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

So this report might seem familiar to some of you. As it was originally started back in June of 2017. However due to changes in Photobucket's photo hosting policy I could not get myself to pay $400 a year to continue hosting photos. Unfortunately the original trip report only made it to day 3 when the new photobucket policy took effect. Having started a new position at work and the crazyness of the holidays it took some time to get back to this project but I finally found a new photo hosting site. With all the photos in that thread no longer working I decided to start all over with a new trip report with the images now hosted on SmugMug so that this recap will be complete with working pictures. With that said everything from here til Day 3 will be a copy of what I posted before. But all new will come Day 4 and onward.

Hello everyone. Its been far too long since I've been on these boards. But after a nearly 4 year absence we have finally returned to cruising. We recently returned from our wonderful 12 day vacation that 6 day Eastern Caribbean Cruise aboard the Carnival Splendor as well as a few days spent at Universal Orlando Resort.

For those who don't remember us my name is Jeff and i'm 34 years old. My wife is Kiera and she is 29. On our Honeymoon back in 2008 we fell in Love with not only cruising but traveling in General and have been doing much of it since. This cruise was our 6th voyage but the 19th vacation we've had since we got married. We have always felt it important to have our Children travel with us so our Son Daniel who is 5 and Daughter Lizzy who is 1 was also on the trip.

But that wasn't all. This was a big family trip for all of Kiera's family so they were all here too. Her Mom Debbie, Dad Ken, Brother Logan, Sister in Law Elizabeth, Brother Stirling, and Sister Kena will also be seen through out this trip report.

We have been wanting to do another cruise for a while now. We have done 5 cruises in the past (all of which you can click the trip report link in my signature below). However our most recent cruise up to this point was in 2013. Right before our son turned 2. That cruise was amazing. But we found cruising to be a little challenging at times with a toddler in tow. That trip we also became Annual Passholder's to Universal Orlando and as such that somewhat became the focus of Family vacations going forward. Cruising was put on hold as we did a big family trip to Disney World and Universal in 2014, a Follow up trip to Universal Orlando in late 2014, and visits to my parents who recently moved to Seattle in 2015.

In September 2015 we added another member to our family when our Daughter Lizzy was born. We took on her on her first trip at just 2 months old to Universal Orlando and Sea World in 2015.

2016 was another Theme Park heavy year as we made it out to California to see the Disneyland 60th anniversary celebration and Opening of Hollywood's Wizarding World of Harry Potter. 2016 ended with another Christmas trip to Universal Orlando and Legoland Florida.

As 2017 began we start to ponder what our travel plans would be for the new year. It had been since 2014 since Kiera's family had done a big trip. And so her Mom wanted to do a big trip again in 2017. She looked at it as a big celebration for Kiera's brother and his wife graduating Collage. And the top vacation Idea on her list would be to do a Family Cruise. Needless to say we loved this idea.

What we didn't love though was with another brother in Collage still and a sister in High School the potential travel dates would fall during the summer months. When prices for the Cruise and Airfare were very expensive. We looked in to all options. And in the end Kiera's mom decided to save money by choosing a cruise after her brother ended his collage semester and pulled her sister out of school for a couple weeks.

It was late January when we decided on this 6 day cruise on the Carnival Splendor. We booked a past guest rate that gave us 50% off deposits as well as $50 in on board credit. The cabins booked were Ocean View rooms on Deck 1 as we knew we would want the extra space when traveling with kids. We booked Kiera and I in separate cabins to spread the discount as far as possible. For Kiera's parents they booked a Guaranteed cabin for the cheaper rate.

To stretch our money as far as possible We bought Carnival Gift Cards to pay for our deposit from a local Kroger affiliated store during a 4x fuel points promotion. The deposit alone scored us two $1 off per gallon discounts on gas. So about $40 in savings for our SUV. When final payment was due we also paid the remaining balence and Gratuities with these gift cards (even though they were only 2x Fuel Points) and got another three $1 off per gallon discounts for an additional $60 in fuel savings. We looked at it as saving $100 off our cruise.

At the same time we were able to find excellent priced Airfare on Southwest. We actually have a Southwest Rapid Rewards Visa and these rates were so good that our Airfare was 100% covered by our points. So we basically got free airfare for our flight in to Fort Lauderdale and returning home out of Orlando.

Those of you who have read my reports before know that we can't go to Florida without going to Universal. I mean we have Annual Passes for a reason. And with the hope of catching soft opening's for Universals new Water Park called Volcano Bay we decided to tack on a few extra days and drive up to Orlando after the cruise.

*Please take note now that I will cover MY ENTIRE VACATION in this review. Not only the cruise portion. I do this not only for my own record but to give pre or post cruise ideas to those who may be sailing out of Port Canaveral, Fort Lauderdale, Miami, or Tampa or any other Port that may be located near these locations. The cruise portion of this recap will begin on Day 2 and run thru Day 8. If you'd like to get an idea of how I write my reviews please feel free to click the links to my past Cruise reviews located in my signature. I have slightly changed how I load my reviews opting for shorter multi-part recaps of each day instead of one large recap so that its not such a photo overload for your computers. The recap will take a while to complete but please be patient.*

Anyways I think that gets all the basic info out of the way. If you'd like an idea of how my trip reports tend to go please click on of the links in my signature to my past trip reports. They are long and detailed and take a while to complete but pleas bare with me.

With that said let me say thanks to all of you checking out this tread. If you have any questions or comments please ask as I will be happy to answer them as quickly as I can. thanks again and I hope to get started on it very soon.

Look forward to it.

Nice start, looking forward to more.:)

Looking forward to the rest of your review!

Day 1: Travel to Ft. Lauderdale

The day of our next adventure was finally upon us. The day we had looked forward to for many months was upon us. We would be heading to the Airport to start our vacation and finally be returning to Cruising.

We had a 9:30am flight out of Salt Lake City, Utah. Living about 45 minutes from the airport and not knowing how crowds would look having not flown on a Saturday in over 9 years we wanted to give ourselves plenty of time. We also stopped at Kiera's families house on the way to the airport to pick up some luggage. Kiera's siblings Stirling and Kena would be traveling with us today on Southwest but the remainder of her family would be taking a Red Eye flight on Delta later that evening as Her brother and Sister in Law had their Collage Graduation that morning.

Since they were flying Delta and you get free baggage on Southwest we also took their luggage for them so that they would have to pay bag fees. This made for a very packed vehicle as you could imagine. We got to the airport with ease and considering how much luggage we were traveling with this day we decided to use the SkyCap for the first time ever. This is something we will do more regularly as it was very quick and easy. Especially with how much luggage we had.

Usually when we travel Kiera's Mom drops us off at the airport and picks us back up. However since they were traveling on this trip with us that meant we wouldn't have anyone to pick us up when we return. So we decided to leave our vehicle at the airport. It would be a large expense at $9 a day. But we really didn't have any other choice. While I went to park the car in Long Term parking Kiera and her siblings took the kids and proceeded to go thru security. It took over 30 minutes before I would be rejoined with them as I had to park pretty far from the terminal. Thankfully security was a breeze and much quicker then I anticipated it being for a Saturday.

I found my family already at the gate. Strollers were already tagged and now all we had to do was wait for our time to board the plane. Since we still had over 30 minutes until boarding we got some breakfast to keep our stomachs full for the first leg of our flight. We got Popeye's which seems to be our traditional breakfast when traveling early in the morning. I then followed the kids around the terminal to let them get some energy out in hopes that it would keep them a little more calm for the flight.

For the first leg of the flight we would be flying to Baltimore, Maryland. This would be our first time visiting this airport. But it would also be the longest first leg of a flight that we have ever had. We knew Daniel would be fine but we were a little nervous for Lizzy as she is a busy body and constantly wants to be down and on the move.

It wasn't too long until we would finally be lining up to board the flight. We had tickets for the B boarding but thank goodness for Family boarding. We got on between the A and B group and they even let Stirling and Kena join us. We made sure they took seats in front of us so random people wouldn't be bothered by our kids.

While waiting for others to board the plane I noticed this Porsche Panamera drive by on the jet way. It had Delta on the window so I imagine they use it for "Special guest" transportation. We know the Golden State Warriors were in town for the NBA Playoffs this night so I figured it could be for one of them.

Soon enough we pushed away from our gate and made our way to the runway. We had to wait for a few planes to take off before us and there was also a line behind us too. I guess this comes with Saturday travel as we had never seen Salt Lake stack up like that before. With kids having suckers in the mouth to help their ears adjust we were taking off down the runway to begin our journey.

The flight was about as uneventful as flights usually are. Kiera and Lizzy would eventually fall asleep for a portion of the flight. Daniel entertained himself while watching movies on the Phones or Laptop. I also watched a movie on my phone to help kill the time. We had about a 5 hour flight ahead of us.

Before long we started to make our descent in to Baltimore. I was a little dissapointed to see that area cloudy and stormy as we started to land since this was the first time we had been to this area. It just made it kind of hard for photos.

In Baltimore we would have a 2 hour layover until the final leg of our flight to Ft. Lauderdale. This was good as we were starving by the time we landed and liked that we wouldn't be rushed to get food between our flights. We really liked the Baltimore airport. It was big but easy to get around. We really loved when we found the large food court area and that the food was reasonably priced. Kiera and I got some very good food from a Chinese Place while her siblings and the kids got food from Chick-fil-a.

It was also nice having a longer Layover so that the kids could get down and run and stretch their legs a bit. I don't know what it was about the elevator thing but Lizzy kept running over to it over and over again.

With our stomachs now full we made our way back down the terminal to find our gate for the final part of our flight. We got the strollers checked again and then waited to line up.

We didn't think this would be a full flight as we didn't just score A tickets. But my number was A22. The lowest ticket I have ever got before. It was nice to able to get seats towards the front half of the plane instead of the back half.

In practically no time the flight was pulling away from the gate to continue our journey to Ft. Lauderdale. Once we could we pulled the Laptop out again to let the kids watch Moana and keep the entertained for this much shorter 2 hour 30 minute flight.

Although this flight was much shorter then the first. It didn't stop some of us from falling asleep. Myself included.

As the sun started to set on this day we began our final descent in to Ft. Lauderdale. The sunset was beautiful. These photos really don't do it any justice.

As we flew in to Ft. Lauderdale we flew right over the Port. We couldn't tell what ship was docked but it was obvious that there was a cruise ship there. We were excited to finally be here. Our first time every in Ft. Lauderdale.

We had some memorable flights this day. And I just want to write some of the funny stuff Daniel said during our flights. He didn't like that his "Ears kept Farting" as they popped with the pressure changes. He kept asking when we would see Jesus since we were so high in the clouds. And when a flight attendant came around asking if we would like any Coffee he replied "No Thank we don't need any Coffee". He was pretty cute.

Now we had a big task ahead of us. We had 7 peices of luggage to pick up. In addition to 2 strollers, 2 car seats, and all of our carry on items. I still don't know how we balanced everything on the cart. And some how got to the rental car counter without it tipping over.

For our car rental I booked us a Mini Van thru Alamo via Costcotravel.com. For years now we have booked exclusivly thru Costco for our rental cars. I never find better rates anywhere else. And its usually thru Alamo which we love. I love that you get to choose your vehicle. I also love their Automatic Kiosks to retrieve your reservation. However I was traveling with a temporary Drivers License on this trip. And as such I had to go the counter. The line to get the car was long and seemed to drag. But once I got to the counter it was quick to get the Mini Van.

The Mini Van we decided on was a Dodge Caravan. It was a tight fit but some how we made all the luggage work. The back was full, the strollers were on the ground, and Stirling and Kena were both holding bags on their laps. But we got all of that luggage in that Mini Van.

The hotel we had booked for the night was the Best Western Ft. Lauderdale Airport/Cruise Port. I booked it thru Travelocity when T-Mobile ran a $30 discount for subscribers on T-Mobile Tuesdays. The hotel as small but it worked. The bed was comfy and the room was clean. The lobby was extremely small but it also offered a free breakfast in the morning. It was nearly 10pm when we checked in so we really didn't have time to check the hotel pool or anything else out. It was a decent hotel that did its job. We would stay here again for a night if sailing out of Port Everglades again.

After we got all the luggage unloaded from the van we left Daniel with Kiera's siblings while Kiera, Lizzy, and I ran to the Walgreen's and Wynn Dixie down the street to get a few last minute things for the Cruise. We also stopped by Wendy's to get everyone dinner for the night.

Once back at the hotel we got the kids ready and put down to sleep. Return of the Jedi was on TV so I watched that for a little bit before going to bed as well.

We had a big day ahead of us tomorrow. We would finally be stepping foot aboard the Carnival Splendor.

Day 2: Embarkation

Although the day to board the Carnival Splendor was upon us we would be taking our time leaving the hotel. We wanted to push all the way to the 11am check out time as we had a lot of time to kill. We didn't realize it when we booked but this cruise was a re-positioning cruise for the Splendor. Earlier this morning it dropped off passengers in Miami before being relocated to Ft. Lauderdale for our cruise. We wouldn't be able to board the ship until 3pm at the earliest so we had plenty of time to kill. This was one of the main reasons we rented a car.

We really liked that this hotel offered a free breakfast. And it wasn't a crappy continental breakfast ether. There were eggs and sausage, a waffle maker, fruits, yogurts, muffins, and all sorts of stuff. Having a nice breakfast option really made this hotel worth it for us. Of course the dinning space in the tiny Lobby was pretty much non-existent and so we took our food back to our room to eat.

While we were waiting until 11am to check out we were also waiting for the rest of Kieras family to arrive. As you may recall they took a Red Eye flight and arrived in to the Miami Airport that morning around 9:30am. They had a rental car as well and would be meeting us at our hotel before we all headed to the Port. It was nice having them finally join us. Especially since they had another vehicle we wouldn't have to jam all of the luggage in to our 1 Mini Van like we had to the night before.

It didn't seem like it but this hotel was very packed. While we tried to get our luggage to the cars it was very hard getting past and around people. Although the parking lot wasn't packed there were tons of people. Thats because this hotel offered a shuttle to the Cruise port. This service cost $8 per person and it was obviously very popular for all the people waiting to catch a shuttle to 1 of the 3 ships that would be in Port this day. In addition to the Port shuttle I want to say they also offered a Free shuttle from the Airport. Although i'm sure this is a great service for many people I did the math and it was much more cost effective to rent a Mini Van for our family.

We were glad we had a couple hours to kill before we needed to return the cars. Mainly because we had more last minute shopping to do as we realized the night prior that we left some things at home. Notibly some Flip Flops for Daniel and a belt for me. We also wanted to get a Pool Noodle. But not for the reason you would think. Kiera wanted to use it to put under the bed sheets to help keep Lizzy from rolling off the bed as this would be her first time sleeping on a bed and not a Crib or the Floor. We were able to find a shopping center that was a few miles away that had a Old Navy for the flip flops, a Ross where I found a belt, and a Big Lots where we found the pool noodle.

With the last minute things picked up we decided to make our way to the Rental car return. Now I know there is some confusion going on with the Changes to the Ft. Lauderdale Airport Alamo. When I booked our rental cars I originally said we would return to FLL as I read they offered a free shuttle to the Port. Well thankfully I read a few days before leaving on the trip that they no longer offer that service.

So what do they do now? Well Alamo opened a new location located right next to Port Everglades. This location now offers the Free Shuttle to and from the port. And the best thing is. Even if you said you were returning a vehicle to FLL. You can return it to this location instead for no extra charge. The locations are linked. This worked out great for us. There was no hassle returning to this location at all instead of to FLL. And yes it works when picking up a rental too.

With this new Alamo location being right next to the port we were curious if they offered a Free "Car Seat Storage" like the location in Port Canaveral does. If you don't know what I mean the Alamo in Port Canaveral would store your personal car seats for children so that you wouldn't have to haul them on to the ship with you. Then you could pick them up when you pick up another vehicle after the cruise. I asked the employee who was checking in the vehicle if they offered that service and he said yes. We were pretty excited as thats 2 less things to haul to the ship. Our excitement went away when the person running the shuttle desk told us that he was mistaken that they do not offer that service here. Oh well we thought. But then she made a call to the location Manager who came out and told us that he would be happy to hold the car seats for us. We were once again very happy. This was an awesome service he provided that he didn't have to. And once again another reason why we love Alamo.

There was a shuttle waiting when we got all of our stuff unloaded from the vehicles. But with our large family we decided it would be best to wait for the next shuttle to come. Which took about 10-15 minutes.

The shuttle was really the only negative we had to say about Alamo. And it is by no means a deal breaker. Just the driver was pretty rude. I can understand it probably gets stressful loading and unloading bags on sailing days but he could still be a little nicer. He had us to the port very quickly though so we won't complain.

It was very odd being dropped off at an empty dock. Also in the port that day was the Carnival Conquest and the Royal Caribbean Allure of the Seas. Both of which were already loading passengers. Our dock had no ship as it awaited the arrival of the Splendor. There were people already lining up though and the Porters were on hand to take our luggage as soon as we got off the Alamo shuttle. Then we proceeded to what we thought was the line.

Frankly boarding the ship was sort of a mess. I don't know if had to do with the late arrival of the Splendor but there was no direction as to where you should go or what line you should be in. There were no signs up saying which line was which. We got in the same line the majority of the people were getting in. Which was right next to where we dropped our bags off.

We waited in this line for over 40 minutes. That was until we overheard someone say that the line we were in was for the Platnum guests. This sucked as the "Actual" line had grown nearly 3 times in length in that 40 minutes. At least we thought it was the actual line.

While waiting I decided to run to the restroom. Needless to say It was pretty exciting to walk out when I was done and see that the Carnival Splendor was pulling in to the Port. I tried calling Kiera to bring the kids over to see. It was so cool to see the ship pull in and start to turn to pull up to the dock. Kiera soon called me to tell me to come back though as the line was starting to move.

Sure enough the Platinum and Faster to the Fun guest were moving in to the terminal. I found the family and we started to move a little bit too. But not as much as the other lines. As we waited and waited I again overhead someone say the line we were in was for the 3:30 time slot. We had the 3pm time slot. There was a shorter line open up front now for those with the 3pm slot. I ran up and confirmed so it was nice to be in the shorter line. However it once again goes back to the fact that now twice we got in the wrong line because there was no signage or anything to indicate what line was which.

Once inside the building Embarkation actually went pretty quickly. They checked our passport and boarding pass, and Security was a breeze. It wasn't until we were to go the counter that there was a slight problem. You see we booked Kiera's parents on a Garunteed Cabin rate to save them some money. And they still had not been assigned a cabin. We figured they would get their cabin number at the desk. Well the girls directing us to the desks stopped them when they saw their boarding pass did not have a room number. They caused a big deal holding them up and frankly kinda acting like it wasn't legit that they didn't have a cabin number yet. Sure enough as soon as they let them go to the counter the Agent was able to find their cabin number for them. So again a bigger deal made then it was likely nessicary.

Our boarding group actually got called right as we got done at the counter so we were able to head strait to the gangway and board the ship. The Splendor is a ship that has gone to the new way of getting your "Sail and Sign" card so we didn't get them at the counter and it was kind of strange not having them when boarding the ship.

Walking in to the ships Lobby and Atrium was an amazing feeling. It felt so good to finally be back on the ship. We didn't spend much time here though as the cabins were already ready.

I didn't trust our Sail and Sign cards being outside our cabin doors so we went down to the cabins right away. Our cards were in an envelope in the mailbox outside the cabin. They appeared to be fine so no worries. Still I don't think I like this new way of getting the key cards and don't see how its any quicker then getting them at the counter before boarding. That counter just seems kind of pointless now. For this cruise we would have an Ocean View room #1282 on the Riviera Deck Mid Ship.

We left the strollers in the room and then headed back up to the Lobby to try and find the Dr. Seuss Character Breakfast sign up table. I read online that this was where it would be but we couldn't find it anywhere. We finally gave up and figured we would find it later. We were hungry so we went up to the Lido Deck to get food. It was up here where we actually found the Character Breakfast sign up table. Not in the Lobby.

For our first lunch on the ship we decided to get food from the Mongolian Wok. It was awesome and at the time the line was pretty short. We got the kids some stuff from the regular Buffet area as well and I topped my food off with a Turkey Wrap from the deli. Something I had craved since our last cruise.

Lizzy was already loving seeing all the people coming and going. She loved waving to people as they walked by. Out in the distance we noticed that the Carnival Conquest had set sail. It was soon followed by the Allure of the Seas which was doing its Muster Drill as I got my Turkey Wrap.

At this point Lizzy started to get awnery and needed a Nap. Daniel was also saying he was tired and wanted to sleep. So I took the kids back to the Cabin to let them sleep while Kiera stayed with her family. While heading to the Cabin though we came across one of the Giant Towel Animals. Daniel loved it. Lizzy didn't know what to think. And of course they only do good posses when taking photos with Carnivals camera.

Back at the cabin all of our bags had arrived while we were at lunch. Since Kiera's parents didn't have a cabin we had their luggage sent to our cabin as well so it was a mountain of bags between our cabins (Kiera's siblings were in the cabin next to us).

I brought everything in to the room and then tried to get the kids to sleep. But Daniel pulled one over on me. He said he wanted to sleep just use the excuse to go back to the cabin. And since He wasn't going to sleep then Lizzy sure as heck wasn't going to sleep ether. I ended up just letting them play in the cabin while I watched Star Wars on the TV.

This is when our Cabin Steward came and introduced himself. As reported on these forums he did ask if we would prefer Morning or Evening to service our room. I still asked for both which wasn't a problem. Although I feel like the Evening service wasn't a thorough as its been in the past. Still we wouldn't complain. He was great. Both Kiera's Siblings and Parents didn't realize you could ask for both so they only asked for the Morning service.

Since it was obvious that the kids weren't going to go to sleep I called Kiera and found that she and her family were currently touring the Spa. Since Kiera is an Esthatician by Profession she always loves checking out the ship Spa facilities. So Me and the kids decided to make our way to where she was at.

Kiera and her family were just about done with the Spa Tour as when we arrived to the spa. And we got there just in time too as they were just getting ready to do the Spa raffles. We have done the spa tours on previous cruises. But it wasn't until this one that we realized that you actually have to be present to win. Good thing Kiera's group was the final tour before the raffle. We don't usually win anything but we figured we would stick around.

The give away $500 in the raffle. But its not 1 lump sum. They give out 2 $100 Spa credits and 2 $150 spa credits. So be aware thats how it works. They will also promote and talk about the spa during the raffle. It took around 30 minutes to draw the 4 winners. Anyways to our surprise the first name drawn out was Kiera's brother Stirling who won a $100 credit. He would use on that package that gives access for 2 to the spa facilities. Kiera's dad really enjoyed that during the trip.

We were very surprised again though when on the 3rd drawing for one of the $150 credits Kiera's name got drawn out. So our first time ever we won something!!! Kiera was pretty excited to get this and i'm so glad she did.

After the Spa raffle we decided to go to Camp Ocean to get the kids registered. We would pass the kids play area on the way there which the kids were really excited to see.

Camp Ocean is the new name of Camp Carnival. The decor of the rooms were really cute and the kids really liked playing while we registered them. I honestly won't be able to compare Camp Ocean to Camp Carnival though as Daniel was too young to go to Camp Carnival on our previous cruise. But I can't imagine it was too much of a difference. Daniel would be able to go to camp with no restrictions. However since Lizzy was under 2 there was only specific times that she could go and a parent had to be with her. We never took her as none of the times lined up for us. But she had a blast playing for what little bit she could this day. They also gave us a Cell Phone to keep in contact for when we did drop Daniel off.