My review of the Conquest 04-23-06 sailing

[Riley's Mom]

We had a great trip..The only problem the entire week was the embarkment. Nightmare!!

We arrived in Galveston from San antonio around 11:30am and waited inline for almost 1 1/2hrs waiting to park at EZ Cruise.. Then waited another 30 minutes inside the lot for a shuttle. Waited another hour or so at the pier. We finally boarded around a little after 3"00pm.. I guess the reason for the hold up initially was Conquest late arrival??or late disembarkment?? Not quite sure..heard several different things.. Anyway..nest time we will use the pier parking and just pay more. I haven't had this type of problems with EZCruise in thepast but after this time..I seriously don't think I will ever use them again. My car was almost out of gas from just sitting in line waiting to park. I was afraid to turn it off becuase I had a problem starting it after we ate breakfast on the way to Galveston...Anyway....the rest of the week was great.

The Ship is HUGE< We never did completely find our way around the ship..It is beautiful..Very nice people..wait staff..etc.

Our cabin" Spa deck cabin #1115.. Very spacious and I "almost" didn't miss not having a balcony. The floor to ceiling windows are nice. We did hear alot of noise from the deck above us which is where Camp Carnival is located..Lots of moving around of tables/chairs etc. The noise would start around 7am each morning..Annoying but not a big problem.We could hear the people in the next cabin talking early in the morning when it was very quiet..The motion was not too noticeable except for the final day when the seas were rough. We had a thunderstorm Saturday night .

We had the Monet dining room at the back of the ship. It took some trouble to find our way there..Had to exit the elevators on deck 5 then walk to the back of the ship and go down several sets of stairs..But well worth the trouble . Our waiter Van Burn was from Grenada and was awesome.... we had dinner there each night. The food was good. Not great..Although some of the pasta dishes were excellent. I think..my personal opinion.the food on Royal Caribbean is better. I ate at the buffet for lunch most days. And also tried a hot dog ,Rueben Sandwich(Soo Good) and the Pizza is the best when it is hot and just taken out of the oven... My kids ate sommany double cheeseburgers and fries I lost count. We ordered room service a few times and the orders would arrive within 30 minutes.

We kept our tips on the S & S card and tipped extra to our dining room staff and the bar waiter from the dining room.

I used a debit card for our S & S account and the charges as of about an hour ago have not appeared on the card. There was a charge of $300 on there Sunday..according to my bank but now today there is not any tupe of charge, Not sure what is going on ..Our S & S account for the week was $730...We spent another $1200 shopping in port and on shore excursions.

In Jamiaca we did the Rose Hall Great House. we were picked up at the pier at 9am and got back around 12:30pm. The house itself was neat and educational..But then they took us to 2 different shopping centers to shop..each for 30 mintues. The first was 'for rich people" according to our guide..very high end.half moon center.I think.Very expensive..the other place was a"craft center" Very cheap junk..And very pushy hateful vendors..

We did most all of our shopping at the few shops that are at the pier.. We were not able to barder at all with the vendors at the pier. The line to get back to the ship was a disorganized mess. It took about 45 minutes standing in line..

In Grand Cayman we did the stingray tour with Nativeway. Nice day..Nice excursion.. Do not book with carnival or you will be sorry. Our book only had 15 people max. The carnival excursion boats had three decks filled with people. After the stingray tour my husband wnet back to the ship and I shopped intown for a few hours. Didn't really find any "good deals' but bought plenty anyway.. The tendering to the island was not a problem. we went to the Toulouse lounge before 7am and they started giving tender tickets at 7am. we were tender ticket #2 and were off the ship and on land within 30 minutes. .. The line to get back to the ship was long but moved very quickly.

In Cozumel we went to get our tender tickets around 9:30am and were ticket #9. We were called about 30 mintues later and were off the ship and on land within an hour of getting our tickets. No excursions here ..just shopping.. We ate lunch at Senor Frogs..expensive and the food was not good. we waited for an hour for our small order and it ended up costing almost $30..(US Dollars)..Oh well.. I was on vacation.

 

my husband entered the Hairy Chest contest and emabrrassed me to death. Maybe thats why I had four Pina COladas and don't remember formal night..ha.ha. Just a note ..the bartenders will add more rum (alcohol)to the drinks for free if you ask them. I got so hammered on 4 drinks..Whew.What a day..

My husband won $260 on the quartr slot machine..my brother in law Freddie won the slots tournamnet and my other b..i.l;Albert won almost $1000 on the quarter slots.

The shows I saw were pretty good. I loved the comedian and the macigian ..with the yellow blouse on.. SO funny. My daughter was Riley..the one in the front row they kepped pciking on...for not knowing her name.She was a little celebrity for the rest of the cruise.

My 14yr old son hung out with new friends mostly at the video arcade and at club 02.. My 9yr old daughter only went to Camp Carnival three times.. I did not use the Spa services..although my sister did have a facial and a massage.Both she said were great. The specials at the spa on Saturday were amazing. Half price on most services they had listed.

 

We did self disembarkment even though we had 7 suitcases and four duffle bags. We just tied the luggage together and were so glad we did this...We were called for self disembark on our floor..(they called from top deck on down) at 7am. we were off the ship and at our parking facility before 8am.. My sister on deck 1..riviera called us (after we were home in San Antonio ) at 1:45pm that they had just gotten off the ship.. SHe said never again will she do anything but self disembarkment. I am guessing that since they didn't get off the ship until after 1pm that they new arrivees were late getting on..as we were the previous week.

 

All in all I would give the ship and our wonderful week a score of 4 out of 5..Closer to 5!!! We did love the ship but it was a little too big for us.We are planning on booking the Rhapsody of Seas next year.. Also because we want to go to Key West again next year..

 

I know this review is long winded but didn't want to forget anything..

 

Carla

[Riley's Mom]

Almost forgot....My husband packed three 12 packs of beer in his luggage and didn't have a problem getting them to the cabin. We also took a 12 pack of sodas and 6 pack of water, No Problem,Mon!!!

 

Carla

 

P>S> Sorry about all the typographical errors on the review..I guess I got in too big of a hurry...

[Snoozeman]

I have to agree, each time I have parked there it has been a little worse and I have used them 7 times in the past year. :( I have found walking from the lot to be faster than the shuttle.

 

Of course if the ship is late, It really screws up the system. I'll probably still use them unless I'm on the Grand. (You have to park in Lot #2-terminal parking is closer)

[okiemom]

Thanks for the review! Only 215 days left for us to wait until we sail away!:eek: