Splendor 6/19/11 60th Anniv. Celebration

[njoyndride]

Due to an after cruise trip to the mouse my review is a little late in coming. So here we go, may take me a couple of days to write it all. I have the Fun Times so if you have specific questions let me know!

 

Pre-Cruise

This cruise was in celebration of my in-laws 60th wedding anniversary. They generously gifted 22 family members…sons, daughters in law, grandchildren and great grandchildren the cruise plus airfare, transfers and tips. :D I did all the bookings & arrangements for all of us with family coming from six different states. FYI-wine sales went up substantially in Calif. during this period!!!

 

Originally we were to sail on Mariner of the Seas but due to its leaving the West Coast booked Carnival Splendor in her place. We started planning this in the beginning of 2010 with my in-laws preferring a west coast departure since we live in the SF Bay Area making air travel easier for them. When RCCL kept delaying opening their bookings for Mariner I knew they were probably leaving and as soon as it was official we booked Carnival Splendor in April 2010. A number of us have sailed Carnival before but had been pretty loyal to Royal in the recent past and while I was excited to help plan this cruise for my in-laws I was disappointed that we had to switch ships (small pity party but I got over it) :rolleyes:.

 

I contacted my PVP Gary Anderko who was fabulous in assisting me with the people in Group. He took my initial information for number/types of rooms and contacted group for me. Once he had all the base information he conference called with me on the line to go over each and every cabin selection with the group folks. Gary is awesome.

 

Once the booking period for June 2011 opened with Southwest airlines I booked the air for all but five who preferred to drive. I coordinated the air arrivals so that all of us who flew landed at LAX within a couple of hours of each other and in fact those coming from the furthest east met up in Denver then flew to LAX together. Then IT happened, no not the fire, Carnival (along with other lines) pulled Mazatlan from their itinerary. Did we want to go on a cruise with only two ports? Should we go to the Caribbean? Maybe an all-inclusive instead?

 

Back to the drawing board I went at the request of my FIL, doing all kinds of comparisons Carnival vs. RCCL, Cruise vs. All-inclusive resort, Galveston, Tampa, New Orleans, Fort Lauderdale, Miami…good thing I do A LOT of analysis for a living :). DH, FIL, MIL and I poured over our choices one evening, appropriately over margaritas, and decided to just stick with Carnival Splendor. Thanks mom and dad…phew wasn’t looking forward to cancelling and rebooking air for 17!

 

I know there’s been many a debate over John Heald on these boards. Having had him as a CD on a previous cruise and loving anything to do with cruising I’d been reading his blog since day one. John answered many a question for me over the year and was instrumental in my making sure every i was dotted and t crossed so nothing would go amiss…thanks John!

 

I also created a Facebook group page for just the family to share their excitement and also share information as we had a number of family members that had never cruised before. Everybody participated and we counted down by year, then months, then days, then hours to our cruise! I did invitations for group excursions which made it easy to do head counts and make the bookings. Others in our group did the same and it made it a really great tool that I highly recommend if you are doing some sort of group/family cruise.

 

 

More to come....

[njoyndride]

Finally the day came!

Finally after a year and ½ from inception, Sunday June 19th was here. It was a sunny bright day in the Bay Area unlike the rain and cold spring we’d been experiencing. Maybe it was just our attitudes but it sure seemed like a perfect day to me!! I had booked two Supershuttles for those in our area which were both on time and filled to the rafters with luggage. We had constant texts, Facebook updates and phone calls from family flying from the east with everyone making their flights and their respective flights being on time. For the first time in 18 months I relaxed a wee bit and could really soak up the excitement.

 

 

There were ten of us flying from San Jose meeting the other seven after our flight arrival and bussing it together to the Pier. I’d arranged a “party bus” with ULC Limos which was less expensive than 17 Carnival transfers or splitting up in to cabs. It was a great way to start our vacation. The best part was the stripper pole, which as far as my in-laws know was just to hold on to as one moved around the bus ;-) shhhhhhh! The limo/bus was right on time and obliged us with a stop to pick up our allowed wine, water and soda. We stopped at a bit of a strange strip mall and if I’d known better would have requested a bigger store; I know there is an Albertsons near the pier.

 

 

Now for the past year plus I’d been doing a lot of research on CC about the embarkation process in Long Beach since it appeared to be such a nightmare. I wanted to make sure that my in-laws wouldn’t be standing too long, they are mobile but tire easily especially when walking/standing for long periods of time. We would arrive at approximately 1:30 and from everything I read was a horrible time with long lines and disorganization. UGH!!! I forewarned them as they were used to RCCL’s process which is normally pretty seamless. We were booked in suites which gave us access to VIP boarding. Upon arriving I shooed the rest of the party to the “regular” line and escorted my in-laws to VIP. What a great process. Sitting in comfort and air conditioning until your name is called. It took all of five minutes to get our sign and sail cards and off through security we went. From curb to ship it was no more than 20 minutes…way to go Carnival/Long Beach!!!

Since it was almost 2pm our cabins were ready as soon as we were on board…perfect!! We unpacked our carry-ons and watched from our balcony to see if family members were boarding yet. About 30 minutes later my phone rang with my distraught DD saying they wouldn’t let her board as we had my grandchildren booked in one cabin (8 & 12) with a connecting to my DD and SIL. Now I know for a fact that this is ok however I learned something new, NOT if it’s a balcony. I told her to merely have them switch one adult with one child and to call me back and I would come off the ship if there were any issues. They boarded 10 minutes later. Why Group didn’t pick up on this I have no idea, they should have.

Once everyone was on board I bought myself a very nice glass of sauvignon blanc and thanked the powers that be that the whole family arrived safe and sound and were on board. The rest of their enjoyment this week was up to them!!!

Before we left I mimic’d the Fun Times and made one that was geared toward our family which had fun family stories, old pictures, tips and family “events” which were totally optional and excursion info for those that had booked. DH and I made the rounds to the 11 cabins each day and left them in the mailbox before dinner. The first one we delivered as soon as we got on board since it had an invite for sailaway toasts wishing my in-laws a Happy 60th at the Liner Bar Lido deck aft! Everyone showed up and we took advantage of the photo ops!

We had early seating dinner and John had arranged two adjacent tables of 12 for us to sit at allowing us to switch spots each evening. We assumed we’d have the same wait staff but did not. One table had an excellent waiter and the other one was awful. This is the first time I have ever complained about service…it was really bad.

We are not show people, tend to hang out at the casino after dinner, go for walks on the deck or hang on our balcony. Since the first night was quite cold our walk was pretty quick so we just checked out the ship and where all the venues were. I usually sleep like a baby but I suspect the waiter gave me caffeinated coffee with dessert as I was up most of the night. It was still fun to wrap up in a robe and sit on the balcony as the water streamed by as we headed south and to warmer weather.

[Cya@Sea]

Sailing the Splendor in 3 weeks, We are also Loyal Royals, but we are hoping Splendor gives us a great cruise. Can't wait to read more..

[Ms. Fun Bunch]

Great start, hurry back so I can read more!

[CRUISING71]

It must be so stressful planning for such a big group!

[Mommy2Cody]

Im hooked! Taking our very first cruise in 2 weeks on the Splendor!!!! So excited!

[njoyndride]

Day Two @ Sea

I love cruising and would have to experience something tragic to truly ruin a cruise. As I stated earlier I was disappointed when we switched from Mariner to Splendor. The thought of it actually diminished my pre-cruise excitement somewhat, along with the fire and loss of a port. I love the Voyager class on RCCL and am addicted to the Promenade for some reason. I don’t sit at the bar or do a lot of shopping but I LOVE the people watching there.

 

I remembered Carnival ships having one long deck that was very congested in the evenings since it contained most of the entertainment venues. I also remembered there being dirty dishes left around the pool, why can’t people pick up their trash? I found neither of these issues on Splendor. Other than formal night in between dinner seatings when there were photo stations along deck 5 there was no congestion at all. The traffic paths were fine and worked even with this at capacity sailing. By the way there were 1,000 kids on board this sailing according to Todd the CD and other than a couple of tweens riding the elevators for fun they were very well behaved. Even the elevator riders were courteous and moved when we got in the elevator. The good things I’d forgotten were generally better food overall, trays in the buffet and LOTS to do at all times which worked very well for our group 8-82 years of age.

 

The first day at sea on the MR itinerary is pretty cool so there were plenty of lounge chairs to be had, maybe not immediately next to the pool but on the next deck up. They kept the lido pool covered all day and we started hearing reports of tropical storm Beatrix…rut roh. We had gotten 250 minutes of internet time so I checked the Nat’l Hurricane page and the track was right over Puerto Vallarta then Cabo…rut roh x 2! I wondered what the Captain would do since it was right in the path of our two ports and there was no place else to go. I wondered if we would end up in Ensenada and San Diego. I wasn’t too concerned but many in our group were curious what would happen. I assured them the Captain didn’t want his lovely ship damaged and other than crappy weather and maybe a missed port we would be fine.

 

We received champagne, strawberries and ships on a stick from both John and Todd Wittmer Splendor’s CD. It was so nice and not solicited. My in-laws received the same with lovely wishes for their 60th anniversary cruise.

 

The ships on a stick came in very handy for us. For day two we had arranged a Cribbage tournament for the family (who are very competitive by the way) in the afternoon and most participated and the remaining cruisers came to cheer the rest on. We played at the closed wine bar just opposite the disco which was a perfect place since there are bar stools on both sides of the bar! The winner of course got a ship on a stick and they were thrilled!

We also did the slot tournament, $20 per entry. I totally bombed out but our SIL made it to the finals which made the whole thing exciting, unfortunately he came in third…it was still great fun.

 

We didn’t attend the Captains celebration this time although some family members stopped by for a minute and said it wasn’t too packed…surprising…did they stop serving free alcohol?

 

I think overall this was a more casual cruise than I’ve been on in a while. Perhaps the itinerary or the fact there were a lot of kids…I know packing for a brood is a chore. Formal night dinner was well attended and the dress ran from formals to jeans as expected. Our group thinks it fun to dress but having others around us dressed less formal did not diminish our fun…the wait staff that was another issue.

 

As mentioned on a previous day the wait staff on one of our tables was just plain horrible. This night we waited 1 hour NO exaggeration to get our meal which was sitting on a podium nearby. When we got our meal it was cold and when we discussed it with the waiter he brought another cold plate. When we commented that this was also cold the waiter snapped at DH that he was just busy. We’d had no water, no bread, missed appetizers and other tables around us were sipping their dessert coffee and we still hadn’t been served our entrée. They cleared our plates and then the lights went up and the Maitre’d announced to the servers that they must get ready for the next seating…we hadn’t even gotten our dessert menus but felt we looked at as dawdling. Now my DH is the mellowest person you’d ever want to me but he was mad. He had a lengthy discussion with the Maitre’d who promised that the service would get better and then witnessed him chewing out the waiter in front of everyone…ouch. The waiter on our other table offered to take our table too so we were satisfied and hoped tomorrow would be better. We’ve NEVER pulled tips and most often tip more but discussed actually not tipping this guy…he was that bad.

 

Tonight they had four comedy shows so most of the family went to one or more of these….we went to the money pit…er the casino. We stayed out fairly late as we were planning on getting off the ship later in Cabo. When we returned to our cabin it was noticeably warmer on the balcony…yippee!!!!

[njoyndride]

Day Three – Cabo 1st Time

I forgot to mention our room steward Lucky…and boy were we lucky (pun intended) to have her assigned to us. She was one of the best stewards we’ve ever had. We asked for a little bigger ice bucket to chill our wine we brought on board, noticing our water and soda she brought us a full size cooler. It fit perfectly under the vanity and kept our liquids VERY VERY cold. She was one of those magic stewards that anticipates when you are out and even if you return 15 minutes later the room is done…I still don’t know how some of them do that when they aren’t in the hallway when you leave.

Cabo…woohoo!!!! We arrived a little early in to Cabo (which is 1 hour ahead of ship time) and it was sunny and warm…where are you Beatrix? We had planned on having a leisurely breakfast in the dining room and head to Medano Beach once the tender line wound down. The tender process is first obtain a tender ticket at the loyalty desk on deck 5 midship once you are ready to go ashore. Once you have your ticket proceed to the Spectacular Theatre to wait for further instructions, no real instructions it was a crew member escorting you down to the tenders. The tenders were right off our balcony and we watched the loading which seemed disjointed to me. They had 3 tender points one aft for the Carnival excursions which was a HUGE tender, one midship and one forward. The one aft would fill up and leave, come back and do it again. For the other two, a tender would pull up to the docking station and sit and sit and sit all the while the tenders were piling up floating adjacent to the ship. Once they loaded one tender it would pull away and then another would pull up to the other docking station and wait a bit before starting to load. I couldn’t figure out why they didn’t have both going alternating the loading.

We ran in to some family that had tender ticket #7 and although we had been there an hour or so they were still calling #2 and #3 so they were chilling for awhile before they went to the theatre. Once they went to the theatre they said they waited another 40 minutes before they were taken down so all told 2 hours from the time they got their tender tix until they boarded…YIKES!!! I was worried since all 22 of us were doing a private catamaran excursion (non-Carnival) the next day and we needed to be off and at the Cabo tender dock approximately one hour after arrival.

We had a wonderful breakfast at a window table and watched the tenders going back and forth. They seemed to now finally have it down and were alternating the non-Carnival excursion tender docks. We grabbed our stuff, got our tender tickets and headed to the theatre. There were a handful of people there and we were taken straight down. The crew member asked who had the lowest number and they got in line first so you can grab your number and then go when you are ready…good to know for the future.

We grabbed a cab right outside of the Cabo tender pier area. Once you’ve exited the tender pier, veer left then take a right down the alley, there are cabs lined up there. We wanted to go to Medano Beach Club as we had my grandchildren and thought Billigans et al would be a little too rowdy for them. We grabbed a cab to Casa Dorada , walked through the lobby veering right of the pool and went down the steps to the beach which is Medano Beach Club. They have umbrellas, beach chairs, padded chairs and wonderful lounger beds. They either charge you $10pp or expect you to spend the equivalent on food and drink in order to use the chairs/umbrellas which we did with no problem J. Heads up, this is a cash only place if you are not staying there. They were happy to have us there and were very attentive. The surf was cooperative and we had a fun day at the beach with other family members joining us as the day went on. They have a rope in front of the first row of chairs that keep the vendors on the beach so if you want to buy something you have to go up to them. It was nice, while I don’t mind the vendors you can only say No Gracias so many times. We walk back through Mango Deck just down the beach to look for a taxi and there was a few lined up so we cabbed it back and took one of the last tenders to reboard the ship. There was no line at all.

When we got back to the cabin there was a voice message from Todd the CD asking if we needed anything and to please give him a call. What a classy guy leaving a personal message, I loved it. I called him back and thanked him for all the goodies, he told me that they were just about to announce a change of itinerary due to Beatrix but like a miracle she hit land and just sort of dissipated. This was confirmed by an announcement from the Captain who said in all his years he had never seen a Hurricane virtually disappear and port stops would be as planned…we were all happy campers.

Off we went to dinner and were met by a very apologetic waiter wearing one of the fakest smiles I’ve ever seen. We accepted his apology and let him know we merely wanted a more orchestrated flow and warm food…we really aren’t hard to please. Dinner went very well this evening, phew things were looking up here, DH thanked our waiter for the better service and got a real smile!

I asked every family to have a rep at the tender desk when it opened at 6:30am so we could get early tender tickets for our Cabo Day 2 excursion tomorrow morning and called it a night.

[MRRG]

We are also loyal Royals trying the Splendour in September. Its goo to have a West Coast Choice

[LATK]

Loving your review! We are on the July 24 sailing and we are so excited! How did you like your suite? I am surprising my husband with the suite to celebrate his retirement and our 40 year anniversary! Thanks for doing the review!:)

[njoyndride]

Loving your review! We are on the July 24 sailing and we are so excited! How did you like your suite? I am surprising my husband with the suite to celebrate his retirement and our 40 year anniversary! Thanks for doing the review!:)

 

You'll love the suite LATK, more storage than you'll know what to do with. We did rearrange the furniture a bit as we found the little table to be in the way of our shins ;). Luckily it fit nicely between the couch and window.

 

For all you RCCL fans worry not, you'll love Splendor. The only I missed was the Solarium pool and the fact Carnival closes pools/hot tubs and doesn't open them until 8am.

 

Working on day 4 right now.

[njoyndride]

Day Three – Addendum

We had scheduled a family golf tournament after dinner not knowing that they close the desk that hands out the clubs/balls and the course at 7pm. When we explained we’d hoped to do this after dinner they offered to lend us all of the equipment as long as we returned it first thing the next day. We ended up having a wonderful time on our private course with everyone but DH and I playing (I took pics and he was the referee). The patriarch of the family won the tournament and the coveted ship on a stick. Everyone thought this was great fun so if you have a group go talk to the people at the sport desk next to the Lido pool.

[Pour-Tour-Snore]

Looking forward to reading more.

[njoyndride]

Day Four – Cabo 2nd Time

I woke up early and went down to stand in line for tender tickets at 6:30. Reps from each family soon joined me and we ended up with tender tickets #4. They will give you as many as you want so I could have gone alone. The line was pretty short and there didn’t seem to be a lot of people milling about. Around 7:00 they announced we were cleared and could get off AND that they didn’t expect the delays of the day before that they had rectified whatever the issue was. Love it!

We went to Lido for breakfast and there were no lines at the omelet bar…it was yummy! Our experience in the Lido was generally good through the cruise, loved the burrito bar but they were really filling, it’s a good thing to share. There was always a good selection of salad and fruit with the fruit being really ripe and sweet. My only complaint is the traffic flow…it got congested and somehow didn’t seem really intuitive so I wandered a bit. We always headed to the back which was less congested. My BIL’s family is vegetarian and had no problem getting enough selection of food between the dining room, Lido and Tandoori station.

We needed to return the golf equipment at 8am when the desk opened so as soon as we were done with that we headed down to the theatre to wait for our tender. The crew member didn’t even let us go in to the theatre and said go right down…woohoo easy peasy! We met everyone at the Cabo tender pier @ 9:15 Cabo time to go meet up with the catamaran.

Ten years ago we had done this same itinerary on Rhapsody of the Seas to celebrate my in-laws 50th. At that time we had one in high school, one in college, one out in the work force, no spouses and no grandchildren. Our group was obviously smaller. I had run across a private catamaran, The Rissalena, that would book a private excursion. We had such fun that day as Captain Eduardo is a wonderful host with an immaculate boat. When we booked this cruise those that had been on the 50th all asked if we were going out with Eduardo again. I contacted them and booked it for our 2nd day in Cabo, private booking 10-1 (Cabo time) for $55pp with children @ ½ price. This would be the only excursion with all 22 of us.

The Rissalena is docked at the public ramp on the other side of the marina, if you follow the marina and walk to the end you’ll run in to the ramp. It’s about a 20 minute walk and I’d guess about a mile. We rode in the cab with my in-laws and the rest walked around the marina. We were a little early but were welcomed on board by Artemis, Eduardo’s 1st mate. Before we knew it we had cold beers and margaritas in hand and watched for the walkers to arrive. Once it got closer to 10 (Cabo time) Eduardo and Laura arrived with food in tow and off we went. It was a beautiful blue sky day with a light breeze.

Our first stop was the arches, lovers beach and seal rock for required picture taking. I got a lovely one of my in-laws with Los Arcos in the background that I think I will blow up and frame as a thank you! Then off to Santa Maria Bay for some snorkeling. During the trip we learned to salsa dance, the funniest of course being Laura and my FIL, they were a really fun crew and of course we had more margaritas. The design of the catamaran allows sitting on the very front so you can dip your toes in the waves while holding on to bars to keep you from slipping off. I had great fun with my grandchildren and an in-depth convo with my 8 year old granddaughter plus a declaration from her brother that he felt “so alive”!!! LOL. It was one of those great memory moments.

We arrived at Santa Maria Bay and got prepared to snorkel. My 8 year old granddaughter had wanted to snorkel ever since we booked this cruise to the point I bought her snorkel gear and she had been practicing in her swimming pool at home. I thought once we’d reached open ocean she wouldn’t want to go but she and I were the first in the water. Eduardo has flotation vests for those that felt more comfortable with them and of course masks, snorkels and fins. It was very murky due to Beatrix, not the clearest at the best of times anyway, but we had fun anyway paddling around and looking at the seaweed! All but two got in the water and initially we were the only boat in the bay. As time went on two other boats arrived and it was time for us to go. It was really cool having the whole bay to ourselves.

Once everyone got back on board lunch was being served. Lots of fresh veggies, guac, chicken, rice and fruit. Of course, more margaritas and cold beer. Eating was a bit of a challenge as Beatrix had left something behind, it suddenly got very windy and choppy so no sitting on the very front on the ride back. Spray was coming all the way over the catamaran and everyone cheered when they all got wet, a bit of a rough but fun ride back to the marina. We switched it up a bit on the way back, others rode with mom and dad and we walked. Lots of vendors and places to wet your whistle or grab something to eat if the spirit moved you. The last tender left at 3:00 so we had plenty of time. Even with shopping it took no more than 45 minutes to get back and it was hot hot hot, we looked forward to hitting the air conditioned ship.

There was a lot of music tonight and the black jack tournament, well they tried but didn’t have enough entries…that was a first. Dinner went well again yippee! Tonight we moved our clocks one hour ahead, which left ship time one hour behind Puerto Vallarta time. I had confirmed with our excursion tomorrow, Los Veranos, and they said the ship had been coming in earlier and we could change our time to an hour earlier if we wanted. Since I had a group of 15 I thought leaving it at 11:45 PV time was less confusing but for those going with LV with this current itinerary you could make the 10:45 @ the office no problem. Tomorrow Puerto Vallarta and ziplining!!!!!

[Shadwick]

Wow, booking for that many people...good job! I'm enjoying your review. We went in May and had a wonderful time. Sounds like you guys had a wonderful time as well. Looking forward to the rest of your review.

 

Diana

[cruisetexas]

Will you adopt me? What a fantastic gift for your family.

 

Great review!

[njoyndride]

Day Five – Puerto Vallarta

As I noted above we moved our clocks one hour forward so arrived in Puerto Vallarta 9:00 ship time (10:00 PV time). Since we didn’t need to be off until 10:15 ship time we had another breakfast in the dining room. Normally we are Lido people for breakfast but the dining room had really good food and we enjoyed meeting new people at breakfast.

At 11:00 PV time I decided to go ahead and get off the ship and go to our meeting spot. DH was staying on board with mom and dad so I was solely responsible for 14 family members which is scarier than ziplining above a canyon or river…just kidding. Everyone was there on time and we headed out to the cabs. Originally we were told we’d have to split up but one driver said I can get all of you in my van…I’m visualizing a clown car scenario. He had a great van and we all fit in just fine. The ride to Los Veranos downtown office took a little longer due to the construction going on at the Malecon so for the next few months allow yourselves 25-30 minutes to get there.

We were there before 11:45, just, but no problem we got checked in quickly and were soon on board the bus on our way along the coast and up in to the mountains. I had previously done Los Veranos a little over a year ago. That trip we had a dozen or so in our group, this time we 40 which I think is the max. I thought my family group would be taken alone so I was a little disappointed to be in a bigger group. As it turned out you get so stretched out that it really didn’t matter. For those who have done this you already know how fun the guides are and what a great adventure it is. For those that have never done Los Veranos DO IT!!!!

The drive up takes about 35-40 minutes. Upon arrival there are restrooms to use and we sprayed each other down with Skin So Soft bug spray as we’d heard you can get really bitten up this time of year. Nobody was bitten, not sure if the Skin So Soft worked that well or there weren’t any bugs…doesn’t matter we were just glad not to have itchy welts on us. They provide lockers for backpacks etc. and all you are allowed to bring is small cameras that go around your wrist or neck. Soon we were being fitted with our helmets and harnesses, got the do’s and don’ts and were off to our first zip. Walking up hill to the first 4-5 zips is a pretty good workout especially when it’s 90 degrees and 90% humidity…everyone ends up with shiny faces. Los Veranos has 14 ziplines and it takes about 90 minutes to do them all. The last one is a double line so you can race your friends and family and ends up in a tequila bar…my kind of zip. The guides take videos along the way and a picture on your first zip which are available for purchase in the tequila bar. The guys are so much fun and make it such a great day tipping at the end was my pleasure.

We waited for the dvd and had some appetizers and cold drinks while grandson swam in the river. The bus back was ready after 45 minutes, they have the dvd, food etc. timed perfectly of course. They asked where people want to be dropped so we ended up stopping four times on the way to the ship. Due to the amount of people and multiple stops we got back an hour later than I had told DH so he was a little anxious and was waiting outside the port gates when we returned, he’s so cute! I took the grandchildren back as they were in definite need of ice cream and pizza while their mom and dad shopped outside the ship.

The kids along with DH consumed mass quantities of ice cream while on board. I have to say the ice cream area was always working and always clean, I can’t say that about the RCCL ships I’ve been on.

Since DH had stayed on board our plan was to shower and then go to the Malecon and have dinner off this ship. I love when ships stay in port late. We cabbed downtown and stopped at a quaint little restaurant to have something to drink on the north end of town. It was right on the water and other than us was full of locals. They then began our quest for the perfect restaurant for dinner. Since the Malecon is under construction they have built plywood walkways and have construction fencing blocking the view to the water. I felt so sorry for the restaurants along the way all of them were empty due to the lack of view. We stopped in the main square in front of Our Lady of Guadalupe Church, there was a band and the locals were dancing…what fun that was. We walked over the river and to old town when we spotted the perfect place for dinner. A tent on the beach called the Laughing Lobster. We had 1 virgin cocktail, 1 margarita, 1 shots of tequila, appetizers, 1 shrimp dinner, 1 marlin dinner and it came to….$32…what a deal!!! The fish was bbq’d over mesquite with a spicy rub and was EXCELLENT. There’s nothing like a toes in the sand dinner. We watched the locals fish and the children play as the sun went down…how perfect. We cabbed back with about 30 minutes to spare and headed to our balcony to watch Puerto Vallarta disappear in to the night. It was a perfect day.

[njoyndride]

Wow, booking for that many people...good job! I'm enjoying your review. We went in May and had a wonderful time. Sounds like you guys had a wonderful time as well. Looking forward to the rest of your review.

 

Diana

 

It was really fun to do all of the arrangements but I didn't realize how much pressure I was feeling until everyone was on board and I let out a very long sigh...and yes that glass of wine tasted extra sweet :D.

 

Will you adopt me? What a fantastic gift for your family. Great review!

 

Thanks and I will absolutely, I love Texans. I have a great story about cruising out of Galveston and the kindness of strangers when we arrived during TS Faye. Texans are the greatest and took pity on two West Coasters that knew nothing about weather LOL.

[njoyndride]

Days Six and Seven @ Sea

Day six was just a lazy day. Our family activity was lunch in the dining room, which was quite good and filled me up for dinner. Tonight was also the 2nd elegant night. By mid-day the temperature had definitely dropped which is really my gripe about a MR cruise. I love that tropical weather feel and warm evenings walking the decks, the MR cruise allows only a few of these evenings. We spent way too much time in the casino on day six.

Day seven how did you get here so soon? I can’t believe how fast the day went, I spent an hour or so in the morning packing and got most of it done. Since we were doing Disneyland with the grandkids after the cruise I was trying to be logical in my packing so I would only have to access one bag…it didn’t work but was a good idea. We tried to hot tub with our coffee but the lido ones were closed and we went back to the adult pool and were the only ones there…it was soooooo cold and windy. Getting out was fun!!! Brrrrrrr. But we did have the place to ourselves.

We went to Lido for lunch…big mistake. It was soooo crowded, word to the wise find another lunch option on the last day. The weather drove everyone inside coupled with the chocolate buffet…madness. We left and called room service…the BLTs and mozzarella sandwiches are fabulous by the way.

My BIL had asked that I come to 2:15 Bingo and bring my camera…I was thinking maybe we were going to have an engagement announcement or something but we got Flash Mobbed and I now have it taped for future embarrassment during family events and holidays. :)

At 3:15 was the Camp Carnival talent show. I have to remember to bring refreshments next time ;). I love my granddaughter and kids are cute but…… I have to give kudos to my family almost everyone showed up to support the kids which was above and beyond!

My grandchildren loved Camp Carnival and attended every day for at least part of the day and every evening as well. My grandson says we can only sail Carnival now, that’s quite a testament. He’s not the most social child and found some buddies to hang out with in Camp and outside of Camp also. It really was a success for the kids.

The last night boo hoo, I needed to make a little more donation to the casino but DH was smart and hung out in the cabin. We said our goodbyes to the family as we didn’t know who we might see in the morning. We really enjoyed spending time with everyone and miss them terribly.

I wish I could bottle the swaying motion one feels while going to sleep so I laid there trying to burn it to my memory until the next time. The next thing I knew it was 5am and we were turning getting ready to dock in Long Beach. :(

[njoyndride]

Disembarkation and Final Thoughts

We had group 2 disembarkation tags which according to the schedule should disembark around 8:15. At 7:00 they called the self assist passengers to disembark, I watched people stream off for a good 45 minutes. I believe ½ the ship must have done self assist. By about 7:45 the line dwindled and they called last call for self assist, I think if I was doing it I would wait until this final call…there was no line at all. Todd asked that everyone else wait as the luggage for the next group wasn’t completely unloaded. At 8:15 they call groups 1-5 and everyone walked off in an orderly fashion.

We were the last off of our group, we took the stairs down so I don’t know how the elevators were. When we got to deck 3 lobby crew asked if we were in group 1-5 we said yes walked up to the machine and binged ourselves out…no waiting. Once we were back in the terminal we stood behind one other family to go through immigration who looked at our passports then our faces and wished us a nice day. Found our luggage right away and before we knew it we were standing outside in a taxi line. It was one of the best disembarkations I ever experienced. We hopped a cab and were walking in to Disneyland at 9:30. I had assumed it would be noon before we got there so it was a really pleasant surprise.

I had so much fun orchestrating this cruise for my in-laws. Seeing the look on my father in laws face at dinner as he scanned his brood with pride put a tear in my eye. I was honored they trusted me with this task and loved doing it for them. My apprehension about the ship, embarkation and disembarkation was for nothing.

Please let me know if you have any questions!!

[Rosefloater]

We had early seating dinner and John had arranged two adjacent tables of 12 for us to sit at allowing us to switch spots each evening. We assumed we’d have the same wait staff but did not. One table had an excellent waiter and the other one was awful. This is the first time I have ever complained about service…it was really bad.

 

We had the same problem as you. But instead of 2 different waitstaff teams, it was with the same waitstaff. I was part of a group of 20. We were at 2 tables of 10 and next to each other. We all sat at the same time. The table I was at was consistently one course behind the other table. :mad:

[njoyndride]

We had the same problem as you. But instead of 2 different waitstaff teams, it was with the same waitstaff. I was part of a group of 20. We were at 2 tables of 10 and next to each other. We all sat at the same time. The table I was at was consistently one course behind the other table. :mad:

 

Was this on Splendor Rosefloater? Wonder if it's the same guy???

[Drifting Happily]

Thank you so much for the helpful review of the Splendor. We are on the 7/31 sailing with a group, so I'm getting nervous about the details. I especially appreciate the details about the Los Veranos tour. We have that booked for PV and are really looking forward to it.

 

How much was the cab fare to the Los Veranos office for the group? Did you pay in pesos or dollars? Is the bus up to the mountains air conditioned?

[njoyndride]

Thank you so much for the helpful review of the Splendor. We are on the 7/31 sailing with a group, so I'm getting nervous about the details. I especially appreciate the details about the Los Veranos tour. We have that booked for PV and are really looking forward to it.

 

How much was the cab fare to the Los Veranos office for the group? Did you pay in pesos or dollars? Is the bus up to the mountains air conditioned?

 

The cab was $5pp, this was the cab inside the port gates. You can get cheaper outside but I didn't want to deal with herding everyone and also they are sedans not vans so we would have needed numerous cabs. We paid in US and the price quoted was US also. The bus was air conditioned but I know they have one open air bus as well. In the four trips (2 up 2 back) that I've taken I've always been in the air conditioned bus. I wonder if they use the open air when it's cooler?

 

You'll love Los Veranos, we had some that were VERY nervous and the guys are so great they didn't even notice that they were hooked up and pushed off the platform until it was too late. They all ended up loving it and wanting to do ziplines all over the U.S. now! :D

[Drifting Happily]

Thanks! ;)