Carnival Conquest Aft Wrap Review - Featuring Photos & Videos

[Spaniel Lover]

Most of the photos were taken with a Canon Digital Rebel T5i. A few were taken with a little waterproof Olympus camera that fits in my pocket... so I carry it with me on days when I need to travel light.

 

If you'd like to learn about the Canon Digital Rebel T5i camera, or see some other examples of what it can do, head on over to this page on my web site.

Edited September 18, 2013 by Spaniel Lover

[carncruiser1964]

Yeh, apparently I didn't read the first post very well cuz you did say what kind of camera you had. Sorry :o Now I'm going to go back and look at the videos :D

[mackatty]

Great review, pix, & videos - thank you for sharing them all with us!

[carncruiser1964]

One more question, you mentioned the wifi and then the internet being slow. Don't you have to pay for either? I'm asking this because we just got off the Dream and the entire time we were gone, my wifi signal on my iPad showed full strength but never connected except for before we left and when we returned to Port Canaveral. Just curious.

[Spaniel Lover]

You can connect to the "Fun Hub" at no charge. This is what's known as an "Intranet" site... not an Internet site. In other words, it is hosted by servers on the ship... so you only need to connect via wi-fi, you don't need to purchase any Internet time.

 

On the FunHub, you can view things like the Fun Times newsletter, the weather forecast, the menus, and things like that. When you're on a Carnival ship, just go to funhub.cclfunhub.com

From home, if you go to that address, you will only get a news article that explains a little bit about what the FunHub concept is.

 

If you want to connect to regular Internet sites, you have to purchase some Internet time.

 

If the wi-fi signal is weak or poor, you can't get a good connection to anything... the FunHub, or the Internet.

 

If the wi-fi signal is good, but the (MTN communications) satellite Internet connection is poor (as it often is on any cruise ship) the FunHub will work just fine, but you'll have trouble connecting to regular Internet sites... like Google, Facebook, etc.

Edited September 19, 2013 by Spaniel Lover

[nybumpkin]

Really enjoyed your review. We've sailed on Conquest twice and love her. And we've sailed in 8455 on Glory and loved the aft wrap. We didn't have any noise issues at all on the starboard side - we sailed in 8428 on Victory (same location, port side) and did notice some noise.

[saharaga]

Thank you for your review. We are sailing on the Conquest in a little more than two weeks:D. My husband said his first stop will be Guy's Burgers.

[Uncle Deane]

Great review, Jim Zim! I followed you Cocker website for years (our only child is a 7 year old buff boy) and was excited to see a while back that you also share our love for Carnival cruising. We'll be sailing on the Conquest in November on the second half of her repositioning (San Juan to Miami) so your review has helped us get even more excited.

So thanks again for keeping us entertained over the years, maybe we will meet at sea in the future!

[awhcruiser]

I tried to download the first day of the fun times from New Orleans. Unfortunately its from Miami and dated April 2013. Has anyone else seen this?

[re-re]

Great review, your review has made me even more excited about cruising on the Conquest, hurry up November.:)

[Spaniel Lover]

I tried to download the first day of the fun times from New Orleans. Unfortunately its from Miami and dated April 2013. Has anyone else seen this?

 

Darn it! My mistake. Some bad html on my part. Unfortunately, due to the way CruiseCritic doesn't let you go back and edit your posts after someone has replied to them, I can't fix the links in my original post. But, I can at least post the correct links here.

 

The links for the Fun Times on day 1 and day 3 are incorrect. Here's the corrected links to the Fun Times:

 

Fun Times - Day 1 - New Orleans

Fun Times - Day 3 - Key West

 

While I'm here, I might as well post one additional piece of information... the locations of self-serve laundry and ironing rooms on the Carnival Conquest. There are six of them, and they are located:

 

Deck 1: Opposite cabin 1359

Deck 2: Opposite cabin 2367

Deck 6: Opposite cabin 6387

Deck 7: Opposite cabin 7339

Deck 8: Opposite cabin 8351

Deck 9: Opposite cabin 9270

 

It's a good idea to locate these cabins on the deck plans, and to make sure you do not book a cabin in that immediate vicinity. Noise and foot traffic in and out of the self-serve laundry facilities can be annoying to people in the nearby cabins.

 

[snorkelgirlca]

Thank you for the lovely pictures. I was on the same cruise just a few doors down from you. Yore photography is really appreciated by me and if you don't mind I am going to share it with my family so they can see what a great cruise we all had.

 

By the way I saw the finch too. He was a real cutie.

 

Your time and effort in photographing this wonderful will be a long lasting memory for me.

 

Marsha

[snorkelgirlca]

Ps the only day I had trouble with the Internet was the last day. Yes the signal was weak on he balcony but decent inside the room

[silvercrikhix]

Wow!

The best written, concise review I have ever seen on CC!

Just right!

Thanks for sharing, Jim!

[cjnix29]

loved the review! I read your review of the Breeze to get me ready for our cruise, and it was very helpful! Now, I 'm booked on the Sunshine for next year, can you sail on that ship and do a review so I can be really prepared?! Thanks for taking the time to write it!

[Jimmy Geegitz]

Love the big pics!!

[Spaniel Lover]

loved the review! I read your review of the Breeze to get me ready for our cruise, and it was very helpful! Now, I 'm booked on the Sunshine for next year, can you sail on that ship and do a review so I can be really prepared?!

 

I just made my final payment today. (For an upcoming Sunshine cruise)

 

I should have a review posted for you sometime in early January.

 

My wife doesn't read Cruise Critic, so I can tell you the little secret that she doesn't know about yet... we're booked in one of the two Captain's Suites. I'm not planning on telling her about our accomodations until we open the door to the cabin. All I've told her at this point is that the aft wraps were already booked and unavailable. Hopefully, she'll assume we'll be in a regular balcony cabin... and be more than a little surprised when she sees the spectacular Captain's Suite!

[cjnix29]

I just made my final payment today. (For an upcoming Sunshine cruise)

 

I should have a review posted for you sometime in early January.

 

My wife doesn't read Cruise Critic, so I can tell you the little secret that she doesn't know about yet... we're booked in one of the two Captain's Suites. I'm not planning on telling her about our accomodations until we open the door to the cabin. All I've told her at this point is that the aft wraps were already booked and unavailable. Hopefully, she'll assume we'll be in a regular balcony cabin... and be more than a little surprised when she sees the spectacular Captain's Suite!

 

That's awesome!!! Can't wait to hear about it and see your great pictures! We are booked in 12002, which looks huge on the deck plans, but can't find a stitch about it! January...good, plenty of time for me to get ready for August!

[Topo Gigio]

Thanks for the review. Boarding the Conquest this Sunday. Btw how did you experience the switch from the Breeze to the Conquest? I just came back last Saturday from the Breeze and a week later I'm going on the Conquest.

[CruzLover80]

You just got me uber excited for my Conquest trip Thanksgiving week!!!! :D:D:D:D:D

[soccersharon]

Wonderful review, pictures, and videos. Thanks for posting.

[Spaniel Lover]

Boarding the Conquest this Sunday. Btw how did you experience the switch from the Breeze to the Conquest? I just came back last Saturday from the Breeze and a week later I'm going on the Conquest.

 

The Breeze is a much nicer ship, in about a dozen ways. I absolutely loved the Breeze... it's a fantastic ship.

 

The biggest thing the Breeze has that the Conquest doesn't have is a serenity retreat. That's the one major area where the Conquest is deficient.

 

The rest of the Conquest-to-Breeze improvements are smaller things... but together they all add up... and when you are on the Breeze, you definitely have the feeling that you are seeing Carnival at its best. Things like the more sophisticated decor will give you an overall feeling of being on a truly great ship.

 

I guess the easiest way for me to help you visualize it is the contrast the two atriums. The Conquest atrium, with the French Impressionist mural, is a little strange and kind of visually "loud", don't you think? The Breeze atrium... that's just gorgeous and sophisticated.

 

Conquest atrium

 

 

 



Breeze atrium

 

 

All around the ship, the Conquest decor is somewhat Las Vegas while the Breeze decor is so much more soft and sophisticated. Beyond the decor, there are just a bunch of little improvements that all add up to make the Breeze a cut above the rest. Little things like having the Fun Hubs sprinkled throughout the ship so that you can easily get to a computer if you want to do something online but didn't bring a computer... rather than having an Internet cafe that is literally hidden out of the way where almost no one ever sees it. The Breeze also has Jacuzzis sprinkled around in more locations throughout the ship. You can take an elevator to the Serenity deck. There's Jimmy's C-Side BBQ... a Thalassotherapy pool... the 5D Thrill Theatre... the Lanai Promenade that goes all the way around the outside of the ship... better heating and cooling systems in the cabins... just lots and lots of little improvements.

 

We cruised on the Breeze in April. Take a look at my full review, with photos and videos, by clicking here.

 

The Conquest has got a lot going for it, and certainly is superior to quite a bit of the rest of the fleet... but the Breeze (and probably the Sunshine, although I won't know for sure for another few months) definitely has it beat!

 

I think you'll enjoy your cruise on the Conquest a lot... but you'll find yourself making comparisons to the Breeze, and the Breeze will win! We were fortunate to have a much nicer cabin on the Conquest than we did on the Breeze... so for us, our overall experience on the Conquest was actually better than the one we had on the Breeze. But in a head to head comparison, the Breeze is clearly the winner.

Edited September 19, 2013 by Spaniel Lover

[Topo Gigio]

Yes, already looking at the Breeze again for February! really really loved that ship. guess that after the Conquest all my future Carnival cruises will be on the Breeze for now...(and maybe the Magic or Sunshine if opportunity arrises)

 

If they take all carnival evidence away on the Breeze, you will never ever tell that you are on a Carnival ship (well if you don't know the layout)

Edited September 19, 2013 by Topo Gigio

[crusinpsychRN]

Award winning review for certain! Thanks for all your hard work.

[TerReuv]

Love your review and pictures. We will be leaving on the 20th of October and are really looking forward to it. We will be one deck below where you were and a bit on the side. We have a regular balcony. Loving the finch picture. We will be on the Western route so different ports. I wish it would be the same as yours as I cannot locate any current fun times for the Conquest for the western. Frustrating. Thanks again for all your work!