We're home from the Conquest!
Had an amazing time. Pretty ship, great ports of call and met some really awesome people. I wanted to write my thoughts down while it was still fresh. So in no particular order:
1. We stayed at the Home2Suites in Ft. Lauderdale. We love these hotels and this one did not disappoint. Paid about $135 for the night, included breakfast and a shuttle to the port. Highly recommend.
2. Embarkation day was an absolute breeze. Like I mentioned before, it took 7 whole minutes from getting off the hotel shuttle to walking into the atrium. S&S cards were in our little mailbox. Rooms were available at 1:30.
3. We had an interior room (7th floor-Aft) for the first time and it was fine. I missed having a window just to know what time it is and seeing the weather. Our room location was fantastic though. 2 floors straight up to the buffet, 2 floors down to the promenade. No noise problems whatsoever, although, I do recommend a portable fan for noise and to keep the air circulating. Sounded like some people did have a problem with their rooms being warm as well. One couple we met bought a fan in San Juan and said it helped tremendously.
4. Bring a power strip!! There was ONE outlet on the little desk. For some reason, I was thinking there were more, but that was on the Magic (a larger class of ship).
5. Our room steward was great. Greeted us by name every time we saw him. We opted to have our room cleaned just in the evenings, which was perfectly fine for us. I know some people complain about the 1 time cleaning and if we had kids, I can understand that. But the 1 time is no issue to us. We tipped him an extra $20 and he was very appreciative.
6. This was also the first time we chose My Time Dining. I learned this has pros & cons. We loved being able to go eat when we wanted. The flexibility is great. However, we really do miss having the same serving team every night. It's definitely a trade off. Service did seem a little slower, but nothing I would complain about.
7. The ship itself is very easy to navigate. The layout is exactly the same as the Glory, which is a reason we chose this ship. The decor wasn't too crazy, I believe the theme was Art/Artists. (Dining rooms were Monet/Renoir, comedy lounge was Degas, etc.)
8. We spent a TON of time in the Aft Pool, which was labeled Adults Only. We were VERY appreciate that that rule was strictly enforced. There were no kids in that pool or the hottubs at any point. The pool also had a retractable roof which did get used. This was something that disappointed us on the Magic. The aft pool was always filled with kids and it got to the point that it wasn't fun to use. We spent a lot of time in the hottubs on the port/starboard sides, but when its 100 degrees, sometimes you just want a pool.
9. Speaking of kids, there weren't many. If there were, we didn't notice them. So September would be a great time to cruise if that's what you're looking for!
10. Stage shows were very good. Our favorites for Epic Rock & Flick. Didn't care much for Heart of Soul and we missed the 80s Pop one unfortunately. Love & Marriage show did not disappoint. We also did the Carnival Quest show, which was the same night. If you've never done this and
you are not easily offended, do not miss this. It's a one time show and it filled up fast.
11. Go see the comedy shows! They're our favorite! Definitely do the 18+ shows, although I heard the PG ones are great as well.
12. St. Maarten was definitely still in a rebuilding stage and honestly, it was our least favorite stop. It is partly our fault because we didn't plan anything for the day, however, it was slightly disappointing. I would recommend an excursion or getting a taxi to a beach. Sounded lots of people we spoke to did an island tour and said the island is still in bad shape or there was not much to see. Take that with a grain of salt though!
13. I HIGHLY recommend Thenford Grey tours for St. Kitts. We did their snorkeling tour ($45 pp) and had an amazing day. The island is beautiful and the tour company itself was just wonderful. They are a third party however, they were the only outside company that was in the area where you met the Carnival tours. Everyone else was kept outside the area and we took that as a good sign. If we go back, we'd do another with them with no hesitation.
14. We were only in San Juan until 1:30, but it was a nice break from beaches. We just walked from the port to Old San Juan and the city is beautiful. We got pina coladas from the original restaurant they were created in and wandered through the shops. I wouldn't mind going back at all.
15. Grand Turk was great as well, it was our 2nd time there. DH rented snorkeling stuff and did that most of the day. Margaritaville is there as well (sorry I refuse to eat there with how expensive it is) but they had a huge pool that was available. You really don't need an excursion here, but they did have a bunch available.
16. Food in general was great, no real complaints. We did the dining room 5 nights, buffet 2 nights and just late night pizza another night. I really enjoyed the Deli and Blue Iguana Cantina. Guy's was great as always. They also had BBQ, but never tried it.
17. The Cheers package was expensive but we did get our money's worth for sure. We had 3 full Sea Days so I know we came out ahead on those days. Honestly, a Bloody Mary in the morning, a couple frozen drinks/beers at the pool, wine with dinner, and a couple more drinks at the shows/comedy club/bars at night and it was worth it. Not to mention my at least once daily trips to the coffee bar. Everyone needs to decide that for themselves though!
18. Because our flight didn't leave until 3:30 we signed up for the Everglades tour on our debarkation day ($50 pp). We were off the ship by 8AM, got a bus to the Everglades Holiday Park, went on an airboat tour and saw a gator show, then were transported to FLL airport. Had a great time and would definitely recommend if you had a late flight!
OK, I think I covered the things I wanted to mention, but feel free to ask questions!
I strongly approve all those tips. 
