Which to Book--Carnival Conquest or NCL Spirit?

[ionsys]

We want to visit New Orleans next Feb and the only 7day cruise choices for us appear to be Carnival Conquest and NCL Spirit. (concerned about RCCL's lack of elevators --4 --etc)

 

The Spirit is about $140/couple more than the Conquest (balcony mid ship).

 

From pictures, the Conquest looks to me to be 'busier' than the Spirit (more density of people)--eg lido deck pool area.

 

The Spirit stateroom (ex balcony) is about 7.5% less sq ft (171 vs 185)-the balcony width is about the same

 

The decor on the Spirit looks to be more subdued-Conquest looks a bit more 'out there' with a more 'garish' colour scheme--We're in our 60's.

 

We quite like the concept of anytime meal idea on the Spirit but have read a few folks complaining about long wait times (no wait on pre-assigned sitting)--Might this be a problem?

 

Gotta choose one or the other for Feb 2012--Spirit will refund the $500 deposit if earlier than 75 days while Conquest won't.

 

Any ideas?

[taymiss2]

We were contemplating these two ships as well. Decided upon the Spirit because 4 port days vs three and my last trip was on NCL and loved Freestyle dining. I do not remember a wait for a table at all. That ship had monitors all of the place that listed the wait times in the various venues. Maybe we delayed our meal if there was a wait or just went where the waits were small. Not sure, but I liked eating when we wanted to and liked not having the timing dictated to us.

 

Either way you should be good.

[nursebubba]

Absolutely the Spirit

[piercetc4]

just curious- why wont conquest refund your deposit if you cancel before final payment date? is it because you were getting the booking early discount where you cant get deposit back? that is the only bad thing about the early booking discount -

 

I cant answer your question yet- going on spirit in may so could answer when we return- did want to say we have been on conquest and had a wonderful time- have been on voyager of the seas and had a wonderful time ( going back on vos next feb 2012)

 

We didnt notice conquest being overly crowded in lido deck area and we cruised on her in sept -

 

will try to find this thread and add my .02 on spirit after we sail her in may ;)

[allesonwonderland]

I can give you a comparison at the end of the month! ;)

[BethG-HD]

We're set to sail the Spirit this Sunday and most recently sailed the Conquest in November so will be happy to share my experiences/opinions upon our return.

 

Beth

[Abear2]

I have been on the Conquest once and I just got off the Spirit in February for the third time. I am also booked for the Spirit on May 29th, so I guess this might tell you my choice ! LOL I love the crew on the Spirit and I also love the lay out of the ship. I was so confused on the Conquest ! I have never had to wait on the Spirit for any dining venue. If you go to the dining room between five and five thirty, you will go right in. If you like to eat at let's say 7:00 or 7:30, you may have a small wait.

[tkportersat]

I've been on the Conquest twice and I can assure you the ship is very beautiful and not at all flashy. I can't compare the two as I don't go on the Spirit until this weekend.

 

The Conquest never felt crowded to me, service was always great. If I were to state a negative it would be food quality compared to my other Carnival cruises to me was not as good. It probably isn't a fair comparison as the Conquest is much larger and serves a lot more food than the smaller Carnival ships. Still the food was not bad and I never went hungry.

 

I will certainly try to check back here when I return to give you a fair comparison. Honestly I would go with the cruise that is less expensive or has the itinerary you prefer. Another deciding factor is do you prefer assigned seating or would you rather eat on your own? Good luck on your decision :)

 

 

We want to visit New Orleans next Feb and the only 7day cruise choices for us appear to be Carnival Conquest and NCL Spirit. (concerned about RCCL's lack of elevators --4 --etc)

 

The Spirit is about $140/couple more than the Conquest (balcony mid ship).

 

From pictures, the Conquest looks to me to be 'busier' than the Spirit (more density of people)--eg lido deck pool area.

 

The Spirit stateroom (ex balcony) is about 7.5% less sq ft (171 vs 185)-the balcony width is about the same

 

The decor on the Spirit looks to be more subdued-Conquest looks a bit more 'out there' with a more 'garish' colour scheme--We're in our 60's.

 

We quite like the concept of anytime meal idea on the Spirit but have read a few folks complaining about long wait times (no wait on pre-assigned sitting)--Might this be a problem?

 

Gotta choose one or the other for Feb 2012--Spirit will refund the $500 deposit if earlier than 75 days while Conquest won't.

 

Any ideas?

[electricron]

I've sailed on both ships. I liked both, so you're going to have a great cruise on either. ;)

 

All cruise ships and cruise lines provide the same basic services, it's the extras that's different. Here's just a few experiences I will note.

 

The Destiny-Conquest class ships have huge buffets. Almost all the speciality food items are walk-up fast food counters within this huge buffet.

 

The Spirit buffet is small in comparison. But almost all the speciality food items are located in dedicated restaurants with their own decor and atmosphere.

 

The Conquest has two large swimming pools, one of which has a glass canopy. The Spirit's swimming pools don't have glass canopies.

 

Those are the main differences I noticed between these two ships that are still in effect today. Carnival has Anytime dining options available today vs NCL's Freestyle dining; although different in origination, our experiences as passengers are about the same.

 

I wouldn't call the Conquest's decor flashy, but it is repetitive. You'll see the same prints on the walls over and over again that I found it tiresome. While you'll see lots of Asian art just about everywhere on the Spirit, it's a different piece of art.

[newmexicoNita]

We want to visit New Orleans next Feb and the only 7day cruise choices for us appear to be Carnival Conquest and NCL Spirit. (concerned about RCCL's lack of elevators --4 --etc)

 

The Spirit is about $140/couple more than the Conquest (balcony mid ship).

 

From pictures, the Conquest looks to me to be 'busier' than the Spirit (more density of people)--eg lido deck pool area.

 

The Spirit stateroom (ex balcony) is about 7.5% less sq ft (171 vs 185)-the balcony width is about the same

 

The decor on the Spirit looks to be more subdued-Conquest looks a bit more 'out there' with a more 'garish' colour scheme--We're in our 60's.

 

We quite like the concept of anytime meal idea on the Spirit but have read a few folks complaining about long wait times (no wait on pre-assigned sitting)--Might this be a problem?

 

Gotta choose one or the other for Feb 2012--Spirit will refund the $500 deposit if earlier than 75 days while Conquest won't.

 

Any ideas?

 

To us the only advantages Carnival has over NCL is the cabin sizes, yes, they are larger and a better pool situation. The Spirit pool is not much, to say the least. NCL has more dining choices, probably a better buffet (subjective at best) and the crew on the Spirit is outstanding or they were a few weeks ago, the best we have had in over 25 cruises. Add alll that and 4 outstanding ports, I would go for the Spirit, but then, I admit to be partial to NCL. There were 10 of us eating together on our last cruise and we choose the MDR 3 nights, never did we wait. One night it did take them about 3 minutes to put a table for 10 together. Our dining times were from 6:45 one night to about 8:15 one night.

Nita

[tkportersat]

I will agree on the pool...even though we haven't done our Spirit cruise yet I will say we enjoyed the Adults Only pool on the Conquest. We tried the main pool a couple days and spent the rest of our trip at the adult area where it was quiet and you could actually get in the pool and hot tubs without teens and kids jumping all around you. The cover is nice there too for when the weather is not the greatest.

 

To us the only advantages Carnival has over NCL is the cabin sizes, yes, they are larger and a better pool situation. The Spirit pool is not much, to say the least. NCL has more dining choices, probably a better buffet (subjective at best) and the crew on the Spirit is outstanding or they were a few weeks ago, the best we have had in over 25 cruises. Add alll that and 4 outstanding ports, I would go for the Spirit, but then, I admit to be partial to NCL. There were 10 of us eating together on our last cruise and we choose the MDR 3 nights, never did we wait. One night it did take them about 3 minutes to put a table for 10 together. Our dining times were from 6:45 one night to about 8:15 one night.

Nita

[ionsys]

what deck is the Adults Only Pool on the Conquest?

 

I gather the Lido Deck has the Main Pool (incl kids)

[Holstebro]

We were on the Spirit in February and had the best cruise ever. Met a lot of cruise critic friends, and many of them have already booked another cruise on the Spirit in 2012 and 2013. The crew is outstanding, and we did not experience any waiting time for our dinner in the MDR. We mainly chose the Spirit for the four fabulous ports. We haven't been on the Carnival Conquest but have cruised another Carnival ship before, and one of the differences we noticed was that the general atmosphere onboard the Spirit seemed more friendly and far less "party-like" than on the Carnival ship. My advice to you would be to check out some of the reviews posted.

[tkportersat]

It is also on the Lido deck but at the back of the ship.

 

what deck is the Adults Only Pool on the Conquest?

 

I gather the Lido Deck has the Main Pool (incl kids)

[K&M2009]

My wife and I did the Conquest (balcony room) for our honeymoon and really enjoyed it. I had some pre-conceived notions about carnival but honestly I think they've upped their game and their newer ships (around the time the conquest was built and newer) are even better. Anyway, it's a good ship and we had a lot of fun. The balcony room was very enjoyable too and we felt like it was a decent amount of space and a good setup. My only complaint about the conquest was that the main pool deck was just too much of a party zone - always very loud and we never once used it during the day because it was too crazy, loud, and crowded. We always just went to the pool in the back (which was nice).