Conquest vs. Sunshine

[dianel720]

My husband and I are trying to plan our cruise for May 2015 and are torn between the Conquest and the Sunshine. We've been on the Conquest type ships before so are familiar with the layout and have been on the Breeze. Both ships have the same itinerary, one week apart. For anyone that's been on both, can you give me some help in choosing one? I realize Conquest doesn't have a Serenity area and the Sunshine is more crowded.....Thanks!!

Edited May 28, 2014 by dianel720

[andersonrm]

The Conquest doesn't have an adult Serenity area, if that makes a difference. Sunshine has the Cucina Del Capitano restaurant, the Red Frog Pub, and the Havana Bar. If prices were comparable, I would choose the Sunshine. If you're cruising before Memorial Day, there should be fewer kids on board either ship, as well.

[dianel720]

The Conquest doesn't have an adult Serenity area, if that makes a difference. Sunshine has the Cucina Del Capitano restaurant, the Red Frog Pub, and the Havana Bar. If prices were comparable, I would choose the Sunshine. If you're cruising before Memorial Day, there should be fewer kids on board either ship, as well.

 

 

thank you for your response. I'm looking at more likely Mid May. Price is comparable. I've just heard so many mixed reviews on the Sunshine!

[kingoftheicedragons]

We sailed both ships, Sunshine in Europe last October and Conquest in western Caribbean in February.

 

The biggest difference after sailing Sunshine was that the Conquest didn't have as many food choices. They both have Guy's Burgers and Blue Iguana, which are the two popular places on the 2.0 ships, but Sunshine had the Asian bistro (forget the name) which would be similar to the Mongolian wok, there was the food at the Havana bar, and then pasta at Cucina Del Capitano--or whatever it's called...I'm not too hung up on the names, just how the food tastes. Conquest does have the fish n chips. I believe Sunshine has 4 up charge restaurants for dinner compared to 1 on Conquest.

 

Overall, I think Sunshine wins the food competition hands down.

 

Next up, Serenity. Sunshine's is three decks high, versus no Serenity on Conquest. Sunshine wins here, too.

 

Both ships have the Hasboro gameshow, including one in the evening, and both have the new shows.

 

The open decks on Sunshine weren't too busy, but then it was a port-intensive European cruise at the end of the season versus the Caribbean, so this may no longer be the case. Crowds on Sunshine were never an issue for us, and they have the pour your own beer station and a very fun ship's library and library bar. Both ships have alchemy bars. Conquest's open decks were full on sea days with lots of people chair hogging. There were typically chairs available on the windier, shady sides of the ship.

 

All things being relatively equal, I would pick Sunshine over Conquest. That being said, we have another cruise booked on Conquest for January.

 

Hope this helps.

[dianel720]

We sailed both ships, Sunshine in Europe last October and Conquest in western Caribbean in February.

 

The biggest difference after sailing Sunshine was that the Conquest didn't have as many food choices. They both have Guy's Burgers and Blue Iguana, which are the two popular places on the 2.0 ships, but Sunshine had the Asian bistro (forget the name) which would be similar to the Mongolian wok, there was the food at the Havana bar, and then pasta at Cucina Del Capitano--or whatever it's called...I'm not too hung up on the names, just how the food tastes. Conquest does have the fish n chips. I believe Sunshine has 4 up charge restaurants for dinner compared to 1 on Conquest.

 

Overall, I think Sunshine wins the food competition hands down.

 

Next up, Serenity. Sunshine's is three decks high, versus no Serenity on Conquest. Sunshine wins here, too.

 

Both ships have the Hasboro gameshow, including one in the evening, and both have the new shows.

 

The open decks on Sunshine weren't too busy, but then it was a port-intensive European cruise at the end of the season versus the Caribbean, so this may no longer be the case. Crowds on Sunshine were never an issue for us, and they have the pour your own beer station and a very fun ship's library and library bar. Both ships have alchemy bars. Conquest's open decks were full on sea days with lots of people chair hogging. There were typically chairs available on the windier, shady sides of the ship.

 

All things being relatively equal, I would pick Sunshine over Conquest. That being said, we have another cruise booked on Conquest for January.

 

Hope this helps.

 

Thanks King! Is the Conquest aging at all? One of the big reasons I'd like to sail the Sunshine is because of the Serenity deck, but truth be told, on any cruise I've ever been on, I've very rarely used Serenity. The Sunshine's just looks so inviting! Is the Conquest aging quite a bit?

[k2excursion]

In addition to the other comparisons here, I would point out that the Sunshine has a very nice waterpark, with 3 large slides, 2 of them identical. Conquest has just the one slide. Sunshine is a clear winner here. Not a factor for everyone, but it would be if you are bringing kids or if you are kids at heart like me. Adults are allowed on the slides as well. Sunshine also has the ropes course that Conquest doesn't have.

 

Unfortunately, both ships have the Playlist shows at night. Conquest's theater is much larger, big enough to handle the number of people, unlike on Sunshine. I hear that Sunshine's comedy club is way too small. So there are pros & cons to Sunshine compared to Conquest.

Edited May 29, 2014 by k2excursion

[winddawn]

I've sailed both ships in the past 6 months. I would second the other comments made which pretty much covers it. The only other 2 differences I can think of are that Sunshine has the waterfall which I liked. And Sunshine's casino is larger, sprawling across the walkway the entire width of the ship. If there is a downside to that, it also means that cigarette smoke is heavy along that public walkway to get to the shops and entertainment venues. I also liked the breakfast set up along that walkway in the mornings because there was never a line there. That was just next to the pub area with lots of seating. It also made it convenient to grab a snack and coffee if you are an early morning gambler on sea days.

 

I enjoyed both ships, but would pick Sunshine over Conquest.

[dianel720]

Thanks for the feedback everyone! Can anyone tell me about the MDR service on the Sunshine? I've read quite a bit that its very slow - up to 2 hrs - for dinner? Can that be possible?

[kingoftheicedragons]

I think Conquest aged well, but obviously compared to Sunshine, she did feel older, and some unused restaurant areas on Lido made the Conquest seem a little bit older.

 

We didn't have a problem with dinner times. We really hit it off with our stablemates on Sunshine, so we usually stayed sitting at our table well after service was done, which may have been almost two hours, but by choice and not because of service. While I'm sure some people may have this happen to them, it could happen on any ship, and the people that have it happen to them are probably very vocal about it, and rightfully so, but it's probably not that common.