After winding through miles of twisting lines of passengers, we successfully navigated security and ship check-in and boarded the Conquest. We checked into our stateroom and promptly headed off to the sushi bar, marveling at the Vegas-like sprawling splendor all around, all done in French Impressionist themes. We visited the spa and gymn, took a walk on the breathtaking 11th floor wooden deck overlooking the multi-level pool and sun deck, and signed up for yoga at 8 a.m. Monday.
We were assigned dinner at 8:15 p.m. each night in the Renoir restaurant, table 222, where it appears we’ll be dining for the remainder of the cruise. This seemingly random assignment was made without our consent or consultation, but we have no complaints regarding the food or atmosphere. Lauren had Norwegian salmon, I had an Indian vegetarian spread, and we topped off with something they called a chocolate melting cake, which turned out to be to die for.
The ship is vast, complex, stunning in its diversity, and we are only beginning to sense its labyrinthine ways. To serve the 3,000 passengers, there must be at least 500 staff. The many floors, restaurants, decks, bars, theaters, clubs, gambling rooms, art galleries and shops boggle the mind.
After the evening meal, we strolled the upper deck again in the soft night air, seeing the ship decked out in strings of incandescent bulbs hanging from stem to stern. We could faintly make out the glint of stars in the Gulf sky past the bright lights of conquest, and could clearly see the great billow of diesel smoke puffing from the unmistakably distinctive T-shaped stacks protruding from the rear upper level.
We were on our way to the Toulouse Lautrec theater, when we discovered the ship’s art gallery. We ducked in and were chatted up by two delightful young Canadian gals who run the place. To our astonishment, they were showing original pieces by Picasso, Miro, Chagall and Rembrandt…huh!? They were promoting a champagne art auction at 12:30 p.m. Monday in the Degas lounge, urging us to come. (Drunk at lunch on a Monday?...already!?)
Finally around 11 p.m. we wandered back to the stateroom, to find our steward Juslin from Dominica and his housekeeping elves had turned down our bed clothes and left the strangest, cute little ghost of a critter, a towel curled up like a little creature on the bed, with two scraps of paper for eyes. Lauren and I puzzled over this thing for several minutes, and I finally decided to take a photo to prove its existence. We then uncorked one of our two wine bottles, a mediocre pinot noir, and sat on the balcony to see a wonderful lightning light show, which periodically lit the northeastern sky more than 100 miles away. All around us were the lighted shapes of oil and gas production platforms. Occasionally, a tanker would glide past only a few thousand yards away. I told Lauren one of my aha surprises of the trip so far was how much traffic and structure there appeared to be out in the open Gulf.
We were assigned dinner at 8:15 p.m. each night in the Renoir restaurant, table 222, where it appears we’ll be dining for the remainder of the cruise. This seemingly random assignment was made without our consent or consultation, but we have no complaints regarding the food or atmosphere. Lauren had Norwegian salmon, I had an Indian vegetarian spread, and we topped off with something they called a chocolate melting cake, which turned out to be to die for.
The ship is vast, complex, stunning in its diversity, and we are only beginning to sense its labyrinthine ways. To serve the 3,000 passengers, there must be at least 500 staff. The many floors, restaurants, decks, bars, theaters, clubs, gambling rooms, art galleries and shops boggle the mind.
After the evening meal, we strolled the upper deck again in the soft night air, seeing the ship decked out in strings of incandescent bulbs hanging from stem to stern. We could faintly make out the glint of stars in the Gulf sky past the bright lights of conquest, and could clearly see the great billow of diesel smoke puffing from the unmistakably distinctive T-shaped stacks protruding from the rear upper level.
We were on our way to the Toulouse Lautrec theater, when we discovered the ship’s art gallery. We ducked in and were chatted up by two delightful young Canadian gals who run the place. To our astonishment, they were showing original pieces by Picasso, Miro, Chagall and Rembrandt…huh!? They were promoting a champagne art auction at 12:30 p.m. Monday in the Degas lounge, urging us to come. (Drunk at lunch on a Monday?...already!?)
Finally around 11 p.m. we wandered back to the stateroom, to find our steward Juslin from Dominica and his housekeeping elves had turned down our bed clothes and left the strangest, cute little ghost of a critter, a towel curled up like a little creature on the bed, with two scraps of paper for eyes. Lauren and I puzzled over this thing for several minutes, and I finally decided to take a photo to prove its existence. We then uncorked one of our two wine bottles, a mediocre pinot noir, and sat on the balcony to see a wonderful lightning light show, which periodically lit the northeastern sky more than 100 miles away. All around us were the lighted shapes of oil and gas production platforms. Occasionally, a tanker would glide past only a few thousand yards away. I told Lauren one of my aha surprises of the trip so far was how much traffic and structure there appeared to be out in the open Gulf.
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