🛳️ Carnival Cruise Conquest SEA Review
SEA program is a winner!
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Cruiser Profile
We are an early 60s athletic couple who dance and enjoy music and shows, but don’t drink, don’t gamble, and generally don’t participate in organized activities like theme nights and game shows. We cruise to relax together and get our fun from the gym, sun, and dancing.
The ratings categories show what’s important to us. Your mileage may be different.
Cruise Profile
Ship: Carnival Conquest, first sailed 2002. 2,980 passengers. Learn About the ship at bottom.
Sailing: 13 days in January out of Miami with 5 port stops - St. Thomas, Aruba, Bonaire, St. Lucia, Barbados. This was a specialty cruise due to a drydock schedule change under the SEA adults-only program. The sailing was not available via retail. It was marketed directly to Carnival casino and VIFP loyalty members, and quickly sold out.
Interesting fact: about 500 parties (30% of passengers) were on back-to-back cruises with the Conquest. There was a 12 day cruise immediately prior to ours. So that’s almost a month at sea for them!
Review
4.0 Average rating. Carnival put the emphasis on price and food. That worked for us and helped make up for many of the shortcomings below. We had an excellent cruise and recommend the long SEA cruises if they fit with your lifestyle (and you don’t bring the kids!)
Ratings - 1 to 5 (high)
5 Intangible - An adults-only long cruise is the way to go. It was relaxing, generally not busy, and mostly quiet, not like short sailings.
7 Value - The price was amazing (which was why it got extra points) - under $1,500 for the 13 day cruise oceanfront cabin. It worked out to $122 per day … for two. This includes the Vacation Steal wholesale discount, which saved another 9%. We essentially got a two week cruise for the price of just one. We had no unexpected expenses. There were few a la carte prices.
3 Ship - Includes room and programs. The ship was adequate. The Conquest is an older ship in excellent shape, only a bit dated, without the frills and attractions of larger and megaships. It was easy to get around (except for Deck 3 where you can’t go from front to back of the ship). We saw little evidence of its age. The 7 deck high atrium was cool. The room and service were fine. We rarely had to wait for elevators. There were a decent number of activities. But we found few compelling and mostly weren’t interested in or didn’t have time for them. The onboard wifi was excellent, though pricy.
5 Food - The SEA program boasted an elevated menu. This sailing did not disappoint. Lobster was on the main dining room menu almost every night. Many dishes, even at the buffet, were world-class. The buffet ranged from inspired to acceptable.
4 Gym - Very good selection of newer machines. Decent free weights and workout area. Enough treadmills and bikes. Better than many resorts. I typically didn’t have to wait for equipment. There were a few fitness classes and they all had a fee.
3 Dancing. “Showtime!” - the crew dancing during dinner to fun tunes was great fun, especially if you get up and join them like we did. The disco was fair. The space was fine but the music was hit or miss. We’re there to groove to music we know, not be impressed by the DJ’s catalog. There are literally a thousand hit and well-known dance tunes to choose from over the past 50 years. Why would you play a lot of B-sides or unknown groups?
2 Jacuzzis/Pools. There are 2 main swimming pools and 5 jacuzzis, not enough for a ship that size. Availability was hit or miss, though we always were able to find a deck lounge in the sun or the shade. It would have been much worse with children. Fortunately many people didn’t find our secret place - the hot tubs in the adults-only Serenity section on Deck 14 at the top of the ship.
2 Entertainment. Includes shows inside and rides outside. Entertainment was a disappointment. The cabaret shows and music on stage and the atrium were uneven. A few good acts, many so-so. No big or Broadway productions. Topside there was no water park or other attractions, just one slide, which was good.
What is Carnival Cruise SEA?
Carnival Cruise Line’s SEA (Sailings Exclusively for Adults) program offers 21+ adults-only voyages featuring enhanced casinos, specialized entertainment, and 5-star dining, debuting on select 2025-2026 itineraries. These, often invitation-only, sailings include themed parties, extended casino hours, and targeted perks for gamblers, running on ships like Carnival Dream, Glory, and Conquest.
About the Carnival Conquest
Rating: 4.0 / 5.0
When it was launched in 2002, Carnival Conquest was the largest ship in the Carnival fleet – a stretched version of the Destiny-class that now includes Carnival Sunshine, Carnival Sunrise, and Carnival Radiance.
Since then, the ship has undergone a number of refurbishments and refreshes that have left if in excellent condition, even if the décor onboard is decidedly “Old School Carnival” – and we’re OK with that. Then-lead designer Joe Farcus crafted Carnival Conquest’s interiors to be a feast for the senses, and they certainly are that, from the upscale confines of Alfred’s Bar to the absolutely retina-shattering décor in the Blues Piano Bar (which does look better at night).
Carnival Conquest was scheduled for a refresh after this cruise. Prior to that, it most recently refreshed in 2022, expanding the Tahiti Casino and adding Carnival’s new Adventure Store on Deck 5 (where Pixels Photo Gallery used to be), along with a new Dreams Photo Studio on Deck 3 (where the Art Gallery used to be).
Additionally, soft furnishings throughout the ship and cabins were replaced: our spring 2024 voyage featured brand-new carpeting, shower curtains and blackout drapes in our balcony cabin, plus new bedside lighting with much-appreciated USB power outlets – a must on these ships, which have always been notoriously short on in-cabin power.
The result is a ship that feels new and modern – even if some minor wear and tear is apparent around the vessel, crewmembers are always hard at work replacing decking, repainting, and cleaning 24 hours a day.