Ugh! Second guessing myself again Spirit vs. Splendor

[cdamion]

I am booked on Spirit Cabo/Cabo 5 day with 2 Circle C aged teens. I am now second guessing myself and am thinking of switching to Splendor to get 7 days and Cabo/Cabo/PV as long as I am already taking the week off.

 

Splendor is $600 more than what I have booked Spirit for (balcony on both).

 

What are your thoughts of Splendor vs. Spirit for:

 

1) Kids (aged 12 and 13)

 

2) Crowds and passenger flow (I am not a fan of Destiny/Triumph class ships as I think the passenger flow sucks and always feels crowded).

 

3) Quality of the ship?

 

Originally I was thinking that I would take Spirit in March and Splendor would always be there in the future, but now with so many lines canceling Mexican port calls (see Princess' horrible new Cabo/Cabo/Ensenada "Mexican Riviera" itinerary), I am not so sure Carnival is long for this world out of Southern California.

 

Thanks for your input!!!!

[bguppies]

As for your question #2.....

 

The Spirit class gets raves as being the best ships for flow and passengers for the space in the ship.(every poll in here of favorite ship classes always seems to be a runaway for the Spirit class)

 

Now Splendor is in a class of its own, since it was originally a Costa build NOT Carnival.

But it is basically a Conquest class ship, which are basically just a bigger version of the Triumph/Destiny ship layout.

 

We tried the Conquest class twice and went back to the Fantasy class for our last 4 cruises, because we prefer the flow of Carnival's smaller ships and hated the confusing, poorly thought out layout of the Conquest class.

(like you said, we found it constantly seemed more crowded with longer lines for everything)

 

We are trying the Legend (Spirit class) for ourselves in 2 months, mostly after reading 4-5 years of raves in here about its great layout and wonderful size per passenger.

 

I would be estatic that I booked the Spirit cruise and NOT the Splendor.

THEN I would be worried about having to change.:D

 

Bill

[riffatsea]

For about the same $600 more you can stay on the Spirit and do the 9 day cruise in March which gives you more ports.

[cdamion]

For about the same $600 more you can stay on the Spirit and do the 9 day cruise in March which gives you more ports.

 

I saw that, but I am limited to the week of 3/25 on the west coast for this particular cruise.

[Drifting Happily]

The Spirit is a great ship. Our kids were that age when we took it, and they enjoyed the ship but they aren't into the kids' club at all. The 5-day itinerary was fun, but we took that one on the Elation (which was not my favorite ship). As riffatsea mentions, I'd look into the longer Spirit itineraries. Ours was the 8 day, which was marvelous. Any time I can go on a cruise, I opt for as long as possible. :D

 

Unfortunately, I can't help you about the Splendor because we don't leave on it for TWO MORE WEEKS! But after that...

[luv cruising 007]

I have done the CABO, CABO 5-day & loved it the SPIRIT is my fav & to me the most ELEGANT Joe Farcus designed Carnival Ship! The pax flow is great on these smaller ships(sucks they are still building this design just for its other brands:() The age of the crowds were younger so your teens will def love it & they just remodeled all the kid/teen areas on the last drydock so they are pretty new! More pool space on the SPIRIT as well with the twin Main pools & the adult only rear pool & hot tub! Going on the Splendor in 55 & then can compare the two! Sorry to be longwinded but I vote for the SPIRIT!

[xbatt8]

Love, love, love Spirit class ships. Done Spirit 3 times and Legend once. They do have a very nice flow to them and they just seem comfortable. Don't get me wrong, I also enjoyed the Splendor.... The Spirit is a pretty gaudy ship as far as decorations go, but I rarely care about that. Great dance club. Nice big karaoke area. Easy access to the MDR and plenty of buffet areas to keep the lines shorter. I plan to take the 9 day Spirit trip this fall.

 

Either ship you will have a great time. Enjoy.

 

Bob

[sassyredhat]

Sailed both and I say---Spirit.

Splendor is beautiful, BUT---huge, and traffic flow is better on Spirit. Just MO. :)

Pat

[cdamion]

Thank you all. For now I will keep my Spirit reservation, but will watch Splendor's pricing (and itinerary - I would hate to pay more to book her to end up with a Princess-like "Mexican Riviera" itinerary of Cabo and Ensenada).

 

I was just on Majesty in June and really liked the smaller ship size and smaller crowds.