RDDAILY

Hello fellow cruisers!  We leave on Friday for a weekend getaway on the Conquest.  I don't see on my paperwork which dock it will be at.  Can someone please let me know?  Thank you!

Great review!  We are going on Celebration in July, and I'm looking forward to hearing more about your experience onboard the ship.  As an aside, my son has the same exact monkey that I saw on your top bunk!  I had it as a decoration in his nursery when he was born.  He is now 13 and it's still his favorite stuffed animal 🙂

Looking forward to your review!  I have to wait until July to sail on Celebration.  But I just booked Conquest for my birthday weekend (Memorial Weekend) to help me pass the time 😉  

Great info!  Thanks!

Hi!  We will be sailing on Conquest in May.  I've read some of the old reviews and they mention that there is a BBQ restaurant one floor up from the buffet.  Does anyone know if that is still available?  And on that note, are there any newer reviews for the Conquest on the Carnival board?  Thanks!

Loving your review!  Will be on Celebration in July and we can't wait!  Where did they have the praline and mango ice cream?  

Following!  Sailing on Celebration in July 2023!

On 6/20/2022 at 1:58 PM, Ourusualbeach said:

I have had many clients upgraded to balconies from OV and insides that they needed for quarantine areas.

 

It's not just deck 3 that they are taking.  Symphony had some forward upper level decks closed of for areas for crew to quarantine in March.

 

I wouldn't do anything.  If they need the space they will move you and most likely upgrade you at no charge.

Thanks!  As far as your clients being upgraded because they needed the cabins for quarantine, how far in advance were they notified?  We sail on July 9th.

Hello fellow cruisers!  We are sailing on Symphony is three weeks and are so excited to go on our first Oasis class ship!  We currently have an ocean view room on the third floor (with a window, not the one with a balcony).  Couple of questions:

1. I'm concerned because I know that this is the floor where they are quarantining people with Covid.  Anyone stayed on a cabin on this floor?  What was your experience like? 

2. I have the chance to Royal Up to a Boardwalk/Central Park cabin.  What are your experiences with these types of cabins? Are they noisy?  Did you like them?

My kids are so excited to get back to cruising, and I want to make this experience the best that I can for them!  Thank you!

We are sailing on Symphony in July.  It's been a while since we've cruised, but I seem to remember that Crown and Anchor members got a Buy One Get One 50% off benefit on photos.  Is that still the case?   I don't usually buy enough pictures to make the photo package worth it.  Thanks!

Hello fellow cruisers!  We are so excited about our upcoming cruise on Symphony.   My husband, myself and our two boys all have our vaccination cards.  But, the cards only have our first and last name, not the middle name (passports and sail passes have middle names).  Does it have to match the boarding documents exactly?  Thanks!

I bought the photo package for our upcoming Symphony cruise  If you buy the digital pictures, how does it work?  Do they give them to you right away on a USB?  Are they e-mailed?   Thanks!

Thank you so much for this review!  We are going on Symphony in July and your pictures are making me even more excited for our sailing!  One quick question.  Where are those piano stairs located?  I know my boys would love them!  Thanks.

We do not plan to buy the internet package on our cruise, but do need to check in with family back on land at least a couple of times.  Are there any places near the port that offer free WiFi?  Thanks in advance!

Hello everyone!  My family and I are excited to get back to cruising!  Living in Miami, we have done several Caribbean cruises.  Next year, we are planning to do an Alaskan Cruise.  My question is, what is the weather like in the beginning of July (the cruise I'm looking at is July 1-8?)  Will my boys be able to use the pool/slides, or is it too cold?  Also, what about the seas?  Are they get very rough?  Thanks!

We went on Magic at the end of July.  Did not get the internet plan, so can't comment on that.  In Grand Turk, we got off the ship and walked over to Jack's Shack.  Much less crowded and cleaner than the beach area close to the ship, and we enjoyed watching the famous Topher and Calypso (Jack's Shack doggie mascots) playing in the sand and water.  I thought about renting a golf cart and driving around the island, but with two ships docked that day, the rentals were sold out. 

In Amber Cove, we did an ATV ride with Marysol Tours.  Highly recommend them.  Their employees were wonderful, it was much cheaper than doing it through the cruise line, and even our five year old was able to do it. We really enjoyed the ATV ride, and felt safe during the entire ride.  Check out their website, it has all of the info on there. 

We had YTD, and never had to wait for a table.  We would make a reservation through the HUB app right before leaving the cabin, and our table would be ready by the time we got to the dining room.

You will love the Magic, she's a wonderful ship!

If anyone has any questions, I would be more than happy to try to answer them. 

I do have all of the Fun Times and Kids Club pamphlets for the cruise.  I just need to figure out how to upload them!  
Thanks for following along on my review.  The Magic is a great ship, and anyone that cruises on her will have a wonderful time!

Saturday - Debarkation

The saddest day of our vacation   We had to be out of the cabin by 8:30.  We got up, got dressed, and went up to the Lido for breakfast.  We took our time eating and talked about what a wonderful cruise we’d had. 

I told my husband that it was strange that I had not heard any tags being called in a while.  I’m not sure if you just can’t hear the announcements at the buffet?  Around 9:30, I told him we should start heading down to the 3^rd floor.  At least that way, we would be closer to the debarkation deck.  We headed down, and were told to sit in the theater.  We sat there for about 10 minutes, then they told us that we could all head out to the atrium, it didn’t matter what tag number we had.  There was a bit of a line to wait for our sign and sail cards to be scanned, but it moved pretty quickly.  It only took about 20 minutes to walk off the ship, grab our bags, and get through customs.  We walked out to the garage and got in our car.  Our vacation was officially over!

After the show was over, we walked out from the theater to the atrium for the balloon drop.  They had a DJ playing music.  They counted down from 10, and released the net.  All of the balloons dropped down on us!  It was so much fun.  After that was over, we went and got some pizza to eat, then went to the room to pack up and get ready for bed. 

Yesterday, they had set up a board at Ocean Plaza with numbered tags for the luggage.  They had tags for early debarkation, and late debarkation.  Since we were in no rush to get off the ship, I selected late debarkation.  I finished packing up our things, put the tags on our luggage, and set them outside our cabin door to be picked up. 

We had been told at the kids club that the kids would be performing during the finale of the Lip Sync Battle.  They had choreographed a little routine for each age group to perform during the intermission.   The Lip Sync Battle was scheduled at 7:30, but they told us that any kids that wanted to participate should be there around 7:15.  So we headed down to the main theater at 7:15.  Danny was super excited to participate.  Ryan wasn’t sure if he wanted to do it.  My kids are so different from each other!  Ryan is more reserved and quiet, while Danny is super outgoing… and very loud   In the end, Ryan decided to participate, too. 

They brought out the two finalists for the lip sync battle. It was a girl and a guy.  They both performed a routine (they were both great performers)!  Then, they had intermission so that the performers could get ready for the second routine.  They brought the kids up on the stage, and each age group performed their little routine.  Then, they told all of the kids that they could freestyle and do whatever dance they wanted!  I was cracking up watching Danny dance front and center on the stage!  Once they finished, all of the kids started walking off the stage.  I was looking down at my phone trying to watch the video I had just taken.  I look up, and Danny is on stage by himself with Simon!   I guess Simon was pretty impressed with his dance moves.  He did a little interview with Danny, then had him show off his dance moves.  The audience was laughing and clapping.  That child of mine is too much!!!

At 6:00, we sat out by the pool and watched Lego Movie 2 on the big screen.  That day was kids movie day.  They played the Lego Movie, and the new How to Train Your Dragon. 

That afternoon, they set up a table just past the pool on the Lido, with balloons.  You could blow up a balloon, put a little paper inside with your name and cabin number, and put the balloon on a big net.  At 8:30 that evening, they were going to drop all of the balloons down to the atrium.  They would also select one of the balloons, and the winning card inside would get a Carnival gift pack. 

Ryan had been wanting to try the Sky Course, but every time we went, it was closed. It was either too windy, or one time it was lightning.  Today, he finally got to try it.  He did the course twice.  The inside course is easier than the outside one. 

Friday – Sea Day

We had reservations for the Dr. Seuss breakfast at 9:45.  It costs $5 per person.  When I made the reservation, they had told us to get there around 15 minutes early.  We headed down to the dining room at 9:30.  There was already a line of people for the breakfast.  A Carnival employee was walking around checking people’s names off a list, and telling them which table to sit at.

At 9:45, they started letting us into the dining room.  The tables had little cards with numbers on them.  We found our table and sat down.  The decorations were really cute, and I loved the menu!  It looked like a Dr. Seuss book!  They came around and took our orders, and the characters started coming around, as well.  First were Thing 1 and Thing 2.  They walked around to each table and took pictures with the guests.  Next, they brought out the Cat in the Hat.  He stood at the entryway, and the guests had to go up to take pictures with him.  Last, was Sam I Am.  Like the Cat in the Hat, he also stood at the entry and you had to go up to take pictures.

They also gave the kids a little autograph book, and they put a stamp on it for each character.

I thought the service was a bit slow.  They took a long time to bring our drinks, then even longer for the food.  My son had ordered a side of ham, and by the time it came, he was already finished with the rest of his breakfast! 

But it was a cute experience for the kids, and the decorations and characters made it worth it. 

We then continued to drive back to the ranch.  Once we got there, the photographer gave us our thumb drive with the pictures.  We thanked our guides and gave them a tip, since they had done an awesome job.  The tour lasted a little over three hours.  We got back on the pick-up truck, and were taken back to the port.  Again, we had a long walk back to the ship! 

By this time, we were starving.  But, I had wanted to text my mom to see how things were back home.  I thought I was going to have to go to the pool area to get a wifi signal, but luckily a lot of the stores in the port area offered free wifi.  We stopped at one of the stores, and while the boys picked out some souvenir shirts, I texted my mom. 

We walked back to the ship, and headed for the Lido deck.  The boys had burgers, and I finally got to try out the Blue Iguana Mexican food.  I had some tacos, and they were delicious!  The toppings bar was great too. 

After that, the boys wanted to play in the Waterworks area.  We hung out there for a bit, then went back to the room to rest and get ready for dinner.  Tonight was the second elegant night.  Although I did see some people dressed up, most were dressed a lot more casually than on the first elegant night.  Once we were ready to eat, I made my reservation through the Hub App, then walked to the restaurant.  Tonight’s menu included filet mignon.  Both my husband and I ordered it.  It was one of the best steaks I’ve had in a long time!  The meat was tender and juicy.  After dinner, it was back to the cabin to rest.