Conquest Review 8/22 LONG!!

[PricePerformer]

Thank you for your comments.

 

It appears that when you get an unruly crowd, it affects the whole ship. If the staff could not keep the Public Areas clean... no wonder the rooms went to heck. Can you imagine what some of those rooms must have looked like?

 

Also, rude people seem to also be very demanding... probably had far more calls for Room Service than normal.

 

That said, the Pursers Desk should have been more understanding ... even if their options were limited.

 

I have never been on a Cruise ship with a large group, however I have stayed at hotels where it seemed that 80% of the Hotel was booked by the same group. When they are loud and disruptive with running and yelling in the halls, I can understand the insecure feelings... and to have to put up with it for a whole week is a bit much. Most Ships and Hotels have security that is adequate for the normal situations... this seems Heavy Duty.

 

I had been considering the Conquest since it is within driving distance... but now I am not sure.

 

PricePerformer

[retiredldo]

The pursers desk on that trip 8/22 -8/29 was packed all the time, I have never seen a pursers desk that busy or crowded, there always seemed to be some issues. Not sure if it was the groups or just the crowd in general, it was a completely different atmosphere than we had experienced before in all our other cruises. I do think the staff trys hard but gets overwhelmed and underwhelmed. And for a new ship it sure has seen a significant amount of wear.

 

Oh well

 

Pete

[kristikae]

Unfortunately I've been reading a lot of negative about the Conquest. If we experience the same in January it will be the last for me on the Conquest.

It's hard to believe that Carnival would just ignore the problems on the Conquest.

Actually it appears that the people who are giving the negative reviews are just doing it here and not to Carnival. The Conquest won the Golden Eagle Award which is an award that Carnival give out for the best rated ship. The Conquest won in both the crew and the guest category.

[bulldogatl]

Kristi,

I've been lucky enough to travel on at least one cruise a year throughout my life. I'm trying to do two a year through my 30's. I've seen many things on ships but I can say I've never been as repulsed as I was on the 8/29 Conquest trip. From kids out of control, to women looking for "customers", to unruley passengers, to drugs, to unsanitary food situations ... it was really really a horrible cruise to be on as a single person. And yes, I did put my complaints on my comment card. I noticed that the Conquest won the Eagle award as well .. just makes me wonder how bad the other ships are in the fleet now. No more Carnival for me.

[kristikae]

I'm not saying that I don't believe you, just that I don't think your cruise was normal for the Conquest. I've been on it twice and have never experienced what you did. I'm sorry yours was that way.

[LSUtraveler]

I'm not saying that I don't believe you, just that I don't think your cruise was normal for the Conquest. I've been on it twice and have never experienced what you did. I'm sorry yours was that way.

I was with my TA over the weekend and we did talk about that particular cruise. She checked with some of her travelers on that cruise and most had nothing but good to say about it. Minor complaints like I lost in the Casino, I got a sunburn, stuff like that, so as is usually the case we should always look for other opinions and experiences.

 

And it's not to say that the OP didn't have a good experience. Personalities and expectations play a large part in our experiences. I only hope the devestation from Ivan doesn't throw everything in a mess. Then you'll really hear about bad experiences!!!:(

[Em6554]

I just returned from the 9/5 Conquest and I have to say in its defense that everything was absolutely amazing! The ship was absolutely beautiful and everytime I turned around it seemed there was someone cleaning something. The food and the service was excellent and the people I met were all really nice and seemed to be having a good time. We had an absolutely wonderful week and I would recommend the Conquest to anyone. I will try to write a review in the next few days but I just thought I would share how much I truly enjoyed sailing last week with all of you who are second guessing the Conquest.

[sea_u_onboard]

LSUTraveler - You are correct about everyones perception. Maybe some of those folks were part of the group that was running wild - LOL . To them everything was GREAT. I'm just kidding - I don't know these folks.

 

_________________________________________________________

 

I am aware of the problems the Conquest had when the mouth of the Mississippi was blocked. From everything I heard afterwards Carnival handled that pretty good. I happen to be on the first cruise to go out of Gulfport. We could have had a very bad cruise if we let our experiences before boarding follow us onboard - but we chose to go on with a positive attitude. If the trip would have continued on the same course I'm sure our experience would have been different - but we had a GREAT time.

 

__________________________________________________________

 

That is not to say that the OP didn't have a good attitude - just that sometimes there is nothing a person can do to stop a trip from spinning out of control - especially when it is out of their control. I know it's hard BUT please don't judge the Conquest on this one cruise and please don't judge Carnival completely by this experience.

[seajan]

We just returned from the Conquest sailing of 9-5-04 and had a WONDERFUL time. After reading this original post of the TA's horrible week, I was a little nervous about how our week would go. At embarkation time, we noticed alot of orange T-shirts and met a man who said he was with a large group from Louisiana radio station promotion. He said there were 600 in their group. I had a slight recall of the original post describing the "large group mob theory". However, everyone I met from the group was great! So, no problem there.

 

School was back in session though so probably only 1-2% of the passengers were school age. The ship was beautiful and we saw Carnival employees constantly cleaning, wiping, polishing, etc. Dishes on the stairways, etc. was not common. (why are some people so inconsiderate to others...) Never saw any vomit (thank goodness). Staff was friendly.

 

While in a food line one day, there was a security guard behind me. I struck up a conversation with her and asked about the sailing from several weeks ago, in which the OP said was so bad. With each example I gave her of what was reported, she dismissed it or said she didn't know anything about a "bad sailing in August". I don't know if that was "Carnival damage control" or what.

 

Anyway, I might post a longer review later (got lots of washing to do!) But, all in all, we had a great time and would book the Conquest again in a heartbeat.

[Nliedel]

If an employee (not that I work outside the home anymore, but I used to) gossiped with my customers about other customers and their behavior. I would not expect the security guard to say anything less than he could not remember.

 

It is not that I do not believe him, but I would expect damage control (to some extent) and company loyalty..

[lsp]

I am so sorry about your cruise. We celebrated our 30th anniversary on the Conquest last June and it was great. I wouldn't be so laid back about Carnival not giving you compensation. You deserve another cruise of your choice. Also, how did your luggage get wet? Was it something inside your bag?

 

Linda

 

Liberty 9/18/05

Glory 6/04

Conquest 6/03

[touche]

I am part of the 600 odd Orange T-shirt people SeaJan is talking about.

For the most part, the Conquest was clean, the crew friendly, and the

passengers were considerate.

 

There were people cutting in lines, complaining and anything and everything.

But, I think that's going to happen anywhere you go. Nobody can satisfy

100% of the people 100% of the time.

 

We did see some trays out in the halls almost everyday, but it wasn't the

same trays. People did seem to order room service alot, I know we did.

 

There were some loud drunk people, but I considered them part of the

on-board entertainment. I believe the vomit staircase, scary people that

the OP talked about must have been a fluke.

 

This was my first cruise and I am sad to say that it really didn't live up

to my expectations. I do believe I'm not cut out for cruising. I enjoyed

the ports and just handled the cruising part as best I could. The rocking

wasn't fun (in fact, I'm still rocking as I type this). I didn't hate it or love it.

It's hard to explain, but it just wasn't for me. We did go to some shows, loved

the food and housekeeping was wonderful. But I prefer more active vacations.

I would have had more fun spending 7 days in Cozumel snorkeling and driving

around sightseeing.

 

Anyway, thanks to all who gave me advice. The balcony was worth the extra

money. The bonine prevent me from getting seasick. Lots of other advice I

can't remember from the months of lurking on the boards.

 

Happy cruising!

-Duane

[shungirl]

Just a follow up,

 

I hope to think I kept a good attitude about it. I did let Carnival know, and my rep. I am a travel agent, and cruise at least 3 times a year, 90% on Carnival, so I know what to expect, what is good, and what is unacceptable. If you go back to my other Carnival reviews(Imagination twice, Inspiration twice, Triumph etc etc), you will see how much I raved about them. I have ALWAYS had a great experience until the Conquest. We had another couple booked from our office who felt the same way as I did. I am just sad it was my honeymoon. I am also sad that cruising went from being my number one thing, to the absolute bottom. Like I said several times, I honestly feel like we got an off week. Good luck to the rest of you!

[oceanfreaks]

Kevin, I was surprised to read your response. I was on the same sailing you were and didn't see or experience ANY of the things you mentioned. In fact the security guy told me that our week had one of the calmest groups he had seen. I find it strange that every time I ran into you.. I can recall four different times, on different days, you looked like you were having a fine time. I guess we just had different experiences. Sorry you didn't enjoy your time. Kari