Brutal rain for Conquest passengers in Key West today

Hello, from Key West, Florida... and cabin 8455 on the Carnival Conquest!

I hadn't planned on posting anything on Cruise Critic until we got home, but something happened in Key West today that I couldn't wait to share.

This is why your cruise packing list should always include a small umbrella... and why you should always check the local weather forecast before getting off the ship with that umbrella!

Here are some very wet passengers waiting to get back onboard the ship after the weather turned nasty today:

The officers on the bridge must have been monitoring the weather and saw what was coming... because about 20 minutes before the downpour, they closed the sliding dome over the aft pool.

The Carnival Imagination was also in Key West today, but they got away when the weather was only starting to threaten, and before the downpour actually began.

The weather wasn't too bad at sunrise:

It was ironic that, as "Good Morning America" played on the big screen out on Lido deck early this morning, ABC was doing a live shot from Key West... where they were interviewing swimmer Diana Nyad. We were just about an hour or so from Key West at the time!

By the time we got off the ship in Key West, the weather was getting almost completely cloudy.

By the way, just so you know who I am... here's a photo of my wife and I on our balcony. (Our first time in an Aft Wrap!)

And speaking of my wife... one funny story:

We decided that since we had never been to Key West before, we would skip the official Carnival shore excursions and just set out on foot to explore the town on our own. So, there we were, walking around the commercial district near Duval street and just checking things out when mother nature called and a toilet was needed for my wife. At the same time, I was hungry (although that's true at almost any time) so I was really hoping to run in to a restaurant with a nice clean toilet. And ideally, since I really love Mexican food, I was hoping to there would be a Mexican restuarant that might meet the criteria. Imagine our surprise when at that exact moment, we found this place:

A Mexican restuarant... who had just in the last few days installed a brand new toilet and had the old one out for the trash pickup!

How's that for luck?!?

And then on top of that to get back onboard the ship before the downpour erupted. All in all, a great day cruising!

One more thing about me and my wife...

From this picture of our lunch when we boarded the ship in New Orleans, it is easy to see why she is 100 pounds and I am 200!

Those folks probably needed a shower before dinner anyways.;)

Love the report :) This happened to us once in Cozumel, thankfully the whole day was beautiful until about 30 minutes before we had to re-board the ship. I hope you enjoy the rest of your cruise!! Great pictures

All I can say is that you must be living right, Spaniel Lover. LOL! Have a great time! Hope the weather improves.

Thanks for the great pictures! The first one reminded me of our day in St. Maarten on our last cruise - a beautiful day until the rain rolled in. It was a downpour! We were in swimwear with shorts and t-shirts over top, so we didn't mind and strolled about as it poured. I was amused to see the amount of people who a) went running out of the ocean to avoid getting wetter :confused: and b) after already getting thoroughly soaked in the initial rain while also wearing swimwear, tried to get out of the rain. It rained so hard that it wasn't possible to get wetter if you were out when it hit, but heck if people didn't try! :)

I got caught in a similar downpour in Grand Caymen last December. We were not in swimwear (we were shopping in the port area when the cats and dogs started falling), so, at first, we kind of ran from cover to cover trying not to get completely drenched. When it looked like it wasn't going to clear up for a while, we went ahead and made our way back to the tender. Of course, no cover whatsoever, and we were dowsed. By that time, though, we were thoroughly enjoying ourselves dancing in the rain. By the time we made it back to the ship, it was no longer raining, and the sun was out. Talked to some other passengers that night who had been at 7 Mile Beach, and they said not a drop fell there.

Thanks for the very timely and funny report! Love the toilet shot!:D

Those folks probably needed a shower before dinner anyways.;)

Still laughing over that one!:D

That's Florida rain, folks. Sometimes we get instant rain while the sun is shining!

One more thing about me and my wife...

From this picture of our lunch when we boarded the ship in New Orleans, it is easy to see why she is 100 pounds and I am 200!

 

 

That could be us also ( except i might have two burgers )..

Hello, from Key West, Florida... and cabin 8455 on the Carnival Conquest!

 

I hadn't planned on posting anything on Cruise Critic until we got home, but something happened in Key West today that I couldn't wait to share.

 

This is why your cruise packing list should always include a small umbrella... and why you should always check the local weather forecast before getting off the ship with that umbrella!

 

Here are some very wet passengers waiting to get back onboard the ship after the weather turned nasty today:

 

 

The officers on the bridge must have been monitoring the weather and saw what was coming... because about 20 minutes before the downpour, they closed the sliding dome over the aft pool.

 

 

The Carnival Imagination was also in Key West today, but they got away when the weather was only starting to threaten, and before the downpour actually began.

 

 

The weather wasn't too bad at sunrise:

 

You know the photo of the lady wearing her robe on what looks like the Lido will get the conversation on people wearing robes outside of their cabin started again.

The same thing happened to me two weeks ago in Key West while on the Imagination, but since I live in Florida I never go anywhere without a rain jacket. I only got soaked from the knees down. It was really funny watching the other passengers trying to stay dry.

A bad/wet day in port beats a good day at work in my eyes! We will be on the Conquest in three weeks, don't care if it rains every day or not at all - just looking forward to our break....thanks for the pictures! It makes the wait easier AND harder at the same time!

I was on the Splendor 8/21 sailing. That Sunday we went on a sail and snorkel in St Thomas. The sun was bright...until we got on the catamaran. Within 10 minutes the skies open up and it poured so hard it hurt!! But since we were ready to snorkel only our suits got wet.

Terrible about the rain. Have had that happen in Nassau a few times. Your pictures are always so beautiful, always look forward to your picture reviews. Thanks for sharing.

BTW: Thanks for all you do in the spaniel community too! I've got lots of helpful information from you and all the wonderful information on your site.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk. Please excuse any typographical errors.

Hey Spaniel Lover, how wonderful to read your posting and see your pictures. I first discovered you on Cruise Clues and really enjoyed reading about all your cruises and everything else going on with you. (Looks like the Conquest has a Guy's burgers). We will be on the Freedom in January. We are especially looking forward to Key West. The Freedom does'nt have all the new food updates yet.

I always pack a few $.97 ponchos from Wally World, they're super compact and light to carry and work great in a pinch. If they get torn, I just throw them away after use. That little poncho has seen me thru some bad rain storms in Grand Cayman, St. Thomas and San Juan.

As a Florida resident, I always have an umbrella and light rain jacket in my car.

When I take an umbrella it's a sure bet it won't rain. Best insurance there is.

How was the Mexican Food?

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Loved your brief but hilarious report and pictures! The picture of the toilet next to the restaurant is priceless!

We sailed on the Conquest twice when she used to sail out of Galveston. Beautiful ship and wonderful crew.

How was the Mexican Food?

I assume you mean at the Salsa Loca restaurant.

It was really bad! Really, really bad!

Now maybe I just ordered the wrong thing... but what I ordered was really, really bad! It was beef nachos, and a margarita.

They don't have a liquor license... so the margarita was wine-based, not tequila-based. And the nachos... oh my, pretty much the worst I've ever had.

So, in that respect, it was not my lucky day.

That was nachos in that picture???

It rained all over florida today.

Yikes! Good to know, thanks. I will be in Key West at the end of this month and will avoid that place!

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