Long Conquest Review November 2nd-9th, 2008

[musicgal]

Sunday,the 2nd- We'd been excited about this cruise for weeks. Carnival let us know that our embarkation was going to be late because we were the first Conquest Cruise from Galveston since hurricane Ike. As they said, so it was. Thankfully, the weather was very pleasant- which was good, as we had a very long, slow-moving line. With small children, it would not have been a lot of fun, but I am sure that regular sailings go much smoother. EZ Parking dropped us off- they were very courteous and efficient. The Galveston folks really apreciate the cruise business in their town and do not take it for granted AT ALL.

We sailed after sunset shortly after muster drill. There is no avoiding this "herding" of the passengers for muster unless one just decides to break the rules- and I'm sure that a few do (or try to). It took only a few minutes, and we were moving out of the port by the time we made our way back to our cabin.

We were in a corner aft wraparound (7440) on the Empress deck. We loved the room for several reasons and will try to post photos of it when we get things sorted out from unpacking. Prior to coming onboard, I was concerned about several things after reading some other reviews; namely, noise/vibration in the cabin and stale smoke odors throughout the ship. We did not have any smoke odor in our room, so I never had to use the Febreeze. There was a faint sleep-inducing rumble far beneath us, but that just served to help me sleep at night.

As stated, we had a very long wraparound deck and had a greater than 180 degree view of the port side and aft of the ship. The room itself is neither small nor large. Space is laid out well but not wasted, with the closet doors opening up in a convenient area inside the room and not in the narrow hallway opposite the bathroom, as they do in some other configurations. This room is not designed to have a sofa. It has a chair and a vanity stool. We did have 5 deck chairs and two occasional tables outside though. The balcony is huge. We had three large windows, which when open for light, gave us a panoramic view of the sea as a backdrop for breakfast in bed, delivered by room service. We ordered our breakfast in like that several times, enjoying moving at our own pace during the early part of the day.

We explored the ship the first night, marking the locations of the restaurants, pools and lounges. You already have the first of your photos displayed in the gallery- but trust me- photo ops continue through the week so don't be in a hurry to buy everything offered at first unless you really like them. Since we were in the aft section of the ship, we had access to the lido deck through the rear stairs. Cezanne (lido buffet and Sur Mer) is back there, along with the adults pool and 24 hour pizzeria which we enjoyed a couple of times. We really don't see the charm of long buffet lines when sit-down service is available (and already paid for) in one of the formal dining rooms. But by the looks of things at our table on most nights, people were satisfied with DIY dining, forsaking some pretty well plated entrees in Monet and Renoir. We met two of our tablemates on Sunday night- newlyweds. We saw them the most throughout the trip in the dining room. The only night we had a full table was the first formal dining night which was on Monday night. We opened one of our bottles of wine(Blackstone Merlot) on the first night as we sailed out into the gulf.

Monday, the 3rd- Beautiful sea day today. We ordered coffee and toast in our room and dressed casually to meet our cruise critic group from roll call on the lido deck by the pool. The majority of the group met! Very pleasant to associate real names with screen names, though it was hard not to think of folks as Nanuack and RVgal, etc. We all decided to meet in the Casino later that week to pool our resources for the 20K slot machine. DH and I went to Sur Mer (second floor of the Cezanne lido restaurant) after meeting folks and tasted the bouillabaise, which we found to be tasty. Here's a great tip about Sur Mer and the lido deck in general- it is a zoo downstairs at peak times, and almost impossible to get a table. If the stairs are open up to Sur Mer, climb them and have your choice of seating!!! On debarkation day, we had the whole room (and view) to ourselves for breakfast, along with hot coffee and no lines for it. The coffee machine downstairs was drained.

As said previously, the Lido food is nothing to write home about. But if you want to hang out by the pool and munch or just fill up on available food, it will suffice. We had breakfast buffet twice, lunch once, pizza, ice cream, a hot dog (loved the chili) for snacks on different days. I used room service to order sandwiches to the room for in between times- our seating was late- 8:15 which I recommend for various reasons. First, food is all around! If you're hungry, you can always snack on something little and that is precisely what you should do if you want to avoid troughing at dinnertime. We used the stairs about 80% of the time and the sea air alternatively invigorates you and then lulls you to sleep. It also messes with digestive patterns so be aware of what you're eating (and drinking). The shows extend well into the night and if you eat your main meal too early, you might get hungry again during a show. But if you do, never fear, BLT's are just a phone call away. Almost everyone dressed up tonight. There were lots of suits and tuxedos; the women were out in their finest. Lots of photo-ops. We did karaoke in the Degas Lounge, as we would do almost every night. Later, we had Gruet sparkling wine on the balcony and watched the stars.

Tuesday, the 4th- another pretty sea day. We walked the track today and lay out in the sun on one of the top decks. Walked around the front where the rocking chairs are (we would use them later as we left Cayman) and found the Point restaurant. We saw some indoor shows on these days. Our cruise director is very talented- not funny really- but very dear, and very entertaining. He earns his salary. So Ralph, if you ever read this, my Scottish friend, I "love you" too. You have to have a great personality to work with people who chronically refuse to listen to instructions. We also found the afternoon tea on one of these sea days- nice cvilized touch with classical music in the Monet restaurant on our cruise. It has been done at times in Alfred's. The Capers daily schedule was confusing this day about where it was to be held.

Note about our room steward. He was very sweet and left us some remarkable towel animals. Kept the room immaculately. I started to find some of our neighbor's junk on the deck though, that they either threw down or let fall off their own deck from above. Carnival is very clear about the danger of lit cigarette butts flying off balconies- as a fire hazard and we had our share of those on our deck along with the remains of somebody's fruit snacks. A Hard Rock Cafe' baseball cap ended up down there on the last day... but ah, I get ahead of myself. A word about privacy on the balcony- it is very private, but there are times when your neighbor will poke their head past the partition to look at a sunset or see something in the water, so be aware that you need to not be lulled into a false sense of security about that. Dinner in the dining room tonight with no tablemates. The service crew sang and danced.

Wednesday, the 5th- Jamaica today. Dunn's River Falls and the Dolphin Swim. Long day. Folks, don't try to climb the Falls if you are not in shape. Do something that will be more fun for you than getting hurt on slippery rocks and falling backwards onto your neighbors. The lady in front of me fell once very hard on her coccyx (tailbone) and I felt badly for her, but she would have had trouble climbing stairs, much less hundreds of feet of algae covered boulders. DH and I exercise assiduously, and we found it moderately challenging (I scraped elbows and knees on rocks). Kids loved it, and the kids in our group were great. That water in early November is right on the verge of being uncomfortable, so be warned. We were only given an hour to finish the climb and they'd split our group, so guess who were two of the last to get back to the bus??? Yes, us. How'd ya guess???

The dolphin swim was a bit better, but our tour was not organized well- an example is that we were not told to remove our watches, glasses, rings, earrings before descending to the cove. We were told however not to bring our bags or money, so when we were told to take off the aforementioned things, we had no money for lockers or places to semi-hide our stuff. Another unfortunate note- no tip money for anyone down in the compound.

Jamaica is beautiful. I read here about folks not caring for it, but I am glad we went to Ochos Rios. You're going to get bugged to buy things, but they do that on the corner here in town too, so put your game face on and they won't mess with you. Yeah mon! We ate again in Renoir... only couple for miles- no really, several whole tables of 8 were completely empty around us, and the food was very good! Especially dessert- DH couldn't get enough chocolate melting cake. We ordered a bottle of Korbel and then visited the Blues Piano club and Karaoke. Starting to feel the effects of trying to do too much.

Thursday, the 6th- Caymen. We had no excursions planned. Just a tender into shore and exploration and shopping, which turned out to be perfect. I'd heard that shopping in Cayman was great, but I have to say- if you're looking for fine jewelry, save your money and buy from a jeweler or wholesale club at home. (Rumcakes and linens are a different story:-) It is too easy to spend money whimsically on vacation, and pay the price later. Now, if you have done research and shop at one of the approved shops where you get the Carnival guarantee, you may find something worthwhile. The shops located just off the streets offer the more unique and well-priced items. It's a pretty little Britishy town, full of restaurants including Margaritaville and Senor Frogs. At one end of the town, we watched snorkelers from an open-air restaurant named Paradise, which is no doubt a take-off on a well visited excursion site named "Hell". Well, I know which I'd rather visit in both this life and the next:-) On the way back to the tender, we found Jimmy Buffet's place packed (too crowded for our taste) and had a great Margarita and lunch at Frogs on the balcony. We found out in one of the little shops that we were outrunning Paloma, and tendered in early that day. Saw our CC friends several times during the day and then on the ship as well. Had another formal night tonight. Good food- no tablemates.

Friday, the 7th- Cozumel. We had a long excursion to Tulum to see the ruins. (Too-loom) This was a long day on a ferry and bus with just a little time to actually tour the ruins after stopping at a tourist trap. This is the nature of cruising, but we really didn't have time to visit the beautiful beach there. Having anthropological and archeological training, I was very disappointed with the lack of depth exhibited by the multi-lingual captioning at the sites. Maya religion was entirely unexpained (it is not a pretty thing to our ears) but the astronomical alignments of the city were noted. I would love to take my own group there one day and give them the real 411. We were exhausted, had pizza for dinner when we got back and were good for nothing the rest of the night. If you buy anything on this trip, get a historical book at the first store- or some good Mexican tequila (the ship will hold it for you till Saturday night).

Saturday- Sea day- hurray! After Ralph' hysterical disembarkation talk, we went to the last art aucton in the Degas Lounge. (free champagne) I always like to see one of those on a cruise. Again, got to see a lot of impulse buying and a particular instance of bad behavior by a tipsy lady passenger, who had words with the auctioneer onstage! A couple of folks got some really nice pieces. I liked the kinetic art by the Israeli artist, but it was in the thosands. We left before it ended so we could ejoy the last day of sunshine outside. The closer we got to Texas, the cooler the weather got- a lot of folks wrapped up in towels on deck, but still enjoyed the sea air.

I talked to some young people whose car had a broken axle on the way down to Galveston. He was using his cell to check on its progress for their trip back to Austin.

We also had folks in a large Zydeco dance group from all over the country on board. Their bands were good- boy, could they dance!

We had dinner early (6pm) at the Point tonight, and I highly recommend spending one night here if possible. Most people lose much more money in the Casino and bingo games, and at this restaurant, you really get something for what you spend. Go hungry, leave happy:-)

After dinner, we strolled a bit and went back to our room and had some champagne with our new friends from CC. That was really a blessing to meet such nice people on this trip. Packed after, and slept soundly in the comfort bed.

Sunday- Disembarkation. This has to be Ralph's least favorite moment of the cruise. Although we have all been instructed as to how to make this process easy, folks probably universally try to leave before they are called just as they do at the airport, causing slowdowns and bottlenecks in the process. People also stray from their groups and are then paged over the ship's speakers. We had two or three folks that delayed disembarkation like this. Most people knew that they were to fill out their customs card before going through customs- you still see people who don't have their stuff done stop a long line. And then, you have the folks who try to push in front of you in the customs line. The operative word here is "try".

Our disembarkation was mostly pleasant because we put our bags out the night before and let the crew get them out to the terminal. On Sunday mornings the corridors of the ship are filled with maintenance pushcarts and it is really hard to get your stuff through the hallways around all that stuff. Besides, if you leave a little later, you can have a relaxed breakfast, stroll about on deck with a cup of coffee, and peek into some of the room configuarations as they are being cleaned for future reference.

As we were doing all this, Ralph was again telling folks to stay out of the lobby (deck three) area so it could be clear for the current group. We heard that many times.

Finding your luggage is easy. It's all arranged in numbers according to the luggage tags they give you the night before. From there on, you have to handle your own luggage unless you catch a porter for a few dollars. If I was older or had little kids, I'd do the latter.

After getting to the EZ Park lot, we were settled in our favorite hometown restaurant in under an hour for lunch. Avoid flying low through Galveston proper (before the causeway) as the local policia don't care for this.

Finally- my thoughts on several aspects of the cruise experience.

Bingo. It was played continually in the bowels of the ship as the sun shone down on the decks above.We didn't play. There's a VFW hall around here that offers Bingo if we ever want to partake.

Drinks. Fruity and fun to try their drinks of the day. From my perspective, almost totally devoid of alcohol, which my be a good or bad thing depending on how you see it. A glass of wine will be more relaxing out on the deck.

Karaoke. We had a lot of fun doing this. Put your name on the list early if you want to sing. Jay had favorites, and they did sing more.

Cruise Director- Ralph has my utmost respect and admiration.

Happy vs. miserable people- I remarked to some of our new friends how all over the ship I saw chronically miserable people sitting in CMC's (chronically miserable clumps). Being of a slightly scientific bent, I tried to theorize how these folks ended up on a fun cruise... Did someone MAKE them come (and pay for them), for example?

Were they just having a bad moment (day, week)? Were they just overwhelmed by choice of activity and decided to project animosity towards those who partook?

I don't know, but even if every activity is not to your liking, there was always something fun to do on this cruise- even if it was reading a book on deck as the reggae music played in the background. Or make your own fun, like the couples and groups I saw playing cards, games or dancing in out of the way places.

Just a warning, these folks are black holes of misery... avoid them at all costs lest your happy light be sucked up by their negative vibes.

I did realize that people cruise for a variety of reasons. A week long cruise probably brings out a better clientele than a shorter cruise, and for the most part, our fellow passengers acquitted themselves well. Some people cruise because they desperately need a work break (us). Some do it to see places... others need a neutral mental palatte for thinking through difficult things in their lives. Some people do it to eat, drink or gamble nonstop. Some were just honeymooners:-) Whatever the reason, it is now Monday morning, and boy, do I miss room service.- DS

[dprg644]

Very good review and outlook on life....thanks

[232271]

Thanks for the review!

do you remember what Elegant entree's were?

thanks!

[yearnin4cruisin]

Thanks for your review. And I'll be stealing CMC for personal use. :)

[TXKristi]

Thanks for the great review. I am a 2nd time cruiser traveling with 10 1st time cruisers and I keep telling them that a positive attitude is a must. I refuse to let anyone ruin my vacation!!!:D 6 more days!!

[Desiree D]

Enjoyed your review so much, doubt I can do one as enjoyable!

 

It was so nice to meet you, we had a great cruise!

 

In response to 232271: Monday- 1st Elegant- Food- I had a greek salad with chicken, Chili Rellanos, and Grouper (fish), with Cherries Jubilee for desert.

 

Thurs- 2nd Elegant- I had grilled Portabella mushroom, Ceasar Salad, chilled (Bing?) cherry soup- is all I can remember-sorry, hope this helps.

 

I thought the food was very good!

 

I miss the ship, I don't think I saw the grumpy people, didn't hear much complaining- the cruise was over MUCH too quickly- blah.

 

Back to work today for me, not as hard as I thought it would be though. We had been very excited for this trip for MONTHS. We had fun! It was great fun meeting all the wonderful cruise critics I have been chatting with! A first for us! I'm ready to go BACK!!!!

[cruisetexas]

I SO enjoyed your review, musicgal. Thanks for posting. We've done the Conquest, twice, and loved every minute of it.

 

I will also be borrowing the CMC label....I don't get it. People can be lumps of negativity....so sad for them.

 

Sounds like we'd enjoy cruising with y'all. Planning the next one yet?

 

Susan

[musicgal]

Enjoyed your review so much, doubt I can do one as enjoyable!

 

It was so nice to meet you, we had a great cruise!

 

In response to 232271: Monday- 1st Elegant- Food- I had a greek salad with chicken, Chili Rellanos, and Grouper (fish), with Cherries Jubilee for desert.

 

Thurs- 2nd Elegant- I had grilled Portabella mushroom, Ceasar Salad, chilled (Bing?) cherry soup- is all I can remember-sorry, hope this helps.

 

I thought the food was very good!

 

I miss the ship, I don't think I saw the grumpy people, didn't hear much complaining- the cruise was over MUCH too quickly- blah.

 

Back to work today for me, not as hard as I thought it would be though. We had been very excited for this trip for MONTHS. We had fun! It was great fun meeting all the wonderful cruise critics I have been chatting with! A first for us! I'm ready to go BACK!!!!

 

Hi Desiree- Same here! It's a great vacation value and I feel truly rested, even though the washer and dryer are now running nonstop.

 

We ate in the dining room a lot so hopefully, I won't get menu offerings confused, but I KNOW we had lobster on the first elegant night... there was a steak option offered on that night as well. I believe we had onion soup for a starter that night... that was very good!!!

We should have listed to our waiter's suggestions on the 2nd night- we had his suggestion for starters... a beef tenderloin salad/appetizer- then we tried the beef bourguignon, which my husband found tough and left. They also offered a seafood "confit" that night which is a little hard to describe, but I had tried something similar on another night which ended up being very good. I had tiramisu for dessert that night with some champagne. Completely civilized:)

 

Thank you all for your comments on the review. I find that most of the people who find Cruise Critic are very positive, optimistic folks who make the best out of life in general. The man next to me on our parking shuttle however, grumbled about how he'd never go on another cruise, and how he'd be packing light because he'd be at home.:rolleyes: Desiree, I never got a chance to wear my tiarra, so I am going to pack it away for another opportunity... hopefully soon.- Dawn

[Rayefan]

Loved your review....

We have to wait 51 more Saturdays before we cruise on the Conquest!

Again ~ Thanks!

[musicgal]

I SO enjoyed your review, musicgal. Thanks for posting. We've done the Conquest, twice, and loved every minute of it.

 

I will also be borrowing the CMC label....I don't get it. People can be lumps of negativity....so sad for them.

 

Sounds like we'd enjoy cruising with y'all. Planning the next one yet?

 

Susan

 

 

I've been dreaming of the sea all day:) We could take a cruise every month for the cost of our kid's college tuition. Ah well- still in the afterglow.

[robtx100]

Thanks for the great review. I'm sorry you didn't get a good guide to Tulum. We had an older gentleman our first time to Tulum as our guide. He was very very knowledgeable. We booked the same tour again because we had new people with us and I saw him standing near the front of a bus. I asked him if he was conducting the same tour and made sure we got on his bus as our tourguide. Both times booked through the ship.

I can't wait to get back on the Conquest.

[dan_ne]

Friday, the 7th- Cozumel. We had a long excursion to Tulum to see the ruins. (Too-loom) This was a long day on a ferry and bus with just a little time to actually tour the ruins after stopping at a tourist trap.

 

Thanks so much for the great review! I have a question....did you happen to book the Tulum tour through Carnival? They don't have it posted in the excursion list yet for our Jan. 11th cruise, but I know there are other options such as ShoreTrips.com. It would be a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to see for sure. Thanks again for any information! :)

[lady in tx]

Musicgal-

 

Thanks for posting your review! I enjoyed reading it.

 

Do you know if they have fruit punch onboard the conquest?

[tgray69]

thank you for the review

[rebeljohn]

Enjoyed your review.............

Thanks for posting it...........

[Texas_firefighter]

I've been dreaming of the sea all day:) We could take a cruise every month for the cost of our kid's college tuition. Ah well- still in the afterglow.

 

 

Hi Musicgal (name withheld to protect the innocent);). Loved the review,y'all really know how to cruise! We're so glad we got to know you both and spend some time with you,we wish y'all could have joined our table for dinner though.We had two open seats most nights,we were gone twice ourselves :rolleyes: (supper club is awesome isn't it?), but Christi and Mark joined us on two occasions to provide a full table. Our first time to have early dining,but I must say we really enjoyed it.It made the evening seem much longer,and we were able to go to all our spots to hang out...you know,like our "CC corner" in the Degas for one.I can't add much to your review,you said it all so well.We had a ball and were so blessed to meet such wonderful people.We had a great CC group,and felt like we had so many friends onboard. When do we go again ??!! :D

[musicgal]

We had a great CC group,and felt like we had so many friends onboard. When do we go again ??!! :D

 

We did have a great group! We'll be ready to go again as soon as the change jar fills up;) -D

[musicgal]

 

Thanks so much for the great review! I have a question....did you happen to book the Tulum tour through Carnival? They don't have it posted in the excursion list yet for our Jan. 11th cruise, but I know there are other options such as ShoreTrips.com. It would be a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to see for sure. Thanks again for any information! :)

 

 

Dan- we booked through Carnival, and I'm surprised they don't have that option for you as an excursion. It's such a conveyance oriented trip, that they may be renegotiating prices with their providers because of the way gas prices shot up (now down) this past year. Just make sure whoever you choose has a record of getting folks back to the ship in time.

BTW- our ferry and bus rides were very comfortable.