Just off the Conquest!

[pichicruiser]

I just came back from the conquest too and had a great time as usual. This was our first time as VIP platinum and loved it. Embarkation was very quick from the time our son dropped us at the pier to the time we were on the boat. The debarkation was also very quick. The weather was a little bit cold the first day, but after that it was nice and warm. The food was good. We brought two litters of coke and a six pack of bottle water in a bag, and sent it with the rest of our luggage and had no problem.

The one thing that I was disappointed at is Camp Carnival. We took our three year old DGS to Camp Carnival the first day, but they called us within 15 minutes to pick him up. He was walking around the room crying, and the camp counselors seemed overwhelmed by the number of kids in the room and were not paying attention to him. On this cruise, Camp Carnival seemed chaotic due to the large number of children on the Thanksgiving cruise. We stood in line at least 30 minutes to check our GS in camp the first day. We did not go back. We will try Camp Carnival again on future cruises... My DGS used the small pool on the same deck and Camp Carnival and loved it. He was the only one there. I never saw any other kids there. It is great for the little ones.

We had the late dinner and our waiters were good, not great. The food in the dining room was also good, not 5 star though. The ribs were excellent and I loved the bitter and blank dessert and the soufflé dessert on the last night. And, of course, the chocolate melting cake. My DD and I enjoyed dancing and participated in all the dance classes and dance events. We had fun at the deck party. My DGS loved the break dancers. Since this was our second time in the conquest this year and had the late dinner, we did not go to the shows. They were the same. However we really enjoyed the magician show in May. Do not miss it.

Jamaica: We went to the Irie Mon Beach Party excursion and the beach was wonderful. The weather was nice and the ocean temperature was perfect. We did not do the party stuff, but enjoyed the beach, sun, the food and drinks. My DH, DD and DGS loved this beach. We probably could have saved some money by going to Doctor’s Cave beach. I’ve read that it’s really nice if what you are looking is for a relaxing day at the beach. We will try it next time.

Grand Cayman: We took a taxi to Reef Grill/Royal Palm beach. I recommend this place to everyone. It was sooo nice. You can rent an umbrella for $10 and chairs for $5. The water temperature was perfect. They have a really nice restaurant, but I just didn’t want to get out of the ocean to eat. My husband had to almost pull me out of the water to go back to the ship and then it turns out that his watch had the wrong time and we could have spent at least two more hours at the beach…. He will never be in charge of the time….

Cozumel: We went to Nachi Cocom and this was our favorite. The best beach I’ve been to in Cozumel. We loved it. The beach is nice, clean, and not crowded. They have palapas with plenty of shade. They had hammocks, a pool and a Jacuzzi. The pool was very cold. The food was great and our waiter was fantastic. You can order by the beach or eat at the restaurant. The $49 price per person includes food, chairs, palapa, access to the beach, pool, etc. If you want a massage, or you wish to rent snorkel equipment or parasail, it is extra. At the end of the day, they have radios and call a taxi for you.

We did not hear about anyone going over-board or any over-board Saturday.

We love the Conquest and will probably go back next year. I hope this review helps future Conquest cruisers. You are going to love it!

[lady_cruiser]

We're on the Conquest December 13th. It's a vacation, which means I don't want any hassles, like dragging a cooler along. So, what's in those coolers that you can't get on the ship? :o

 

Diet Cream Soda which is the only soft drink that I can drink without getting indigestion including iced tea.

[Kill@B3E]

Our first elegant night was Tuesday & yes it was also lobster night (and Mardi Gras deck party). The 2nd elegant night was Thursday night (Grand Cayman). Not sure if they stick with these nights for both itineraries. Happy cruising!

 

Hello,

 

DW and I are on Conquest this Sunday (wooohooo) with Peddler&Tass. A question about elegant night. Did you see any men not wearing suits or a Tux or are one or the other required? I'm planning to bring some nice shirts and slacks for the formal dinners, but would like to skip out on the suit if possible.

 

Thanks,

[eastexascruiser]

Yes, many men skipped the tux/suit option. I saw lots of men dressed in nice pants/shirts. ;)

[Rockportgirl]

Loving the review, easttexas. Sur Mer is my favorite, as well. Can't wait to read more... I'm living vicariously. :)

[eastexascruiser]

Entertainment: As mentioned, this was our 3rd cruise on the Conquest. Unfortunately, most of the entertainment in the main theatre was a repeat - the magician, "Point n Click", Motown, etc. Usually we go to the shows every night, but since we'd seen them all already we just went to a few shows.

 

Other popular entertainment venues with our group were the late night comedian shows, the piano bar and karaoke. I liked the afternoon karaoke by the casino bar. I don't remember this from previous cruises. The main karaoke starts off with "family" karaoke then "adult" after 9:30. This allowed the entire family to enjoy for a while.

 

DS was Elton John for the Legends Show - passengers audition to perform with the Carnival dancers/entertainment staff on the last night. This was a real treat. We were all as nervous for him as he was but turns out he did an awesome job! Needless to say, this was one of the shows we did attend ;)

 

In any event, there is more than enough entertainment options to suit anyone throughout the day. There was a variety of music, games, etc throughout the day. This was my "chill and relax" cruise so I spent much of my time on my balcony or at the Sun Pool, however, the Capers were loaded with activities on sea days.

 

Oh, and DH won $700 at Bingo. Woo Hoo!

 

Ports: Jamaica: We did the all-inclusive at the Sunset Beach Resort. This was our 2nd time to this resort. Boy did it get crowded since our visit 2 years ago. This is a nice option because it is a stones throw from the cruise ship ($3 taxi ride per person each way), the food is edible - nothing to rave about and the drinks are plentiful. We bring our own mugs to keep the drinks cold and also would order 2 at a time because the drinks are served in tiny plastic cups. You would have one drink finished before you got back to your chair. There is a water park area with slides, lazy river, etc for the kiddos. There is also 2 large pools and a hot tub. The beach area is rather narrow and as I mentioned in was very crowded. We did manage to get some lounge chairs and shade for our group. Service was so-so.

 

Cayman: Half of our group did a rays and snorkel tour. The other half of us went to Sunset Beach House to relax and snorkel. It was about a mile walk down the street (no sidewalks) in the blazing sun. Very scenic walk though ;) The food was good, the snorkeling so so. There also was a pool we were allowed to use. After several hours here we took a taxi back to town and walked around a bit and got back on the ship. We wanted to avoid being close to the last tender because the line gets so long.

 

Cozumel: We did the all-inclusive at Mr. Sanchos. The kids rode ATVs and did some horseback riding. The food is really good. Not sure if I would do the all-inclusive option next time.

 

Overall Service & Ship Appearance: We received awesome service from our room stewards and wait staff. Our room was always very clean - absolutely nothing I could complain about. I guess my only complaint is that the aft balcony glass gets very dirty from the junk people toss (maybe inadvertently) from the back of the ship. There were ashes and other gook on the glass. They cleaned the balcony one day, but it really didn't make a difference.

 

The public rooms are all in great shape - just as I remembered her 2 years ago. The big screen at the Lido pool is a nice addition. I wish they played a movie every night! We did get to enjoy 2 Cowboy wins during the week though so I'm not going to complain :p

 

Debarkation: To speed things up a bit, one of us stood in the porter line and the rest of the group went and gathered the luggage. We went through customs without any problems. DH ran back to the lot to pick up the car and drove back to pick us up. We were in group 8 (the 2nd group called). We were in our car driving away from the cruise terminal by 10:20am. Can't complain about that.

 

Now we are home, trying to adapt to life off the ship :( I have some pics I will try to post later. Happy Cruising!