A Conquest Halloween Review

[cmez]

All I can say is..... What a great cruise!!!! It was my DH and I, and my best friend Cindy and her DH.

 

We flew into New Orleans cruise-eve. We arrived in NOLA about 3 p.m. and chose the airport shuttle for transportation to the hotel and for pickup at the pier after the cruise. We stayed at the Sheraton on Canal St; and stayed on the 23rd floor facing the French Quarter, which was pretty cool. We didn’t do much the first night, had dinner at Bubba Gumps, now I know that they’re not really NOLA cuisine, but we liked the one in Miami so well, we wanted to do it again.

 

Sunday morning we caught a cab to the pier about 10:30 a.m. As we got to Julia Street, there was a major traffic jam, and all the traffic was trying to get to the pier. After waiting in the jam for about 20 – 30 minutes, our driver came up with an excellent plan and took us to the pier from the other direction from the Riverwalk. He dropped us off where the NCL Dream was docked, we had to walk a few feet further to the Carnival terminal and there we were there.

 

Once inside the terminal there were no lines, we walked right up to the counter and got our S&S cards, and were directed to the first set of yellow chairs. We waited for just a little over an hour, and the next thing we knew, we were boarding the ship. The atrium was decorated for Halloween.

 

The ship was beautiful!! The atrium didn’t seem to be as big as the others I have seen. Conquest atrium was perfect. Deck 3 was our favorite deck to sit or stand on and watch us sail into port on.

 

Our cabins weren’t available until 1 p.m., so we decided to head up to the Lido deck for some lunch and our first froo-froo drink. After lunch we explored the ship a little, and went down to our cabins. We were at the very aft, and the only thing I didn’t like was all the vibration from the ships engines.

 

Stuart Dunn was our cruise director. We really didn’t get to know him, but from what I seen of him on the TV. he seemed to be okay. He was just like Kristi described him. He looked a lot like Billy Idol, but had more of a stockier build.

 

We didn’t have dinner at the Pointe after reading so many mixed reviews on CC, we decided to use the $$ on other things. We chose late dinner which I really enjoyed. Our servers were Thomaslav and Lillie. Our drink server was Roland, and they were the best!!!

 

Excursions:

 

Jamaica – Sunset Beach

Thanks to everyone who posted reviews on this place!! It was everything that you described!! For $20 pp you get a day pass and everything is included, food, drinks, and all the facilities. The only thing you don’t get is a room. The weather was absolutely wonderful! The guys decided to snorkel while Cindy and I sat on the beach. I wrote postcards to those back home, and Cindy was soaking up the sun. The drinks were good and strong; we had a hamburger and fries, which was okay. Kevin tried the jerk chicken which was very good!

 

They have three beaches ranging from nude to normal. There was a pool with a swim up bar. There were kayaks and paddleboats to use for free as well. The cab fare to Sunset was $6 per couple.

 

Grand Cayman – Soto’s Snorkel & Stingray Tour

I booked with Soto’s before Ivan hit and didn’t receive any confirmation from Soto’s telling me where to meet them at, so we were pretty lost when we first got there. We stopped in the gift shop right at the pier, and asked the girl who worked there if she knew how we could get in touch with them?

 

Since the phones are still down in the islands, she took it upon herself to call Soto’s for us. She confirmed our reservation, and gave us directions on where they would pick us up at. About 10:15 a.m. we were met by Randy from Soto’s who took us to their office. Along the way to Soto’s we were able to see some of the devastation. There were only a few trees left standing, I seen several buildings covered with blue tarps, some buildings didn’t have windows. Randy said that most areas suffered from water damage, but Georgetown came through it better than other places. The other side of the island is still without power.

 

Soto’s suffered some damage to their home, mostly water damage, but their boats faired okay. They had a tent set up with table and chairs where we signed a waiver, paid our fee and boarded the boat. There were about 12 people on the tour including Bobby who piloted the boat and his assistant.

 

We had three stops; two were for snorkeling and the last being the sandbar and stingrays. Cindy and I don’t snorkel so we stayed on the boat and took pictures of our guys while they snorkeled.

 

The last snorkel area was right by the sandbar, there was approximately 4 other boats out there besides us playing with the stingrays. The way everyone did it, it didn’t seem too crowded. The stingrays were there in numbers, and were very hungry! I jumped into the water and was immediately surrounded by stingrays. It was a little scary at first, because I was doing everything that I was told not to do. (Waiving my arms and jumping around) lol!! Cindy stayed back on the boat until she seen I was having a good time, and decided to join in.

 

The funniest moment was when Cindy first got in, and one of our tour guides was bringing her up a stingray to hold. Just as Cindy started to hold her arms out Bobby lifted the stingray up and it sprayed her in the face! Definitely a Kodak moment! She screamed and started to yell for him not to do it again, just when he lifted it up again, and she got it in the face while she was yelling. So funny!!!!

 

We got to kiss a stingray that brings you 7 years good luck, and as I mentioned before, a stingray mistook my hand for food and I got a “stingray hickey” on my hand just below my thumb. It didn’t hurt, just scared me a little.

 

My hickey wasn’t as bad as one that a kid in our group had gotten on his side! My guess is he had to of rubbed his side after handling squid, and a stingray latched on. It looked really painful!

 

After the tour they took us back to the ship, and we still had time to do some shopping.

 

Cozumel – Powerboat and Hideaway Beach

I wanted to go to Paradise Beach, but Kevin decided to take an excursion instead. This excursion was okay, but not one of my favorites… Kevin was the driver, and I was the passenger in a two-seater power boat. We followed our tour guide to a secluded beach for some Mexican buffet and some time on the beach.

 

The food was good, but I think they could have had some more beach activities to offer. The only thing we had were beach umbrella's and blankets. There was a place to play volleyball, but that was it. After spending about an hour on the beach, it was time to go back. The tide was starting to come in, and the water was choppier than the beginning. We were soaked by the time we got back.

 

After the excursion, we shopped at the shopping area at the pier, and then headed back to the ship. I loved the shopping area at the pier. The last time we were in Cozumel (2002) there was only Fat Tuesday’s. They have several different shops ranging from jewelry to clothing to my favorite shop – Del Sol!

 

All in all, it was a great cruise! The saddest part was it was over before we knew it!

 

We decided to do three days in New Orleans post cruise, and had a great time!! Cindy and John decided to get some R & R at the hotel, so Kevin and I made it an adventure. We went to see Oak Alley Plantation which was okay; the trees on the property were awesome! I got to try a mint julep for the first time.

 

We also visited the French Quarter, Jackson Square, St. Louis Cathedral, Aquarium of the America’s and IMAX theatre, and finished up our day by shopping at the Riverwalk.

 

And that wraps it up in a nutshell! Sorry this is so long! If anyone has any questions, feel free to ask!!

[cruisinqt]

We also did the Halloween cruise on the Conquest. We also did the stingray tour with Soto's, so we must have been on the same boat together and didn't know it.:eek: :D I have red hair, my husband is 6'6" with blond hair, and we had two little girls with us, a 5 year old blond and a 7 year old with brown hair. I'm trying to figure out which one of the people you were. BTW, my 7 year old daughter also had a stingray blow water into her face as she was trying to kiss it. It was definitely a kodak moment.

 

I'm glad you enjoyed your cruise so much, we did too. We also did Sunset beach on the same day you did. So we must have been near each other at that time too.:) Funny huh? I met Ninco at Paradise beach, but she's the only cruise critic member that I actually got to meet and talk to on the cruise. And that's because Paradise Tom pointed her out to me. BTW, I never saw a log book to sign for CC members in the library, did you? Of course, it's only open for an hour in the morning and an hour in the evening. So if you want to look into the cabinets where all of the stuff is you have to be there at the right time when someone's there to open those cabinets for you.

 

We also enjoyed the shopping at the pier, I think it was Puerta Maya pier. The last time we were docked at International pier with RCI and the shopping was good there too. But it wasn't near as big or as impressive as the large shopping area at the Puerta Maya pier. We liked the variety of shopping and the bargains to be had there.

[cmez]

cruisinqt

I remember you!! Kevin and I sat at the very back of the boat on Sotos, and Cindy and John sat beside you guys! I have lots of pictures of our excursion, I'll try to get them posted on Webshots soon!

[mojo2rusty]

Thanks for the review. My friends and I sail on the Conqest on Dec 5th and were looking at the Soto's tour amoung others. I gather that you would recommend this tour? What a small world that you guys were on the same tour and didn't know you were both posters on the board. Glad you had a great time.

[Runner Girl]

Thanks for the review! We are sailing 2/27!

[cmez]

I definately recommend Sotos! Great bunch of people, and you get a lot for the price! Your friends are going to have a great time!! I'd love to go on the Conquest again!