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Just back from the CONQUEST!

momof4boys

By momof4boys,
in Carnival Cruise Lines

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momof4boys

momof4boys

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What a fabulous trip! I honestly did not think I would love anything as much as our first trip on the Elation but the Conquest was FANTASTIC!! I just got home and I am beat after driving though tornados in Oklahoma today. I will post tomorrow but all I can say was WOW! :D

 

I will give this little teaser though.......our excursion on Grand Cayman to Stingray Sandbar was HOT! Literally......our boat caught fire on the way back to the island! I have never laughed so much (after the initial 10 minutes of subdued panic!!!!!!!!) AND.....they did not charge extra for the excitment! LOL!

 

I am going to bed now but those of you scheduled for this trip are in for one BIG BLAST!

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FriscoLady

FriscoLady

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You have 4 kiddos? There is no sleeping for you! Up up up!:D We're going on the Conquest in October and can't wait to hear all the details. Our last cruise was on the Elation too and it was wonderful. I honestly didn't think it could get any better, but now I'm all a twitter with anticipation!! :p

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hawaiigirl73

hawaiigirl73

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Hey I know that drive! I live in Houston and my family lives in the southeast Kansas area, with a brother in Stanely Station. We did that drive during one of Oklahoma's ice storms, not fun. We almost got stranded in Moskogee (sp?). Glad to know you had a good time and got home safely!

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okiemom

okiemom

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hawaiigirl.... You were close it is Muskogee. Really not a place you want to be stranded! In 1987, during an extreme ice storm, it took me 4 1/2 hours to go 19 miles back to my dorm room for finals the next day.:eek: Needless to say I never did that again!

 

MOMOF4....Can't wait to hear about your trip!!! Be sure to let us know all about Camp Carnival! Thanks in advance!

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britishiles

britishiles

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How about driving back to Tulsa from Branson in a snow storm the weekend before Christmas and coming to a stand still on I-44 right outside of Joplin? I put the truck in park and took a 15 minute nap on the highway because we weren't moving.

 

Anywho...not to hijack the thread or anything, but I can't wait to read the next review. I am only 47 days out from my cruise!

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momof4boys

momof4boys

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Sorry friends. I had to see Pirates of the Caribbean and have a "We miss the ship party" with our group of 15 yesterday. Then this am my 16 yo had his wisdom teeth out and I have been catering to him.

 

This will be long. Our group consisted of three families-ages 13, 15, 16, 17, 18, 20, 21, 24, 25, 46, 48, 49, 50 (2 people), and 54. All good friends of about 15 years from our close knit neighborhood. Some of us have vacationed together before. 2 families cruised together last year.

 

Our group -12-drove to Dallas the first night (Friday) then on to Galveston on Saturday afternoon. (One family of three flew to Houston on Sat., then took the shuttle to the port on Sunday.) The Galveston group went to the Strand area in the evening to shop and eat. It was fun.

 

SUNDAY

Sunday we woke up early because we were exciting and decided to go ahead to the port @ 10:30where we could all be in one spot versus 4 hotel rooms. We arrived at the port and shuttled people and bags off to wait, while 3 others went back and parked 2 cars then rode to EZ cruise parking for one car. This was the cheapest for 3 cars and the guys said it was no hassle. (Last year we took a limo and it was very easy but much more epensive!!) We found a big table and the younger crew started playing cards. A CCL employee asked if we were with one of the three weddings and we explained we had two suite rooms (skipper's club) and 2 balcony rooms but were all together. She said we could all be in the skipper's club since each family had one suite and told us to relax and she would get us when it was time to board. Less than 45 minutes later (luckily it was when all the guys had joined us from the parking mission) they had all of us go to the skipper's club to check our boarding passes and got our S & S cards. Our friends who flew to Houston found us and we all were able to baord together. We were some of the very first to board around 11:45, so it was exciting.

 

The ship is Gorgeous! The atrium is very different from the open atrium of the Elation, but equally breath-taking! The friendly crew directed us to the Lido deck to eat at Cezanne Cafe. Everything was open and the food was again fantastic! Salads and fruit were very fresh. All of the foods were great--pizza-the grill (we celebrted with hot dogs and hamburgers on the fourth!!)--and the deli. The Chinese and seafood areas were also a hit. Desserts in this area were ok....some were much better than others but I appreciated the variety! They also always had a diet dessert. (Once I added chocolate syrup to the diet chocolate cake and it was heaven. So much for the diet!!!)

 

Around 1pm we went to see our rooms and to see if we could drop off our stuff. Our group had 3 category 11s, and 2 balcony staterooms for 4, all on the Empress deck. The rooms were sparkling clean and the size of the rooms were wonderful. The rooms were all decorated nicely and the suites had marble counters.

 

We explored the ship, had a very quick and easy muster drill (This seemed much shorter than last years on the Elation, and much cooler!!??) We went to the Lido deck for the sail away and before we knew it we were waving goodbye to the friendly folks at the pier.

 

We were scheduled for dinner @ 6:15, at 2 tables 210 & 212 Upper level, in the Renoir Dining room. The tables were side by side but truth be told, I missed being able to sit with everyone. This is NOT a complaint about carnival because it is hard to get eveyone together anywhere. I really just enjoy everyone so much that I missed hearing everyone's conversation and laughs!

 

Shows: We all went to all the shows in the evening.

Sun-Phat Kat-hilarious comedian who had a rolling in the isles and practically wetting our pants!!

Mon-Formidable- Conquest dancers and 2 featured vocalists. The singers had great voices and dancers had great constumes. Choreography was ok, but it was fun and free!!!

Tuesday-4th of July- Asad Mecci-hypnotist. Very funny DEck party for 4th of July (they substituted this for the Mardi Gras-and it was fun!)

Wed-Deja-The Diva of Deception-Magic Show--Fantastic and great choreography!!

Thurs-Point and Click Show-Costumes were fantastic and some of the dances were very good!

Friday-Juggling Act by Manuel Zuniga (comic missed getting on ship so just juggling tonight)

Saturday was the Legends Show-fantastic!!!

 

We also attended most of the shows like Newly and not so Newly wed (2 different shows) Survivor, Game Shows like Deal or No Deal, Millionaire, etc. All were very entertaining and lots of laughs! Don't miss the last night late night show of "Whose cruise line is it anyway?" with the crew! Quite funny (R rated) and revealing!!!

 

I will post more in a while. I better check on surgery boy!!

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momof4boys

momof4boys

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Food:

We ate breakfast and lunch in Cezanne Cafe. (Last year we also ate some breakfasts and lunches in the dining room but do to the size of our group this year, we took the buffet route) We ate around 8:30 on sea days and never found the lines long. We were quite surprised by this because we had read the lines were long. The fruits and breads were fresh and the omelettes were wonderful. Lunch was equally good with fresh fruit salad, pasta of the day, and the other "country of the day choices". Also, I am always amazed at how friendly the crew is and how hard they work to clean the cafe and all areas of the ship!

 

Dinner 6:15 Upper level Renoir. Our water was Agapito and his assistant was Zena (or something close from Bulgria!) WOW! What a team. Those two were fabulous. The first night we saw we had 2 tables of eight. The Kids ( 9 of them) wanted to sit together. Last year we had a table for 8 + 1 (they added a chair at the end of the table.) So this year we asked if we could add a chair and they put it at the opposite end so it would not block the isle. Every night the chair was waiting for us. Our dining team remembered our coffee choices (and those of us not wanting coffee!), knew we liked extra bread, and always were polite, and friendly. They loved our kids table and made those kids feel special. Our group is pretty fun so when the nightly song/dance started our two tables were the first ones up! Either our team loved our enthusiasm for the song/dance, or pretended pretty well to love it.

 

The food choices in the dining room were wonderful. The new menu is really good. One of the boys, a 15 year old-who originally did not want to wear nice clothes to dinner every night and spent two years eating only P & J sandwiches, LOVED the food! His mom was speechless that he not only dressed nicely each night, wore a suit on formal night and NEVER complained, but said he enjoyed dressing for dinner and loved the food.

That says a LOT! By the way, desserts here were much better than the cafe! More later!!

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