We're all at boiling point - it hit 32 the other day - the same as Fort Lauderdale, so the factor 30 is still required ;p:cool:

[spleenstomper]

I was wondering if you made it back in time for the UK heatwave!

[Cruiser 4 Life 66]

Thanks for your great review and all the pics. That cruise just seemed to fly by didn't it? Next time you need a longer one, like a 7-day cruise, and make sure Abbey gets to visit Atlantis next time LOL.

[Donh44]

Thanks for your great review and all the pics. That cruise just seemed to fly by didn't it? Next time you need a longer one, like a 7-day cruise, and make sure Abbey gets to visit Atlantis next time LOL.

 

 

I will be on the Conquest sailing on Oct 27. If Mark is still playing, I will say "hi" to him and tell him how much I enjoyed your review and the fantastic pics. After reading all of your comments, I feel like I know y'all.

[jjsparkles]

Final thoughts:

We'd never had done this cruise if it wasn't for Mark but it turned out to be one of the best holiday's we've ever had. Lewis even said it's his absolute favourite!

Some observations from me, a first timer...

The room

• Panorama deck is so convenient for everything. Really easy to get something to eat or drink and our room was right next to the lifts taking us to the main lobby area on deck 3.
  
• I loved the balcony room, 1060, much more spacious than I imagined, even with both bunks set up. It was lovely to have some outside space, the air con was wonderful, the fridge worked really well, the bathroom didn't steam up out of control and the service of the room steward was fantastic. Oh, and the beds were sooooooo comfy. And I was surprised at the space for unpacking everything. Huge thumbs up :D
  

The food

• So much food to be had! I liked the options of eating in the main dining rooms or the buffet. I think the quality was much the same to be honest and I really enjoyed everything I ate.
  
• Pizza open late at night was a highlight for Lewis - he loved it
  
• The boys also loved the BBQ area upstairs on Lido. John said the macaroni was lovely and Lewis loved the pork
  
• I have a sweet tooth and loved that I could get a dessert instead of a main meal if I wasn't hungry. The fruit was lovely too - fresh pineapple so refreshing
  
• People however need to learn some manners.....one man at breakfast was waiting for fresh bacon to come out. When it came, he literally used the tongs and picked up almost the entire tray of bacon, trailed it over loads of other food then threw the tongs back down. I could not believe the selfishness of this. There had been lots of other people waiting too, so he left none for anyone. The staff member just looked on in disbelief as did I and other guests around.
  
• The Steakhouse - just too much food. Wasted on us I'm afraid.
  

Bottomless Bubbles

• I forgot to mention that we got this for John and Lewis. We are not drinkers so the cheers programme was of no interest to us. I'm not a big soda drinker and was happy with the water on Lido and in the main dining room. I think I may have taken a sip of one of John's cokes one night, but apart from that I didn't bother at all with drinks from the bar. It was definitely worth it for them though. Lewis drinks a lot and they each had cokes with dinner each night too. A no brainer for them.
  

Entertainment

• Now, obviously I'm going to say that the Conquistadors were the best thing on the ship! But, actually I think they were overlooked a lot and many people only saw them if they were leaving the theatre or on their way somewhere else which was shame. I noticed the same faces each night coming to see them and having a dance. I don't think the entertainment is co-ordinated the best. For example, a show might end in the theatre with tons of people leaving, but the band will be on a break so no-one knows they're there. It's also quite a bright area. Dimming the lights around the dance floor would create a much better atmosphere.
  
• I forgot to say that we watched the PG comedy show one night, I think on the second night. The female comedian was fabulous, really funny. Even Lewis was laughing his head off - really good.
  
• We didn't watch any of the shows because they all clashed with Mark playing, but he's seen some of them and said they're good. If we hadn't been there to see Mark we would probably have seen them all.
  
• Bingo was fun (not something we do at home at all) and we liked the trivia quizes
  

Half Moon Cay

• Amazing - I think this is honestly the most beautiful place I've ever been (and apparently I live in a beauty spot....)
  
• This was without doubt the best day of our holiday, in fact one of the best days we've had as a family ever, just perfect.
  

Nassau

• Not sure what to say here. It was a bit blah....I'm sure if we'd done an excursion it would have been a good day. Maybe we missed something. Not sure I'd get off the ship at this port again.
  

The ship in general

• Honestly, it looks a wee bit dated to me. I get the artistic theme, but the numerous murals around the lobby and inside the theatre are just that wee bit too much. Can't see the wood for the trees kind of feeling.
  
• The layout was ok, once we understood it a bit better. I liked that there were lots of different areas within each deck and there always seemed to be space around. Never had the crammed feeling except for the Lido deck...
  
• Swimming pools did nothing for me. They just seemed very small for the amount of people on board? Did we miss the main pool somehow? As a result we didn't bother sunbathing on the deck.
  
• All of that being said though, I did really like the ship and would definitely return.
  

Carnival

• I liked the Carnival hub and being able to check our balance easily and see what was happening on board.
  
• I also like not handling cash at all, really easy way of dealing with things.
  
• Guest services I did not like. Always long queues and full of people questioning things on their accounts. Maybe they should look at 'why' people are always queuing up, I'm sure it must be the same things each cruise, so possibly think about addressing the issue instead of having people there to handle it?
  

Embark/Debark

• No issues at all getting on board. We arrived during our allotted time and were on board quite quickly although I did see lots of people there earlier than their time
  
• Debark took ages, but that was our fault in choosing number 25....as already mentioned this was because of Mark so next time we'll probably take our own luggage off as soon as possible. The luggage service however did work a treat and was very well organised.
  
• People, again if they would just listen and follow the instructions I think things would run smoother.
  

Overall we had an incredible time. Obviously it was topped off because we were seeing Mark, but I'm definitely a converted cruiser. I can't think of a less stress free way to travel. I'd love to do a longer cruise and wake up every couple of days in a different port. Lewis keeps saying can we do a back to back - how does he even know this language, lol. Hopefully Mark will get another contract when this one ends, most likely on another ship. I'm crossing my fingers for him as he's worked so hard to get this. And from a selfish point of view I'd love him to be cruising out of Barcelona (don't even know if Carnival go there, lol) which means a nice short flight for us. Orlando or New York would be a tad shorter for us too so that could work. You see, I'm thinking way ahead already.....looking forward to our next cruise :cool:

Thanks for reading along folks :)

[oncruisecontrol]

A nice summation. Thanks again for your review.

[jjsparkles]

I’m curious what make up she bought at Sephora!

 

She said she got Milk highlighter...whatever that is. She also got a couple of things that she can get there but were cheaper in Sephora.

 

Great review and photos. Have you considered uploading some of the videos to youtube? I know we'd like to see!

 

I might give that a go - will need to spend some time editing them but if I do i'll put the link at the end of this report, thanks.