Conuest November 20 Sailing Review...Day Two

[texas greeneyes]

I awoke eagerly at dawn on day two of my first cruise. I can rarely sleep past sun-up, and this was the case even though my sisters and I had been up drinking and dancing until two in the morning the night before. I quietly scooted out to the balcony, necessary ice water in hand for rehydration, to enjoy the beautiful sunrise with the soothing sounds of the water lapping at the sides of the ship. Pure Heaven!

 

I very kindly :p waited until about 7:45 or so to make noise in the cabin, so this is when my cabinmates, sisters two and five, began to stir. I ordered room service coffee for three, which arrived in less than ten minutes. We enjoyed sitting out on the balcony sipping our coffee for a bit, then we got ready for the day. Up to the buffet for breakfast. The lines weren't too bad at about 8:30, and we were finished with breakfast shortly after nine, with our first full Sea Day ahead of us!

 

I must admit that some of what I report for days two and three might have happened either day; it is hard to remember exactly what happened on which day. I am sure libations have nothing to do with the sometimes hazy memories. ;)

 

I do know that the second and third of the five cakes I ordered had been delivered to my cabin the previous night, as ordered, and were inscribed correctly (yay!), unlike the first cake. These were for sister seven's 30th birthday, so we had another party to prepare for. We decided to get that part out of the way and returned to our room to wrap her presents. We had wisely let the birthday streamers and banner remain in place after the previous day's celebration for sister one, making for a quick prep time for today's party. We stashed the presents, using the ample storage we had, just in case baby sister made an impromtu visit before her party.

 

Sisters one and four showed up around then, expressing a desire to go up on deck and partake of the "$2.95 'til noon" Bloody Mary's and tequila sunrises before the deadline. They reported both to be very good with a nice kick. I opted for a raspberry daquiri...also very good, sweet with a little tart bite to it and plenty of rum. We sat with our drinks and Capers in hand and talked about who wanted to do what. Some wanted to go the the casino, some to bingo, and a couple of the sisters wanted to go to the art auction. I went to the casino with sisters two and five, where I donated about $40 to the slots fund. Sister five came out even, after playing a few hands of blackjack, and sister two was up about $75 playing the slots. Sisters one and four did the art auction and thoroughly enjoyed it.

 

After meeting back up, we talked about trying out the hot tubs, so back we went to our rooms to change into our bathing suits. And to dip into our soft-sided cooler stash :D . It was about 1:00 by then, so we decided to hit the Lido deck for lunch before checking out the hot tubs. Some of us chose the buffet, others the grill. After lunch and a round of frou-frou drinks, we realized we had to skip the hot tubs for now and high-tail it back to our cabin if we were going to beat baby sister there for her party.

 

We made it back with about ten minutes to spare. Long enough to arrange the gifts, pop my cruisin' cd into the player and refresh everyone's drinks. Birthday girl was genuinely surprised and pleased, since her big day really isn't until February. We took the opportunity to celebrate it on the cruise because we are so scattered around that we rarely are all together at the same time.

 

It was at baby sister's party that sister one brought out some favors that became the hit of the party, and we had fun with them the whole cruise..."Billy Bob" teeth! Fake teeth that make the wearer look like they've never been to a dentist and wouldn't recognize a toothbrush or toothpaste if you handed it to them. Oh, my, we had so darn much fun with those teeth! Three or four, or more, of us sisters would be in an elevator with a couple of unsuspecting fellow passengers. One look at each other, a surreptitious group nod, and we would quickly slip the teeth in, then smile really big at the others in the elevator, and ask, "Does this ship have a dentist?" Or exclaim, "What?! We ain't made of money! We had to make a choice...get our teeth fixed, or go on a cruise!" We even had a portrait of all seven sisters wearing them on formal night...you should have seen the look on the photographers face! He thought he was through taking our group photo, then we all slipped in the teeth, smiled big, then laughed really hard when we saw his jaw drop. Too much fun!!

 

By the time baby sister's party was over, it was about 4:30. We were getting hungry but did not want to spoil our appetites for dinner, so the three of us in our cabin ordered a sandwich from room service and split it three ways. Just enough to tide us over. Now, time to get ready for our first formal night! We did our make-up, then one at a time we went down to sister four's cabin so she could do our hair. (She's got the knack and besides, the price was right!) Then we slipped into our dresses and shoes and went down to meet the others at the Captain's cocktail party. A couple of drinks each and a few hors d'oeuvres later, we went to have Formal Night 1 photos taken, then off to dinner.

 

Dinner was wonderful, but the early start to my day and the steady sipping of adult beverages took its toll on sister three (me!). So, I opted to leave the dining room before dessert. Went up to the room solo, ordered room service coffee, and had a cup while relaxing on the balcony, enjoying the sounds of the sea again.

 

I noticed that cakes four and five, which were ordered to be delivered that afternoon to our stateroom, were not there. These cakes were for a surprise baby shower for sister six the following day. Just as I was about to call to check on the cakes, sisters two and five returned from the dining room. They said the cakes had been delivered to the dining room that night, just after I left, ruining the surprise for the expectant mom and dad. :eek: Strikes two and three on the five cakes I ordered. I resolved to get the three mistaken orders removed from my bill the next day. More on that later.

 

Refreshed from my solitary rest on the balcony post-dinner, I joined sisters two and five and off we went to the piano bar to meet with the other sisters. Had fun singing there for a bit, then we went into another, nearly empty lounge, where there was a band playing. Sister five is quite the singer; has even done some professional gigs. Someone mentioned this to the band, and sister five and the band came up with a song they both knew..."Blue Bayou." She got up and took over that stage, belting out the song impressively. By the time that one song was over, several more tables in the lounge had people sitting at them, and there were quite a few passengers that had been walking by the lounge and stopped to listen to my sister sing, standing in the doorway. The band tried to come up with another song they both knew, but no luck. Still, we stayed in there, dancing and listening to the band, for quite a while, having a great time. Then it was off to the casino to make some more donations before heading back to the cabin.

 

Room service brought us tasty BLT's which we devoured. Day two was ending; now it was time to bungee the door open and drift off to sleep, Mother Nature rocking us ever so gently in our beds.

 

Stay tuned for day three...

[txwildflower2002]

What was your balcony cabin number and was it quiet? Were you on port or starboard side?

[Jasonsterling]

Your review so far is great- can't wait to hear about the rest of your cruise. I feel almost as if I'm there. I'm sailing out on the Conquest on the 25th and like everyone else who cruises, I can't wait. The Conquest is my favorite ship in the Carnival fleet.

[texas greeneyes]

What was your balcony cabin number and was it quiet? Were you on port or starboard side?

 

We were in a Cat 11, #7273, on the Empress deck. I think that is starboard. :o Great room!

 

We only noticed noise on one night, coming from the karaoke bar, but it was not loud enough to bother us.