Trip Report - Carnival Conquest (Feb 25 -Mar 3) PLUS Bonus 4-Day DisneyWorld

As a bit of an introduction, this cruise was our 8th cruise overall but only our 2nd with Carnival. We first cruised with Carnival 7 years ago with some friends, early in our cruising days. Things were all shiny and new to us at that point and we didn't have a lot of experience to draw on nor did we have any real expectations. We've cruised nearly every year since then and gained a good deal of perspectives on different lines.

We're a family of three. Myself and my wife, both in our mid-40's and our 9-year old daughter. We're not at a stage in our life where we vacation to "get away from it all". We travel to escape the Canadian winter and to experience new things as a family. We often travel with my folks, but they are married to Holland America and we thought it was time for a change this year.

It was late summer when we decided to book another cruise. I spent weeks researching options. My parents were still putting their winter plan together (they cruise for a solid 3 months on HAL) and my wife and I were a little reluctant to plop down on the unabashedly seniors' line for another week. Nothing at all against HAL, they are a fine cruise line, but we wanted something a little more active and exciting. We've enjoyed our two RCL cruises so they were an option, but once I saw the prices on some of the Carnival cruises, I kept circling back. Over the years, my opinion of Carnival has decayed, mostly due to the very visible problems they've had. The low prices only compounded my concern. They must be desperate for customers with those prices, no?

During the cruise line deliberations, a new low-cost airfare option was introduced from an airport at a nearby US border town. So cheap were the fares, they seemed too good to be true. A catch was they only flew in and out on Saturdays and Wednesdays. This meant that if we were to fly with this option, we would have to be down south for 12 days. The idea to go to Disney for a few days appeared and with that, the need for a low cost cruise option was clear. So we bit the bullet and booked the Conquest 6 day cruise, with the plan to drive up to Orlando after the cruise and do three days at Disney before flying home. This cruise brought us to two ports that were new to us (Grand Turk and Amber Cove) along with one of our favourite places in Half Moon Cay. The inclusion of Nassau was a bummer (we're not fans) but the single sea day was a big plus (we don't care for sea days).

As it turns out, the low-cost airline WAS too good to be true, and hidden costs and restrictions sent us down a traditional airline path. We were committed to our plan though and it was time to get ready.

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We flew down to Ft Lauderdale bright and early on the 24th. Arriving a day early is critical, as we've been delayed before. We arrived without incident, rented a car and drove to the Hilton Garden Inn on 18th Ave. We've stayed here before and we like the location because it is close to a few amenities to complete our travel supplies and it's also near Dave & Busters, a good family spot to occupy our pre-cruise evening.

The next morning, we had made plans with my parents to meet for breakfast, as they were on a turn-around day for their cruise, a day when their ship was in Ft Lauderdale. We had a good breakfast at the Moonlight Diner, dropped the car off and then headed to our ship.

Embarkation was smooth. We arrived 10 minutes outside our window and were forced to wait in the early/late line but it wasn't too bad. We were carrying three cases of pop with us, plus our three backpacks and by the time we got on the ship, we were a little weighed down and tired. We found a table in the Lido, got some tacos and started to feel better. At 2:00pm, we got into our room. A little funny how they place your cards in your slot and not issue them at check in. We had an outside cabin on Deck 2. We splurged a little bit on a window as we're normally inside cabin folks and it was a nice way to wake up each morning.

For the first time ever, we had chosen an assigned dining time. We've always enjoyed the flexibility of Anytime dining, but since it was just going to be the three of us on this cruise, we thought getting to know some new people over dinner would be a good idea. We arrived at the dining room for our 6:00pm dinner time, were seated at a table for 10 and another couple with two boys joined us shortly after. We were nervous that we might not jive with mystery table mates, but we got along great! Both families are Canadian and we had a lot to talk about. The two vacant seats stayed that way for the rest of the week.

I'll take a minute here to discuss the dinner experience overall as I can't remember differences from one night to the next. I found it funny that aside from the first night, we were not escorted to our table. Not a problem but just different than what we are used to. The tablecloth business is much ado about nothing, as far as I'm concerned. The tables are well-appointed and spacious, but the removal of wine glasses when wine is not ordered should be a standard action. I found the dining rooms meals to be acceptable. For the most part, the starters were good, in particular the chilled peach soup I enjoyed. The mains were mostly less so. The braised beef dish was like jelly and nearly inedible. The chicken breast was an overdone, unseasoned lump. The filet/short rib combo was the worst filet I have ever tasted. I had a pasta dish that was good and a pork dish that was very good, but generally I was disappointed. Deserts were good however. The chocolate lava cake, while hard to mess up, was always good. I want to take a minute to talk about the crème brule though. I'm a bit of a nut for these and order them whenever I have a chance. I have never in my life tried to eat such an abomination of this elegant dessert. Typically, a thin layer of sugar is melted on top of the custard to provide a burnt crunch. On these, the sugar layer was so thick, it was difficult to break. There was so much sugar, that a good amount remained unmelted under the thick pane of glass laying on my custard. Thinking this might be an error, we asked for it a second night, and it was even worse.

The service in the dining room was mostly excellent, with the exception of the final night. We were usually in and out in just over an hour, but on the final night, the only night we had to be in the theatre for the kids' participation in the Lip Sync Battle, service took forever! My wife and daughter had to leave before they were finished their main and didn't get dessert. The dancing and stuff is fun, but boy does ever screw with the service! Every time the Maitre D announced a performance, the servers would groan and I don't blame them!

We had breakfast in the Lido each morning and it is pretty much as you would expect. There seemed to be just enough tables to go around, which is good because it can get busy in there. We only had lunch one day on the ship aside from embarkation day. I really enjoyed the tacos. I tried the BBQ place one evening and it was good also. Guy's Burger Joint was good, though the burgers are very sloppy! We didn't try the pizza, sushi, seafood, sandwiches, or the Steak place, nor did we try room service.

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We were impressed with our cabin. It was larger than we were used to, whether that's a measure of us having an outside cabin instead of our usual inside, or maybe the Conquest cabins are just bigger. The bed was comfortable and the coach/bed conversion was also comfy for our daughter. There was plenty of storage and enough room to move around, even with three of us in there. The bathroom was sufficient, though there was a broken panel under the sink that exposed a bunch of nastiness. The mini fridge kept things plenty cold. The TV was sorely lacking though. It is small, the picture is fuzzy and if you don't enjoy incessant, pointless US politics or cartoons, don't even bother turning it on. The lack of interactive TVs for ships schedules, excursion ordering, account tracking and such is puzzling. Other lines do that so well and I was surprised that Carnival used a smartphone app instead.

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Day one saw us in Nassau. We've been here 4 times already and we're pretty much bored with the port. Instead of roaming around town or doing the Atlantis tour again, we decided to book our one and only excursion and take the Private Island Beach with Lunch trip. The excursion brings you by boat over to Balmoral Island. It's about a 20 minute trip. The beach is nice the area seems to be shared with a small Sandals resort. The weather was nice, but the water was chilly. The included lunch was a burger, chips and a drink. They claim to have a "Starbucks" here but it's a bit of a stretch. There's a bar also, but the drinks are even more expensive than on the ship.

That evening, we saw the "Epic Rock" show in the theatre. Being a guitar player, I was excited when a solo player hopped on stage 15 minutes prior to the show starting and just played his axe. The show itself was singers and dancers performing to pre-recorded music. The show was entertaining, though I would have preferred a live band.

Day two had us in Half Moon Cay, a favourite of ours. We've been there a few times with HAL, but we weren't prepared for the number of people the Conquest would dump on that beach. I guess on our HAL cruises, the ships are a bit smaller and the cruisers are older and don't always venture on the tenders, so the beach feels empty. I think every last soul got off the Conquest on this day. Surprisingly, even with all these extra people, neither the beach nor the BBQ lunch area felt crowded. The water was again chilly, but the quality of the beach and the surf was too inviting and we spent most of the day in the water.

That evening was the first elegant night for dinner. We are used to a scale of dress on those night that ranges between shirt-and-tie up to tuxedos. Over the years I've stopped bringing a suit and settled for shirt-and-tie. Carnival is a different animal though. There were no tuxes, no ball gowns and only a handful of suits. My shirt-and-tie put me at the top end of the dress. Most people simply wore a collared shirt, while many didn't adjust at all. This is not a complaint by me. Next time I will happily conform to the Carnival standard and leave the tie at home.

Day three introduced us to Turk and Caicos, a rare new port for us. What a great spot! The ship ties up right at the edge of a wonderful beach that includes a large number of chairs and umbrellas. The green umbrellas were free to use, while the others were rentals. Even in the green area, folks would roam the beach and offer you buckets of beer and whatnot. The water here was much warmer than the previous ports and very welcoming. Small schools of palometa fish at your feet, clear water and soft sand. After a few good hours, we poked around the shops a bit and popped into Margarittaville, our original full-day destination. It looked... sad. People drunk off their skulls, loud music and just an overall unfriendly atmosphere. We didn't stay.

I believe that evening saw the 80's production in the main theatre. I'm impressed at the staging and production values of the Carnival shows, if not necessarily in the quality of the performances. It was after this show that we roamed up to the karaoke venue to check that out. After a short time, our daughter decided she wanted to give it a go and gave a performance that showed her nervousness. To her credit, she signed up again right away and began to get her groove. We went back the next night as she really enjoyed it and the crowd was very encouraging. One night she even had a child's frozen drink sent to her with a note from "Secret Admirers" encouraging her some more! How awesome is that?

We pulled in to Amber Cove on day four, again a new port for this family. We've been to an All-Inclusive nearby a number of years ago and didn't leave with much love for the Puerto Plata area. The Amber Cove facility is magnificent though. The entire place was spotless and welcoming. The pool is very nice and there is ample places to park yourself for the day. There could perhaps have been more umbrellas/trees/shade, but that's really being picky. We did grab a snack at the café (fajitas and crab cake thingies) and had a few drinks. The shops were nice, though I wish these ports would expand the types of shops beyond the usual high end jewellery and low end trinket shops. Amber Cove has a lot of info displayed about the region and the amount of amber in the area, including descriptions on its use and importance. Besides the high end refined jewelry stores that I feel weird going into with my flip flops and sun-burned scalp, a more accessible venue could be offered that makes amber available.

This evening was elegant night two and it was more of the same, perhaps even more dressed down as people were fully into the tropical swing at this point. After dinner, we went to the Hasbro Game Night in the theatre on the recommendation of our table mates. Normally, we would have skipped something like this but it was fun. I got chosen to participate in the Simon challenge (we lost) and it was with this production that I truly appreciated the amount of work that goes in to these shows. They really do a good job.

Our final day was our one and only sea day. We dread these sea days. Cruising for us is about the ports. Laying around in the sun all day, especially after 4 days crisping up our dermal layer, just isn't a ton of fun. We had a late start to the day, sent our daughter to the Kids Club and did our own thing. I found a good quiet spot on Deck 5 to finish a book I'd been working on while my wife went out to people watch. We did meet up for the Dr Suess event in the lobby, which was fun. They dropped piles of balloons from the upper reaches and had a huge spread of cakes and deserts. It's too bad it was happening so close to dinner time.

Dinner tonight was unusual. We actually had plans to get the theatre for 7:15pm to get ready for the Lip Sync Battle show (Kids Club kids were preparing an interlude performance) and knew that wouldn't be a problem based on the speedy dinner service from the 5 days previous. Unfortunately, things ground to halt tonight and everything was very, very slow. By the time 7:00 had rolled around, the main dishes were just coming out. My wife and daughter chowed down and then left without desert. I met them in the theatre just a little later.

That night was the Lip Sync Battle, another officially licensed production. It was fun. The two contestants had been chosen earlier in the week and had been rehearsing a lot we'd been told. I'm sure that I would not be interested in rehearsing for hours during my vacation, but to each their own. Then it was back to the cabin to pack up and begin planning for debarkation.

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On the day of debarkation, our plan was to get off early, rent our car, drive to Orlando and get a half day at Epcot. Normally we wouldn't have tried to jam that in but we found a great deal on a 4 day pass to Disney that was cheaper than the 3 day pass we had planned for, and decided we would get our money's worth. Unfortunately, our decision to stick with standard debarkation and not to carry our own luggage off was an error on our part. Even though we chose the 8:00am-9:00amdebarkation, we didn't get off until after 9:30am. Thankfully, customs was lighting fast and we were off.

So ends the cruise report. If that's all that interests you, thanks for reading and I hope this was informative. I'm going to continue though and give a report on our days at Disney. It seems that combining a cruise with a Disney visit is a popular thing and this might be interesting to someone.

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As I said, we drove up to Orlando, which is about a 3 hour drive. It's not a thrilling one, but it's a straight shot and simple to navigate. We arrived at our hotel, the Hilton Garden Inn on Palm Parkway, dropped our stuff off and headed to Epcot. We chose Epcot for the half day because we'd been there before and knew that there wasn't a full day of things for us. In hindsight, I would suggest Hollywood Studios for the half day.

We immediately jumped in line for Spaceship: Earth and after that skipped over to the World Pavilion for the rest of the day. Those who know Epcot know that there aren't a ton of ride in this park and it is more about interesting shops and exhibits. We had a FastPass for the Frozen ride at 5:30 so we slowly made our way around the lagoon, starting with Canada. By the time we got to Japan, my daughter's eyes lit up. She's in love with the Japanese anime characters and we spent an hour in the large store there, finally deciding on some sort of "lazy egg" character. By the time we got to Norway, it was time for our Frozen ride. This ride replaced the Maelstrom ride and I have to say, it is very well done. After that, we got some dinner in China and made our way to Mexico to walk around. We're big fans of the real Mexico and we love the feel inside the pyramid. As with the last time we were there, we regretted not waiting to eat until we got to Mexico because their restaurant in the pyramid looks so good. The sun had gone down by the time we got out and it was getting chilly. The nighttime fireworks were approaching so we got some hot drinks and camped out a good spot by the lagoon for the show.

Day two at Disney was for Magic Kingdom. It was a beautiful day, sunny and warm but never hot. We had three FastPasses to plan around, starting with Jungle Cruise. We also had passes for Haunted Manson and Small World. A few rides were closed (Pirates and Splash Mountain) but we stayed plenty occupied. There's a neat Fantasy Parade that runs through the park and a fun production show at the castle a few times a day. The highlight HAS to be the new nighttime show that includes music, fireworks and projections on the castle that blew my mind.

By day three, we were starting to get a little tired. Long days of walking and waiting in line were taking their toll. Thankfully, the hotel shuttle to Hollywood Studios didn't leave until 10:00am so it gave us a bit of time to recover. I can't say I can really recommend Hollywood Studios in its current state. The Indian Jones Stunt Show is fun (and a welcome sitdown in the shade) and the Tower of Terror is pretty well-renowned. The park is undergoing a massive expansion though with both a new Pixar land and Star Wars: Galaxies Edge land being developed. The scale of the Star Wars land is immense. We didn't choose to stay for the nighttime show here, instead choosing to head to the new Disney Springs.

We arrived to Disney Springs around 6:00pm and began looking for a good place to eat. We had come straight from the park so a fancy place was out of the question. We eventually settled on the new Planet Hollywood and it was good with a massive movie screen inside a domed roof. We roamed around afterwards, checking out the shops and things and eventually found the Coca-Cola store. Now, I'm a big fan of Coke so we checked it out and it's an amazing place. Up on the roof you can visit the Rooftop Coke Bar and sample all kinds of things. My daughter and I decided we would try the Global Coke Flight. For only $9 we sampled 16 Coke products from around the world. Some were good and some were awful but that's all part of the fun!

Day four finally brought us to Animal Kingdom. We had FastPasses for the Avatar River attraction, for Expedition Everest and for Dinosaur. The new Avatar world looks fantastic. The River attraction is a slow moving ride through a beautiful Avatar scene and is quite well done. We had heard that the other Avatar attraction, Flight of Passage was stunning but recent visitors advised us that the waits were too long and to think about skipping it. When we passed it, the ride showed a 90 minute wait so we went for it. Amazingly, we were in after 45 minutes! Let me tell you, the ride is worth it! It's one of those virtual 4D rides where your vehicle moves around in front of a giant screen with sounds, touches and smells coming from all sides. The evening show at Animal Kingdom is amazing too. You sit around their lagoon and watch as scenes are projects on the trees around and then projected on cascades of water shot from boats and water cannons. Impossible to explain but wonderful to watch.

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Unfortunately, the next day was our departure. We had a later flight (5:00pm) and planned a trip to the Florida Mall to visit the American Girl store, one of the trip's highlights for our daughter. Following that we stopped by a Target where a Wal-Mart gift card was found by my daughter in the parking lot. A quick search online showed the card had $65 on it. Knowing that there was no way to get it to its owner and knowing that if we turned it in to Target the employees there would simply pocket it, we set off to find a Wal-Mart (we had no idea if it would work in Canada). After buying some toys at Wal-Mart, we arrived at the airport to learn that our flight was cancelled. Delta employees were little help, but booked us on a three leg hop home the next day and left us on our own. A quick search on the Hilton app and an Uber ride later and we had an evening to kill. Since by this point, the extra day was putting us over budget, we decided on IHOP for dinner, where a kind man from Texas insisted on picking up our tab for us!

Finally, the trip home began. We got to the airport, found our gate and were greeted by the Captain of our Detroit flight announcing to us that is not comfortable with the brakes on the plane we've been assigned! An hour later he announces the brakes are fine and he was wrong, so off we go. Of course, this delay made us miss our connection and we had to be rebooked again. Finally, we arrive back in Canada, but don't you know it, we're a bag short! Thankfully, the agents knew where it was and it found its way to our home the next day.

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For anyone who is still here after that marathon, thank you! Feel free to ask questions!

Good review!

Let me guess...you stayed near Oakwood Plaza off Stirling Rd. I love staying there before a cruise out of Ft Lauderdale. So convenient to get wine to take on or any last minute items I forgot!

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This is a stretch to ask but I will cuz you just never know....

We are actually looking at this cruise for Dec . We are both divers and would be looking to dive in all the ports.

I know Nassau will work . And we will just enjoy HMC. And Amber Cove is early arrival so we should be good there,

But Grand Turk is 11-7....I worry about the late arrival.

By any far chance did you notice or talk to any individuals that were diving in this port?

I know it's a long shot but figured it never hurts to ask.

Thanks for the review!

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Enjoyed your review and the Disney review as well....Thanks

Thanks for your review! I was excited to find a Conquest review since we leave for this same cruise March 25th!

We are driving down from Buffalo NY since we plan on staying at our timeshare in Orlando the week after the cruise!

I figured it was a 3 hour drive, and glad to see that is what it is. How was the traffic?

Thanks for the report.

I enjoyed your trip report.

Thank you for taking the time to write and share this.

Keith

Let me guess...you stayed near Oakwood Plaza off Stirling Rd. I love staying there before a cruise out of Ft Lauderdale. So convenient to get wine to take on or any last minute items I forgot!

 

Sent from my SM-G928V using Forums mobile app

Yep, that's the spot. Very convenient.

This is a stretch to ask but I will cuz you just never know....

We are actually looking at this cruise for Dec . We are both divers and would be looking to dive in all the ports.

I know Nassau will work . And we will just enjoy HMC. And Amber Cove is early arrival so we should be good there,

But Grand Turk is 11-7....I worry about the late arrival.

By any far chance did you notice or talk to any individuals that were diving in this port?

I know it's a long shot but figured it never hurts to ask.

Thanks for the review!

 

Sent from my SM-T350 using Forums mobile app

Well, we're not divers so we didn't really pay close attention. I think the dive boats tie up on a different part of the island so I can't really help much here.

Thanks for your review! I was excited to find a Conquest review since we leave for this same cruise March 25th!

 

We are driving down from Buffalo NY since we plan on staying at our timeshare in Orlando the week after the cruise!

 

I figured it was a 3 hour drive, and glad to see that is what it is. How was the traffic?

Barely any traffic. The trip is so smooth I found myself doing 140 kph and having to pull back. Convenient rest stops along the way too.

Not much to look at though. There's a slightly different route we did once that uses the old highway just to the east. You pass a bunch of citrus orchards and some weird isolated gated communities.