Just back from the Carnival Conquest and I Have Lots To Talk About And to Show!!!

[jjjhill]

On 10/2/2018 at 5:47 PM, MsJersey84 said:

Embark Day is Finally Here: Sept 23

 

The alarm went off at 8:15am I turned to Nick and yelled what day is it?? and he says quietly cruise day and I replied no and yelled happily in my best Jenny voice "Its' Cruise Daaay" while throwing my hand and arms and in the air and waving like I just don't care!!! We are big fans of the La Lido Loco YouTube channel. Jenny and Toni are always yelling it's cruise day!! We quickly showered and get dress and we were off to the 1st floor for the hotel's included breakfast. The breakfast line consist of sausage, bacon, eggs, waffles, biscuits and gravy, some other little pastries, fruit, oatmeal, yogurt, juice, milk, tea and coffee. After our light breakfast because we were saving room for our first Guy Burger we went upstairs packed our things and we were off to our offsite parking place. As we were driving Nick and I turned up our two favorite lets get hype songs! Mine is "Best Day of My Life" by American Authors and his is "We made it" by Linkin Park and Busta Rimes. We are well diverse music listeners.

We found a great deal online with Park by Port Fort Lauderdale. We pre-paid $46 for our 6 day parking which included transportation to and from the port. The vans run every 15mins to and from the port. This company uses the back couple of rows of a near by casino. The parking lot is gated and well lit. I had no problems leaving our truck here. Check-in was fast and easy. About 15 mins after arriving we were loaded on a full van and on the way to the port.

 

CARNIVAL CONQUEST WE ARE ON OUR WAAAAAAY!!!!

 

We arrived at the port just in time for our 11:30am check-in time.. We tipped our van driver, handed our bags and tip to the port bag handler, took a picture or two of the conquest. And into the port building we went..

Oh Yeah!!

 

Once inside the building there was an older gentleman that pointed you to one of two lines to go through the detectors and to get checked-in. One line was for on-time check-in cruisers and the other line was for early or late check-in cruisers. We were escorted to the line on the left for the on-time cruisers. We went through the short line for the detector and in no time at all we were in the zig, zag lines to check in. We went up and down the lines for awhile and when we finally got to the front of the line there was a gentlemen that told you what counter to go to, to check-in, but instead of him telling us what counter to go to to check-in he looked at our passports and boarding pass and told us to head up stairs to the final security point before entering the gangway. A small panic set in and I told Nick why did he by-pass our check-in they didn't take our picture for our sail cards and what about loading money on to our card.. Nick just kissed me and told me don't worry about it because we are going on the ship and who cares if they have our picture or not and if we have money loaded on the card because we have the drink package and don't need money anyway.

Shortly after his please just breathe talk we arrived at the next security point where the woman asked for our boarding pass and passport again she picked up her tablet thing and said smile. Within two seconds our pictures were taken and she said you can add cash once aboard the ship, please proceed to the gangway.. Thank God panic averted.. LOL..

The excitement is building in our bodies we can see the gangway right down the hall we start to pull each others arms in excitement.. We begin to walk faster and faster.. There is no line so we go full speed ahead. We reach the end of the hallway and onto the gangway.. We begin to start the incline to the ship's deck there is still no one in front of us so we keep high tailing it.. Right before we reach the top of the gangway there is a short stop.. And all of sudden we are moving again.. I raise my foot and place it over the threshold of the Conquest deck!!!

We finally Made it!!!

 

My wait is over!!! Then we step over the threshold of the ships door into the Atrium of the Carnival Conquest our home on the sea for the next 6 days!!! This really is the happiest moment for every cruiser in my book!!!

 

Girl I know that Jenny voice. LOL. Following along!!!

[MsJersey84]

Sept 25: Seaday

 

 

Sleep was way too short for me. I woke up at 6:30 am. Why lawd why?? The one day I can sleep in and still eat in the main dining room after 9:30 am and I am up at 6:30 am. Nick was snoring away so I let him sleep. I got dressed and headed up to the customer service desk. I forgot to put in yesterday’s post that yesterday afternoon we noticed two charges to our account that where not ours it was two souvenir alcohol drink charges. First off we were at the serenity deck and there were charges from the serenity deck and the other bar put in 1min apart it’s impossible to be at two bars within a min. Secondly we have the drink package we would never get the souvenir drinks because we know they are not included. So I reported the charges yesterday afternoon around 3pm and they told me to come back after midnight because that is when they get all of their sign slips. Once at customer service desk they informed me that they still hadn’t got the slips from the previous day for me to come back after 2pm. So I went up to the lido deck to see what bar was open because I was craving a coke. I hadn’t had one the whole cruise. Now just so you know coke is my morning coffee and I hadn’t had one in 6 days. And that wasn’t going to change, when I got my coke and took two sips I found out that I could not swallow my throat was so sore and dry. Our room air had been dry the whole cruise and it had been bothering my nose but now it was my throat too. So feeling disappointed I decided to check emails since we got internet just for one day the last day to check in on some things. Why did I ever open my emails?? The madness of life set in and I was not ready yet so I closed my emails right away because I don’t have time for that!! So instead I just walked around the empty ship and looked at the water. Finally around 8:30am or so I went back to the room got back in bed and went back to sleep. I woke up around 10am and woke nick up because I was starving and wanted to go to seaday brunch. Finally a change in the breakfast menu.. Thank you Jesus. This morning for breakfast I had a hot cup of tea to help my throat, the pork chop and the grilled salmon. I didn’t eat the sides that they came with them but they were both so awesome. Definitely worth the wait. Nick had the huevous rancheros which he loved, and the caramelized cheesecake.  Now that stuffing our faces was out of the way, we were off to just walk around and see what could be seen and what we could get into. After sometime we heard the announcement for the hairy chest contest, this was on my list of things to do because in all 4 of my cruises I have never witnessed a hairy chest contest and I vowed to Nick before the cruise that this year, that was going to change. We found a place to stand in front of the life vest rental kiosk which was great because it was shaded. While we waited for the contest to start I ran over to the Blue Iguana and grabbed me a mojito. The show was starting and I was super excited. We had some contenders in our batch of men.

 

 

This was so hilarious even Nick couldn’t help himself. When everything was said and done, after every body voted this was our winner.

( The winner)

 

(Matt the CD and I after the Hairy Chest Contest)

 

I didn’t care who won it was so fun to watch.  Nick was curious to find out what Lights! Camera! Interaction show was about, so we off to the main theater to investigate. Lights! Camera! Is a show completely based on audience interaction. There would be no show without the audience. The volunteers/ or people pulled on stage must reenact movies that your cruise director gives’ you.  You get to use all the sound system and special effects to help you along the way. Yours truly got picked and I was super excited Nick recorded the whole thing. I had to play the male lead role from the God Father.. Number one I am the girlish girl you will ever met and 2. making my voice deep like a man was hilarious in itself then to act like a father figure.. LOL. My opponent a man who had to reenact Legally Blind and he was Elle Woods. Well we all know who won. ME!!!! Oh yeah!! LOL.

 

Edited October 25, 2018 by MsJersey84
Picture in the wrong place

[MsJersey84]

As the show was coming to an end they started making announcements that the final Bingo of the cruise would be next.. So we were supposed to go to Tea Time next my favorite thing to do on sea days. But I heard Bingo and tea time took a back seat. I should have went to Tea Time because I didn’t win in Bingo. Aww man.

 

After Bingo we ventured off to find Guess the game in the Vincent lounge. You have two teams of 10 with life size Guess cards and you play Guess who. We only stayed there a moment before we both heard Guy’s Burger calling us for the last time. So off we went to get our last Guy Burgers and a Red Caribbean for me and a Miami Vice for Nick.

(When your kids IM you and ask for a picture and you are waiting in line for your lunch)

 

Our only sea day is half over and I am just starting to have fun!! We ate our burgers and ordered another round of cocktails before we went up to the serenity deck to find us a clam-shell to lay in. As we climbed the stairs to our mini heaven I could hear the brass drum playing Caribbean sounds. This is why I truly love cruising. Music, drinks, wonderful views, my husband, there was no place I would rather be. I was truly in heaven.  We stayed on the serenity deck until the sun started to set and it was time to get ready for dinner. On our way to the cabin we stopped at the guest services to make sure our account had been fix. It wasn’t but the lady remembered this was my third time checking and they did not have the slips from the previous day so she just removed the charges. We headed to our cabin to get dress for our last night on the ship. The night was young and we still have 12hrs until we make it back to Fort. Lauderdale let the Carnival Conquest night begin. . For dinner Nick had the beef carpaccio and the flatbread to start, then he had the Tiger Shrimp Creole, Cinnamon Pumpkin Cheese Pie, and The Melting Cake to finish off with. I had the Shrimp cocktail, and Caesar salad to start with, then I had the beef prime rib and I passed on dessert because nothing seemed worthy. 

 

 

 

After we raced off to the Punchline there were two R-rated shows back to back this evening one at 10:30 and then another show at 11:30 and we wanted to see both. We found sits in the middle of the room to enjoy the evening in. While we waited for the Ronnie’s show to start we orders the Zany Zombie and the Punchliner. Ronnie was great I hope to see him again on another ship. While we waited for Sam’s show to start Nick and I ordered shots (Not your grandma’s cinnamon and walk the plank)

and another round of cocktails. It was our last night and we had drinks to still get on our drink package. So we said what the heck line them up. After the shows we stopped by the dance club for a few two steps and then we were off for our nightly pizza pirate tradition. We ate our pizza and then ordered another round of drinks from the casino bar before returning to the room. Because guess what we still hadn’t packed our bags. So when we got to the room we literally throw everything into our luggage and after 5mins were done and getting ready for bed. We finally got in the bed between 1:30 and 2am. I drifted to sleep thinking why lawd? Why did this cruise go by so fast!!

 

I just want to thank everyone for following along on my journey and at the bottom I am just going to write an overall summary of how I felt the food, entertainment, and wait staff were.

 

Overall this cruise we the best sailing I have been on. I am not sure if it was the ship or the drink package that persuade my perception, but it was the best. The dining staff in the main was great. Our main server was Hugo and I don’t remember his assistant name but they went above and beyond. They remember what Nick and I like and ordered it without asking. They were always kind and had a smile on. I have two complaints about this cruise the first was of course our room wasn’t completely clean when we entered it on the first day and that I wish carnival would upgrade their food wow factor there was only one night were Nick and I were like OMG we want to try everything literally give me one of everything. I just wish the menu options were like that every night with us going wow. By far the desserts on the Carnival line are horrible there are maybe one or two good desserts and that is all.. Lastly about the food I understand when eating on the ship they are severing thousands of people at one time but the food never comes out hot never.. Just luke warm or warm. Carnival please please upgrade your wow factor when it to the food. All and all this is my 4^th Carnival cruise, will any of these factor stop me from sailing Carnival again? Heck no! In fact we are already booked for Oct 2019.. LOL. These are just my hopes and dreams.

 

HAPPY SAILING EVERYONE!!

[Houst]

Nice Review! Thanks for sharing!

[jeanneful]

Loved your review!! You two are so cute!!

[JaxsMama]

On 10/2/2018 at 7:45 PM, MsJersey84 said:

The Redfrog Rum Bar Menu

 

 

After we finished our food we decided we wanted another round of drinks after all they are paid for..

** Real quick side note about the cheers package when in port there is a small tax on each individual drink which is not included in your original drink package price. Also please be aware of the tip line on your receipt print out after each drink this line for cruisers with cheers is understood to be the additional tip line because your regular gratuities is included when you purchased your cheer package.**

 

This time around we both went to the Rum bar. I got a Kiss on the Lips which was not one of my favorite cocktails. It was just way way too sweet and that is weird coming from me because I love drinks that are sweet. I want to taste the fruit\ sweetness and not the alcohol in the drink but I want to feel the alcohol. Nick got a Carnival Paloma which he said was really like a breakfast cocktail because all you can taste is the taste of grapefruit.

Kiss on the Lips

 

.

Paloma.

 

After walking the Lido and taking in some of the sight, Nick noticed that it was 12:50pm and his Bengals game was about to start at 1pm and he wanted to go to the SkyBox Bar on deck 5 to see if his game had made it on one of the big screens in the sports bar. So off we went. The Sports Bar was full we were able to find two seats by a couple we befriended and looked for through out the cruise to see how their day was going. Their names are Carley and Matt. This was their first cruise ever. Nick's Bengals game was not on the screen so he put his headphones on and started to watch the game on his phone and Matt's golf game was not on the big screen either so he put his earphones on and started to watch his game on his phone. So Carley and began to talk. I informed her of all the do's and don'ts of cruising and all the secrets of cruising. I talked to Carley until about 3pm, by the end of the conversation she was telling Nick you are married to a Cruise Encyclopedia. She was not the only person to call me that by the end of the cruise. LOL. I wear that title proudly!! I am a big cruise critic reader and google researcher.. My only complaint about the SkyBox and this was Carley Compliant too was they literally only had two cocktails on the menu. So I just ordered a traditional Margarita. Sorry I don't have a picture of the menu and I forgot to ask permission from Carley and Matt to post their picture.

WHO DEY!

[MsJersey84]

On 10/25/2018 at 2:00 PM, jeanneful said:

Loved your review!! You two are so cute!!

 

Thank you

[njoyndride]

Loved the review, thanks for doing one.  How was disembarking?

[momof3cruisers]

This was a great review! I really enjoyed reading it so thank you so much for taking the time to do it. I would love to sail with you. You seem like a delightful couple.

 

can you tell some more about the shops area you went to outside of the port area at Amber Cove? We will be there in Feb and I just can't decide what to do.

[MsJersey84]

On 10/27/2018 at 12:49 PM, njoyndride said:

Loved the review, thanks for doing one.  How was disembarking?

Disembarking was kind of slow when it came to customs it took us about an hour.

[MsJersey84]

On 10/29/2018 at 3:56 AM, momof3cruisers said:

This was a great review! I really enjoyed reading it so thank you so much for taking the time to do it. I would love to sail with you. You seem like a delightful couple.

 

can you tell some more about the shops area you went to outside of the port area at Amber Cove? We will be there in Feb and I just can't decide what to do.

The shopping area we went was just ok. Nothing fancy just close by. To be truthful there is really nothing to do in this port unless you book an excursion or you stay in the port area and do the water slide or the sky box.. I am sad to say this is one of our least favorite ports because of the lack of options. 

[MsJersey84]

On 10/29/2018 at 3:56 AM, momof3cruisers said:

This was a great review! I really enjoyed reading it so thank you so much for taking the time to do it. I would love to sail with you. You seem like a delightful couple.

 

can you tell some more about the shops area you went to outside of the port area at Amber Cove? We will be there in Feb and I just can't decide what to do.

 

Are all ready for your cruise in Feb??

[Tigergenesis]

Thank you for sharing!  I apologize if I missed it, but when was your first formal night?  I did notice that you mentioned Amber Cove was the 2nd formal night.  🙂

[MsJersey84]

16 hours ago, Tigergenesis said:

Thank you for sharing!  I apologize if I missed it, but when was your first formal night?  I did notice that you mentioned Amber Cove was the 2nd formal night.  🙂

 

No Problem. The first formal night was the second night of the cruise this would have been under Nassau port day, Sept 24.

[MsJersey84]

16 hours ago, Tigergenesis said:

Thank you for sharing!  I apologize if I missed it, but when was your first formal night?  I did notice that you mentioned Amber Cove was the 2nd formal night.  🙂

 

And I see you are getting married on the conquest in April Congratulations. Nick and I got married April 2, 2016.. April wedding are perfect not too cold and not too hot. Just perfect!!

[GMRPHRN]

Thank you so much for this review, I know it took you a while to complete it and I appreciate you sticking with it. I sailed the Conquest a few years ago and they didn't have Serenity or BBQ so I guess that was before dry dock. 

1) Wonderful review of HMC - the one time I managed an itinerary that included that port, weather forced us to skip it hasn't worked out since

2) Thanks for that info on Amber Cove. On my Dec 2017 cruise, my cruise mates ditched me (long story) and I walked around looking for something to do. I almost walked all the way to the highway but turned back. Now I know there are options. I will be in AC in Feb 2019.

3) Thanks for the food porn. Getting hungry just reading your posts.

4) You were on my ideal cruise, nap, drink, sleep, eat, beach, repeat.

 

Thanks

[CoolOne56]

10 hours ago, GMRPHRN said:

Thank you so much for this review, I know it took you a while to complete it and I appreciate you sticking with it. I sailed the Conquest a few years ago and they didn't have Serenity or BBQ so I guess that was before dry dock. 

1) Wonderful review of HMC - the one time I managed an itinerary that included that port, weather forced us to skip it hasn't worked out since

2) Thanks for that info on Amber Cove. On my Dec 2017 cruise, my cruise mates ditched me (long story) and I walked around looking for something to do. I almost walked all the way to the highway but turned back. Now I know there are options. I will be in AC in Feb 2019.

3) Thanks for the food porn. Getting hungry just reading your posts.

4) You were on my ideal cruise, nap, drink, sleep, eat, beach, repeat.

 

Thanks

MsJersey84, love your review & photos. We were on the Conquest last year.  I hope I'm not high jacking your post.

GNRPHRN, there is a large pool in walking distance from the pier with a zipline over the pool - also food & drinks.  We were there Oct. 2017.  Nice relaxing time.

[MsJersey84]

5 hours ago, CoolOne56 said:

MsJersey84, love your review & photos. We were on the Conquest last year.  I hope I'm not high jacking your post.

GNRPHRN, there is a large pool in walking distance from the pier with a zipline over the pool - also food & drinks.  We were there Oct. 2017.  Nice relaxing time.

 

I dont mind at all!! LOL

[Tigergenesis]

On 12/2/2018 at 2:53 PM, MsJersey84 said:

 

And I see you are getting married on the conquest in April Congratulations. Nick and I got married April 2, 2016.. April wedding are perfect not too cold and not too hot. Just perfect!!

That is great to hear!!!!  I am really excited and fingers crossed we have good weather for HMC that day!!!

[MsJersey84]

On 12/2/2018 at 3:38 PM, GMRPHRN said:

Thank you so much for this review, I know it took you a while to complete it and I appreciate you sticking with it. I sailed the Conquest a few years ago and they didn't have Serenity or BBQ so I guess that was before dry dock. 

1) Wonderful review of HMC - the one time I managed an itinerary that included that port, weather forced us to skip it hasn't worked out since

2) Thanks for that info on Amber Cove. On my Dec 2017 cruise, my cruise mates ditched me (long story) and I walked around looking for something to do. I almost walked all the way to the highway but turned back. Now I know there are options. I will be in AC in Feb 2019.

3) Thanks for the food porn. Getting hungry just reading your posts.

4) You were on my ideal cruise, nap, drink, sleep, eat, beach, repeat.

 

Thanks

You must tell me how AC is in Feb!! Please!! Lol

[CRUISERMOMX3]

I just found your review and it's awesome. Sounds like you guys had a blast. We're practically neighbors (I love in Canton) and just wondering about the drive to Fort Lauderdale. My man and I will be going on the Sunrise in October and we will be driving. Did you plan to cut over to the coast to jet ski? I was thinking the turnpike would be the fastest way. Thanks for all the food and drink porn too!!

[MsJersey84]

10 hours ago, CRUISERMOMX3 said:

I just found your review and it's awesome. Sounds like you guys had a blast. We're practically neighbors (I love in Canton) and just wondering about the drive to Fort Lauderdale. My man and I will be going on the Sunrise in October and we will be driving. Did you plan to cut over to the coast to jet ski? I was thinking the turnpike would be the fastest way. Thanks for all the food and drink porn too!!

Hi,

 

The drive wasn't that bad because my husband planned stops like breakfast, and jet skies. So we were there in no time. We did not take the turnpike because we did not want to pay extra for the tolls. So instead we took I-75 south to I-10 to I-95 south.

 

I am so glad you enjoyed the review. Happy Sailing

[MsJersey84]

On 12/4/2018 at 8:44 PM, Tigergenesis said:

That is great to hear!!!!  I am really excited and fingers crossed we have good weather for HMC that day!!!

How was your wedding on the Conquest??

[MsJersey84]

I miss cruising!!

[samiam0403]

It was so fun to re-read your review! I went back to see what I had commented on your review (since I haven't sailed Conquest in years), and I realized I was booked to sail on Conquest again in October 2018 - until Hurricane Michael wiped out our town and we had to cancel. Still a great review to read, though!