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Carnival Conquest - Nov 28 - Brief Review

johnnyi

By johnnyi,
in Carnival Cruise Lines

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johnnyi

johnnyi

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I wanted to provide a quick review of the onboard experience of the Nov 28 Carnival Conquest Southern Caribbean cruise. I won't be answering specific questions unfortunately, but wanted to give you my thoughts nonetheless. Items left out means we didn't experience that venue etc.

 

Background:

38yo, traveling with my mom. Have previously cruised multiple times with Royal Caribbean, Princess, Norwegian, Celebrity, Azamara, Holland America Line and Oceania. This was our 7th or 8th Carnival Cruise, most recently having sailed on the Carnival Freedom in December 2014.

 

Overall verdict for those wanting cliff notes:

Great cruise, some inconsistencies, would not hesitate to sail on Conquest or with Carnival again.

 

Pre-Cruise:

Stayed at the W Hotel. Great property, but while the rooms afford some amazing views, they are a bit past their prime. I think a complete refurb is coming, but we'd stay here again.

 

Check-In:

We were in a Suite so we had priority boarding. It was quite fast and efficient, however after being given our Sail and Sign cards it became a bit chaotic. We just followed the crowd and boarded immediately.

 

Suite:

We were in an Ocean Suite on Deck 7. Loved it. We'll be hard-pressed to go back to a standard verandah. Plenty of closet space to afford us each having our own, large bathroom and no issues at all with air-conditioning. For us, the a/c worked VERY well. Stateroom attendant excellent and always called us by name.

 

Ship:

After reading some recent reviews of the less than stellar condition of the ship, I was mentally prepared for it. Turns out, I shouldn't have worried. While the ship isn't the newest in the fleet, the wear and tear is minimal and did not negatively impact my cruise at all. Ship was clean. No disasters or jaw-dropping discoveries of disarray anywhere. The iconic funnel could use some red paint though. :) We experienced no problems with air-conditioning anywhere on the ship. In fact, Alfred's Bar on Deck 4 was so cold it pretty much ran my mom right out of there looking for additional layers. :) Impressionists Boulevard (Deck 5) was beautiful.

 

Service/Crew/Staff (not including dining room):

Excellent. This is definitely one of the strong points of this ship. Everyone we came into contact with was friendly, helpful, professional and many called us by name or remembered drink orders after only one time. Impressive for a ship this size.

 

Dining Room Service:

This deserves its own section because our service was phenomenal. Definitely in the top 3 of all of our cruises. We had 815pm dining in the Monet Restaurant. It was clear late seating was not at capacity, which probably helped with our service levels, but we had 3 people taking care of us. Needless to say, they didn't miss a beat. They were so personable, offered honest recommendations on the food and again consistently called everyone (not just our table) by name. A blast was had by all. The waiters seem to perform/dance about every other night. Our bar waiter was only on his second cruise, but is bound to succeed with his friendly and can-do attitude. Such a nice guy. A magician even stopped by one night to entertain our table. Random, but he was actually good.

 

Dining Room Food:

American Table is in full effect, and I liked it. Prior to the cruise, I wasn't sold on the water already on the table, no tablecloth and bread basket put on the table, but for me it worked and was done without diminishing anything or looking tacky IMO. Actually, the water was poured and bread was served to us 99% of the time anyway. I found the menus to be varied with enough to choose from, although some of the entree combinations were interesting. (Filet Mignon and Short Ribs served together). Food was good, some items were very good, while some items probably should never have been plated for service. Oddly enough, the food seemed to deteriorate a bit in quality and consistency as the cruise went on. Chocolate Melting cake was perfection one night, super dry the next, practically soup the following night and then was back to perfection another night. (These are probably hard to cook though). The brand of vanilla ice cream used changed mid-cruise overnight as was confirmed by our servers and it was not for the better. Three people ordered the Filet/Short Rib combo one night. One plate was fine with a healthy looking filet. Another plate the filet was thin as could be. Another plate had short ribs that were 98% fat and really should have never left the galley. Side dishes are very small, but waiters didn't blink at all if you wanted to try multiple appetizers, entrees or desserts. Food temperature was consistently hot so no problems there. Despite these very small inconsistencies, we did not go hungry of course and overall enjoyed the meals and menus. The Flat Iron steak option that was offered almost nightly was delicious. The table next to us, who tried a variety of dishes, didn't seem to have much negative to say. Food that is served to me that I don't have to personally cook myself is pretty darn good I think. :)

 

Steakhouse:

Excellent in all aspects.

 

Buffet/Guys/Blue Iguana/Pizza/Taste Bar:

Lots of variety, good food, enjoyable meals. Pizza was particularly good, and I had no idea that Caesar salads and Chicken Parmesan sandwiches were available at the Pizza Pirate too. We rarely had problems finding seating in the buffet and if we did, we went upstairs by the Fish and Chips area where seating was always plentiful.

 

Entertainment:

Enjoyed Eric the Cruise Director, who boarded the same day we did. We went to all 4 Production Shows. "Epic Rock" was excellent. The rest I thought were lackluster, particularly "The Brits". The Conquest has a huge stage, so with a cast of only 8 (much of the time with just 7 on stage), it looks rather empty no matter how many video walls and pyrotechnics you have. Vocals were average. The live musicians/bands onboard were mostly excellent. We missed having live music in the lobby/lobby bar, but this was due to the Christmas Tree making its home right on the small stage. (Christmas Tree was beautiful though and the subject of many photos by all). Comedy Club was great and popular as usual, with the 10:30 show drawing massive crowds. So massive the lines went halfway down Deck 5. Combine that with the numerous photo backdrops each night and you have a bit of a traffic jam. 1130pm shows were never full. Two deck parties plus the initial sailaway party take place by the main pool, but it was hard to tell them all apart really as they mostly consisted of a few line-dances. There were many, many pushes for onboard revenue areas/activities via announcements, morning shows, daily program events, or staff stationed around various parts of the ship looking for business. This is to be expected though, so it wasn't surprising and didn't negatively impact us.

 

Debark:

We did self-assist. We met in the main showlounge at 7am and were off the ship 15 minutes later. Despite getting off the ship early, there was a bit of a line/wait (about 20 minutes) for Customs/Immigration as there were only 3 Customs officers present. No problems getting a taxi to the airport upon exiting.

 

To summarize:

I think for the price paid, Carnival is a great value. We would happily sail Carnival again and the Conquest. We mainly chose this cruise for the itinerary of 3 ports and 4 sea days. Many of the negative comments I read prior to boarding I didn't find warranted, but as they say "different strokes for different folks" and everyone sees their cruise through their own set of eyes. The social media basic package was fun to have at $25 for the entire cruise. This review was a bit longer than I anticipated, so thanks if you have made it this far. Hopefully I've presented a balanced view of the cruise. It was enjoyable!

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LaCal

LaCal

Posted
Posted

Great straight to the point review..Thx for taking the time to do it

 

Were on the Conquest in March and can't wait.....I also take people's negative reviews I've read over the years and most times wonder if we were on the same cruise. But as you stated every person sees things differently and I guess in some people's minds a few bad meals or the way something was under or overcooked seems to ruin their whole cruise lol

 

Thanks again, Loved your review and glad you had a great time

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Djptcp

Djptcp

Posted
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DH and I are sailing on the Conquest this weekend for 8-day eastern Caribbean cruise. First time on the Conquest, but this will be our 25th milestone cruise on Carnival. DH is using his milestone cruise when we sail on the Sunshine in April. Glad to hear so many positive things about the Conquest as there seem to be many negatives from past passengers.

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hapytobehr

hapytobehr

Posted
Posted

Loved your review...brief and to the point.

 

We too are sailing in a couple of weeks on the Conquest (New Year's Cruise).

 

My husband and I were on the Conquest for July 4th this year and loved the ship and its crew! This is why we are going again.

 

I have read a lot of negative reviews with regards to the ships "age" but there was nothing that was so aggregious that would make me not sail her again. I dont find that to be of great importance.

 

We were on the Breeze in March and although it was brand new and beautiful, we enjoyed the Conquest much more.

 

Happy Holidays to all!!!

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BTromboneFrack

BTromboneFrack

Posted
Posted
Loved your review...brief and to the point.

 

We too are sailing in a couple of weeks on the Conquest (New Year's Cruise).

 

My husband and I were on the Conquest for July 4th this year and loved the ship and its crew! This is why we are going again.

 

I have read a lot of negative reviews with regards to the ships "age" but there was nothing that was so aggregious that would make me not sail her again. I dont find that to be of great importance.

 

We were on the Breeze in March and although it was brand new and beautiful, we enjoyed the Conquest much more.

 

Happy Holidays to all!!!

 

My DW and I will be on the Conquest in --- 14 DAYS!!!!. Happy New Year!!! Packing will start tomorrow -- the party has begun!!! Glad to hear the ship is in good shape and glad you had a good time. We were on the Liberty two years ago and loved the layout of the ship, so we are staying with the Conquest Class for now. Have a great trip.

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hapytobehr

hapytobehr

Posted
Posted
My DW and I will be on the Conquest in --- 14 DAYS!!!!. Happy New Year!!! Packing will start tomorrow -- the party has begun!!! Glad to hear the ship is in good shape and glad you had a good time. We were on the Liberty two years ago and loved the layout of the ship, so we are staying with the Conquest Class for now. Have a great trip.

 

Oh my! We pack the morning of.......;)

 

You have a great trip as well!

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tinawhitecar

tinawhitecar

Posted
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Just off the Dec 6th sailing on the Conquest. Prior to sailing read a lot of negative reviews so I kept my exceptions low...We were so happily surprised. The Ship is great! I did not see any "wear and tear" Ship was clean. Staff was exceptional. We had a great time!

 

As the OP mentioned, if there was a previous problem with the A/C- it has been fixed. You need a sweater in all the inside venues.

 

I would 100% sail the Conquest and Carnival again!

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LaCal

LaCal

Posted
Posted
Just off the Dec 6th sailing on the Conquest. Prior to sailing read a lot of negative reviews so I kept my exceptions low...We were so happily surprised. The Ship is great! I did not see any "wear and tear" Ship was clean. Staff was exceptional. We had a great time!

 

As the OP mentioned, if there was a previous problem with the A/C- it has been fixed. You need a sweater in all the inside venues.

 

I would 100% sail the Conquest and Carnival again!

 

Glad to hear the AC issues were fixed.....I like it cool to cold in my cabin 😜

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Santaa

Santaa

Posted
Posted

We were on the Conquest 12/6 to 12/12 and had a great time. The food was great and the crew was fantastic. I can't understand all the complaining that some cruisers posted.

Here is a pic of the Lido deck early morning.

140_zps63mzygla.jpg

 

145_zpsakzslemr.jpg

 

And yes Guy's Burgers I had one every day.

313_zpsrabilnni.jpg

 

Little cruisers outside play area.

149_zpsckydddht.jpg

 

The dinner menu. LOL

361_zpsowgaol5s.jpg

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