Anyone know why Splendor is in its own "class"?

[Kverlinger]

So, carnival has grouped its ships...just wondering why splendor is all by itself?! Why doesn't she have any "sisters"? :)

 

Also, I'm sailing on her in Aug. Why are the rating so low (72%) compared to other ships? Shouldn't the carnival product be kinda the same on all their ships (ie. food, entertainment, service)?

 

Thanks in advance! Love you guys!

[Slats86]

She does have sister ships but not in the CCL Fleet, The Concordia was a Hybrid Splendor class ship that just had a few more cabins

[BUBBASCRUSIN]

Carnival Splendor is the sole ship of the Splendor class cruise ship, a smaller, modified version of the Concordia class cruise ship, operated by Costa. She entered service on July 2, 2008. At 113,323 GT,[5] she was the largest ship in Carnival Cruise Lines until Carnival Dream debuted in September 2009. There are currently no plans to build another ship like her.

The ship was originally designed for Costa Cruises, and is similar in design to Costa Concordia, Costa Serena, Costa Pacifica, Costa Favolosa, and their new sister ship, Costa Fascinosa with a larger spa and children's facilities

[Igerster]

I think everyone has already said it but I need to get my post count up lol. The Splendor was orginally ordered for Costa. She is a sister to the Concordia, the one that just ran aground. That is why the Spendor has such a large spa compared to some of the other ships.

[dmwnc1959]

It will be very interesting to see her come to the east coast and sail year round from NYC. With her and the new Norwegian Breakaway competing for business I am sure there will be deals to be had. I haven't been on Carnival for years, but wouldn't mind sailing the Carnival Splendor at all. She looks like a nice enough ship.

[MrPete]

I wonder is she can sail comfortably at fast speeds like the Spirit class, which made cruises to the Caribbean from NY possible.

[treasure4two]

I do not know why the rating is so low. We just went on it in Feb.,2012 and I LOVED it. It was the cleanest ship ever(always saw someone cleaning, public bathrooms werealways clean-not always so on other ships), crew great, lots of rooms for entertaining, and cabins the same as others. I already booked it for the middle leg on the South American cruise next year. Go for it!!

[Sundiego]

DING DING!! I know the answer to this! I attended the Future Cruise presentation on the Conquest last week just for fun. The Carnival guy had all sorts of random trivia tidbits.

 

The reason the Splendor is the only ship in her class is this: the Splendor was originally designed for the Baltics. A lot of the outside space is more sheltered to make cold weather cruising more comfortable. When the $/Euro became unfavorable, it was too expensive to sail in the Baltics so the Splendor was sent to Southern California and no more ships of that "cold weather design" were built. The reason the Splendor doesn't sail the Caribbean is because it would be too hot and stuffy in some of the outdoor areas due to the design.

 

~Denise

[susie8862]

I find all of this information fascinating. Thanks for all of the info everyone.:p

[kelz66]

DING DING!! I know the answer to this! I attended the Future Cruise presentation on the Conquest last week just for fun. The Carnival guy had all sorts of random trivia tidbits.

 

The reason the Splendor is the only ship in her class is this: the Splendor was originally designed for the Baltics. A lot of the outside space is more sheltered to make cold weather cruising more comfortable. When the $/Euro became unfavorable, it was too expensive to sail in the Baltics so the Splendor was sent to Southern California and no more ships of that "cold weather design" were built. The reason the Splendor doesn't sail the Caribbean is because it would be too hot and stuffy in some of the outdoor areas due to the design.

 

~Denise

 

That is why I still think she would be perfect for the Alaskan itin.

 

Sitting in the aft hot tubs watching the glaciers go by. :p

[4hunters]

That is why I still think she would be perfect for the Alaskan itin.

 

Sitting in the aft hot tubs watching the glaciers go by. :p

 

Exactly what I was thinking. I'm really sorry we're losing her next year for a Spirit class ship. I'm happy though that nearly everything I read about the Spirit class is good.

[vaguy22]

At 22 knots, not the best choice for NYC to Bahamas, perhaps Bermuda instead.

[Markmom18]

This was very interesting to read. Thank you all, we'll be sailing on her in August:)

[Dave994]

At 22 knots, not the best choice for NYC to Bahamas, perhaps Bermuda instead.

 

They accommodate this by making it an 8 day cruise. We are sailing her on this itinerary out of NY in 2013

[H82seaUgo]

They accommodate this by making it an 8 day cruise. We are sailing her on this itinerary out of NY in 2013

 

even the legend and the miracle (both spirit class) were 8 day cruises.

[luv2cc]

I just sailed on Splendor last month. While we had a wonderful time, the staff was great, entertainment was pretty good, food was...eh...ok. I did not like the layout of this ship. It is so confusing to get around and find stuff. We had some gray drizzly weather, and to get to the Camp Carnival I had to walk outside on the deck which was wet and VERY slippery. I slipped and fell to my knees. I was ok, just bruised knees, but it could have been worse. I found out a day later that there is a way to get there inside, but it's so confusing I did not find it at first. I did like the retractable roof as it made it a lot more comfortable on Lido during the bad weather days.

[gfy012]

DING DING!! I know the answer to this! I attended the Future Cruise presentation on the Conquest last week just for fun. The Carnival guy had all sorts of random trivia tidbits.

 

The reason the Splendor is the only ship in her class is this: the Splendor was originally designed for the Baltics. A lot of the outside space is more sheltered to make cold weather cruising more comfortable. When the $/Euro became unfavorable, it was too expensive to sail in the Baltics so the Splendor was sent to Southern California and no more ships of that "cold weather design" were built. The reason the Splendor doesn't sail the Caribbean is because it would be too hot and stuffy in some of the outdoor areas due to the design.

 

~Denise

 

LOL! Too hot for the Caribbean you say? So that's why it sails in the summer to the Mexican Riviera ROFLMAO!!!!! Somebody yanked a chain lol!

[wranglerguy]

Spirit class is the best IMO

[joepeka]

LOL! Too hot for the Caribbean you say? So that's why it sails in the summer to the Mexican Riviera ROFLMAO!!!!! Somebody yanked a chain lol!

I wondered about that too but the first day or two and the last day or two of the Mexican Riv itinerary is in cooler climates versus the Caribbean itin's where it's pretty warm and muggy the entire cruise. :confused:

[H82seaUgo]

I wondered about that too but the first day or two and the last day or two of the Mexican Riv itinerary is in cooler climates versus the Caribbean itin's where it's pretty warm and muggy the entire cruise. :confused:

 

and how! we went one may, and froze our butts in and out of long beach.

 

and then sweat our butts off in between with the oppressive heat and humidity. i never sweat from my eyeballs before!

[gfy012]

I wondered about that too but the first day or two and the last day or two of the Mexican Riv itinerary is in cooler climates versus the Caribbean itin's where it's pretty warm and muggy the entire cruise. :confused:

 

It all depends on the month and weather. Plus the same thing will happen on the first day out of Galveston and the East Coast to the Caribbean......LOL perhaps they should have put her out of N.Y for the Canada runs. Or anywhere out of N.Y. lol!

[big_duck]

LOL! Too hot for the Caribbean you say? So that's why it sails in the summer to the Mexican Riviera ROFLMAO!!!!! Somebody yanked a chain lol!

 

Pretty obvious "the Carnival Guy" was talking out his butt. As others have said, the ship was originally intended for Costa but Carnival Corp changed their minds given the economics at the time. If the Splendor was designed for the Baltics then so was the entire Concordia Class.

[LesPaul]

I just cruised on the Splendor in March. While the decorative elements of the ship are really funny, lots of circles within circles and PINK, we thought the designer had a fixation, the ship was clean. The layout that confuses passengers also happens on other Carnival Ships, the large galley in the middle of the ship. We figured out how to get from our forward cabins to the aft dining room by the second night. Lots of walking, I could see how hard it would be for someone with a walking difficulty to manage it, the ship is huge!

 

We had spa cabins and loved the large spa with the therapy rooms and pool. The spa cabins were also close to the Serenity deck, which we used and enjoyed.

 

The food was good for the most part, we avoided the regular buffet food, eating from the tandoor grill, the deli and the rotisserie for lunch and ate in the MDR for dinner.

 

We saw only one show, Vroom, the rock n roll one and enjoyed it. We loved the Comedy club, went every night it was open and the Piano bar. Don't sit in the front row of the comedy club, you become part of the show, we had a blast one night!

 

I think part of what downgrades the Splendor is it's itinerary. And to tell the truth, we took the cruise, just to cruise without airfare, we live in SoCal. Mexico has such a bad rep right now. But we had a great time in the ports and on the ship, so glad we did it.

[mitsguy2001]

I have a theory as to why the Splendor's ratings are lower than other ships. This is just a theory, and I really hope I do not offend anyone, since that is not my intention. The Splendor has a disproportionately larger spa compared to comparable ships. That might attract passengers who are more interested in the spa. Maybe many of the people who like the spa are more likely to be high maintenance people, who are more likely to complain about small details. Just a theory, I could be totally wrong.

[cathyz]

Spirit class is the best IMO

I agree!!!!