Carnival Conquest Review
Rating by category
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Just got back from an 8-nighter on the Conquest. This was our 6th cruise with Carnival; second on the Conquest. My review will concentrate on the good, bad, and just plain crazy for various categories.
Embarkation/Debarkation: Not much good either way. Embarkation was better - we arrived at the port at our scheduled time of check-in of 10:30am. We were on board at a little before noon. That was the longest it has ever taken, but we were glad to finally start our cruise, or so we thought. We were travelling with another couple, thought we were linked, but had different tables at dinner. Spent about 30 minutes waiting in line to get that straightened out. Thankfully, we were eating at the steak house the first night as the dining room manager said he could not fix the table until the next night. Waited for our bags and, after muster drill and sail away, I went searching. Found them near the elevator and towed them back to the room myself - now I was on vacation! Debarkation on 11/6 was nothing short of a nightmare. Took 1 1/2 hours from the time we departed the ship to getting a cab. Five custom officials working - one for international/handicap persons, one for the "new" passport app (which they told us about as we were leaving the ship and was only good if everyone in your party had a smart phone, which we did not), 3 taking care of the rest of the passengers - what a travesty!
Ship: The good - We loved our room (7451 - aft facing balcony). The location was great - not a long way to the stairs/elevator, 2 floors below the Lido deck, 2 floors above the bars/casino, shops. Very rarely took the elevator. Décor of the ship was nice. Loved the pool/slide and the bars on the Lido. The bad - she is a very tired ship in need of a lot of TLC. While clean, she has quite of bit of rust, peeling paint, broken things, etc. Think she is due for dry dock next year - hopefully she will make it. The bizarre - just the layout of the dining rooms - up one flight of stairs, walk forward, back down. Got lost a few times but think I have it mastered now.
Cabin Review
Aft-View Extended Balcony
Excellent location & great cabin steward - well taken care of
Port Reviews
Grand Turk
In port from 7 am until 2pm, which was not a long enough time to do anything. Walked around the shops and went back on board.
La Romana (Casa de Campo)
Had not specific plans and there was not much in the port area so we took a shuttle tour of the island ($8 per person) and then went back on the ship
Curacao
Got into port around 1pm and departed at 11pm. Walked around the shopping area for a while, found a few bars and had a great time. Back on board at 4pm
Fort Lauderdale (Port Everglades)
Stayed 2 nights pre- and 1 night post-cruise at the Hilton Marina - great hotel, close to the port, wonderful pool bar, nice rooms