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

[poptart]

The MD came by to check on us, saw that I was sunburned and said that in his country, they use natural remedies and for sunburn, it’s good to put vinegar mixed with ice cubes on a washcloth and rub it on the burn to take away the sting. He later had a glass of vinegar sent to my stateroom along with a note saying that he hoped I felt better. I wasn’t expecting it, so when we walked in, there was an *interesting* smell in the room. We laughed when we realized what it was. I thought it was incredibly sweet of him to do that. Again… above and beyond the normal. end quote

 

In my family we've always used vinegar to take the sting out of sunburns. We take a tepid bath and add it to the water. It really works.

 

Your MD was awesome! He really made up for your 2 nights in dining room hell.

 

Along with everyone else I'm look forward the rest of your review.

[jensing317]

Jen,

 

Still loving the pic's & review. I swear I have all the exact same pictures from Grand Cayman. We did the same excursion on our first trip to GC 2 years ago.

 

Also curious where you live if you don't mind. We live in Fredericksburg. Keep the great review coming!

 

Jenn, I am loving this review. Your son is just adorable. We were getting off the Conquest the day you were getting on!! We also went to Sunset Beach and loved it. It was overcast and rainy that day, so we didn't sunburn. I also live in Central Texas, Bangs, if you don't mind me asking where do ya'll live? Can't wait to read the rest of your review!!

 

We live in Killeen.

[jensing317]

I think I have my DH talked into an underwater camera but was considering a higher priced one thinking the 1 at walmart wouldn't take very good pics. Did you take any pics above water? Would you mind posting some of your pics from that camera? LOVE your review!!!!

 

 

All of the pictures from Jamaica were taken with the watercam. I tried to take a picture of Tyler underwater but I never quite got it right. Here's a couple of pictures from underwater...as off as they are. :)

 

This picture, I was sitting in one of the beach chairs in the ocean and I stuck it under water and took a shot. Very random and a wave came up over my hand as I hit the button.

 

This one...well, I was just too low. I was above water trying to take a picture of Tyler underwater.

 

Same camera, out of the water.

 

I wish I had taken more pictures underwater but we were having such a good time, I forgot.

[jensing317]

Enjoying the review so far Jennifer. I cannot wait until I am back on her in September and November:D

 

 

Thanks Dave!! :)

[jensing317]

All of the pictures from Jamaica were taken with the watercam. I tried to take a picture of Tyler underwater but I never quite got it right. Here's a couple of pictures from underwater...as off as they are. :)

 

This picture, I was sitting in one of the beach chairs in the ocean and I stuck it under water and took a shot. Very random and a wave came up over my hand as I hit the button.

 

This one...well, I was just too low. I was above water trying to take a picture of Tyler underwater.

 

Same camera, out of the water.

 

I wish I had taken more pictures underwater but we were having such a good time, I forgot.

 

 

Oh, I almost forgot. The Vivcam is VERRRRRRY kid friendly too. I let Tyler carry it around Grand Cayman and I had the other camera and he took some good pictures with it.

 

It also bounces when you drop it. (I tested that out myself...I won't even begin to blame that one on the kid :D)

[jensing317]

Thursday night...back on board our ship...

Second elegant night…we didn’t dress up AS much as we did Monday but we were still dressed up. Tyler again opted for dinner at Camp, so off he went and down to the Monet we went. Delice of the Ocean and Chateaubriand was on the menu tonight and it did not disappoint!!

I think tonight was the Juggler and Comedian but we skipped that show. We had waited in the end of day line to get back on the tender and the heat had drained us. I love this picture. When I showed it to people at church last night they about flipped out. WHAT!?!?! You just step off the side of the ship??? Are you crazy?!?!?!? lol

Glenn had a sting ray guarding our past guest party invitations and our Conquest pins waiting on us in our room. We crawled in bed and watched Bride Wars on TV.

 

Last year, this was the night they did the Gala Buffet. We were really disappointed to hear that they don't do this on a regular basis anymore. :( We always enjoyed the artistry of the display.

[CJHAN]

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.

Do you by chance have a link to this resort i cant seem to find it ill be there in april and would like to see what its about and if its right for me thanks.

[jensing317]

Do you by chance have a link to this resort i cant seem to find it ill be there in april and would like to see what its about and if its right for me thanks.

 

Sure do! www dot sunsetbeachresort dot com

[jensing317]

Friday in Cozumel

 

We’d been to Cozumel several times before and we’d done everything we wanted to do there on prior trips so we planned to take it easy. I made a quick trip ashore to pick up a piece of pottery for a friend and I snapped a few pictures so that the Cozumel page in the scrapbook wouldn’t be blank.

We had fun talking to some passengers on the Valor sitting out on their balconies while we all people watched. Later that afternoon, the Valor left and gave us a view of Cozumel where we could REALLY watch people coming back on board.

I’m not sure exactly what they were thinking, but all of a sudden, a couple of guys just sat their bags down on the pier walkway, took their shoes off and jumped into the water. They climbed up the ladder to cheers, people in shock and security! I don’t know if they got into trouble, but security kept them outside for a while and took their Sail and Sign cards for a while. They eventually boarded the ship, but who knows if they were allowed to leave their staterooms for the rest of the week. BUT, word to the wise, I wouldn’t jump off the pier. Security didn’t seem to think that was too funny.

Dinner that night was a combination of filet mignon and short ribs. This wasn’t my favorite meal of the trip but it was still good. The Baked Alaska was perfect! We skipped Formidable in the main lounge that night. I saw it last year and figured since Point and Click wasn’t any better, this one probably wasn’t either. We searched for our photos in the photo gallery and then had a glass of wine out on the balcony. I also started to (sniff sniff) organize the dirty clothes and packed those into one suitcase. I hate this part of the trip. L

[alreadypacked]

My wife really enjoyed the turtle farm up until the point that one of the employees told her they sell about half the turtles to restaurants. :) Said, we gotta pay the bills some how.

 

Here's more info on the turtle farm for anyone interested. I was researching this a while back and felt bad to learn turtles were eaten. Turtles in the Caymans have a long history, and the farm does release a lot of them. In some ways they are better off now than any time since the 1600's:

 

http://www.boatswainsbeach.ky/conservation/history.cfm

[camreesmom]

Friday in Cozumel

 

We skipped Formidable in the main lounge that night. I saw it last year and figured since Point and Click wasn’t any better, this one probably wasn’t either.

 

You didn't miss anything by skipping Formidable. Sad to say but we couldn't understand half of what they were saying. Also something that we noticed was that the shows on this ship had the most revealing and suggestive costuming that we've ever seen.

 

When we left Grand Cayman, our two oldest sons were on the tender before ours. One of them managed to drop his drivers license as he was getting off and it fell into the water. Can you believe that one of the Carnival employees managed to fish it out for him? He was very appreciative and felt bad that he didn't have more to tip the guy. He said that would have been one of the biggest tips he would ever give. Poor kid only had $10 on him......At least he knew enough to know that tipping was appropriate.

[jensing317]

You didn't miss anything by skipping Formidable. Sad to say but we couldn't understand half of what they were saying. Also something that we noticed was that the shows on this ship had the most revealing and suggestive costuming that we've ever seen.

 

When we left Grand Cayman, our two oldest sons were on the tender before ours. One of them managed to drop his drivers license as he was getting off and it fell into the water. Can you believe that one of the Carnival employees managed to fish it out for him? He was very appreciative and felt bad that he didn't have more to tip the guy. He said that would have been one of the biggest tips he would ever give. Poor kid only had $10 on him......At least he knew enough to know that tipping was appropriate.

 

Yeah, that's one thing that really turned us off to the stage shows last year was the costumes. (The costumes and the fact that Camp Carnival takes the kids to see them...)

 

This year, we left Point and Click about the time the girls started doing the strip tease to "she works hard for the money"

 

That's awesome that your son not only got his license back but that he was kind enough to tip the guy. I would have freaked out. You've got a sweet kid there. :)

[ertro]

Awesome review! Now I'm even more excited (if that's possible) for our 8/23 Conquest cruise!!!

[jensing317]

Thank you all so much for your kind words about the review. It's been fun reliving the trip here. I hope to get the rest of the pictures uploaded and finish Saturday and our awesome debarkation Sunday tonight.

[neekaemt]

We live in Killeen.

 

my parents live in Cove! i just came back from there today actually. I now live on the texas coast but dad was stationed at Hood and i lived there until about 10 years ago.

[douglinc@msn.com]

Great review, thanks so much for posting. Makes me even more anxious for our 8-30 sailing on the Conquest.

 

Doug

[mandms40]

I have very much enjoyed your review, we, also will be going on the Conquest Nov. 29th. It seems like forever, we booked way back in December. Thanks for the info for Sunset Beach, we are contemplating going there also. Been to Cozumel several times, so will just shop there. And for Grand Caymen, am thinking about stingrays, anyone have info on that.

Cant wait for more, makes time pass alittle more faster.

[jsmith2531]

Just read through your review...awesome! I am going to look into that camera for our trip. I have a nice camera, but will not take it off the ship. Yours would be great for excursions AND underwater pics...which is the main reason why I like it. GREAT photos!!

 

Will be cruising Conquest, Western, 1/24/10...not soon enough. We are booked in a verandah aft balcony...8420. I am considering zip-lining or Sunset beach in MB, stingray & 7MB in GC and of course Nochi Cocum (went there on Ecstasy...pure heaven) in Cozumel.

 

This will be our 2nd cruise...1st being Ecstasy. I was disappointed in the Ecstasy appearance and shows. Although it is better than no cruise at all ;). We had fun nonetheless. We were a group of 14 so that alone was entertaining. This time will just be DH and I.

 

Would love the capers :D.

[Katmarha]

Thank you all so much for your kind words about the review. It's been fun reliving the trip here. I hope to get the rest of the pictures uploaded and finish Saturday and our awesome debarkation Sunday tonight.

 

Your review and pictures were great! I can't wait until October!

[jensing317]

Sorry I kind of slacked off and didn't get back to finishing up my review. So, here goes...

 

Saturday/Fun Day at Sea

Our last day…time to cram in everything we didn’t already get done. So after breakfast and the debarkation talk, we played a little mini golf, went down the water slide some more, took all the pictures we wanted to take and watched the hairy chest contest that had been rescheduled due to the rain earlier in the week.

That’s always funny to watch. There were some really hairy guys this time and they all looked like they were having fun.

The ladies again went to afternoon tea and made plans for the rest of the evening. My DM and I were heading to the past guest party and then to Photo Alley to have a family portrait made.

The past guest party was great. Chris Jefferson is just amazing as a cruise director. I just can’t say enough good things about him.

We enjoyed the free drinks and cheering for our ships on the video. After that, took our photos and Tyler went up to camp for his last dinner with friends and I headed down for our last dinner in the Monet.

Dinner was Prime Rib cooked medium rare and Grand Marnier soufflé. All delicious. We of course got misty eyed as we were serenaded with the traditional “You’re Leaving Our Fun Ship” song. We left our wait staff with hugs and a handsome tip for both of them.

Here's my mom and IGusti and IGede.

A trip downstairs to Ruwan for another hug and a tip for him as well.

[jensing317]

Tonight is the Legends Show. I missed this one last year because of some lost jewelry and my big mistake about reporting it to security but I was determined that I was going to see it this year so after dinner, I went and packed our things making sure to leave out the important things (clothes, tooth brushes, etc) and a bag to carry them in. We ended up with two bottles of wine, so when Glenn came by, I gave him and Tri their tips and asked if they were allowed to have wine. Their faces lit up and said, yes, we can, we like wine, so I handed them both one of the remaining bottles. They tried to hand back the money but I told them take it and the wine too. I got hugs from both of them and lots of “thank you very much.” They did a great job for us all week, kept our ice bucket full without being asked, turned a blind eye to the small winery we brought along and were extremely friendly. I only wish I could have tipped them more.

SO, bags are packed and out in the hall and we head down to get a seat for the Legends show. OH MY GOSH this is by far the best show of the week!! The passengers did a great job and there was even a special appearance by Sonny and Cher and Dolly Parton herself.

Hahaha I laughed so hard I had tears streaming down my face and my sides ached the rest of the night. This is the best!! Everyone did such a good job but, the guy who did Sinatra was amazing!! We went to the Legends happy hour and had a drink with the “stars” and headed back up to the room. We had received a letter the day before with our zone tags that said we could use the priority debarkation the next morning which meant we had to be downstairs by 8:00. So, it was off to bed for us.

[jensing317]

Sunday/Debarkation

The day we don’t like to mention! The day we have to return to the real world.

We got up, got dressed and packed our pjs and toothbrushes, made a clean sweep of the two rooms to make sure we had not left anything behind (including the safes) and we headed downstairs. We had our letter in hand, which was good because as soon as we stepped off the elevator, we were told that since we did not have our luggage, we needed to go upstairs. I showed Charley the letter and she said, oh, I’m so sorry, come with me. She showed us to the waiting area and we sat and waited. They had not yet called for self assist and we found out later that there had been a hold up with customs and the luggage. Yikes!

Self assist was called and as soon as they were out, a member of the entertainment staff came to the waiting room and walked us off the ship. We walked into the terminal where we found a line of porters waiting for us, we found our luggage right off (I bought hot pink with lime polka dotted luggage for this reason)

and we were taken to a customs line where there was NO WAITING (yes, you read that right…no waiting). I almost didn’t believe this was real.

We went through customs where a smart aleck officer told us that we were out of compliance with the law by not having a passport. I had read here that there was a guy doing this so I had printed out the closed loop cruise statement from travel dot gov and when he asked me why we didn’t have passports yet, I showed him the paper and told him that’s where I got my information. We’ve applied for our passports but they had not arrived, so we called Carnival and the Galveston port and were told by both that birth certificates were fine. (One of our passports was in the mailbox when we got home…go figure.) He finally let us through and we were on the shuttle and in our car at exactly 9:02am. It was the easiest, quickest, painless debarkation ever.

If you ever have the opportunity to upgrade to a suite, TAKE IT!!! The only perks you get are ease in embarking and debarking but BELIEVE me…it’s worth it!!! Not to mention, you get an awesome room to live in for the week.

Again, I have to say, Chris Jefferson and his entertainment staff (especially the AD Marcello) are top-notch and second to none that I’ve ever experienced. Chris is amazing and keeps the announcements to a minimum. (This was a big problem with Jen and our cruise last year.) You could see Chris around the ship and he was always eager to stop and talk to you without making you feel like you were inconveniencing him as were the rest of his team.

And so the sun sets on our wonderful cruise.

 

 

I hope that you've enjoyed reading my review as much as I've enjoyed sharing it with you. If you have any questions, please ask. I've got the capers for the week and I'm hoping to get them scanned in sometime soon but in the mean time, I can answer any questions off of them for you.

 

Until next time.....

[flynnsport]

you did an awesome job...i look forward to seeing your capers as I have not been on the conquest in six years.

again great work!

[WestTxCruiser]

I enjoyed your review, I love seeing pics!!!!

I have 6 more Sundays to live through and then I get to board the Conquest with about 300 of my best friends....that I haven't met yet!!!!

Thanks Again!!!!

[jensing317]

I enjoyed your review, I love seeing pics!!!!

I have 6 more Sundays to live through and then I get to board the Conquest with about 300 of my best friends....that I haven't met yet!!!!

Thanks Again!!!!

 

 

Oh Thank You!! I'm so jealous of you...I want to go on the Crazies cruise so bad but taking a week off from school just wouldn't go over very well I'm afraid. :( I hope you all have a fantastically crazy time!! :D Know I'm cruising with you in spirit.