tjevans
April 25th, 2004, 03:57 PM
The following is a review of my honeymoon cruise on the Conquest from 4/18 - 4/25
We arrived at the Julia Street Terminal a little past 10:30 a.m. on 4/18/04. A friend who lives in New Orleans dropped us off at the terminal. The security guard warned us we’d be very early, but let us proceed with no problem. The scene was rather chaotic, since we were in the middle of debarkment. We walked right up to the funpass counter with no waiting. We did have to wait, however, to get a porter. They were all busy helping the passengers debarking.
Within 15 minutes, a porter came to us and took our bags. Please tip these people well; they are some of the hardest working people I’ve ever seen. We then proceeded to the first set of yellow chairs. At around 11:30, they let us in to the second set of chair. They let us aboard Conquest at 12:15.
We quickly found our room, 7364, portside and amidship. There was a problem with our cabin door; the dead bolt would not close. I didn’t feel insecure, but I reported it to the pursur and the steward. It was never fixed. Once we dropped off our carry-ons, we waited around for a little while to register for the shore excursions we wanted using “funvision.” There was a problem and we couldn’t do it yet, so we decided to try the pizza. We took the elevator up to the Lido deck and made our way back to the sky pool. On the way, we grabbed our first “fruity drink.” I don’t remember what it was, but next to the blue margarita, it was my favorite drink of the day.
The pizza was good quality, but I didn’t care for the attitude of the guy working in the pizzeria. This guy worked the day shift the entire cruise, and he always made me feel like I was a bother for wanting pizza.
We then explored the ship, learning our way around. Big thanks to the person who posted the customized deck plans a few weeks back. They were really handy! It surprised me how many people don't bother to learn their way around. There were still people on Saturday who didn't know how to get to the dining room or to the pools, etc.
After enjoying a few hours listening to the Caribbean band by the sun pool, we went to change for dinner. (We had the 5:45 sitting in Monet; table 550). Our bags had arrived by then, and we unpacked as we got ready.
We met our waiter, who told us to call him “Moody.” I was looking forward to all the hi-jinks I had read about, but never once during the cruise did I hear a song or see a dance anywhere in the dining room. The food was always great, and service excellent, but never as fun as I anticipated.
Later that evening, we went to the Welcome Aboard show hosted by Stuart “Little,” the cruise director. I was called up on stage. During the “meet and greet,” I was asked how long I had been married. Looking down at my watch, I said, “About 29 hours.” The crowd went wild! We played to spoon-threading game and my side lost the first time, but we won when it came to pulling the spoon out. We were each given a bottle of champagne!
After that, we headed to the Blues bar. Despite its name, it was a rather happy place to be. The pianist they had, “Joe,” was great and we came back as often as we could. If you’re ever there when Joe is, ask him to play “The Devil Went Down to Georgia.” I don’t think I can explain why here, but it’s hilarious!!
We got back to our cabin around 1:30 a.m. Monday morning. We went out to our balcony just in time to see the river pilot leaving the ship. The door where the transfer takes place was below our cabin, so we had a good view.
The two sea days went by rather uneventfully. The second sea day we were surprised at dinner by a “Happy Honeymoon” cake courtesy of Carnival. On top of this, they brought us the desserts we had ordered. Talk about stuffed!
Wednesday arrived and so did we in Montego Bay. We didn’t have big plans because dw had been to Jamaica before and hated it. We went to City Centre to try to go to the recommended shops. Even there, the storekeepers were so pushy that we left after only a short while. We headed over to Margaritaville and had a good time there on the water slide, inner tubes, and water trampoline. We came back relatively early (around 3:30) to rest a little while. We went on deck to see us leave and watch the sunset. That was when we learned that one of our shipmates was in need of urgent medical attention. We were delayed while we waited for the ambulance to arrive. (Please don’t read a negative tone into my comments. I don’t begrudge anyone for the delay). It appeared to be an elderly lady. I don’t know what was wrong, but my thoughts and prayers our with her and her family.
That night we went to The Pointe. We were extremely disappointed. There was only one appetizer I could eat due to allergies---the onion soup. I thought it was too strong and didn’t like it. I didn’t care for the taste of the salad dressing I ordered, either. The steak was amazingly tasteless and of uneven quality. One bite would be tasteless and the next seasoned properly. We ordered the wine recommended, but thought it tasted like rubbing alcohol. Our experience was probably due more to our tastes than to the Pointe. I think we’re too “pedestrian” for such fine dining. Should I sail the Conquest again, I will not go back to The Pointe.
At Grand Cayman, we went on the Stingray City/Coral Reef Safari. It was great! I’ve never seen such beautiful water and had the time of my life! Not to mention the great bargains on liquor we got. We took a short nap, and went to the Lounge for the adult comedy of “Phat Kat.” My wife got all excited when he came on stage; she had gone to school with him and graduated with him. After the show, we got Simon the social host to get Phat Kat and my wife, Phat Kat, and I caught up.
In Cozumel, we went on the Jungle ATV excursion. There should be, in my opinion, a disclaimer on this. I’ve ridden an ATV only two or three times in my life, but I enjoyed every time. The trail they have was too rugged for a rider of my limited experience. I was miserable by the end of it. Afterwards, we only had about two hours until we had to be back onboard, so we had a quick lunch and some hasty shopping at the pier. We were exhausted and went to bed as soon as we got back onboard and slept until around10:00 that night. We got up and went to the Guest Talent Show.
That show was a hoot, but the best was the Conquest Chippendale Dancers! For those of you who don’t know, they get three married men, a newlywed, someone married about 20 years, and someone who’s been married for about 50 years. After the men change into their outfits, the wives come up on the stage and the men dance for their wives (and the audience). The oldest, a gentleman named Horace, was dressed in a Speedo, a captain’s hat, a bow tie, sunglasses, and dark shoes and socks. Women (and one man) from the audience ran up to put dollars in his Speedo!! Afterwards, Stuart asked him what he did, and it turned out he was a retired preacher!
Saturday, our last sea day, arrived. We went to the debarkation talk and I won the tote bag that was given away. That came in handy, because we had bought so many souvenirs, we couldn’t get them in the bags we had brought with us. Later, I participated in the synchronized swimming contest. My team lost, but we didn’t care, because we thought we would get ships-on-a-stick for just participating. We didn’t though. That was a game you had to win to get a ship on a stick. All the other games up to that point had awarded each participant.
Sunday sadly arrived and debarkation went smoothly. We only live an hour and a half away from New Orleans, and we were back home by 12:30 p.m. I’m already in withdrawals and craving another cruise!
Oh, a word of advice. If you get exceptional service from someone, fill out a comment card and turn it in to the Purser. We did, commenting on an excellent bar server who goes by “Newt.” The next morning, we received a bottle of champagne with a note thanking us for the comments.
Also, if you plan on sailing the Conquest and you get motion sick, you may want to invest in “the patch.” I was surprised at the amount of motion I felt! I’ve been through a hurricane during my time in the Navy, and of course the motion wasn’t that bad, but it did at times get pretty bad for a ship of that size. Several other people had to leave the dining room early at dinner because there was too much motion. The rumor going around was that the Captain didn’t like using stabilizers, but that doesn’t make any sense. Surely he would realize that the comfort of the passengers plays a big part in how they enjoy the cruise.
To sum up, yes, there were some bad things, but they were far outweighed by us having the time of our lives! Kudos to Carnival, and I can’t wait to sail again!
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Carnival Conquest 4/18/04
We arrived at the Julia Street Terminal a little past 10:30 a.m. on 4/18/04. A friend who lives in New Orleans dropped us off at the terminal. The security guard warned us we’d be very early, but let us proceed with no problem. The scene was rather chaotic, since we were in the middle of debarkment. We walked right up to the funpass counter with no waiting. We did have to wait, however, to get a porter. They were all busy helping the passengers debarking.
Within 15 minutes, a porter came to us and took our bags. Please tip these people well; they are some of the hardest working people I’ve ever seen. We then proceeded to the first set of yellow chairs. At around 11:30, they let us in to the second set of chair. They let us aboard Conquest at 12:15.
We quickly found our room, 7364, portside and amidship. There was a problem with our cabin door; the dead bolt would not close. I didn’t feel insecure, but I reported it to the pursur and the steward. It was never fixed. Once we dropped off our carry-ons, we waited around for a little while to register for the shore excursions we wanted using “funvision.” There was a problem and we couldn’t do it yet, so we decided to try the pizza. We took the elevator up to the Lido deck and made our way back to the sky pool. On the way, we grabbed our first “fruity drink.” I don’t remember what it was, but next to the blue margarita, it was my favorite drink of the day.
The pizza was good quality, but I didn’t care for the attitude of the guy working in the pizzeria. This guy worked the day shift the entire cruise, and he always made me feel like I was a bother for wanting pizza.
We then explored the ship, learning our way around. Big thanks to the person who posted the customized deck plans a few weeks back. They were really handy! It surprised me how many people don't bother to learn their way around. There were still people on Saturday who didn't know how to get to the dining room or to the pools, etc.
After enjoying a few hours listening to the Caribbean band by the sun pool, we went to change for dinner. (We had the 5:45 sitting in Monet; table 550). Our bags had arrived by then, and we unpacked as we got ready.
We met our waiter, who told us to call him “Moody.” I was looking forward to all the hi-jinks I had read about, but never once during the cruise did I hear a song or see a dance anywhere in the dining room. The food was always great, and service excellent, but never as fun as I anticipated.
Later that evening, we went to the Welcome Aboard show hosted by Stuart “Little,” the cruise director. I was called up on stage. During the “meet and greet,” I was asked how long I had been married. Looking down at my watch, I said, “About 29 hours.” The crowd went wild! We played to spoon-threading game and my side lost the first time, but we won when it came to pulling the spoon out. We were each given a bottle of champagne!
After that, we headed to the Blues bar. Despite its name, it was a rather happy place to be. The pianist they had, “Joe,” was great and we came back as often as we could. If you’re ever there when Joe is, ask him to play “The Devil Went Down to Georgia.” I don’t think I can explain why here, but it’s hilarious!!
We got back to our cabin around 1:30 a.m. Monday morning. We went out to our balcony just in time to see the river pilot leaving the ship. The door where the transfer takes place was below our cabin, so we had a good view.
The two sea days went by rather uneventfully. The second sea day we were surprised at dinner by a “Happy Honeymoon” cake courtesy of Carnival. On top of this, they brought us the desserts we had ordered. Talk about stuffed!
Wednesday arrived and so did we in Montego Bay. We didn’t have big plans because dw had been to Jamaica before and hated it. We went to City Centre to try to go to the recommended shops. Even there, the storekeepers were so pushy that we left after only a short while. We headed over to Margaritaville and had a good time there on the water slide, inner tubes, and water trampoline. We came back relatively early (around 3:30) to rest a little while. We went on deck to see us leave and watch the sunset. That was when we learned that one of our shipmates was in need of urgent medical attention. We were delayed while we waited for the ambulance to arrive. (Please don’t read a negative tone into my comments. I don’t begrudge anyone for the delay). It appeared to be an elderly lady. I don’t know what was wrong, but my thoughts and prayers our with her and her family.
That night we went to The Pointe. We were extremely disappointed. There was only one appetizer I could eat due to allergies---the onion soup. I thought it was too strong and didn’t like it. I didn’t care for the taste of the salad dressing I ordered, either. The steak was amazingly tasteless and of uneven quality. One bite would be tasteless and the next seasoned properly. We ordered the wine recommended, but thought it tasted like rubbing alcohol. Our experience was probably due more to our tastes than to the Pointe. I think we’re too “pedestrian” for such fine dining. Should I sail the Conquest again, I will not go back to The Pointe.
At Grand Cayman, we went on the Stingray City/Coral Reef Safari. It was great! I’ve never seen such beautiful water and had the time of my life! Not to mention the great bargains on liquor we got. We took a short nap, and went to the Lounge for the adult comedy of “Phat Kat.” My wife got all excited when he came on stage; she had gone to school with him and graduated with him. After the show, we got Simon the social host to get Phat Kat and my wife, Phat Kat, and I caught up.
In Cozumel, we went on the Jungle ATV excursion. There should be, in my opinion, a disclaimer on this. I’ve ridden an ATV only two or three times in my life, but I enjoyed every time. The trail they have was too rugged for a rider of my limited experience. I was miserable by the end of it. Afterwards, we only had about two hours until we had to be back onboard, so we had a quick lunch and some hasty shopping at the pier. We were exhausted and went to bed as soon as we got back onboard and slept until around10:00 that night. We got up and went to the Guest Talent Show.
That show was a hoot, but the best was the Conquest Chippendale Dancers! For those of you who don’t know, they get three married men, a newlywed, someone married about 20 years, and someone who’s been married for about 50 years. After the men change into their outfits, the wives come up on the stage and the men dance for their wives (and the audience). The oldest, a gentleman named Horace, was dressed in a Speedo, a captain’s hat, a bow tie, sunglasses, and dark shoes and socks. Women (and one man) from the audience ran up to put dollars in his Speedo!! Afterwards, Stuart asked him what he did, and it turned out he was a retired preacher!
Saturday, our last sea day, arrived. We went to the debarkation talk and I won the tote bag that was given away. That came in handy, because we had bought so many souvenirs, we couldn’t get them in the bags we had brought with us. Later, I participated in the synchronized swimming contest. My team lost, but we didn’t care, because we thought we would get ships-on-a-stick for just participating. We didn’t though. That was a game you had to win to get a ship on a stick. All the other games up to that point had awarded each participant.
Sunday sadly arrived and debarkation went smoothly. We only live an hour and a half away from New Orleans, and we were back home by 12:30 p.m. I’m already in withdrawals and craving another cruise!
Oh, a word of advice. If you get exceptional service from someone, fill out a comment card and turn it in to the Purser. We did, commenting on an excellent bar server who goes by “Newt.” The next morning, we received a bottle of champagne with a note thanking us for the comments.
Also, if you plan on sailing the Conquest and you get motion sick, you may want to invest in “the patch.” I was surprised at the amount of motion I felt! I’ve been through a hurricane during my time in the Navy, and of course the motion wasn’t that bad, but it did at times get pretty bad for a ship of that size. Several other people had to leave the dining room early at dinner because there was too much motion. The rumor going around was that the Captain didn’t like using stabilizers, but that doesn’t make any sense. Surely he would realize that the comfort of the passengers plays a big part in how they enjoy the cruise.
To sum up, yes, there were some bad things, but they were far outweighed by us having the time of our lives! Kudos to Carnival, and I can’t wait to sail again!
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Carnival Conquest 4/18/04