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Back From The Conquest

VICKIVICKI

By VICKIVICKI,
in Carnival Cruise Lines

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VICKIVICKI

VICKIVICKI

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OH my gosh! We had soooooo much fun! My husband, Bobby, youngest son, L.J., granddaughter, Xandra, and I returned Sunday from our Conquest cruise out of Galveston. I came super close to canceling the trip because of our youngest sons neurological issues, but this vacation turned out to be what ALL of us needed.

We flew into Houston on Saturday, Feb 2nd. We had purchased the transfers and had hoped to get to Galveston on Saturday but the shuttle didn't start tranferring until Sunday. NEXT TIME I think we will rent a car in Houston[as many we met did, for a lower cost] and drive and park in Galveston and then drive back to Houston after the cruise. We stayed at the Hampton Inn, right near the airport. IT was very nice and the very reasonable price[about $85] included a hot breakfast.

About a week before our cruise, we had called Carnival and we were told that the first shuttle would be leaving the airport at 11:30 A.M. Sunday morning and not arriving in Galveston until around one in the afternoon. Bobby and I were pretty dissapointed because we had hoped to get on board earlier than that. We started thinking though, that if the ship arrived in port on time ,that passengers from the previous cruise would be arriving at the airport WAY before 11:30 A.M., so that maybe if we arrived at the airport before the quoted time, we would get on a bus earlier than that. So, we left the hampton Inn at 9 in the morning for the airport, got on a shuttle before ten, and we were eating lunch on the Lido deck about noon. Thanks to the board, for our first lunch we enjoyed fish'nchips from Sur mer. I don't normally like fish'nchips, but OMG! they were so delicous!after lunch we toured the ship a little bit and made our way to our room,8277. We haven't cruised for about 8 years[ the Elation,Mexican Riviera] and this was our first balcony. I think we spent about 4 hours a day just sitting there, watching the ocean, nothing in the world so relaxing. So, we sat on the balcony, waiting for the call for the muster drill. Soon there was an announcement that the muster drill would not be until the next day at 10 A.M. because the muster drill would interfere with the Super Bowl party. That was okay with us, because we didn't want to move from that balcony. Every once in a while we would get up and unpack a suitcase[they were ALL already there when we got to our room]and then return to the balcony until awhile after sail-away when we got ready for dinner. On the way down to the dining room, Bobby stopped at the casino and played a few dollars in the slot machines and won over $100 back, which was very nice. At dinner[i had the ribs and the chocolate melting cake-both from the alternative menu, and that cake really is pure heaven!] Bobby mentioned that he is never lucky at the slot machines, and that the last time he ever won more than 5 or 10 dollars was the first year that the Broncos won the Super Bowl.[He and my brother-in-law had driven to San Diego for the game and stopped in Vegas] That was also the first, and ONLY time that Bobby had worn a necklace his dad had had made from him out of bear claws.Until....that night. Bobby asked me what I thought of that, and I told him that he'd better head back to the casino after dinner, which he did and won another $200 at the slots! My son just woke and needs my help. I'm going to have to resume this later. See you in a bit!

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rob6465

rob6465

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Are we surprised ? NOPE ! My wife and I sailed on the conquest for our 1st cruise last year and could not believe how much fun we had. We're already booked for September of 2008 and this time we're taking along our 23 yr old son and his girlfriend. They do not know what they will experience. We also had a balcony but did not spend much time there because we were all over the ship. Next time we will spend more time on balcony. You need to join the Conquest Crazies on Sundays at 5am-6am watching the Conquest pull into galveston on the web.

 

Yes, i'm with the CRAZIESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS !

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VICKIVICKI

VICKIVICKI

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I definitely will join the Conquest Crazies but I cannot wait until Sept, 2009 for a cruise[i already waited 8 years! shame on me!] and hope to cruise the Conquest again in Januaru 2009. Sailing out of the port was awesome. We THINK we saw some dolphins and watched all the seagulls and birds flying all over..it loked like it was a beautiful show that the birds had choreographed just for our cruise.

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VICKIVICKI

VICKIVICKI

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after that, we brought the granddaughter to a parent-child activity with camp carnival, where they had a dance contest. This old granny won the competition! i've really NEVER been a dancer so I would alternate between some basic moves and belly-dancing from my belly-dancing exercise tapes. I was like a geriatric shakira!

After an ice-cream social with the camp carnival staff, it was time for the welcome aboard show. Earlier, we had decided that we would retire to our cabin after the ice cream because our son, L.J. becomes extremely ill if he gets overtired, but the kid was glowing, with an energy I haven't seen in years, so we went and it was great!Butch Begovitch, the cruise director, had a couple on stage that were pretending to get engaged[long story] BUT it was a REAL engagement, a surprize for the girl, set up in advance! I think EVERYONE was crying!

After that, we really did get to bed. I normally have difficulty getting to sleep. I start worrying about my son, the business, etc., but on the Conquest, the minute I lay my head on the pillow she just rocked me right to sleep. WE hadn't brought any type of clock with us to wake us up in the morning, because on our prior cruises the more and more frequent whooshes from the toilets in the surrounding cabins would let us know when it was almost morning. Well, guess what? They did SOMETHING to those toilets because I NEVER heard anyones toilet flushing, and even ours wasn't that loud. My granddaughter and I did wake up in time to go on deck and watch the sunrise, though, absolutely exquisite.

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VICKIVICKI

VICKIVICKI

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When we returned to the room, the guys were ready for breakfast on the Lido deck. We ate...a little bit of everything[i am ussually sooooo good. I just eat mostly raw fruits and veggies, grains and salmon.but....I was on vacation, and the bathroom scales have been, at my request, hidden from me for the next 2 weeks!]We just goofed around for awhile, until the muster drill, and then we hung out at the pool and when it opened, went down the waterslide. It was really fun, not too steep, not scary at all.We pretty much stayed at the pool all day, eating, drinking, swimming, watching the contests and meeting all the people from Lousiana who were celebrating Mardi Gras[did you know that the schools in louisaiana close for a week for Mardi Gras?] until it was time to get ready for the formal dinner. Now, I'm an old broad, but I looked HOT, I mean "smokin" in my red dress. I haven't felt that way in YEARS! Bobby and L.J. were so handsome in their suits and Xandra looked like a beautiful little princess[okay, Xandra ALWAYS looks like a beautiful princess. I don't know how many times I've heard "my God! Your granddaughter is spectacularly beautiful!" and then they look at me and say"she must take after the other side of the family"]The all-important question...did I eat the prime rib or the lobster...I ate both...and my chocolate melting cake!

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VICKIVICKI

VICKIVICKI

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After another FUN DAY AT SEA [culminating in a WILD fat tuesday celebration]we arrived in Montego Bay! We took a cab to Sunset Beach. It was $40 a day for Bobby and I and the kids were $20 each. We snorkeled,played volley ball, played at the beach and boat-paddled the ocean. All of our food and drinks were included in the price. We had considered staying on the ship during our time in MOBO, but Sunset Beach is very safe. When we were in line to get out of the country though, suddenly they seperated the males and females. Then, every single male, adult or child was sniffed by the dogs and patted down. I was extremely concerned that my son would start screaming or even get violent, out of fear, because of his problems, but there was no incident and when I asked if he were alright, he just grinned and said "no problem, mon!"

The next day, Grand Cayman, we did the snorkeling and stingray excursion with Captain Bryan. L.j. found and held a huge starfish, became best friends with the stingrays[i swear, every stingray was surrounding my son, brushing against his legs, going for hugs] The part of town we met in before the excursion was way cute1 All of the little houses were painted in such bright, sunny colors and there were chickens, their chicks and roosters running around cock-a-doodling. Oh, we met some people on the tour who were on the Victory on a musician cruise[Lyle lovit was on it...don't remember who else] and 45 people from their cruise had been left behind in Jamaica, including one of the performers!

Friday, Cozumel! We took a cab to chaakanaab Park. i loved that place. My son found a bed of little tiny[pea size and smaller] hermit crabs, Xandra got her hair braided and my son kept looking wistfully at the dolphins. After exploring the Mayan village replicas, we surprized my son with a royal dolphin swim. L.J. has been obsessed with dolphins since he was a baby and he said that was the best day of his life. We bought the video of his swim, kindof pricey[$70] but he will always treasure it.

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*Mach*

*Mach*

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After another FUN DAY AT SEA [culminating in a WILD fat tuesday celebration]we arrived in Montego Bay! We took a cab to Sunset Beach. It was $40 a day for Bobby and I and the kids were $20 each. We snorkeled,played volley ball, played at the beach and boat-paddled the ocean. All of our food and drinks were included in the price. We had considered staying on the ship during our time in MOBO, but Sunset Beach is very safe. When we were in line to get out of the country though, suddenly they seperated the males and females. Then, every single male, adult or child was sniffed by the dogs and patted down. I was extremely concerned that my son would start screaming or even get violent, out of fear, because of his problems, but there was no incident and when I asked if he were alright, he just grinned and said "no problem, mon!"

The next day, Grand Cayman, we did the snorkeling and stingray excursion with Captain Bryan. L.j. found and held a huge starfish, became best friends with the stingrays[i swear, every stingray was surrounding my son, brushing against his legs, going for hugs] The part of town we met in before the excursion was way cute1 All of the little houses were painted in such bright, sunny colors and there were chickens, their chicks and roosters running around cock-a-doodling. Oh, we met some people on the tour who were on the Victory on a musician cruise[Lyle lovit was on it...don't remember who else] and 45 people from their cruise had been left behind in Jamaica, including one of the performers!

Friday, Cozumel! We took a cab to chaakanaab Park. i loved that place. My son found a bed of little tiny[pea size and smaller] hermit crabs, Xandra got her hair braided and my son kept looking wistfully at the dolphins. After exploring the Mayan village replicas, we surprized my son with a royal dolphin swim. L.J. has been obsessed with dolphins since he was a baby and he said that was the best day of his life. We bought the video of his swim, kindof pricey[$70] but he will always treasure it.

 

You guys were truly blessed. I'm sure you were right... this vacation was just what you needed.

Isn't it amazing how some kids, regardless of anything else, can be lost in the magic of the sea and it's creatures???

I've said it many times... the Conquest has magic built in her... Open your mind to it and it's unmistakable...

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