As a graduation gift, my parents booked my wife and I on the Carnival Conquest with an interior stateroom. Looking at the Carnival website for our room, it shows two twin beds in the room. Is that the case for all of them? Is there an option to get a single full size bed? I realize there is not much space in each room. But really, two beds?

Yep. I'm not aware of an interior stateroom that has a single bed.

two beds is standard on nearly all ships/lines as far as i know.(maybe not the luxury ones)...they push the beds together with a conncector, and voila, it's a full size bed (queen size, actually...i think)

They push them together for you. If you've got the cash, upgrade to an ocean view or junior suite.

[This message has been edited by the todd (edited 6/15/2009 3:50p).]

Ok, so they push them together. That's good. Will we need to ask our room steward? Or will it be taken care of ahead of time?

Ours was done ahead of time. It should be taken care of. If not, the steward will be very happy to fix it for you in short order. Man, I love cruises.

This is my first cruise, so I'm trying to get it all figured out. Is the food typically pretty good?

I went on a cruise on the Conquest in January and we had some AMAZING food. Try everything that sounds good. You can order more than one entree or appetizer or dessert if you want to try different things, our waitress would order extra for our table if someone did not something she thought was good. It was a great way to try some different things but also make sure that your got something that you liked so you were full. Have a BLAST we did our group is talking about planning our next one

^Ditto

Try the craziest thing at sit down dinner. If you don't like it, ask your wait staff to bring you a second entree, the safer choice (usually steak or chicken).

Kill the buffet whenever you don't feel like having a formal meal.

Food is pretty good. Drinks are usually good. Live it up.

MAKE SURE TO GET THE WARM CHOCOLATE MELTING CAKE FOR DESSERT, EVEN IF IT'S NOT ON THE MENU THAT NIGHT!

(if you've been on the Conquest before, you know that chocolate melting cake is worth yelling about)

Everyone at our table ordered a melting cake every night to go with whatever dessert we wanted for the night...well worth yelling about!!

I agree with upgrading the room if you can afford it. I'm slightly clostrophobic and don't believe I would enjoy a room without at least window. What is really nice is a balcony.

We were on the Conquest last summer and had a great time.

My opinion... Unless you can get a cabin with a window for about the same price as one without a window (doubtful), do not upgrade. I doubt you will be spending much time in your room other than to sleep and get dressed. Also, it is nice having an inside cabin because the room is pitch black during the day and is perfect for an afternoon nap.

Hope you guys have a blast!!! Call or email me if you'd like some other info/tips.

I had an oceanview room in October 07 on the Conquest, and will have an interior one when I go back in August. I love the interior rooms for the nap aspect.

Agree with Gabster43213, an oceanview with a balcony is well worth the $$$. You'll spend more time in your room than you think.

***I was Aggie, when Aggie wasn't cool***

My wife and I didn't upgrade our room from an interior one while some of our friends did... i really felt like we made the right decision. If you don't go to the balcony, you won't ever really look out it. The other rooms give you a tiny couch and a tiny window... further more, the only time you are in the room is to sleep or do other things not related to the sea. It is small, but no problem for us.

Spend the extra on something on the ship you otherwise wouldn't have.

my 2 cents.

the warm chocolate cake... damn good.

Cool, thanks for the info everyone.

I like the Balcony over all. Views are great. Being able to sit outside in the morning is fun as well.

Only negative part was when there was other people next door, or somewhere within earshot of us. We were out on ours a couple times, and between the smoking and annoying conversations we didn't care to hear from next door, we did have to close the door. Just be prepared to not expect too much privacy for yourself or from others.

It's a great trip though. Wife and I were on the 7 day trip on Conquest last November and had a blast.

I would prefer an interior room over an ocean view room because its nice and dark for the many naps I take on board. A balcony is a different story though. I would go with a balcony over an interior room.

You guys can't sleep unless it's dark?

my wife and I are going on the conquest 8/23 to 8/30 and we have a balcony room. It will be my 2nd carnival cruise, with my first one having an interior room. That sucker was the darkest room I have ever been in when the door was closed.

Just returned today from The Conquest, will post a recap of the week later this evening. As far as the inside vs. balcony room, i would suggest trying to upgrade to a room on the Spa Deck, they are a bit larger and the window is the size of the entire wall that faces the outside. Happy Cruising !

I've been on quite a few cruises. I would not pay for an upgrade to a ocean view room ever. The windows are small(er) and do not provide you any real view. To me, it's a waste of money. (Besides, a balcony is usually not much more.)

That being said, I don't even highly recommend balcony rooms for caribbean trips because all you see is water.

Now, in Alaska I would recommend a balcony because you can sight see right from your balcony as you go through the inside passage. But in the caribbean, its just vast expanses of water and I don't understand why people pay the large premium.

Inside room is almost always a much better bang for your buck and you can sometimes (I said sometimes!) take an extra cruise for the savings from booking an inside room over a balcony.

(Case in point- my wife and I are taking a 7 day Eastern Carib. cruise in August on the Carnival Liberty. We paid $1000 total after TT&L for an inside room on the Upper Deck. The upgrade to a balcony would've cost us another $250pp. For that extra $500, we could've almost paid for an inside room on a 4-5 day cruise out of Galveston on the Ecstasy, which were around $800 total at the time.)

On your original question- they will push the beds together and it will be just fine. If you booked through a travel agent, ask them to request it. If not, you could always contact a Carnival Cruise Rep (check Carnival.com) and give them your reservation # and have them make the change for you. Even if its not done right when you get there, request it and your room steward will have it done for you.

I also second what everyone has said about the food. I don't know if I'd compare the food to a 5-star luxury restaurant (although some specific dishes from the dining room may be close), but it's all very good and there is a huge variety. There is no additional charge for extra food, so do not be afraid to try things out and order something else if you don't like your first choice.

You will have a blast.

Thanks for the info everyone. We leave on Sunday and are starting to get real excited.

by the way, if at dinner you think your portion is too small, request for more food... i.e:

Waiter: what would you like for dinner?
You: can I have 2 Prime Ribs please.

don't feel bad because everyone does it too.

Remember, Chocolate Melting Cake!

Don't worry, I won't forget about the Chocolate Melting Cake.

I think gigem05 is hinting you should bring back some of that cake!

I'll see what I can do. I can't make any promises though. If it is as good as everyone says, it might not make the trip home once I'm off the boat.

I just got back from a RC cruise and they had already pushed the two beds together to make a queen size bed. There was a small ditch in the middle that was not very comfortable to sleep on.

We also had a balcony room. My husband and I decided that for our honeymoon it was the right choice, but if we go on anymore cruises we will probably just go with an interior room since we didn't use the balcony very often.

I leave on Sunday. I can't wait.

We were on the Carnival Valor last month and Carnival started offering a "Behind the Scenes" tour during a sea day. It is only being offered on 2 of their ships as a trial run. We went all over the ship, through the kitchens, laundry rooms, storage areas, staff quarters, the bridge, engine room, etc. Very interesting tour that covered all of the things that you are curious about. They also had chocolate covered strawberries and other desserts in our cabins when we returned. Not to mention, they gave us the recipe for their chocolate melting cake!!

What about attire for dinner? Should we bring some pants or jeans for dinner each night, besides the formal nights?

please pass on recipe for said chocolate melting cake!

It has been a year since our group cruise and would love to make some at the house.

Recipe.