Conquest August 13-20th Review

Medic_4_2_Long · August 21, 2006

For those of you who know me this will be a fairly long review. Might have to do it in a few postings.

PART ONE

Saturday - We left the San Antonio area around 11:00am. Got a later start than we wanted to, but had a great trip to Galveston. We arrived in Alvin (where our room was) around 4p, got check in and headed over to Kemah. What a great little place that was. It was about 20 miles from our room in Alvin.

We met up with Marshall’s (singledad) and Jackie’s (kjungirl) family. We enjoyed the sites. It’s a small amusement park along the lines of Fiesta Texas/Sea World. We had dinner at the Aquarium. The food was excellent. After dinner we stayed to watch the laser show. The kids loved this. Thanks Marshall for suggesting this place. It was a fantastic start to our vacation.

Sunday - We started the day off with our ritual that included eating at IHOP. We had to wait about 20 minutes for a table, but since we’ve done this before we knew this would be the norm. From there it was a last minute trip to Wally World (Wal-Mart) for sunglasses. I needed a new pair since my lasik surgery and all I had was prescription sunglasses. From there it was off to the Conquest. This being our daughter’s first trip on the Conquest we headed over to 23rd street and took it over to the port. I had brought my camcorder and as we got closer I turned in on and caught Caty’s expression as she first got a glimpse of this lovely lady. Her words pretty much sum it up. All she could say was “Oh My Gosh!”

We arrived at EZCruise about 11am. We’ve parked there before and had no problems getting to the ship. I have to say that the 5 previous trips on Carnival from Galveston spoiled us. Usually we arrive around 11am, hop onboard a shuttle and head on over and are checked in and on board in less than ½ hour. But not this time. Around 11:30 we’re still waiting at EZCruise and we were told that Immigration had locked the ship down and we ended up having to wait at EZCruise till a little after 12. Here’s a hint for EZCruise, get some chairs or benches for people to sit on. We were finally shuttled over, dropped our luggage with a porter and headed in for check in. Embarkation was slow (we had also heard that people were not wanting to get off the ship! DUH!!!. People were still not off the ship. We got in line and waited there about 45 minutes to an hour. Nothing was moving, they stopped checking cruisers in. The early arrivals were checked in and had the luxury of sitting in chairs. The rest of us were sitting on the floor in the check-in line and those who weren’t lucky enough to sit in a chair were sitting on the floor. Finally around 1pm they started checking the rest of us in. Once that got going it went pretty fast. We got checked in, then headed over for the mandatory boarding picture. I really wish they would let those of us who aren’t interested in getting our picture taken for posterity go ahead and walk straight thru, but NOOOOOO, gotta do that arrival picture. Really did feel like cattle being herded but knew it was all part of the process.

On previous cruises after getting our “mandatory boarding picture” taken we would walk down this long hallway and have our picture taken for our Sail and Sign card BEFORE boarding. But this time they were doing that as you stepped foot on the ship. That held up the line as there was only one station doing this, where before it was 2-3 stations. OK, got our ID photo taken and we were now on the Conquest. It was now around 1:30p. Caty was standing there ooohing and aaahing. We didn’t even get our traditional foo-foo drink because it was so crowed in the Atrium. We headed to our room to drop off our carry on luggage (room was ready), headed over to the Renior to change our dinner times. We had requested 6:15 and got 5:45 instead. He said we would have to eat at 5:45 that day, but it would be changed the next day. We left there and then headed to the buffet. The line wasn’t all that long and soon we were eating and people watching.

We explored the ship, found the Sun Deck where we planned our Sail-Away party, and actually ran into some of our Cruise Critic members. Of course we had exchanged phone numbers so we were able to call to see if others had boarded yet and where they were.

Now I have watched the Conquest sail away many many times before this cruise and knew that the average time for sailing was around 5p. Around 4:15 they started the “Mustard” drill announcement. We grab our oh so lovely life vest and head to our Muster station. Well, needless to say they started sailing away while we were doing the lifeboat drill. We finished that up, went back to our cabin to drop off the life vest and grabbed a foo foo drink and headed to the Sun Deck. We met up with quite a few of our roll call there, at least the ones that had been chatting on MSN. I had brought Party Poppers for the kids, Marshall had brought bubbles for the kids and wine for the adults. We toasted to the start of a wonderful vacation. We watched as we sailed around Galveston and headed out to 7 glorious days at sea.

It was now time to head back to the cabin, change clothes for dinner and head to the dining room. Our table in the Monet was a really good spot, a window seat! It really made it tough for us to decide whether to stay in the Monet or be changed to the Renior. But we were the only ones there that night. L After dinner we explored some more, went to the Casino, then met up with a few from our roll call group. We found some music and had a good time late into the night.

All in all it wasn’t all that painful boarding. This was the first time we had to wait as long as we did to board. It wasn’t a big deal other than having to stand in line forever. Most of us just ended up sitting on the floor in line and talked to those around us. If you’re one of those that hate waiting, well, you might want to prepare yourself for that just in case you too have do a little waiting. Take something to amuse yourself while you’re sitting on the floor. Since we knew we would eventually be onboard it wasn’t a big thing for us.

Monday - Today was our Meet and Greet in Alfred’s. Up early, ate breakfast in the Cezanne Dining Room then headed over to our meeting. Welllllll, it seems there was a golf class being held in Alfred’s so we took our meeting to the Promenade Deck and it was great. We could sit there, watch the water and meet the rest of the people we had come to know from CC. From there us “Lush(ious) Ladies headed over to the aft pool and had a round or two or three of Bloody Mary’s and visited. Now most of us there had already gotten to know to know each other because we had spent HOURS on MSN chatting. Needless to say that by lunch time we were feeling no pain. Wait, some of us actually had a liquid lunch! We eventually headed off to do more things and to get our stuff ready for the Captain’s Party.

Went to the cabin, DH got all spruced up, I got my 13-year-old DD dressed in her formal and then of course I was able to get dressed in my formal (a lovely floor length dress of black and turquoise) and headed out to the Captain’s Party. Since we had early seating for dinner our Captain’s party started at 5p. We arrived at 5:20. Still plenty of time before our 6:15 dining time. We met up with the Lush(ious) Ladies or what was to become the regulars (or 3 Stooges as we were aptly named after that night!).

DH and I had sat down with our group and were waiting for a waitress to bring us some drinks. Now, for those of you who haven’t sailed on any of the Carnival ships, there are several lounges that have the seating set up as a half-moon with a table in the center, with a two-seater type loveseat that swivels either towards the stage or around to face the group. I sat there facing the group. The aisle was at my back. The waitress was headed our way with a tray of drinks. As she walked up behind me another waitress bumped into her. The next thing I know I have the entire tray of drinks (about 12) spilled down my entire left side. Now this dress has very thin straps that leaves my shoulders and arms exposed. I ended up with Amaretto sours, wine, margarita’s, rum punch, and a few other variety of drinks flowing down my shoulders, arms and the entire left side of my lovely gown. I am now soaking wet. I have somehow cut my finger from the broken glasses, so I’m also bleeding. The waitress didn’t even apologize for this! A head waiter came over, handed me some napkins to soak up the excess fluids, and told me that the ship would dry clean the dress for me. He took my name and cabin number. By the time we get me and the mess cleaned up it’s about 5:30. I’m wet, sticky and bleeding from the cut on my finger. Not a major cut, but still bleeding. No one apologized for the incident. Silly me, I really did expect an apology. I dry off as much as a person can with cocktail napkins. DH was really upset over this, and of course I was too since we still had to attend dinner and do the family pictures. As soon as I was sufficiently dried off they started running us out of the lounge for the “next” round of partiers. We headed to the Purser’s desk just to let them know of the incident. I even started the conversation with “I don’t mean to complain or cause a problem, but….” Needless to say they weren’t concerned that I was standing there soaking wet down the entire left side of my formal, sticky, and bleeding from a cut on my finger. She took my name, room number, cost of the dress and my accounting of the incident. She told me that I would have to send the dress to my cleaners, get it dry cleaned and could submit the bill to Carnival. From there I had to head over to dinner, still soaking wet. I hadn’t brought another dress that would be suitable for formal night, so I couldn’t change clothes. It was cold in the dining room, I was freezing and wet and smelled as if I had been on a 3 day drinking binge. Dinner was great, the service was great, but I was extremely uncomfortable.

Now, before you regulars start thinking I was out to get something free, let me assure you I wasn’t after anything other than the dry cleaning of my dress and an apology. A few days later I receive a letter of apology with the incident number and the address where I needed to submit the bill for the dry cleaning. It also stated that I should submit the bill and they would “Consider” reimbursement. Now I’m a pretty easy going person. But this did put a damper on the entire evening. I had to attend dinner in a wet dress, smelling of alcohol, and pray that the wet gown and stains didn’t show up in our pictures. And all I get is they would “Consider” reimbursement???? Like this was somehow my fault????? I didn’t even get a drink out of it, well at least not one that I could actually drink. At 5:45 they were running us out of the lounge and they refused to give us a drink(guess they figured I had already had my share!). We weren’t screaming, we weren’t rude, and we didn’t create a scene. We still had ½ an hour till dinner time, and they’re refusing us drinks? What's up with that? Needless to say it will be an evening I’ll always remember. I guess it could have been worse. Had the waitress spilled the drinks a second or two sooner it all would have landed on my head!

To be continued.

robtx100 · August 21, 2006

Wow, Medic, I can't wait for part two. Sorry for your mishap. They should have at least apoligized and done more to help you get dried off. Where were you want to make sure I'm not sitting there on my cruise.

suzy1212 · August 21, 2006

Thanks for the detailed review. Can't wait for part two. Sorry for the mishap! How uncomfortable sitting there wet, sticky, and cold!

I spilt a thing or two back when I waitressed. I can't imagine not apologizing! (Over and over!) :eek:

cathyoo · August 21, 2006

Oh that is terrible... Especially, the part about no apology. You definitely need to share this with Uncle Bob. Hope the rest of your cruise was an improvement.

Medic_4_2_Long · August 21, 2006

Robtx100 wrote: "Wow, Medic, I can't wait for part two. Sorry for your mishap. They should have at least apoligized and done more to help you get dried off. Where were you want to make sure I'm not sitting there on my cruise."

Don't sit anywhere they can walk behind you!!!! :eek: Pick a place that has seats at your back. :D

Medic_4_2_Long · August 21, 2006

Suzy1212 wrote: "Thanks for the detailed review. Can't wait for part two. Sorry for the mishap! How uncomfortable sitting there wet, sticky, and cold!

I spilt a thing or two back when I waitressed. I can't imagine not apologizing! (Over and over!) :eek:"

Thanks Suzy. Again, an apology would have gone a long way in making the situation more palatable. But no one, not the waitress, not the head waiter, not the Purser apologized. The head waiter kept saying "Don't worry, we'll take care of it." Like I had been the one that spilled the drinks. I realize they must get lots of complaints, and this was my first complain in 6 cruises. But I feel this was handled poorly and they behaved with that "ehh, no big deal" attitude. Yes, the dress can be dry cleaned, and no I wasn't injured, just inconvenienced and embarrassed by the stares from other passengers. I did have to make sure that my left side wasn't photographed and that was the side I really wanted since that side of the dress has the turqouise insert that makes the dress what it is. Otherwise it just looks like a plain black dress. I can laugh about it now, and did later that evening. But as you ladies know we spend alot of time getting ready and take great pride in looking our best for this special nite.

As I said, I wasn't asking for anything other than dry cleaning expenses. But to get a letter saying "We will consider compensating you for the dry cleaning expense" was like telling me they weren't responsible for the incident when they were. I kinda felt insulted by that reply.

But hey, I still had a great time.

More review headed your way.

Deb

Medic_4_2_Long · August 21, 2006

Oh that is terrible... Especially, the part about no apology. You definitely need to share this with Uncle Bob. Hope the rest of your cruise was an improvement.

Thanks for your comments. I will be writing to Uncle Bob, but not to complain about this incident. I want to let him know about 3 remarkable people he has working on the Conquest. They did an outstanding job and were very attentive and made us feel like royalty. I will mention the incident as a side note telling him it was the only downer of the cruise.

More Review coming.

Deb

Medic_4_2_Long · August 21, 2006

OK, More of the Review.

Monday (con't) – We went to dinner, then went and had our pictures taken. Dinner this night is of course the Prime Rib and Lobster. Being a light eater I ate the Prime Rib. However, DH has a healthy appetite. He had both. All I can say is “FANTASTIC”. We had changed our dinner times from 5:45 to 615. We ended up with a booth just for the 3 of us. It was nice since this was the only time we actually got to have some quality time with our daughter. Our head waitress Cristina, and her assistant Niko were fabulous. They gave Cary extra special attention. This night Caty had ordered 2 desserts. Cristina made her get up and dance with her in exchange for the 2 desserts. She had a blast. The one thing I can say about the waitstaff in the dining room is that no matter how busy they are they always go out of their way to make you feel special. These ladies were the greatest. After the first night they knew we wanted tea, that DH wanted lemon and what kind of bread/rolls we liked. I plan to write Uncle Bob about these 2 lovely ladies.

After dinner it was off for pictures. We had several taken as this was Caty’s first “grown-up” affair. The photography staff treated her like a princess. She loved the attention. See Comment to Suzy1212 regarding the rest of my comment about having our pictures taken.

Now, I know some of you have visited our roll call board. And we're glad you did! I had posted a link to a picture I have of my darling Chihuahua Chata (as in “Chata the F*$* up”) who likes to hump our cats. Don’t ask! She has a species/gender problem and I think she’s a lesbian. Here’s the link if any of you want to see this crazy Chihuahua:

http://s93.photobucket.com/albums/l51/Medic_4_2_Long/Medics%20Family%20Pix/

The reason I’m posting this is because one of our Roll Call members bought me a battery operated humping Chihuahua and gave it to me after dinner. Now this humping dog is a riot. It not only humps but it makes appropriate sounds. You can also strap it to your leg. Chata belongs to my DH. So I showed him the toy I had gotten (Thanks Bill and Billie!!!) and he fell in love with it. He strapped it to his leg, got it to humpin’ and walked across the stage in the Degas lounge where Blood Power was playing. They are great and a lot of fun. The lead singer lost it. He couldn’t finish the song. Of course he became the main attraction in the Degas Lounge. He then gets the dog to humpin’ again and walked into Vincent’s. At the door he asks rather loudly “Does this damm dog belong to anyone in here?” And again he was center of attention and the crowd roared with laughter. (side note: DH wouldn’t have done this had it not been for his old friend Crown & water!). He then decided to stroll the Promenade Deck with this horny humping Chihuahua strapped to his leg. I walked behind him (who wouldn’t?!?!?! :eek: ) just to see the reaction on people’s faces. It was priceless. People were laughing, staring, looking at him in disbelief and pointing. He was having a blast, and so was I. He became known as the Hairy Chested Humping Dog passenger and we got plenty of comments on this thru-out the cruise. I forgot to mention my DH entered the Hairy Chest Contest and came in 2nd. I had the pleasure of watching that for the entire cruise in our cabin and anywhere they played to event on the ship!!! :(

Hey, if ya gotta be famous, at least let it be for something fun! We again partied til they closed down the bars. Even after a terrible start to the evening we still had a blast!!! We went back into the Degas Lounge where the waitress had spilled the drinks on me. She wouldn’t even come over and take our order! Still no apology from her either!

Another great day at Sea.

Tuesday – Up early again. Had breakfast delivered to our cabin. Met up with the Lush(ious) Ladies, had some more Bloody Mary’s (I’ve never drank these before, but the ones on the Conquest were great! It became my drink preference). Spent the day roaming the shops, donating money to the slot machines, and having a good time. DH entered the slot tourney, but didn’t make it to the finals. We went to some of the games and enjoyed them. I always get a kick out of the Newlywed/Not So Newlywed Game. Played the “Entertainment Trivia” game, and shared even more drinks with the Lush(ious) Ladies.

That afternoon was the Past Guest Party. Got spiffied up and headed over to Degas Lounge. I sat in a different spot this time! I made sure no one could walk behind me. We had appetizers (they didn’t have the meatballs in bar-b-que sauce that DH loves, but the other stuff was good) and drinks. No Whiskey Sours this time, but did have Amaretto Sours and they were delicious. And yes, I got to actually drink the drinks this time. The same waitress was there, she did serve us, but wouldn’t look at us and still no apology from her. But at least I made it thru the party with dry clothes.

Now the one good thing to come out of all this was that at the Past Guest party they put your invitations into an ice bucket and towards the end they draw a name for a prize. I won a dinner for 2 at The Point!!!! This was great as we had planned on eating there anyway. Now, it probably would have been nice if they had given that to us as compensation for the previous night, but at least we did win it. And to think we almost didn’t go. I did notice that they were turning away people who didn’t have invitations, which is as it should be.

Dinner tonight was in the Renior. We had a booth to ourselves as previously mentioned and Cristina and Niko were the sweetest. Supper was delicious as always. The Matre’D sang a Frank Sinatra song (and will thru-out the cruise) and he has a really good voice.

That night the Lush(ious) Ladies met up in Vincent’s where Blood Power was again playing. This soon became our favorite meeting spot. This really is a great band with lots of audience participation. We even got to go on stage and sing "Take It Easy" by The Eagles" and it wasn't even Karoake nite. We stayed there till it was time for the late night comedy special with Phat Kat. What a hoot he is. We all retired after this since we had been going strong (translation – drinking) since early that day. Another great day at sea.

Vanessa L · August 21, 2006

Thank you sooooo much Medic! This is making the 6 MONTHS I have to wait until we sail the Conquest so much easier!!! I am so sorry to hear about what happened to you the first night. You definitely handled it better than I would've. Looking forward to more of your review--this is GREAT!!!!!!!!!! :D :D

texas greeneyes · August 21, 2006

Love your review so far...we will be on the Conquest in six weeks. Keep it coming!

Medic_4_2_Long · August 21, 2006

Wednesday - Jamaica! No Problems Mon! Yeah Right!!!!!

We had breakfast in the cabin. Went out and took pictures from the ship, then headed down to Deck 0 to disembark. No tendering here.

DH and I were here in February. This time since we had our DD with us we let her pick the excursion. We went to Sunset Beach. We left the ship, got a taxi and took the one mile trip to the beach. Cost of taxi was $9.00. We got there about 11ish. They direct you to a desk where you sign in, pay your money and hand over your S&S card. From then on it’s fun, fun, fun. It cost $40/person for Sunset Beach. This included all the food and drinks – alcoholic and non-alcoholic, water park, paddle boats, snorkeling, kayaks, and sail boats. The

Lush(ious) Ladies and their families found a spot on the beach in the one million degree sun and started the morning with our usual drinks. The younger kids played in the surf, the older kids (19-30) sunned, played in the water, ate, drank, etc. The Ladies did all of the above.

Now, a word of warning. The sun was like sitting on THE Sun! It didn’t take long before you were burning. I don’t think they make a sunblock strong enough to keep this from happening. When I got back to the ship I saw just how much the 50 spf doesn’t work! I was burned, and I mean burned. My feet swelled up at least 5 times their normal size, they were burned, and I couldn’t wear shoes! The rest of me didn’t fair so well either. Spent the rest of the trip shivering and unable to get warm. Yes, I’m a medic, I know better, but I did use sunblock!!! Lots of it. I just never felt it burning. We laid on the chaise lounges, soaked up the rays and drank the drink specials. They have a large variety of foo foo drinks. You can also get beer or ask for something different. I drank Bloody Mary’s and Rum & Coke. Lots of them. I definitely got my money’s worth.

We ate lunch at the outdoor snack bar because we didn’t want to change clothes to go into the restaurant. The menu consisted of Jerk Chicken and Pork (Spicy!), hamburgers, cheeseburgers, and hotdogs. You can get fries with all of it and they were delish! There’s also a soft serve ice cream machine. Word of warning: the sodas and ice cream are extremely sweet.

ok, lunch over and back to the sun. I had put on sunblock, but it didn’t work, which I didn’t find out about until that night. The Lush(ious) Ladies went down the 2 water slides. Now, just so you know, we range in age from 38 to 55. We had a blast doing that. Embarrassed the dickens out of our kids!!!

Most all of us snorkeled and swam at the beach. One young lady in our group got stung by the remains of a jelly fish or something that had deposited it’s venom on some seaweed. Now, being a medic for 21 years I know how to treat this. There are several ways. There’s meat tenderizer, vinegar, and human urine. Well, I didn’t have the first two remedies, but we ALL had the last one since we kept our First Aid kit fully loaded! She was stung just below the lower left front edge of her swim suit (about an inch from her ahhhhhh, you know) and the back lower edge of her swimsuit near her hiney. She refused to let us use our God given First Aid – said it would look funny with her lying there with her legs spread and us peeing on her! Such a spoil sport!

This is really a beautiful beach with lots to do, especially if you’re taking kids. The price was great for all that you get. I highly recommend this spot.

We returned to the ship. Stood in line about 5 minutes and we were back on the ship.

We went to our cabin, took a shower, and I laid down and propped my feet up to see if I could get the swelling to go down. I also used my Aloe Vera gel a lot to help ease the pain of the burn.

That night since I couldn’t wear anything other than flip flops (barely!) we ate in the Cezanne. The food is ok. Some good, some just so-so. We tried to get in to see “Deja” The Diva of Deception but were unable to find a seat and they had some of the upper deck roped off. So if you want to see this then go early and get a seat, otherwise you’ll miss it like we did. But we had seen it in February so it was no big deal. We wondered over to the casino and made another donation.

We turned in early that nite. We were worn out from being in the sun all day and quite frankly, I was miserable. This meant we missed the late nite comedy with Diane Ford. I really wanted to see that because I love the adult comedy.

Another side note: DH ate the oyster patties in Sur Mer. He said they were to die for. The pizza was great, as were the Reuben sandwiches.

Second side note: We bought our daughter a soda card. She didn’t drink enough soda to make it worth it. But it was nice for the convenience. I made sure she didn’t have charging privileges on her S&S because I didn’t want her buying out the gift shops or the jewelry shops!

Third side note: The Lush(ious) Ladies I keep referring to is a group of us ladies that hung around and closed the bars. I met these ladies thru our roll call. and we hit it off immediately and hung together for most of the trip. Our entire roll call was the greatest!

Still more to come.

Medic_4_2_Long · August 21, 2006

Thursday – Grand Caymen. Ahhhh Paradise

This is such a beautiful island. My favorite. We had to tender in for this one. Since we didn’t have a Carnival planned excursion we waited until they were thru tendering in those that did.

This gave us time for breakfast. We ate in the Monet. Absolutely wonderful. You have to try this. You can order just about anything there. I like the fact that I can get my eggs over easy there and not that scrambled egg stuff they serve in the Cezanne. You can get pancakes, French toast, omelet’s, Eggs Benedict and lots of other things. They wait on you just like they do dinner.

After breakfast we tendered into the island. We just went down to Deck 0 and walked onto the tender boat. We had a 10am excursion with Capt Bryan’s Catamaran Stingray and snorkeling tour. We walked the 2 blocks over there (if you tender in to the center of town, turn left, go 2 blocks. Look for the Old English Bakery on the corner – on the right - right behind it is a little shack, yes a little shack) you check in there. Then you load up on a bus – ours had NO a/c, and they drive you about 10-15 minutes to the catamaran. You board that, then spend about 20 minutes or so traveling out to the stingray sandbar. They supply you with snorkeling equipment and free water. No alcoholic drinks. Take plenty of sunscreen, there is NO shade on this boat. And a hat! And a cover up or something to keep the sun off your back and shoulders.

Swimming with the ‘rays is fun. But there were at least 5 other tours there so there were lots of people. But we were in an area where we were our own group. Of course there’s the required photographer. The pictures are $30.00 each for the first 2 and $15 each after that. If you have a large group with you (we had 26 from our CC roll call) he’ll give you a special price. He takes about 5 or 6 pictures of each person. Since we wanted pictures of our CC group we were able to work a deal where we paid $10/person and we got our pictures and those of our entire group! We thought that was a really good deal.

From there we went to another spot to snorkel among a barrier reef, we spent about ½ hour there, then went to a 3rd spot for yet more snorkeling. After that it was back to the island. They take you directly to the port. You will have a little time to do some shopping. We got back there around 2 and the line to tender was a block long. Last tender leaves at 3p, or so the ship says. There are some really rude people who have no problem cutting into the front of the line. That makes me mad since they must figure they’re too good to go to the back of the line and wait like the rest of us did. Guess their parents didn’t teach them manners. Yes, this happened to us, and when it was mentioned to them they just laughed it off. I just let it go. See, I told you I was an easy going person. OK, maybe a push over.

If you’re into this kind of thing it was really nice. My DD loved it. But then she’s part fish.

The sun didn’t help none on my Fred Flintstone feet. Made them worse. I tried to keep them covered as much as possible.

We tendered back to the ship, I hobbled my way to the nearest bar for a Bloody Mary. Went to our room, showered and spent the entire evening there. DH went and got us some dinner and me a double Bloody Mary and I spent the night with my feet propped up. I missed out on some fun, but they frown on people showing up barefooted in some areas of the ship!

Even tho so far I’ve had drinks spilled on me, ended up with Fred Flintstone feet and dealt with rude obnoxious people, I was still having a great time. It’s all what you make of it. Nothing was going to spoil this trip for me.

Bored yet? Do you want more? I told you I was long winded. Hope you’re enjoying this as much as I am reliving it.

Deb

singledad · August 21, 2006

Hi Deb. We had a great time with you and your family. You made our roll calls and the cruise a lot more fun. Thank you for all your help w/ DD Bday. I still owe your DH a drink so we must hook up again on the next cruise. A reunion cruise ?

This was my first cruise and it was AMAZING.

I was cruising with DD Natalie 9 (turned 10 on the Friday at Cozumel) and DS Timothy 8.

First of all I like to thank all you CC's and this board for all the wonderful info provided. I felt like a season cruiser with the knowledge that I got from reading this board.

For all the first time cruisers, do a lot of reading or research on this board.

If not finding the appropriate info, post the question(s) then you will get the info or where to look. Then join your roll calls.

The review will follow but first I would like to give out the info I compiled before the cruise for all 1st time cruisers. (Hint: Open a word document, copy and paste any info to it for references later)

Cruise Critic Compilations

Video Montage-Conquest-Sunset Beach-Stingrays-Paradise Beach

http://www.onetruemedia.com/otm_site/view_shared?p=8d6b59c483b80d237bd27&skin_id=0&utm_source=otm&utm_medium=text_url\

Webcam

http://www.galveston.com/webcams/harborhouse/home.htm

http://www.leonardsworlds.com/listing/port/port_cayman_islands.htm

http://www.cozumelinsider.com/webcam

http://www.cruisecal.com/dnn/Default.aspx?tabid=30

Cruise Port Schedule and Webcam

http://www.cruisecal.com/dnn/Default.aspx?tabid=74

Daily Capers

http://www.cruisedailies.com/portal/

Travel Consent Form

http://www.globetrektravel.com/minortravelforms.pdf

http://www.lawdepot.com/contracts/consent/?pid=overture-consnt&OVRAW=Travel%20with%20children&OVKEY=travel%20with%20child&OVMTC=standard ($)

CC Door Décor and sample photos

http://www.user.shentel.net/cbarden/ccdoorsign.doc

http://community.webshots.com/photo/...61183369BRyxmY

http://community.webshots.com/photo/...61183369TqqLXn

http://parrotheadcruise.com/archive/2004/bjones/image134.htm

Carnival Platinum Question

http://www.carnival.com/CMS/Articles/concierge_club.aspx

Checking for room number GTY From R&S (Ron and Sue)

The easiest way is to log into the Carnival website and click on modify booking (only for booking with PVP/Carnival only).

If the modify option doesn't work, here is another method. (It's a bit detailed, but it will work)

1. On the Carnival homepage click 'My Reservation' located on the top of the page.

2. Use the 'Member log-in' to the right of the page to log-in to your account. This will take you to your reservation.

3. On the 'My Reservation' page first write down your booking number then click on the 'FunPass - Complete Online' located to the right of the Itinerary (This will take you to the FunPass check in area) Note: Sometimes you will get an error message and you will need to go back to the My Reservation page and click the 'FunPass-Complete Online' a second time. Then it will work.

4. On the 'FunPass Quick Check in' page you may be required to provide your booking number. You should have it from the My Reservation page.

5. You should now see a list of guests traveling and be able to complete a FunPass for each person.

6. Under the list of guests you will see 4 options

Book Shore Excursions Now---------Order Gifts & Services

Carnival Sea Miles MasterCard-----Join Presidential Wine Club

7. Click on 'Order Gifts and Services'

8. Select 'Details' of any gift. At the bottom of the page will be your booking number and stateroom number.

Your room number will show up as GUAR until it has been assigned.

Houston Traffic and Construction Report

http://traffic.houstontranstar.org/construction/construction_report.aspx

Parking-Galveston

Will try EZCruise parking (online $50/7days) even though there were some bad reviews. http://www.ezcruiseparking.com

Other available:

-The Port ($70/7days) http://www.galveston.com/cruiseparking

-The Blue Dolphin ($60/7days) http://www.bluedolphinparking.com

-The LightHouse Parking ($55/7days) http://www.lighthouseparking.org

Insurance

http://www.cruisecritic.com/features/articles.cfm?ID=274

http://www.insuremytrip.com

Kemah

http://www.kemah.net/sights/

http://www.kemahboardwalk.com

Scabies

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=371248

http://www.cdc.gov/Ncidod/dpd/parasites/scabies/factsht_scabies.htm

Paradise Beach Snorkel Pic

http://www.wilmacozumel.com/snorkeling/index.htm

Excursions

http://www.snorkelbeachparty.com/

http://jamaicacruiseexcursions.com/MontegoBayExcursions.htm

http://grandcaymancruiseexcursions.com/

http://belizecruiseexcursions.com/

http://costamayacruiseexcursions.com/

http://cozumelcruiseexcursions.com/CozumelShoreExcursions.htm

http://cozumelcruiseexcursions.com/PlayaDelCarmenExcursions.htm

Cruise ships data

http://www.a1cruises.com/ships.asp

Retirement on a cruise ship or Holiday Inn

http://www.snopes.com/travel/trap/retire.asp

Carnival Menu for Room Service

Juices

Orange, Tomato, Apple, Grapefruit

Breads

(Served with Butter or Jelly on Request)

Toast White, Toast Whole Wheat, Toast Rye

Assorted Danish, Croissant, Toasted Bagel with Cream Cheese Sandwiches

Turkey, Ham and Cheese, Cheese (American, Swiss, or Cheddar)

Bacon Lettuce and Tomato, Peanut Butter and Jelly

The Sandwiches above are served plain with the choice of

White Bread, Whole Wheat, or Rye Bread

Roast Beef and Brie on Fresh Baguette

Creamy Tuna Salad on Toasted English Muffin

Open Faced Shrimp Salad Sandwich on French Roll

Cheddar Cheese, Refried Beans and Lettuce in a Whole Wheat Wrap

Shredded Chicken Fajita, Crisp Greens and Guacamole in a Jalapeno and Tomato Wrap

Focaccia Sandwich with Grilled Zucchini, Fresh Mozzarella and Portabello with Basil Aioli

All Sandwiches are served with Potato Salad, Cole Slaw, Potato Chips or Pretzels

Miscellaneous

Tossed Garden Salad

Mixed Greens with Tomato, Cucumber, Radish and Red Onions

Served with choice of Ranch, Thousand Island, Blue Cheese or Fat Free Honey Mustard Dressing

Caesar Salad with Parmesan Cheese and Herbed Croutons

The Same Caesar Salad with Freshly Grilled Chicken Breast

Assorted Vegetable Sticks with Blue Cheese Dip

Assorted Cookies and Brownies

Featured Dessert of the Day

Chocolate Cake

Strawberry Yogurt

Fresh Fruit Salad

Beverages

Regular Coffee, Decaffeinated Coffee, Hot Tea, Iced Tea

Hot Chocolate, Milk, Skim Milk, Chocolate Milk

Evian Water is Available in Your Stateroom for a Nominal Fee

(or fill up with the free filtered water available from your stateroom tap - editor)

Bar Service Menu at Regular Bar Prices*

Soft Drinks

Coca Cola, Diet Coke, Sprite, Diet Sprite, Ginger Ale, Tonic Water

Domestic Beer

Budweiser, Bud Light, Coors Light, Miller Light

Imported Beer

Heineken, Corona

STATEROOM SERVICE/BAR SERVICE

Stateroom service is available 24 hours daily

Full stateroom bar service is available from: 9:00 AM to 3:00 AM

Must be 21 or older to order alcoholic beverages

Pirates

http://www.breitbart.com/news/2005/11/07/D8DNUV2G3.html

Review will follow. Here are some pics:

Medic_4_2_Long · August 21, 2006