much belated conquest 2-17 to 2-24

[sixgun8]

This is long, so forgive me.

Cruise Review

Before I totally forget.

Day of cruise. I can’t express the helpfulness of the carnival employees stationed at IAH enough. They were very helpful in explanation of how we should go about getting our bags if they weren’t there. We followed their direction and left everything in their hands. We didn’t know if the airline would have done their job, but we had the feeling Carnival would do everything in their power to take care of us and we were not disappointed.

Embarkation: We pull up to a frenzy of activity and we didn’t have a clue what to do. A porter stepped up and offered his assistance. We hastily pulled our bags out of the car gave my cousin a quick hug, tossed in the bottle of rum hazardly and let the porter do his work. We followed the crowd and found a line and joined in. the process was so simple I felt like we were missing something. Within 30 minutes we were on board and looking for drink

Finding friends: I truly felt like a country bumpkin looking at this huge ship and trying to figure out where I was going. We had maps and we had knowledge, but this was really it. I was in total AWE. I knew I was looking for a guy in a packers cap and grey shirt. Pretty vague. As I was doing the OH MY GOODNESS walk around the lido deck, I turned and saw the packer cap. “six?” was all he had to say. It was JAM!! Good to see him and it was simply great to be on board.

Room: It wasn’t anything special, but it was home for the next week. It was cozy and had plenty of space for our clothes and was exactly all we needed. I loved the shower, How can such a small thing like having the holder for the shower nozzle slide up and down seem so ingenious.

Dinner: we forgot the camera the first night for dinner, but the food was simply amazing. I had the smoked salmon for a starter and it was fantastic. Only downside is we were at a table for 2 and we knew we would miss out on meeting others. Had the chocolate melting cake for dessert and it was just kinda okay.

So much to do so little time: Liquor tasting at 7PM, gotta do that. Gotta buy that. What? Our name is in a drawing to receive our liquor purchase free? Cool. Back to the shop at ten and see if we won. 1st name drawn and they aren’t here. 2nd name drawn and they aren’t here. Look at Chevelle and tell her that this one is us. Sure enough they drew my name!! Outstanding free liquor and we get it now.

Day 2: Woke up and had room service set to come. More smoked salmon, bagel and cream cheese. YUM. Up on deck to catch the first sunrise. Magnificent. Seeing nothing but the horizon and the sun. Couldn’t ask for more. Off to the Cezanne for some real breakfast. It’s typical buffet and isn’t bad. Not spectacular, but not anything I wouldn’t have paid for at home.

More of the so much to do so little time. Trying to hit all the various events and enjoy the days at sea to their fullest. Hard to do, but we give it a try. Even shopping is enjoyable on the ship. That’s saying a lot for me.

Went to the Shopping talk this morning and got some great information and some cool litte coupons for free stuff. Mark Writers is very informative and was very willing to answer questions. He got to meet Capt. Loki and posed for a pic.

I don’t remember how, but I was able to stay away from the Hairy Chest contest. It’s funny, but while I am a natural clown and enjoy making people laugh I am very uncomfortable with being that much the center of attention.

I believe we had some Pizza for lunch today. I wasn’t as impressed with the Pizza as everyone said I would be. I like a saucier pizza and these aint that at all. Wife had the El Chevre Pizza with the goat cheese and I tasted that and it has quickly become a favorite. She even went for the one with anchovies. Surprise, I’ve eaten them raw and this was much better. Very Very salty.

Formal night tonight. We both had the Lobster and Shrimp tonight. I wasn’t so impressed with the lobster. Very chewy, but hey, I don’t get it at home, so it’s still good. We also split the duck. Fabulous flavor, but overcooked badly. Chevelle had the Mushrooms appetizer which was very good. For desert I had the caramelized apples of filo bread….TO DIE FOR. Chevelle had the Cherries jubilee, which wasn’t quite that impressive, but good.

Day 3: Again breakfast at the lido. Today is the code breaker game!! Had to do that. We partnered up with Tawney and James from the role call. Pretty cool couple. We breezed through the codes and wiped it out quick. Then we swapped partners…easy folks, not that way. Me and Tawney went on the Galley tour and Chevelle and James went to the Gem talk. Got some decent pictures of the Galley food samples before the camera battery went south. Walked right past the Chef with Capt. Loki in hand and totally missed my opportunity. Chef looked so young I didn’t recognize him.

Got our dining time switched so that we can see the sunsets. But they still tried to put us at a table for two. Can’t have that. Tawney and James have room at their table so we make that switch. This is social interaction! We stopped for Sushi before the sunset. Never had it before and I love it. Even used the Wasabi and while it had a bite, it wasn’t the heat that sits with you for a long time. It’s there and gone.

Dinner time, Chevelle had a quesadilla thing, Way too beany for me, but was good. My pictures show another appetizer of oyster and we don’t know who had what now. I had the jerked pork loin and am a little worried I wont like Jerk in Jamaica now?? Chevelle had the steak which looked great. For desert I wanted the cheese plate, got cheesecake? Oh well except it is strawberry, but not too much.

Tonight was mardi Gras and somehow we missed the pub crawl part. Shame on us. We just caught it when it got on deck. We were hanging out with Jamb and Marc and Thomas(hotel director). Time for bed at about 2 AM, ugh.

 

 

Well that's only about 1/2 the cruise. I'll try to put the rest of the thoughts to type soon.

[*Mach*]

GO SIX!!!

For a first timer you're getting into the swing of things pretty darn fast!!!

C'mon... give with the rest!!!

:D

[sixgun8]

you know the only time we felt like newbies were when we first got on the ship and had that initial shock sensation. Then when we started thinking about debarkation and wondering what we were supposed to do and if we would get off in time to get our rental and all that.

 

I credit the fact that we KNEW what we were doing to this board. We had tons of experiences given to us and we absorbed it all and learned. We would have never found Sur Mer, it was so tucked away. We no longer were rookies because we had sailed a hundred times through this board and all of the posters that share thier experiences.

[floatingaway2525]

Great review Six!!! Looking forward to part 2!!:D

Floatie

[firefly333]

Ah ha, finally found your review to read. My sink is backed up and I need to get hold of someone pronto or I would have gotten here earlier.

 

I dont remember the code breaker game, will have to look for that, thanks.

 

We will have to push you up on stage for the hairy chest contest I can see that now!!! You just need some encouragement lol :D

 

thanks for the review, Im going to reread it more slowly and see what all I missed the first time.

[shargurl]

you know the only time we felt like newbies were when we first got on the ship and had that initial shock sensation. Then when we started thinking about debarkation and wondering what we were supposed to do and if we would get off in time to get our rental and all that.

 

I credit the fact that we KNEW what we were doing to this board. We had tons of experiences given to us and we absorbed it all and learned. We would have never found Sur Mer, it was so tucked away. We no longer were rookies because we had sailed a hundred times through this board and all of the posters that share thier experiences.

You are sooo right! That's exactly how I felt when we sailed our first cruise (which happened to be on the Conquest)! Kudos to Cruisecritic.com

[sixgun8]

You are sooo right! That's exactly how I felt when we sailed our first cruise (which happened to be on the Conquest)! Kudos to Cruisecritic.com

 

 

More so to all it's members and the wonderful friends I have made on this site.

[waitin4acruise]

Great review so far waitin for part 2.:rolleyes:

[WestTxCruiser]

Thanks for writing a review Six. Looking forward to part 2.

Oh and by the way

Happy Anniversary Chevelle and Sixgun!!

[firefly333]

sixgun, so are you going to keep us in suspense for Part II. lol

[Imalismom]

We would have never found Sur Mer, it was so tucked away. .

 

Question - if I get lost trying to find my way out of a paper bag, with the open side up and an arrow marked this way out, can you please give me easy directions on how to find Sur Mer, because I really do want to find it.

 

 

5 days and couting....

 

Ali's Mom

[firefly333]

Question - if I get lost trying to find my way out of a paper bag, with the open side up and an arrow marked this way out, can you please give me easy directions on how to find Sur Mer, because I really do want to find it.

 

 

5 days and couting....

 

Ali's Mom

 

sixgun may go out celebrating his anniversay, he said something about taking his wife out to dinner tonight, so beg your parden for answering. I have heard two things, one says its right above the pool. another said there is a stairway INSIDE of the lido buffet that you just take up one flight of stairs. Im guessing you can get there from either, there will be stairs also by the pool and then go inside a door?

 

If you go to carnival site and look at the conquest deck plans you can see where its located ahead of time too. (i havent been, will be on conquest sept 7th 08)

[GinnyJ]

I'm loving your review.

It takes me back to our week on the Conquest and makes me more excited about our next week....

Keep it going...you're making my day!