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Review: Carnival Conquest 10/30/05

Sablerose

By Sablerose,
in Carnival Cruise Lines

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RockandRobin

RockandRobin

Posted
Posted

Rose-

 

You are too funny! I have really enjoyed reading your review and can't wait to read the rest!!:) I am formerly an Okie (Edmond) and am leaving on the Elation this Monday with my BF. This is my 1st cruise and his 4th with Carnival! I am soooooo excited!!

 

Keep writing!!

 

RockandRobin

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crdtrnr

crdtrnr

Posted
Posted

Rose,

 

What did you use to keep the door open, a bungie or a door stop?

 

We are going to be on the Conquest on Jan 8th, and I need to know which to bring...

 

Sounds like you had a great time...

 

I've been reading about all of your experiences, both good and bad, and then I try to tell my DH about them (he doesn't read the boards) and he just doesn't get it...of well..

 

 

Keep up the reviews...

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obx_fintoo

obx_fintoo

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This has certainly eaten up some valuable work time for me today. Sounds like you guys had a perfectly lovely time and a wonderful VIP experience! You certainly deserved it!

 

I am going to try and get some actually work done while waiting for the final installment! Welcome back!

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TxStacey

TxStacey

Posted
Posted

Welcome back Sable..Glad you had a great cruise!! You mentioned Boris several times in your review. We were on the Conquest in June and Boris was our favorite server...My last name is Czech and it was so cool that he knew the origion of it etc. We loved Boris!! What did you think about Todd and the other social hosts?? We really enjoyed them! Can't wait for the next installment!!

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greatful

greatful

Posted
Posted
I'm gonna post pictures. The Conquest 10/30/05 group is setting up a Webshots account and we are all going to put all of our pictures on it.

 

But we got a scanner today so I can do capers and stuff too plus our film pictures and/or some formals - perhaps the pic taken of us at the captain's table.

 

Pictures to come!

 

Great review!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Can hardly wait to see the uploaded Capers :) Glad you had fun ! Dinner with the Captain is pretty special we were fortunate to be asked on the Celebrity Summit in July.

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LRene

LRene

Posted
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OMG Rose! I drank 1/2 bottle of Merlot reading so far and anxiously awaiting the final installment.

 

The CONQUEST was my first Carnival cruise too and I love that ship. I think everyone has a fondness for their first. :D :D

 

Your accounts of Jamaica made me think of my honeymoon on another (ahem) imposter cruise line where my inexperienced snorkler DH decided to get too far from the catamaran in high seas. Lucky for him, I had been a lifeguard all through high school and actually had to drag his butt back to the boat and get help to get him back on. Over the years it's become a running joke in the family that he hadn't had enough time to change the beneficiary on his life insurance so I saved him. And believe it or not, it wasn't the LAST time I had to do that. He's no longer allowed in water over his head.

 

I've read hundreds of reviews on CC but yours takes the cake. It actually makes me feel like I'm there! So glad you had a good time and thanks for sharing (almost) all the intimate details with us. Now...for that last sea day....

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Sablerose

Sablerose

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Day seven: LAST FUN DAY AT SEA! (Plus a little blurb for debarkation)

 

We had thought about sleeping in, for our last fun day at sea. That wasn't to be, however, since we had left our curtains pulled back (thanks to jimandbette, who had suggested we take a small bungee cord to tie the curtain up with in addition to one to hold the balcony door open) and the sun came streaming in shortly after sunrise at 5:49 a.m. We tried and tried to hold on to sleepytime, but by about 7:00 a.m. we were up and talking. We knew that the only thing that was on the "must do" list for today was to be at the debarkation talk at 11:00, so we took our own sweet time. We lounged around in bed for a little while, then showered, got dressed, and actually started getting a little bit organized for the whole packing "thing" that was looming ahead of us.

 

We had coffee, got up and about, said good morning to Harold, talked to him about our day in Playa Del Carmen, and headed down to the Monet for breakfast. We were once again seated with a great group of older folks who liked to travel together, and had a fabulous conversation about all the places they've gone and the things they've seen. They pretty much sold us on trying an all-inclusive vacation in Cozumel somewhere down the road, as they'd all done it more than once and absolutely loved it. But for them, cruising was "where it's at" and they'd been on a lot of different cruise lines, so we talked about the pros and cons of each. They were planning a Norwegian cruise next, and it was interesting to hear about how they selected cruise lines, cruise ships, and ports.

 

After a fabulous breakfast (Stang had the ham and cheese omelette, again, I had Eggs Benedict -- Splurge!) and a great conversation that we lingered over for quite some time, we headed out. As we were leaving the Monet dining room, the little gal who was the hostess for the Renoir dining room was in the foyer. I stopped and said hello to her, and her eyes lit up -- I swear, she has the most fun job on the whole ship. She always looked so happy. We shook her hand and thanked her for everything and just told her how much of an amazing week we had and we knew she had a part in it (the first night, plus she tied our hands together when they sang Happy Anniversary, plus she was the go-between for the Maitre D' with regard to our invitation for the Captain's dinner, and took our RSVP, plus she kept telling us how happy she was for us, and was really a joy). I felt tears in my eyes and told her I was going to cry, and asked if I could hug her -- she gave me a big hug and when I looked at her again, she had tears in her eyes too! We just kept thanking her for everything, and she kept thanking us for everything, and it was one big happy tear-filled moment. I cried with a restaurant hostess. Who would possibly have thought that would happen??

 

We wiped our eyes, talked amongst ourselves about how amazing everybody had been to us all week, and headed straight to the Sky Bar to celebrate with a bloody mary and a drink of the day refill respectively, saying hi to Jan and Boris of course. Then we headed over to the debarkation talk.

 

The lounge was already basically full of people since there was Bargain Bingo going on just before the talk. But it was fun to watch them play the last game, and see people excited about winning money. Then Todd came out and gave the debarkation talk, so we could learn all about how to handle our luggage, how to get off the ship, ideas on handling tipping if you were so inclined, and all about the ever-important comment cards. We hoped that some of "our" staff would be up on the stage during the staff introductions, and we thought we saw Boris! Couldn't be sure though, because they didn't call him by name. We didn't see anyone else of "ours."

 

We left the debarkation talk, and went straight to the gift shop to try to take advantage of some of the specials for the last day. We hadn't bought any liquor, as we can get pretty good deals on liquor through our local Class Six Shoppette (a liquor store/convenience store that's on the base, and sells at significantly cheaper prices than off-base). But we did want some souvenirs! A shot glass for our dear friend Amanda (we had bought her shot glasses everywhere we went on the trip) and one for us too, a model of the Conquest for Stang, coffee cups for each of us, a small polar bear with a Conquest T-shirt for me (I collect polar bears, it was a stuffed animal), and we priced out some hoodies, and T-shirts and stuff, but they were still pretty expensive. "They really like those hoodies," Stang said. "They like them so much they won't let them go for less than $59.00." Ouch.

 

Took our stash upstairs and tried to figure out how I was going to get all our souvenirs home… just more for me to work out when it came down to packing!

 

To celebrate our booty (the shopping, not the uh, ahem, booty) we broke out our Bubba Kegs, used the 1-liter of Mexican Coca-Cola we had bought at Playa, and mixed it with yummy Captain Morgan's spiced rum (the good select stuff, not the regular one) and had some massive Rum & Cokes that we hauled around with us the rest of the afternoon. YUMMY. That was really the first of the "smuggled on booze" we had broken into during the trip.

 

After the furious afternoon of shopping, we were starving for bouillabaisse. So we had to go to Sur Mer! On our way to Sur Mer, we saw, witnessed, smelled, and walked right past the chocolate buffet. *sigh* I sooooooooo wanted chocolate, but I had been so good on my eating plan while we were on the ship, it just wasn't worth it to me at that point. So I figured I'd drink some more calories later and pass up the chocolate.While there, we ran into some CC'ers who were also having lunch. We sat down next to them, savored every bite of the last bowl of bouillabaisse we'd get on the ship, and even ate some fish & chips and stuff (yeah, I'd have fish & chips but not chocolate buffet, figure that reasoning out). PrincessKiki & her husband let us know they were going to be out by the pool, so we went back upstairs after lunch and changed into our suits and headed back down.

 

We snagged a lounger or two by the pool next to our fellow CC'ers and chitchatted about everything and nothing. The drink of the day, meeting up for future get-togethers and trips (some of us live close enough that we're going to try to meet up again soon), how we could live peacefully, in harmony forever on the aft Lido Deck under the retractable roof (they have pizza and the Grille, so we could eat… we have bars, so we could drink… they have showers by the pool for hygiene, and whirlpool tubs for those chilly times… if it rains, they'll just close the roof… fruit punch and lemonade from the Lido… coffee in the mornings… paradise, I tell you! Paradise!

 

Jimandbette came walking through after picking up a cheeseburger or two from the Grille, and we called out to them so they came over and hung out with us for a short time. Poor Jim was trying to be social with us but his mind was obviously other places -- his beloved Tennessee was playing on TV and he could actually see the game from the ship! So we didn't keep them super long, just long enough for all of us to decide we all had open bottles of wine and liquor that we weren't going to be able to finish in time to get off the ship, so we planned a "bring your leftovers" party in Jimandbette's 9A balcony. We all agreed to meet up at around 5pm-6pm. Every time another CC'er walked by the area where we were seated, we filled them in.

 

We hung out with PrincessKiki and her husband by the pool, with Nompty and Ed/Rubbereck popping in and out (when they weren't planning to accidentally stumble onto the funnel deck just to see what was going on) (we later found out it was deserted), and finally at around 5pm we all said goodbye with the intention of cleaning up for dinner and making it over to the 9a Balcony for the big party!

 

And that's when the control freak in me was tested to the limit.

 

Again.

 

We got all the way up to the room. We're carrying 52-ounce Bubba Kegs. We're wet. I'm wrapped in a towel. And Stang says, "Aw, crap, I don't have my key. Here honey, hold my mug. I'll be back." Before I could say a word, before I could blink my eyes, he left me standing in front of our room, complete with decorated door, in a very chilly air conditioned hallway. Right at the top of the main stairs. Right next to the elevators.

 

There I was.

 

Waiting.

 

Could I find Harold? No! Could anyone page Harold for me? No! Could the other steward in the hallway help me? No!

 

And just right then, as if it couldn't have gotten any worse, the wife of the sweet honeymoon couple that sat at our dinner table walked up the hallway, immediately recognized me, and asked me if everything was okay. I explained that Stang was downstairs probably standing in a 50 person long purser line on the last day of the cruise, to get someone to let us in, and that I was sure he'd be back any time. She was very kind of course, and offered to let me come down and sit with them, but by that point it was just a matter of principle. So I smiled sweetly back, thanked her profusely, but told her I was sure I'd be okay.

 

Then when she walked away, I went around to the elevator bank and picked up the phone and called room service.

 

And asked them if, in lieu of food, they could send someone up to unlock my room.

 

About five minutes later, I was greeted by a kind man with a master key log and a master key, and he opened our door, had me sign the log, and went on his merry way after I fell all over myself thanking him. I had seriously considered just leaving Stang to rot in the purser's line, but the part of me that is sweetness and light got the better of me and I phoned down to the purser's desk, described Stang, told them he was standing in line to get someone to let us in our room, but that I was already in the room so if they could possibly just tell him to come back upstairs, I would be very grateful.

 

They did.

 

And he did.

 

After some glaring and glowering, I was able to loosen up a little bit and start to get okay with the fact that I had been locked out of the room. Of course today I can laugh about it, but at the time I was pretty mortified!

 

Stang took our thank you card and tip envelope for Jan upstairs to him, while I rested for a few minutes and calmed the heck down, and then we got dressed for dinner (which was the most casually we'd dressed for dinner the whole cruise, pretty much) and headed down to Jimandbette's room. I can't tell you everything that happened while we were down there. I'll tell you that at one point we had about 10-12 people on the balcony drinking various types of wine. I'll tell you that we cracked each other up. I will even tell you that custom towel animals were made, and that they were for ages 18+ only. But overall I will just tell you that it was an awesome time and I was really grateful to have that extra time with our new CC friends.

 

We all swore, in a tipsy haze, that we would meet up in Alfred's Bar (cigar bar) after dinner for one last hoorah, and we headed out to eat.

 

We tipped the Maitre D' on our way into dinner, tipped Davis and Jilene at the table, and had a fabbo meal. I, for the first time, had 2 entrees (I couldn't decide between the seafood newburg and the prime rib) and they were both fabulous. Stang, for about the fourth time, had two appetizers. They sang and danced. Davis got his groove on. Davis and Jilene signed the Conquest placemats and handed them out to us after the meal, thanked us again for everything, we of course thanked them profusely for everything, and then we headed back up to the cabin.

 

Ah, the grandest plans are the first to fail.

 

Packing up was one of them.

 

At 11:50, we finally had everything packed, logically figured out, how we were getting all of our crap home with us, and had the bags out in the hallway. By that point we were completely exhausted, and basically changed into our jammies and collapsed on the bed. We were out like lights.

 

And of course, we could not sleep.

 

Because in four hours we'd be pulling into Galveston.

 

<fast forward four hours>

 

We pulled into Galveston! We actually were docked and cleared about 6:15 a.m., and Todd came on our ding-dong bing-bong intercom REALLY REALLY LOUD (because for the first time of the cruise, the intercom in the actual room was turned on, not just the one in the hallway) and we LAUNCHED ourselves out of bed. Out of sheer fear and terror.

 

It was loud. Did I mention it was loud?

 

We figured we might as well get up and at 'em. By the time we showered, dressed, packed away our change of clothes and jammies, crammed everything else we needed into the carryons, made four sweeps of the room, opened every drawer six times, checked every cabinet, and decided we were starving, they were already calling regular "non-self-assist" people to get off the ship so we headed up to the Lido for some grub. We ate at the Lido buffet for the first time that morning. Not overwhelmingly good. Pretty much just you know, basic breakfast buffet food. Greasy, salty, sweet, yummy in that "Denny's on a Sunday morning" kind of way.

 

We made some phone calls to our family to let them know we were getting off the ship, met Nompty and Ed coming across the Lido for some breakfast themselves, and in the time it took us to shake hands/hug them goodbye and thank them for all the fun, they were calling our pink tags.

 

We went downstairs with our baggage (the glass elevators in the atrium were not running, they were all stuck on deck 2. The other elevators were running.) and ended up just outside the Tolouse-Latrec, not far past the shore excursion desk, waiting for them to move us forward. At that point, we sat still for about half an hour.

 

There was a couple in line next to us who did not have pink tags (verandah), they had purple tags (upper). Although we had been warned not to try to get off the ship before your time had come, they were allowed to get right off the ship with us.

 

After the line started moving, finally, we were off the ship, downstairs, found our baggage, got a porter, and were in line for customs all in the space of about 15 minutes at most. All the porters in Galveston wear matching Hawaiian shirts, so it was easy to find them (although the fact that they all had large rolling carts should have been a tip-off).

 

Our porter took us straight to customs in the passport line and we zoomed right through. He then walked us all the way to the EZCruise shuttle parking, where there was a beautiful air conditioned shuttle waiting for us. We tipped the porter, tipped the shuttle driver, they got all our bags on, and we were in the truck and on our way out of Galveston by 10:30 a.m.

 

Not a bad morning.

 

Not a bad trip.

 

A fabulous trip, in fact. Absolutely amazing.

 

We're still reeling. The apartment rocks like a ship to this very moment. No cocktail tastes as good as a cocktail on our balcony overlooking the ocean. I miss Harold, and want a towel animal. And I want to see Davis boogie just one more time.

 

Looks like we'll be cruising again!

 

SOON TO COME: The down and dirty nitty gritty details of everything -- our room -- the dining -- what we liked most -- what we liked least -- the more "objective" review and the less "wow" review. I will also try to answer anyone's questions that I might have missed so far.

 

So if you have any other questions, now is probably the time!

 

 

THANK YOU FOR READING!!! And thank you, Cruise Critic, for all your wonderful hints and tips. And thank you all for being so supportive, and so awesome, and thank you to all of our new friends. And if you see this, thank you so very much, Mr. "Uncle Bob" Dickinson!!!

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nybumpkin

nybumpkin

Posted
Posted

Rose - GREAT review! DH and I both had the rocking sensation after our Victory cruise - and you know, it wasn't bad being reminded of what a great time we had. (DH had the rocking after Conquest, but I didn't. I think I was too traumatized by the air travel, since I hate flying.) Hope you plan another cruise again soon - if you find you're with an additional pax:D , cruising with kids is very manageable!

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donanddede

donanddede

Posted
Posted

thanks for the great review!!!!

you should seriously consider a career in writing!! You reminded me of Janet Evanovich, always ready to make you laugh.

We will be on the Conquest in Feb.:D and were concerned about the disembarkment but it sounds like they have finally straightened it out.

Now you need to start planning your next cruise!!;)

Happy sailing:D

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Top-Cat

Top-Cat

Posted
Posted

Rose,

 

Been lurking here for the last day or so reading. Great review. We sailed the Conquest her maiden year and she is indeed a ship to behold. There is nothing to spoil one like a cruise. Ever since our first, I just don't enjoy land trips anymore. The first cruise I took I remember standing on deck in the middle of the gulf and thinking, yeah I can see why they originally thought the world was flat. But that royal blue water and a sunset can hardly be topped, much less the peacefulness of being on the sea.

 

So... Do you have any idea which ship you would choose next and where would you go?

 

We are on the Glory in May 06. She is a sister ship of the Conquest and I can hardly wait!

 

Thanks for sharing all your details with us. Felt like we were right there along side. Will be looking foward to the pics so let us know when they are up.

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Cruisin Oma

Cruisin Oma

Posted
Posted

Rose:

Thank you so much. This has been a very enjoyable 2 days. I am sailing on the Conquest 1/1 - so give me your list of who I should hi to - Jan and Boris are already on there. I've scoped out where the Sky Bar is so I can find them! Lucky me - my room is at that end of the ship, so it's just a matter of rolling out of bed and figuring out if you can handle the stairs or its an elevator kind of morning!

 

Also - let me know when you are ready to do that Mayan Riviera, Cozumel, Cancun All - Inclusive. My Uncle (who is also my godfather) is the "Uncle Bob" in that industry. Maybe I can help set you up with some nice perks!

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