This is the second spring break cruise my wife and I have sailed, both times on the Conquest. Two years ago we sailed with a group of 20, one teacher and 3 high school students. This time we traveled with four adults and two students. I like sailing on the smaller ships, my wife cannot wait for the 200,000+ gwt floating cities. So for now, the Conquest was her, I mean our, choice. I enjoy the Conquest but would like to sail her some day while the little darlings are in class. At least then the piped in music may have a Caribbean flavor instead of Brittany, Christina, and that European techno trash. We have been on nine cruises with all but one being on Carnival. There is a good chance our next cruise will be with another line.
Part of the reason we chose this particular cruise is because Galveston is within easy driving distance from our homes, seven hours for my wife and me, eight hours for my brother-in-law, his wife and two kids. We drove down a day early, as usual, to avoid missing the departure if we were delayed. We spent the night at the Super 8 in La Porte. For seeing the sites around La Porte and Galveston we spent time Geocaching prior to boarding the ship. This is a great way to sightsee in any city prior to boarding a ship.
With two ships next to each other boarding at the same time, there is a pretty decent traffic jam leading to the terminal from the parking lots. Hint to Cruise Critic members only: Go through downtown a block or two past the terminal and come in from the opposite direction. This will save you a good 20 minutes. With a sold-out ship, embarkation was a bit testy for some but Galveston actually went pretty smooth. Interesting note: Boarding was delayed by two hours. The Conquest was late arriving because she had to stop to save a boatload of Cuban refugees on her return from Cozumel. We stopped in the middle of the night on day 2 to rendezvous with the U.S. Coast Guard to transfer them to a cutter. Hopefully, they remain safe.