Booked this southern caribbean cruise on the Conquest because there was no alternative for the time frame I had to work with. Was my 10th or so cruise. Have sailed on Carnival a couple times and really never had any major complaints. The ships decor is pretty gaudy, some kind of weird French impressionist theme. Looks kind of worn even though I believe the ship was 'updated' not so long ago. Variety of food and service in the main dining room was very good. I have had worse on Royal Caribbean. The buffet on deck 9 was decent (no great) but served on plastic plates...! Please, that's almost an insult. I was missing at least 2 or 3 further real restaurants around the ship like on my last cruise a year ago on Celebrity Summit. Really liked my cabin on deck 8 aft with an oversized balcony. Now I can never go back to anything less!

Shows and comedy were pretty good, above average for sure. Cabin steward and other staff I encountered was very good, except for an female member of the excursion staff which had a real negative attitude. They did a terrible (actually no) job of explaining exactly what will happen once we all leave the Toulouse theater meeting point to go on a catamaran excursion. Instructions on how to use a snorkel/fins...? Nada. Safety information? Nada.

After visiting just about every Caribbean island during the last 20 years I must say that I found the Dominical Republic to be the most diverse and interesting. Most of the others are just flat and pretty unimpressive besides the beach and ocean.