Another June 3rd Conquest review

[br76jook]

My review is not going to be as long and expansive as some others but hopefully I'll provide some good info.

 

Between my wife and I we probably have almost 20 cruises under our belts. We have sailed Norwegian, Celebrity, Carnival, Royal Caribbean and Disney. Our last Carnival cruise was probably about five years ago and our last cruise a year ago on Disney. We've always enjoyed carnival but chose the last two cruises with Disney based on having kids. This time the kids were staying with grandma and grandpa so we chose carnival mainly due to the dates and itinerary.

 

We had a balcony room on deck seven. The room was typical and the balcony was nice. Our neighbors made it so we didn't enjoy the balcony as much as we should have. On one side of us there is a group that had several rooms in the area. They were very loud when on their balcony. We almost called security late one night when they argued very very loudly for over an hour in the room and on the balcony. Every time we thought they were over they would start up again. It seemed like at least one of the balconies on either side of us would leave their light on every night which was a little annoying. I read in another review about people feeling like their room wasn't very cold. We had the same complaint the entire cruise.

 

We decided to splurge and get both the faster to the fun and cheers program. We decided both are well worth the money. We arrived at the port at about 1130 and had a noon check in time. With faster to the fun we were walking onto the ship at noon. That half hour included dropping off our bags and parking our car. As we were walking by everyone waiting in lines I decided right there faster to the fun was worth it. It came really nice again on HMC. Instead of having to go get a number and wait for it to be called, we got on one of the first tenders. We didn't head down to the tenders until we started seeing people arrive on the beach. But when we did we were on a tender within 10 minutes. FTTF also made getting off the ship a breeze. We had a letter telling us to meet on deck three at 8 AM. while waiting for 8, The cruise director made several announcements about Disembarkationgoing extremely slow to the point of being at a standstill. We figured that meant FTTF was going to be held up to and stayed in our room until being kicked out at about 815. We got down to the lobby meeting area for FTTF at about 830 and were immediately allowed to leave. At this time they're only called probably four of the decks for people taking their own luggage off the ship. It was going much slower than any other time I had experienced. I collected our luggage and because I had downloaded a new app from immigration we were shown into a special line with only about four groups in front of us. I couldn't believe the hundreds of people I saw in line with only a handful of immigration officers helping them. My wife is still thanking me for finding that app.

[br76jook]

We also really enjoyed the cheers program. We never got close to getting her 15 drink limit but figured after getting about five drinks we broke even. We really liked being able to Try whatever we wanted and not worry about the price or if we were going to like it. We never felt like it mattered to the bartenders whether we had the cheers program or not. Most of the time we added a dollar tip per drink. We also really like that we were able to get big bottles of water, coconut water, specialty coffees and sodas when we wanted them. We likeed both the rum bar and tequila bar but our favorite was alchemy. The drinks were amazing and the bartenders were great. We went here every night for at least a few drinks. The bartenders all recognized us after the Second night and started making us special drinks they thought we would like or tried out new ingredients in the drinks to see what we thought. It was a great spot to people watch and we really enjoyed watching the bartenders work. Jakob was our favorite but Dasun and Tijuana were great too. My wife loved the deal closer but for me it was the Caribbean Manhattan. I think we tried almost everything on the menu plus several others that were their own concoctions and never had a bad drink. For those wondering, the two most expensive drinks I found were at alchemy and the tequila bar. I had a great goose VX martini at alchemy and a Roca Patron shot at the tequila bar. Both were about $15 and very good. I don't typically drink vodka but was so impressed at how smooth the VX went down. Before ordering either one I wondered how the bartenders would react to me ordering the expensive stuff on the program but neither bartender cared at all. If you do the cheers program I highly suggest trying both.

 

I've got to run but I'll try finishing up my review later today.

[ludz15]

Thanks for the review. I'll be on the Conquest next week. I don't have FTTF but I think I'm being convinced to buy it. What is the name of app that you mentioned that got you through customs quickly?

[JaniceB]

Enjoying your review. I would love the name of the app too!

[br76jook]

The app is called Mobile Passport. It is something being tested by Customs at only a few points of entry, Ft Lauderdale being one of them. In fact it might be the only cruise port using it at this time. I originally sought on the port Everglades website on their page with information about arriving and departing. It was awesome!

[br76jook]

Thanks for the review. I'll be on the Conquest next week. I don't have FTTF but I think I'm being convinced to buy it. What is the name of app that you mentioned that got you through customs quickly?

 

 

We decided we would never sail without FTTF again.

The App is mobile passport.

[br76jook]

We weren't super impressed with the food on this trip. My wife is a vegetarian and many nights had a hard time really finding something in the dining room. The Indian food they have every night is really good but she doesn't care for how spicy it is. We ended up eating on the Lido deck two nights because nothing on the menu really excited us. We were also kind of disappointed In the service in the donning room. The last night it took so long we left while waiting for desert. We had been there almost 2 hours. Maybe things would have been better if we hadn't been on your time dining. Hamburgers at Guy's were good. The Blue Iguana was excellent. We ate both breakfast and lunch there and it was delicious. We did the sea day brunch and thought it was really good. We did get a waiter that had a very hard time understanding English. He got some of our order wrong but it wasn't a big deal and we laughed about it. We never tried room service because the menu seems so limited unless you wanted to pay extra. We got a continental breakfast delivered one morning but another morning it never arrived. Considering our neighbors it could have been our door tag disappeared before they ever got it.

[quickrate]

We weren't super impressed with the food on this trip. My wife is a vegetarian and many nights had a hard time really finding something in the dining room. The Indian food they have every night is really good but she doesn't care for how spicy it is. We ended up eating on the Lido deck two nights because nothing on the menu really excited us. We were also kind of disappointed In the service in the donning room. The last night it took so long we left while waiting for desert. We had been there almost 2 hours. Maybe things would have been better if we hadn't been on your time dining. Hamburgers at Guy's were good. The Blue Iguana was excellent. We ate both breakfast and lunch there and it was delicious. We did the sea day brunch and thought it was really good. We did get a waiter that had a very hard time understanding English. He got some of our order wrong but it wasn't a big deal and we laughed about it. We never tried room service because the menu seems so limited unless you wanted to pay extra. We got a continental breakfast delivered one morning but another morning it never arrived. Considering our neighbors it could have been our door tag disappeared before they ever got it.

How do I know which terminal Conquest comes into in Port Everglades? I'm filling out the Mobile App, thanks for the tip!!

Pat

[br76jook]

We stayed on the ship in Nassau. We had a couples massage booked for 10 o'clock but the night before they called and rescheduled for 11. They were doing safety drills and that included the spa staff. In addition, we would've had to listen to the emergency announcements while trying to relax during a massage. The massage was very enjoyable. My wife has gotten many massages in the past and said they did a really good job. Funny thing happened though. At the end of the massage we were laying on tables next to each other on our backs with towels over our faces. My masseuse took my hand and massaged it for a few seconds and then put my hand around her fingers and stopped. She then just sat there with me holding her fingers for several seconds which I thought was weird. All of a sudden they rang a little bell and explained the massage was over etc and left the room. It was only about the time the bell rang that I realized they had put my wife's hand in mine and it wasn't the masseuse's. I still wasn't 100% sure though so I didn't want to start rubbing or squeezing the hand without being positive who it belonged to. when the door closed from the masseuses leaving my wife popped her head up and looked at me because she was thinking the same thing. She thought she was still holding onto her masseuse's hand and was thinking it was very odd. When the door closed she thought my masseuse had left and hers was still sitting there holding her hand. We got a good laugh out of it.

 

We really liked HMC. The beach was beautiful and the food was pretty good. They had veggie burgers for my wife but it was a little bit of a hunt to find them. Only one serving station had them. The person serving them obviously didn't really understand vegetarianism. When told she wanted cheese, The server took a piece of cheese off a regular hamburger and placed it on the veggie burger. The server didn't seem to understand what was wrong with that. The drink stations were overwhelmed both times I went to get drinks. They definitely need more than two. I was a little disappointed at the bar service. There were a few servers walking up and down the beach but unless you wanted what they happened to have in their hand, beer or a Bahama mama, you were on your own. We sat near the pirate ship bar so I just walked up there and the service was fine. We would definitely like to visit HMC again, the water couldn't have been nicer.

 

At Grand Turk we got a cabana at Margaritaville. We were so glad we did. We spent all our time either in the pool or lounging at the cabana. We never had a problem with service but don't know if that was because of the cabana or because ours was the only ship in port. It didn't look like the wait would've been too long at the swim up bar. We walked down to the beach and swim for a bit. The beach wasn't as nice as HMC but not bad either. It was neat being able to swim so close to the ship. If we visit again we would probably go with the cabana again. It was really nice being able to lock up our stuff and having service at the push of a button. The cabana was clean, had comfortable chairs inside and out. It also had a small fridge and an AC that worked really well.

 

 

Overall we really enjoyed the trip. The ship is starting to show some signs of age but none really bothered us. There are some rust spots and the decor is a little dated. We haven't sailed carnival in a while and neither of us were very impressed with the direction it is going. We both commented how much it seems like we were always trying to be sold something. The second we got on the ship someone tried to sell us lanyards. There were tables set up everwhere trying to sell soda packages, photo packages, MasterCards, jewelry, spa products etc. I really disliked the new room service menu, I found it almost worthless and sorely missed the variety you used to be able to get. We would have totally ordered room service and sat on our balcony to eat if there had been better selections. I also didn't like that they added food for a charge on the dinner menu. I didn't see anything that was so special I was even remotely interested in paying extra for. Another thing we noticed was no drinks of the day. If they had them we never saw them. In fact it seemed like the really cut back on the roaming servers they used to have.

 

We talked about it in decided that next time we cruise without kids we would probably look for a different cruise line first but would sail Carnival again if thy had the only dates and itinerary etc that worked. We would probably try to find a newer ship or at least one that had been refurbished like this one is on schedule to do. But again, overall we had a great time and didn't experience anything that would make me tell someone not to go on this cruise or ship.

[br76jook]

How do I know which terminal Conquest comes into in Port Everglades? I'm filling out the Mobile App, thanks for the tip!!

Pat

 

We departed and arrived from terminal 19. The captain or cruise director announced which terminal we would be using prior to debarkation. You can only submit the information a maximum of four hours before you get to the customs agent. You will have plenty of time to update that information before getting off the ship. I also had to submit it twice, the first time it didn't take but I resubmitted it immediately and it took it .

[bury me at sea]

I enjoyed your review of your cruise on the Conquest. It is the first Carnival ship I sailed on and I still remember fondly the Impressionist artwork throughout.

 

Your assessment of FTTF is spot on. Worth every penny. Sorry your neighbors marred your enjoyment of the balcony.

 

I'm always grateful people take the time to post their experiences and impressions after cruising. Thank you.

[jgive]

Thank you for your review! I'm looking at sailing on the Conquest next summer. The last time I was on a Carnival Cruise, Cheers was the way to go and I would do it again!

[amandaw559]

.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

[JaniceB]

Thank you for your report and the name of the app!

[bluejay555]

Nice review! We were on that sailing too :)

 

We had a balcony room on deck 7, too, (7932) and thought it was too loud. Our neighbors would knock (pound over and over) on each others' doors at 2am every single night and then they would talk and slam doors. And one afternoon we heard a woman screaming and cussing at a child. It was sort of alarming. Oh, and we smelled a big cloud of weed every single night on our balcony. Somebody was reeeeeaaaaally enjoying themselves.

 

Wasn't HMC beautiful? And the cabanas at Grand Turk did look really nice. If I didn't plan on spending all my time in the water, I'd definitely want one!

 

Your couples massage sounds nice and relaxing!

 

We were wondering what the mobile passport was, and wishing we had it during that horrible trip through customs!!! Debarkation was the worst (longest) I've ever experienced!

 

Thanks for the review, glad you enjoyed your cruise!

[vmt514]

Just got off Conquest and agree and disagree with some of what you found. But that's the beauty of OPINIONS. FYI: we were on Valor last year, second cruise after dry dock upgrades - which was nice. Totally agree that the Conquest needs refurbishments and it's doing that in September. Rust, stains on carpets and general upgrades needed. So, I think I would look at dry dock schedule next time I'm looking for a cruise. Although none of that hindered our trip.

I did FTTF on a cruise were we docked at every port and didn't find it helped. We were in a suite this time, so got priority boarding anyway, so didn't do it. I think if your cruise is at ports with TENDER service, you want to get it. We were told the HMC wait was over 90 minutes to get back to the ship and people getting off waited for hours. We stayed on board and enjoyed the quiet.

We did like the food in the main dining room. Had "Your Time Dining" and never waited for a table. Only night with slow service was formal night.

You didn't mention the cruise director. We met Chloe the first night and she knew our name the rest of the cruise. She was a lot of fun.

Music and entertainment was great. Amber in the piano bar was probably the only disappointment, we are of the age that we look for a piano bar to play 50's and 60's and she didn't do that. She also got a little vulgar as the night got later so we left. If I'm looking for that, I can go to the R rated comedy show.

Also, we don't get drink package, but as long as you drink 5 or more drinks a day, then agree, it's the way to go.

We don't always travel Carnival, but go on the cruise that fits the itinerary we are looking for and the length of the cruise. So, yes, I'd go on Carnival again. I'd look for a refurbished ship. Also, we have been on Breeze and agree, the newer ships are nice, but the layout on Conquest isn't too bad.

[JMCruising]

Does FTTF work for getting a tender back onto the ship? I've read where HMC can get a long wait to get back.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

[br76jook]

Does FTTF work for getting a tender back onto the ship? I've read where HMC can get a long wait to get back.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

 

On HMC it only worked when getting off the ship, not getting back on.

[br76jook]

Nice review! We were on that sailing too :)

 

We had a balcony room on deck 7, too, (7932) and thought it was too loud. Our neighbors would knock (pound over and over) on each others' doors at 2am every single night and then they would talk and slam doors. And one afternoon we heard a woman screaming and cussing at a child. It was sort of alarming. Oh, and we smelled a big cloud of weed every single night on our balcony. Somebody was reeeeeaaaaally enjoying themselves.

 

Wasn't HMC beautiful? And the cabanas at Grand Turk did look really nice. If I didn't plan on spending all my time in the water, I'd definitely want one!

 

Your couples massage sounds nice and relaxing!

 

We were wondering what the mobile passport was, and wishing we had it during that horrible trip through customs!!! Debarkation was the worst (longest) I've ever experienced!

 

Thanks for the review, glad you enjoyed your cruise!

 

I had our floor wrong, we were actually 8274. I forgot to mention the slamming doors. There was one afternoon we were in the room and it sounded like people on both sides of us were just standing at their balcony doors opening them and slamming them repeatedly. It was crazy, luckily we weren't trying to sleep or anything so we thought it was a little funny. We only smelled weed the first night, I promise it wasn't us!

[atj1971]

We weren't super impressed with the food on this trip. My wife is a vegetarian and many nights had a hard time really finding something in the dining room. The Indian food they have every night is really good but she doesn't care for how spicy it is. We ended up eating on the Lido deck two nights because nothing on the menu really excited us. We were also kind of disappointed In the service in the donning room. The last night it took so long we left while waiting for desert. We had been there almost 2 hours. Maybe things would have been better if we hadn't been on your time dining. Hamburgers at Guy's were good. The Blue Iguana was excellent. We ate both breakfast and lunch there and it was delicious. We did the sea day brunch and thought it was really good. We did get a waiter that had a very hard time understanding English. He got some of our order wrong but it wasn't a big deal and we laughed about it. We never tried room service because the menu seems so limited unless you wanted to pay extra. We got a continental breakfast delivered one morning but another morning it never arrived. Considering our neighbors it could have been our door tag disappeared before they ever got it.

My daughter is also a vegetarian. We will have a Guys on our next cruise. Did they offer a veggie burger there? Did your wife try one and did she like it?

[riclop]

Thanks for the review.

[easyboy]

Thank you for your report!

[br76jook]

My daughter is also a vegetarian. We will have a Guys on our next cruise. Did they offer a veggie burger there? Did your wife try one and did she like it?

 

She didn't try but I've read in the past they did not have them. Doesn't hurt to ask when you get there though

[khewston]

We were on the Conquest the end of April beginning of May. Yes the ship needs to be dry docked but we really didn't look for all the wear and tear. We had a wonderful cruise and would cruise on her again in a heartbeat...in fact we booked her again for Sept/2018.

 

We loved all the food with the exception of the buffet. I tried and tried but just could not eat that food. We ate at the steakhouse twice....amazing! Guy's burgers were good but I did not like their french fries. Pizza was not bad and the Deli was very good. Room service was also very good.

 

Our room steward (Willy) was excellent! We found most of the staff to be happy and friendly with the exception of a couple of bartenders. Dining room staff was okay.

 

Overall we had a fantastic time! We are booked on the Magic Sept. 2017, Sunshine Feb. 2018 and the Conquest again Sept. 2018!

[quickrate]

We departed and arrived from terminal 19. The captain or cruise director announced which terminal we would be using prior to debarkation. You can only submit the information a maximum of four hours before you get to the customs agent. You will have plenty of time to update that information before getting off the ship. I also had to submit it twice, the first time it didn't take but I resubmitted it immediately and it took it .

Thank you for the info. It is a great app.!!

Pat