review-conquest march 5-13

[2new4cruzn]

well, we are cruisevirgins no more! had a wonderful time and want to share with all of you.

 

sunday- arrived around 11:30, lines for boarding were long but moved quickly, we were aboard by 12:30. dropped our bags in the room-1366, and headed up to the lido deck for lunch. muster drill took a little longer than expected, we departed around 5 oclock with smooth seas. went to dinner in the renoir, upper level. beautiful room, good service. we had requested late dining, 8:30, wont do that again. we were after 10:00 getting out of the dining room. our room was great, unobstructed ocean view. just past the midships elevator, very handy to get basically everywhere.

 

monday-at sea, great weather, great food, enjoyed the 2 man band on the lido deck - the island boys. explored the ship a little, it is massive but easy to navigate.

 

tuesday-carbon copy of monday, very relaxing. no phone, no kids/grandkids/parents.

 

wednesday-got up early to watch jamaica come into sight. went downstairs to shower, when i came out we were docked and jamaica was right outside my window, thank goodness for robes! got a cab to city center for shopping. went to the recommended shops and then to the other shops in the complex. got some good bargains. very pushy vendors, could have been overwhelming without my dh. we did not book an excursion on jamaica, but we will next time. back on the ship by noon, not much to do without being able to walk around and not be harrassed. not many people on board, able to relax in the hot tub without 10 kids jumping in and out. left jamaica about 5:30, amazing how they can turn that ship in such a small space. beautiful sunset, goodbye jamaica!

 

thursday- arrived in grand cayman around 7:00, first tender off. we walked to captain marvins, actually a pleasant 2 block stroll. got there before they opened and sat on the benches outside watching the world go by. i was glad we had reservations, saw a family get turned away. we booked the 8:30 sandbar and reef tour. there were 12-14 people in our boat. only 3 or 4 other boats at the sandbar when we got there. water was a little cool, but tolerable. loved the stingrays and cant recommend this enough. short ride from the sandbar to the reef, good view of the moray eel and sand shark. we all snorkeled a little then had a good ride back to the shore. if you are prone to motion sickness, ride up top where there is better ventilation and less noise. i started the trip back downstairs and had to change quickly. we were delivered back to captain marvins then walked around a little. got tendered back to the ship easily. grand cayman was much cleaner than jamaica. good economy judging by the construction we saw.

 

friday-got to cozumel around 9, we got tender numbers in the lounge area of deck 5 near the casino. i was there early and we got #2. we got routed to the tender and waited and waited and waited. saw people getting on the same tender with #15. there must be a better way. hope they get the pier rebuilt. the city was definitely still recuperating, we did not book a tour here either, just walked along the waterfront and did some shopping. good bargains to be had if you are adventurous. we did some souvenier shopping in the little 1 and 2 dollar stores and were pleased. did bigger souvenier shopping in some of the ships recommended stores and were pleased there as well. note : i will bring more shopping money next time, dh will bring more casino money next time. back to the ship by 1 oclock, dh was worn out. lots of pushy vendors in cozumel, not as bad as jamaica, i did feel safe there. we were against the wind and the tide coming out of cozumel so i felt a little green. went up on deck and walked it off.

 

saturday-at sea again, i was avoiding the sun today, too much the past few days. spent some quiet time on the lobby deck, nicer deck chairs, quiet, shady, didnt see one kid the whole time. dont get me wrong, i like kids, just in small doses.

 

sunday-did the self assist, we were out of the terminal at 6:30.

 

what did i learn???

 

let the porters take your luggage. i will keep my fanny pack and thats all.

book a guided tour in each port.

dont bother taking two way radios, we did not use them at all.

people are going to save deck chairs, just let them.

dont try to diet.

if you get up early you pretty much have the ship to yourself.

hot tubs attract little kids.

 

 

any questions???

anette

[okiemom]

Awesome review! Good job and welcome to the club! You are offically a cruise addict now. :p Did you go to the Point? We can't wait until our cruise in December.

[2new4cruzn]

we did not go to the point. this was a "test run" for us and we were trying to keep well within our budget. honestly, the food in the dining room/buffets was so good i didnt see a reason to pay 25 dollars per person for other food. enjoy your cruise in dec!

[Cruise, J.D.]

Glad you had a great first cruise! My first cruise was on the Conquest and I think my wife and I are hooked!

[load option]

Going June 4th and have the late seating as well. Are there still shows that late?

[GinnyJ]

We also have asked for late dinner seating. After your review, I'm wondering about the shows...Did you see them before or after dinner?

 

 

Were did you get tender tickets for Cayman? What time did you get in line to be on the first tender?

 

Thanks!

[jw4jg1mg2eg1]

GREAT REVIEW!! Thanks for sharing your experience with us. I can't wait til April!!:D

[2new4cruzn]

we are hooked also, already planning for next year and i hope new orleans does not get the conquest back. wonderful ship.

 

we did not go to any of the shows, but most of them were scheduled during our dining room time. i chose the late dinner because of a remark here that it was hard to get back from your excursions and make the early dinner. not for me, im pretty casual and it does not take very long for me to be ready-not big on makeup or the perfect hair.

 

tendering in grand cayman, we all met in the tolouse latrec lounge-early! i was there by 7. those with early excursions were given the early tenders, but the process went really fast anyway. i think gc is used to tendering but cozumel is not and maybe that is the reason it took so long there.

 

hope this is helpful, any more questions?

 

anette

[Don Haynes]

I enjoyed this cruise too. I was a bit disappointed with the food, would have preferred more beef options in the main dining rooms. On some nights there wasn't a beef option, lamb and pork are not in my opinion beef. By the end of the cruise I was wondering if the chefs onboard knew how to cook beef. The only beef served tender was the prime rib on the last night. But, food is subjective, everyone has an opinion about the food. Dinners took over 90 minutes, with a considerable delay for dessert as the waiters wasted a lot of time singing and dancing attempting to be the FUN ship. Me, I rather have dessert served earlier.

 

Except for the day at Cozumel, the seas were very calm. The weather was gorgeous the entire week, couldn't have had better weather and seas. We did the horseback riding in Jamaica, the turtle farm and rum cake factory tour in the Caymen Islands, and took a shopping tour at Cozumel. Jamaica had the most pushy vendors, Cozumel the vendors were not so bad, whereas the Caymen Islands vendors didn't bother one at all.

 

One thing is for certain about Galveston though, the Conquest barely made the 180 to dock with only a few feet to spare. Some of the roughnecks on the oil platform in the drydock there across from the Galveston cruise terminal screamed as if the ship was going to hit them. Don't expect a larger ship than the Conquest to ever sail out of Galveston.

[denisey]

We were on this cruise also! What a great time!

 

We were in the lounge to get tender tickets for Grand Cayman for our group of 37 at 7:30 and had #2 tickets. It went pretty smoothly.

 

In Cozumel, you need to take your patient pants for the tenders. It took a while.

 

There were lines both ways to get a tender back to the ship. I took us forever to get off the tender from Cozumel, but that was because they are big boats and each person has to go through security and the metal detectors one at a time.

 

Also, after you get back on the ship, if you take the stairs up a floor and go to a different bank of elevators, it is much easier!

[Mack704]

A note to Don Haynes; Any night in the formal dining rooms, if you don't care for what's on the menu, they offer alternatives. It's not posted on the menu, but you can have a ceasar salad and/or a shrimp cocktail, for example. Entre' altrnatives include salmon, grilled chicken, or steak! You may order a steak every night, if you wish. Did you know that? Did you try that? If you did, was the steak not tender? Hope maybe that info will help for your next cruise.

[washitaw]

DW and I were on this at the same time....we did go to the Supper Club, The Point on Wednesday night...food was wonderful....service, well actually, we had better service in the Dining Room.

Perfect seas, perfect weather.....and I agree about the tendering in Cozumel. Remember, it's temporary....can't wait till they get the docks repaired! Only real concern was on Sunday morning, they made us get off of the ship!!! Already planning the next one....

[hilltopfamily]

Ah, thank you so much for the review. We here in Nebraska, where it's supposed to snow for the next 2-3 days, can't wait for August to come when we'll get to enjoy the Conquest.

Sounds like I need to check into Captain Marvin's for Grand Caymen. Did you book this online? Probably should go and "google" it :p

[travel girl23]

I asked for shrimp cocktail one night and our waiter said it was not available. No shrimp cocktail.:( But we did order steak that was not on the menu and got it - and it was delicious. :D TG23

[Mack704]

On the RCCL Radiance of the Seas last year, our friend ordered and received two(2) shrimp cocktails every night at dinner. I guess Carnival does things a little different. I'm glad the steak was good. That's encouraging.

[Riley's Mom]

Don,

Did you do the Chakka Cove in Jamaica? This is the excursion we are planning on doing while there,.. If so, what time did it leave..I am assuming they have a bus waiting at the pier for us,right? Tell me a little about it please.Thanks.

Carla

[GinnyJ]

Thank you all so very much for the 'tendering' advice.

We want to get off the ship as early as we can ... more time on the island!

I'll will make sure we're in the lounge early for tickets on GC and Coz

days.