This is my third cruise, and the second on the Carnival Conquest. I was introduced to cruising on the Conquest in October of 2007, took a honeymoon cruise to Alaska in 2008, and returned to the Conquest this November (2009). Since I now have a "baseline" to compare to, I'm writing this review of our cruise. We had a total of 16 in our group, including 3 children under the age of 6. This was the first cruise for six of our group, and all of them have been bitten by the "cruise bug."

EMBARKATION: The Galveston cruise terminal has plenty of parking near by, with reasonable prices for the week. A brief search on the internet will reveal several parking lots with pricing for both the 3/4 day and 7 day cruise options. Having had recent knee surgery, my right knee was still in a brace for this cruise, and I used a cane as a balance aid. I am not "mobility limited" in any major way, but upon seeing me in this brace, the embarkation staff made sure I was fast-tracked through the process. My wife and I were escorted through the security screening in just a few minutes, and led to the check in desk. At the check in desk, we were once again escorted through a shorter line to receive our Sail and Sign cards. We were through the entire process in about 15 minutes, bypassing the long lines. Being past guests, each staff member, upon seeing our past guest cards, greeted us with a "Welcome Back."

CRUISE: Once aboard, we helped the first timers in our group get settled and went to the Lido Deck for the lunch buffet. The lines were only moderately long, and we were able to find a table easily enough. One disappointment for me was the muster station (or "boat drill" in maritime parlance) drill. While I'm sure Carnival met the letter of the law, I felt this particular activity was a bit disorganized. On our first cruise on the Conquest in 2007, this drill was more organized. Our second cruise, on a sister line, was MUCH more organized and "formal." I would hope that should there be an actual emergency, first time cruisers would have a better idea of where to go and what to do. Read more