JohnSpo

Just off the Dream and they were offering "up to" $400 OBC. Wasn't enough to make me jump so I didn't get any details other than the flyer in the room.

In January, Splendor had a similar double OBC deal. I could not take advantage of it because this offer was for cruises booked for sailings dates May 31st or prior. Bummer.

On Splendor, they had a special bloody mary bar outside the dining room. I used my coupon at this bar. You can use your coupon at this bar without actually haviing brunch. The bloody mary was excellent. Give it a try.:cool:

One block from the port are many jewerly stores, souvenir shops and restaurants.

If you want to check out some beaches within walking distance of the ship, just turn right after leaving the port and follow the road to Junkanoo Beach (about a ten minute walk). Here is a nice beach to go swimming. Here they also have a few small bars that offer good beer and drink deals. If you continue walking there are some smaller beaches that are quieter with few people. Continuing on are some small restaurant shacks that serve very good fresh food. Continuing on you will then see some larger seafood restaurants.

I usually do the ports on foot and this is what I do in Nassau. I always have a good time.:cool:

If you decide to change the booked cruise to another cruise, I was told the OBC will transfer to the new booking. I was told it was better to book the past guest rate so there will be no penatly. When you are sure of the cruise then you can transfer the booking to early saver if you want if the rate is lower.

I was on Liberty 2 years ago and I agree it is a great ship. I think she is my favorite. I plan on booking either Liberty or Conquest for my next cruise. Glad to hear you had a recent good experience.:cool:

A restatement of my above reply. The vegetarian and indian vegetarian options probably don't contain chicken broth. I meant to say to be careful about the vegetable soups because it has been mentioned they contain chicken broth.:cool:

You may have already read that the vegetarian and indian vegetarian options in the MDR do contain cheese and chicken broth so be careful of them.

If you do have the MDR prepare vegan entrees just be open minded and not too picky. If you are too picky then you probably should dine in the Lido buffet and create your own vegan meal from what is available.

Even for a vegan, you should have plenty of food options.

Enjoy your cruise!:cool:

I did this cruise out of NYC on Glory the third week of Sept in 2012. Boston was in the low 60's and sunny. Portland was in the low 70's and sunny. St John was in the low 60's and rainy. Halifax was in the high 60's and sunny. Halifax was my favorite port. Leaving in Oct will be cooler but you should have some good fall foliage photo ops.

Even though it was on the cool side, I would definitely do this itinerary again. Leaving out of Port NYC is breathtaking.

Enjoy your cruise!:cool:

To make sure you get a YTD two top , you should go about 20 minutes before the doors open or 15 to 20 minutes befire they close. I like to eat later after 9:00pm and I never had problems getting a two top. Also a two top usually speeds up the service since the waiters only have to take food orders from two people or one as a solo.

I was on Splendor as a solo last month and I went into the YTD dining room when the early lounge show was just finishing at about 9:15pm. Since it was later in the service the wait staff did move my dinner along but not too quickly. I would rather have dinner in about 35 to 40 minutes instead of 1 to 1 1/2 hours. That is one of the benefits of dining solo. You can eat quicker and get to the fun faster.:cool:

I do like the Conquest Class ships for their layout and my favorite is the Liberty. It has a nice decor.:)

My least favorite is Splendor. The overall feel of the ship was it is too crowded especially in the Lido pool area, the buffet area and the promenade. Sometimes you could not walk past the photographers. Also the casino area is way too smokey.:(

I have always thought the Libert had the nicest and colorful atrium.:cool:

I was also on Splendor in January. You will enjoy it. I did. The ship is super clean and the service is excellent. The food and entertainment is very good.

Enjoy your May cruise.

I'm upset that the 2015 schedule for NY departure isn't out yet because we cruise on 2/21 and I wanted to book a cruise while on the ship in order to get the OBC since they did away with the FCC. :mad::mad:

I was on Splendor last month and in the same situation as you. I wanted to book another NYC cruise for May 2015.

The FCC agent suggested I book a cruise at a past guest rate so the OBC will be applied to that booking. When NYC opens up, I can change the booking to the new cruise and the OBC will transfer to the new cruise.

Booking at the Past Guest rate enables you to change to a new cruise with no penalty. She then said you can book to Early Saver for a lower rate and take advantage of the price drops.

Give that a try so you don't miss out on the OBC.:cool:

I use to call myself a savvy/frugal person. I would travel the cheapest way possible and obsess not to spend for extras. Besides obsessing, I would be envious of other people having more fun than me.

I really wasn't being savvy or frugal, I was being downright cheap and not enjoying my travels, especially cruising to the fullest. I have now loosened up my wallet and pay for the little extras that I enjoy like the wine package, steakhouse, casino and on my last cruise I even purchased some art at the art auction.

I have always enjoyed cruising on Carnival and am now enjoying it much more. I think the Carnival business model is a good one and I hope they keep up the good work.

I don't use FTTF but I am surprised how many people do. Good for all of you!

Happy cruising.:cool:

I think of it this way. I like the fact that Carnival's fares do offer great value and are relatively low for a great cruise. I also like that I can enhance my cruise experience by paying a nominal fee for things like the coffee bar, the steakhouse, FTTF and even the new upcoming live concerts. For me it is better to not have to pay for things I don't want to do that may be included in other cruise lines' higher fares.:cool:

I was recently on Splendor. I went to Your Time Dining usually around 9:15pm and the crew entertainment was always just starting. So yes they do have it in Your Time Dining. Based on my experience they probably have it at specific times. If you want to see the entertaiment, you should inquire what times they perform.

The entertaiment was the same as the other dining rooms.:cool:

OP, you need to send in the OBC request more than 2 weeks before your cruise date so make sure you do it right away. It will usually post within 2 days after you send it in. If you send in the request close to a weekend then it will take a few more days.

:cool:

I liked the brunck on Splendor. The banana bread in the pastry basket was good. :cool:

You're welcome. I am happy to share the information, especially since it is fresh in my memory. Let me know if you have any other questions.

There are some recent Splendor reviews you can look up that have some good information.:cool:

I booked a cruise on the Glory while on Liberty in October. When I got home I decided to go back on Liberty instead. I had no problem switching the reservation and keeping the $100 OBC.

Glad to hear you had a good experience with the OBC.

I booked a January 2015 Past Guest rate on Conquest out of Miami to get the OBC. I plan on changing it to a cruise departing from NYC. The on board agent said I will probably have to wait until April or May of 2015 for a NYC sailing. It is good to know I will have some flexibility with this booking and can keep the OBC.

Thanks for your info.:cool:

I was on the recent 8 day Jan 20th Splendor sailing. The cruise was awesome. All the entertainment was good.

There were 4 Play List production shows with 2 lead singers, dancers and a live band. The shows included:

Welcome Aboard Show

The Beat

Latin Music Show

Vroom

These 4 shows were all good with my favorite being Vroom. Vroom was fast paced with a good selection of old music with some good set and costume changes. I great job for a cruise ship show.

On nights with no production shows, they did have a magician and some good passenger participation shows.

At night they also did have live music in the Atrium, the casino and various lounges.

They did have 4 comedians during most of the week that performed family friendly and adult shows. The comedians were all good.

There certainly was a lot of good entertainment on this cruise. This was good especially since there were 4 sea days. I hope your family enjoys the cruise and the entertainment.:cool:

I just booked a future cruise on Spendor last week at the Past Guest rate(not ES) and received a $100 OBC. Has anyone had experience making a change of a future cruise booked onboard and did the $100 OBC get moved to the new booking? I was told it would. :cool:

On Splendor I definitely did get price drops on my early saver rate for a porthole cabin. Keep looking on Carnival.com.

I am a fan of a ribeye, the Filet in the steak house left me wanting more.

I was on Splendor last week. First night I had the surf and turf. I had the filet medium rare and it was excellent. I went back to the steakhouse 5 days later. This visit I had the NY strip. I asked for med rare and it came out medium. It was tough and a little gritty. It sounds like the quality of the meat may be slipping. Hopefully not. I will go back to the steakhouse again but I will stick with the filet and may also try the rib eye.:cool:

The only negative so far for the entire cruise was that the casino is not ventilated well for the cigarette smoke. We are not the type to think smokers should be left out but not at the expense of non smokers health and comfort, but this is NOT about smokers. If Carnival is going to have smoking in any venue they need to make sure there is proper and adequate ventilation/filters.

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I do agree about the poor ventilation in the casino. I walked through the bar area of the casino and started to cough and gasp for air. I could not wait to get away from there. I usually am not sensitive to smoke so to me this was very poor ventilation. I did not notice a smoke problem while walking the promenade but the casino is just terrible. I did see the casino bartenders ask smokers at the bar to move to the right part of the casino bar away from the promenade. I guess Carnival is aware of the problem but I hope they take care of this. Nobody should have to cough and walk around with smelly smokey clothes.