love2relax

In a word, NO. I would rather not dress up. I don't even like prime rib, shrimp, or lobster; but have to dress to accompany the rest of the family that does. I would much rather go to the buffet to get my chicken breast on formal nights. sigh...

Hello! We are sailing on the Splendor in April.

Here are some of my questions, but I'm sure more will pop into my head at 3:00 in the morning:

 

1. Dinner: We have a 6:00 seating. Last cruise we loved the set dining because of our wait staff, but we also loved having a table for 3. I know nothing is guaranteed, and I sent an email via the blog on Carnival requesting a private table, but I don't know if it will be honored OR if we should just try your time dining. Any thoughts/suggestions? I know lots of cruisers love to sit with others, but since I work a million hours a week we just don't get a lot of family time together. If you want to stick with the assigned dining, you can always check your FunTImes when you first board the ship and see what time the maitre'D is in the dining room. You can go see where your table is; and if it is a big one, you can request a change. I have had luck with this in the past, but there are no guarantees. If you switch to YTD, you will almost always get a table to yourselves. You can request the same wait staff every night, but they may not have availability when you show up.

 

2. Are any of the shows appropriate for younger kids? Of course on the Wonder all the big shows were family friendly, just not sure on the Splendor. I guess I'm a little prudish, but I think the costumes are a little risque for the production shows. I have seen kids there though. There are some family shows for the comedians in the Comedy Club every night. There are dance classes too. I know they will find plenty of activites to do.

 

3. Are there many activities on board even on port days? There aren't as many as on a sea day, but there are some. It's always nice to spend some time by the pool when everyone is off the ship, especially that first day in Cabo. By the second day, more people decide to stay aboard.

 

4. How formal is formal? We do love dressing up (my son loves his tux!) and I'm happy to lug all the stuff along, but if most people don't dress maybe we'll be more casual. I have seen everything from tuxedos/gowns to very casual clothing on formal nights.

 

6. Water - all the blogs before we sailed last time said to bring water as it wasn't readily available, but I ended up bringing some reusable water bottles and filling them up at the drink station they had on the pool deck. Don't know if the Splendor has one of those. We're not soda drinkers and prefer water (or wine!) I am a big water drinker myself. In hot weather, I take along a water bottle for port days and fill it using their glasses and dumping them into the container (so as to not contaminate the tap); but on the ship, I just grab a plastic glass, add ice and water. There are several dispensers in the buffet drink area indoors and also on the pool deck side. You will also have ice in your cabin, so you can have water there as well.

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I hope you find this information useful. It's not Disney, but you will love the Splendor.

Tell us your secret missypriss19! Have you played claw games before? I have never touched one of those, but this game sounds like a few dollars might be worth it.

Now I am confused what can go in a checked bag per the rules. I understand that soda, wine, and water need to be carried on and I understand that no alcohol other than the wine is allowed anywhere. But what about checking other liquids?

 

Can you have over 20 oz. liquids like shampoo and toiletries in your checked bag, as long they are not consumable (with the exception of liquid medications)?

Bringing on liquid soaps, shampoos..etc is allowed, but I was called to the "naughty room" once when I brought on regular-sized bottles of shower gel, shampoo, and conditioner. When I went down there, they asked me to open the suitcase so they could check to make sure they weren't forbidden alcohol bottles. Since I had not smuggled anything, it was actually kind of a fun experience. I think the guys were more embarrased than me when I pulled out things like underwear that were wrapped around the bottles. :o

Ditto for my Splendor cruise last summer. They closed the roof over the pool on the last sea day. It was crowded and noisy, but it was warm and toasty!

I'm so glad I found this thread - I was trying to figure out which excursions to choose from the NCL website for Cozumel, I'm usually quite apprehensive about booking things outside of the cruise, but this sounds perfect, we'll get to see everything we want to, and it's customized!

 

I have a couple of questions (we've never been to Cozumel and I've never hired a driver for a tour guide anywhere):

 

1. Does the driver "hang out" with you at all the locations, or do they just wait at the car? For the most part, the driver (if you hire Gerry) will get out of the car with you and act as your guide/translator if needed, in many spots where you'll stop. He took us to a beautiful beach, and snapped photos for us, as well as collecting some beautiful pieces of coral from among the rocks on the beach.

 

2. What if we want to spend an hour or two at a beach, do they just wait? We spent a few hours at the beach, and Gerry hung out at a table farther behind us. He kept an eye on our stuff, but also made sure that we were well taken care of by the resort staff. He even got us free snorkeling equipment...as long as we bought some food and drinks in return.

 

3. Can you bring food/drink back on board the ship with you? Most cruiselines frown on that! I have gotten away with bringing on some sodas once in a while, but all liquor has been confiscated. I have never attempted food, but I don't think it would be allowed unless it was a sealed bag of chips or something like that.

 

 

4. Did you pay cash for all the admission fees, food, purchases that you spent at the attractions? How much should I carry with me? I did pay cahs because I prefer that over foreign transaction fees and fear of credit card fraud. As to how much, that depends on where you're planning to go, and what you're planning to buy.

5. Do you need to bring your passport with you to go off the ship and back on? Most cruiselines don't require one for getting on and off most ports. Sometimes they want a form of photo ID, but most times the ship card is sufficient. I ALWAYS take my passport regardless of what others on this board say....just in case, I want it with me.

 

Sorry, we haven't really gone many places outside North America, not sure about these things.

 

Thanks!

 

J

See the answers posted above. You will have a wonderful day in Cozumel. It is one of my favorite ports (been there three times) due to great experiences with private drivers.

Yes, my very first cruise was on the Mardi Gras in the 1980s with my dad. We had a very small inside cabin, with a bathroom that was so tiny that my knees were against the bathroom door when I sat on the toilet. The entire bathroom wasn't much bigger than a phone booth.

I don't remember too many details about dining, but I do remember those midnight buffets. The Mardi Gras certainly didn't have the amenities of the ships today, but I fell in love with cruising.

I never got sea sick, but I do remember that after the cruise it took a while to get my land legs back. It seemed that it took several days to stop feeling like I was swaying. That never seems to be a problem on modern ships, probably due to the stabilizers.

Frequently I am the only person at the past guest parties that cheers for the Mardi Gras when they show that video of all the ships. I had no idea when I sailed her that Carnival would become such a common vacation choice for me in the future.

I don't know what it is, but every time I hit the ellipticals on Carnival ships, they just don't feel right. The models are different than my local gym...but I go to several different gyms that have 6 different types of ellipticals between them, and they don't give me problems. Does anyone else think they just feel odd? I use them onboard, but don't enjoy it as much as the ones at home. The bikes and tradmills are okay though.

We used Gerry again for our day in Cozumel a few weeks ago. He was so considerate and informative. I appreciate that he provides suggestions if you don't know what to do, but let's YOU decide where to go.

He took us to a beach at the end of our tour (per our request) where we were provided with free snorkeling equipment in exchange for buying a few drinks afterwards.

Even though this was my third visit to Cozumel, I enjoyed it even more because of Gerry. When we stopped at a beach to take some photos, one of my travelling companions was having a hard time getting back down from some of the rocks. Gerry noticed, and went out there to hold her hand and help her down.

He is a terrific guy. I wish that every port had a guide like him to show us around.

Yes, a little over 20% of the total because we felt he was worth it. I have heard from others that they tipped any where from 10 to 20%.

Who's Eduardo? Does he know Gerry?

Did he tell you why he had been out of contact? For me it has been months. I guess I'll try one last time.

I haven't heard a thing. I am strongly considering a change in plans for that day. I wish that I could contact Gerry directly. I am so disappointed that Mike is no longer setting this up for us. I wonder if something has happened with his health.

Yes, I did that exact tour last week with Frank. It was my third time taking a tour with him. I am going to do the same tour again in March because I am travelling with someone else who has not been to Stone Island. Our ship departs at 4:00 and I have total confidence that we won't have any problem getting back in time with Frank. He is a great guy. Mazatlan is my favorite port in the Mexican Riviera because of him.

I am having issues as well. I used Mike to contact Gerry in Aug. 2008, but he was already booked and we used Lazaro for the day. We happened to meet up with Gerry too, and promised that we would book him the next time we were in Cozumel, even though we had a great day with Lazaro. I contacted Mike a few months ago to book Gerry for this coming summer, and he sent me an email asking me to confirm what time we wanted to meet. I replied several times, but have not received any response back. Now that the cruiseline changed the order of ports, I need to change the date (that I never really received any confirmation for). I sent another email earlier this week, but haven't heard anything back. I am wondering what is going on as well...which is why I keep checking this thread.

407 love2relax

I don't know Dario, but usually when Gerry is busy, Mike recommends Lazaro. He is a great guy as well. Is he already busy too?

Only 36 days to go!

I hate having to get up early on sea days to beat the crowds to the gym to work off all of those extra calories that we eat!

I am so sorry about the photo. I have misplaced the CD that had it. I don't have many photos from the tour since I dropped my camera at our second stop and it broke....but we really enjoyed the other side of the island where the turtle nests were. I'll find it and try to post this weekend.

I have a photo of him (Lazaro). He's a cutie pie, but I don't know if I can post it or not. I'll take a whack at it tomorrow night, ok?

I've posted about him (Lazaro) earlier on this thread. He was great: friendly, knowledgeable, and accomodating. We had a blast. When we go back, I plan to book him again. He was a great guide!

fsharp, you can start off by asking what everyone's plans are for Cozumel...and then say that you've hired Gerry, a private driver, who comes highly recommended.

You can copy links to this thread and some of the other ones about Gerry. Tell them you have room for two more people who would like to share expenses. That should help. Good luck!

Great to hear such positives from someone who hired Lazaro. I figured since he was associated with Gerry he probably was fine, but there's nothing like a first hand opinion. Thank you letting me know..that he is so good looking :)

heh heh heh :D ;)

Akcelt, you will LOVE Lazaro. We tried to get Gerry, but he was booked that day (by other people on our roll call)...so Mike hooked us up with Lazaro. He was awesome. All of us felt like we were family members that our cousin Lazaro was showing around the island. He was very considerate, professional, and fun. We had a blast. I will definitely look him up the next time we go to Cozumel. I have to add a note that he was good looking, and I had a blast flirting with him.