Conquest vs Sunrise

[JP350]

Hi all, there are cruises that are on carnival sunrise and carnival conquest that both leave out of Miami and follow the same 4 night  itinerary (Key West, Cozumel). The Conquest cruise is $513.72 while the Sunrise cruise is $625.72. Would some Carnival legacy cruisers share if 100 extra is worth the new features added to Sunrise in the referb. This is my first carnival cruise so tips would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

[cookiejarvis]

I did the Sunrise in November 2021 and Conquest in January 2022, approximately two months apart.  By far, liked the Sunrise better.  Conquest was good ship, easily managed, and fun.  Sunrise seemed a little more modern and upgraded.   Sunrise has larger Bonsai Sushi whereas, on Conquest, sushi was just at a walk up window.  Just nicer on Sunrise.   Just my personal opinion.

[wemjam]

Also been on both in past (also just got off Sunrise again last month and doing Conquest next week too).  We love the Conquest, it is one of our favorite ships, the Sunrise was a more updated and also had Cucina del Capitano which the Conquest does not.  I think you can't go wrong either way though.  If you want a more updated ship with a few extra options for the $100 I would do Sunrise.

 

I will say I do like the layout of the main Promenade with a clear walking shot back to front better on the Conquest then the layout on the Sunrise of walking through the Casino and smoke if you want to promenade in the evening or sit and people watch.

[MisterOJ2]

12 minutes ago, wemjam said:

I will say I do like the layout of the main Promenade with a clear walking shot back to front better on the Conquest then the layout on the Sunrise of walking through the Casino and smoke if you want to promenade in the evening or sit and people watch.

 

That's my favorite thing about the Conquest class. I love not having to walk right through the Casino to get from the front of Deck 5 to the back.

[Daddyfto]

Conquest class are bigger and carry less passengers than the Sunrise (Destiny) class ships.  Doug Parker explains in his Conquest review on youtube

[JP350]

5 hours ago, wemjam said:

Also been on both in past (also just got off Sunrise again last month and doing Conquest next week too).  We love the Conquest, it is one of our favorite ships, the Sunrise was a more updated and also had Cucina del Capitano which the Conquest does not.  I think you can't go wrong either way though.  If you want a more updated ship with a few extra options for the $100 I would do Sunrise.

 

I will say I do like the layout of the main Promenade with a clear walking shot back to front better on the Conquest then the layout on the Sunrise of walking through the Casino and smoke if you want to promenade in the evening or sit and people watch.

Can you sit in the promenade and listen to music, enjoy the nightlife without smelling casino smoke. Is it just the walkthrough or can you smell it in the atrium. 

[JP350]

6 hours ago, cookiejarvis said:

I did the Sunrise in November 2021 and Conquest in January 2022, approximately two months apart.  By far, liked the Sunrise better.  Conquest was good ship, easily managed, and fun.  Sunrise seemed a little more modern and upgraded.   Sunrise has larger Bonsai Sushi whereas, on Conquest, sushi was just at a walk up window.  Just nicer on Sunrise.   Just my personal opinion.

Would you say that the upgrades would be good for a first time carnival cruiser.

[wemjam]

11 minutes ago, JP350 said:

Can you sit in the promenade and listen to music, enjoy the nightlife without smelling casino smoke. Is it just the walkthrough or can you smell it in the atrium. 

 Conquest does have a little stage area with a small singer or music in one area by the casino bar at different times.  You could sit in the area and listen to music.  There are quite a few seats that run along the outside wall of the ship in this area so lots of places to sit and you can pick one that would work for you.  It's nice because you have the windows too so you can sit and watch outside, people watch, listen to music or just watch the people go by (which we like), and have a nice drink or something while you do.  It is across from the casino area so you can watch some action going on in there too.  

 

The Sunrise doesn't have an area like this and tends to be more "broken up" a bit.  The promenade more "meanders" in the ship and through the casino (right up the middle kind of).  Any walk "through" the casino is terrible for smoke.

Edited April 27, 2022 by wemjam

[Eliot Ness]

We've been on both classes and personally we far prefer the Conquest.  Sure the Sunrise has newer updates but it can be a very crowded ship if sailing near capacity.  The comedy club is almost impossible to get a seat (with a view).  I also found the Conquest had a lot more uncrowded deck seating for reading or just watching the ocean go by.  Some of the additions to the Sunrise are nice, and we didn't hate the ship, but just feel more relaxed and comfortable on a Conquest class ship.  I'm sure you'll have a good time no matter which ship you choose.

Edited April 27, 2022 by Eliot Ness

[wemjam]

11 minutes ago, JP350 said:

Would you say that the upgrades would be good for a first time carnival cruiser.

It depends on your likes.  Do you want to spend extra to eat at specialty restaurant?  Cucina Del Capitano is really the only "extra" restaurant on the Sunrise.  The Sunrise does have a nicer area for Bonsi Sushi that is more like seating in a restaurant, but it is a counter on one side of the main promenade walk way, and seats with tables on the other.  It wasn't very private like a normal restaurant.  You felt like you were sitting in a high traffic area the whole time.  The Bonsi Sushi on the Conquest s just a small counter you pick up at.  I eat at all these places and it wouldn't be a deal breaker for me either way I guess on this one.  

 

It's hard for me to say which would be best.... I liked them both, but again the Conquest just holds a special place in my heart after all these years.  Just love the ship and the layout of her.  Seems like people were are bit more spread out on the Conquest to me too.  I think someone above mentioned she is a bigger ship and holds less people so that is probably why.  Part of this is the 6K Grand Ocean Suites we love to get on her too (which we have next week).

 

 

[wemjam]

3 minutes ago, Eliot Ness said:

We've been on both and personally we far prefer the Conquest.  Sure the Sunrise has newer updates but it is a very crowded ship if sailing near capacity.  The comedy club is almost impossible to get a seat (with a view).  I also found the Conquest had a lot more uncrowded deck seating for reading or just watching the ocean go by.  Some of the additions to the Sunrise were nice, and we didn't hate the ship, but just feel more relaxed and comfortable on a Conquest class ship.  I'm sure you'll have a good time no matter which ship you choose.

Agreed, about Comedy Club. Seems they are always full on all ships, but Conquest certainly can hold more and you have a good view from almost everywhere.  Some of the seating in the Sunrise was actually down a long entry hallway (which I thought was stupid, because you could only sit there and "watch" by looking at TV's on the wall, you couldn't see the stage at ALL  - they just played in on the screen so you could see it there)

[JP350]

33 minutes ago, Eliot Ness said:

We've been on both classes and personally we far prefer the Conquest.  Sure the Sunrise has newer updates but it can be a very crowded ship if sailing near capacity.  The comedy club is almost impossible to get a seat (with a view).  I also found the Conquest had a lot more uncrowded deck seating for reading or just watching the ocean go by.  Some of the additions to the Sunrise are nice, and we didn't hate the ship, but just feel more relaxed and comfortable on a Conquest class ship.  I'm sure you'll have a good time no matter which ship you choose.

We are cruising with a kid and he would enjoy the activities of the sunrise, but enjoy the extra space of the conquest class. We have cruised a lot of royal ships and if you could compare these ships to royal ships (if you’ve been on Royal) that would be so helpful.

[JP350]

36 minutes ago, wemjam said:

It depends on your likes.  Do you want to spend extra to eat at specialty restaurant?  Cucina Del Capitano is really the only "extra" restaurant on the Sunrise.  The Sunrise does have a nicer area for Bonsi Sushi that is more like seating in a restaurant, but it is a counter on one side of the main promenade walk way, and seats with tables on the other.  It wasn't very private like a normal restaurant.  You felt like you were sitting in a high traffic area the whole time.  The Bonsi Sushi on the Conquest s just a small counter you pick up at.  I eat at all these places and it wouldn't be a deal breaker for me either way I guess on this one.  

 

It's hard for me to say which would be best.... I liked them both, but again the Conquest just holds a special place in my heart after all these years.  Just love the ship and the layout of her.  Seems like people were are bit more spread out on the Conquest to me too.  I think someone above mentioned she is a bigger ship and holds less people so that is probably why.  Part of this is the 6K Grand Ocean Suites we love to get on her too (which we have next week).

 

 

If you’ve been on a Royal Caribbean ship if you could compare these ships to royal ships that would be amazing. We’re very familiar with Royal but carnival is a new arena to us.

[wemjam]

Sorry, only sailed Royal once - was not impressed so didn't go back.  Was a long time ago though.  We haven't traveled with kidos in years... Sunrise does have the better activity area for them.

[MisterOJ2]

54 minutes ago, JP350 said:

We are cruising with a kid and he would enjoy the activities of the sunrise, but enjoy the extra space of the conquest class. We have cruised a lot of royal ships and if you could compare these ships to royal ships (if you’ve been on Royal) that would be so helpful.

 

I'm not familiar with the Sunrise, but I have been on the Conquest when my kids were... (checks signature and does the math) 9 and 7. They loved it. They're 18 and 16 now and have basically grown up vacationing on cruise ships. They've been on some pretty big ones and some pretty small ones and they never had a bad time on any of them. One thing I noticed after taking our last Royal Caribbean cruise (which had A LOT more "stuff" to do on it) is that those extra bells and whistles didn't mean that much in the end. It was all about the kids club. My kids always spent most of their time there as opposed to waiting in line for whatever waterslides, flow riders and rock climbing walls were on board. And the kids clubs were great for them on every Carnival ship we ever had them on. That's one of the main reasons we kept coming back to them.

[JP350]

37 minutes ago, MisterOJ2 said:

 

I'm not familiar with the Sunrise, but I have been on the Conquest when my kids were... (checks signature and does the math) 9 and 7. They loved it. They're 18 and 16 now and have basically grown up vacationing on cruise ships. They've been on some pretty big ones and some pretty small ones and they never had a bad time on any of them. One thing I noticed after taking our last Royal Caribbean cruise (which had A LOT more "stuff" to do on it) is that those extra bells and whistles didn't mean that much in the end. It was all about the kids club. My kids always spent most of their time there as opposed to waiting in line for whatever waterslides, flow riders and rock climbing walls were on board. And the kids clubs were great for them on every Carnival ship we ever had them on. That's one of the main reasons we kept coming back to them.

My kid is 14 and is already mad he has to be with the “babies” in circle c and not in club o2. We were just on Wonder and they loved social 100. Which ship were you on? How was ur experience compared to carnival.