My Conquest 8 Day review. 2/21-3/1

[campdaan]

This was my 12th Carnival Cruise.

Had a great time as always, but this Cruise had a different cadence to it, a bit more low-key, but that's how it was meant to be.

To start, I plow snow for MassDOT, as a contractor. And it seems that starting the 2nd week of February it snowed with a vengence in the greater Boston area.

Mondays would be 12-24" storms, Wednesdays we would get another 6-8", and the weekends were "dustings" of 4-6". In total, we got about 6-7 feet in a 16-18 day span.

Needless to say, the morning I sat down and opened my email to find my airline check-in and hotel confirmation, I was in total shock. And needed to pack.

The plow truck...

 

 

 

Getting loaded with more salt...

 

And coming home to the "freshly plowed" road...

 

Anyways... At 3:45am in a moment of weather clarity, the limo picked us up and we took off for Ft. Lauderdale.

This is the sunrise over Boston, as we banked out over the Atlantic and had a smooth ride.

 

Next up... The Hotel, The Flu, and Waddles the penguin.

Edited March 8, 2015 by campdaan

[JimAOk1945]

Your review is off the a great start. I'm enjoying it already. I'm looking forward to more.

[shellsd]

excited for this as will be on the same sailing shortly

[campdaan]

I'll continue as soon as Photobucket allows me to upload pics...

Sit tight Folks, and pour yourself a cold one.

This could take a few...

[KPfromCT]

Can't wait for more!!!!:D

I'm right under you, in Connecticut.

However, my brother lives in Cambridge.

I feel your pain.:o

[pusywillow]

Glad you got away from the snow!

[campdaan]

OK... Landed in Ft. Lauderdale to find out it was only 48 degrees, which was about 50 degrees warmer than home.

We checked in at about 11am. We were told we were too early, but after a few minutes of friendly banter with the clerk, not only did we have early check in, but a 12th floor room overlooking the shopping mall, port, and airport.

This is the Embassy Suites on 17th. Booked because we had stayed out at the Ramada on State road and did'nt want the isolation of that location.

Looking down onto the atrium. They have an AWESOME breakfast there. Included in the price.

 

 

 

 

 

Unfortunatly, My GF's sniffles turned into full blown flu, with hacking, coughing, fever and runny nose. I would have been sympathetic, but she had lectured me on staying healthy prior to our trip, and then went to say good bye to relatives who were known to be sick.

Not good.

I told her she better be well enough to get on the ship or be prepared to spend the week in Ft. Lauderdale alone. Her sister, and my Mother were also in the same room, so eventually, during the week, we all got sick.

It was miserable. The sisters got antibiotics from the medical center, and the $171 bill that accompanied it.

I ended up spending considerable time in the men's steam room at the spa. The kept menthol and eucalyptis in the steam, so it was like inhaling vapo-rub.

We all recovered later in the week, but it was enough to slow us all down from our usual cruise experience.

A few random thoughts...

We sent 4 bags of laundry to be done. Platinum style... for free. Best perk ever.

I also spent well over an hour at the Cruise Loyalty desk booking a Cruise for next year.

I wish they would bring back the FCC's. It would have saved many hours waiting for Carnival's slow booking process on the Ship.

Got a backgammon board as a platinum gift and exchanged it at guest services for a cooler.

Also, we had rooms 9268 and 9270. Right by the atrium elevators. Awesome location. We could hear the Atrium band, but that did'nt bother us at all.

[campdaan]

While everyone waits for me to upload more pics and continue my story, take a moment to tour Cabin 9201 on the Conquest.

Click the link:

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2176630

 

This is a Scenic Grand Ocean View, of which there are only 2 on this ship.

 

I've stayed in this room on the Valor, and have it booked on the Glory next year.

[momonthego17]

Was this an Oceanview rate for this room? It's fantastic! Thanks for posting!

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums mobile app

[campdaan]

Was this an Oceanview rate for this room? It's fantastic! Thanks for posting!

 

It's 6K. Scenic Grand Ocean View.

 

More than regular Ocean View, Cheaper than a Balcony.

 

You have to specify that exact room, because it may not show up.

 

I booked this room on the Glory for $900pp, 7 Day Eastern. YMMV.

[LizaMM]

Great start! I am looking forward to the rest and the photos :)

 

Sorry to hear you all got sick though!

[campdaan]

We spent the day in Ft. Lauderdale enjoying the hotel and the surrounding shopping.

We ate at one of the local joints that touted "New England" fish specialties. But to be honest, when you can get lobster at home for $3.99 a lb. it can be humorous. Especially when the menu is spelled out like a Boston accent.... Chowdah, Lobstah... You get the drift.

 

Embarkation was a breeze, we are platinum and the line moves right along.

 

Our rooms were ready and the luggage showed up in a very timely fashion sporting FTTF stickers.

 

The cabin steward opened up the partition on the balcony and we emptied the fridge onto nearby shelves and unpacked.

The steam room and the wall of towels in the spa...

 

 

The showers in the spa locker room are huge and have overhead showerheads. I used them often throughout the week. The first few days I had the place to myself.

The balconies...

 

 

 

And we met Mike Pack, the Cruise Director. He was awesome. Saw him out and about all week.

Here he is meeting our Cruise mascot Waddles... Who is well known amoung the Carnival staff and CruiseCritic people alike. More Waddles later...

 

Finally... A shot of the ship in Grand Turk.

I bribed a waitress at Margeritaville for the wifi password and was still using it from my room later. Well worth the $5.

[campdaan]

Great start! I am looking forward to the rest and the photos :)

 

Sorry to hear you all got sick though!

 

Hi LizaMM !

 

I always enjoy your reviews, so heres backatcha. :D

 

I was more mad than sick. But eventually, I got over both.

[campdaan]

More Grand Turk...

From Jack's Shack.

 

Waddles works on his tan.

 

 

Here's a few shots as we left Grand Turk.

 

[campdaan]

OK... Time out for a second while I explain Waddles.

Back in 2003 when we signed up for our first cruise not knowing if we would like it or not, I picked up Waddles off the bed at home (GF collects penguins) and said if anything goes wrong we can blame the penguin...

Later, on the several CruiseCritic group cruises, it was easier to find the penguin at the meet and greet table, than the guy with the hawaiin shirt and mardi gras beads.

This year, as I was walking through Lido, with Waddles tucked under my arm, I was greeted by Florentino, our team waiter on our Breeze cruise 3 years ago. He did'nt remember me, but he knew Waddles !

So, thats why we keep him around. No one knows me, but they remember the penguin.

Waddles on the big screen.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

With Michael Winslow of "Police Academy" fame.

 

Just some fun for when we cruise...

[TeresaJ]

We are on the Conquest in 2 weeks on the southern itinerary! Can't wait to read your review.

Did you do the Southern (GT, Dom Rep, Aruba, Curacao) itinerary?

 

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I337 using Forums mobile app

[Seany527]

Great start, I'll be following along.

[campdaan]

 

Did you do the Southern (GT, Dom Rep, Aruba, Curacao) itinerary?

 

 

Yup.

[stargate fan]

A lot of similarities here: We were on the cruise with you, cabin 9238. We also stayed at the Embassy suites on 17th. And we're from Southern NH. Did you happen to fly JetBlue Friday morning?

 

I love seeing your pictures. I haven't gone through any of ours yet. We also had a great, low-key, relaxing cruise. Thankfully we weren't sick, but I did have the flu the last week of January.

 

I tried to exchange one of our chess boards but were told there was nothing for which to exchange it. I'm happy that you could.

 

Here's to no more snow in MA/NH!!!

[campdaan]

 

Did you happen to fly JetBlue Friday morning?

 

 

Yes, we did !

Who says penguins can't fly ?

[campdaan]

One of the Cruise highlights for us was having Captain Claudio Cupisti as Master of the vessel.

Claudio was Captain on out very first Cruise on the Legend in 2003, and on 2 other Cruises.

He was the Captain on the Splendor when it had it's epic failure a few years ago.

Just to hear his daily announcements from the bridge are a delight. With his smooth voice and wonderful Italian accent.

We were backing into the berth at LaRomana when I got a few shots of Claudio at the controls, doing "captainy" stuff.

 

 

 

We ran into Captain Claudio later in the Cruise. He remembered the penguin...

[Ms. Fun Bunch]

Great start waiting for more!!!!

[campdaan]

In LaRomana we had booked a tour with Seavis tours, which I had found on the CC destination boards.

The particular excursion was a raft trip up the Chavon River.

http://www.seavisbayahibe.com/chavon-special_e.htm

 

This was probably one of the best excursions I have taken in 12 cruises... However, it almost did'nt happen.

When we got off the ship we had instructions to meet a certain taxi, and give them the code name to the excursion.

Every person we asked, tried to divert us to their own taxi or tour and we were getting very discouraged.

I ended up telling one aggresive taxi guy to just leave us alone. To which, he finally helped us out. Jeez.

We met the raft and it's owner, a wonderful dutch man, who explained the river and it's surroundings, while music played, and his staff passed around fresh fruit plates and offered drinks and rum.

 

We docked 45 minutes later in the rainforest, where they had a BBQ cookout waiting for us, they also offered use of a jacuzzi and kayaking if we wanted, but we were still feeling kinda crappy from the flu, and just took it easy.

I did'nt take many pictures of the camp, but it was pretty awesome.

 

Egrets, I've seen a few....

 

And of course, some mildlife.

 

[cruisingbajan]

It's 6K. Scenic Grand Ocean View.

 

More than regular Ocean View, Cheaper than a Balcony.

 

You have to specify that exact room, because it may not show up.

 

I booked this room on the Glory for $900pp, 7 Day Eastern. YMMV.

 

How is the movement in these rooms?

 

We would like to book one of these rooms but my wife is a bit susceptible to motion sickness:(, so have hesitated thus far on pulling the trigger for our next Carnival Cruise.

 

Any info you can give is appreciated.

 

Thanks in advance. Enjoying your review as well by the way.:)

[campdaan]

How is the movement in these rooms?

 

We would like to book one of these rooms but my wife is a bit susceptible to motion sickness:(, so have hesitated thus far on pulling the trigger for our next Carnival Cruise.

 

Any info you can give is appreciated.

 

Thanks in advance. Enjoying your review as well by the way.:)

 

Depends on when you sail, I guess.

 

I felt no movement, but we always sail during calm seas.

 

I'd book it anyways.

Edited March 8, 2015 by campdaan