Carnival Conquest has some issues...

Overall Service / Food / Staff = Good to Excellent :)

Opening Balcony Divider Between Balconies NOT Possible as Promised when booked- We booked 4 balcony rooms, 3 of which were all "together/in a row" & were told we WOULD be able to have the Balcony Dividers Opened between all etc etc.. Well, turns out NOT Possible.. each Divider could have been unlocked & secured open, but.. it would have been Covering/Blocking the Door from the cabin out to the balcony!?!.. ie- NOT Usable.. further investigation revealed that some of the other cabin dividers on the ship could be opened up on & not blocked the doors, but it was random & we/Carnival couldn't find any Deck Plans/Schematics/Info etc that would properly show which cabins would work etc, so.. don't see how you could confirm/book this advance.. So, this issue kinda got our Family Thanksgiving Cruise off to a disappointing start... :(

The Conquest's Ship Layout on Deck 3 & 4 (Main Guest Service/Excursions & Pictures), & 5 (Casino/Shopping) is TERRIBLE / Very Inconvenient / Confusing due to Blocked/No Access by Galley + Restaurants..  Guests with Mobility / Disabilities have to try & make it all the way to the Front Elevators & then "come back" to the above listed departments areas..
 
Elevator Service = the WORST we have ever encountered on ANY Cruise Ship?!?!.. would frequently be only 1 of 6 Rear or 1 of 10 Mid/Front elevators operating?!?!.. and this during Main Dining Times where, due to the above described "Blocked Decks", ALL Guests were "TRAPPED" outside the Rear Dining Room for Excruciating LONG Lengths of Time...

Shops & Bars.. While having the identical on most other Carnival Ships, the same on the Conquest are MUCH Noticeably SMALLER than the same on even other "Smaller" Carnival Ships (ie- the Pride , which is our Favorite Ship)

Shopping / Alcohol - as previously on all other Carnival Cruises, there was never any "Sale" on Alcohol nor Souvenirs on the cruise, which makes purchasing from Carnival Uncompetitive + Undesirable..

Alcohol Pick-Up End of Cruise - In 20 yrs of cruising have always had purchased liquor DELIVERED TO OUR ROOM the Last Night of Cruise etc.. this cruise, & apparently "New Carnival Procedure" is for EVERYONE to pickup liquor from a rear restaurant between 6-10am the morning of debarkation.. thinking we'd be "early birds", arrived at location at 6:10am only to find we were the approximate 200th person in line, of a line that wrapped out into the common area, into - snaked around itself into a bar/lounge (which Reeked of Vomit Smell?!?) - back out the lounge & down a hallway?!?.. at NO TIME was there ever ANY Carnival employee "alerting/directing traffic" to this mad-house.. inside "pickup area" was also completely disorganized.. especially the confiscated "off-ship/shore" purchases.. Guests then had to stand in a 2nd Line if they also had purchased alcohol from the ship.. total time took an Uninformed/Unexpected/Unplanned 1 Hour 35 Minutes to complete!?!?.. we MISSED having breakfast with the rest of our Family & barely were able to make it to our debarkation transfer.. Elderly & Guests with Disabilities were Unable to Stand in this Long Line , were having to SIT/CRAWL on the floor?!!, & some Guests, also "blindsided" with this Carnival tactic, "Gave Up/Abandoned" their purchases as they had to also debark to make their Transportation/Flights/etc etc!?!?.. There had to be well over 1000+ passengers trying to pickup their already purchased alcohol.. at 1.5 - 2 hours per Guest, this is an Egregious Burden for Guests to have to Endure to save a "few dollars" on the same purchased in the States, to which.. if this procedure remains, we will definitely NEVER purchase alcohol from Carnival again &/or certainly consider if even to sail with Carnival again...

:(