First Time Review-Conquest June 8-15

[BoozeNCruise]

One more thing on Tuesday, there was a poker tournament scheduled that I wanted to play in. On my last Carnival Cruise, they had a $50 buy in tournament that I entered and I won the tourney. On that tournament, it paid out the top 3 players, out of nine entries. The Conquest tourney was $150 buy in and if you won, you don't win money but a free seat in a bigger tournament. I din't care to play that, I wish they would have played a cash tourney instead.

[erewhon]

Thanks for reviewing your cruise, and sharing your photos.

[BoozeNCruise]

Now it's Wednesday and our port is St. Thomas. This is the port that my DW really wanted to see. Our time in St. Thomas was from 10-6, and there were 3 Mega ships in town that day. The Conquest docked right behind the new NCL Ship Getaway. That is a huge and beautiful ship.

 

We opted to do a self excursion on St. Thomas. Our plan was to catch a taxi and go to Megans Bay for a few hours and then go downtown to shop. Carnival has this excursion for around $40 pp, but I like to have the freedom and control to do my own thing.

 

We exited the ship and looked for a taxi. Their taxi's don't look like a NYC taxi, but like an open box truck with bench seats that hold about 12-20 people. We found one that was going to Megans Bay, cost was $8 per person. Upon entering MB, each person pays a $4 entry fee. I found MB to be nice, but I was a little disappointed only because I read that it was voted to be a top ten beach. To me, I liked HMC much better.

Here's a pic or 2 of MB:

 

 

 

 

The beach was nice, had some shade and the ocean floor was sandy as well. The surrounding hills and houses added to the beauty. As you can see, it was a little crowded. The had a small beach type store there that sold beach wear, and souvenirs, but nothing that appealed to me. They also had a small bar/grill that served beer, hamburgers, pizza and such. We were going to grab a bit to eat but it seemed so expensive. The burgers were like $10 and 1 slice of pizza was like $8. Since we still had plenty of time left, we opted to go back to the ship, take a quick shower, change and eat free on the ship.

[BoozeNCruise]

We left Megans Bay on one of many of the taxis they have running back and forth from MB to the port. We paid another $8 each plus tip for the return trip. It is about a 10-15 winding drive and our driver pulled over briefly to let us take a photo op. We could see the port of St. Thomas and The Conquest and Getaway.

 

 

 

 

I snapped this shot while enroute to the ship

 

We really liked our decision to go back to the ship, we seemed more refreshed and ready to go back to explore St. Thomas. We did just that, but we didn't go downtown, we checked out the many shops right there at the port. There is plenty of shopping and things to do withen walking distance. You will mostly see jewelry and liquor alon with the typical souvenir shops. I bought 2 liters of Jim Beam and 2 liters of Crown Royal for $52 before we boarded the ship again.

 

We boarded the ship around 5:30 and the DW took a nap as I went on a higher deck to take some photos of us leaving.

I will share those soon...

[BoozeNCruise]

Pictures as promised. I am not sure if the cloudiness in this pic is from weather or the ship. We were leaving as I snapped these.

 

 

I thought this Marriot was beautiful. It was not to far from the port.

 

 

I am not sure what kind of resort this was and even if it was open or not. I did not see any kind of activity there. If anyone knows anything about this place, please let me know.

 

 

 

I thought St. Thomas was very nice, I look forward to going back except I would go to a different beach and explore downtown. And for the ones counting, we did our excursion for about $40 for the both of us.

 

Wednesday night featured the Marriage game, or Conquest calls it The Game of Love. Like the hairy chest contest, this is on of the ships entertainment that I like to attend. But again, if you have seen one Carnival marriage game, then you saw this one. It seemed to be the same questions and most of the answers were similiar to previous answers. There was no comedy acts tonight, which was a good since I needed sleep, San Juan was coming at 7 am.

[CruiseRuss]

Thank you very much for your review, as we are going on Conquest next Sunday, July 6 and it is very helpful. I liked your little tent and I think it's a great idea. I'm going to buy the same for our upcoming trip ))).

[JennN]

Great review so far! Looking forward to more...

 

PS - if there IS a next time, St. John was soooo much nicer (to us) than St. Thomas. If going to St. Thomas again, there is a bar/restaurant called Delly Deck that has great steel drum music and fairly cheap, unique drinks. Food is so-so.

 

Here are a few pics of St. John - it's doable to visit this island as it's so close to St. Thomas. We visited the beach of Trunk Bay. It was a beautiful beach but had limited sand space it seemed. It was great for snorkeling if you like to be in the water (it had an underwater snorkel "trail" - think museum underwater).

 

From the beach into the water

 

Taken from the water looking onto the beach

 

Taken from the bus arriving to Trunk Bay

 

Again, looking forward to the rest of your review! And yay for someone else who enjoys the CC!!!

[beamqueen]

! Loving your review!! I am getting so excited for October...can't wait to read more!

[BoozeNCruise]

>>Thank you very much for your review, as we are going on Conquest next >>Sunday, July 6 and it is very helpful. I liked your little tent and I think it's a >>great idea. I'm going to buy the same for our upcoming trip ))).

 

 

Thank you, my wife and kids (23/26) laughed at my beach tent, but I loved it.

[BoozeNCruise]

Great review so far! Looking forward to more...

 

PS - if there IS a next time, St. John was soooo much nicer (to us) than St. Thomas. If going to St. Thomas again, there is a bar/restaurant called Delly Deck that has great steel drum music and fairly cheap, unique drinks. Food is so-so.

 

Here are a few pics of St. John - it's doable to visit this island as it's so close to St. Thomas. We visited the beach of Trunk Bay. It was a beautiful beach but had limited sand space it seemed. It was great for snorkeling if you like to be in the water (it had an underwater snorkel "trail" - think museum underwater).

 

From the beach into the water

 

Taken from the water looking onto the beach

 

Taken from the bus arriving to Trunk Bay

 

Again, looking forward to the rest of your review! And yay for someone else who enjoys the CC!!!

 

Yes, my next excursion when I go back to St. Thomas.

And thanks for your pics, beautiful

[A6cruiser]

There were two Elegant nights. Tuesday night and thursday night, Puerto Rico day. I don't have a way of scanning, but I think I can dig up the saved Fun Times I have and take a pic. I will check into it.

 

Thank you

This is all very helpful and exciting to read

[BoozeNCruise]

Thursday is the cruise day I was most anticipating, docking in Puerto Rico from 7 am to 3 pm. My plan was to just walk, walk and walk some more checking out the sights, sounds, and scenery of Old San Juan. I had warned my DW, because she doesn't like walking as much as I do. She said she would be a trooper, so we exited the ship around 8 am and off on our self excursion.

 

We came across a quaint little park just a block or so from the cruise ship, just a place to stop and check our surroundings. While at the park I saw that Castillo San Cristobal was just a block away. We made the short but semi steep walk up to the top entrance of the fortress. Here is a pic of how close the ship is from this fortress.

 

 

before you actually enter San Cristobal, there is a nice area for photo ops. Check this pic out of an old soldiers lookout.

 

 

As we were walking to enter the fortress, another cruising couple was leaving and asked if we plan on entering. I said yes and he handed me a receipt to enter. I took it and not sure what to expect I handed it to the Park Ranger as I entered and she said, welcome, enjoy your visit and waved us in. So, I saved $10 on an entry fee from the other couple.

 

We looked around for about 10-15 minutes if that long. I could tell the DW wasn't excited about seeing some 500 year old concrete, but I did. Here are a few pics:

 

 

These large round things are where they stored fresh water.

 

 

I saw a long narrow tunnel that interested me, so we took the trek down it. It actually went to the bottom of the fort, where the main entrance was at. Boy was my wife pleased with me knowing she had to climb the hill to go into another entrance. She went to the restroom and I strolled around in the gift shop and then I saw the Rangers Station and it had a donation box. My conscience got the best of me, so I put $10 (the entry fee I should have paid) into the box. We left and waited just outside the ground level entrance for the free trolley.

 

The trolley was really refreshing. It was free, we got to sit, and the breeze from the open trolley really felt good on this hot day. We were going to take the trolley for a full loop ride, from San Cristobal to El Morro and back. I took some snap shots while on the trolley.

 

Here is a pic with El Morro in the distance.

 

 

here are a couple of other shots while on the trolley

 

 

 

more on Old San Juan in a few...

[BoozeNCruise]

El Morro looked to be a much bigger fortress with a huge grass front yard filled with kids playing, flying kites and picnickers. The DW did not care to enter, so we continued on the free trolley ride and returned on the loop trail back to that quaint little park.

 

Another pic taken from the trolley

 

[BoozeNCruise]

I felt very safe walking around Old San Juan. There seems to be a strong Police presence and I was pleasantly surprised to see their vehicle of choice is a Suzuki Boulevard C 90, one of my favorite motorcycles. I am an ex owner of a Suzuki Boulevard C 50.

Here is the police cruiser:

 

 

This cruiser was parked at the park where we were dropped off. We continue on our self excursion walking aimlessly around OSJ.

 

 

To me, it was a pleasant walk, soaking in the sights and different colors of buildings and some of the streets were cobblestone. Here is a pic of a guy selling ice cream off the streets.

 

 

We ended up at a corner CVS where we bought some drinks and incidentals. My DW spotted a Marshalls and so we spent some time in there as well. Now we are probably about half a mile from the ship and we are walking casually back to the ship all while I am looking for an authentic small restaurant for a break. I find one that was in a small alley way, kinda sketchy but we went for it. The waitress spoke no English, and we spoke no Spanish so this was going to be interesting. The menu came and guess what? it is in Spanish. Not being very hungry and not being able to read the menu I decided to play it safe and order two appetizers. One of the appetizers had 'pollo" so, I assumed that was chicken and ordered that. The other appetizer, had buffalo, so I assumed and was hoping that was buffalo chicken so I ordered that. The waitress did understand coke, so that was no problem. We now waited to see what kind of food was going to be delivered to our table. Our mystery appetizers turned out to be some chicken tenders, or something like, they actually didn't look like normal chicken tenders to me. The buffalo dish was small fried fish that laid into a small coating of buffalo sauce. I tell ya, it was all good and the presentation was as good or better than anything the MDR had. Our total bill was about $16.

 

As we left the small restaurant, we ended right back at that small park. My DW bought one of the knock off purses. He asked for $50, I gave him $30, not sure if I did good or not but it is a good looking purse.

 

After a quick sit down break and making cellular phone calls for the first time in about 4 days, we headed straight back to the ship

 

I really liked OSJ and would explore more of it on our return. I would practice my Spanish, I assumed they were a little more bi-lingual there but it is not like that at all.

[jmis]

We were on this same cruise and I did a review as well. We loved loved the Conquest. I don't think I had a single complaint and the ports were great as well!

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

[BoozeNCruise]

We were on this same cruise and I did a review as well. We loved loved the Conquest. I don't think I had a single complaint and the ports were great as well!

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

 

I agree with you, I found your review not too long after I started mine. It sounds like we did the same or similiar excursions. Like I stated there are not many reviews on the Conquest

[BoozeNCruise]

We got back to the ship around 2:30 or so and went in for a shower and a nap. The naps were really nice, but I do regret not getting pictures leaving Puerto Rico.

Thursday evening was a very pleasant evening. It was elegant night and with our anytime dining, we arrived at the MDR just before 6 pm. The dining room staff is really awesome. Dewi will meet and greet you as you enter and she knew our names after just one meeting. She is also cute as she can be. We had the team of Bernadette and Johnathan for several of the nights. They were both wonderful and we got to talking with them on several occasions. Johnathon is a very "sweet" guy if you know what I mean. He was a trip to talk to, we had the best time talking with him. I just wish he didn't touch me as much as he did, lol.

 

After Elegant dining, we attended the show, The Brits!. This was a much better performance in my opinion, although I thought it was kinda short. It featured British band music like The Beatles, The Who, Rolling Stones, etc. Most of the music was sung by the same singer, I can't remember her name but she was the only black one and she is some kind of cute. She has the biggest and cutest dimples when she smiles. I thought it was a good entertaining show.

 

No one was to be found playing PokerPro, didn't see anyone at the tables all day long. We did attend the comedy shows again. There were two new comediens that came onboard. Mark Simmons and Kim Harrison. Kim was very funny and she was from Columbia SC, lives less than 10 miles from me.

Kim did one show tonight as Mark did two. Only went to the first of Marks show since he said there would be a lot of repeat on his late night show.

 

I wanted to stay up real late tonight since Friday was going to be a sleep late day. My stash of smuggled liqour was running out as well also. Since I couldn't find anything to hold my attention, I went in for the night just after midnight.

 

next up, Grand Turk

[BoozeNCruise]

Friday is Grand Turk day, from 10 am - 5 pm. Like the other ports, I had never been to GT and did not know what to expect. I didn't really have a plan for the day, I knew all the options available but the DW and I never decided what to do.

 

 

After a quick bite of breakfast we walked off the ship onto Grand Turk. I wanted to check out some kind of rentals outside the gated cruise port area. There were mopeds, jeeps, and golf carts. I opted to rent a golf cart for $80. On many occasions we would camp at Myrtle Beach and rent a golf cart and would have a blast, that's why I went with the cart. The vendor gives us a barely legible map of the island. You will not get lost, the island is like 2 miles wide and just 7 miles long. Well, we got lost. Not really lost just took a wrong turn on the way to the lighthouse which is at the opposite end of the island.

 

There are lots of horses/donkeys that walk the island like stray dogs. There are several at the lighthouse that are probably more friendly due to the extra interaction with people. Here is a pic of me and a friendly ass posing.

 

 

Um, that is me on the right, BTW

 

The views around the lighthouse are nice. It sits up on a cliff, here is a pic or two.

 

 

 

We drove this golf cart all over the island and had a great time doing it. Only thing is, I didn't realize how desolate this island was. Like I said earlier on the wrong turn issue, I didn't realize I had passed the town of Cockburn, cause there is nothing there.

 

It is a beautiful island and the surrounding waters are stunning, here is a pic

 

 

Notice the multi colors of blue waters.

 

More of GT in a few...

[sjb.illinois]

As others have said, I really appreciate this review since there are relatively few of the Conquest. We will be on this same itinerary on Conquest in December, except we will do Grand Turk instead of HMC. I am really appreciating your thoughts and perspective. I had been a little concerned about whether we would find Conquest out of date, since our last cruise was just the second US itinerary for the Breeze. I think we will be happy, and your review is reassuring.

 

May I asked where you found your tent/shade thingey? We are all fair, and love the beach, but need shade. That would be perfect, and not too pricey.

Edited June 30, 2014 by sjb.illinois

[BoozeNCruise]

As others have said, I really appreciate this review since there are relatively few of the Conquest. We will be on this same itinerary on Conquest in December, except we will do Grand Turk instead of HMC. I am really appreciating your thoughts and perspective. I had been a little concerned about whether we would find Conquest out of date, since our last cruise was just the second US itinerary for the Breeze. I think we will be happy, and your review is reassuring.

 

May I asked where you found your tent/shade thingey? We are all fair, and love the beach, but need shade. That would be perfect, and not too pricey.

 

I am loving the fact that people like my beach tent due to the grief I got from my kids and DW. I bought it from bargain outfitters dot com. I paid about $ 20 plus $5 to ship. It was on clearance. I just looked at their site and I could not find that exact tent. I did however find 2 others that look to be better quality but they are $35 and $45 or thereabouts in price. Go to that web site and click on their tents, look for the beach cabanas.

 

If you have an Aldi's food store nearby, I see that they will have on sale starting July 2, a small beach cabana much like mine, maybe a little smaller, it is on sale for $ 14.99. You may even be able to order it off their web site.

 

Thanks again, Happy Cruising

[Mrs. Squirrel]

I thought this Marriot was beautiful. It was not to far from the port.

 

 

I am not sure what kind of resort this was and even if it was open or not. I did not see any kind of activity there. If anyone knows anything about this place, please let me know.

 

 

BoozeNCruise, Believe it or not, this is a private residence. :eek: We had a Buck Island turtle snorkeling excursion with Fury the winter before last. We had to pick up additional guests at the Marriott in your first photo, as Fury is also their snorkeling provider. There was a delay, so to fill the time, the captain told us a little about the home's owner.

 

He is a wealthy grandpa. See the two cannons? Those are water cannons. We were lucky enough to see him and his wife out on their terrace. We all waved to them, and he got up and shot his water cannons toward us. It was fun. I don't know if you noticed, but to the left of your pic of his home there is a small bay with a replica of an old pirate ship. He built it for his grandkids to play on when they come visit. Our captain told us it cost over a million, because he made it authentic just mini, but don't by any means think playground size. It is still a good size ship!

 

I would love to know what he is constructing to the left at the end of his driveway. It has been in the building phase for a loooooong while. I guess construction runs on island time! :D

 

Enjoying your review and pics!

[BoozeNCruise]

After petting an ass or two at the lighthouse, we carted back toward the cruise port side of the island. I drove the golf cart to the big town of Cockburn, boy was that a disappointment. We never got off the cart. There were some mini huts that were selling various souvenirs and a small straw market but not like what you would expect. We passed the old Her Majesty Prison and then off to see a nearby school, as my DW is a teacher and that interested her.

We saw about a dozen students in school uniform about a block away and my DW asked if she could take a photo of them to show her class. Most obliged so my DW snapped away. I quickly told her, Honey, you need to stop, stop now. She asked, why and I replied, some of them are giving gang gestures with their hands. Sorry, no photobucket pics to share on that.

 

After leaving the GT Elementary Gang, we headed toward Governor's Beach.

 

 

We didn't enter the ocean but did check out the beach and amenities

It was much smaller than what I had expected, which is probably the main attraction, less people. The sand was soft and there is an old boat right there check out. I felt safe here and no one trying to sell you anything or ask to braid your hair. The restrooms were not the best. The DW said the ladies room was disgusting. I found the mens room to be unclean and no seats where on the toilets, so good luck with that. Also, the doors were propped wide open on both restrooms so that impaired some privacy.

 

In this pic, you can see the Conquest in the distance. It is not that far away from the cruise port but I do not think you can walk the beach the entire way to get there due to a public service facility fencing off some of the beach.

 

 

We left the Gov's beach and headed to Jacks Shack. We got seated at the front, near the grill/barbque. We ordered a jerk chicken plate, burger, fries, and 2 waters. It was very good food, the jerk chicken had a nice flavor. The bill was around $ 25.

Jacks dog, Surfer aka Topher was entertaining us. He was in the water and standing on his hind legs looking for some fish/minnows. He later got out and would catch some sand as some beach goers tossed it with their feet. One of the funniest things he did was dig a deep hole and stick his entire head in it. I don't know what he was looking for. Being a dog owner of 3 dogs, we really started missing ours and wish they were with us. Never missed the kids,lol.

 

 

After a nice lunch at Jacks shack, we headed back to the cruise port area.

[BoozeNCruise]

BoozeNCruise, Believe it or not, this is a private residence. :eek: We had a Buck Island turtle snorkeling excursion with Fury the winter before last. We had to pick up additional guests at the Marriott in your first photo, as Fury is also their snorkeling provider. There was a delay, so to fill the time, the captain told us a little about the home's owner.

 

He is a wealthy grandpa. See the two cannons? Those are water cannons. We were lucky enough to see him and his wife out on their terrace. We all waved to them, and he got up and shot his water cannons toward us. It was fun. I don't know if you noticed, but to the left of your pic of his home there is a small bay with a replica of an old pirate ship. He built it for his grandkids to play on when they come visit. Our captain told us it cost over a million, because he made it authentic just mini, but don't by any means think playground size. It is still a good size ship!

 

I would love to know what he is constructing to the left at the end of his driveway. It has been in the building phase for a loooooong while. I guess construction runs on island time! :D

 

Enjoying your review and pics!

 

 

Wow, thanks for giving me info on this house. I wasn't sure if it was a house, a resort, or a restaurant. Out of the three, a residence house would have been my last guess. I didn't even notice the cannons until you told me about them. I was fascinated about this property and now that I know more I am even more fascinated. It really is an awesome place.

[trumbull archer]

Enjoying the review. Visited both GT and HMC on the Victory this past April. On the Conquest next April.

[sjb.illinois]

I am loving the fact that people like my beach tent due to the grief I got from my kids and DW. I bought it from bargain outfitters dot com. I paid about $ 20 plus $5 to ship. It was on clearance. I just looked at their site and I could not find that exact tent. I did however find 2 others that look to be better quality but they are $35 and $45 or thereabouts in price. Go to that web site and click on their tents, look for the beach cabanas.

 

If you have an Aldi's food store nearby, I see that they will have on sale starting July 2, a small beach cabana much like mine, maybe a little smaller, it is on sale for $ 14.99. You may even be able to order it off their web site.

 

Thanks again, Happy Cruising

 

Thanks! We do have Aldi, so I'll definitely check there this week.

 

Did you feel like the golf cart was worth the money? I think this would be fun, just not sure I could justify the price. GT will mostly be a beach day for us.