Conquest 2/4/2007 Review--Good and Bad

[robtx100]

The drive to Galveston was fairly uneventful except for being pulled over because my LSU license plate cover partially covered TEXAS. We saw many other plates that were partially covered but they weren't pulled over. I think the Super Trooper had a grudge against LSU.

We stayed at the Tremont House in Galveston and it was fantastic. It was a beautiful hotel and the room was very large. The hotel is two blocks from the pier and within walking distance to nightlife and restaurants.

 

We drove the luggage to the pier and then drove to the Galvez to park the cars and shuttled over back to the Tremont to meet the rest of the group. We walked to the ship about 10:45 and arrived at the terminal at 11:00. There was already a line and we waited about 15 minutes in line at the top of the stairs before going through the metal detectors. After checking in, we were told to go sit in a section where a nice gentleman gave a short orientation about what to do and not to do in ports and some highlights on the ship not to miss. We were on board at 11:45, but couldn't go to the rooms until 1:00. We strolled around the ship a moment and went to have lunch at Cezanne. Afterwards, we went to the cabins. Todd and I had 7448, Mike and Jenn had 2470, and Tommy, Mark, Scott, and John had 7397.

7448 is an aft balcony, very small, no sofa, the hallway is so narrow the door to the bathroom will not open all the way and bumps the closet door. Still, I enjoyed the location. It was great having an aft balcony and will be hard to go back to a regular balcony. We had 8 of us on the balcony and there was plenty of room. Our neighbor, Ben, was a great neighbor. I enjoyed talking to him in the mornings out on the balcony. I never even met the people on the other side. We didn't have robes the first night, but I asked Eddy for some and he got them the next morning.

2470 was an absolutely huge 6B. It had 2 large windows and had an angled wall. There was some vibration but I would choose this cabin for myself on future cruises because of the sheer size.

7397 was plenty big for the four guys. It had a sleeper sofa and a pull down bed. The balcony was only half the size of 7448.

It was my 10th, Todd's 9th, and Tommy's 5th cruise. 1st for everyone else.

The first 2 nights were the worst we've ever experienced. The ship was rocking so bad. Things were falling off my bathroom shelf. Everyone was complaining. We didn't get any sun until late Tuesday afternoon.

We had breakfast every morning in Cezanne. It was like any of our other cruises. Except on Conquest, no one ever came around with the cart to refill juice or coffee. The coffee station on the starboard side was empty most of the time. I once mentioned to Tomas, one of the staff, that the coffee was empty on both sides. He pushed a button and said it was brewing and I would have to wait or go elsewhere in a very harsh tone. I thought that was rude and mentioned it on the comment card. For lunch I ate at Sur Mer. The line was a little long and some guy kept coming back for more and going to the front of the line 3 times before the rest of us could be served. Finally the guy behind the counter told him no, he would have to go to the back of the line and we all cheered.

We ate dinner every night in the dining room. We ate in the Renoir upper level and had Victoria as our head waiter. She was wonderful. Her assistant needs a little more training. On the second night, we sat there and waited and waited and waited for water, tea, bread, anything. But it didn't come until Victoria came by and saw we didn't have anything on our table yet. After that night, we received great service.

The food was always wonderful in the dining room for dinner.

On the first night, we met Marek, the bartender at LaTour,the wine and martini bar on deck five after, right outside the piano bar. He was the highlight of our trip. We enjoyed his company every night to the tune of about 8 bottles of wine throughout the trip.

We enjoyed the jazz band on the ship in Alfred's Bar. The piano player "Wayne" was not good at all in our opinion. The band that replaced Blood Power played well, but stood on the stage like zombies.

We had our meet and greet on Monday at 12:30 and it was fun. I enjoyed meeting everyone, but most people picked me out in line at embarkation and I was able to meet a lot of the group that way.

Tuesday, we still had no sunshine and the ship was still rocking a little. Finally, about 5pm, SUNSHINE.

Wednesday, we were in Jamaica. It was beautiful. We took a cab to Doctor's Cave Beach. It was wonderful. $5 to get in, $5 for a chair, $5 for umbrella, $5 for floaty mat and $10 for 6 Red Strip. We found out later it was only $7 at the bar in stead of having them delivered to the beach. We were offered drugs and prostitutes on the beach, but just kept saying No. Our cab driver was Eglon. He was great. I told him we were going to walk to Margaritaville from the beach and he gave me pointers on how to deal with the drug dealers and were not to shop. He asked what time we wanted to be picked up at Margaritaville and we told him 3pm, not really expecting him to be there. But sure enough, at 2:45, there he was. He was a nice older gentleman. One quick word on the slide, it is very fast and you shoot out of the bottom and have about 10 feet of air before hitting the water.

Thursday, we were in Grand Cayman. We had a private tour booked with Shawn Ebanks. Tendering was no problem at all, we went straight to the tender boat and got on. We met Shawn's assistant in front of Hard Rock Cafe at 8:30, and hopped in a van to the marina and boarded the Sand Dollar. Just the 8 of us and we went to the stingray city sand bar, snorkeled at the barrier reef, and the coral gardens. Our guide was Big Chris. He was great. All this for $40 each. The stingrays were a sight to behold. After, we went to Senor Frogs for lunch. One of our group let on to the fact that it was my birthday. I was dragged on stage and had some shots poured down my throat while the entire restaurant sang happy birthday. Don't remember much after that.

Friday, we were in Cozumel. We docked at the International pier. It was under construction still so you have to watch your step. Lots of work going on there. 5 of us booked the ATV jungle tour and 3 booked Passion Island. The ATV tour was outstanding. The others enjoyed Passion Island.

The ship is beautiful and we had a mostly great time. I would definitely go again. We all loved the water slide, Alfred's, Marek at the Latour bar, the shows, the atrium. The staff were not overly friendly, but the one's that were made up for those that were not. I definitely would do an aft again, maybe a different cabin. I'm not sure I would go with a group of 8 again, it was just too much to coordinate and I didn't feel like I ever had any time to just relax. Overall, I would rate it a 4 out of 5.

Oh, the cruise director was James. He was OK, but cd's don't make or break my cruise.

I never went into the casino, so can't tell you how it is. If you get the chance, the wings over the bridge on deck 9 forward port are a lot of fun to go out on. Goran in the gift shop was always polite and great to go to while shopping. And again, if you are sailing soon, go to Marek at the wine bar and say hi from Rob, Todd, Mike and Jenn. He really did make our trip enjoyable. He is leaving after 4 more cruises to go back to Slovakia and open a bar. Let me know if you have any questions. I will have photos posted this weekend.

[boaterette]

Nice review. I hope to go out of Galveston soon.

[robtx100]

Going out of Galveston is a breeze. It's an easy drive and embarkation is always painless.

[sj.turfman]

Robtx,

how do you get out on the wings on deck 9 over the bridge - we could see people on it on our cruise on the Victory but did not know all were allowed there. We are going on the Conquest on Feb 25 and can't wait. Was Jamaica as bad as people say it is? We are a little worried about what to do there.Thanks

Mike

[tet1968]

How do I get to the "wings" over the bridge on deck 9?

Thanks:)

[PaulMedik]

How do I get to the "wings" over the bridge on deck 9?

Thanks:)

 

 

Walk to the forward area of Lido and through the wooden doors either port or starboard side. The first door is easy to open, but the second door is a bit difficult due to wind, but you are allowed on the deck. :)

[charleigh]

Nice review, but now I am really nervous. The last few reviews I have read of the conquest have all said that the first couple of days was really rough at sea. I do not do well with motion, this is my first cruise. I leave in 9 days. I am going to be praying to all the Gods that the seas are less choppy for the 2-25 sailing. Do you get motion sick? Did the first two days make you sick? :eek:

[xrayvin]

Good review! I enjoyed reading it. The tremont looked like a great hotel I would like to try it next time we are in Galveston

 

Charleigh~I get EXTREEMLY motion sick. Can't sit in the back seat, winding roads kill me, planes, reading in cars ect.. My friend is the same plus she was 3 months preg at the time we sailed on the Conquest. We also had some motion, but it never made us sick. We just made sure we took Meclizine every day (starting the day before we left and a few days after we got back) I have done this for everyone of my cruises and have only been sick part of one day (during hurricane Michelle) but I am thankful I was only sick the short time I was on that cruise! Just make sure you stay on top of it if you get motion sick easy. Have a great time and try not to think about it (that also helps) We just say "we are NOT going tto get sick!"

 

SJ turfman~ We loved Jamaica! We went through A-Z planners and did Mayfield falls,it was the most amazing excursion we have ever done! The drive into the mountains was beautiful, the tour guide was wonderful and kept us informed and entertained. Margaritaville was also alot of fun and was a perfect ending to our trip to Jamaica. We were always with our guide or in an area where the "pushers" were not allowed so we did not have a problem.

[robtx100]

OK, I've posted the link to the pictures in my signature. I did not post the more risque ones. sorry.

To get on the wings, go to Lido Forward on Port (left) side.

Jamaica was not bad at all. Just say no and keep walking. I didn't feel pressured at all, just relaxed. I'll try to find Eglon's card if anyone wants to call him for a taxi. He was great and a man of his word.

The dark photos at the beginning of the album are of the Conquest coming into port at 6am from the Rooftop Terrace of the Tremont House.

[jw4jg1mg2eg1]

Graet review. We loved our Conquest cruise & can't wait to do it again in April.

It sounds like you had quite abit of bad weather the first couple of days.

I'm wondering if your Victoria is the same Victoria we had in the Monet last year. Her assistant at that time was Vladamir. Her husabnd also worked on the ship but I forgot where.

[mp1223]

thanks for the great review. had a ? about excursion in grand cayman.

we will be sailing on 2/25. booked with captian marvins same stops as yours. wondering how deep is the water at barrier reef & corral gardens

we've been to stingray city before. wondering if we needed to bring our fins. thanks again for the review makes time go by a little faster

[robtx100]

I'm sure she is the same Victoria. Her husband is also a waiter in the Renoir downstairs.

The water at the reef and coral gardens was about 10 feet deep. We were provided life jackets, goggles, and fins.

[nomoreknothead]

I don't want to scare you Charleigh but we were also on this same cruise and we did get sea sick ( TMI - We never threw up but wanted to)! We felt bad for about 24 hours! We did as we have always done on our last 5 cruises and started the meclizine the day before and continued it twice a day until the day after our cruise. We have NEVER felt this bad! But then again we have never had 12 to 14ft swells/waves! Your best bet is to book a cabin as low as possible midship and pray for good weather!

 

 

Other than that 24 - 36 hour period we had a blast! I just posted my review before coming to check out Rob's!

[GayleR]

Nice review, but now I am really nervous. The last few reviews I have read of the conquest have all said that the first couple of days was really rough at sea. I do not do well with motion, this is my first cruise. I leave in 9 days. I am going to be praying to all the Gods that the seas are less choppy for the 2-25 sailing. Do you get motion sick? Did the first two days make you sick? :eek:

 

Charleigh,

 

We were on the Conquest last March (2nd week) and we didn't have any problems with motion. My DD has a tendency to get seasick and she was fine. I'm not going to tell you that we didn't feel movement, it's there, but it wasn't rocking when we were on board. Hopefully the seas will calm down before your cruise. Be sure to take some sort of anti-nausea medication with you, or perhaps you may want to get the patch from your doctor. Drinking ginger ale helps, too.

 

Happy cruising,

Gayle

[L&J]

Charleigh,

 

We just had our first cruise on the Conquest and we didn't feel a thing until the last day. Nothing. I was amazed at how smooth it was. It all depends on the weather at the time. If you go down to deck 0 where you get on and off ot ports, there are bins attached to the wall outside of the infirmary with free meclizine.

Good luck!

[robtx100]

There are a few photos in the album taken Monday evening where you can see how rough the seas were from Deck 7 aft. We went to Mike and Jenn's room on Deck 2 and could see the waves coming up to the windows. If you look at the closeup picture where we are docked in Jamaica, it's the Deck just below the red line. You can see how far up that is. This was my 10th cruise and I even felt a little unsettled after the first 24 hours or so of constant up and down motion.

[interestedparty]

Nice review, but now I am really nervous. The last few reviews I have read of the conquest have all said that the first couple of days was really rough at sea. I do not do well with motion, this is my first cruise. I leave in 9 days. I am going to be praying to all the Gods that the seas are less choppy for the 2-25 sailing. Do you get motion sick? Did the first two days make you sick? :eek:

 

charleigh, was on the conquest back in oct, heavy seas the 1st two days, 14 ft seas, but DID NOT GET SICK! saw alot of folks with the patch...just come medicated....then it was smooth as glass!

 

:)

[robtx100]

Our friends took Dramamin and were OK. I forgot to mention that after the ATV tour in Cozumel, we changed clothes and put our dirty shoes and socks in a bag and showered off and then went to Carlos and Charlies. I had a little too much and when we got back to the ship, I decided it would be a nice gesture to wash our shoes. I ran down to the purser's desk and got quarters, then back up to 7 where I bought a box of Tide. I proceeded to put the muddy shoes in the front end loader washer like I have at home, or so I thought. I put in $2 in quarters and heard the most horrible banging and kept looking through the door waiting for the water to start. That's when the nice lady that was ironing told me that I had just put the muddy shoes, box of tide, and $2 in quarters in the dryer, not the washer. Word of warning, don't try to do laundry after going to Carlos and Charlies. Pictures of the dryer are included below on page 7. I've also just added the photos of the stingray tour.

[robtx100]

And just so no one gets mad about the dryer, I did go back with a towel and wipe it out as best as I could and contacted housekeeping and they finished cleaning the rest. I didn't want anyone to accidentally put their clean clothes in there.

[charleigh]

I don't want to scare you Charleigh but we were also on this same cruise and we did get sea sick ( TMI - We never threw up but wanted to)! We felt bad for about 24 hours! We did as we have always done on our last 5 cruises and started the meclizine the day before and continued it twice a day until the day after our cruise. We have NEVER felt this bad! But then again we have never had 12 to 14ft swells/waves! Your best bet is to book a cabin as low as possible midship and pray for good weather!

 

 

Other than that 24 - 36 hour period we had a blast! I just posted my review before coming to check out Rob's!

Thanks for the advice, I currently have the very forward inside cabin on deck 8. Am I asking for it? I wanted to be higher up for the convience:(

[charleigh]

And just so no one gets mad about the dryer, I did go back with a towel and wipe it out as best as I could and contacted housekeeping and they finished cleaning the rest. I didn't want anyone to accidentally put their clean clothes in there.

:D :D :D

ROFLMAO

[robtx100]

You have no idea how embarrassed I was.

[Kcarp]

Nice review robtx100, how long did it take to walk over to Margaritaville and did you feel safe walking there?

[robtx100]

It only took about 10 minutes. We felt safe even though we were approached a couple of times about buying marijuana. They asked discreetly, we said no thank you and kept walking. They never followed us. The street is very busy, so we felt safe. There were shops on both sides of the street. We stopped at one and bought some cuban cigars (great-for $8each, very smooth...smoked them in Alfred's Bar on the ship). We never felt like we were in any kind of danger. There are also taxis lined up at both Doctor's Cave and Margaritaville. The cab ride is $4 each person, each way. One taxi driving by yelled out of his window that he would take us back to the ship for $1 pp, we already had Eglon waiting and I didn't see a JUTA sticker on his winshield, so we passed.

[Kcarp]

Thanks for the info! We are thinking about checking it out when we go to MoBay.