Before we sailed: We've sailed on Carnival three times prior to this trip, and agreed to go on this cruise only because our daughter's family and three grandchildren would be there, to make it a family get together for New Year.
Embarkation: We live near Galveston, and have sailed from there many times. As usual, we anticipated a smooth embarkation process--and that's exactly what we got.
The Ship: The Carnival Conquest is a fairly large ship, holding about 3,000 passengers. But, it's design makes it very easy to maneuver and you're never very far away from elevators that seem to arrive much faster than those on any other cruiseline. The staff cleaned and picked up and polished incessantly, and I never fell over an area that I thought wasn't just shining and spotless ...