Reflections on my recent Conquest cruise

[DarthGrady]

Good afternoon all. I wanted to take a few moments to provide some thoughts on my experience from the May 15, 2023 cruise on Conquest. I have been sailing with Carnival for many years now, the first being back in 1999. I prefer the older ships, Fantasy class especially, but I've done many on the Destiny and Conquest classes as well. This was my first cruise on the actual Conquest. 

 

This cruise left from Miami and went to Half Moon Cay and Nassau. Priority embarkation at Miami went fast, about 15 minutes from the parking garage to the gangway. The ship was in good shape overall, although she is really beginning to show her age in the some public areas. In particular the elevators and carpeting in some areas are looking really worn. We had an Ocean Suite on deck 7, plenty of room and the upgraded beds were much better than the standard ones. I slept better on this cruise than on any in recent memory. Dinner in the steakhouse was also one of the best I have had on a cruise. The crew was doing a great job even with short staffing being apparent, especially in the main dining room. 

 

Our group booked a villa at HMC which was very nice. Having the private bathroom, shower and hot tub made the day more enjoyable. They are pricey, but if you can smooth the cost within a group I would say they are worth it. I only walked off the ship for a few minutes in Nassau to look at the work on the new terminal. It isn't complete yet, but it looks to be way nicer than the old one.

 

A low point from the week would be guest behavior. I only went into the nightclub a few times, which is rare for me, but each time I did the smell of marijuana vaping was prevalent. Folks wandering in to set-time dining 45-60 minutes late was also being tolerated, which is really a shame for the crew. We saw and heard a lot (even by Carnival standards) of drunken buffoonery both in public and in the guest room areas at night (loud yelling, arguing, etc). I expect, and occasionally participate in some of that on a short CCL cruise, but this one was especially rowdy.

 

We took advantage of the priority debarkation and were in the first group off the ship at around 7:15 am. Considering the behavior of some of our fellow passengers throughout the cruise, leaving early seemed like the best plan. Overall not a bad trip, but I'm not in any rush to do another short itinerary out of South Florida.

[VIFP1987]

Thanks for your mini review! 

[jimbo5544]

Thanks for doing the mini review.  Sad to hear about the weed vaping.  Did you see sniffer dogs in the pre-boarding area?

[DarthGrady]

On 5/23/2023 at 7:35 AM, jimbo5544 said:

Thanks for doing the mini review.  Sad to hear about the weed vaping.  Did you see sniffer dogs in the pre-boarding area?

Yes, they were being used in the terminal at Miami, to obviously limited success.