Conquest vs. Rhapsody

[livnletbuy]

I'd appreciate any opinions that would help me chose which boat for our next cruise from Galveston.

 

Thanks,

 

Livnletbuy

5 x NCL

[firefly333]

Well there are some prices I have seen lately down to $599 on Rhapsody. The bad thing is Rhapsody is leaving and might not be back to Texas and Conquest will be here a while.

 

Can you book Rhapsody now and push a booking out for Conquest and do both?

 

I thought Rhapsody was a lovely ship. We enjoyed the shows a lot and liked a lot of things. I liked the food on Princess, maybe my expectations were too high after all the build up for RCI. I had heard i just had to try the vadalia onion tart. I did and didnt like it. phew!!! I picked several things I just didnt like much at dinner, but I never went hungry. I also had heard about the spinach dip that I just had to try. It was pretty good. As far as having locks and bagels for breakfast, no thanks, but they had them on RCI. Food is subjective i admit.

 

The cabins are pretty small but have lots of storage so we were not uncomfortable in the smaller cabin. We went this last april more than a month ago. I would do it and save the Conquest if you can do both and the price is about the same.

[p2lockhart]

I have cruised on both ships. Rhapsody was my second cruise and I have cruised on her a total of 3 times. I recently had to cancel my 4th Rhapsody cruise due to a scheduling conflict and booked the Conquest since Rhapsody will be gone when my group can cruise next. This will be my second Conquest cruise. I liked both ships for different reasons, but preferred the smaller Rhapsody for the following reasons:

1. I love the huge Rhapsody balconies at the stern of the ship and the all glass wall with sliding glass door. I have had both the stern Junior Suite on deck 8 and the stern balcony on deck 7 and they were wonderful- very deep. When I was on the Conquest I had an inside cabin but I peeked into some balconies on the port side across the hall from us and I have seen pics of the "extended balconies". Conquest does not have as much glass and therefore view of the ocean from those balcony cabins. Rhapsody's cabins have an all glass wall on the balcony side with a sliding glass doors that go out to that humongous balcony. We easily got 4 reclining chairs, 2 regular chairs and 2 small tables on ours plus room to spare. We loved entertaining our CC friends out there at sunset and sailaways from the ports. Also, the stern Rhapsody cabins are about 25% covered so you can have a choice of sun or shade, and if it rains, you can even still sit out there. From the pics I see of the Conquest stern balconies, they are not nearly as deep and the wall onto the balcony is not glass, therefore you do not have nearly as good a view from the inside of the cabin. One advantage that Conquest does have is that we may be able to remove or open the divider between the 3 stern cabins we have booked.

2. I prefer the smaller the smaller Rhapsody because it just gives me a more friendly feeling and it was easy to run into our CC friends more often. It is also easier to find my way around.

3. I prefer the quieter and more relaxed, understated tone to the Rhapsody. Carnival Conquest was noisier and it was harder to find a quiet spot, plus all of the constant announcements over the speaker were annoying to me. There were much fewer announcements on Rhapsody. I will say that when our son was cruising with us when he was in the 18-22 year age bracket, he preferred Carnival for the activities, so we cruised with Carnival several times then.

 

The Conquest was my first Carnival cruise and I have been apprehensive about cruising on a Carnival ship, but that changed my mind. Of course the Conquest was brand new and in her inaugural year they rolled out the red carpet so to speak and had the best of their staff on her. It was awesome to cruise on a ship in her inaugural year. I am anxious to see how it compares now.

 

I have never had a bad cruise and I loved both ships. But just as a matter of personal preference, I prefer Rhapsody. I like a quieter cruise, which is one reason I get those stern balconies to escape to.

 

You are likely to enjoy both ships. Bon voyage!

[p2lockhart]

I will say that the Spa on the Conquest is much bigger than Rhapsody's and the Conquest Spa had wonderful glass walls to look at the ocean in the sauna as well as the salon.

[p2lockhart]

Another nice extra is that RCI sponsors the cruise critic M&M and does a good job. They provide a room with wonderful hors d'ouvres and non alcoholic drinks and give out some nice freebies at no charge. They usually have a someone there to get the ball rolling at the beginning of the M&M. It is always a challenge and alot more work for the CC group to get the M&M together successfully on Carnival cruises. Our roll call hopes to arrange one through Carnival but we have to pay for a minimum of 20 people at around $11.44 per person to get a room reserved for an hour, but it does include an open bar for one hour plus some light munchies.

[p2lockhart]

I prefer to eat in the dining room and I like room service. One thing I missed on Rhapsody that I would get on Carnival is eggs benedict in the dining room and also cappucino at no charge.

 

Also, unless things have changed, there was a better beverage selection on Carnival all day on the lido deck.

 

Carnival has the Sur Mer for fish and a nice deli.

 

But I liked the food on both ships.

[crystalblue0610]

I have cruised on both ships. Rhapsody was my second cruise and I have cruised on her a total of 3 times. I recently had to cancel my 4th Rhapsody cruise due to a scheduling conflict and booked the Conquest since Rhapsody will be gone when my group can cruise next. This will be my second Conquest cruise. I liked both ships for different reasons, but preferred the smaller Rhapsody for the following reasons:

1. I love the huge Rhapsody balconies at the stern of the ship and the all glass wall with sliding glass door. I have had both the stern Junior Suite on deck 8 and the stern balcony on deck 7 and they were wonderful- very deep. When I was on the Conquest I had an inside cabin but I peeked into some balconies on the port side across the hall from us and I have seen pics of the "extended balconies". Conquest does not have as much glass and therefore view of the ocean from those balcony cabins. Rhapsody's cabins have an all glass wall on the balcony side with a sliding glass doors that go out to that humongous balcony. We easily got 4 reclining chairs, 2 regular chairs and 2 small tables on ours plus room to spare. We loved entertaining our CC friends out there at sunset and sailaways from the ports. Also, the stern Rhapsody cabins are about 25% covered so you can have a choice of sun or shade, and if it rains, you can even still sit out there. From the pics I see of the Conquest stern balconies, they are not nearly as deep and the wall onto the balcony is not glass, therefore you do not have nearly as good a view from the inside of the cabin. One advantage that Conquest does have is that we may be able to remove or open the divider between the 3 stern cabins we have booked.

2. I prefer the smaller the smaller Rhapsody because it just gives me a more friendly feeling and it was easy to run into our CC friends more often. It is also easier to find my way around.

3. I prefer the quieter and more relaxed, understated tone to the Rhapsody. Carnival Conquest was noisier and it was harder to find a quiet spot, plus all of the constant announcements over the speaker were annoying to me. There were much fewer announcements on Rhapsody. I will say that when our son was cruising with us when he was in the 18-22 year age bracket, he preferred Carnival for the activities, so we cruised with Carnival several times then.

 

The Conquest was my first Carnival cruise and I have been apprehensive about cruising on a Carnival ship, but that changed my mind. Of course the Conquest was brand new and in her inaugural year they rolled out the red carpet so to speak and had the best of their staff on her. It was awesome to cruise on a ship in her inaugural year. I am anxious to see how it compares now.

 

I have never had a bad cruise and I loved both ships. But just as a matter of personal preference, I prefer Rhapsody. I like a quieter cruise, which is one reason I get those stern balconies to escape to.

 

You are likely to enjoy both ships. Bon voyage!

 

We're thinking of the Rhapsody next. I'm in the same age bracket as your son. Can you please give an example of the game activity differences on both cruises.

 

I've always heard more about Carnival from people so I always assumed Carnival was more for everyone and RCCL was more for adults only with very little to do for non drinking younger people.

 

We say the Rhaspody when we docked in Galveston yesturday....I think the Conquest is a much prettier ship though. I prefer that RCCL look in the class with the yellow lifeboats....that's why at first I though the Rapsody was a Princess ship