Overall the cruise was a success. The kids had a great time, and despite my concerns about food quality, it was OK. I think you get what you pay for, but on Carnival Fantasy, I think we got more quality for less $$. I would try Carnival again, and in general I was satisfied when considering all aspects of the cruise together.
Embarkation
3 out of 5
Embarkation went smoothly as far at the ship's personnel were concerned. We were there fairly early in the day. Arrived at the terminal around 11am and the line was small. The actual Port Everglades terminal waiting area is poorly furnished. Only good thing I can say about it is that it was air conditioned. Seats were uncomfortable and only food/beverage available was from vending machines (1 each). I suspect that Carnival has little or no control related to the conditions in the waiting area, but it would have been nice to have at least some water stations available for waiting passengers who had checked in, but could not board until boarding was able to begin.
Ship experiences
Food and Dining
3 out of 5
The food on board was OK, but not great. I was disappointed at the offering in terms of quality and wait time on the Lido deck buffet. The Guy Fieri burger station was tasty. Main dining room quality was reasonable, but I thought it was better on Carnival Fantasy when I was on board there about 3 years ago. Best on board meal in my opinion was sea day brunch. The VERY BEST experience on board was a little coffee shop on the stbd side just aft of the casino. Good coffee, morning pastry, and a chance to chat with the crew if you were there in the early AM while they were also grabbing coffee.
Onboard Activities
4 out of 5
Pool and water slide were fun. My kids enjoyed the sports deck activities (volleyball, etc). The evening movie at the pool was also a nice thing to participate in.
Entertainment
5 out of 5
Stage shows were very well put together and executed. While the singing/acting was good, the overall show (props, lighting, sound, backdrops) really pulled it together into something that exceeded the ability of the actual entertainers. I was impressed!
Children's Programs
We had two kids sailing with us, but neither opted to use the children's programs. We used it on the Carnival Fantasy and it was a good program, but cannot comment for Conquest.
Service and Staff
3 out of 5
Room steward was very attentive and efficient. Coffee shop personnel were great. Monet dining staff were struggling to meet the standard that I expected based on my last Carnival cruise. They put forth effort, but didn't quite seem to get things executed fully. Maybe they were short staffed? Not sure. As noted earlier, staff in Lido buffet area were certainly not up to standards in my opinion.
Ship Quality
4 out of 5
Layout was fine. Not a lot of open areas/atrium spaces, but it was pretty good overall.
Cabin / Stateroom
4 out of 5
Cabin was well designed and had lots of storage for clothing and bathroom area. Shower curtain design was poor and it was easy to get water onto the bathroom floor. This did not hurt anything, but it was an inconvenience in general if you were not very careful while showering. HVAC worked well to maintain temp as desired. More sound penetration than expected when passengers came down the passageway late at night talking, but this is more a comment on the courtesy of other passengers than it is on the cabin! Walls seemed to isolate sound well between cabins.
Ship tip
Try the coffee shop early in the AM to interact with various ships crew from engineering, etc. Pricing is very reasonable and a good latte as well!
Did Dunn's River Falls and Mystic Mountain. VERY CROWDED and lots of chaos with transportation, etc. I did not feel that the excursions were well laid out. It was fun, but not quite as good as I had expected. Guides at Dunn's River Falls were basically begging for tips. :(
Booked an excursion to Stingray City and snorkeling through Cruises.com. It was GREAT! Very glad that we did not use the ship booking for this. Operators (Captain Marvin's Water Sports) were courteous and right on time. No pressure, Great time overall!
Long lines for customs. Use the Passport office app to bypass this. I could not use this since not everyone in our party had a phone and I didn't check in advance to see if I could have done all travelers on my phone. The line for the passport app was very short! Line for using physical passport was very long!
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