Conquest review July 2

[luvs2cruz4]

Well I just wrote a very long review but for some reason it went to cyber heaven!:eek:

 

I will try again.

 

Our cruise included our extended family of 9. Myself,DH,DD,DS,SIL,BIL,neice,MIL,FIL. I will start by saying we all had a great time. The food was great. The service was great.

 

We got to the port around 10:30 and the guys dropped off the luggage at the port drove to easy cruise parking and walked back. We were pleasantly surprised to find out that they were already boarding. Just as soon as you could get through the long line to get checked in. I believe we were on the boat by noon.

 

We have been on 4 cruises. Norwegian Sea, Royal Carribean Rapsody of the seas , Carnival Elation and now the Conquest. All out of Galveston or Houston. I will have to say that the Conquest was the biggest and also the most crowded.

 

The first thing we did was eat at the buffet and I had the hamburger with sauteed mushrooms. It was awesome. My DH had the chinese dish and he said it was awesome. Don't remember what everyone else had but most of the desserts in the buffet area were not that good. Bland.

 

We then went to our room and unpacked. This was our first balcony room. Our kids were across the hall. It was the first time Dh and I had a room to ourselves. That was very nice. But first we needed to rekey our rooms so I did not have a key to my daughters room and vice versa. Although they changed it with no problem the wait was agonizing. 1 1/2 hours! The pursers line went on forever. At this point we had waited in line a total of 3 hours. Next the muster drill. Yes, more waiting. When all that was done we could finally enjoy ourselves.

 

We enjoyed the next two days with great food, casino and activities. I will have to say that most of the nightly shows were boring. I fell asleep in three of them. In my opinion the best show was the Legends show on the last night. Also enjoyable was the hypnotist and the newlywed game. I usually like kareoke but the first night we decided to go there was no where to sit and people were forced to stand outside. We did manage to go another night when a main show was on, and got a seat, but since most people were at the show it was not alot of fun since the same three people would sing over and over.

 

The first port was Jamaica. We chose Sunset beach resort. It was raining off and on here but we enjoyed ourselves anyways,. The slides were fun and the jerk chicken was good as were the drinks. We decided to get dressed and try the buffet but we did not care for it. It was an outside/inside restaurant and alot of flies around the food. Just not near the quality of the food on the ship. We should have ordered more jerk Chicken from the grill. It was much better.

 

Grand Cayman. It was raining off and on again . We decided to just snorkle on our own and walked to the right about 1/4 mile to a dive shop and rented some equipment and snorkled just outside the dive shop at a place called Edens Rock. Lots of pretty fish. We only spent $40 for our family of four here. If you are trying to stay on a budget this is the place for you.

 

That night we decided to try the supper club. My SIL and BIL decided not to splurge that night so it was just my MIL, FIL, DH and I. It was awesome. I think it was the highlight of our trip. Never in my life had I eaten such wonderful food. We should have brought a bottle of wine for them to open because my Dh and I each had one glass and the drink bill was $20. We could have had our own bottle for $15 corkage fee.

 

Cozumel- Here we decided to shop. My husband got some great deals on fake Rolexs and got three of them. We also got the girls hair braided and this information is important because I have never run into this issue before and I have had my daughters hair braided several times. After we agreed on a price the ladys braided our daughters hair with these ugly beige rubber bands. Then they said they were done. We said" Where are the beads?" They said "beads $10 extra" well, that was a scam because the model they show has beads on it! Obviously because we were in Mexico we did not feel we could do anything about it, so we forked over an extra $10. So my advice to you is to make sure the cost includes beads.

 

Our dining room waiter was excellent and he never charged us a corkage fee and we brought a total of three bottles. We also enjoyed the shows that the waiters put on. I loved it when they danced on the pedestals!

 

I did not spend as much time on the balcony as I had planned becuase you stay so busy doing other things and the middle of the day it was just too hot to be out there very long. But it was nice early in the morning.

 

We used room service often and the longest time it took them was an hour at midnight, but in the morning was always about 10 minutes.

 

The one time we took the girls swimming we could not find a chair. Anywhere!

 

My husband and I felt that we were hearded like cattle many times. We decided that the smaller boats like the Elation are more suited to us. They just don't seem as crowded to us. That would be my only complaint about the Conquest. Well, they could also improve some of those shows too.

 

The last night we were waiting for the Legends show to start and they were about to play Bingo. I never play because I never win, but my 9 year old was begging so my DH got a 3 pak. I was sitting with her and we did it together. It was blackout for $1000. We got one number away. I told the people around me that we needed one more o 60. The lady behind me said "they already called that number" I am like "Are you sure?" She said "look at the board" of course I do not have my glasses on and we are in the balcony so I can't see the board. Then they call another number and someone yells "BIngo" We are starting to panick and so we all start yelling BIngo too. I had to split the pot with that other person.:o Although I was happy with the $500 I still felt like I lost $500. I can't believe both my daughter and I failed to hear that number. :eek: The $500 paid half of our sail and sign bill.:D

 

Both my kids had a great time in the camps. We rarely saw my 15 year old son at all. He hung out in or near the o2 club most of the time. He was so busy socializing he rarely ate!:eek: He is the only one that lost weight on this cruise. I sure wish I could give him some of mine!!!!

 

I hope this review was helpful as many reviews helped me before I left.

[suzy1212]

Thanks for the review and congratulations on the bingo win. :)

[okiemom]

Thanks for the review! Not too much longer for us!

[TxStacey]

Hi! I saw in your signature that you have sailed the Rhapsody of the Seas and now the Conquest. I know that they are two entirely different classes of ships but how do they compare to each other? Is the Rhapsody about the same size as the Elation? I would love to hear your comparisons. I have sailed both the Elation and Conquest but would like to to try the Rhapsody, plus it is about 1000.00 less than the Conquest for the time that I want to sail. Thanks!!

[suzy1212]

Hi! I saw in your signature that you have sailed the Rhapsody of the Seas and now the Conquest. I know that they are two entirely different classes of ships but how do they compare to each other? Is the Rhapsody about the same size as the Elation? I would love to hear your comparisons. I have sailed both the Elation and Conquest but would like to to try the Rhapsody, plus it is about 1000.00 less than the Conquest for the time that I want to sail. Thanks!!

What date had such a big price difference? When I compare the two, I usually find the Conquest to be a little cheaper.

[luvs2cruz4]

The Rhapsody of the Seas is about the same size as the Elation. If it was cheaper, I would definetly pick it over the Conquest. The Conquest was just too crowded for us. We always go in the summer because we have children that we take with us. So I can only compare summer sailings. The Conquest buffet is better though. More to choose from. But Royal Carribeans desserts are way better. The dining rooms are about the same. Great food on both.

[emaksb]

We are also going on the Conquest Oct. 8 and we are thinking about going to sunset beach if you don't mind what did they charge?

[luvs2cruz4]

It was $40 for the adults. $20 for the kids.

[TxStacey]

What date had such a big price difference? When I compare the two, I usually find the Conquest to be a little cheaper.

 

I am looking at next June/July for 3 people and the total for the Conquest is about 1000.00 more for the three of us.

[TxStacey]

The Rhapsody of the Seas is about the same size as the Elation. If it was cheaper, I would definetly pick it over the Conquest. The Conquest was just too crowded for us. We always go in the summer because we have children that we take with us. So I can only compare summer sailings. The Conquest buffet is better though. More to choose from. But Royal Carribeans desserts are way better. The dining rooms are about the same. Great food on both.

 

Thanks! I have gotten just about the same response from everyone that the ROS would be a nice change from the Conquest. I have sailed Carnival 4 times and I am looking for a change from the same activites, games, shows etc. I know RCI is similiar but it would be nice to see what they are like. How are the teen programs on Rhapsody? Sorry to highjack your thread but I think you could be a great source of info for me!! Thanks, Stacey

[stockcerts]

I'm sailing on the Conquest with my 15 year old daughter in less than two weeks! Last year we did a four day cruise out of Long Beach (forgot the ship name) and she had a great time with the organized activites through Camp Carnival. I think she'll have even more fun this year...being a year older.

 

We will be catching a Carnival shuttle from Houston Hobby Airport and I don't think we'll be arriving to the pier until 1:30 (ish). Hopefully the boarding process will go quickly. I'll try to be patient! :eek:

 

I just bought a new backpack for the port visits. Thought it will be nice to have something to carry all my stuff in the ports, camera, lotion, etc.

[luvs2cruz4]

When we were on the Rhapsody my son was 11 so not a teen yet. He has had fun time on all our cruises. I am sure their teen program is also good.:) Kids that age tend to find their own hang outs and things to do anyways.

[Ronath]

TxStacey - there are some pix of both the Rhapsody and Conquest that you may want to look at. Enjoy.

[stockcerts]

I always take lots of digital pictures and video. I have some software called Video Studio and I make a video out of the pictures. I add music to the background along with transitions and text. They're fun to do and a great memory of any trip. They get burned to DVD, so they're fun to watch and share with family and friends.