My parents (47) and I (26) sailed on the Carnival Conquest the week of 3/30/08. Before this trip, we had sailed with Carnival 2 times, once on the Ecstasy and once on the Conquest. I live in Houston and my parents live in Northeast TX, so they drove down that weekend and we then drove to the pier from Houston and parked at Lighthouse parking. They were great, fast and friendly service. It's also $5 cheaper if you reserve online.
I had booked an inside cabin, but my parents booked a suite so we were able to go in the VIP line. This was great! We arrived at the pier around noon and were on the ship by 12:30. Our rooms were not ready, so we headed to the Lido for some lunch. I decided to try the Sur Mer I had heard so much about, there wasn't a line at all and the food was great.
We had the early seating in the Monet, so dinner was at 5:45. Personally I found this to be too early. We were usually done by 7pm, and there wasn't much to do between 7pm and 10:30. Some nights there were two shows, with one at 8:30, so I was able to go to that one, but on the nights that the show didn't start until 10:30 I found myself wondering around without much to do (parents spent time in the Casino, but that's not my cup of tea) most everyone else on the ship was eating dinner at the later seatings. My parents and I were seated at a table with just the 3 of us, which was a bit of a disappointment; we were hoping to chat with people (besides ourselves) during the trip. Due to this we only went to the dining room 4 nights. However, our waitress was wonderful and I was very impressed with her service.