Our very 1st Cruise and Vacation - Miami/Conquest/Orlando with pics

[Orpheo]

Great start - looking forward to the rest! :)

 

Thank you so very much!

[Orpheo]

Looking forward to your review. Can't wait. I find it very cool that you are from Suriname. Hope you enjoyed your trip up to the USA.

 

Thank you MrBanana. Yes, it's very cool isn't it. That's why I like this board, you meet people from everywhere :D. We sure did enjoy our trip to the USA.

 

Great start! Can't wait to see and hear more! :)

 

Thank you! :)

Edited December 27, 2013 by Orpheo

[Orpheo]

Loving your review so far. Welcome to the world of cruising. You'll be an addict in no time. I've heard of Suriname, since being from an Island myself, we have to learn all the Islands name and location while in school. Looking forward to your review since this is also your first trip outside your country.

I live 20 mins from universal studios.

 

Thank you. Hahaa, yes I know that we will be addicts in no time...we don't mind:o. So cool, from which island are you?

 

Great for you two !! Wife and i got hooked in 2007, first cruise was conquest. We love that ship !! My son and GF took their first cruise in 2008 and son got married last year on Magic and i just celebrated 49th birthday on magic(12/8-12/15). Next year...celebrating my 50th on a cruise ship. You and boyfriend invited.:D

 

Thank you Rob! We'll try to make it...:o:;)

[Orpheo]

Great start on your review. It's always nice to welcome newbies to the wonderful world of cruising! Looking forward to the rest of your review, just relax and let it flow.

 

Thank you! I sure will ;)

 

Very nice picture of you two��

 

Thank you so very much!

[Orpheo]

Yay!! Another conquest review. I'll be on her in 24 days. We are doing the Eastern itinerary. Welcome to cruising!!

 

I can't wait to hear about Universal too!! :)

 

Thank you! We really loved the Conquest! Enjoy.

 

Thank you for your photo review...I agree, you look like a great happy couple. :):):):)

 

Aww, so nice! Thank you so much! We really enjoyed our vacation :D

[Orpheo]

I'm subscribing! Looking forward to the rest of your review! Great start! :D

 

Thank you so very much!

[MichelleChell]

Looking forward to more! I love Conquest!

[Orpheo]

Hi everyone,

I'm back :D. What a hectic day at work. But I've survived! Okey, so where was I?

 

We chose for the Element because we were on a budget as I wrote earlier. We actually wanted a room in Downtown Miami, but nothing came up to what we wanted. We stayed for 4 nights and paid $ 462,88 including tax. We had a kitchen, fridge, microwave....

We really liked the room a lot. It was very clean and the whole hotel smelled so nice. We had requested a back side/pool view room. When we arrived in the room, we were very pleased.

 

As I mentioned earlier, we arrived on the 27th Dec, around 4-4.30 p.m. at the Element. From Monday-Thursday they offer a complimentary light meal with a 1 glass of whine or beer.

 

 

They had put a very beautiful christmas tree in the hall

 

 

 

A picture taken from our window. We were on the the 4th floor in room 451

 

 

Kitchen

 

 

Next: Element continued...

[JustCruiseMe]

Great review so far! Can't wait for each episode!

[Orpheo]

Kitchen

 

 

Desk

 

 

Bed

 

 

Entrance

 

 

Very clean and white

 

 

Next: 'short' exploring in Miami

[Orpheo]

As you know we didn't really knew what to expect in Miami. Have I mentioned that it was really cold? Oh my God! A lot of people asked us, so your from Suriname...a tropical country...hmmm. So you've left your 'warm' country to come here in the 'cold'?? :confused:

Yes, very confusing.....but we had booked the Conquest from 1-8, so, yeah, we thought spending a couple of days in Miami.

But we enjoyed. Thursday we went to Bayside and Downtown Miami. Everything mostly closed since it was Thanksgiving. Black Friday was on the 29th of Nov. We went to Walmart and Little Havana. Did a couple of shopping and came in early.

Saturday we went to Macy's, did some shopping there. Went to Bayside again, walked a little bit and came in early, since we were cruising Sunday.

 

A couple of pictures

 

 

 

 

 

Yes, we will see you soon Conquest!

 

 

Next: Miami continued

[Lerin]

great review so far, thanks for all the photos and information. :)

[Orpheo]

Don't know what this is, forgot. So beautiful

 

 

 

Overall, we liked Miami. We used the metro train a lot. It was our best friend. We bought day passes and went almost everywhere we wanted to go. It was quite an experience for us. Nothing is in walking distance from the Element, except the metro rail. Maybe iif it wasn't 'that' cold for me, I would have enjoyed a lot lot more! :o Tino enjoyed a lot :)

 

The Element is a nice hotel. Every morning you have a very bright warm breakfast. Pancakes, sausages, tortilla wraps, juices, cereal, yoghurt....a very wide variety.

 

So yes, we enjoyed our stay at the Element and Miami. When will we go again? Hmmm, tomorrow? :D

 

Okey, everyone. I have to go in the kitchen. I'll be posting more tomorrow

 

Next: Carnival Conquest

[Orpheo]

great review so far, thanks for all the photos and information. :)

 

Thank you!

[Orpheo]

Looking forward to more! I love Conquest!

 

Thank you MichelleChell.

 

Great review so far! Can't wait for each episode!

 

Thanks! :)

[lovestocruise19]

Glad to hear you liked the hotel! It does look very clean based on your pictures.

[VacaLovers2]

We have sailed her twice and loved both trips. I can't wait to go again! Until then, I love reading reviews. Your review is great so far can't wait to keep reading!

[Kfoot]

I am so excited to read what you like / dislike about the ship and which islands were your favorite.

[cruisinsly]

Great review!!

[Orpheo]

Glad to hear you liked the hotel! It does look very clean based on your pictures.

 

Yes, it is a very clean hotel. If you really want stores and shops in walking distance, than no, the Element is not a great choice. But we really didn't mind that. For our first trip to Miami, we really liked and enjoyed this hotel. I sure think that you'll enjoy the Element.

 

We have sailed her twice and loved both trips. I can't wait to go again! Until then, I love reading reviews. Your review is great so far can't wait to keep reading!

 

Thank you! Stay tuned, next will be the Conquest and our experience.

[Orpheo]

I am so excited to read what you like / dislike about the ship and which islands were your favorite.

 

Stay tuned! :D

 

Great review!!

 

Thank you!

[Orpheo]

Before I begin my review on the Conquest I just want to thank everyone here on the Cruise Critic board. You've been a very huge help for a first time cruiser. I had so many questions and everyone always replied with patience. Sometimes I even thought that my questions were stupid, but no, not to you all. So thank you once again! :D

 

We had booked ES in August 2012. A couple of months ago I applied for OBC and received $ 125,-

The Element offers special packages, like park/stay/cruise. It includes complimentary shuttle service to and from the Airport and ofcourse to POM.

We hadn't booked such a room, so we had to pay $ 12,- p/p for their shuttle service to POM on Sunday the 1st Dec.

We chose for the 11 a.m. shuttle.

On Sunday we woke up around 7 a.m. We had already packed and put everything out that we would the day before.

We had our breakfast that morning and walked around a little bit and waited for the shuttle to arrive. At around 10.30 we saw that they were already loading luggage in the shuttle bus. We went upstairs got our stuff and checked out.

 

 

And we were off! There were 4 ships in port that day I think :confused:

3 Carnival ships and 1 Norwegian ship....please...I think!

The driver of the shuttle dropped everyone off at their location and the Conquest was the last one. Embarkation went very smooth. The line was long but shortened very fast. We didn't received any zone number, so were very surprised at that. But when we asked they told us to just proceed...so we did.

 

 

The conquest is an amazing ship! It's very beautiful and we loved every bit of it.

 

 

Next: first day on the Conquest

[shoppingfever]

I love reading reviews so thank you for taking the time to do yours! We are going on our first cruise in April (The Legend out of Tampa) and I can't wait!

[cruiserami]

Oh my goodness! You found the craziest place in the United States right away. Walmart on the day after Thanksgiving. What an experience that always is. I'm glad you enjoyed your trip and I'm loving your review so far.

[Orpheo]

After we boarded the ship we went straight to our room with our carry-ons. Got something to eat from Comfort Kitchen.

 

 

I got myself a Miami-Vice and for Tino a budwieser.

 

We than walked a little bit on Lido-deck and waited for sail away. We heard the announcement that sail away would be delayed. :(

 

 

We thought of going back to our room and just relax a little bit on our balcony. We than saw that our luggage had already arrived. So we unpacked some and went to Guest Services to upgrade our S&S card. And ofcourse the line was very long. Someone in the line told us that we could also use the KIOSK. So we did. There was an attendant and he helped us to upgrade.

 

I had bought 2 gifts earlier through the online Fun Shops. The Cooler Beer package and the Chocolate Delight. I had thought that once we had boarded the ship and went to our room, the beer package would've been already waiting for us. But that wasn't so. Oh well....

 

After we had upgraded our S&S card we went back to the room and lookie there....a lady was trying to open the door with...yes, the beer package. Tino was like 'Hello, can I help you with this?', hahhaaa

The lady smiled very friendly and accepted his help. Tino was very surprised with the gift. He thought that it was Carnival who had sent us a gift...but than he read the note and he was like......I think that you all can imagine!

 

 

 

Next: First day on the Conquest Continued