 Expert Review |
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Carnival Conquest debuted in 2002 as the first ship in Carnival's Conquest-class series, which also includes Carnival Glory, Valor, Freedom and Liberty. At 110,000 tons, it's actually not all that much larger than the Destiny class (which weighs in at 101,000 tons), but it is every bit as much a "city at sea." Mostly that's a plus because more space means more choices. Carnival's put the space to good use, mainly toward expanding its kids' facilities and dining options. And an early 2009 refurbishment added even more new features, like a dedicated space for cruisers ages 12 - 14, new balconies to several cabins and the popular Seaside Theatre, a 270-square-ft. LED screen overlooking the main pool area. For a ship with so many people, there were few lines, though if you plan to embark during peak times plan the wait can reach 1 1/4 hours (later arrivals -- after 3 p.m. -- sped through the boarding process). Security was extremely vigilant. The Promenade Deck gets a little clogged during formal night (combination of captain's cocktail party and loads of photo stations). Otherwise, you'd never know there were 3,000-plus other travelers sharing the ship. The ship is decorated in an Impressionist theme -- but don't let that most gracious of art eras confuse you into thinking Carnival's going PBS. Think instead of elegant Impressionism crossed with Paris' psychedelic Moulin Rouge -- lots of crazy colors and patterns and shapes -- with some nutty post-Impressionism thrown in for good measure. Many of the public rooms are named for art masters such as Van Gogh, Degas, Renoir and Manet. The murals copying the works of the art masters are wonderfully fun and scattered all over the ship, everywhere from elevator ceilings to the atrium. The onboard atmosphere, with its large-ship feeling, lots of playful passengers in all age groups and excellent entertainment, really aims to celebrate playtime -- for adults as well as kids. | | |  top | | | | Dining
One of Carnival Conquest's greatest strengths is the sheer variety of dining options. Conquest has two double-tiered rooms (Monet and Renoir) to handle formal dinner duty. Of the two, Monet, which lies aft and has windows with views on three sides, is the more appealing (especially during daytime). Renoir, right off the atrium, is more centrally located. There are two dining times for dinner: choices are 6 or 8:15 p.m. Breakfast and dinner are open seating and are held in the Monet dining room. Carnival has not traditionally been noted for its food but there's been a vast improvement. The menus in the dining rooms were interesting (quail was one surprise) and the cuisine was very well prepared. Meat eaters should be sure to specify preferred level of doneness level if they don't want beef, lamb, etc. overcooked. Service was top-notch -- very "what can we do?" -- and waitstaff didn't bat an eyelash if you wanted to order an extra lobster or substitute lamb chops for the salad course. The maitre d' in the Monet dining room seemed more present than most, and was generally quite eager to please; toward the end of one evening he sang "O Sole Mio" and congratulated all the room's anniversary celebrants by name. Even more choices come in beyond the dining room, and you'd need at least a week to try them all out. There are a myriad of lunchtime options on the pool deck. The lido buffet is called Restaurant Cezanne. There are numerous coffee, iced tea and lemonade stations as well as self-serve ice cream and frozen yogurt machines. Cezanne is two decks high and on our trip there were plenty of stations and empty tables even during peak times. There's also a grill station with everything from hamburgers to garden burgers (and fabulous fries) and an Asian station, where the offerings changed daily. One "hidden" treasure was Sur Mer, a seafood station, tucked away on the otherwise off-the-beaten-track second tier of Restaurant Cezanne. While fried seafood like fish and chips and calamari fritters are staples (the oysters are delicious; also try the housemade potato chips), there are also much lighter seafood options; the bouillabaisse was divine as was the cerviche and the raw tuna. Rounding out the pool deck options is a 24-hour pizza station (offering a variety of types and styles) and a deli. Evenings, most of the grill stations close down (save for the deli and the pizza stand) but the Restaurant Cezanne transforms itself into a casual dinner eatery called Seaview Bistro. Conquest borrows the alternative restaurant concept from its Spirit-class siblings. The Point is another well-kept secret and it's a fabulous experience. The cover charge is $25 per person and, in return, passengers get a Carnival take on Ruth's Chris -- with incredible service and delicious food; a sommelier manages an intriguing and Point-exclusive wine list with great by-the-glass selections as well as bottles. The Point's manager told us that its offering of a Chateau Lafite Rothschild -- priced at $50 and that's per glass -- was offered in response to a customer comment card but he admitted no one has ordered it yet. There are more value-priced options as well. There's a chanteuse-type singer and live pianist. The menu is simple but awesome, from a New England crab cake (that was actually closer in style to the classic Maryland fare) to South African lobster tail. The Point, like the other Carnival supper clubs, features stone crabs from Miami's famous Joe's Stone Crab; other choices include a 24 oz. porterhouse steak, lamb chops and filet mignon. At the end, passengers are presented with a complimentary after-dinner drink -- Absolut citron, Champagne, lime sorbet and milk -- that's almost a dessert in itself. The experience is worth every penny. A couple of miscellaneous notes. On the Promenade Deck, all day and into late evening, is Cafe Patisserie, which serves specialty coffees and sweets ranging from banana splits to chocolate covered strawberries (there's a charge). At night, a complimentary Japanese sushi bar opens on the promenade deck. The ship offers 24-hour room service, ranging from basic continental-style breakfast fare to a variety of sandwiches and desserts. All dining room menus and stations feature at least one vegetarian entree per menu. It is recommended that passengers tip a buck or two for room service. | | | | top | | | | Public Rooms
Navigating the public areas of Carnival Conquest is pretty straightforward. Deck 5 is a central place to meet and greet hosting, most of the main attractions such as the casino, Montmartre (the kids' disco), Henri's (the disco), an arcade and Latour (the wine bar). At the end is a cluster of nightclubs, including Blues, with Carnival's trademark sing-along piano bar; Degas, a second show-room; and Vincent's. Gauguin's Bar, right off the casino, is somewhat confusing; it's exotically decorated in the style of the artist's Tahiti period ... but it's easy to be distracted by the numerous television screens overhead blaring sports highlights. The Promenade Deck is also home to the shops, all selling usual cruise fare from Carnival insignia-wear to a pretty huge selection of duty-free booze, perfume and jewelry. The atrium is beautiful. Dominated by the Artists' Lobby, there's a gorgeous hand-painted mural with numerous scenes from Impressionist masterpieces. Illuminated Murano glass pieces add color and whimsy. The Atelier Atrium spans 10 decks, topped with a huge skylight. Even more of a hideaway (took three efforts to find it) is the ship's 24-hour Internet cafe (the January 2009 refurb also added bow-to-stern Wi-Fi capability). There are six terminals; the charge is 75 cents per minute. You can also buy special packages: 100 minutes go for $55 (55 cents per minute) and 250 minutes is $100 (40 cents per minute). Keep an eye out on embarkation day for an opportunity to try it for free; there's usually a limit of 10 minutes. We never found the Internet cafe overly crowded but that could be because it was so hidden people either forgot it existed or never found it. Other miscellany includes self-service launderettes. It costs $2 for a wash, $1.50 for a dry; each has an iron and ironing board. Detergent is sold as well. On Deck 4 there's the Gallery, which doubles as a meeting room and wedding venue. One underused room is the Salon, the highlight of which is a fireplace (fake of course). The photo gallery is huge and takes up much of the space around the atrium on Deck 4. There's a library but it's tiny and has only four bookcases -- hardly enough to serve a ship that carries more than 3,000 passengers, so plan to travel with your own reading material. | | | | top | | | | Cabins
Carnival Conquest has the usual range of staterooms. Sixty percent of its cabins are outsides, and the decor inside is rather calm and somewhat upscale. Categories range from inside (windowless) to penthouse suites. There's a balcony category that's called "extended balcony" -- we couldn't discern a difference between that and the regular verandah staterooms. There is also a "family stateroom" category; these cabins, located on the Spa Deck, feature floor-to-ceiling windows (no balcony) offering fabulous views. Verandahs in the balcony staterooms are outfitted with wood-colored plastic furniture (table, straight chair, adjustable chair) and have a privacy guard that extends just over the railing on each side. The bathrooms are comfortable enough, and certainly functional. Only suites have tubs. Carnival has introduced an amenity basket in its bathrooms, filled with disposable razors, deodorant, breath mints, toothpaste and soap. These are not refilled through the course of the cruise. Showers are outfitted with shampoo and shower gel dispensers -- we like to bring our own. Storage space is more than generous. There are three full-length closets -- one has fold down shelves -- plus a number of drawers and cabinet spaces. All cabins have an interactive television with pay-per-view movies ($8.99) and an otherwise desultory selection of free movies (and way too many Carnival infomercials). Occasionally the satellite pulled in the regular television networks: ABC, CBS, NBC. There was no CNN or other news channel. Cabins are outfitted with mini-bars; ours was stocked with everything from splits of Korbel brut to Stolichnaya vodka (and M&M's). All cabins also have bathrobes. Two notes: Sounds travel quite easily through cabin doors so light sleepers may want to position themselves as far away as possible from elevator banks. And a number of passengers on Deck 8, under the main pool area, complained that late-night and early-morning scrapings of chairs and tables overhead was very disturbing. | | | | top | | | | Entertainment
Conquest's offerings, from the Vegas-style revue in Toulouse-Lautrec to the classical pianist in the lobby's "Artist Bar," fit the "something for everyone" motto. It seems as if there's always something happening -- whether it's a country musician outside the casino to the Caribbean band on pool deck to big band sounds in the Degas lounge. Activities tend toward the usual: art auctions, karaoke, "game show mania," ballroom dancing, comedians, bingo, bingo and more bingo. The cruise director offered daily talks on sea days, and he was so funny he even managed to make "sponsored shopping" entertaining. The show lounge -- named after Moulin Rouge's Toulouse Lautrec -- is wildly whimsical. Encompassing three decks, Toulouse-Lautrec is the main performing venue and is basically busy -- literally and figuratively -- most times of the day and night. The decor is very bodaciously red and gold and inspired by the artist's sketchings from cabarets, brothels, theaters and the circus in Paris' bohemian Montmartre. Flanking the stage are repros of Moulin Rouge's famous windmills. That's the easy-to-find stuff. Off-the-beaten-track venues include one of our favorites, Alfred's. Tucked away on Deck 4, under the disco, it's a great place in the afternoon (where tea is served), and again before dinner for listening (and perhaps dancing) to jazz, torch songs and classical fare. The only negative there is the ventilation in this low-ceilinged room; cigar smoking is permitted and the smell never really goes away. Another lovely, peaceful and never crowded bar venue was at the Point. There's no surcharge just to have a drink at the bar, and it has a better than usual wine and malt scotch selection. As part of the aforementioned January 2009 refurbishment, Carnival added its popular Seaside Theater to Conquest's pool deck. Similar to that developed by Princess Cruises, the 270-square-ft. screen towers over the main pool deck and shows everything from sporting events to music videos to films. This is a ship that definitely gets revved-up as the night wears on. Highlights include midnight buffets (one of the few cruise lines to still offer them), R-rated comedy acts, and frenetic dancing at Henri's disco. The Polynesian world of post-Impressionist Paul Gauguin is re-created in the Tahiti Casino. Beams and columns of bamboo and wood, and cast thatch ceiling panels impart the feeling of a Tahitian village with colorful jungle-motif fabrics and rich wood tones add to the ambience. Gauguin's Bar, Carnival Conquest's sports bar, carries on the Tahitian theme from the adjacent casino, but incorporates more wall murals of Gauguin's paintings. Henri's takes its theme from the exotic jungle paintings of Henri Rousseau. Muted reds, golds and greens dominate the fabrics and window treatments, while the carpet is a colorful, cartoon-like pattern of animals peeking from behind bright green leaves of grass. | | | | top | | | | Fitness and Recreation
For a ship this contemporary -- and this large -- the spa and fitness facility is a conundrum. It has all the atmosphere of a 1970's YMCA: low ceilings and thinner-than-tissue walls between treatment rooms. New here is a stand-alone boutique selling all manner of Steiner beauty and fitness products. Oddly enough, the fitness facility is accessible only via mens and womens locker rooms so you must wind your way through narrow corridors, then a locker room filled with people, then another narrow corridor, to come out into the fitness part of the operation. There seemed at most times to be plenty of weight machines, a whole area devoted to spin cycling (extra fee for classes), and a workout area for aerobics and yoga. Men and women share access to the in-spa whirlpool -- which is actually kind of neat, set into a glassed-in nook that overlooks the workout room with a rock wall that's supposed to have a waterfall (it was broken on our cruise). There are two whirlpools -- one's huge and one's average in size. Men and women have their own dedicated sauna and steam rooms. A notable newcomer to this spa is a couples' massage room, the first in the Carnival fleet. Also unusual to Carnival is a dry float bed which is used in body wraps. The Steiner-operated spa offers the usual treatments. Interesting note: At this facility there is a day-of-embarkation special that results in a 15 percent discount if you book your treatment for the cruise's first night. Also, beware: There were quite long lines of people waiting to make appointments the first two days. Our advice is to head to the spa as soon as possible after embarkation and make your choices then. As with most Steiner spas, some fitness classes are free of charge while others, notably yoga and spin classes, have a $10 fee attached. The pool deck is pretty expansive and it seems as if there's room for everyone. Multi-tiered, there was some chair-saving but not too much; partly because you have to sign out your towels and are responsible for returning them or are charged $22, people weren't too cavalier about leaving them around. There are two pools and three larger-than-usual whirlpools. Just beyond the Cezanne Restaurant is the ship's covered pool, plus another two expansive whirlpools. Above, there's a jogging track, a half-sized basketball court and a volleyball net. There's also a golf center where an onboard pro will help analyze your swing and sets up golf outings to island courses when in port. | | | | top | | | | Family
New for the Conquest class is an expanded game room and teen area on Deck 12. Called Club 02, and decorated to resemble the back alleys of the infamous Montmartre district of 19th-century Paris, the room sports brick walls with peeling stucco decorated with rock concert posters and graffiti, building facades, and wood fences. The facilities for teens include a dance floor, video wall, lounge, soft-drink bar and state-of-the-art video games. The 12- to 14-year-old "tween" set also have their own dedicated space (Deck 8), with video games, a touch-screen jukebox and plasma TV's. Camp Carnival continues to evolve and Conquest offers the line's EduCruise program. There are science and geography educational components that focus on the cultures of the islands the ship visits. Camp Carnival has daily activities for several age groups; 2- to 5-year-olds can make magnets, build sundaes and create sand art pictures. Particular afternoons during the itinerary are devoted to "family fun" and encourage parental involvement. Same goes for the 6- to 8-year-old group which participates in similar activities geared to their particular demographic (for instance, there's even a "homework help" activity); 9- to 12-year-olds have their own club, group dinners, talent shows and family events. This facility, beyond its multiplex of plasma-screen TV's, computer center and PlayStation 2 area, also has an outdoor wading pool and jungle gym. There is, of course, the traditional Carnival water slide. Babysitting is available from 10 p.m. until 3 a.m. and costs $6 per hour for the first child in a family and $4 per hour for any additional siblings. Strollers can be rented for $6 per day or $25 for the cruise's duration. Conquest offers a soda card. | | | | top | | | | Fellow Passengers
A broad crisscross of (mostly) middle America; according to Carnival, 30 percent of its passengers are under 35, 40 percent are between the ages of 35 and 55, and 30 percent are over 55. | | | | top | | | | Dress Code
A one week cruise features two formal evenings. Most men opt for jackets and ties but a large number wear tuxedos. Resort casual attire is suggested for the rest of the evenings. | | | | top | | | | Gratuity
Carnival recommends $10 per person, per day, broken down to $5.50 to the headwaiter/waiter, $1 to the assistant waiter/cooks and $3.50 to the cabin steward; the amount is automatically added to your shipboard account but can be adjusted in either direction at the purser's desk. A 15 percent gratuity is automatically added to bar bills. An envelope is provided on the last night for those who want to extend thanks to the maitre d'. --by Carolyn Spencer Brown, Editor | | | | top | | | | | Expert reviews are provided by CruiseCritic.com, an award-winning cruise community. This objective information can help you choose just the right ship for your next cruise vacation. | |  | |
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