Conquest Eastern Caribbean Cruise

[jmis]

We went on the Conquest for our first time (our 2nd Carnival cruise) the beginning of June and had an absolutely great time. The ports were Half Moon Cay, St. Thomas, San Juan, and Grand Turk. I don't have one complaint about the entire trip.

We arrived at POM around 10:15 the first day and had FTTF. We were on board by 11:15. We had received an email stating not to arrive at the port until 1-3pm due to Belize being on the prior itinerary but it didn't seem to be an issue. Check in went smoothly and quickly. Our room was ready when we got on board. Ron was our room steward and he was great. We had a balcony on the panorama deck and I'm pretty sure we'll opt to stay on that deck again often. It was such easy access to the lido for our kids. I also don't think I'll ever sail again without a balcony. I loved it. It was our first balcony.

 

 

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[jmis]

After we dropped our bags in our room, we grabbed lunch. Our boys had food from the buffet and my husband and I got Guy's, which we ate a lot of and thought it was really good. We live in Omaha and have some great steaks and burgers here and we thought Guy's was fantastic. We enjoyed checking out the entire ship before it got busy.

 

 

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[jmis]

Overall on this cruise, being our second, we took better advantage of what was offered on board. We went to the comedy club twice and had a great time both evenings. We did the kid-friendly options and took our boys. We watched movies at night on the lido. They showed Frozen one night which was fun. They also showed the NBA playoffs on the lido and in the sports bar. We saw Divas, Brits and Latin Nights. We don't sail for the shows, but I thought they were fine. Nothing out of the ordinary but my kids enjoyed them so we enjoyed them. Divas was probably our favorite with Brits being our least favorite. We enjoyed the alchemy bar also.

 

 

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[jmis]

On our last cruise in the Dream last summer I felt like there were people everywhere and there were lines. You also had to be up early on the Dream to get a chair on the lido. The Conquest wasn't like that at all. Although I was up and on the lido early, I watched and chairs were always available and it never was super busy until noon. Lines weren't found often and overall it was very pleasant.

 

 

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[jmis]

We really enjoyed the food on the cruise. The breakfast burritos were fantastic and we loved Guy's. We had YTD and thought most all of the food was great. The only meal we weren't thrilled with was a seafood pasta dish and the salmon was dry. We sat three nights with Orlando. He was a great server and we liked him. The food on the lido buffet was great. Good variety. We never did make it to fish and chips. The pizza we liked as well.

 

 

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[jmis]

Our first stop was HMC and we had a cabana. Number 13. We loved this stop. The water was the bluest I'd seen and so clear.

 

 

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[jmis]

We loved having the cabana and everything was ready when we got there. And we got off the ship on the first tender. There was a ton of food for two adults and two kids. We thought the lunch buffet that was provided was decent. Burgers were okay. Hot dogs and chicken were good. They also had various salads and we liked those. We liked being towards the end of the beach. It was quiet and not many people. We did stop at the excursion desk when we first got on the ship to reserve our cabana.

 

 

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[vdarrell]

Loving reading this as we cruise on Conquest in October with same ports

[e46343]

Did you try to reserve a cabana online prior to your cruise? Was it Sold out?

 

I am on the Conquest on July 6th and we will be in HMC on July 7th. I tried to reserve online and it says it is SOLD OUT. But, I intend to go to the shore excursion desk.

 

Just trying to guage if i will get a cabana. We really want one.

[jmis]

I booked the cabana excursion online before we sailed as it wasn't sold out. Then it was sold out but when we got on board and reserved our cabana number, I heard one of the workers say that there were two still open even though it said sold out online so I'd still check when you get on board and continue to check online.

 

 

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Edited June 25, 2014 by jmis

[jmis]

Loving reading this as we cruise on Conquest in October with same ports

 

 

I'll post more in a bit. This was our favorite cruise so far and we'll definitely sail on the Conquest again. Or the same itinerary.

 

 

 

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[A6cruiser]

Really enjoying reading this as we are also Sailing Conquest on July 6th. We have 2 Ocean View connecting cabins. We are sailing the same itinerary you did. I'm glad to hear such a positive review/trip report.

[sweeks82]

Thanks for the review! I am also cruising on July 6th and am glad you liked the ship.

 

 

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[KirkNC]

Thanks for the report!

[lizi116]

We are sailing the same itinerary July 20. Can's wait to hear more. I haven't booked any shore excursions yet and am interested to hear what you did in ports.

[Keith1010]

Enjoying your report.

Keith

[jmis]

Our room number was 1060 and location was perfect. It was quiet. However, the steward closet was right across the hall. I never thought it was noisy and they were quiet.

We did have FTTF and thought it was worth the money. Our room was ready and we had a special number to call for guest services. The line for guest services was also much shorter than the regular line.

 

 

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[jmis]

On our cruise last summer we did the Western Caribbean itinerary and we booked an excursion in each port. We loved them all but we were tired. This time we wanted to take it easy so we didn't book any excursions. The second port we stopped at was St. Thomas. Here we got off the boat and grabbed a taxi to Magen's Bay. We enjoyed our time at this beach but after spending the day prior at HMC, we initially felt a little disappointed. While the surrounding hills and trees etc were beautiful, we didn't think the actual beach and water were as nice. It was crowded but not horribly so. When we got there, we walked to one of the beach that had the least amount of people and stayed for a few hours. We ate there that day and the food was good but expensive. The water was calm and it was really pretty. There was a ton of shopping in St. Thomas but we didn't do any.

 

 

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[jmis]

The next day was San Juan and we arrived there at 7am. We got off the boat around 8:30 so it wasn't busy or difficult to leave. Here we had planned to just walk around, shop and see the forts. When we got off the ship, we ended up taking a 2-hour tour with a local company. I think they were called SJ Fun Tours or serving similar. It was $20 per person. They gave us a very informational tour of the old city and new city. We were glad that we chose to so this because it gave us a good overview of San Juan. When the tour was over, we could be taken back to the ship or be dropped off near one of the forts. On the tour they had taken us to El Morro and then we did San Cristobal on our own. They were fun to see. We ended up eating lunch at a little cafe that was good. I found out after the fact that Raices is supposed to be excellent. We did walk by there and I'd love to have eaten there. The line was out the door for food, so it must be good.

Quick random thought. We were port side in the ship and we did in fact face port side in all the ports. San Juan had a good view from both sides. But St, Thomas had a good view on the island from port side, as did HMC and Grand Turk.

 

 

 

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[jmis]

We really loved San Juan and would like to go back. It was very clean and there was a lot to see.

Our final stop was Grand Turk and this probably ended up being our favorite due to where we hung out. When you pull up to Grand Turk, it's really not all that pretty and kind of looks like a pile of sand in the ocean. We got off and found some chairs at Margaritaville but I knew I wanted to walk down to Jack's Shack. I just had to convince my husband and kids to walk farther. Lol.

The beach right off the boat was packed with chairs and the beach was rocky. We finally decided to head down the beach a ways. We made it to Jack's Shack and hardly anyone was there. We found a table with an umbrella on the beach. There were also beach chairs. We were immediately waited on and brought menus and drinks. We had their rum runners first and they were really strong so we switched to the local beer. Forgot what it was called. We had their jerk chicken and conch and both were really good. The best thing about here was that the beach was nicer, it was less crowded and their dog Topher was freaking hilarious. You could tell him to dig for crabs and he'd dig and dig. You could kick sand up in the air with your foot and he'd try and catch it. We had a blast here and didn't get on the ship until the last minute. I wouldn't spend a minute down by Margaritville. I'd spend the entire time at Jack's Shack.

 

 

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[crewsnews]

Nice review. How was the tender to HMC? With the cabana rental, I imagine you got to get on one of the first tenders. How did that work? did they call you to a certain place or did you just walk up and show them your ticket?

[jmis]

We did get on the first tender. They had us meet in the Degas lounge at 8:30. Some of us were on time while others showed up later. We headed for the first tender around 9:30 and those of us who were there first got to go first. We got on the first little taxi thing that dropped people off at their cabanas. It was all pretty easy and fast.

 

 

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[sportzmom]

We did get on the first tender. They had us meet in the Degas lounge at 8:30. Some of us were on time while others showed up later. We headed for the first tender around 9:30 and those of us who were there first got to go first. We got on the first little taxi thing that dropped people off at their cabanas. It was all pretty easy and fast.

 

 

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Thanks for the review. We have rented a cabana for our cruise in September but don't really know which one to reserve. Now that you've been there, would you rent the same one again or pick a different one?

[jmis]

Thanks for the review. We have rented a cabana for our cruise in September but don't really know which one to reserve. Now that you've been there, would you rent the same one again or pick a different one?

 

 

I would be happy with the same one again. We had 13 and were almost at the end which is what we wanted. There weren't a lot of people like at the other end. If you want to be in the middle of things, I'd probably tell you to choose 1-7 or something and if you want it quieter to choose 8-15. Our cabana wasn't very shaded. It seems to me that 10 or 11 might have had a little tree cover and a hammock. But they're air conditioned and we loved the one we had.

 

 

 

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[sportzmom]

I would be happy with the same one again. We had 13 and were almost at the end which is what we wanted. There weren't a lot of people like at the other end. If you want to be in the middle of things, I'd probably tell you to choose 1-7 or something and if you want it quieter to choose 8-15. Our cabana wasn't very shaded. It seems to me that 10 or 11 might have had a little tree cover and a hammock. But they're air conditioned and we loved the one we had.

 

 

 

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I was thinking something in the higher number range. We have FTTF so I hope I get to the shore excursion desk in time to have a choice! Thank you for the information.