Conquest Dec 23-30 Home again

It was wonderful. DH and I have discussed all week...we don't know what we were expecting but this week was so much better than we ever dreamed. It was a magical week. We enjoyed every minute of every day. The weather was fabulous, the seas were calm, Conquest and her staff are unbelievably amazing and the company was marvelous.

 

Loved the Stingray tour in Grand Cayman. It was just about the most fun I've ever had.

 

The only negative to the week was getting a message on Thursday saying my dad had pneumonia and was in the hospital. We took a 2 hour side trip on the way home from Galveston today to check on him. :)

 

The week was fantastic.

 

Oh, well, there was the whole being paged to go to the purser's office this morning at 8:15.

It's a bad sign when you answer a page and the person you are talking to shakes her head and leaves only to return with someone else who looks more glum than the first person. And who takes you through a locked door and leaves you with someone else. Who turns out to be the Chief Purser. And he looks like he is sweating.

 

Poor man, he was beside himself. Seems part of our luggage took an unauthorized swim this morning in the Galveston Bay and he had the dubious pleasure of telling us. They were able to rescue one piece but another was still on the bottom of the Gulf. Last we heard, Carnival was hiring a driver to retrieve it. We got special care and feeding the rest of the morning all the way to the shuttle bus.

 

Good News: The lost at sea bag was NOT ours.

Bad News: It belongs to someone else.

Best News: Our bag and everything in it is at home drying.

 

I have 287 pictures downloading right this minute and a review floating around in my head that I will try to get out tomorrow.

 

In the meantime just let me say, we loved it. Y'all were right, we are hooked. My husband started looking through the Carnival cruise catalog on about Wednesday to begin a plan for the next time.

Welcome back! So glad you had a good holiday and a great cruise:D Sorry about the luggage though :eek: Can't wait for your review!

Welcome home!

 

I was wondering how you enjoyed your sailing on the Conquest. Glad to hear that it was great up until the last minute.

 

Pretty much everyone likes playing with the stingrays. It's a memorable experience.

 

How is your dad doing? Better, I hope.

 

So, when do you schedule your next cruise???

 

Addicted???

 

;)

Thats how we felt after we got off the Conquest, sorry to hear about your bag but good attitude about it. I like your avatar, its cute!

Kathy,

Can we hijack the thread and make it a collaborative review? ;) :D I really want to add my two cents worth too!

Kathy,

Can we hijack the thread and make it a collaborative review? ;) :D I really want to add my two cents worth too!

 

Kathy,

Please say yes, we want to hear more!:D

Kathy,

Can we hijack the thread and make it a collaborative review? ;) :D I really want to add my two cents worth too!

 

Yes, Yes, YES!

Havinest: Good to hear that you had a great cruise. sorry to hear about the luggage but I admire your upbeat comment about it. Can't wait to read more.

Robb

Welcome home!

 

I was wondering how you enjoyed your sailing on the Conquest. Glad to hear that it was great up until the last minute.

 

Pretty much everyone likes playing with the stingrays. It's a memorable experience.

 

How is your dad doing? Better, I hope.

 

So, when do you schedule your next cruise???

 

Addicted???

 

;)

It was everything you said and more. And, you know what? Even the luggage thing was okay. They have offered several types of compensation but even without that we'd have been okay. The trip was perfect...perfect company, our kids had our room decorated for our anniversary and sent gifts that we found when we arrived (I was more excited that they were thoughtful enough to do it than the actual gifts...it means we really did raise them right!), the weather was marvelous, the sea calm and mostly smooth all week, etc. Everyone needs a story and the luggage dropping into the sea became ours.

 

Daddy is much better but he will stay in the hospital a few more days. Thanks for asking.

 

ADDICTED! Doesn't even begin to describe. DH Terry is a bit laid back and somber. He was cutting up with the best of them this week and HE is the one who started thumbing through the cruise book on about Day Three looking for our next cruise.

 

Still trying to dry out clothes enough to get them into the washing machine but I have downloaded all the pictures. I'll have a real review later.

Everything that Kathy said is right on!

 

We had the BEST time ever! Our table mates became our very good friends and we cannot wait to cruise with you guys again. We laughed until we cried, we ate until we could eat no more, and we just enjoyed everything that the Conquest had to offer.

 

The service was superb, the ship was very clean, the food was awesome (especially the melting cake and the Bitter and Blanc!), and Mark Price is the funniest CD on the planet! (I wanna be a MACHO man!)

 

Overall, I must say that we are dedicated Carnival cruisers and wouldn't dream of cruising with anyone else!

Poor man, he was beside himself. Seems part of our luggage took an unauthorized swim this morning in the Galveston Bay and he had the dubious pleasure of telling us. They were able to rescue one piece but another was still on the bottom of the Gulf.

 

Oh come now what happended?

It was everything you said and more. And, you know what? Even the luggage thing was okay. They have offered several types of compensation but even without that we'd have been okay. The trip was perfect...perfect company, our kids had our room decorated for our anniversary and sent gifts that we found when we arrived (I was more excited that they were thoughtful enough to do it than the actual gifts...it means we really did raise them right!), the weather was marvelous, the sea calm and mostly smooth all week, etc. Everyone needs a story and the luggage dropping into the sea became ours.

 

Daddy is much better but he will stay in the hospital a few more days. Thanks for asking.

 

ADDICTED! Doesn't even begin to describe. DH Terry is a bit laid back and somber. He was cutting up with the best of them this week and HE is the one who started thumbing through the cruise book on about Day Three looking for our next cruise.

 

Still trying to dry out clothes enough to get them into the washing machine but I have downloaded all the pictures. I'll have a real review later.

 

Wonderful!

 

I'll be wating for your review!

 

Thanks.

 

Mach

Terry and I drove to Galveston on Saturday the 22nd. We stayed the night at the Holiday Inn on the beach and they kept the car for free all week. I had been semi-active on Cruise Critic on our cruise's Roll Call. Twenty-six of us met at Fish Tails for dinner on Saturday night. It was great to be able to put faces and names together. Dinner was nice but the company made the evening.

 

Our 30th anniversary started early as we got up and dressed and made our way to the hotel lobby to meet the shuttle bus that would take us to the pier. We were on the shuttle with 2 other families but they were cruising on RCI's Voyager of the Seas. We had our luggage off the shuttle and into the capable hands of a porter and were walking into the terminal by 10:45. Our Fun Passes (aka Carnival boarding pass) were checked as we stepped in the door and we were directed up the escalator. At the top of the escalator we rounded a corner and went to the back of the line of about 150 people. We had VIP check in because we were booked into a suite; Terry left me in line while he went to ask about VIP check in. He motioned for me to leave the line and we were guided to some chairs where we sat for about 20 minutes. The two wedding parties were in that area, too. Once the wedding parties boarded we were sent to a desk to check in. Showed our passports (had to sign them - had so carefully tucked them away when we received them and forgot to sign them), received our Sail and Sign cards and headed towards a line that was beginning to form. We were told we didn't need to stand in line and were sent to another set of chairs. In about 10 minutes we, another couple and two groups with someone in a wheelchair were told we could board. The other couple walked on a few steps about us. The other couple turned out to be our next door neighbors and Cruise Critic Roll Call friends, Larry and Sue. We were on board at 11:36.

 

L&S showed us where to buy a fountain drink card (one price and then all the soft drinks you want for the week) and we talked about the ship for a minute before they disappeared. I directed Terry to the Cezanne Restaurant (the Conquest is decorated in Impressionism). We put our stuff (carry-ons, my purse and the camera bag) down on a table by a window and while I stayed with the stuff Terry went up the stairs to Sur Mer (the fish and chips area of the restaurant) for fish and chips and his beloved fried oysters.

 

Pretty quickly the area began to fill full of people and I was glad we'd staked out a spot early. We saw dolphins playing in the Bay while eating lunch. Our rooms were not available until 1:30 so we wandered around a bit and then at about 1:15 we set up camp outside the closed doors that lead to our hall and room. Other CC friends came by and we visited with them and their 7 year old until 1:30.

 

The room was awesome. We had a suite and it was sweet. Our kids had ordered gifts to be delivered to us for our anniversary and had the room decorated. It was so cool. I was more excited at their thoughtfulness than I was about the gifts but the champagne and flutes, tee-shirts and visors, beach towel, key chains and other items were certainly fun to have. The decorations hung down a bit so Terry, who is 6'6") had a clearance problem. I left the decorations up for a couple of days before moving them out of the way.

 

We had first dinner seating in the Monet Dining Room. I love Monet’s Water Lilies which is the theme for the Monet. We had pre-arranged our dining table to be 4 couples (and the 7 year old) from Cruise Critic. It was the best decision we made about our trip. We got to know Doug and Annie, Larry and Sue and Lisa, Jason and Ethan and ended up spending lots of time together. We had a great time together. I’m so glad that Annie suggested eating together and that Lisa and her travel agent were able to work it out for all of us.

 

Our wait staff of Elizabeth from Romania and Jose from the Philippians were terrific. Elizabeth loves children and went out of her way with Ethan. The day he asked for a bucket of chocolate milk she was happy to oblige. She came out with a champagne bucket and began to pour chocolate milk from cartons into the bucket. After about 3 of them she brought the bucket to Ethan. The adults at the table were laughing uncontrollably and when she reached into the bucket and pulled out a full glass of chocolate milk I thought at least one of us was going to fall out of his/her chair laughing.

 

Elizabeth gave us appetizer, entrée and dessert recommendations every day. The only evening Terry was disappointed in an entrée (New York strip steak tasty but a little bland) was the day he did not take her advice. The Cream Brule was to die for. Terry ate 3 of them the night it was served.

 

Our cruise agent sent a bottle of champagne for our anniversary and it was waiting us that first night when we got the dining room. We shared with our table friends. During dessert a half dozen of the wait staff came to sing Happy Anniversary to us and gave us a piece of cake with candles in it.

 

Christmas Eve was the first of the two Formal Nights. It’s fun to be able to dress up every now and again. We miss out on that these days in the casual society most of the U.S. has become. Dinner was lobster tail and Cream Brule. We had our pictures taken several times. Terry and I had a formal picture taken and walked the decks after dinner while the others did Karaoke.

 

Santa Claus found my stocking and I woke to find a new pair of small binoculars. They are so much better than my old ones. I’ll miss the old camo colored pair but I’m delighted with the new solid black ones and their 7-15 variable power zoom. Terry and I went to tea during Christmas afternoon. The string and piano trio provided lovely back music for tea.

 

Our first Port of Call was Jamaica on Wednesday. After watching the lifeboats and their crews in drill Terry and I took a shore excursion onto a semi-submerged sub to look at the Coral Reef. Terry got in a little snorkeling, too. We did a little shopping in Montego Bay, too. We got back to the ship and I barely had time to change clothes before we were setting sail. Two of our dinner buddy couples ate at The Point on Wednesday so it was just us and Lisa, Jason and an ill Ethan for dinner. Little Ethan had a touch of swimmer’s ear. The ship’s doctor got him some medication but he was pretty puny at supper. Our waitress Elizabeth moved two chairs together to form a bed, covered Ethan up with a tablecloth and made him a pillow out of second one. He slept most of his way though dinner.

 

On Thursday we found ourselves in Georgetown Grand Cayman and we were in love. We wandered around for a while in the town in morning and then took a brief boat ride to Stingray Sandbar where we were able to see, swim with and touch and feed sting rays on a huge sandbar out in the middle of the Caribbean Sea. Terry and I held one of the rays and Terry kissed one for good luck. I decided I didn’t need the luck that bad. By the way, Terry is a button shy on his hat. A parrot he was holding ate the button off the top of his hat. Ethan was feeling better and he allowed his parents to join him on Pirate Ship sail and excursion. Just before dinner we got a message from Katie telling us that my dad was in the hospital with pneumonia. I made a few calls and got an update on him and off to dinner we went. Dinner was one couple shy again as Lisa and Jason left Ethan at Camp Carnival and went to The Point Supper Club for dinner. The Point, a steak house on par with Ruth Chris or Del Frisco, is a reservation only kind of place and one of the few things on board that costs extra. Thursday was our second formal day and after dinner the dinner group met in the Toulouse Lautrec Lounge for a comedy show. It was supposed to be a ventriloquist but he missed the boat (literally) due to bad weather and delayed airplanes. We saw several shows over the week and enjoyed most of them. We also listened to music in several venues including Albert's the cigar bar where jazz is played each evening. We liked most of the music very much.

 

Friday we were in Cozumel and Terry and I shopped for several hours. We ate chicken fajitas at a restaurant called Fat Tuesday which we thoroughly enjoyed. The other thing Terry enjoyed was dickering with people selling things. We bought wallets for him and for our son and sons in law. Terry also shepherded me in and out of jewelry stores as we looked at wedding sets to get ideas of prices for the next time we are there. He also found a pendant he liked. Upon inquiring about the price and eventually getting $250 knocked off the “$350 price” he announced it was time to leave the store. A couple of hours we were back and after more price discussions I am now wearing the fruits of his dickering, a beautiful opal (with diamonds) pendant necklace.

 

Saturday was a sea day. We ate breakfast in the dining room with our friends and we had lunch with them later in the buffet area. We also had a Cruise Critic round up and discussed our trip with the other Roll Call buds in Larry’s and Sue’s room. Terry and I had dinner at The Point so we missed the good-byes with Elizabeth and Jose. The Point was magnificent. The food both taste and presentation was very special. The downside to the day was a phone call from my dad and he sounded terrible. Each breath and each word was sheer labor and effort to get out.

 

All week Terry and I kept commenting about how magically the trip was and had been. The weather, seas, company, ship and staff were so wonderful that I began to wonder when the shoe was going to drop.

It was simply perfect and since nothing is perfect we were not upset when we had a small problem trying to add something to our sail and sign account (we added a gratuity to our meal at The Point but it didn’t show up on our card). When even the purser’s desk couldn’t get it to work Terry gave up and he and the purser zeroed out our account and they refunded Terry our cash deposit money we had not spent. Imagine our surprise on Sunday morning to find a bill for (the amount of the gratuity) had been slipped under our door during the night. We watched the forklift drivers moving luggage from our balcony for a while and then Terry went to down and got the bill settled while I finished packing. He was only gone a few minutes and was only back a few minutes when we heard a page for us over the intercom at 8:15.

 

It's a bad sign when you answer a page and the person you are talking to shakes her head when you give your name and then leaves only to return with someone else who looks glummer than the first person. And who takes you through a locked door and leaves you with someone else. Who turns out to be the Chief Purser. And he looks like he is sweating.

 

Poor man, he was beside himself. Seems part of our luggage took an unauthorized swim this morning in the Galveston Bay and he had the dubious pleasure of telling us. They were able to rescue one piece but another was still on the bottom of the Gulf. Last we heard, Carnival was hiring a driver to retrieve it. We got special care and feeding the rest of the morning all the way to the shuttle bus. The Chief Purser took us to our wet bag down near the Deck ) gangway. We opened it and did a quick inventory of the contents and then turned it back over to the purser. We had breakfast with our buddies who were by now dying of curiosity since they had all heard the pages. We explained and after the initial shock wore off we had a good laugh about being the sort of people that just simply have things happen to them.

The cruise director, Mark Price, had heard about our tale and we spent a few minutes cutting up with him about it. We had been given instructions to report to the Purser’s Desk when we were ready to leave the ship. The rest of our CC group left the ship while we waited on the Purser. After about 15 minutes he reappeared and continued to apologize. He turned us over to the capable hands of his Second Purser and, along with the Second Purser, we walked off a few minutes later as the last couple to leave the ship. The Second Purser took us to the terminal and to the zone where our luggage was supposed to be. We found 3 of the bags we’d put out on Saturday night to be checked (in other words, all but the wet one). So, the good news is we only had one bag get wet. The bad news is someone else is the owner of that bag at the bottom of the sea.

 

Here is what we know about the luggage and its swim…

Luggage is put into four sided slated metal crates. Those crates fold flat for storage or you have the sides up like a huge metal crib for putting the luggage into. Forklifts move the crate out of the ship and into the terminal to customs for checking of luggage, from there the luggage is put into zone for reuniting with its owner. As one of the drivers was picking up his load one of the sides collapsed and two matching pieces of luggage fell. Into the Gulf of Mexico, Port of Galveston side. The larger of the two pieces got caught on some netting and they were able to fish it out. Everything in the bottom 2/3 of the suitcase was wet. My Bible, near the top, was dry. We removed the Bible and another book when the Purser took us to the bag so that we could identify it. He told us they were going to hire a diver to retrieve the bag after the ship left port yesterday. He also explained out compensation for dry cleaner or replacement of items (which is good since the suitcase that got wet is probably not going to survive its dive into the Gulf) and he told us he’d opened a file about the situation and told us we’d be getting our next cruise at a large percentage off (yes, he did specify an amount).

 

After we got our other 3 bags the Second Purser had us follow her to the Customs area. On our walk over we encountered Larry and Sue who were missing a bag! They filed a missing bag claim but the real fear is that they are the owners of the Bag at the Bottom of the Sea. The Second Purser had them come with us and she turned the four of us over to the Pier Supervisor and she walked us to Customs, put us in the shortest line without having to wait in the regular line and she walked us through Customs. She later got us a dolly to put everything on and helped carry our belongings out of the terminal. She introduced us to someone else who got us to the right place to meet our shuttle (which they ‘d already spoken to), got our bags loaded onto the shuttle and helped us aboard. Terry says they were trying to get us away from the terminal before we decided to be mad and upset about the wet luggage (which by now weighed about 150 pounds as water wicked to even the previously dry items inside the bag).

 

We were back at the Holiday Inn at 11:18. We opened the big suitcase and removed most of the items and spread wet clothes all inside the car’s trunk (after wringing out the wettest ones!). We got gas and we headed off Galveston Island at noon. My dad is in the hospital in Hamilton so instead of heading north on Interstate 45 we headed west and north on Highway 6. It was a 2 hour side trip to go to Hamilton but we both felt better after having seen him.

 

We got to Arlington about 8:15 last night and stopped at Buck’n’Loons for a quick meal before heading home.

 

I’ve spent today doing laundry and getting pictures organized but at least that is now behind me.

 

I know this is long and thanks for hanging in there with me. Enjoy the pictures but be prepared that there are over 250 of them.

 

We loved the Conquest; we loved the trip and Grand Cayman and Cozumel (Jamaica, not so much). We plan to take this same cruise again next January. Our kids are looking at dates and so are our nephew and nieces. They all want to go but we'll see if it works out or not.

Wonderful review!

Sorry about the luggage.

Loved the reviews and pics. Yesterday we booked our 2nd cruise on the conquest and hope we had as much fun as you all did. 30 YRS ? You are truly blessed. My wife and I have been married 7 yrs and hope one day to be celebrating our 30th. What is the secret to a long marriage like yours ?

What a wonderful review!! Now the question is...was it Larry and Sue's luggage?? Inquiring minds are dying to know!!! lol

That's for the review and pic's. You did a great job. Also thanks for the luggage explanation.

Maybe someday I can convince my husband to take a Christmas cruise too. We love the Conquest and glad you enjoyed your trip!

Loved the reviews and pics. Yesterday we booked our 2nd cruise on the conquest and hope we had as much fun as you all did. 30 YRS ? You are truly blessed. My wife and I have been married 7 yrs and hope one day to be celebrating our 30th. What is the secret to a long marriage like yours ?

Perseverance. We went into it knowing we would do whatever it took to make our marriage work. (We spent several sessions with a marriage counselor at about year 7 or 8.) We focused on God's idea of marriage and we have worked out every trial and issue through Him.

 

We also made a point to take a vacation alone each year as well as one with our kids. Sometimes that trip was a night and day at a local hotel but it was still time just for us.

 

Now the question is...was it Larry and Sue's luggage?? Inquiring minds are dying to know!!! lol

They still have a piece missing but we haven't heard from Carnival about whether a diver found the piece that went to the bottom and if it has a name on it.

Hi folks, Larry & Sue here. We did a replacement cost tally on our suitcase and contents yesterday. It came to over $1600 replacement costs. We are realistically not believing the Carnival will give us the full amount, at this point we just want them to acknowledge that our suitcase did indeed go over board. We hit 7 stores in 5 hours yesterday just getting the necessities for me to go back to work tommorrow.

 

The lady from Carnival in Florida who takes care of these issues asked my wife if she dropped it over the side. What a hoot.:) We'll keep anyone interested updated on the fun. Well, I am off to buy a replacement razor, rather be back on board and not worrying about such things.

Larry & Sue:D

Hello there! Lisa here, just adding to Kathy’s review and putting in my two cents worth about our cruise.

 

First of all, I just want to start by saying that we love our Cruise Critic roll call! The people that we met through CC have been wonderful and will be our lifelong friends. My advice to all who are reading this review and are not on a Roll Call—join now! You will meet some really wonderful people! Our CC friends really made our cruise special. We loved spending dinner with them, just recapping our day’s events. Then, one of the guys would pull out the Capers and we would figure out what we were all going to do after dinner. We had so many evenings of karaoke and midnight buffets—it was the best! We love you guys and can’t wait for our reunion cruise!

 

To make this easier on the eyes, I will break our review down by the daily event.

 

Harbor House and the Fish Tales Meet and Greet:

Our family consists of myself (Lisa), my DH Jason, and our 7 y.o. son, Ethan. This was my fourth cruise (1st on Carnival), Jason’s 2nd cruise, and Ethan’s 1st. We booked this cruise as a college graduation present for myself, as well as a Christmas present for the three of us.

We left Tulsa on Saturday the 22nd around 4 am and arrived at Harbor House about 1:30 pm. The trip was smooth and we loved the convenience of Harbor House. Side note about Harbor House for those who are thinking about staying at this lovely hotel: The staff at Harbor House was wonderful, the beds were very comfortable, and the continental breakfast was top-notch! They offered Bath and Body Works toiletries in the bathroom and Starbucks coffee in the room as well as in the continental breakfast area. The continental breakfast consisted of wonderful pastries, Starbucks coffee and Tazo tea selections, and cereal/oatmeal. The best part was that we walked to the pier on Sunday morning and the location of the hotel made embarkation and debarkation day so easy. We will definitely be staying at Harbor House again!

We checked in to Harbor House and then decided to take a drive through Galveston. We stopped at Chili’s for lunch and then took Ethan to the beach. It was his first time to go to the beach and he loved walking in the sand!

That evening, we met up with our CC buddies and we all (26 of us) went to Fish Tales for dinner. Dinner was really great—Ethan and I shared the fish and chips and Jason got the pasta with BBQ shrimp—yum! The food was good, but like Kathy said earlier, the company was great! We turned in early that evening, ready to see the Conquest come in early Sunday morning. Boy, that was a sight to see! The Captain turned her around in the harbor, just as if she was a toy boat in the bathtub! The Conquest can turn on a dime and I could not get over how MASSIVE of a ship she is!

We got dressed, had some breakfast at the hotel, and then checked out, ready for our adventure to begin…

Embarkation Day:

After we dropped our bags off at the pier, we drove around for a bit. We spotted some CC friends and had some pre-cruise coffee at Starbucks. Around 11:45, we decided to get in line to board. Embarkation was a breeze! From the parking lot to the lobby of the Conquest took us about 45 minutes total.

We stopped and visited with Kathy and Terry for a bit while our rooms were getting ready. At 1:30, our rooms were ready and we dropped our stuff, ready to hit the Lido buffet. Lunch was chesseburgers from the Lido grille, along with some complimentary champagne. We spent the next few hours before dinner exploring the ship.

The only hiccup in our cruise was that we were scheduled for 6:15 dining. My TA had linked our booking with Kathy and Terry, Larry and Sue, and Annie and Greg. As we all soon discovered, we were still sitting together for dinner, except dinner was at 5:45 instead of 6:15. We didn’t mind as long as we were all sitting together and our waitress and asst. waiter definitely made to experience worthwhile. Erzsebet (or Elizabeth as she preferred to be called) was from Romania and her asst. was Jose from the Philippines. Both were exceptional and from the very first day, Elizabeth really doted on Ethan. She always gave him hugs, butterfly kisses and Eskimo kisses, and TONS of chocolate milk. As Kathy said, on the first night, she asked Ethan what he wanted to drink. He told her “Lots of chocolate milk”. She said “How about a bucket?”, to which his eyes just lit up and he emphatically said “YES!” From then on, Ethan got lots of chocolate milk and basically whatever else he wanted from her! Elizabeth really made our trip special because of her caring spirit and feisty sense of humor.

After dinner, we signed Ethan up for Camp Carnival and turned in to bed before midnight, not before we ordered cookies and brownies from room service.

We loved the Conquest; we loved the trip and Grand Cayman and Cozumel (Jamaica, not so much). We plan to take this same cruise again next January. Our kids are looking at dates and so are our nephew and nieces. They all want to go but we'll see if it works out or not.

 

Kathy, thanks so much for the great review. I apologize for not getting back to this tread as soon as I would have liked.

 

I'm thrilled that you kids had so much fun. Isn't it remarkable how far out of the way some of the staff will go to make your vacation so special? I'm thinking in particular about how Elizabeth took such wonderful care of Ethan. Great folks, aren't they?

 

Thanks again for the review. It brought smile after smile to my face and tons of great memories back.

 

Mach

First Day at Sea and the Official 7 C’s Cabin Crawl:

We had coffee delivered to the room and sat on our balcony, enjoying the ocean and the warm weather. While the balcony was wonderful, I don’t know if we used it enough to warrant the extra money spent on it. We tidied up the room for our cabin crawl viewing and met our wonderful room steward, Trishna, from Indonesia. He was great and always left us with a clean room and lots of towel animals.

At 1:00, we met the 7 C er’s in the Blues Lounge for our Cabin Crawl. For those who do not know what a Cabin Crawl is, it’s basically where a large group of people travel from cabin to cabin, checking out the different categories that are on the ship. Those on the roll call decided to bring little gifts for everyone from each of our home states. Our gift was Eskimo Joe’s/Oklahoma centennial cups. We ended the crawl in Larry and Sue’s penthouse suite. Annie and I were jealous because their bathroom was the size of our respective staterooms and Larry and Sue had a bidet! Man, we really wanted one of those! We could’ve had the shiniest hineys on the Conquest! I believe that we fit about 13 people in their suite with room to spare.

Dinner that night was wonderful—the Crème Brulee was to die for and the lobster was very good. Elizabeth knew that we all liked to eat and so she decided to bring us double entrees every night.

After dinner, we went to Vincent’s Bar for karaoke and candy canes ala Lenka. Lenka was the karaoke host in Vincent’s and her accent was a mixture of Australian, Czech republic, and western. Sometimes she had more of a drawl than we did. Lenka was a great karaoke hostess but she was always trying to give out candy canes to each person who sang. After about the 3rd night of candy canes offers “Come on nowwww, get your candeeeeee caynessss!”, we decided that we were going to take all the candy canes so that she could not offer anymore! Larry was ended up being quite the karaoke king, singing from such greats as Nat King Cole and Frank Sinatra.

Second Day at Sea, Christmas Day, and “The Secret Door”:

We started off the morning with a lot of breakfast and a lot of shopping. They are always running specials in the shops and this day was no exception. I bought several Christmas presents for those back home as well as a few items for myself. The remainder of the day was spent napping and eating, my two favorite cruise pastimes. That evening, we decided to go to karaoke on the Lido deck, followed by a visit to the ‘Secret Door That Leads to the Secret Deck”. This ended up being most hilarious because once we found the door, we snuck outside, being as quiet as possible. Well, I am not known for being quiet, and so the combination of my skirt flying up over my head, and the subsequent peals of howling laughter from myself, Jason, Annie, and Greg was enough to wake up those on the bridge and they turned the bridge lights on us. We tore out of there like our butts were on fire, laughing all the way. The Secret Door became our “Thing to Do” after an evening of karaoke and inevitably, the bridge lights would always come on.