Just home from the Conquest 7/26-8/2...

[singbluesilver1]

thanks for the review....its been fun

 

i have a 10 year old with severe autism...id love to take him on a cruise but not sure it would be a good idea

[jensing317]

thanks for the review....its been fun

 

i have a 10 year old with severe autism...id love to take him on a cruise but not sure it would be a good idea

 

 

I think you'd be pleasantly surprised. When Tyler went on his first cruise, he was a lot worse than he is now...we were still in the diagnostic process and not in treatment mode yet...and he was completely at ease on the ship. He was a different soul that week and now he won't think of any other vacation other than a cruise. I think the waves and the motion are theraputic for him.

 

The Camp Carnival counselors are trained and they are WONDERFUL!!! I just give them a heads up about Tyler and his condition...what to watch out for and what not to worry about and things that work when he gets out of hand and they are GREAT!!

 

There's also a group called Autism on the Seas that sponsor ASD family sailings. We've never been but it looks like it could be an awesome experience for all.

 

Try him out on a short cruise and see, but I really think you'd be doing him a favor. Tell me when you're going and I'll bring Tyler and we'll join you. :D

[Carguylee]

coming along great! Can't wait for more

[SATXLady]

Hey, you can't stop. I am enjoying this. Please continue.

 

Makes me look forward even more to sailing on the Conquest with Mom in 68 days (Oct 11).

[sbs5950]

good review!! My wife and I are leaving on the Conquest on the 23rd and CAN'T WAIT!! Neither one of us have had a vacation in so long, I think we're both going to be thinking we are in a dream! :D

[LorrieB]

and we truly had the time of our lives! The trip was practically flawless and I must say...if you EVER, EVER, EVER have the chance to sail with Chris Jefferson as your cruise director, TAKE IT!!!! He is absolutely wonderful, very entertaining and gave our trip that extra touch that made it extra special. I'm uploading pictures now, so review will be forthcoming...:):D

We sail on the Conquest in November and Chris is the CD. I'm glad to hear you enjoyed him because I have been looking everywhere to see if anyone has had any comments about him. Our last Conquest cruise we had Jen Baxter and she was a hoot. She was our first CD so really nothing to compare her with. I guess we will be comparing Chris to her.

 

Thanks,

[gypsyrose]

Love your picture review. Can't wait to see the "happy ending". I'm sure I could not have endured the mean and rude tablemates more than 1 nite.

[Allen1914]

:DGlad you had a great cruise. I cruised that week also on the Valor, saw you all docked next to us in cozumel.

[jensing317]

We sail on the Conquest in November and Chris is the CD. I'm glad to hear you enjoyed him because I have been looking everywhere to see if anyone has had any comments about him. Our last Conquest cruise we had Jen Baxter and she was a hoot. She was our first CD so really nothing to compare her with. I guess we will be comparing Chris to her.

 

Thanks,

 

We sailed last year with Jen and didn't care for her voice.

 

Weren't you guys on the cruise that never ends? I hope you guys have a better return than you did last year. :)

[jensing317]

good review!! My wife and I are leaving on the Conquest on the 23rd and CAN'T WAIT!! Neither one of us have had a vacation in so long, I think we're both going to be thinking we are in a dream! :D

 

 

Oh!!! You are going to have such a good time...and the best part...you AREN'T dreaming!!

[jensing317]

After dinner, we went to change clothes (shoes for the formal dress were not great for walking the ship) and went to grab a seat for Point and Click.

Ok…I saw this show last year and the screens were not working so I was told we evidently missed out on the “plot” so I thought I’d give it another shot. It was still not pleasing so we left about halfway through. I really think it’s time that the Conquest got some new shows. Besides, if you sail the same ship more than once, a little variety would be ok.

A doggie was waiting on the bed with the next day’s capers, we caught one of the in-room movies (I think it was Marley and Me) and fell sound asleep in the comfort of that awesome Carnival Comfort bedding.

As I said before, we had a Cat 11 Suite. Here's a few pictures of our room (7242) I can also answer questions about room 7238 as that was my mother's stateroom and we were in there just as much as our own room. I got a kick out of the picture over the toilet.

 

 

 

 

 

[mr jailerman]

Once out at sea, we decided to change our clothes and get ready for dinner. We chose early seating and were assigned to the Monet Dining Room. This is where we ate last year, so we were excited to be there once again. The view from that dining room is amazing and you can see some spectacular sunsets from the Monet aft windows.

We (a party of 5) were assigned to a table for 10 along with another party of 5. This family had two little girls (ages 6 & 8) who were evidently brought up without any manners whatsoever. The girls made sure that we knew they had the window seats for the entire week. We tried to make conversation but except for the husband, they weren’t interested. Later on in the meal, my DS went to the side window behind our table (not next to the girl’s seats) and was sitting there watching the waves and the younger girl went over and sat with him. A few minutes later, DS came back fighting back tears telling that the little girl had been kicking him (she left bruises) and was telling him that his name was stupid. Mom and Dad laughed it off and Dad said…”Oh, she’s mean to everyone, she even sent me to the ER once.” Excuse me?!?!?! I don’t think so. To top it off, the service was not what we were use to. The head waiter was a sweet, sweet guy but slow. His assistant wasn’t as friendly. They were clearing tables and resetting them for the late seating before we received our entrees. So, we ate, made our own conversation and left a little disappointed. The food was good (Sweet and Sour Shrimp) and the Crème Brule was even better but it was still sad that the events of the night had occurred. But, we thought that maybe everyone was just having an off night and things would get better…of course they would get better! We were on a cruise!

DS and I went to get him signed up for Camp Carnival and then we went back to our room to relax. Glenn had left a walrus for us on the bed. We were planning on going to the Welcome Aboard show but fell asleep. We watched it on the tv the next day and it looked like it would have been fun to see live. Just another reason to go back again, right? J

Whow :(! I give you credit Jenn for having as much patience as you did with those little girls AND ESPECIALLY THEIR PARENTS :eek:! I would not have been able to stay that cool that long.. I am really Glad that Tyler was able to move past it and have a great cruise anyway:). You are a Great Photographer :)! I love the "SUITE" Photo's ! Brings Back Good Memories of That Cat 12 I had...

[jensing317]

Knowing that this was our last day at sea for a while, we took it really easy today. It rained off and on but never for very long so it was off to the slide we went. While Tyler was sliding, I enjoyed my Caribbean Breeze in my monkey head cup.

The music playing on the big screen was nice and never felt too loud or overbearing. I never went to see the movie at night, but I enjoyed it while we were outside during the day.

We all went to the dining room for lunch and I had a build your own burger with cheese bacon and mushrooms. Yuummmyyyy!!! Oh my gosh, that had to have been the best burger I’d had in a long time. After we ate, I stopped by the Maître‘d station and spoke with Ruwan, the Monet DR’s spectacular MD.

I explained our dining situation and what had been going on the past two days. I emphasized more the incompatibility of us and our tablemates than the service ( I didn’t want the first waiter to get into trouble) and I was very kind about asking for a new table. DS showed him the bruises on his leg and within minutes, he had us a private table on the other side of the room. I’ve never had any experience dealing with the MD personally…a couple of cruises, I didn’t even know we HAD a MD until they asked us to tip him…but Ruwan, I felt, went above and beyond for us the rest of the week. He came upstairs to our table every night, gave us the best waiters he had (in my opinion), and even sent a cup of vinegar to my stateroom when I came in with a sunburn one night. He was amazing and for the first time, I realized why MD’s should be tipped as well. (and we did!!!)

DS went to Camp that afternoon and the ladies decided to go to afternoon tea. Last year, we forgot all about this until it was over, so we made it a point to go this time. Al provided nice relaxing piano music and we drank our tea and had a great apple tart. We met and talked to Al later in the week and he’s a really great guy. He has a great appreciation for keeping good music alive and exposing the younger generation to “real” music.

For some reason, my camera didn't make it to tea. :( Sorry.

 

Here's a picture of Chris the CD

 

[jensing317]

Whow :(! I give you credit Jenn for having as much patience as you did with those little girls AND ESPECIALLY THEIR PARENTS :eek:! I would not have been able to stay that cool that long.. I am really Glad that Tyler was able to move past it and have a great cruise anyway:). You are a Great Photographer :)! I love the "SUITE" Photo's ! Brings Back Good Memories of That Cat 12 I had...

 

Thanks Kurt!

 

After we got a new table, the tablemates from hell kind of became the running joke with us. I think what was more appalling about those girls was that their parents were doormats and let them walk all over them. This all goes to show you that the staff is ready to make your vacation painless and they will do anything they possibly can to make you happy. Ruwan even offered us a table in the Renoir DR so we wouldn't have to even eat in the same room with them. But, since he'd been so sweet, and I LOVE the Monet DR, we opted to stay there...and glad we did.

[Cruise_Q]

wonderful review...working on mine now...this was truly a wonderful trip!!!

[jensing317]

That night, we dined at our new table with our new wait staff, IGusti and IGede.

From the minute we sat down, our service was 180degrees different from what we had the past two nights. He called us by name, our glasses were never empty and we were now experiencing the service we’d come to know and enjoy. Dinner was fabulous, I had the sushi and the Sicilian style chicken. The waiters dancing to Livin’ La Vida Loca was hilarious and after dessert, we headed out to the main lounge for the night’s entertainment. And yummy Mojitos!!

This was the Motown show and man that guy is FABULOUS!!! His show was one of the most entertaining things I’d been to in a while.

We laughed, sang along, laughed some more and had a terrific night. The guys who came up on stage during the Temptations thing were hilarious and added so much to the night.

Once we were back in the room, we found Ellie the Elephant waiting on us.

Tyler made his nightly order of a bedtime snack of either chocolate cake or chocolate chip cookies and milk and off to bed we went.

Tomorrow we wake up in Jamaica!!

 

[jensing317]

I love waking up in port! It's a new day and a new adventure! Montego Bay has some of the most beautiful landscape I've had the pleasure of waking up to and I just love it! The mixture of mountains and the ocean with that exquisite blue water and the lush greenery that separates the two...wow!

We disembarked the ship had our pictures made with Rasta Man and wandered around the market outside the terminal for a few minutes. Finding nothing that we just had to have, we went into the terminal to make our way to our next adventure.

We had decided early on, after reading great things about it here, to spend this day at the Sunset Beach Resort. We were shown to a taxi at the terminal and for $10, arrived at the resort safe and sound. We loved being there. The pools were awesome, the beach was nice and clean and full of seashells to collect and everyone there was as nice as they could be. The food wasn’t great but the margaritas were top notch and free flowing. J We spent most of the day in the pool floating around the lazy river or on the slides. Helpful hint here though: wear high powered sun block and reapply often. I applied once and didn’t think another thing about it and paid for it later that night.

We hung around the resort until about 4 and headed back to the ship. Since our room was port side, we got to watch the Jamaican marching band until it was time to get ready for dinner. They were so cool to watch. They marched and danced and played until every passenger was on the ship.

[jensing317]

More pictures from Sunset Beach

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Scott_F]

good review!! My wife and I are leaving on the Conquest on the 23rd and CAN'T WAIT!! Neither one of us have had a vacation in so long, I think we're both going to be thinking we are in a dream! :D

 

My wife and I will be right there with ya! 8/23/09 is almost here! Last minute booking for us, Deck 10 inside cabin.

[Katmarha]

Jenn - did you book Sunset Beach on your own or with Carnival? I want to take Meg to a place that has both a pool and the beach.

[wishfultraveler]

We were right there with you watching them from the balcony for about an hour. They woke me from a dead sleep and we both sat and watched them until we left. It was so neat when they played the Star Spangled Banner for us. I bet they collected a bunch of $ in tips, but they were so entertaining.

 

I am loving reliving last week reading your review. I so miss my cabin, my wonderful dining staff and the stewards. I am thinking about the Dream for next summer. Got have something to look forward to.

[MicksMom]

Loving the review & pictures. Conquest is our favorite ship & I just booked our first balcony today. Now just have to live through everyone else's pictures & reviews for 5 months & then another 9 months. We loved watching the student band in MoBay. Thinking of doing Sunset Beach also.

 

Happy Cruising!

[Scott_F]

Get ready, MM. I'm going on 8/23 and I'm going to post a hella lot of photos.

[waiting4acruise]

Jenn - did you book Sunset Beach on your own or with Carnival? I want to take Meg to a place that has both a pool and the beach.

You book Sunset Beach on your own. We went there last October and loved it.

[douglinc@msn.com]

I was kinda hoping the "happy ending" had something to do with someone being tossed overboard.........

 

Doug