If one didn't have to endure the white-knuckled experience of Houston traffic,Galveston would be a lovely port. Our room at the Holiday Inn, chosen because they offered cruise parking and shuttle service, was quite adequate and the staff most accommodating. After a wonderful dinner at Landry's on Saturday evening, the hotel shuttle arrived promptly on Sunday morning at 10:15 and loaded our group swiftly and efficiently. Embarkation was a breeze and the Galveston terminal very easy to navigate. Though gaudy and difficult to manage for some,we found the Conquest to be a beautiful ship. Packed with 3300 passengers, we never felt overwhelmed nor hassled. Our room, an 8G aft balcony was wonderful. Caribbean sunsets are spectacular and none more so than one on the aft of a finely crafted vessel with martini in hand and gentle breezes soothing one's senses. We have stayed in both Penthouse Suite and Oceanview, and although both offered advantages neither compared to our appreciation and enjoyment of this particular cabin. Our room steward always greeted us with a smile, was unobtrusive yet thorough. We enjoyed room service on our balcony every morning and the waiter was always on time with everything just as ordered. Our tablemates in the Renoir were wonderful, so much so that we spent a great deal of our week with them. The ambiance was nice,the selections varied, and the quality fine. We found our waiter surly, bored,self-important, and probably the only true downside of our adventure. His assistant attempted valiantly to overcome his superiors troublesome downside, and through his efforts and the soothing aid of double digit wine consumption, we thankfully overlooked this irritation. We loved the aft adult pool and thought the live musical offerings ranging from calypso to piano, rock to acoustic, classic to country a step above previous cruises. The Pointe was gracious and its culinary reputation for quality well deserved. We found Sur Mer far better than advertised, over-indulged at Saturday's chocolate buffet, marvelled at the mixology prowess at the wine bar, endured Milby at the piano bar, swayed to the Motown Review, and laughed out loud at the Marriage Show. And we slept. Peacefully. Each and every night. DW loved Dunn's River Falls and I loved Montego Bay Margaritaville. We shopped and toured in Grand Cayman, and while myself and tablemates lounged at Cozumel's Mr Sancho's, DW toured the Ruins. Cayman tendering was easy and contrary to reports on multiple web sites, never once did any of us feel threatened nor overcharged nor treated rudely offshore at any time or at any place. Our cruisemates were the usual Carnival crowd. There were tattoo's and there were mullets. There were muscle shirts and there were silk shirts. There were whites and blacks and asians and hispanics. There were union men and there were executives. There were the gorgeous and the not-so-gorgeous. There were the disabled and there were children in constant motion probably making more noise than they should. Yep folks, we were with America. For one grand week, blessed with glorious sunshine and the blue caribbean sea, people from all walks of life got to spend a week together, to meet each other on common ground, to enjoy each other,and maybe, just maybe, learn a little something about what binds us together as opposed to what may pull us apart. Thank you to all 3300 our our travel companions. You were a pleasure. It was a special week that we shall happily replay in our collective memories for many years to come.