A Do Over Trip Report from the 5-7-17 Carnival Splendor

With Daniel registered for camp we decided to head back to the Cabin to unpack. This would have been about the time for our Dinner since we selected early dinning for this cruise. However with our late departure from Ft. Lauderdale they would just be doing an "Open Dining" after the Muster Drill.

Back at our Cabin our room steward had all ready turned it down for the evening. The couch had been converted to a bed and the pull down bed was down and set up. Daniel thought it was pretty cool to be able to sleep in a bunk bed. We also had our past guest items. Our bottled waters, Pins, and Free drink coupons. Then we took the time to get unpacked and settled in to our cabin for the week.

The Muster Drill was scheduled for 8pm. Which timed pretty well as we finished unpacking just as it was time for the drill to begin. The alarm sounded so we made our way to our Muster Station. We weren't the first in the station but we were amoung the first 1/3rd present. I heard many people on this cruise say that it was pretty disorganized. I honeslty didn't think it was any worse then usual. Just louder with many guests not caring or paying attention. Infact the girl next to me got yelled at 3 seperate times for being on her phone. The kids did alright with the drill. Although Lizzy did not like the muster braclet that she had to wear. She fought all week long to try and get that off. We look back on it now and thought we should have put it on her ankle instead. Something we failed to remind ourselves of a recommendation of when we took Daniel that age. Eventually though she was so tired that she passed out asleep during the drill.

Once the drill was over the cruise would really begin. However instead of waiting for the sail away we were hungry and ready to eat. So we made our way to the Gold Pearl Dinning room for Open Dining that would now be open. We were able to get right in to the dinning room to eat. However with a large group like ours they were not able to get a table all together for us. We had 3 right next to each other. But not all together. This was totally fine though. Dinner in the main dinning room is one of the things we love most about cruising. And this Cruise was no different.

From starters I went with Shrimp Cocktail, a Caesar Salad, and a Salmon thing. Sorry but I don't remember the name. Kiera got a Quesadilla.

For the kids we got Lizzy some Mac and Cheese and Daniel got Chicken Nuggets.

And for our main dishes I got the Braised Beef Brisket and Kiera got a Salmon Fillet I believe.

For Dessert we got the Chocolate Melting Cake and I also ordered a Cheese Plate. The food was excellent all around and we all left very full.

We had set sail during dinner so when we were done we walked out to the back of the ship to take a look at Ft. Lauderdale in the distance as we sailed away on the start of our adventure.

There were plenty of things going on tonight that we could have done. But we decided to head back to the cabin and try to get the kids ready for bed and asleep. We would be in Nassau early in the morning so we wanted to get as much rest as we could.

Thank you for sharing! It looks like you had a great time!

Great trip review and photos! Very helpful. Our three generation family will be on Splendor this March. Different itinerary as we will be doing Mexican Riviera but the info on the ship is very helpful particularly as it relates to families with young children. We have ocean view quad rooms booked on Riviera Deck like you but farther forward. Children range in age 2- 7 years so really interested in your photos and comments on the Camp Ocean, water park and other family activities. Looking forward to your report on the Suess breakfast and activities. :D

TeknikDC2, loving your review, and am so happy you did a do over review! LOL.

Sailed on Splendor out of Miami in 2016, had some issues on that cruise, but still an over all great cruise, and loved the ship. Also still enjoy Carnival's food, your food photos are making me hungry now.

Your family is adorable.

Looking forward to more of your review.:)

Great review, can't wait to read more! Thank you for sharing!

Day 3: Nassau

It was only the 1st full day of our cruise. But we were already in our first port when we awoke for the day. We were in Nassau in the Bahamas. This would be the 3rd time that we have visited this port. And honestly it is one of our least favorites. So much so that our original plans for this day was to not even get off of the ship. We would just use it as a Sea Day. Those plans would obviously change though.

Outside our window we could see many people exiting the ship. There was even a Mr. Potato Head that you could take pictures with. We unfortunately didn’t get off the ship soon enough to see him though.

It was nice to sleep in a little bit this day tough as we weren’t in a rush to get off the ship. In fact most of Kiera’s family was already off the ship by the time we got up and going for the day. Her Parents and Stirling and Kena had a Dolphin Experience booked that they went off to. Logan and Elizabeth joined us at breakfast and would hang out with us for our time in port today.

After finishing breakfast at the Lido Buffet we got the strollers from our cabin and made our way to the Gangway to exit the ship. We didn’t plan to being off for too long. Remember we were gonna use this as an extra sea day. We just wanted to find a postcard. There was only 1 other ship in port with us today which was the Royal Caribbean Oasis of the Seas. So it was a very quite day in Nassau.

While walking though we thought about what we else we could do here. Remembering back to 2009 on our first Nassau visit we remembered going to Atlantis and just looking at the Aquariums located in the Hotel Lobby. We figured this was something the kids would really enjoy seeing and it would be relatively inexpensive. We would just need to find a the Water Taxi that I saw online that advertised a round trip cost of only $6. There were ton’s of people outside the terminal trying to get us to take a taxi. Even a water taxi booth but they wanted $8 for the round trip to Atlantis.

I was determined to find the cheaper option I saw online. We started to walk around the city to see if we could find this cheaper Water Taxi. We didn’t find it in the direction we were walking. However what we did find was a Starbucks. Which meant Free WiFi. So I was able to connect and find the website for the Water Taxi. It stated it was located across from the Straw Market so that was the direction we started to head.

The Straw Market was a short walk from where we were. And we came across a Water Taxi. But it was the same one that was at the Cruise Terminal that was $8 for the round trip. I really didn’t want to spend that much so we started to walk on by. Of course this is when the people started to wheel and deal. The boat was just about to leave and they told us that if we got on the boat right now they would let the kids go free. Alright we thought that’s more like the deal we wanted. So we got on the boat.

And we were actually glad that we did. The Water Taxi is about a 12 minute ride to Atlantis. But it wasn’t just a simple boat ride. There was a “guide” that told us about the area, history of Nassau, and pointed out points of interest as he shared the history of them with us. So it was a mini tour as well. And the guide was actually pretty funny and entertaining. One of the islands we went by had tons of mansions that are owned by or once were owned by Celebrities. However it looked like many of the homes had been destroyed likely by hurricanes at some point.

We got off the Water Taxi at a dock under one of the bridges to Paradise Island. This is when we realized that the special “Kids go free” on this Water Taxi was a one way deal so we would have to pay for them on the return trip. Still we ended up paying about what I originally planned on paying so it was fine. Under the bridge was a bunch of small booths trying to sell your typical touristy stuff as you walked by. Where the boat dropped us off was actually about ½ mile away from the Atlantis Marina Shops so you will have a short walk ahead of you if you choose to take the Water Taxi. Also the walkway to get to Atlantis isn’t very well marked. So when you get to the street Light cross the street and Turn Right. That marina shops aren’t too far from there.

I mentioned that we had visited Atlantis back in 2009. However we never looked around the Marina Shops on that trip. This was the first we had seen them. I read that the shopping here was better then what you would find around the Cruise terminal in Nassau. And yes that would probably be true if you were looking for higher end items. But honestly there was nothing in the shops that intrigued us or that we would want to look at. The place was also pretty dead. But that could be in part due to only 2 ships being in port.

Walking by the actual Marina was pretty cool seeing all of the Yachts that were docked. I couldn’t fathom how much some of the must be worth. They were huge. The Marina was located at the end of the Marina Shops and before you entered the main building.

As we entered Atlantis it was as beautiful as we remembered it being. One thing that’s pretty cool to look at are all the Glass sculptures located throughout the Casino and shops of the Resort. These things are pretty incredible to behold.

We walked thru the Casino fairly quickly. Although this Casino didn’t smell nearly as bad as the one on the Splendor it was still a place we didn’t want the kids to be for very long.

We walked past a few more shops and finally the hotel lobby was in sight. Only there was something had changed since our last visit in 2009. There was now a security guard checking for Hotel Room keys to enter the lobby. Yes that is correct. You can no longer go in the Hotel lobby and see the Aquarium unless you are a Hotel guest or have a waterpark pass. We thought this was kind of dumb as it was the whole reason we made the venture over to Atlantis today. Lizzy obviously wouldn’t know the difference but Daniel was pretty sad about it as he was excited to see the fish. I have to imagine the reasoning for it is because of all the tour groups that would stop in just to see the hotel lobby (like we did in 2009) but still I wish I would have seen that before we made the trip over. So just be warned if you go to see the public areas of Atlantis its now limited to only the Casino and Shops. You know the places to make money off of you.

We stopped and took some photos with the Atlantis Throne……

And then we went outside on the Casino Bypass.. This is just a sidewalk that goes outside and around the Casino so that you don’t have to go thru it. Out here you do get some good views of the Tower and some of the resort beaches. We also did see some fishes in the ponds.

There is a place out here on the Bypass that you can get a pretty good photo with the Hotel tower. It was fun to take this same picture again that we took back in 2009.

After we reentered the hotel we looked around the remaining shops before heading back down to the Marina Shops.

We were done with Atlantis as we made our way back thru the Marina shops and eventually to the Water Taxi dock. Atlantis is cool and something I recommend seeing at least once. But honestly I don’t think we will go to it again unless for some reason we are gifted passes to the Water Park. With the change and further restrictions to what you can see at the resort for free. Especially with not being able to see the Lobby any more the trek out to the resort just isn’t worth it. Honestly its on par with a Vegas resort. Just in a prettier location.

We had to buy our return tickets at the dock for the Water Taxi. Again that “Kids go Free” deal was just get us on the boat for a one way trip. And then we waited about 15 minutes before the stated to load up the Water Taxi to take us back to Nassau.

There was once again a “tour Guide” for our trip back to Nassau. But he pretty much said the exact same things as the guide did on our trip to Atlantis. I mean couldn’t they change up what they talked about just a little bit based on whatever direction the boat is going. I’m sure 80% or more of the people on the Water Taxi are round trip.

I love taking photos of Cruise Ships. So I’m glad to be on the right side of the Water Taxi for our return to trip to get these photos of the Splendor and the Oasis of the Seas.