Overall, our cruise on the Carnival Conquest was disappointing, at best. My husband and I were on the first cruise after Hurricane Ike - sailing away for our honeymoon. I had cruised before (7 years ago on the Disney Magic) although this was the first cruise for my husband. I was not expecting Carnival to live up to the glory of Disney, however almost every aspect of this cruise fell way below both our expectations.

The embarkation process went smoothly, which was surprising since this was the first time going out of the Bayport terminal. We received our luggage relatively early, too. Things were looking up, until we began exploring the ship. I was shocked to learn the Conquest is less than 7 years old. It appears much older and is in major need of refurbishing. The carpets are worn, the dEcor is tacky and dated, the whole ship stinks of cigarette smoke, exterior decks are rusty and in need of some TLC, and everything is dirty. You could hardly find a pool lounge chair without bird droppings or cigarette ash covering it. Forget about sitting down outside without first inspecting the surface you will be touching! This included our stateroom balcony...dirty, dirty, dirty!

The layout of this ship is completely inconvenient. If you are in the Monet dining room for dinner, you are forced to traverse the entire length of deck 5 (which takes you past the sub-par shopping stores and the casino). This ship has at least 9 rooms dedicated to a different themed bar/lounge. Many seemed empty at all times and were wasted space that could have been dedicated to actual entertainment options. Entertainment on the ship was lame and the few "good" shows were overcrowded. You had to arrive at least 30 minutes prior to get a seat or you were left standing. The Welcome Aboard show was terrible - I don't know how Carnival can compare their shows to a Las Vegas style revue (this is what it says on their website). Maybe the crew rehearsal schedule had been disrupted by the hurricane, but their effort seemed more like a high school pep rally skit. The food options were fairly miserable also. Stay away from the buffet on the Lido deck! My husband and I nicknamed this the "Golden Corral". It was truly awful. You can get a decent sandwich if you are willing to wait out the lines at Paul's Deli however we preferred to either skip lunch or take the extra time to be seated in the dining room. Meals in the dining room were not bad - usually the food options were decent and the meals were good (except for a few tough steaks). We tried one night at The Point Supper Club and found it was a nice change of pace although dinner lasted almost 3 hours and cost an additional $30 per person. Also, we thought the restaurant might have some amazing views but found the window curtains were kept drawn due to the fact that the restaurant overlooks one of the pool decks. Food at the Point was much better than in the dining room; however we agreed the experience on whole was not worth all the extra time and money. Read more