Conquest April 1-8 review

[ShoMeChiefsFan]

keep em coming! very good reading!

[lahrbrat]

I posted a review in another thread. Here's the link

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=534890

 

Here's a link to my cruise album.

 

http://community.webshots.com/user/valshack

[briankinley2004]

Saturday--last Sea Day

Woke up and DW/DS went to Lido deck and got plates full of breakfast. Ate in the room and laid around and watched TV as a family in our "Carnival Comfort" bed. Seems like it held 4 piled on each other better than 2 sleeping. Today we figured out you can check the menu from the room TV instead of going to dining room. Made our minds up what we were going to eat that night. This is a nice touch but didnt seem to be advertised much. Anyway finally made it to the gym and went into the gym hot tub. It was full of teenagers who were blocking the flow of the water. The smaller tub had a couple in it that seemed to be in a mood we didnt want to interrupt. The water was not real hot but no wind there. Went to the Lido deck in the back and found the adults only pool was just that. We got in the hotter of the two and relaxed a while. The hot tubs are nice for conversation, etc. but not really a true hydro therapy spa like we have at home. Very few jets for the size tubs and they may have been air jets but not sure. Ate lunch at the grill and finally got my hamburger. Also had some good nachos that my wife found somewhere inside. Went back to room and watched some DVDs my kids brought on our player. I finally slept thru this and got a good nap. Went to casino/dinner then casino again. The slots/poker machines were loose for a quite a few people this night and saw at least 3 jackpots hit around me. Played quite a while myself on just a few dollars. Randy, the casino singer, brought my kids autographed pictures & cds as promised. We stayed until he quit singing which was about midnite. Noticed a foul sulfur smell in the bathrooms/halls tonite probably due to the full sewer tanks for this long a cruise. Tried to sleep but DW set alarm for 6:30 so we could get off the ship early to get home at a decent hour....7am we are up and ready and ship is docked...Go up to lido deck and finally get an omelet (one day i got to the end of our buffet line and the omlet man was in the middle of where the 2 lines met. well he ignored me as i was on the left side and only waited on persons coming from the other side..no sign or anything but seems you had to be in that line although both met at the omlet station)as I knew where to go...heard them calling the top decks self assist and early flight people...we hurried back to room but to no avail...around 9:30 or so they announced there were a bunch of people on the ramp that were from decks that had not been called yet and there were delays in customs...well most of those folks must have been our neighbors as the rooms were all empty and doors open...asked our steward if we could go yet and he said no this deck has not been announced...finally around 10:30 they called main deck self assist (they had asked people that were clogging the deck to go back to their rooms about 10 or so). We went down immediately. Got off the ship pretty easy but came to a halt at customs. There were very long cruiseLINES going thru about 5 or so customs checkpoints. Instead of having a seperate line for those with passports and another for those not from the US all were mixed together. There was a long delay for the Mexican Citizens as they had to be photographed and questioned as they were just passing thru our country from others. We finally got to the desk and they let all 4 of us thru in about 30 seconds as we had our passports, declaration form, etc filled out...well we were so happy to be out of that line and have never had such a time debarking. Went down to catch a cab back to Gaidos and guess what???there are no cabs...There was a man there from the port giving us numbers to call for cab companies and keeping the line in order. One of the companies wouldnt even answer the phone...finally got a cab about 30 minutes later. Asked the cab driver if it was a problem because of Easter Sunday and he said no that there were just alot of people wanting to go to the airport and the taxis were doing that. Looks like Galveston has a poor taxi supply. Looks like some of those people could have paid the $40 fare thru carnival to ride the shuttle to the airport. I think it was maybe 35 or more using a taxi from what we were hearing. Cost us $10 for a 5 min. ride to Gaidos. Got in truck, loaded up and headed home...got home after 6pm instead of 3 or so had we debarked based on past cruises....In general we did have fun and enjoyed the cruise but it was definitely below par for Carnival based on past cruises (and yes we have cruised spring break before). Seems this ship does not have enough staff to accomodate the extra people it carries compared to the other ships. We have decided that our next cruise will be on another line just to check them out. We most likely will someday cruise Carnival again but another ship and another port.

[derekgmc]

Now now quit griping!!!!!!!!! LOL well I was gonna write a full review also but I think I could just cut and paste yours. This cruise did not go well. Grand Princess here we come....We enjoyed it more than being at home but it was not relaxing! I may still write a review I just havent had time.

 

Derek

[txskier]

Day 3: Jamaica

 

Then on to YS Falls. About 2 minutes before we got there, 12-year old is car sick and throws up in the car. Thank goodness for the Carnival beach towls. ;) Percy drives like a madman - I'm sending an email to the Barrett about this - that was the only downside to the entire tour.

 

YS Falls was extremely beautiful, very well kept, and very well staffed with polite help everywhere. I was impressed with the professionalism and service of the employees there. We all swam in the falls, took lots of pictures, and 16-year old and I did the zip line.

 

I am reading this part and rolling on the floor laughing. We did this tour last May with Barrett too. The drive was EXTREMELY hectic and rough!

yOU are dead on about the beauty of the YS Falls!!!.....We also did the Pelican Bar in the same day too.....DW will never forgive me for that adventure!!