Carnival Conquest
by Jason Jobe
Western Caribbean
February 16, 2003
Let me start by saying the Conquest is an
absolutely beautiful ship. It's brand new and the
flamboyant taste of the Carnival decorating team
has been tempered during the years. I traveled on
the Sensation last year and the decor looked a bit
like Las Vegas and Trump Tower mated and had a baby
cruise ship. The new theme of art masters is a
definite improvement and executed wonderfully
through the use of marble and wood and paint.
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I had a Category 11 suite, which is located on the
empress deck, equally between the promenade (deck
5), and the lido deck (deck nine). The cabin was
very roomy (around 275 square feet) with a king
size bed, sofa, occasional chair, coffee table,
writing desk, desk chair. The television came
complete with a VCR. No tapes were available on
board as far as I could tell. However, knowing in
advance, I suppose you could take your own. The
television had a few channels not dedicated to
Carnival and there was a wide selection of pay-per-
view movies. These were $8.99 each but if it's
raining it may be worth the cost. In addition to
the main room the suite had a separate dressing
area with two closets (there are two additional
closets and a built in chest of drawers in the main
room), a vanity table and drawers with "Hollywood"
lighting around the mirror. Through this room was
the bathroom which included a whirlpool tub (big
plus here!) and dual sink basins (another big
plus!). There's open shelving storage as well for
personal effects. The balcony on this room is
larger than the standard balcony- 65ft. Compared to
35ft. However, unless your are having several
people to your room there is little use for the
extra space. The width of the balcony is the same
as the other rooms making it very long. I traveled
with a friend and we found ourselves always pulling
our chairs across the balcony in order to talk and
only using half of it anyway. The decor colors were
soft with a darker stain on the wood moldings and
crown molding. There is an inlaid wood entry way to
the room (I believe it was actually a Pergo type of
material and not genuine wood but still attractive)
and the coffee table and basins in the bathroom had
granite surfaces. There were lots of mirrors
increasing the visual size as well. The ship was
built in Italy and you can see Italian influences
through-out the ship from the lighting to the
bathtub. In the end I have to say I enjoyed the
extra space of the suite but I believe the standard
balcony rooms are a couple of hundred dollars
cheaper per person and after viewing one I think
they would be far more than adequate if cost were a
consideration. Definitely the balcony would be
spacious enough on the lower rooms
Food on the Conquest was quite good.
Casual dining options were varied and many. There
were seafood, deli, Asian, sushi, pizza and
hamburger grill options in addition to the large
buffets, ice cream and room service. The quality
was better on the buffet there than on the buffets
here in my hometown but keep in mind it is a
buffet. I didn't really care for the breakfast
buffet but lunch was good- not great but good. I
never ate there for dinner. Nor did I try any of
the midnight buffets including the Gala Buffet. I
viewed the Gala Buffet however and it was quite
beautiful. I liked the pizza and loved the sushi
(big food plus!) and who doesn't like 24hr. ice
cream! My friend commented that the deli was
excellent.
The "Formal" dining room had great food. I would
easily compare it to a four star restaurant. There
were great choices from steak to quail and duck.
The portions are considered small by some but were
more than enough for myself. None of my tablemates
left hungry either. The atmosphere is still
pretty "Carnival" although pretty in it's way and
yes- the waiters still sing and dance on the
tables. Ok, I'll admit that is a little strange but
it's also fun. Frankly I get to endure enough
sophistication at home. It can be nice to have it
broken up a little on vacation and the waiters
aren't half-bad at dancing!
The Conquest includes a separate "supper club".
It's an additional 25 dollars per person and you
must make reservations. Take my advice and do so-
early! You don't want to miss it. The food was
definitely five star and the service was some of
the best I've had anywhere in the world. The
atmosphere is quiet and the tables are private. The
restaurant specializes in steak, which melts in
your mouth as you eat it but I had the duck and
found it to be equally well done. From the salad to
the dessert the meal was truly one to remember.
Keep in mind however, the 25 dollars does not
included wine or other alcoholic drinks (these
items and colas are additional all over the ship).
Also, at least during this cruise, the caviar
appetizer was an additional 29 dollars. It was
excellent however and worth the extra money. Treat
yourself to this at least once during your voyage.
You won't regret it!
The entertainments were fairly standard. Huge
Casino, three pools, seven hot tubs, a two deck
water slide (big plus here!) ect. In the evenings
you have a dozen different bars (cigar bar, piano
bar, wine bar, lobby bar ect.) and a fantastic
disco to choose from. The shows were good as well.
I enjoyed both of them but not as much as the ones
I had seen on the Sensation. The "R" rated comedy
show was very funny but of course not suited for
children at all. There's some decent upscale duty
free shopping as well as cheaper "watch
specials", "gold by the inch" ect. There's an
Internet access room (a little hard to find as the
entrance is tucked in the back of Alfred's bar)
with several stations and a quick connection-
almost as fast as my cable access at home. It's a
little pricey but they have a couple of bulk minute
plans. There will be several art auction
opportunities that have free champagne but little
other interest for me. I was quite taken with a
couple of paintings there but could not bear the
sales pitch that accompanied each auction. At one
point the auctioneer even suggested buying a TV
Guide that had included a cover similar to the
painting being auctioned in order to leave it on
the coffee table so your friends could see how
famous and important the piece was. Not mention the
almost nauseating and unending reference to the
future value that was certain to spring from your
purchase because another painting "almost exactly
like it" had gone up in price. Frankly I finally
had to leave the room and have no intention of
returning on a future cruise.
There are three ports of call.
Jamaica is a beautiful island- just so long as you
don't stray from your tour group, beach or resort.
Once your step one-foot from any of those places
you are fair game. Be forewarned! I took a semi-sub
boot/ snorkeling/ Doctor's Cove beach tour and
really enjoyed it. The beach best of all in fact.
The sand and water are perfect and there were a few
food stands nearby with Red Stripe (yahoo!) and
cheap sandwiches. A little gift shop is there as
well. It was great. However, I stepped outside that
small guarded place and found myself bombarded with
numerous (yes, seriously numerous- like ten per
block) approaches from the locals offering
everything from hair braiding (I'm a man by the way
with short hair) to cab rides to aloe to street
singing to- yes, you know it's coming- marijuana.
Even at the shopping mall next to the ship at the
dock I was approached five times (five!)
for "smoke". Now I could care less if people smoke
pot or sell pot but for goodness sake just open a
head shop or something and leave me alone! LOL
Seriously like I would ever try to smuggle that
stuff back on the ship anyway.
Grand Cayman is a little piece of British colonial
paradise with upscale shopping and stingrays. I did
the Stingray tour (which I did the year before with
the same tour group as it turns out) and loved it.
However, it has really gotten crowded with tourists
compared to last year. I think they have almost
reached the breaking point as far as human
occupancy at that sand bar but go anyway. You'll
never experience anything as thrilling as a
stingray brushing up against your leg like a cat.
Grand Cayman, as a warning, is very expensive. If
money is a consideration buy a t-shirt and head
back to the ship for lunch after your tour. We ate
in town and two burgers, two cokes, two beers and
five conch hush puppies were 50 dollars US. Watch
out for things priced in Grand Cayman dollars.
Still a lovely port for strolling around in.
Cozumel was the port I thought I'd like least and
in fact liked most. I set out walking from the dock
toward town. There's a great new shopping/ eating
plaza built out from the dock with more being
constructed from what I could see. I set out
walking for town. There are places sprinkled along
the way. I stopped at a great restaurant
overlooking the water. It was called "lobster"
something and it was great so I wish I could
remember the exact name. Anyway, if you see it stop
in. The food was good and the environment was
relaxed and the service was very friendly. From
there I continued walking to the famous Carlos and
Charlies. It's about three miles from the dock so
you may want to take a cab but the walk was quite
nice as the day was mild and there was a breeze. I
love to walk so it suited me. Carlos and Charlies
is everything you've ever heard it is if you've
ever heard anything about it. Imagine an adult
theme park where every ride involves alcohol and
several include some form of groping. There's loud
party music mostly retro and plenty of dancing and
just a general atmosphere of cutting loose and
carrying on. Just be careful not to cut loose too
much as most of my party, including myself, did! We
all took a cab back to the ship and by the time I
reached my room the whole world was spinning and
then I passed out not to wake back up for fourteen
hours. I know, I'm ashamed but I don't drink that
much and wasn't really aware of the slow climb to
doom escorted by Ms. Tequila.
Debarkation and embarkation were standard. There
was a bit of a wait both times but not much longer
than standing in line at an amusement park. I of
course had a wonderful time. The ship was
unbelievable. The service was without flaw from the
dining staff to the room steward. I'll be returning
for another Carnival cruise on a similar ship soon.
Truly the Carnival line lives up to it's promise of
fun and the recent additions to the experience like
the "supper club", better shopping, and abundance
of choices for entertainment have only made it that
much better. If you have any questions or would
like more information please feel free to email me.
