Since this was our third cruise on the Carnival Conquest, we elected to spend the day on the ship and enjoy the ship's amenities with the few passengers who remained on board. We did get off the ship for a brief time to purchase some T-shirts and other souvenir gifts at the dockside shopping area. 
On our first Conquest cruise we booked a sail and snorkeling shore excursion through Carnival with beach time at Doctors Cove Beach. On our second Conquest cruise we booked a land-based tour through Carnival, the Montego Bay Highlights and Shopping tour with a stop at Jimmy Buffet's Margaritaville. 


Montego Bay

For this port of call, we had researched and sought out an authentic British-style pub called the Triple Crown Pub and Restaurant. It is located in a small shipping center directly across from the Mariott Resort on Seven Mile Beach. We tendered to shore after the early shore tour people had disembarked, hopped into a taxi-van, which takes passengers to various destinations along the famous Seven Mile Beach, and we were off. The pub was absoutely all it was advertised to be with delicious Kilkenny ale on draught and a fabulous plate of UK style fish and chips. We walked back to the ship, shifting over to the beach itself, for some of the time. 
The worst part about this port of call was the number of ships in port that made the harbor look like a cruise ship parking lot and the terribly long and confusing lines of passengers seeking to reboard their respective cruise ship tenders (Costa, Royal Caribbean, Conquest, etc.) 
I gave this port a rating of 5. It loses being a 5+ due to the long and confusing lines of returning passengers. 
On our first Conquest cruise to Grand Cayman we took a sea kayak/snorkeling shore excursion and during our second visit, we took a land tour overview. These were both booked through Carnival. 


Grand Cayman (Georgetown)

This was the only port of call on this cruise where we had pre-booked a shore tour prior to the cruise on the Carnival web-site. We selected the Deluxe Sail, Snorkel and Beach party and we were not disappointed. The catamaran was docked near the end of the very-long Carnival pier. We had a blast. The company that conducts this tour, Fury, is very well organized, there is a wide, bow-forward stair case that is lowered into the water for easy entry into the water and return after snorkeling. Cozumel reefs are spectacular and the fish life is abundant. We were at one time active scuba divers and Cozumel was one of our first destinations in the early 1980's. The snorkeling is just as rewarding and taking our waterproof fish cards helped us to reacquaint ourselves with the various colorful fish population. After the snorkeling, the catamaran opens up their unending bar for free margaritas and Dos Equis on tap while sailing to what I would best describe as their private company beach (no vendors). The catamaran, itself, is well staffed with plenty of personnel for the number of passengers on board (although the catamaran sails very full). There are various "Fury" catamarans that come and go at the beach and you need to watch your time and remember your catamaran number as they all look alike. The beach has restrooms, more free Dos Equis and margaritas (with your attached wristband), extra-cost food (Angus burgers -- not a taco or burrito in sight!?!) There are plenty of lounge chairs, a safe roped off swimming area, a water slide, a water trampoline, kayaks, etc. 
On our first Conquest cruise to Cozumel, a hurricane had destroyed the Carnival pier and the water was too choppy for the tenders to be launched so we lost the port of call. On our second cruise to Cozumel, my spouse was very interested in taking a Carnival booked tour to the Mayan ruins at Tuluum. This is a very worthwhile tour if you have any interest in Mayan history. The shore excursion is quite long, but the bus and tour guides more than make up for it. 


Cozumel

Our cabin on the Upper Deck of the Conquest, # 6222, was located on the port side and very forward towards the bow.  It is located directly above the main show lounge (Toulouse-Lautrec). The sound of the Conquest show band resonated into this cabin during the early shows whenever we were in our cabin after finishing our early dining evening meal. 

This cabin is located a good distance away from the forward stairs and elevators so we were not bothered by many passersby or those waiting patiently for an elevator.

The only unsatisfactory aspect of this balcony cabin occurred on the night before our last sea day as the ship was buffeted by "gale force" winds coming across the starboard bow.  ["Gale force" was the description used on the Conquest information channel on the cabin TV]  Our balcony door, though shut tight and locked, allowed the wind to whistle in and balcony chairs near our cabin moved around throughout the night, scraping on the balcony deck flooring and bulkhead.  This awakened us numerous times and also awakened our relatives who were three cabins more forward on the same port side as we were located.

My wife eventually used ship's towels and jammed them into the door cracks in an attempt to minimize the whistling wind...it helped, but did not eliminate all of the noise.

While we had booked this 2010 cruise very early in 2009, and had initially utilized Carnival-arranged ground transportation from Houston to Galveston, our group (myself, spouse, her sister, sister's husband, their two children --both in their early 20's, and two friends) became "nervous" about hotel availability in Galveston over the New Year's weekend when Carnival still had not released a hotel package by September of 2009.Three years ago, we were on a group theme-cruise (Smooth Jazz) on the Carnival Conquest and the company that provided our cruise booking (not our local company) sent us a short list of recommended limousine services for participants to use.

Carnival Conquest Review

A welcome winter-break from work!

Rating by category

Additional details

Cabin Review

Balcony

Find a Carnival Conquest Cruise from $170