Carnival Conquest 9/7/2008 Allgeeteredup! - Page 2 - Cruise Line Fans: Cruise Forum, Reviews and Chat From Real Cruisers

allgeeteredup · 07-20-2009, 05:41 PM

It is now getting late so we decide to head back to the room. I call Sue and Robert to see if they want to do anything before dinner but Robert is napping and we decide to meet at dinner. It is our first formal night and we are excited. Dewy and I decide to go the laundry area and iron my dress and his shirt. I’m telling you, we look terrific. Who knew we cleaned up so well. We, Sue, Robert, Mindy, Kenda, Annette, Robby, their bunch, Dewy and myself are all supposed to meet at the Captain’s Party. Dewy and I get a bit caught in the line so by the time we get in the Degas Lounge for the party Sue, Robert, Mindy and Kenda already have a table and Annette and Robby and their crew also have their table. So, we do what any late comers to a party do…. We grab the only seats we see available and draaaaagggggg them over to the table. Can anyone say….. fingernails on a chalkboard???? Yes, it made that sound. So, as Dewy dragged the chairs, I backed up so that no one would realize I was with the idiot dragging the chairs. Good thinking huh. We ended up practically tackling the waiters and waitresses every time they walked by as the appetizers were amazing and the drinks, well, they were free. We sat there laughing, drinking, eating, drinking, laughing, drinking…. You get the picture. Well, it was time to convene into the restaurant. One of the waiters came up and asked if we wanted anything else to drink. Everyone ordered one more drink. We waited until the waiter came back and he had an entire tray full of drinks. He asked if we would like to take all the drinks. Ummmm……….YES!!!!!! Another waiter passing by noticed what our waiter had done and asked if we would want his drinks too….. Ummmmmmmmm…..YES!!!!!! So we all leave there carrying two drinks in our hands and downing what we couldn’t carry. Can anyone say……. TIPSY….. INEBRIATED……. DRUNK!!!!!!!!!! For people who don’t normally drink….. we did pretty darn well. I think the extra drinks had something to do with the fact that Mindy’s dress was pretty low cut, Kenda’s was pretty low cut, and well, I wasn’t about to be left out of the boobie parade. We were only on the ship for one and half days and we were already having the time of our lives.

We made it to dinner, or should I say, we staggered to dinner and were greeted by our amazing waiters, (Newman, that’s how it’s pronounced) and I Gusti. They were great and entertaining and absolutely the perfect waiters for our group. Now one thing I would like to note is that there was a table of people sitting diagonal to us and they must have had chairs with poles sticking up their….. whatever…. But they were not having a good time. Our waiters were even making fun of them to us. No, really, they were a bunch of wet rags. One of the gentleman kept watching our table and had that look of…… I sure wish I could join you cause my table is full of a bunch of fuddy duddies. You know, that sort of look. Anyway, we get our menus and we decide what to order. Dewy and I decided that since we could get lobster anywhere, we were going to sample the other items. Yea, go figure!!!!!

Dewy got the Duet of New Zealand Lamb

I got the Prime Rib.

Dinner was amazing… as usual. Sorry the photo is blurry.

allgeeteredup · 07-20-2009, 05:45 PM

We went to the evening show after dinner. It was an Vegas type show. I don’t remember what the name was but there was a lot of glitter and glitz and let’s not forget about skin. Always a lot of skin.

We all stayed for as long as we could keep our eyes open but ended up calling it quits due to the fact that Kenda was asleep in her chair and Dewy kept doing the head bob. We said our goodnight and went back to our room. What an amazing day. It was the best day of my life and we still had six more days. OMG!!!!!!!!!!

Tuesday, September 9, 2008

Today started out to be a bit different than the other days. The ship was rocking from side to side pretty hard due to the fact that we were passing Hurricane Ike today. It was actually a bit difficult to walk. But, being the good sports that we are…. We roughed it and went to have breakfast in the dining room. I got my usual, scrambled eggs, turkey bacon and toast. Dewy again got the omelet and fruit. Once breakfast was finished we decided to split up. I wanted to look around and Dewy wanted to participate in the ping pong tournament. So, we kiss and then we go our separate way.

I went to the jewelry store, go figure…. And Dewy went to play ping pong. I notice that the jewelry store is closed due to the HUGE TANZANITE SALE that is going to be starting at 10:00 a.m. It is about 30 minutes away so I decided to investigate the casino. I didn’t have any cash on me so I just walked around until about 5 minutes to 10:00. I then went back to the jewelry store which was beginning to get a little crowded outside. I didn’t really know what Tanzanite is but I was going to look for the fun of it. I didn’t realize it was so pretty. I saw a really pretty ring that I like that would have ended up costing about $250. Now remember, I lost my jewelry in the fire and burglary so I needed new jewelry. Why is it so easy to hand over your sail and sign card but handing over cash is difficult. No, I didn’t buy anything. I went to look for Dewy so he would let me buy something. Before I could get out of the jewelry store to find Dewy he comes and finds me and tells me that the ping pong tournament had to be cancelled due to the rough seas. Bummer!!!!

I know I have been taking ginger pills, I have the darn ear patch on, and I am even wearing the wrist seabands. Well, I’m not feeling too great. My stomach is doing the hokey pokey and isn’t enjoying itself. So, I decided to go back to the room and lie down. I was going to try and get some rest because tonight Dewy and I have reservations at The Point. We have been looking forward to the Supper Club since we found out there was one. We made our reservation months ago. I didn’t want to be sick for this special dinner. We were going to be celebrating our Anniversary even though it was Saturday.

I couldn’t take a nap because my brain kept going over all the things I was missing out on. But, I tried….. sort of. Dewy went and got me a can of Ginger Ale to help settle my stomach and when he came back I told him about the Tanzanite at the jewelry store. He asked me why I didn’t get the ring I liked and I just looked at him and then said, “Can I go back and get it?” He told me that I should go and we decided a limit to spend for the ring. Well, I got to the store and went immediately to the ring I liked. The salesman came over and pulled out the ring. Now I don’t know if math works different on a ship but my math of what 40% off the ring would be and their math of 40% off the ring are WAY OFF!!!!! It seems 40% + 15% + an additional 10% doesn’t actually mean 65% off. It means, 25% off. At least in Ship Talk. I didn’t like the fact that my math and their math didn’t match so I thanked the gentleman for pulling out the ring and left. I went back to the room and told Dewy that the ring would cost $250 and he looked at me and asked why I didn’t get it. I explained to him about the math thing and he just laughed. He said, “We’re on vacation”. Okay, color me confused because how does “We’re on Vacation” justify the 40% difference? We decide to go to the jewelry store and look at the rings.

We got to the jewelry store and I showed Dewy the ring I liked. He agreed that he liked the ring. I tried it on and we both agreed that it was nice. I told Dewy that I wanted to look at some other rings hoping that the salesman would see a commission disappear and suddenly math would mean the same thing on the ship it does off the ship. I’m slowly getting further and further away from the salesman and Dewy when…….. Hold everything……… this ring is even prettier. It definitely more expensive. The price for the ring is $895 dollars. Well, in my opinion, way too much money, but being the optimist I am, I call Dewy over. He looks at the ring and states that he really likes the new one better than the other one. The salesman’s eyes begin to brighten as his commission will more than double if he makes this sale. So, we ask the salesman to bring the ring out and OMG…. It looks great on my finger. Bummer. So, Dewy looks away and then looks back at me and says, Happy Anniversary!!!! I just about faint. He hands over his sail and sign card and tells the salesman to ring it up. I’m not arguing because the ring is gorgeous. The final price on the ring was $637.49. Suddenly I’m feeling great. You know, I think they should publish in the New England Journal of Medicine that nothing settles an upset stomach better than jewelry.

Not a good picture but hey…. I was too excited to stand still.

allgeeteredup · 07-20-2009, 05:52 PM

We go back to the room to begin getting ready for our dinner experience at The Point. Our reservation is at 6:00 p.m. which is two hours earlier than our normal dining time so we tell everyone at our table that we will come by after dinner and have dessert with them.

We get dressed and of course I’m wearing the new ring. It is so sparkly!!!!! Isn’t it great to be a girl….. I love jewelry!!!!!!!!! Superficial…. Maybe….. oh who am I kidding…. You buy me jewelry and I will follow you anywhere. Kinda like a dog with treats or a kid with candy. No one is a stranger when they have jewelry.

We get all dressed up and go to The Point for dinner.

Dewy got the 24 oz Porterhouse. Can anyone say….. Side of Beef…. OMG was that a big steak.

Forgot to get a picture of the Porterhouse before Dewy ate part of it. This was the biggest piece of meat you’ve ever seen….. really!!!!!!!

I got the Ribeye chop. Good Grief it was delicious. I’m so upset that my stomach was not feeling good. I did eat what I could. We enjoyed all the little extra samplers that we got during the meal.

Pictures of the samples we were given.

Mustard ice cream….

Chocolate sampler….

The Escargot was amazing.

Also, the different toppings for the bread was great. There was bruscetta topping, an olive topping and butter. The butter was even good. I ate bread hoping it would help my stomach to settle.

Dewy ordered the cheesecake for dessert. I told the waitress that I didn’t want anything but they brought me cheesecake to go anyway. We figured maybe Dewy would eat it later.

allgeeteredup · 07-20-2009, 05:53 PM

We decided to go ahead and go to meet everyone at dinner in the Monet Dining Room. I wasn’t feeling well at all. My stomach was not cooperating and the sea had gotten rougher throughout the day. Everyone could tell that I wasn’t feeling well so we all said our goodbye’s, just in time, because as soon as we got back to the room, I began worshipping the porcelain God….. eeeewwww!!!!!!! Dewy called room service to ask for Ginger Ale and Crackers. They only had the ginger ale so that had to do. I decided to go ahead and take a Phenergan since I was going to bed anyway. I slept well and woke up feeling great.

OMG…. I forgot that Dewy and I had not made any arrangements for Jamaica and Sue and Robert were going to the Appleton Rum Factory so we booked the shore excursion as well. The mistake we made was that we didn’t make arrangements to meet them at a specific time or place so we ended up on two separate buses out to the Appleton Rum Factory.

Now, it was a good thing I wasn’t seasick anymore because this drive was…. Well, let’s put it this way…. Dewy thought Carnival should have the drive alone as a thrill seekers excursion. It was that crazy. The thing that I found quite interesting was that we were going higher and higher up the mountain and you could see cars that had fallen over the sides of the road. We asked our driver Maleek how people got their cars after they went over the side. He just looked at us and laughed. His reply was this…. “You don’t mon…. You just climb up the hill and begin walking. Your car is there forever mon!” What?????? That’s right. Every cliff has a car graveyard. Amazing. Anyway, the drive takes about 1-1/2 hours. We ended up stopping at a little store on the way because one of the buses in front of us had a little boy who got sick from the ride and threw up all over himself and the bus. They had to stop and clean the boy and the bus. That did give us an opportunity to meet up with Sue and Robert. They ended up being just one step in front of us the whole time.

allgeeteredup · 07-20-2009, 06:31 PM

Picture of Maleek, our favorite Jamaican Bus driver…..

Great view from the bus…..

My favorite photo during the drive….

allgeeteredup · 07-20-2009, 06:33 PM

We finally got to The Appleton Rum Factory and it was amazing. Unfortunately, it was terribly hot. We went inside and were given our very first rum punch. Yuck!!!!! Too much rum. I got just the punch, no rum. Much better. We began our tour and it was great. We got to see the entire process of how they make the rum.

Pictures of the Appleton Rum Factory Grounds…..

More Appleton Rum Factory Grounds….

Pictures of peacocks on the Grounds….

We were given a really great lunch after our tour. My first taste of Jerk chicken. Yummy. We had samples of their Rum cake too. We were also given a little tiny bottle (airline size) of their clear rum. That was cool. We also decided to buy some of their rum. I ended up buying Rum Brandy, Banana Rum, Regular Rum and a Kalua type Rum. Remember, we don’t drink. We also bought some rum cakes. They were amazing.

Here are some more pictures.

Conquest as we walk to the port….

Jamaican Band playing for our debarkation….

allgeeteredup · 07-20-2009, 06:34 PM

Now one thing I will say is that Jamaica really knows how to get people to buy their stuff. I mean, can anyone say…. PRESSURE SALES!!!!!!!!! OMG……. I heard hey pretty lady, come over here just one too many times. Dewy finally left me and went to watch how I was being swarmed by people. But the one thing he forgot…. I had cash. So, in order to get rid of them…. I bought from them. I ended up buying a wooden fish, a wooden horse, a wooden stingray, a necklace with matching earrings and a matching bracelet. We purchased T-shirts inside the Port Shops. We ended up buying everyone back home a T-shirt with something Jamaica on it.

Now, we are back on the ship and low and behold, no one has taken our alcohol away. I guess that’s probably because we didn’t go to the table that was set up for handing over the alcohol. OUR BAD!!!!!!! Anyway, we didn’t drink it on the ship so we felt that we were okay. Did we feel bad….. nah!!!!!!!

We got back to the room and unpacked our bags of stuff. I showed Dewy the fish, horse, and stingray that I purchased. We went out on the balcony and took some pictures of the ship that was docked beside us. They were leaving so we enjoyed the view.

We didn’t go to Margaritaville but we did see the guy below taking the water trampoline away. That was cool.

Pictures of Jamaica as we were leaving.

Once we set pulled out of Jamaica we gave Sue and Robert a call and asked if they wanted to meet us anywhere. We decided to go see if we could get in a game of bingo.

Whoops…….. I forgot to tell everyone about the Shore Excursion talk. We went to that on Tuesday. I slept through most of it as I wasn’t feeling great but I did wake up just in time to win a discount on an excursion. Cool huh!!!!!!!!!! We never used the coupon. Oh well, it will go into my scrap book.

We went to play bingo and had a blast. No one won but we did enjoy a drink while we played. It was great.

Again, I know I have said this all too often but …. WE ARE HAVING THE BEST TIME OF OUR LIVES. We have met some people who we will make sure stay in our lives for the rest of our lives. We made lifelong friends. It makes me feel all warm inside.

A little side note:

I know this isn't part of the review but I wanted everyone to know what all Dewy and I have been through since August. Ok, here goes:

1. August 4 - 4:00 a.m. Fire in the attic which caused extensive damage to the house. We had to jump out our bedroom window and I injured my arm and my little Loki fractured his hip. He still limps.

2. August 4 - 12:30 - 5:00 p.m. - Burglary and vandalization of the house after the fire while we left to get checked into a hotel.

3. September 13 - Hurricane Ike ate our car.

4. November 2 - Dewy gets thrown from my horse and is injured significantly. He was knocked unconscious. I rushed him to the hospital. Thank God nothing was broken but he had a CT arthrogram today (November 20) and he has torn muscles around his ribs, shoulder blade, and muscles are torn around the ball joint of his shoulder. They are not sure about surgery and want to see if it will heal on it's own.

5. Moving back into our house without the help of Dewy as he is now the one armed husband.

So, you see, we live in a virtual accident waiting to happen zone. I hope that everyone realizes that when I am unable to post, it is for a pretty good reason. Either someone is hurt, sick or broken.... be it person, animal, car or house.

Thanks for all the encouragement and keep posting the comments. They really help in getting my review done. I love you guys!!!!!!!!!!

It is now getting late and we all break up to go back to our rooms and get ready for dinner. Dinner has become an event and we are so excited. We actually miss our wonderful waiters “Newman” and I Gusti.

I really enjoy having the late dinner seating because it gives us so much time after we return from our excursion.

We all met at the table, as usual, and Newman and I Gusti are there to greet us. Tonight the photographer is going around to all the tables taking pictures of the groups at their tables and then taking individual photos. The funny thing is that just as the photographer is ready to snap the photo he starts saying, “Lookie Lookie”. Well, that just sends us over the edge. We are saying it to each other, the waiters are saying it to us and it has become the catch phrase of the cruise. Lookie Lookie!!!! Whodathunk!!!!!

allgeeteredup · 07-20-2009, 06:47 PM

Tonight we have something special. It is called the singing and dancing waiters. Now I know it is not very popular with some cruisers but let me say this. We enjoyed it very much. We were encouraged to join in…. which we did and made great fools of ourselves. Luckily, I was the one with the camera so I didn’t have to have pictures taken of me.

Enjoy…..

I Gusti – Assistant Waiter

Newman getting down and dirty….

Sue’s husband Robert doing what I believe he thought was a dance…. We won’t tell him otherwise….. shhhhhh!!!!!

More dancing….

Dinner was awesome again. But then again, every night was amazing.

Enjoy these food photos….

Fried Mozzarella… can anyone say seconds….

Beef strips on a stick with peanut sauce and noodles….

Pork chops….

A roll…..

I know, I know…. I was snap happy!!!!!!! Gotta love the food pics.

allgeeteredup · 07-20-2009, 06:48 PM

After dinner, we all decided to go to the early Family comedian show. So after excusing ourselves, we went to the Talousse Latrec Lounge and found a great seat in the upper decks. The comedian was fabulous. We knew he was going to be even better at the Adults Only show so just as the show was ending, Robert made a mad dash to the complete other end of the ship to save us all seats in the Degas Lounge which was where the Adult Show was held. We were all getting pretty tired so Mindy and Kenda decided not to join us but Dewy, Sue and myself made our way to the Degas Lounge. Robert had gotten us pretty good seats. We were quite thrilled with the Comedy Show. Again, it was definitely an Adults Only show. But, we enjoyed it very much.

After the show we all said our goodbyes because the Grand Cayman’s were next and Dewy and I had to be up early for the 7:00 a.m. tender. I made sure to order room service for breakfast so that we wouldn’t have to worry about not eating anything before our excursion. We were swimming with the Stingray’s….. we could not wait.

We woke up bright and early. The alarm went off at 5:30 a.m. and we were so excited. We got up, got our showers, put on our swimming gear and peeked out the door to see that our breakfast had been delivered. We are so excited. We just can’t believe we are in the Grand Cayman’s. We are a bit early so we decide to sit on the balcony and just gaze out at the Grand Cayman’s. We are sitting on the balcony enjoying a cup of coffee and a bagel when Dewy looks at me and says, “You know the surf sure does look rough. I wonder if it is going to be difficult to tender.” I just smiled at him and said, it would be all right. We were on a cruise and everything was perfect. We finish breakfast and go back into the room and grab our stuff. We wanted to make sure we were one of the first to go out on the tender. Just as we opened the door, and I mean the second we opened the door we hear the voice of our cruise director, Jen, telling us that unfortunately, the surf is too rough for us to tender and the Grand Cayman Islands will not allow us to tender. I looked at Dewy and popped him on the arm and told him that he had jinxed us. So, we are now ready to go to the Island and Swim with the freaking stingrays and now we aren’t going to get to do it. I was bummed. But then Dewy looked at me and said, “Hey, cheer up. We’re on a cruise ship, we get an extra fun day at sea. How can it be bad?” Well, I also remembered hearing Jen say that everyone would be getting a credit on their sail and sign card for all shore excursions and also for the port charge, or whatever it was called. So, hey, we were going to have an extra $180 to spend on… hmmmmm…. I was thinking of jewelry…… yep….. shhhhhh…. Don’t tell Dewy.

We head back in the room and put all our stuff away. We called Sue and Robert and found out that they were just as bummed as we were. Not only because we didn’t get to go to the Cayman’s but because they had booked their excursion from an outside source. So, they didn’t have the extra $130 bucks for spending. But, we did. Woo Hoo!!!!!!!!

Dewy and I decided to go up to the pool and partake in a bit of sun. So, we go up to the Lido deck and…. Low and behold…. There are tons of people already there. So, we find two lounge chairs next to the Jacuzzi and begin the tanning. I’m not sure if it’s just me but I burn really easy. I’m fair skinned and have red tendencies to my hair. So, I didn’t really want to stay in the sun for a terribly long time but we ended up staying out for about two hours. I split my time between sitting in the Jacuzzi and lying on the lounger. Yes, it was going to be a tough day. I wonder what everyone was doing back at work…. Ha ha!!!!!!!!!!

Now one thing you have to remember about this cruise is that Hurricane Ike was predicted to be rearing his ugly head on the panhandle of Florida when we embarked on this cruise. By now the predictions had changed several times and it was beginning to look as though Texas might actually feel the effects of the hurricane. But we weren’t worried. No way was that Hurricane gonna head to Galveston. You gotta be kidding….. famous last words…..

The one thing I found quite interesting, mainly in part due to Hurricane Ike, was the fact that there is a map with bright red and green lights that shows just where in the Caribbean the ship is at that moment. It was interesting. Now also of interest was a piece of paper that was posted directly next to the route of the ship. This paper showed the track of Hurricane Ike and the projected path. Now remember, this projected path has it turning into New Orleans and not into Texas.

Okay, back to the cruise.

Char · 07-20-2009, 11:57 PM

What a great, detailed review, Lorrie!

More to come!