Conquest Review - 10/29/2006 Halloween Cruise

[DMFdavid]

Cruise Critic Review

 

Carnival Conquest October 29 – November 5, 2006

Galveston à Jamaica à Grand Cayman à Cozumel à Galveston

 

You may be familiar with “TiShay” (Linda) who has been around for a little while. Well, I’m her DH, (David) and have been reading and gathering information with little to add to the conversations. As such, I have been somewhat quiet on the boards. However, having been married for over 22 years, I have learned that Linda and I will not agree on certain things. So, instead of trying to do a single review, we will each do our own, and somewhere in the middle lay the “truth?”

 

For background, we have cruised once before on Carnival Elation two years prior (same time of year).

 

 

Pre-Cruise:

We left San Antonio and drove down to Galveston late Saturday morning. Arrived at the Hilton on the sea wall around 4PM. Nice hotel with great rates (be sure to go to their web site for the best rates). Dinner was at the Rainforest Café. Yes, I know it’s very touristy and pricey, but it was next to the hotel and gave me a chance to have a last chicken fried steak before we left.

 

Hotel Photo

Hotel Pool

Rainforest Cafe Plaza

 

 

Embarkation:

We parked at the hotel and used their shuttle. The good was that it worked, the bad was that we ended up waiting for over an hour for the shuttle to pick us up when we returned the following week. Embarkation was as expected. We arrived at the pier around 1:00, dropped our bags with a porter and somehow met up with our friends that had driven down that day before we entered the building. Security, et al took just at 1 ½ hours and we were on the ship and in our room around 2:30PM. From reading the boards, I expected this amount of time, so it wasn’t that bad.

 

Linda met up with a few of the Cruise Critic folks during sail away. Here are a few photos of this meet.

 

 

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Room:

Our room was 10-23, Panorama deck, balcony room. Room was very comfortable with a surprising amount of storage space. We had our room steward unlock and empty the fridge for us. He kept our room in great shape all week and handled our requests with a smile. We kept him happy as well with plenty of bonus tips.

 

During the trip, we had a few days of 4 foot to 7.5 foot seas and it was rather noticeable in this room and in the rear dining room (which we used for breakfast most mornings). Our friends were on deck seven in the middle of the ship and my DW noticed a big difference in the motion in their cabin versus ours.

 

Otherwise, the location was great. You can just walk down the hall one way and you are at the pool on lido deck in no time. Or you can walk towards the front and you are on top of the bridge for a great view (lots of wind, but a great view).

 

Room Photo

Room Photo

Room Photo

Room Photo

 

Shows:

We saw most of the shows during the week. They were of good quality and enjoyable to watch. The new Point-and-Click show needs some work but has a story line they should be able to make work. Deja was somewhat predictable and definitely needs to work on her part of the act (referring mostly to her talks here). Lots of flash in her show, but not much flash with her.

 

The ventriloquist has some good ideas, but needs to work on the delivery and keeping it cohesive. The bit with the volunteer from the audience works if he gets the right person, as he did during one of the shows this past week. Unfortunately, they taped the other show and that person was not nearly as entertaining.

 

We didn’t make any of the late night comedy shows. The Legends show was better than expected. Overall we enjoyed the shows as being pretty much what we expected from our prior trip.

 

 

Halloween:

This was the Halloween cruise and oh boy did people show up in costume! Considering the letter we all received about not bringing toy weapons on board, I saw a lot of cutlasses, swords, guns, knifes, etc. Unfortunately, I didn’t bring a gun for my costume, but it still worked.

 

The ship did a good job of decorating the Promenade deck with cob webs, skeletons, pumpkins, black and orange balloons, etc. It was done up pretty well. Then out came the people in every type of costume. After a mixer and lots of conversations, there was a parade of all of the dressed up folks. The line stretched from the blues piano bar, all the way to the shops, around the elevators and back to the blues bar! That’s a lot of people!

 

Thirty individuals or “groups” were selected for the best costume and went on stage in the main show room to show off their wares. My DW and I were among those selected. Not at all expected, but we had fun with it. (No we didn’t win, but we were just thrilled to get selected).

 

From what I heard from some of the crew, I don’t think they were expecting nearly this size of participation. They seemed somewhat overwhelmed by the amount of people involved, but it was a blast and they deserve a lot of the credit for creating the environment!

 

Halloween Photo

Halloween Photo

Interesting Bunny ;)

Halloween Photo

Halloween Photo

 

Linda and I in Costume

Linda and I with Mark (cruise director) on stage

 

 

The Ship:

This ship is large! Having only the Elation to compare (70,000 ton ship, versus 110,000 tons) but it was large. You learn pretty quick how to go from front to back (deck 5 & 9). Getting to the very front of the ship takes some research (either go way up to deck 11 and then work your way around and down to the front, or cheat and go through deck 9 or 10 stateroom hallways to the very front and you will find a door that goes out to the deck.)

 

The pool area stays pretty full, but we didn’t have any troubles getting seats. If you want to lay out without the noise and people, try going on deck ten, mid-ship outside of the Supper Club or as far forward as you can get on deck ten. These areas rarely had crowds.

 

The rear adult’s pool area stayed pretty busy most of the cruise. This is a more smoky part of the ship, but stays pretty much adults only.

 

We didn’t use the night clubs on this trip since we stayed busy enough with all of the other activities and shows. We did manage to watch the Karaoke one night in the Degas lounge. And did the past guest party there also.

 

Shopping was OK on the ship though I didn’t find much worth purchasing. The usual gold/silver per the inch sales go on. A $10 evening happens with limited merchandise. The craziest sale had to be the watches. They put a table of men and women’s watches on sale for 2 for $49. When it opened, it was like the Lucy Show when she went to a Macy’s sale! People were just about trampled. Boxes were flying. People were grabbing for items and just about fighting for the last few men’s watches. It was a sight to see!

 

My DW enjoyed the coffee bar a few times and especially the chocolate cake. I tried a milk shake, but it was mostly milk and little shake.

 

Casino was large and seemed to stay quite busy. Texas Hold-em stayed very busy and rarely had a seat available. Slots were as you would expect them on a cruise ship, very tight. Video poker seemed to be the best bet, but it had poor payout tables. Table games were the usual, but note that their blackjack has the dealer hit soft 17’s.

 

 

Dining:

We ate in the Renoir dining room at the 6:15 seating. The food was good as usual. I was a little disappointed with the deserts (not as good as on our last cruise) but they were still good. The menu had a decent variety and the food was cooked per our requests each evening.

 

We did the second formal night in the Supper Club. If I could afford it I would eat there each evening! This was definitely worth the extra money. The service was impeccable and the food was cooked perfect. Plating was exquisite and I won’t even go into the desert trio they served!

 

Breakfasts were OK. We ate mostly in the dining room, but did do Cezannes a couple of times. The buffet was typical buffet fare and buffet quality. Personally, I did not care for the meals at Cezannes that I did try.

 

The Pizza, burgers and hot dogs were good. Especially the Pizza! And let us not forget: The Soft Serve Ice Cream! What is a cruise without this <wink>? (Trying to start something here).

 

One real negative issue we ran into this trip with the food was trying to get something late at night before bed. Last trip, the buffet area would keep a small salad/fruit/cheese bar open late into the evening/morning. This trip, there was basically nothing late at night except for pizza. One night they had a small table with a little fruit, but it was pretty sad at best. Cezannes was closed each evening before midnight (and a few times almost an hour before they advertised they would be closed).

 

 

Stops:

I won’t go into much detail on the stops. But will share these things:

 

In Jamaica, avoid the shops to the left of the pier! Same stuff can be gotten in the terminal building at the same prices, but you won’t pay the taxes! Best deals are supposed to be in the city (we didn’t do this).

 

Not sure if this happens each time the ship arrives, but a band from the local school showed up at the pier and played for those returning and watching from the balconies. You can tip them if you are on the ship by placing money (and a little weight) in a plastic bag and tossing it onto the pier. Be careful not to hit anyone, of course!

 

In Grand Cayman we had the best time. Friendly people and great shopping. The water is great and we had a blast with the stingrays! Be aware of the currency difference there as the prices are in Cayman dollars which is about $1 Cayman to $1.25 US.

 

This was our second trip to Cozumel, so we just relaxed and did some shopping. When you leave the dock there, remember “DO NOT” go up the escalators! It looks like you have to, but you can turn left before the “security” tent and walk onto the main street. I recommend Palmeria (sp) restaurant on the main street there. It’s about four or five blocks left of the pier and is a nice outdoor Mexican food place. Try the Trio of Tacos (basically what we would call flautes). Comes with three different sauces over them. Very tasty. Oh, and if you are wondering, this place has the safe ice/water so you are OK there!

 

 

Debarkation:

Leaving the ship was not nearly as bad as I had heard. Being on Panorama deck, we were the first “color” to be called. We did put luggage out the night before. They called our colors about 1 ½ hours after we docked and we were staged in the main lounge. After about a 15 minute wait, we were called again and we got in line to leave the ship. Customs took about another 20 minutes and we were free to wait for our shuttle.

 

 

Sail & Sign:

People are always asking about how much they spent on S&S. Well, here is my bill (rounded here and there, but gives you a clue):

 

Tips: $140

Drinks: $125

Photos: $200

Tours: $375

Shopping: $100

 

 

Overall:

This was a very needed vacation for me and I truly enjoyed it! The ship was in good condition and comfortable. The food was good and the entertainment enjoyable. The crew was friendly and helpful. Mark, the cruise director, was friendly and witty. He was all over the ship and stayed very busy, but always had a smile and a hello for you. We will definitely cruise again on Carnival.

 

 

Areas of Improvement:

Should Uncle Bob get wind of this review, here are a few tips/suggestions:

 

) Reduce the number of tables per wait staff in the main dining room. Our staff was serving six tables and they all showed each night. On our previous cruise, they had three tables and the service was noticeably better then versus now.

 

) Contact me and I’ll be glad to show you some real Tex-Mex. The attempt to serve nachos was nice, but the reality was nowhere near nachos. Oh, and cut-up tomatoes, cilantro and onions do not a hot sauce make.

 

) Keep open a small salad bar from say 10:00PM-2:00AM. Allow the people partaking in your late-night entertainment to have a good snack before bed (pizza is nice, but not just before bed).

 

 

David

[okiemom]

Thanks for your review! We are on the count down for our turn! Can't wait!:D

[Snoozeman]

Great review!:)

[Cruising_K]

What a great review. I have a six month wait before I get to go but for a few minutes your words and pictures put me on the ship.

 

Thank You Very Much.

[BrendaB1]

Thanks for your review. Very well balanced.

 

Did you think about calling for free Room Service late night?

[Looney4cruising]

Loved your review and the way you had your pics inserted. Thanks!

[Gesihkuh]

Thanks for the review and the pictures, especially of the rooms!

 

DH, his folks and I will be on boards April 15th-- can't get here fast enought.

 

Great review!

[DeDe63]

Loved your review! Very helpful esp. for first timer!(me)

[DMFdavid]

Thanks for your review. Very well balanced.

 

Did you think about calling for free Room Service late night?

 

 

We did the room service one night. It helped, but the selection was somewhat limited. Just would have been nice to have the fruit/cheese options. No big deal. It didn't keep me from having a good time ;)

 

david

[DMFdavid]

I've got over 400 photos/videos, but didn't want to overload the board. If you would like to see something in particular, let me know I can see if I've got a shot of it.

[TiShay]

Thanks for your review. Very well balanced.

 

Did you think about calling for free Room Service late night?

:oThe late night snacks were more me (DW) than him. Being diabetic, I'm suppose to have a protein snack before bed. A sandwich is not terribly satisfying at bedtime. A sandwich is more like forcing medicine, fruit & cheese is more like dessert!

 

After that sandwich I pretty much blew-off the 'rules' and discovered the 'Fat Chocolate Cake' at the coffee bar.:eek: :D

[Snoozeman]

We did the room service one night. It helped, but the selection was somewhat limited. Just would have been nice to have the fruit/cheese options. No big deal. It didn't keep me from having a good time ;)

 

david

I agree there. RCCL has a great cheese plate AND a great fruit plate on room service. A great combination order. I really wish Carnival had them.;) CCL does have good BLT's and the veggie sandwich on room service though.:)