All Icing but No Cake

Item: Carnival Conquest
Rating: 2
Author: Cruiser733

Carnival Conquest Cruise Review to Caribbean - Eastern

Cruiser733

Contributor Level: Purser

Cruises: 2-3 cruises

Review: 1

Helpful Votes: 23

Overall rating:

2 out of 5

Verified Review

8 Night Eastern Caribbean (Ft. Lauderdale Roundtrip)

Sail date: February 06, 2016

Ship: Carnival Conquest

Cabin type: Balcony

Cabin number: Balcony

Traveled as: Large Group

Reviewed: 8 years ago

Review summary

Disappointing at best. My brother & his wife had raved about past Carnival cruises they had taken so I joined them on this one. We had a group of 25 people & Carnival screwed up the dinner seating & instead of being at adjoining or nearby tables, they randomly put us in different dining rooms!! We never got shipboard credit we were promised or gifts from that were arranged. The FOOD for the most part was horrible: powdered eggs; dried out day-old pastries; 1/2 baked potatoes; unchewable prime rib; watery shrimp cocktail, etc. Only good food was Carnival's signature melted chocolate dessert & Guy Fiero hamburgers & Mexican food + lobster in $35 extra steak house dinner. The food looked great in the buffet areas, but did not taste great. I think they scrimped on the ingredients & used powdered eggs, margarine or Crisco instead of butter. Hardly anything tasted as good as it looked, hence my assessment of "All Icing but No Cake." Very very disappointing. Besides bad or mediocre food, the service was poor or non-existent; the ship needs a good cleaning & staff were over-worked, tired & unfriendly. I never even met the cabin steward until 4 days into cruise! Try another ship!!!

Ship experiences

Food and Dining

1 out of 5

Horrible. Commented above.

Entertainment

3 out of 5

Children's Programs

5 out of 5

Cabin / Stateroom

3 out of 5

Clean windows & draperies. Clean bathroom better. M

Ship tip

Best excursion for me was the narrow gauge train ride in St Kitts. Our last day was a huge disappointment. We were scheduled swim with stingrays, but it was cancelled due to rough seas & rain.

Thumbs up

Ports of call

Philipsburg, St. Maarten

3 out of 5

Basseterre, St. Kitts

5 out of 5

San Juan, Puerto Rico

1 out of 5

They need a shuttle, or at very least, benches along the VERY LONG walk to end of pier. Too much for older folks or those with bad knees, hips etc. Old Town was great once you got there.

Thumbs Up 4

Grand Turk Island

1 out of 5

Didn't get to see it. I started out down VERY LONG pier & heavy rain & wind started & blew my umbrella inside out. Before I took flight like Mary Poppins, I headed back to ship & a piña colada!!!

Thumbs Up 0

15 Comments

jbucha 8 years ago

I'll bet your brother won't take you on another cruise. I hope you didn't ruin it for them.

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cacruis63950790 8 years ago

hahaha... to each his own. All of my Carnival trips have been great. Only did one RC. Had some problems in the MDR the first night but that was quickly resolved and the rest of the trip was great. Had a cruise booked with NCL for Thanksgiving but they cancelled it.

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firefighter4u 8 years ago

RC and Norwegian aren't the best.... I'm done with them!

Thumbs Up 1

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Travelgirl27 8 years ago

Try RC or Norwegian...Carnival is not the greatest. We are done with them.

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firefighter4u 8 years ago

Well said

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hendu442 8 years ago

Hey I like cruises much better than all-inclusive wake up everyday in a different country and don't get me wrong I thought this ship was a letdown from the glory you , can take the lemons and make lemonade our you can have a blast and look at all the great stuff and there was a lot of great stuff far outweighing the bad And if your with 25 people that makes it all the more fun

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sbeach3 8 years ago

With that attitude, for your steward to come out of hiding 4 days in isn't half bad. I leave in 5 days. Hopefully you didn't leave the crew so shell shocked that I can't find anyone for the first 2 days.

Thumbs Up 4

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rogerellenborland 8 years ago

You know how some people are, if one thing is not exactly right,everything is wrong. We were on it last October and had a great time. I just don't know how some people can be so miserable on a cruise. If everything was as bad as he said it was I would make the best of it and still have a good time.

Thumbs Up 3

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cmcdanielnbnc 8 years ago

I don't believe anyone has actually served powdered eggs since the Korean War. Why did you not ask the omelette chef to make you a fried egg over easy?

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hendu442 8 years ago

Well I thought the food was good Ship has a few issues but is still nice we had no air for 4 days. The service was great for us except mabye 2-3 people. I'm pretty pickey about food and is I 5 star no but it was good we had a great time. And carnival did make if right for us because of the air we are booking again vista 2018 can't wait.

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ltucker384 8 years ago

I'm taking my wife on this ship for Mother's Day. I've been on it 2 times prior and always had a beautiful experience..maybe like the person said before you should reset your expectations.

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amjstewart 8 years ago

Wow, me and my husband been on her twice and loved it. Food was good and service was amazing. Of course that was in 2012 and 2014. So It may have changed.

Thumbs Up 4

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firefighter4u 8 years ago

That's too bad about your experience. I was on her two weeks ago and had a relaxing time with great service.

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jmutt24 8 years ago

The days of great food are gone, reset expectations and go on a cruise for the other stuff. Blue water, warm weather, just being on the sea and in the Caribbean and you will have a great time.

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cacruis63950790 8 years ago

I've noticed in reading many, many posts that it's typically the people complaining about everything that find the staff to be unfriendly.

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Other reviews of this sailing

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