Carnival Conquest Review 3/21/2004-3/28/2004

[coolcruiser60]

As promised…here is my review of the Conquest. Hope this helps you guys. We had 2 adults and my husband’s 2 girls (18 & 15).

 

New Orleans

Unfortunately, we started off on a BAD foot in NO. I really wanted adjoining rooms for all of us but, found a room at the Doubletree on Canal Street that had 2 queen beds. We arrived about 7pm on Saturday (3/20) to find out that they were overbooked and had given our room to someone else. They said we would need to go to the Holiday Inn on Royal Street. Needless to say, I was a little upset by this. How can you give our room to someone else when we have a confirmation number, and reservations? I explained to them that we needed 2 beds and she said they would have double beds. Not exactly what we wanted but, it didn’t look like we had a choice. Anyway, we finally accepted that we’d have to go to the Holiday Inn and they were nice enough to comp our room. We go to Holiday Inn and the room they give us has one king bed. Again, a little upset by this. They could only give us one cot b/c of fire regulations. Is this customary for hotels to do this? We have never experienced this before. Luckily, we got all of our bad luck out of the way that night and had a great cruise.

 

Embarkation

The next morning we woke to a beautiful, sunny day and we were all eager to get to the pier. We arrived about 10:15am and it was a mad house! Everyone from the week before was trying to leave. We found an open area (kind of like a parking lot) where other people were just hanging out waiting for everything to clear out. It was right beside the parking lot that had the ‘Cruise Ship Parking’ sign. It was right on the water and adjacent to the boat. They said that we could not go into the parking lot until all the cars from the previous week had left. About 10:30am they gave us the go ahead to come in and park. It cost us $84 for the week.

 

We gave our bags to a porter and headed to the embarkation line. It was a short walk and we had no waiting in line to check in. We walked right up to the desk, presented our passports and the lady told us to proceed on to the sail and sign desk. She didn’t even ask for our fun passes (I’d go ahead and take them). We then sat in some yellow chairs for about one hour, got our picture taken, went through security an were on the boat by about 11:45am. I would strongly recommend getting there early if you can.

 

Ship

The ship was absolutely beautiful. It was very clean. The public rooms were pretty cold though. I would definitely take a light jacket/sweater that you can wear at night and during the day. Also, this ship rocked most of the week but it was really bad Monday and Tuesday. The other cruises I’ve been on were not this bad. In case you’ve never experienced this before, the best way I can describe it is to say that it reminded me of being on an airplane and going through some rough turbulance.

 

 

Cabin

We were on the upper deck cat 4C in cabins 6191 and 6193. They were roomy enough for 2 of us and we all enjoyed our cabins. They had plenty of storage and we had no noise problems at night. They filled our bathrooms with disposable razors, shower gel, shampoo, Tylenol pm, Rolaids and dental floss.

 

We did have one bag that the tag fell off of so, I’d recommend you put a couple on there or stick a label on your bag. We thought we had lost it! We finally found it about 9pm Sunday night.

 

Food

I have been on 2 Carnival Cruises before (Holiday and Sensation) and I have to say the food seemed a little better on those ships. The food on the Conquest was good and always hot but, it just seemed like it use to be a little better. We had breakfast on the lido deck almost every morning and they always had a good selection (eggs, omlets, bacon, sausage, fruit, bagels etc). We ate in the Monet one morning and it was good as well. We had hamburgers on the lido every day for lunch. I LOVED the fries. Sometimes, I would just swing by and get some fries J Our dinner was at 8:30pm in the Renior each night. The first night my husband and I both ordered a steak and mine was not very good. DH said his was great. Other than that, they had a great selection each night (pasta, steak, chicken, shrimp, fish, veal, lobster etc). Oh, Ronath…the first formal night is when they serve lobster. I could kick myself for not ordering it. I ordered fish and I sat there and watched DH ooh and ahh about his. We went to the point one night and all ordered steaks and they were wonderful. Don’t go on a night when you are pressed for time b/c it takes at least 2 hours.

 

Montego Bay

We decided to go to the Dunns Falls since DH and girls hadn’t been before. It was a 2.5 hour drive there and back and we only stayed at the falls about an hour. We also stopped by a shopping center on the way back. It was ok but, the 5 hour trip in the shuttle was a little long for us. Carnival use to drop you off in Ochos Rios rather than Montego Bay so you were closer to the falls and that makes it a little better. This was probably the least favorite of all the ports.

 

Grand Cayman

We had bought tickets for the Stingray excursion and it was cancelled b/c of the strong winds. We were bummed out! We went shopping instead and stopped by the Hard Rock Café and had lunch. We also ventured down to the beach and enjoyed some sun and the beautiful water.

 

Cozumel

We rented a convertible and drove down to the beach and did some snorkeling. Then, we loaded up and went to Carlos and Charlies and did some shopping down town.

 

 

Dress

Sorry guys but, I’ve got to put a little bit in here about clothes/dress. I was all stressed out about what we all needed to wear to dinner each night. I brought mostly dresses and I wish I had brought more capris and pants for myself. On formal nights, men mostly wore dark suits and women wore little black dresses and sparkly dresses. We did see jeans, shorts and flip flops in the dining room. If I did it again, I’d bring less dinner clothes and more shorts for the day. I wouldn’t take as many t-shirts b/c we ended up buying several that we wore that week.

 

Packing

DH and I bought a new garmet bag that goes with our luggage set. It is a Samsonite that you hang your clothes in and it folds and zips up to resemble a suitcase. We took that and a large suitcase (and a carry on). I hung his dress shirts, suit and dress slacks in the garmet bag (in dry cleaner bags) because I thought that would prevent wrinkles more than folding them and putting them in the suitcase. Boy, was I wrong. His suit and dress shirts were wrinkled beyond belief. Most of my dress clothes were in the suitcase and they were in much better condition. If I did it again, I’d have the cleaners wrap his shirts in tissue paper and fold them. I hope this helps some of you.

 

Summary

We had a fantastic time on the Conquest. The service was great, the people seemed a little tired but were friendly. The food was good, the cabins were clean, and there was plenty for us to do. The girls met some other people their age and enjoyed the teen club they had on the ship. We would highly recommend this cruise and would sail the Conquest again in a minute.

[flgatormom]

thank you for your review! we are leaving 4/25 and this will be our first cruise. did you see very many small children? we are bringing our 2 and 5 yr old and I'm a bit nervous about it. your review was so helpful and informative - glad your trip ended better than it began!!

[coolcruiser60]

I saw more children around the age of 7 and up. I'm quite sure the smaller ones were at Camp Carnival though. Don't be nervous, you guys are gonna have a blast!

[Ronath]

Thanks for the info on the first formal night with the lobster. We're planning on The Point on the 2nd formal night and were hoping to not miss the lobster.

 

Check out our pictures: http://community.webshots.com/user/natron24

 

Premier Royale 7/87

Sovereign of the Seas 11/90

Enchanted Seas 4/91

Ecstasy 11/91

Celebration 6/92

Crown Princess 11/92

Enchanted Seas 12/92

Tropicale 6/93

Crown Princess 11/93

Enchanted Seas 12/93

Celebration 6/94

Regal Princess 10/94

Enchanted Seas 12/94

Tropicale 4/95

Regal Princess 10/95

Enchanted Isle 5/96

Enchanted Isle 8/96

Crown Princess 10/96

Nieuw Amsterdam 4/97

Enchanted Isle 9/97

Celebration 10/97

Enchanted Isle 4/98

Norwegian Star 7/98

Celebration 11/98

Enchanted Isle 12/98

Norwegian Sea 5/99

Enchanted Isle 11/99

Enchanted Isle 5/00

Destiny 11/00

Inspiration 5/01

Celebrity Century 11/01

Explorer of the Seas 11/02

Carnival Conquest 5/03

Rhapsody of the Seas 11/03

Carnival Conquest 5/04

Navigator of the Seas 11/04

 

 

[CruisinKween]

Great Review! We had made reservations at the Doubletree, but then later changed them to Hilton Riverside. Thanks so much for the "garment bag packing". I'll definitely ask for the tissue paper. Glad you had a great time! We'll be sailing in August (58 of us) and we can not wait! Thanks for taking the time to tell us about your trip!

 

August 22nd Conquest Cruise

 

[tclowe]

Thanks for the thumbs up review. We are leaving next Sunday (4/18) so practically climbing the walls with excitement.

 

Cynthia

[ljrfrm]

Thanks for the review. Glad you had fun!

 

Paradise 6/27

 

[Runner Girl]

Thanks for the review! I've been reading alot about chaos at the terminal. I don't think getting there early is the key. Let the people disembarking get out of there. Usually, if the ship is leaving from Miami, I want to board early, but for us, part of the attraction is New Orleans. I think we'll enjoy the city and get down to the ship a little later and avoid some of the chaos. We'll have all week to enjoy the ship!