Carnival Conquest 2/24/13 Western Caribbean Review and Pictures

[Ted&Elle]

Ok' date=' this is probably the strangest response you're going to get. However... how does your wife pack so that she is able to leave the hangers on, yet not wrinkle her clothing? What's her secret?!

 

Great review, by the way :)[/quote']

 

According to her, the first rule is try not to bring clothes that wrinkle easily, and then don't care about the wrinkles. She holds multiple items by the hanger and sets the bottom portion on the suitcase. Depending on how big the items are, they then get folded in half or thirds. It adds weight and bulk, but when you're not going through an airport it's nice to have the extra hangers.

[jacksmom09]

Great review!

[Ted&Elle]

Ok, the real last one for the night. As I re-read my posts, I realize it's possible to think I'm complaining. Since you can't read my tone over the internet, please understand we had a great cruise and would board tomorrow if circumstances allowed. I'm trying to be realistic and report on the good and bad, things I was wondering before the cruise and things I think you might be wondering. Thanks again for the encouraging words. I will try to post more tomorrow when my schedule allows.

[cuted126]

Great start,looking forward to more!

[altajewel]

Really enjoying your review!!! Thank you for posting it as we are looking forward to being on the Conquest April 14th :D

You have a beautiful family!

[cjstock]

Great review! We had a similar incident with dining room seating on the Freedom last summer. DH and I were placed at a table with a family of 4 adults from Germany. They were very nice but talked to each other in German and had to make a point to switch to English to talk to us. The first night the waiter whispered in my ear asking me when we wanted to celebrate one of the other lady's birthday. I told him we weren't together and he was very surprised and said "you all have the same last name!". We then figured out Carnival must have thought we were traveling together because we all had the same name, nevermind the fact that we are from different countries and had never met! Apparently Stock is a very common name in Germany. We all had a laugh about it and they were very pleasant dinner companions for the trip. Makes you wonder how they go about picking table mates sometimes.

[Ted&Elle]

Before the ports I have to thank our Roll Call leader, Fran aka peachcrek. She started the CC roll call and eventually organized a meet&greet and cocktail party the first day at sea as well as a group rate at a resort in Montego Bay.

 

It's a good thing Fran didn't come by plane either, because her bags must have been stuffed to the gills. She had special presents bought for the 3 birthday ladies (Mrs. Thelma celebrating 100, Elle 40 and another I've forgotten). She also had at least 20 door prize bags that were given out. They were pretty significant considering she isn't an employee and dragged them down from NJ for a bunch of people she'd never met. We really appreciated her hard work and friendliness.

 

We'd also like to thank Paul aka DeafDude for designing and printing door posters for everyone.

 

We didn't stay for the cocktail party because it was time to pick up the boys from Camp Carnival. We thought the adults would appreciate us not bringing them there. It would have been fun to spend more time actually meeting and greeting everyone. We'll have to try next time without the boys.

[Mommykal13]

Enjoying your review! My husband, myself and our two boys will be on the conquest next week. Excited to read more!

[Crusin Karen]

How do you get on JH's FB page? I have a few things I wanted to "discuss" with him! :rolleyes:

[LUPY48]

just type John Heald in the search box of YOUR FB page, then 'like' his page

[firefly333]

I was on this cruise with the OP. It is named the "windy cruise" in my mind. Just my luck I was in a 4J with the private deck out front, and it was closed due to high winds both directions.

 

OP mentioned going to Tulum a 7 hour excursion. We were only in port 7 hours.. and it took a while for people to get off the ship and meet their excursion. We were about a hour late leaving Cozumel due to the Tulum excursion. Makes no sense that Carnival would offer a 7 hour excursion for a port that we were scheduled from 10 am to 5 pm. We still had not left when I had to leave Lido deck to go eat at 6 pm.

 

Only non windy days of 7 were in Jamaica and Caymans, both of which were lovely.

 

OP reading your review with interest.

[hayesktrm]

Can't wait to hear more!

[Crusin Karen]

firefly333 (btw, we live at 333 ***) I want to change countdown clocks/cruises with you! :p I already miss the Miracle and she hasn't even left Manhattan yet. You get 2 cruises on her this summer....LOVE that ship. Have a great cruise on her! ;);) If I win the NJ lottery I will be on the ship with you! ;)

[Ted&Elle]

I was on this cruise with the OP. It is named the "windy cruise" in my mind. Just my luck I was in a 4J with the private deck out front, and it was closed due to high winds both directions.

 

OP mentioned going to Tulum a 7 hour excursion. We were only in port 7 hours.. and it took a while for people to get off the ship and meet their excursion. We were about a hour late leaving Cozumel due to the Tulum excursion. Makes no sense that Carnival would offer a 7 hour excursion for a port that we were scheduled from 10 am to 5 pm. We still had not left when I had to leave Lido deck to go eat at 6 pm.

 

Only non windy days of 7 were in Jamaica and Caymans, both of which were lovely.

 

OP reading your review with interest.

 

I agree it is unusual for Carnival to spend such a short time in port and offer an excursion that frequently gets back after the scheduled departure time. We were all back on the ship and the dock workers were gone long before the ship finally pulled away. We watched the action until we couldn't wait any more, then finally felt the ship pull away shortly after sitting down to dinner at the 6 pm seating. I don't think it was our excursion alone that delayed us because it seems like they had enough time to leave well before 6. In any event, we're glad we got to do the excursion anyway, and because of the logistics I would recommend going through the ship. I'll expand a bit when I get to Cozumel in a few posts.

[battchief1]

Thanks for the review

[firefly333]

firefly333 (btw, we live at 333 ***) I want to change countdown clocks/cruises with you! :p I already miss the Miracle and she hasn't even left Manhattan yet. You get 2 cruises on her this summer....LOVE that ship. Have a great cruise on her! ;);) If I win the NJ lottery I will be on the ship with you! ;)

 

3 is my lucky number, so three 3s, is extra lucky?

 

I had a great cruise with the OP last week. I love little cruises like the conquest I can drive to and no planning, just get a hotel.

 

Im a little nervous with two miracle cruises 2 weeks apart. I couldnt do them as a B2B because of Jones Act or move them to another date that worked at the time I booked.. Alaska got booked first.. then Hawaii came along and that date was either take it or not..so I took it.

 

Waiting for the OP to come back and tell us how the rest of his cruise went.

[Ted&Elle]

Wherein we act like rookie tourists.

 

As was our tradition by now, we had room service breakfast on the deck. We kept messing with the arrival time to make sure it got there after everyone woke up but before we were starving. 6-7 usually worked, but the longer we cruised, the later Max stayed up and the later he wanted to sleep. The front blinds are required to be closed from sunset to sunrise to avoid glare on the bridge below. I usually opened them when we were ready to wake up, and that helped Max to stir.

 

After breakfast, we proceeded to our second tradition, second breakfast. The room service breakfast was pretty good and offered the opportunity to fill up, but it doesn't have hot food. We usually had croissants with cream cheese and jelly, coffee and hot chocolate, chocolate milk for the boys. Then we'd put on clothes and walk over to the buffet to pick up some bacon and eggs to finish off the meal.

 

Today I spent a while on the deck watching us follow the Magic into port. After the Magic docked, we turned to park perpendicular to her. This is one of the shots I captured from the deck showing what a gorgeous day we had:

 

 

I took a few shots of the Magic as well as we docked.

 

 

 

 

[Crusin Karen]

3 is my lucky number, so three 3s, is extra lucky?

 

I had a great cruise with the OP last week. I love little cruises like the conquest I can drive to and no planning, just get a hotel.

 

Im a little nervous with two miracle cruises 2 weeks apart. I couldnt do them as a B2B because of Jones Act or move them to another date that worked at the time I booked.. Alaska got booked first.. then Hawaii came along and that date was either take it or not..so I took it.

 

Waiting for the OP to come back and tell us how the rest of his cruise went.

Oh, I envy you...LOVE the Miracle (and all Spirit class!) We are going to miss her. Did HI a long time ago on Island Princess. We worked xtra to save for this cruise and it RAINED and was COLD the whole time we were there. Nothing you can do about the weather, but it was kind of a bummer because we knew we wouldn't probably ever be able to do it again. I booked a B2B AK cruise on CCL Spirit for the last 2 sailings of the season 2 years ago. Spirit was our absolute favorite. "Dental problems" happened...it was either teeth or a cruise...I picked the cruise LOL! :D But we had to DO the teeth...:(So that was cancelled and we know we'll never be able to do that either. BUT...we live 20 mins. from the port in Manhattan, so we might not have the "best ships" here, or the "best itins" either but we probably couldn't cruise otherwise (unless we win the lottery!) So....who am I to complain?? Enjoying ALL cruise reviews even if we will never be on the ship or at the ports of call. It's fun to come along with y'all! :D

[Crusin Karen]

OP, sorry I highjacked you above! ENJOYING this immensely!

[Ted&Elle]

The weather in Montego Bay was gorgeous as you can see from the pictures. We made our way off the ship and discovered we needed to shuttle over to the main terminal next to the Magic. There were two options right off the Conquest: the "free" shuttle and the purchase for the hop-on, hop-off bus. The HOHO allowed use of the sign and sail card but didn't have a price displayed. We heard some others saying it was $19 per person, but I never got the price directly so YMMV.

 

We elected to use the "free" shuttle. I keep putting it in quotes because the driver spent the whole time reminding people to "take care of your drivers." Like many, I'm tired of the tendency to turn any job into a tipping job. When my tips help cover the salary, such as the cabin steward or a waiter, it's a lot more palatable. When someone is fully compensated for serving ice cream or driving a bus or whatever, I don't see why they should put out a tip jar or practically demand a tip, but that's a discussion for a different day.

 

We made it to the terminal and joined the crowds from the Magic making their way out. We intended to take a taxi to Doctor's Cave Beach, spend a few hours, then taxi back for lunch and naps.

 

As we left the terminal, there were throngs of people being shuttled onto buses. I told several workers we we not on a tour and just wanted to go to Doctor's Cave Beach. They kept saying no problem and herding us toward the next bus. I seem to remember small taxis at Falmouth 12 years ago, but there were none to be found here. As we were herded close to a bus, I told the driver we wanted to go to Doctor's Cave Beach and get off. He of course said no problem and continued to pack people into the bus. Because I expected a short trip, I allowed him to direct me to the back while Elle and the boys sat up front.

 

After stuffing the bus to the limit and closing the door, the driver said, "I'm going to make you a deal. I'll drive you around all day and show you the best beaches, take you to the best shopping, etc, and it will be just $15 per person. Does that sound good?"

 

I was hoping Elle would object, but when she didn't I stupidly stayed silent amid the partyers on the bus saying yes. I figured Doctor's Cave must be one of the best beaches and we could just duck out there. Naturally I was wrong. I knew we were in trouble when we passed right by DCB and turned away from the coastline. I didn't want to be a jerk and stop the bus, but in hindsight I should have done just that. Not only is an all-day bus tour not a good option for my 5- and 8-year-old boys, the adults really didn't want cranky kids hanging around them all day.

 

I kept expecting him to stop somewhere close where we could just walk back to DCB, but it didn't happen. Before long we were far away on a highway and I figured it was safer to stick with him than get out on the side of the road. He took us all the way to the White Witch golf course and let us out at the top to take pictures. I went for the nearest golf club employee and set up a taxi to return to DCB. It took long enough that our original driver was ready to go just as we were walking away. He ran up to us and said if we were leaving we could just pay him now. I gave him some $ for the ride and he tried to get us to pay him $15pp. I told him my kids couldn't do an all-day tour and there was no way I was paying all-day tour prices to strand me somewhere I didn't want to be. He stopped arguing and left with the $ we'd already given him. The new driver tried to talk us into going somewhere else but backed down when I said we are getting off at DCB and nowhere else. He actually was trying to be helpful, but I was not going to get scammed twice in one morning.

 

The moral of the story, of course, is something I've learned all over the world, from Colombia to Germany to Thailand: don't get in a taxi until you've agreed on the destination and the price. Now, The party people in the bus seemed like they were in for an enjoyable day, but it wasn't what we needed for enjoyment, and I was stupid to let myself be bullied when I really know better.

 

After the 45-minute, $30 detour, we arrived at Doctor's Cave Beach. Admission was $6 pp, but she gave us "the baby" free. By this time the chairs and umbrellas were all rented, so we threw one Carnival towel on the sand and piled our stuff on it.

 

Doctor's Cave Beach is nice if all you're looking for is sand and water. There are no fancy features except a trampoline that pretty much stayed full. It was just what we wanted, and gorgeous:

 

 

 

We saw some lucky AirTran folks getting ready to start a nice vacation:

 

 

With just adults, we probably would have stayed longer and eaten at a nearby restaurant, but with the boys a full day in the sun usually isn't a great idea, as we found out the next day.

 

We walked to the top of the DCB steps where several drivers waited. They wanted $5 pp back to the port which we gladly accepted. The guy asked us to wait awhile so he could fill the bus, but after 10 minutes there were no takers and we left.

 

Oddly, the driver asked if it was ok to buy gas before talking us back. Elle seemed amenable and I said OK. After all, we were now out of the sun although sweating a lot, and we weren't in a hurry. We got back to the port in no time and packed into a shuttle for the Conquest side.

 

Again the driver emphasized the tips he needed to live, but honestly I wasn't feeling so generous after the morning we had. We passed through the terminal where some but not all bags were checked, then got back on the Conquest.

 

We made a quick stop by the room to drop off towels, etc then headed to lunch. I had my daily Guy's burger and the boys and Elle ate off the buffet. Elle tried to eat a taco from the Blue Iguana, but they closed at 2:30 and we got there at 2:40. He offered to make her one anyway, but we try to respect the crew's working hours, especially when so many other options exist.

 

After lunch, we napped almost until dinner time and then dropped Jack at CC while Max ate with us. For the first 3 or so nights he asked to join us in the restaurant because he liked it. Later he said he was tired of restaurant manners and wanted to eat at CC.

[Ted&Elle]

Our best--and worst--port.

 

I have 66 pictures for this one but won't flood this board with all of them.

 

We woke at 6 and opened the window to another beautiful morning as we tendered into Grand Cayman. We had a leisurely room service breakfast and then made our way to the tenders. We're not sure why, but the front elevators to the 0 floor were disabled and the stairway was blocked. We were about to make our way to the aft gangway when a crewmember said "shhh" and let us downstairs. We must have totally missed the daily announcement while eating breakfast, so I'm not sure if the front deck was supposed to be shore excursions only or something.

 

The tender ride was uneventful. I got some good looks at the Conquest, Magic and Liberty although I wasn't able to get all 3 in one shot.

 

 

We hadn't booked an excursion with the ship, so I started looking for a tour operator for Stingray City. One inside the terminal area was asking for $40pp so we kept moving on. Once outside we found one offering the same tour for $40pp and "the baby" for free. That was great because Jack doesn't swim and doesn't particularly like being in deep water, even wearing the vest you see in the Montego Bay post above. We waited about 15 minutes while the guide tried to sell other tours before she gave up and just called the driver. A taxi picked us up near the terminal and stopped at a hotel before continuing to the dock. The place seemed almost residential, but I saw vans for other popular tour companies and wasn't worried. The taxi driver passed us off to the real tour guide. We wound up with Carib Select Watersports (carib select dot com with no spaces). There were a total of 19 people on the boat including the captain, our guide and another American expat who was apparently learning the trade.

 

I won't spend a ton of time on the ship vs 3rd party tour, but I will say this: every tour operator goes to the exact same sandbar for their Stingray City tours, and that's ok. This picture should give you an idea of what the crowds and gorgeous water looked like:

 

 

Keep in mind some of the tours had people packed in like the tenders. In fact they looked like tenders. We had 16 or so guests on a decent-sized boat where we never felt cramped.

 

The SC tour is pretty standard among the companies: you get in and stand on the sandbar while stingrays swim all over and everyone tries not to act scared. The tour operator holds a stingray and each family takes turns holding and kissing it while another tour person takes pictures. Then you take another picture with the stingray "massaging" your back.

 

 

They also provided us with squid that I'm told the stingrays would suck right out of your hand. Mine never made it that far because a large, aggressive fish snatched my squid before a stingray could come along. The birds were pretty aggressive too:

 

 

After 20-30 minutes at the sandbar, the captain was supposed to take us to one of two snorkeling spots--his choice. Instead we did two. The snorkeling was great at both, but the second had a larger number of fish right near the boat. I took lots of pictures and videos with my new Canon Powershot D20 underwater camera. Here are a few examples:

 

 

 

I'm at my image limit so I'll move on to the next post.

[Ted&Elle]

At the first snorkeling stop, we tried to do it with Jack which turned out to be a bad idea. He was trying to hold on hard enough to penetrate flesh, which made it difficult to move around with him. The water was deep enough that I needed to tread water. It was easier with the fins but still work. Eventually I got him comfortable enough that I could hold him on one arm while I snorkled and took pictures with the other. At one point I was watching an eel under the coral, when it decided to come look at me. I wasn't in a position to wait and see his intentions, so I took off while keeping Jack above water. It's kind of amusing so I've linked a youtube video here: http://youtu.be/T-n1GRh8G_0

 

Overall we had a great day. The boat provided cold water and juice and was comfortable enough. We decided to buy the guide's $60 CD with 17 pictures of us. The phone and email are on the envelope so that you can get a replacement if the disc breaks or doesn't work when you get home.

 

After we got back to the terminal, the fun began. For some reason the Conquest's line snaked all through the terminal while Magic guests were walking right on. We waited in line for about 45 minutes, occasionally sending one parent (ok, always Elle) to buy some snacks and cold drinks. The people around us were friendly and chatted with us from time to time. Every once in a while someone would try to enter the line in the middle, but they usually went to the back when we pointed out we weren't the end of the line.

 

As we approached the gate, more and more people tried to cut the line. Several people were quite put out that the line applied to them. I don't know if Carnival is supposed to offer platinum guests priority boarding, but they weren't. A few crewmembers approached and asked if they could cut so that they could make their shift on the ship. The people in front of us let them go, and I was ok with that. Also a port security officer escorted a family with a young baby right in front of us. Again, no big deal here.

 

Then, just as the guard was about to allow our group to walk to the next tender, a large group of mostly employees rushed the gate. I saw Ram the magician among others. There were also regular passengers who decided to take advantage of the confusion and rush the line as well. I know they were regular pax because one group of these bags of d--I mean wonderful humans--wound up right in front of me. I saw their blue S&S cards same as mine. What made it more annoying to me was the way they kept loudly justifying it to themselves and all who could hear. They didn't feel the least bit bad about cutting us off after our long wait in line. They kept looking back for their friends who were stopped to see if they managed to cut as well. They were also able to cut before we made it to the tender.

 

I don't remember this being as much of an issue on other cruises, but we saw a fair amount of rudeness on this trip. We had people walk up when we were clearly waiting for an elevator and step between us and the door as soon as it opened, often not allowing those inside to leave. The next morning in Cozumel an old man cut in front of Elle when we were about 30 people back from the gangplank because she paused 10 seconds to get out her S&S card. We even had an older gentleman far in front of his family step right between Max and Elle as we were boarding the elevator in the parking garage on the way out. Elle said, "are you really going to jump in and break up my family?" The guy had no response.

 

With the day in the sun and water, the long wait and watching Jersey Shore board the tender, we weren't in the best of moods when we got back to the ship. We took the elevator up to 9 and passed through the pool area on the way to our room. Elle and Max stopped to talk and I stepped to the side--outside of traffic I thought--and nearly smacked a lady with my backpack. Elle said loudly enough for her to hear "Ted, watch out, you almost ran into that lady." As I was saying oops or something equally stupid, she felt the need to get in my face and say "You almost hit me with your backpack!" My witty reply was, "maybe you shouldn't walk behind me then!" I sure showed her!!!

 

The thing is, I'm a pretty decent guy, and I try to be cognizant of my surroundings so I don't do what I just did. But everyone was hot and sunburned and tired of the tender experience, so we let our tempers go. I am sorry I almost hit her, but ma'am, if you're here, please realize I don't have eyes back there and can't help it if you walk so close a normal turn on my part almost hits you.

 

That just about finished me for the day, happy thought gone. I sulked for a bit and decided a Guy's burger might cheer me up. It was pretty good, but I still didn't feel like playing nice. As I came out of the restroom next to Guy's, another man pushed past me through the door instead of waiting 1 second for me to get out. I snapped "don't let me get in your way" and almost started my second fight of the afternoon. I was so tired and mad that my great day in Grand Cayman was now this, but I didn't want to go to sleep at 4pm because I'm a big boy and don't need a nap.

 

In the end I wound up staying in the pool area while Max went down the waterslide over and over. I got a couple of DotDs to relax a bit, but I was really too tired and cranky for that to work well. I brought my second drink in the hot tub right below the slide, and it was HOT! We own a hot tub at home, so I'm familiar with the US-mandated 104 degrees F tub. This was much hotter than that. As I sat down I could tell with great detail exactly where the sun had eaten through the sunblock.

 

I was there a few minutes before Elle came to get me. Camp Carnival had closed early before dinner because no kids were there, so she still had Jack with her. We went back to the room to shower and get ready for dinner. I was so whipped I couldn't stomach the idea of putting on my suit again for elegant night #2. We also made the boys skip Camp Carnival that night. We decided on pizza and root beer floats (root beer from the bar, ice cream from Swirls). That was a nice, relaxing dinner, and Jack was sound asleep in the cabin by 8:15, with Max soon after. Since I used up my image quota in the last post, here are some more from gorgeous Grand Cayman.

 

 

 

 

 

[2 cruzen]

So sorry your day ended so badly. We took a private excursion there but my frustration was the time change. I jumped off the tender and ran

Ike a mad women thinking we were late only to find out we had more than an hour. Then it seemed like our excursion was one of the last to leave. Lots of waiting...but my happy memory is laying on the catamaran and listening to the music as we sailed out to SRC. My happy moment. Then of course, the long snaky line back to the tender. That is the only place I don't like to tender.

[Ted&Elle]

So sorry your day ended so badly. We took a private excursion there but my frustration was the time change. I jumped off the tender and ran

Ike a mad women thinking we were late only to find out we had more than an hour. Then it seemed like our excursion was one of the last to leave. Lots of waiting...but my happy memory is laying on the catamaran and listening to the music as we sailed out to SRC. My happy moment. Then of course, the long snaky line back to the tender. That is the only place I don't like to tender.

 

Thanks for the encouragement. The good memories have already overtaken that little bit of foolishness. We uploaded some pictures to flickr and they are starting to populate on our digital frame. What a nice-looking place Grand Cayman is :)

 

On another note, since I can't edit previous posts, a Doctor's Cave Beach addition:

 

The sand there was weirdly coarse. I wound up sitting on the edge with Jack for about 30 minutes while the waves splashed us. He loved that. When I stood up I found a bunch of sand had entered my shorts in the waves and then coalesced. I had two big mounds stuck in the netting inside my drawers! I had to go out in the deeper water. If it wasn't so crowded and so crystal clear, I would have take off my shorts and washed the sand out. As it was I had to keep shaking the blobs up so the sand would go back into the water.

 

Also the entrepreneurs didn't leave us alone even while swimming. There were Jamaicans swimming around trying to get us to buy conch shells. I wasn't the least bit interested, but another couple was. That was until another cruiser said they are illegal to bring back on the ship. I don't know about the legality but thought I'd pass the info along.

[Lkozinko]

Have been enjoying the post. We will be in Montego Bay next week hubby and I had the same idea to just go to Doctor's Cave for the day, were there taxi's outside the port to take you? I know you stated you got on a bus, should I look for any specific area for taxi's?