Please help! Conquest/rccl mariner of the seas

[hollon]

Could someone give me a recent comparision of the Conquest? and how does it compare to Royal Caribbean? I've only been on one cruise and it was The Mariner of the Sea - and loved everything about it. Conquest is so much cheaper - but do you get what you pay for? Thanks - pls response as soon as yall have time - have a great day :) JOY

[Georgiagolfer]

Could someone give me a recent comparision of the Conquest? and how does it compare to Royal Caribbean? I've only been on one cruise and it was The Mariner of the Sea - and loved everything about it. Conquest is so much cheaper - but do you get what you pay for? Thanks - pls response as soon as yall have time - have a great day :) JOY

Haven't been on conquest, but sailed on Glory 3 times (same class ship). Also sailed on mariner of the Seas. Enjoyed both ships, liked some things on each better. Not into rock wall, so no biggie. Did enjoy the ice show. Food similar, although I liked the buffet better on mariner.:) Liked the Promenade , but felt it lacked seating to enjoy a drink and people watch. Casino seperate from other activities.:( Welcome back party on Glory better than on Mariner. Would sail either again. BTW we had a JS on Mariner and Cat. 11 on Glory. Mariner room larger with walk-in closet.

[sixgun8]

since the conquest JUST came out of dry dock it may not be fair to ask for a comparison rght now. She has nearly all new cabin, the giant video screen, new interiors.

 

I've ONLY been on the conquest, so I can't compare, but it's more a matter of if you like to have fun and be part of a social atmosphere, or do you want to be on a ship that doesn't encourage you to have fun? from what I hear, RCCL is not focused on fun and social interaction? but it's second hand info.

[purplefrogs]

I've never been on MOS so can't offer you a comparison but I think you will enjoy the Conquest.

 

As sixgun said, she's fresh off a drydock so you might want to wait to see what some reviewers say next week about the new look. As far as amenties, food, and fun it's well worth the money. I personally think you are getting more than you paid for.

 

Also, while you can certainly find lots of events to party and be a part of the social atmosphere there are quite moments and quite places to enjoy if that's not your thing.

[tkportersat]

I have been on the Voyager which is the same class as Mariner and on the Conquest. I liked both about the same. Both are larger than I really like, I find I like the smaller ships....but I want to sail 7 days, so what is a girl to do ;)

 

I thought I would love all the extras RC has (Rock wall, rollerblading, ice skating, etc) but I didn't do any of that and my kids really didn't either. The openings to do those activities were VERY limited. I would rate them equal unless you think your family would truly take advantage of the extras. I liked the Promenade on the Voyager but I like Carnival's food better. Either way I really don't think you can go wrong so if price is a big difference than I would go with the one that is lower. But that is your decision, so good luck in making it :D I will check back later to see if you have more questions.

[nawlinscruiser22]

I went on both the Mariner and the Conquest last year. The Mariner was jaw-droppingly beautiful. The Conquest is pretty in her own right, just not on the same level as the Mariner!

 

Now to do a quick run-down.

 

I love the Promenade on the Mariner. I thought the 24 hr Cafe Promenade was great.

 

Shows- I think Mariner's shows were better. I really enjoyed the Ice skating show!

 

Pools-The Solarium on the Mariner-it was nice to have a truly adults only area on the ship. Conquest's aft pool is supposed to be "adults only" but it isn't really enforced.

 

Bars-I love the Crown Lounge--its a great place to watch sail away! I found the Mariner's entertainment venues were larger than ones on the Conquest.

 

Outdoor entertainment- The shuffleboard on the outside deck on the Mariner was also a family favorite. I wish Carnival ships had the outside deck access on the main levels like most Royal ships. We do not rock climb so that is a non-issue for us.

 

Casino-We are casino people so I will say the Mariner's casino was horrible and the Conquest's was great!

 

Food

 

Main dining- Conquest's Main dining room food far exceeds the Mariner.

 

Buffet-Mariner's buffet was better then Carnival. I like that the buffet is away from the pool area on the Mariner so that you get less of the "bathing beauty" sights that are so common on Carnival ships:eek: I did miss my turkey on a country roll from the deli that I have come so accustomed to on my Carnival cruises!

 

Tea time-I also really like afternoon tea on the Conquest. Its one of our favorite parts of sea days.

 

Specialty dining-We did both Chops and Portofinos on the Mariner and The Point twice on the Conquest. Chops was good, Portofinos was to die for and the Point #1 was excellent but #2 was downright awful!

 

Cabin- Its hard for me to compare because they were two different category of staterooms.

We were in an inside on the Mariner. It was tiny compared to inside rooms on Carnival ships! I did like having the sofa in the room though.

 

We were in an outside on the Conquest. This was a really nice sized room! It was great!

 

In conclusion, I will say that the Mariner was by far my favorite cruise out of the 12 I have taken. It was a beautiful ship, great ports (we absolutely loved CocoCay) and the personalized service we received are what makes it have such fond memories. That being said, its hard to compare because the Conquest is #2 on our list!

 

If you are concerned about value for the money, Carnival will always be the clear winner. They offer the most bang for your buck. However, it depends on what is important to your family. If rockclimbing walls and beautiful ships are your main concern-stick with Mariner. If food and room size are important-Conquest will knock your socks off!

[firefly333]

Iv been on both and would go with whichever had the better price. We just like to cruise. We did Voyager, sister to Mariner and loved the promenade cafe at night and loved the PR cabins which we got as a inside guarantee and the price was $50 pp cheaper than Conquest. Last year we got a OV with our inside guarantee on Voyager, so we go with price and we wanted RCL and Conquest so do both.

 

Will do both again this year (and several others). Conquest we enjoyed the food but last cruise on Ecstasy we had the hardest mattress, our cabin steward said it was because it was new, so Carnival no longer can I say the beds are better as Iv always said, both had hard mattresses.

 

Mariner will be WOW and Conquest pretty. Nothing wrong with pretty, its nice to sit in a pretty dining room and watch the sun go down during dinner. The cabin on Conquest was more convenient, so thats hard to compare until we do different cabins again this year.

 

I dont think you can go wrong with either, pick the one that is cheaper if there is a big difference.

[Chriz]

Probably more than you asked but... here it goes anyway.

 

I have been on both ships. As for activities, there were more unusual things to do on the Mariner such as the rock wall, the ice show, etc... At first I didn't think I would care about doing any of them, but hey why not, so I tried the rock climbing and the ice show was one of the best shows I have seen on a cruise ship so far. I too used to think that RCCL was for the more boring or quiet crowd, but on the Mariner and the Liberty of the Seas, it was not the case. I really enjoyed the wave runner on the Liberty of the Seas last year it was a blast. As for these activities being hard to utilize due to very few open hours, this is was not the case when we sailed. The Mariner is a beautiful ship as well as is the Conquest.

As for the Conquest, we had a great time. It has been 6 years almost but we still have very fond memories. One of which was to leaving out of Gulfport about 8 hours late on the first day! Anyway... The Conquest had a lot of things to do and you could also just relax if you wanted to. We enjoyed the cruise director (Corey S. I think) and the maitre d (Ken) who sang every night in the dining room. I really enjoy the water slide on the Carnival ships and I am looking forward to the big screen on the Freedom in a couple of months.

As for the rooms, I felt as though they were similar. I like the sliding balcony door on the Mariner better than the regular door on the Conquest. I like the fact that there are no shower curtains on the Mariner instead they have the shower door type things that don't stick to you!

Carnival used to but a goody basket (toiletry items) in your room as well as robes for use on the cruise. I am not sure if they still do this or not. On the Mariner and Liberty we didn't get these items.

The food was better from what I can remember on the Conquest. It had more of a flavor, especially the deserts.

I do like the past guest program on RCCL better. You get added benefits the more you cruise starting with just your second cruise!

The bottom line is that these ships have different things to offer, yet for the most part they are similar in offerings if that makes any sense. I would love to see Carnival have more water activities on board such as the flow rider or something similar because it was actually fun! People of all sizes were having a great time. Why not try it, you don't have to see many of these folks ever again! (I mooned the crowd by accident on the flow rider but hey, oh well.)

Please give each ship a try if you wish. Do not go strictly by one's opinion on this board. Many folks are devoted to one line or the other and often never try a different line. I am very glad to have tried RCCL and will do so again in the future. However, I am very happy to be sailing with Carnival again with no worries or concerns. I used to swear off trying RCCL like some others here on CC (from both lines) but that was a mistake.

Either way, have a great trip and make the best of it!

[Kurbanfan]

Please give each ship a try if you wish. Do not go strictly by one's opinion on this board. Many folks are devoted to one line or the other and often never try a different line. I am very glad to have tried RCCL and will do so again in the future. However, I am very happy to be sailing with Carnival again with no worries or concerns. I used to swear off trying RCCL like some others here on CC (from both lines) but that was a mistake.

 

Either way, have a great trip and make the best of it!

 

I totally agree!!! You will never know what you are missing until you give it a try yourself.......and also agree about the opinions on here, because they were nothing like our opinions when we finally started sailing other lines........

I will be on the Mariner in May........and will find out first hand:)

[firefly333]

As for the rooms, I felt as though they were similar. I like the sliding balcony door on the Mariner better than the regular door on the Conquest. I like the fact that there are no shower curtains on the Mariner instead they have the shower door type things that don't stick to you!

 

Carnival used to but a goody basket (toiletry items) in your room as well as robes for use on the cruise. I am not sure if they still do this or not. On the Mariner and Liberty we didn't get these items.!

 

We had a curved shower door on Voyager, probably the same on Mariner? Our shower was perfectly fine on Carnival too, maybe we arent that picky.

 

We got off Ecstasy last Thursday and the goody basket is now one razor and two pepcid ac tablets laid on the sink. We only got one bar of soap this cruise, compared to two last cruise. Last time we had one for the shower and one for the sink, now they only give you one to move back and forth.

[hollon]

Thank yall so much for your replies :) let me ask yall about the childrens program on the conquest please :)