Conquest Review 8/23-8/30

[Scott_F]

Conquest 8/23/09

 

Sunday 8/23 --

 

Wife and I are celebrating our 20th Anniversary by ourselves, both 48. We took all our college-aged kids on a cruise in June on Ecstasy, but this time, it's private time for Mom and Dad. :)

 

Left College Station at 9:30AM and arrived in the Galveston cruise terminal at 11:30. Vacation speeding I guess. Normally it takes me 2.5 hours. But uneventful drive. Love cruising out of Galveston.

 

Dropped wife off at the terminal and I went to find EZ Cruise Parking. Flawless execution and I was back in line with Missus at 12 noon. We were on the boat by 12:45. Very smooth.

 

Lifeboat drill was unique to our other cruises. There were general admonishments to parents to police their own kids as well as letting others (kids included) know about being quiet in the room hallways Nice . Very nice. Kyle somebody is our CD. He's a funny guy.

 

 

We had a few drinks, watched Galveston slip away and prepared for dinner. Ended up at a table for 10. THere were three other couples waiting. All were very nice. Server was SLOOOOOW. It was a painful 2.5 dinner. We figured we'd give him another try since everyone has a bad day.

 

Called the Supper Club to confirm the reservationss I made online. Good thing I did as they did not have us logged in. Disaster averted by being proactive!

 

Spent the evening doing a bit of gambling and called it in earlier than we usually do. Neighbors next door woke us up at Midnight, but hey, that's the way things go. By the way, we were in 1024, interior room up on Deck 10. I love being close to the pool deck. Room was our first inside experience. A bit fewer square feet, but not too shabby. Nice start to an anniversary cruise!

 

 

Monday 8/24 --

 

Day at sea. Yeah! Headed back to the adult pool. Spent all morning and into the afternoon just enjoying the sunshine, Breakfast that morning at the main dining hall was great. Lunch was pizza and burgers by the pool.

 

 

Dinner was with same table and oh damn.... service was slow as molasses. At this point, we made a decision to not eat with this server again. We're done. People at the table were nice enough, but the waiter was causing pain. Since we were by ourselves, we were also finding it a challenge to make the 6pm time as well. Let's move to 8pm.

 

Tonight was cha cha dance lessons for the two of us. My two left feet did a decent job of NOT crushing my wife's toes.

 

We hit the nightclub hard tonight. Asti Spumante is 22 bucks a bottle. This is a decent drink price and that's what my wife and I worked on. We had 70-80's dance music from 10-12pm. Then it was a bit more modern. Wow, didnt' get back to our cabin until 2:30. Fun stuff. And, we were quiet coming down the hallway! :)

[Scott_F]

Tuesday 8/25 --

 

Wow, didn't wake up until 12:30!!! Definitely not like us, but hey, having an inside room that is dark as the bat cave is a thing to enjoy. Got up, had some lunch and hit the adult pool again. Left there, went to the Newlywed Game. Very funny. No matter how many times you see one of these , they are always hysterical.

 

Went to see the Maitre 'D after some more pool time. He switched us to the late seating and a table for two. Honestly, I was not impressed with the MD. I heard him lecturing some first time cruisers in a very condescending way. But our new server was excellent and we were through with dinner in about an hour and fifteen minutes. We actually dragged it out a bit talking with the server. She's a nice one. We're lucky to have moved.

 

Deck party and mexican buffet on Lido deck tonight. So, off we went. Enjoyed the band afterwards a lot. Dancing on the lifo under the stars! Fun. Tomorrow Jamaica!

 

 

 

Wednesday 8/26 --

 

Jamaica mon!

 

 

Slept late, time to hit the shopping districts and then off to Jimmy Buffet's for lots of fun. We met an older couple on the elevator down to the pursers desk, explained that we wanted a lot of small bills for shopping, no credit cards. They decided that we knew a tiny bit more about cruising so they followed us down and got their own change. We parted ways at the terminal but lo and behold, they came walking into Margaritaville just as we were sitting down out on the deck. We had them join us and had a great time getting to know them. Turns out they're on their 53rd anniversary this week. Wow. That's dedication. :)

 

 

Great drinks and fun at Margaritaville. Tip: For those of you that just want to bum around MoBay like we did, they offer a shuttle bus taxi thing that offers unlimited rides for $15 pp. Original "taxi bus" we got on tried to upsell us on a long tour of the island. Scam once they have you on the little bus. Otherwise, the private cabs are all $5 each way pp. It's actually a good deal, especially if your wife decides to go back to a jewelry store after we'd already left that area! (Wife says to tell you that a block down from Jimmy Buffet's was a great shop that had knock off Coach, Gucci, Channel and Fendi handbags and wallets. They wheeled and dealed a lot. Wife says bring cash on that one, didn't want to give them her CC number!)

 

I also spoke to a couple that went on the Appleton Rum Tour and what was supposed to be an hour and half drive was more like 2:45-3 hours each way! They were pretty bent no one warned them. The tour itself was only 20 minutes. Be warned on that one. We did the Dunns River Falls last year and it was perfect, without a hitch. But, we were prepared for the long drive to Ocho Rios. Other family did the zip line thing last year and had a ball.

 

Tonight was the first of our two nights in the Supper Club. Fantastic steaks as they were last year. Excellent service. $30 upcharge per person, but that also included the tip. Wonderful single malt scotch selection as well. After that, off to Henri's for a night of dancing. Once we got through the motown half hour and the 70-80's half hour, they started playing the more modern dance music and the place filled up. I'm not normally into that type of music, but my wife loves to dance and I'm always along for a good ride. I'm actually a fan of the way these kids dance these days. I'll just leave it at that. :)

[Scott_F]

Thursday 8/27 --

 

Grand Cayman today. Our plans had been to head over to the Reef Grill (Royal Palms) for a day at the beach. But, we really hadn't been paying too much attention to the weird hours in Cayman. 7AM arrival and boat leaves at 3PM. Since we're by ourselves and refusing to rush to do anything, we just worked our way off the boat at 9am and stayed in the terminal area (downtown?) shopping and drinking and eating. We've been to GC 4 times now and each time did the wonderful excursions offered here. But at the end of each past day here, we regretted not having enough time to just walk around and explore a bit. So, today that's what we did. Wife was in a search for some earrings these past few days to match her Caribbean Topaz ring we bought here two years ago.

 

Worked our way down to Eden Rock and the Paradise Grill. Great view, slow service. Drinks were good, not great. Nachos were good, not great. Very expensive for what we got. But, we paid for the view I guess and the cool breeze, lots of that. More shopping later and we ended up at Margaritaville. Had some more nachos and ritas (wife had awesome banana daiquiris) and I must say, waaaay better than the other place. A few drinks later and it was time to head back to the tenders. The line was really long, but amazingly enough, it moved quite quickly. No negatives here at all. (Wife says don't bother with the swatch watch store. Inattentive staff and poor selection. She also says the Guy Harvey apparel store beneath the restaurant was a great place to find really cool shirts inspired by Guy's fish paintings.) And, on the subject of those wonderful Tortuga rum cakes... the shop at the terminal would not deliver the cakes unless you bought booze that was wrapped up in the packaging. We went to the little shop across the street and they delivered the cakes if you bought a case. No alcohol purchased needed. That being said, a case of 8 large rum cakes is going to be a bear to get home since I'm the only pack mule in my party.

 

Now the good thing about leaving GC at 3:30 is that we had time to take a well needed, drink-inspired nap. But, the noise!!! Wow, kids running, people yelling, doors slamming. It was pretty amazing. :) Tonight was formal night so we decided to wake up by 7pm. Woke up, fell out of bed, dragged a comb across my head... didn't feel like doing much so we put on our sweat pants and headed off to the buffet. Mellow night indeed. Didn't find those earrings, so we'll look again tomorrow in Cozumel!

 

Tips from Wife: Traveling with some sort of wrap or a black dress sweater that matches everything is a must. Inside everywhere in the ship, casinos, shows, dining, etc. is always freezing. (which I loved) Also, just in case you don't know, your coffee, capachinos and expressos are included with your evening meal at no charge. Also, first time we bought a soda drink card and this is our fifth cruise. By day 4, it's paid for itself and I've ordered fewer high priced drinks.

 

 

Friday 8/28 --

 

Cozumel.

 

Smooth sailing into Cozumel around 9AM. Got off the boat immediately and headed off to the Fury Catamaran for a snorkel and beach day. 3.5 hour excursion which left us plenty of time for shopping, eating and drinking. The Valor was in port as well. Good time snorkeling but short. Beach time was only an hour as well. Too short all around. But, it was billed at 3.5 hours and it lasted 3.5 hours. Met lots of nice folks from both ships. Wife says bathrooms on the boat were clean and decent for changing into dry clothes. They also had a hose up on deck with fresh water. Fury guys took good care of all of us. Beer, sodas and margaritas were included on this excursion. But, the burger meal on the beach will set you back 9 bucks. Parasailing, horseback riding and jetskis were available for rental. Not sure where the beach was exactly, but the guys told us about a mile from Nachi Cochum. Lots of water trampolines and rock wall floating stuff out in the water to play on.

 

Headed over to Fat Tuesdays for some snacks and ice cold beers. They were indeed ice cold. We were at the Puerta Maya docks. I guess they're the furthest south. Last year we docked closer to downtown and we both preferred that location. We had plenty of time to head downtown, but elected to hit all the shops there at the dock. Eureka! My wife found her earrings! She managed to pay half of the best price she found in Jamaica and Cayman. So, life is good. Back on the boat early and watched all the stragglers head back.

 

Carnival toasted my wife's suitcase when we got on the ship. It was literally falling apart. They told us to just buy a new one and bring the receipt. Although we looked in all ports, we never found a suitcase for her as replacement. We'll have to see how it works out tomorrow.

[Scott_F]

Saturday 8/29 --

 

Day at Sea, the Finale. Woke up early for the Eggs Benedict breakfast in the main dining room. Wonderful breakfast as usual. Took care of checking out all our photos, checked on wife's suitcase outcome. They ended up giving us our bag back and have offered to reimburse once we send in a receipt. Fair enough. Headed out to the adult pool by 10:30 while my wife went for the last day massage specials. Tip for first time cruisers: they tend to offer aggressive spa prices on the final day. We had the Sur Mer fish and chips out at the pool for lunch. Very good stuff. You have to go upstairs from the main buffet area to deck 10 and you'll find a not-very-crowded Sur Mer dining area. I think very few know it's back there. A few more hours in the sun, pool was getting rowdy. Some guys had come back from Cozumel with mexican wrestler masks and wore them the entire afternoon. In and out of the pool. These were the same guys that had won the Synchronized Swimming contest earlier in the week. They were pretty funny both days. They had a quick belly flop contest today and then their girl friends followed with a cannon ball contest. I'm not sure some of the folks appreciated the fun, but I'm all for it. Livens things up back there. Speaking of that, Carnival, please pipe in some more consistent music to the back pool. Some days, we'd get a lot of Beatles and other good stuff. Some days, pure Muzak swing music.

 

We had our final dinner at the Point Supper Club. I am not big on dress codes or formalities, but I think if you state you have a dress code, you need to have the guts to follow it. I guess they wanted to maximize profits as they pretty much let anyone in with t-shirts and shorts on. Of course, one of these groups was a party of four that were loud and obnoxious. I feel like it took away from the overall experience from our first night there. Food, however, was slightly better than our first night. They had this pumpkin parfait thing that was one of the most unique appetizers I have ever had. We had it both nights, along with crab cakes and both of us ordered the Filet Mignon again. Same exact dinner 4 nights later, but it was just that good.

 

Some night action in the casino later and we called it a night. I added up all our casino adventures and it appears we're less than $100 down for the week. I call that a push.

 

 

Sunday 8/30 --

 

Time for home. Boo. We had put our bags out the night before after having done self-assist back in June on Ecstasy. I will from now on just let Carnival do my heavy lifting... and I do mean heavy. We headed down when they called us, found a porter and he zoomed us past all those tired souls waiting for Customs. Tip: Use the porter to leave the boat, even if you don't have that many bags. It's worth the tip money. You'll cut down your time in line dramatically. Porter dropped our bags outside in the shade at 9:15 and my wife waited while I walked to EZ Cruise Parking. It's 2 very short blocks. I didn't want to wait in line for the parking bus to take me to the lot. Line was long. In fact, from the moment I set off walking until I drove out of their lot, I never even saw the bus that had been back at the terminal loading up. It just doesn't make sense to load all your bags on their shuttle (which takes considerable time) only to have to unload them and reload them at your vehicle in their lot. We were in our own truck driving home by 9:30. I thought EZ Cruise parking was well run, apparently safe and close. I'll definitely use them again.

 

Construction on I-45 at League City was happening. I'd been warned before departure as well as they were warning folks leaving the terminal. We detoured around it and got home quickly and safely 3 hours later.

 

 

Overall Impressions:

 

This was our 2nd trip on Conquest, once last summer before the updates. We also sailed Ecstasy in June. I felt overall, the food was better on Ecstasy. This makes sense to me due to the few number of passengers. Overall, I prefered the Conquest and the various updates. Our timing on cruising 8/23 found there to be a LOT less junior and senior high students on board. The really younger kids were still there. We love kids, but this was a pleasant change from our normal summer cruising.

 

The movie screen is nice if you're into that sort of thing. Boo to Carnival for charging a buck fifty for a little bag of popcorn! I actually liked those little blue "pod" polymer rocking chairs by the main pool. I also liked the new deck chairs, especially the ones at the tables near the back adult pool. We bought a drink card this trip and my wife and I definitely got our money's worth out of it. She's not a big soda drinker, but I am. I felt like I bought fewer alcoholic drinks by having that card. Our cabin steward and his helpers were first rate. The guy was from Bali, Indonesia.

His command of the english language was first rate and he was on his game at all times. Very humorous and generally pleasant to speak with daily. No doubt this young man earns maximum tips.

 

Overall, this was a unique experience for my wife and myself. We've never cruised just the two of us. We really should have booked the anytime dining option originally because we were on our "anytime" cruise. We just did what the two of us wanted, got up whenever, went to dinner when we wanted, danced the nights away... Fabulous way to do this. We love cruising with family and friends. but this was a very cool experience that we will definitely repeat.

 

Well, that's it. Sorry for the novel. Time to plan the next cruise. :)

[Scott_F]

Oh yeah, based on another review a few weeks back, I picked up one of those Fuji waterproof digital cameras. Worked as advertised. Nice little toy that does videos as well. Lots of underwater shots this week. A real keeper for $150.

[Scott_F]

Well, I can't edit the remainder of my posts, having hit the 15 min limit. So, I"ll add a few more photos here if you'll indulge me a bit.

 

Fillet Mignon at Supper Club

 

 

Pulling up next to the Valor in Coz...

 

 

Fish swarm while the Fury photographer gropes a tourist...

[Scott_F]

Cozumel at the "Fury" beach...

 

 

The three amigos in the adult pool after buying their mexican wrestler masks...

 

Valor officer watches the Conquest pull up next to her...

 

 

Dueling ships in the background...

[pnjkeith]

Great review

[canner2u]

Oh yeah, based on another review a few weeks back, I picked up one of those Fuji waterproof digital cameras. Worked as advertised. Nice little toy that does videos as well. Lots of underwater shots this week. A real keeper for $150.

 

Thank you so much for your review, I really enjoyed it. Would love to see some pics taken with the Fuji camera.

[tootsiebit]

Awesome review ScottF....and so glad you and Mrs. ScottF had a great time....

Tootsie

[Scott_F]

Thank you so much for your review, I really enjoyed it. Would love to see some pics taken with the Fuji camera.

 

all photos were taken with the fuji z33 something or another.

 

http://www.amazon.com/Fujifilm-FinePix-Z33WP-Waterproof-Green/dp/B001QENO6Q/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=photo&qid=1251691014&sr=1-2

[laffnatu]

Nice review! :D

[canner2u]

all photos were taken with the fuji z33 something or another.

 

http://www.amazon.com/Fujifilm-FinePix-Z33WP-Waterproof-Green/dp/B001QENO6Q/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=photo&qid=1251691014&sr=1-2

 

 

Thanks for the link.

[ginjer2911]

Thanks for the great review.

[cathyoo]

Great review. I'm glad to hear you and the Mrs had a wonderful vacation. Loved your pictures and your outlook. Thanks for taking the time to share with us.

[Shewuf]

I enjoyed the review, too, Scott. But, your woman deserves a balcony, after 20 years...;)

[Scott_F]

I enjoyed the review, too, Scott. But, your woman deserves a balcony, after 20 years...;)

 

We only booked this spur of the moment, with 2-3 weeks to spare. We are definitely balcony people all the way. The only balconies left were terrible locations when we booked.

 

Sleeping late is unheard of for us, so the inner room was a blessing in that regard. :)

 

Trust me, mama gets treated very very well. :)

[MicksMom]

Hey Scott!

 

Glad you both had a great time. You promised a great review with lots of pictures but I sure wasn't expecting it that fast!! January on the Conquest will include DD & boyfriend but next October will be just the 2 of us for our 25th.

 

Thanks again!!!

[hill6]

Great review and nice pictures.

[Scott_F]

Deck 10 Forward "Semi-Private Balcony" observation area.

 

 

Looking back up towards the exercise Deck 11 from Deck 10...

 

Conquest docked at MoBay as seen from Jimmy Buffet's...

[Scott_F]

One of the Jamaican Marching band fell into the bay reaching for a thrown dollar bill....

 

Private crew only hot tubs on the bow of the Valor...

[cruisetexas]

Hi....what a great review. We've sailed the Conquest a couple of times and it took me back to those happy days.

 

Congrats on the Wife & Me trip, hope it will be one of many. We are now empty nesters and cruise once a year by ourselves.....love it. Love being able to not worry about what anyone else wants.....selfish? nah....it's about time!

 

Thanks for the review. You two sound like you know how to enjoy life and go with the flow....love that!

Susan

[flynnsport]

Deck 10 Forward "Semi-Private Balcony" observation area.

 

 

Looking back up towards the exercise Deck 11 from Deck 10...

 

Conquest docked at MoBay as seen from Jimmy Buffet's...

Great place to enjoy morning coffee when approaching ports...very quiet

[laffnatu]

You wouldn't happen to have your capers with you, would you? :D

[Scott_F]

You wouldn't happen to have your capers with you, would you? :D

 

No. We never kept them o CE we tore off the little piece.