Background - My wife and I and 3 kids (2 are teenagers now) have gone on Carnival, Holland America, and Disney previous, but had not cruised in over 7 years. We were thoroughly looking forward to getting away again and having a wonderful time discovering new places.

Embarkation - We live in San Diego now, so we flew from San Diego very early on Sunday morning (8/24) into Houston International (IAH), the same date as our cruise. I know - we were taking a risk. The Continental flight was non-eventful and we were pleasantly surprised to be given an in-flight breakfast. We pre-arranged an SUV/limo transfer w/ In Style Limo from IAH to the port of Galveston, TX. Folks, they provided a fantastic round-trip transfer for us, and for a reasonable cost ($350 for round-trip, luxury service for 5 passengers and luggage. After a 1.5 hour ride to the port, we arrived after 1:30 pm and were greeted by a porter, our 3 heavies (bags that is) were taken and tagged, and we were on our way to a very long line going to the embarkation point. I had no idea this line could be any worse than San Pedro (LA), but it was. We hunkered down w/ our kids and carry-ons, did some people watching, and waited things out until we were called up to hand over our documents. We took a great family picture w/ holiday-themed backdrop (which we purchased later) and made our way to the ship. The lobby of the Conquest is very grand so made for a great first impression. Going through security where they take your Sail & Sign cards and your picture was a minor detail we experienced on our way in. No big deal there. We headed to our room and were pleased to find our bags already waiting in the hallway outside our stateroom doors. We were in a Cat 8 room on floor six, with an outside w/ balcony and inside room across the hall for our two teenagers (15 and 14). This arrangement proved to be successful, but we were a bit concerned going into it. We went to the Lido deck to check things out and had a bite to eat. A caveat is appropriate here. We enjoyed the food on-board, but it's not great to the more sophisticated palette. The pizza, grill, and bar drinks are the best things to consume on-board.

Days at Sea - This particular itinerary includes 2 days at sea after leaving Galveston (so Monday and Tuesday) and then Saturday on the way back to Galveston after hitting Jamaica, Grand Cayman, and Cozumel. I am one who really appreciates the days at sea. I like being out on the ocean with no view of any land to speak of. Having a couple days at sea at the beginning of the cruise is a must, as long as you have another one after hitting the ports of call. With our kids in-tow, we enjoyed time in the pool, on lounge chairs soaking up the sun, sliding down the twisty slide, and consuming bar drinks. I noticed from BKnTX that they didn't really like these first two days much, but we loved it. We were notified along the way, which was mixed news, that Jamaica would be dropped from our itinerary, to allow a safe space between us and Gustav. Having been to Jamaica at an all-inclusive before, were were OK w/ this. But we talked to many others who were quite upset by this. The good news for them was that any previously booked excursions in Jamaica was then credited back to their accounts. However, for those that booked w/ private companies outside Carnival, there were probably some losses. After quite a few meals, more drinks, and fun in the sun, we were pretty happy folks. Read more