Back from Conquest Feb 12-19

This was my first cruise. My husband and I and our 3 kids 4, 7, 10. We all had a great time. The first 2 days we did not have warm weather going out of the gulf, but there is not anything to do about that.The kids went to kids club and had a great time. My 4 yr old never wanted to leave when we would pick her up.

KIDS CLUB--Awsome we had one in each of the age groups and I was apprehensive about this at first. I thought they should be able to stay together. This was fine though. They all made friends quickly and I never heard them complain at all. My only complaint (and a small one) was that they had scheduled late night parties for the kids. The 9-11yr old group stayed out from 10pm-3:30am. My 10 yr old was allowed to go and the counselor brought him back to the cabin. He had a blast! My 7 yr old was not permitted to stay out that late I thought they should have scheduled their party (6-8yr old group) for earlier. No children went in that age group.

CABIN-SPA DECK-1116 & 1118 adjoining rooms Fantastic!!!!! Large and spacious no balcony but the floor to ceiling windows were just as good for me, and no worries about the kids going overboard:D ;) . 3 large closets lots of drawer space. Great cabin steward-Romeo. One deck up to kids club and one deck up to get on the slide. 1-2 decks down to the pool. Would book these rooms agein and agein....

FOOD-- dining room was wonderful, never a bad meal. I did not really notice what other people were wearing-dont really care if someone wants to wear jeans. My brother came one night in Jeans :eek: no one said any thing to him. I dont like buffets so didnt care for the lido deck buffet but there was nothing really wrong with it. Chineese food from the wok on the lido was good.Pizza was O'kay. Sushi was tasty but nothing really raw only cali-rolls and the like. We ate breakfast in the Monet dining room and loved the eggs benedict (order extra sauce).

ENTERTAINMENT Cant give a good review for this. Comedian was funny, but cant bring the kids to this one! The magic show was cancelled due to a family emergency.:( Cant fault the ship for that. Director Todd did get a vantriliquist by some miricle. He did a good job, but all was just O'kay.

MONTEGO BAY was fun we did not have any problems. We went on our own to Doctors cave beach. This was our first warm day so we enjoyed just laying on the beach. Only a couple of vendors bugged us in the water (they cant come up on shore at the private beach) It is walking distance to Margaritaville. Some men wanted to take us to a different place when we said we were going to margaritaville they said "they dont let kids in to margaritaville it is a bar" We ignorned them and walked down 2 blocks ate lunch and took a cab to the shopping area downtown. We all enjoyed this port. My husband bought a watch from casa de oro gave us a good price. You have to be careful here, but still worth going.

GRAND CAYMAN We went on the ship scheduled sting ray city tour. Next time I will do this different. Too many people! Swimming with the rays was great, but go on a private tour!!!!

COZUMEL This was our favorite port. Yes there is still damage but they are doing a great job of clean up. Senior frogs is still closed but should open soon:D . My kids went with my adult niece to Playa Mia and had a great time. My husband and I went on the scuba 2 tank certified dive scheduled through the ship. Aquaworld was the dive company and it was great. Our divemaster Gorge was experienced and made sure everyone was safe. We saw a nurse shark, 2 octopus 4-5 eagle rays and lots of colorful fish.

Overall we had a great time. I would recomend this ship and the ports we visited to anyone. I would be leary of booking excusions through the ship. I think you could get stuck on a cattle car with too many people on any of the excursions through the ship. That is the only thing I would do different. I think we were lucky on our dive to get such a good experience.

Thanks for the great review! We are leaving on the 26th (6 more days!)

Miranda

Two more weeks, two more weeks!! That was a great review. Thanks for posting your honest opinions. How did you go on you own in Jamcia? Did you get a cab to the beach?

Laurie,

Thanks For Taking Time To Do A Review. We Have Been On The Conquest Twice. I Really Like Her Too.

Thanks so much for your review. We will be on the conquest on 3/19/06 on the spa deck. We have two boys who are turning 10 and 7 before we cruise, so our cruise experience should be similar to yours. If you have pictures I would love to see them. Thanks.

Aquaworld is a massive outfitter based in Cancun. I went on one dive with them and it was fine. Prefer Blue Bubble in Cozumel.

Thanks for the report! Do you have any pics of the room?

I have read some previous capers and notice that there is a section each day titled "Taste of Nations". What does this mean. One states: Chocolate Buffet, but I can't find it anywhere else on the Capers. Please help!

I have read some previous capers and notice that there is a section each day titled "Taste of Nations". What does this mean. One states: Chocolate Buffet, but I can't find it anywhere else on the Capers. Please help!

Every day the Lido deck restaurant has a different theme - looking back at my Capers, there was Japanese, Indian, American, Caribbean (very good conch), Italian and French, along with the Chocolate Buffet.

Welcome Back! Glad to hear someone say great things about the conquest. We were on her back in May, and had a wonderful time!! I loved Cozumel as well, glad to hear that things are looking up down there!:)

We did get a cab to the beach I think we paid $4.00 per person. They want to take you on a tour of the Island so make sure you tell them you want to go strait to the beach and are not interested in sight seeing. Might have to share the cab-its more like a bus so might make stops along the way but you dont have to do the whole tour if you dont want to.

I did not notice that on the capers but we were so busy all the time I might have missed it. On the last day I saw someone eating chineese food and found out there was a wok on the port side where they made stir fry. maybe this is what that was. They do have a chocolate buffet on the last day of the cruise from 12-2ish it was fantastic!!! Only on that day though. Trust me though there will be no shortage of chocolate on any day. Dont miss the chocolate in phillo dough or the flourless chocolate cake.

how does one book an excursion not through carnival? this is our first cruise, and i would love to do stingray city but i was afraid of crowded accomodations and its a bit pricey. will there be vendors at the dock wanting us to book with them or do we need to do it in advance? thanks for the info, we leave on the conquest march 5.

anette

Great review.:D We will be going 4/30. One question - how soon could you debar? We have a flight at 12:23 and I'm afraid we won't have time to get to the airport.:(

how does one book an excursion not through carnival? this is our first cruise, and i would love to do stingray city but i was afraid of crowded accomodations and its a bit pricey. will there be vendors at the dock wanting us to book with them or do we need to do it in advance? thanks for the info, we leave on the conquest march 5.

 

anette

hello, we were on the conquest in january and had a private stingray booked with captain marvins, his tours are cheaper and only 20-30

people on the boat, but due to high seas that day we could not tender in and the ship cancelled the port, but captain marvin had no problem with this. we had only held a reservation with a credit card as the only take cash for payment on the day of the tour. look it up on the internet and call them ,i think toll free. there is some discussion of this on the boards under the grand cayman board. hope this helps, jeff

Great review.:D We will be going 4/30. One question - how soon could you debar? We have a flight at 12:23 and I'm afraid we won't have time to get to the airport.:(

Sally,

You have a couple of options. You can do something called self debarkation. This is where if you can handle all of your bags, meaning you can carry them, all you have to do is leave when they call your deck number. Once you leave the ship, you will enter in the customs area and be out rather quickly. In our case, we were on deck 11. We were one of the first decks called for self debarkation (called at 6:30 AM). We were through customs at our car by 8:15 am. The other option, set your bags outside your door the evening before and wait to leave, starting at 8:30 in the am. You are again called by decks. You proceed to pick up you luggage outside of customs. Both ways are effective. However, my husband and I felt since we had a long drive home, the early we left the ship the earlier arrive home. Carnival says that you will be off the ship by 10:30 either way. I would recommend the self debarkation. It was easy.

Greetings,

Considering the Conquest in August and was wondering which airport we should fly in to? Also, how far away is the airport from the port? Does anyone know off hand what Carnival charges for the transfer?

Thanks!

Thanks, Lakeozarklaurie. We had planned to do the self debark. We have a shuttle scheduled for 10 to take us back to the airport (Houston IAH). Was told that we would be at the airport by 11am. This is pushing it. I had hped that you could self debark early. Again, thanks.

Thanksfor the great review.. We will be in cabin 1115 and was wondering how much motion you noticed on the Spa deck where the cabins are located?

Also how long did it take you to get off the sip in the Caymans. We have booked the stingray tour for 8:30am with Nativeway and need to be on the pier before 8:15am..

Thanks.

Did you take any photos you can post??

Carla

GRAND CAYMAN We went on the ship scheduled sting ray city tour. Next time I will do this different. Too many people! Swimming with the rays was great, but go on a private tour!!!!

We booked privately with Nativeway......just a question....do you need watershoes? Did you get in the water barefooted? Were you kids afraid at first or did they get right in?

Thanks for the great review. We are counting the days.

Gayle

how does one book an excursion not through carnival? this is our first cruise, and i would love to do stingray city but i was afraid of crowded accomodations and its a bit pricey. will there be vendors at the dock wanting us to book with them or do we need to do it in advance? thanks for the info, we leave on the conquest march 5.

 

anette

Annette,

If you check on the Grand Cayman threads over on the port of call boards you will find many suggestions. We booked through Captain Bryan's and had an awesome experience. They have a Catamaran and there were probbly no more than 20 people on with us. It was the highlight of our cruise!! We booked on their website but I am sorry to say I don;t know what that is. Do a search on the GC boards and you will find it! Good Luck!

Thanksfor the great review.. We will be in cabin 1115 and was wondering how much motion you noticed on the Spa deck where the cabins are located?

 

Also how long did it take you to get off the sip in the Caymans. We have booked the stingray tour for 8:30am with Nativeway and need to be on the pier before 8:15am..

 

Thanks.

 

Did you take any photos you can post??

 

Carla

We did feel the movement especially the wind up high. none of us got sick but I felt very dizzy the first day. A lady in the spa told me to start taking Bonine an over the counter sea sick med which I purchased on board and it stopped.

Go to the carnival web site to view deck plans and you can see where the cabins are located. I think you will be on starboard side right next to the spa. You will love the way it smells on the spa deck:D .

I will try to get pics posted tonight. I havent even unpacked yet!:eek:

p.s. I cant rmember what time we got off the ship in the caymans. I will check with my DH tonight. I bet the tour company knows when the ship arrives and would not want to book something unrealistic. Even our cab driver in Cozumel was careful about getting us back to the ship on time and we didnt even tell him what time we needed to be back. He just knew what boat we were on.

We booked privately with Nativeway......just a question....do you need watershoes? Did you get in the water barefooted? Were you kids afraid at first or did they get right in?

 

Thanks for the great review. We are counting the days.

 

Gayle

A big no on the water shoes. Our guide would no even allow watershoes if you had them. They do not want you to step on the rays and hurt them unknowingly. My 7 yr old did not get in she said she was cold. It was chilly and overcast that morning. She regrets not getting in now. My 10 yr old boy got in and swam around on his own and loved it. Everyone is apprehensive @ first. I held my 4 yr old and she was a bit afraid but our guide helped me to get her to pet a ray and he lifted a ray and gave her a back rub with its wing. She said it tickled. I will try to post pictures tonight after DH gets home. You stand on a soft white sandbar. you and your kids will have a great time. Wish I could go agein.

Thanks Laurie. We are really looking forward to it. Was the water cold too?

Thanks Laurie. We are really looking forward to it. Was the water cold too?

The water temp was about 72 degrees. It felt cold @ first but we didnt even notice it after you get used to it.

Greetings,

 

Considering the Conquest in August and was wondering which airport we should fly in to? Also, how far away is the airport from the port? Does anyone know off hand what Carnival charges for the transfer?

 

Thanks!

Try to get a flight into Houston Hobby airport if possible. It is around 45 minutes from the Galveston port, while Bush is on the other side of town around 1-1/2 hours away. Look under the questions section of Carnival's website for info on various ports. Under Galveston, there should be a number and a price for booking the transfer. Unless you got an all inclusive package (cruise+flight+transfers), I think the charge from Carnival was around $60 per person for both ways. We used Galveston Limousine from Hobby and they were $50 pp. Galveston's desk was right near the luggage pick-up in the airport and the reps for the Carnival transfers were actually very helpful in pointing us in the right direction. No problems.