Conquest cruise 4/14/18 eastern

This was the second time we sailed on the Conquest, the first sailing was in May 2017 and we were anxious to see what upgrades/changes Carnival had made during dry dock. They added a Serenity area which was nice but always crowded. There are new chairs in the Lido buffet restaurant, new carpeting, new paint, re-configured casino and new slots.

We live 20 minutes from Port Everglades, therefore, we did not need a hotel or rental car. Our sailing party included my daughter, son-in-law, grandson, and me, Grandma. I am Diamond on Carnival and everyone else is Platinum. We booked staterooms next to each other so we could open the divider on our balcony to make one long balcony. This makes it easy to access each other's rooms and the longer balcony is great. Not all of the dividers on all of the adjacent balconies can be opened this way. When the divider is swung open, it covers half of the window of one of the staterooms. If you want to consider booking two rooms adjacent to each other so you can open the divider between the balconies, I suggest you ask your PVP or TA which balconies can be configured this way. Also, upon embarkation, you must go down to Guest Services to enter a request for your Room Steward to do this. When we returned from lunch, the divider was already open. Our ninja room steward, Irpan, took very good care of us all week.

We arrived at Pier 4 around 10:45 a.m., check in was really quick (5 minutes) and we were on our way to the second floor where Carnival has finally got all their ducks in a row as far as embarkation is concerned (debarkation on the last day was another story). The large room had rows of comfortable chairs and Diamond passengers were directed to sit in the first two rows. The wheelchair passengers were the first on board, there were no wedding parties. I chose to sit with my family in the Platinum section and when they called all Diamond members, I made my way to the front. The Carnival employee did a good job of maintaining order ('cause we all know it can be a stampede). It felt great to be on board the ship but, dang, that walk up the gangway was no easy feat. I thought for a minute I was in my doctor's office running up a steep incline for a stress test. I think I lost a few pounds before I even got on the ship.

To be continued...

We waited in the atrium lobby for my daughter and son-in-law (maybe 5 minutes) and made our way to our staterooms on Deck 9 and dropped off our luggage. Our rooms were ready and clean. The doors by the elevator which allow access to the staterooms are closed with a sign stating that Platinum and Diamond passengers were welcome to enter their staterooms upon arrival. Our stateroom had the older safes in the room where you need to swipe a card with a magnetic stripe on the back. I brought my loyalty card from a local Florida casino to use and picked a good hiding place for it. I had ordered a case of bottled water and soda which had already been delivered.

We made our way to the buffet which is an easy walk when your room is on the Lido deck. We all split up and met in the rear of the buffet area Port side and this is where we would congregate all week when we ate at the buffet. If you have a general area picked out where your family can find you, it saves a lot of time walking around and around looking for someone. For new cruisers, if you sail on a conquest-class ship, bypass the first buffet area and make your way aft, there is more seating back there and it is closer to pizza, deli, sushi, seafood shack. The Deli is now on the starboard side and sushi (at an additional cost) is on the Port side where the Deli was once located. Also, the second floor aft of the buffet offers BBQ now on the Conquest and there is never anyone up there, it's a great place to sit.

The buffet is hit or miss, in my opinion, some options all week were delicious and some were terrible. My son-in-law was looking forward to a Guy Fieri burger but did not like them this trip (he said they just didn't taste the same as usual) and much preferred the burritos and tacos from the Blue Iguana. During the week we tried pizza (good), new Deli sandwiches (yuck), Seafood Shack (charge too much for mediocre, at best), BBQ was o.k., best of the carved meats: baked ham and turkey. My favorite meal at the buffet is breakfast because I love over easy eggs and I made my way to one of the omelette stations every morning for 4 eggs over easy. I waited until they were done to grab some toast and butter and made my way quickly to a table before everything got cold. My son-in-law ate a bowl of oatmeal every morning with a big scoop of peanut butter in it and dried cranberries, raisins and nuts, lip smakin' good right there.

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We never ordered from room service this trip, it's so easy to walk from our stateroom to the buffet. We did try the Steakhouse for the first time and it was wonderful. I had my Diamond certificate from last year which paid for two of our dinners. We had melt in your mouth steak, lobster tails, shrimp cocktail, onion soup and that huge piece of cheesecake. I do believe the Steakhouse is on my list for my next cruise. The service was impeccable.

One thing they did not offer this cruise was the Taste Bar. I don't know if it has been cancelled on all of Carnival's ships or just on the Conquest. We did not drink at the Alchemy bar this trip. I liked the casino bar for pre-dinner cocktails...they made some dynamite dirty martinis (four olives please). I asked the bartenders to put it in a low-ball glass so I could carry it to the dining room without losing a drop of that precious vodka. Oh, speaking about alcoholic beverages, the bar person in the dining room did not approach us once all week (nor any of our neighbors) to ask if we wanted to order drinks. He kept flying by us with trays of drinks to the aft section of the dining room. So, after the first night of the invisible, disappearing, bar person, we always stopped at the casino bar and brought our beverages with us.

I know food is relative but choices we liked were the flat iron steak (not as good as the Steakhouse but still very tasty), shrimp cocktail (I'll have two please), cheese plate as an appetizer, braised beef brisket, banana split from children's menu, chocolate melting cake. On some nights I just ordered some apps and desserts (don't judge me). One of the items I absolutely will not eat is whatever they pass off as whipped butter (I think it is Crisco with yellow food coloring). On the first night, I asked our wait staff for the real butter pats that they have in the Lido buffet and every night after that we had the butter pats on our table.

More to come...

Love the details! Thanks :)

We did not attend any of the shows in the lounge (been there, done that), please, Carnival, new production shows would be nice. We attended some trivia, listened to a lot of live music, worked on our tans (note to newbies, there are lots of chairs available if you stay away from the pool areas). The new Serenity area is very nice and very crowded except late at night. We watched a couple of dive-in movies at the Seaside Theater on the Lido deck which is always a treat and gambled (I started with $100 and left at the end of the week with $100).

Good grief, I didn't mean to write this much. Here is our experience at the port stops:

First two days were sea days, we ate, drank, ate some more, and did I mention drinking? Whew, I'm glad I walked up that gangway incline on debarkation day which knocked off a few pounds.

First port was St. Maarten. We had read about all the traffic congestion due to road repairs and clean-up after Hurricanes Irma and Maria hit the island so we booked a shore excursion thru Carnival. It was the Beach Break with Lunch, thank goodness we did this because I knew if we were late getting back, Carnival would wait for us. There is road construction going on right outside the cruise port...the workers close one lane of the two lane road, work on it, letting one lane creep through then close the other lane and let the other lane of traffic creep through. It would normally take us 20 minutes to get to the beach but it took us 1-1/2 hours both ways. We were told by the coordinator that we would be going to Simpson Bay beach but another cruiser said we ended up at Mullet Bay??? The beach was located right past Maho (where people were packed in like sardines). Regardless, it was a beautiful, clean beach and water. The price of the excursion included transportation, lounge chairs, lunch, and unlimited rum punch. The descriptor on Carnival's web site said 3 rum punches per person but the bar personnel at the beach were pouring unlimited rum punches (my son-in-law managed to drink 8-10 we lost count and he was still able to walk to the bus). They have a lovely bar with seating in the shade, clean restrooms, and delicious lunch of either chicken, ribs or fish. It was a wonderful day and I wouldn't hesitate to recommend this excursion to anyone. The staff was well organized and saw to it that everyone was taken care of. On our 1-1/2 hour ride back, we were dead stopped in the middle of town and a few people jumped off the bus, ran to a restroom and made it back to the bus before we moved one inch. We made it back safely to the ship with 1/2 hour to spare. The downtown shopping area was cleaned up and adjoining beach looked clean. The island itself is devastated, there are hills that looked like a mud landslide took 1/2 of the hill away. I heard one of the locals comment that it's going to take another 2 years to get the island back to where it was.

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This is just what I am looking for! We will be on the Conquest March 2019. Can't wait to read more!

Our next stop was in St. Kitts. We had never been here and were undecided what to do. After looking at different options, we decided on purchasing a day pass at the Marriott hotel on the Atlantic side of the island. We purchased the day passes online a month before our cruise and printed out the confirmation which they asked for when we checked in. We arrived at the hotel around 9:30 a.m., checked in, got wrist bands and made our way through the beautiful grounds and pool area to the beach. The beach is wide and beautiful so we chose a palapa with four chairs and plopped our towels down until we smelled it...SEAWEED. Then we saw a huge garbage truck and backhoe drive onto the beach. The seaweed was piled high all along the entire length of the beach and floating in the water which made swimming and breathing impossible. We gathered all our belongings and made our way back to the pool and set up camp at the pool near the swim-up bar. The pool and surrounding grounds are beautiful, there are clean restrooms, bars and restaurants. The hotel also has a small casino which was dark and inviting. We stayed here for a few hours, ate some pizza (yucky and expensive) and made our way back to the port. There were lots of taxis waiting outside the hotel. The shopping area at St. Kitts is right at the port so we did some shopping before making our way back to the ship.

Next stop was San Juan which was also devastated by Hurricane Maria. We have been here many times and have toured both forts, walked the old town, drank and danced at Senor Frogs (yes, I wore my balloon hat proudly) so we went on a van tour of the island that was offered when we walked off the ship. After the tour, we stopped at a Walgreens for a few items and boarded our ship. Our shore time in San Juan was short so we were watching the time diligently.

Our final stop was at Grand Turk. When you go to Grand Turk, all seating at Margaritaville is complimentary (of course, they want you to purchase food & drinks), and all blue chairs on the beach were free. However, we saw a few of the island residents selling their chairs at a premium to sit in the first row by the water AND selling the free blue chairs also. We witnessed a couple of verbal fights between passengers and the island residents. So, a word of caution if you stop at Grand Turk, make sure you are not paying for something that is free.

In closing, we particularly want to recognize the staff on the Conquest. They were all very friendly, greeted us with a hello and smiles and offered to get us anything we needed.

Debarkation was a challenge, as always, trying to locate all our luggage and wave down a porter to help us through the serpentine line. It took us a good 30+ minutes to get through those long lines. I'm thankful every time I go on a cruise from the east coast of Florida that I only live minutes away from the port.

We're booked next year on the Magic which is being relocated to Fort Lauderdale and visiting two of our favorite ports, Aruba and Curacao.

Happy sailing to all.

Just thought of a couple more items people might be interested in. Irpan, our room steward never asked when we wanted our stateroom serviced. He cleaned it in the morning and evening. If my grandson was sleeping in, we just put out the snoozing sign. The ice bucket was always filled. I asked Irpan for a couple extra pillows and he brought me five. I sent laundry to be done and received it back the next day.

I always purchase those inexpensive and easy to pack wire hangers for the closets and just leave them for the next occupants because there are never enough. We also bring inexpensive beach towels (if they get lost, no biggie), battery operated candles that serve as nightlights, S'well drink bottles (I make iced coffee at the Lido buffet and it stays nice and cold), travel alarm clock, small plastic disposable containers (fill them with cookies from the Lido buffet so they stay fresh), rain ponchos ($1.00 at Tarjay and Wally World), they don't take up much room and have saved us at a few rainy port stops.

As far as beverages, I like V8 juice which Carnival does not offer so I bring a 6 pack in my carry-on. I order a case of water and soft drinks from the Fun Shops. Do we bring wine on board, no. Do we bring alcohol on board, I plead the fifth.

We had 6:00 p.m. confirmed dining in the main dining room and ate there every night except two. We like to eat early because there is so much going on at night on the ship. One night we ate at the Steakhouse and the other night we were pooped from a day at the beach and just grabbed something quick from the buffet/pizza.

We did not attend any of the comedy shows so can't comment on that, and, as mentioned earlier, did not attend any of the production shows.

Our first Conquest cruise will be March 2019, great review.

I have a question about loungers not near the pool; do servers still come by those spots?

Yes, the bar servers roam all the decks and accommodate everyone who want to order beverages.

Deck 10 aft of the mid-ship elevators on conquest-class ships, both starboard and port sides of the ship have rows and rows of lounge chairs. You can still hear the music from the Lido deck pool but it's not as hectic with people tripping over your chairs. You can still watch the hairy chest contest and ice carving contest, etc., just bring your Fun Times with you.

Thanks for the question.

Thank you for the review - great one at that! I’ll be sailing Conquest in August. It’s definitely not my first pick, but the dates, price, and itinerary worked for us. Glad you had a great time!

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Nice review. Your comment on the butter in the MDR made me laugh. I describe it the same way, and the waiters have always had butter waiting at our table beginning with the second night.

The Conquest was the first Carnival ship I sailed. I really enjoyed her.

Thanks for posting.

Thanks for the report.

girlsbgoing: Have a great cruise, I hope you enjoy sailing on the Conquest. Perhaps you can do a review upon your return, I'll look forward to it. Wish I could come along, I'm still in post-cruise doldrums.

bury me at sea: I'm glad to hear someone else dislikes that icky whipped butter. On our cruise last year, the wait staff would forget to bring us the butter pats so we would bring some back to our stateroom from the buffet during the day and stash it in our refrigerator and bring it down to the MDR with us at dinner.

I hate to date myself but when I was a child during WW II, I remember my Mom going to get her rations at the store and bringing home a hunk of lard with a red/yellow food coloring button in the shortening that you broke and mushed up with the shortening to resemble the color of butter which was rationed. It tasted disgusting and that's what the whipped butter in the MDR reminds me of, blech!!

Great review. Is the Jazz Bar still on the ship with all the updates?

We never made it back to Vincent's Jazz Bar but I know they held games there and karaoke, build-a-bear workshops.

Someone asked me recently about the road construction going on in St. Maarten, here is my review which discusses road repairs when we stopped there in April. Hopefully, they have finished the repairs because it was right outside the terminal and affected all vehicle transportation.

I loved your review. Thank you so much. we are 82 days and counting until sailing the Conquest to Aruba and Curacao.

Thanks for the great review! Conquest was my 2nd Carnival cruise back in 2005 (I think?), and we’re booked on her for the 8 day southern Carib sailing in October. Nice to hear about the updates, and that the crew is still fab. Sad to hear the Taste bar is gone though - the little mini-bites they offered were always a great mid-afternoon snack. Thanks again!

cruisingmaniac: You will be visiting two of my favorite ports in September, Aruba and Curacao. We loved Mambo Beach at the Blvd. Shops in Curacao, beautiful water, snorkeling, bars, restaurants, etc. In the evening we walked through the Rif Fort to the waterfront and a stroll over the pontoon bridge. Have a great cruise!

samiam0403: Enjoy your cruise in October, one of the best months to sail the Caribbean. We were also disappointed that the Taste Bar is no longer offered. Maybe something else will take its place????