Just Off the Splendor on 5/1, my review...

[YellowBird06]

Hi everyone,

 

We (my DH, DD (12), DS's (6 & 4) just got off the Splendor and mostly had a great time. I say mostly for only one particular reason and I will get to that point soon.

 

We live in Long Beach, so my MIL who would dog & house sit while we cruised, dropped us off. We were running late with some last minute packing and got to the port around 2:30-ish. Waited about 20-30 minutes in line from check-in to actual boarding. We went straight to our rooms on deck 8. We had connecting balconey staterooms 8406 & 8410. One room was set up with beds together for us and the kids' room had two twin beds and a converted sofa. By the time we were a bit settled, I ran down to guest services to set up my Sign & Sail account with cash, waited in line for 20+ minutes and was asked to leave the line by cruise staff to go to muster drill. Everyone in line grumbled, but complied. Muster took forever, but once it was over and the cruise commenced we were all happy. Upon returning to the line, it was longer and took forever over 30 minutes, but I was able to set up the account and start enjoying some drinks. In retrospect, next time I will just use my debit card. Once we burned through the initial $1k we deposited, I did give them my debit card and they chraged it a few times for expenses, but never placed any holds on money in the account.

 

The Ship- I came on board with the Carnival stigma of the "Walmart of Cruising", thinking cheap & guady with trashier people sprinkled through out, but nothing was further from reality. Sure the splendor decor is a litle flashy and not subdued, but nothing too over the top (except for the Chinese lions in the spa). The ship was a beauty, clean, & in great shape. The layout was frustrating at first, but once you learn that deck 5 & 9 go all the way through, you can get to other floors quickly. We did see some trashy people, but not on our deck or in our dining room. No loud & obnoxious drunks either, everyone was really polite, crew and passengers alike.

 

Staterooms- We're great! Never cruising without a balconey again! Beds were firm, but comfy. Sheets very soft and light goose down comforter. Beach towel and robes were great and are room steward Richard was great, very efficient, not particularly friendly, but made the best towel animals, all my kids loved. We had portside rooms and were were right by the stairs up to the Lido (aka food). Location was fantastic as well.

 

Food- Wasn't expecting anything gourmet and being a major foodie, I was actually impressed. We dined in the Golden Peal, service was fast & efficient. Sure the serving team took a while to bring drinks like milk or refill the lemonade, but I had read prior reviews about the Black Pearl service that had me second guessing the cruise. The first night I actually tried the flat iron steak, not bad and all their beef seemed to be medium rare to medium, just the way we like it. My daughter had an italian chicken dish that was the true winner of the night, really delicious. Appetizers were good on all nights, I stuck to the more gourmet ones like a the Ocean Delice (an assortment of raw fish), prociutto with melons, etc. Ceaser salad had too much anchovy in it and not enough flavor, needed to add your own salt & pepper. Bread rolls were ok, they only served it with margarine. Real butter was always available on the Lido at the buffet. I also tried the duck dish, a fish dish, vegetarian dish of polenta with mushroom ragout, all great. Fish dishes were good, but not great. Dessert was always good, especially the melting chocolate cake, my favorite of the week though was the last dinner on Satruday, Grand Marnier souffle with orange vanilla sauce. Not as fabulous as the chocolate souffle at Palo on the Disney Magic, but close.

 

One big food disappointment was the Pinnacle Steakhouse. My DH & I were both disappointed. I ordered the surf & turf and it wasn't any better than lobster night in the main dining room. He ordered the filet mingon and liked it, but wasn't blown away. You have a choice of three sauces like bernaise, three pepper, and another one and our server didn't even offer it to us. Hubby ordered the lobster bisque & it was really watery, tasted like it came out of a can. Two nights later we had lobster bisque in the main dining room and it was completely different and had much better texture & taste. The spinach, blue cheese salad was bland. Dessert was better DH had a giant cheesecake (he did say Cheesecake factory has better cake though) & I had the chocolate sampler, the highlight of my evening there. Not worth the extra $ in my opinion, other than higher quality of cuts on beef, taste & flavor were the same.

 

I'll be back with part 2 soon...to review the awful kids camp, activties, and ports...

[Nanaimobound]

Sounds great so far!

We get on this Sunday and i can hardly wait!

Thanks hope to see more soon.

[LBumb]

good start

[Pour-Tour-Snore]

Really good start. I look forward to reading lots more. Question, do you have any pictures to share? I have such a long wait before my trip, so for now I live through others shared adventures. Any and all shared information and pictures is very much appreciated, that goes to anyone who reads this and goes on their trip before I do.

[Pour-Tour-Snore]

Really good start. I look forward to reading lots more. Question, do you have any pictures to share? I have such a long wait before my trip, so for now I live through others shared adventures. Any and all shared information and pictures is very much appreciated, that goes to anyone who reads this and goes on their trip before I do.:D

[QTPieRye]

Great Review! Can't wait for Part 2 :)

[YellowBird06]

Well I spent 25+ miniutes writing part 2 and when I submitted it to post, the site was down for maintenance and lost the whole post. Will try again tomorrow.

[spideyfam]

Well I spent 25+ miniutes writing part 2 and when I submitted it to post, the site was down for maintenance and lost the whole post. Will try again tomorrow.

 

 

That really sucks! That has happened to me before, but I hit the back button by mistake.

 

 

Looking forward to the rest.

[packerfan01]

Hopefully part 2 doesn't go down hill too fast! My family and I are leaving on May 8th and the majority of the reviews that I've read about Splendor have not been the best. So thank you for the positive review, so far :). Can't wait to hear part 2.

[Ashera0]

Looking forward to Part 2 also..especially your experience with Carnival camp since I'll be sailing the splendor with a 5 year old in August. (And a 1.5 year old who is too young).

[jlbl4902]

Can't wait for part 2 as my 7 year old will be on this ship in November...

[RedRover96]

Looking forward to part 2! Try typing the review in a word program and then copying & pasting into CC. Works for me! We will be on board the end of June!

[Ashera0]

Still hoping for part 2!!!

[Mesmeralda]

I was wondering can you tell me what time you got into PV? My itinrary says 9am but is that ship time (11am PV time) or PV time (7am ship time)? I'm trying to plan my day when we get there and I'm getting comfusing answers.

Thanks in advance.

Marty

[windham depot]

Yellowbird06, Terrific review, I am waiting anxiously for the rest. I am very nervous about this cruise. The Carnival reputation makes me nervous and having a cabin forward of the ship makes me nervous. We usually go with midship, I read everything I can find on the Splendor in the hopes that I will relax about this trip. So please keep the info coming it is very much appreciated.

[Mesmeralda]

Yeah somebody knock on his door..we're waiting for the rest of the review...