Carnival Splendor Spring Break Review & Report with PICS! (3/25-4/1)

[cdamion]

Before I get into the trip report, I’ll start off with a quick review for those that don’t care about pictures or the day-to-day details.

 

Embarkation:

 

Long Beach embarkation just doesn’t measure up to other ports I have sailed out of. Carnival should really fix up the area better to protect cruisers from the elements and give them a suitable area to wait in. It was especially glaring for our trip because we were hit with a very cold windy rainstorm right at embarkation time. The rain was coming in horizontally, so the little bit of cover that the port has really didn’t help. Also, some of the boarding zone signs were blowing over, so it was a bit tough to tell where to go. Couple this with a minor delay in boarding (people still coming off the ship close to noon, we had a rather uncomfortable wait. Several people were shivering outside just wearing shorts and t-shirts.

 

Luckily we had boarding group 1, so we didn’t have to wait as long as others. If sailing out of Long Beach, seriously consider staying at the Queen Mary or the Hotel Maya so you can check in early and then return to your room for a while.

 

Dining:

 

Really can’t comment on much beyond the MDR as I do not go on vacation to wait in lines, and that is what I would have to do if I wanted to eat in the buffet. We did have lunch in the buffet on embarkation day and there was no line since we were among the first on the ship. The food was fine. Nothing too exciting – same buffet food that I had previously on Carnival as well as RCI and Princess.

 

Food in the MDR was good. I was a bit disappointed in the location of the table back in a corner of the Gold Pearl behind a wall, so we couldn’t see the rest of the dining room. Table mates were great though, so I didn’t want to switch tables. Despite people’s complaints about food quality on Carnival, I still believe it is better than RCI and on par with Princess. There was only one miss for me all week – everything was served hot and promptly. Service was absolutely outstanding. Interestingly, somebody I spoke to who also had late seating, but on the other side was disappointed in their service and pretty much described the opposite. I have no complaints whatsoever – our waiter and assistant waiter were perfect – tied for the best MDR service I have ever had across all brands.

 

I did walk by the buffet to check it out and selections were very comparable to what was offered in the MDR. Lines did appear to be an issue. Seating did not appear to be as bad. Certainly better than the Destiny/Triumph class ships I have been on previously.

 

Cabins: Typical Carnival (non-Fantasy class) layout. Plenty of room and storage space. We were in 6225 an 8A balcony over the corner of the showroom. I could hear the showroom clearly in the hallway, slightly in the bathroom, and not at all in the main part of the cabin – even when listening carefully for it.

 

Room steward was fine. Only one minor mishap – his assistant took our pool towels and did not replace them mid cruise – I thought my son took them and left them by the pool. The steward quickly brought replacements and explained his assistant was new. Other than that, no complaints.

 

Spa: I paid for access to Cloud 9 spa for the week. The various sauna/steam/aroma/tepid/etc. rooms were all nice and the thalassotherapy pool was great for aching joints.

 

Gym: The gym was generally pretty crowded at the times I went. I did have to wait to get on the cardio and weight machines. A couple of the exercise bikes’ buttons did not work. Other than that it was fine.

 

Cruise Director/Entertainment: Todd Whitmer: meh… He was ok I guess. Seemed a bit like a car salesman. He didn’t seem as involved as other cruise directors. For example he was nowhere to be seen for the big deck party he pushed all week. His assistant Brian seemed pretty good.

 

The shows were pretty good – no they are not the full on Broadway shows you’ll find on other lines, but the dancers, lighting and choreography were very good. The vocalists were a little disappointing, and the sound booth did them no favors. One of their mikes would cut out at least once per show and they would glare up at the sound booth.

 

Comedians – too subjective to really judge. They were popular though.

 

Casino: Spent way too much time here. The dealers ranged from friendly with an attitude (some Romanians) to very very friendly. The slots actually give you a significant amount of play for your money.

 

Crew: With 2 exceptions with servers in the aft lounge and the main showroom, the crew was simply phenomenal. Carnival is third or fourth in the pecking order of cruise lines for me, but time and time again their crews prove to be the best at sea. If I could have a Carnival crew on a Princess ship or an RCI Radiance Class ship, it would be the perfect cruise.

 

Ship: Despite having nearly 3700 passengers and 800 kids, the Splendor did a great job of absorbing everybody and never really feeling that crowded. On the third and final sea day, the kids shipwide seemed very restless and were very noticeable – before that though, you never would guess that there were 800 on board. In additional to the 800 kids, there were large groups of college students from UCLA and Oregon (who inexplicably gambled tons and tons of money in the casino). For the most part, the college students took over the piano bar and the disco.

 

I have long complained that Carnival ships are over-crowded and offer no quiet spaces. Well, Splendor has disproven that complaint for me. Despite the huge passenger count, there was always somewhere quiet to go to get away from the crowds.

 

I don’t think I like the layout of the pool. I prefer the stadium seating of the Destiny/Triumph/Conquest class. This being said, the dome over the pool really came in handy for some chilly weather for 2 or 3 days. While I didn’t really spend much time back there – I did like the open aft pool. Much nicer than the enclosed version on the Destiny/Triumph class.

 

Serenity was nice - although the location below mini-golf is a bit silly. I did see a couple of balls bounce down into the Serenity area.

 

Despite me not really liking the layout of Carnival’s ships (Splendor’s layout is very very similar to Destiny/Triumph/Conquest) Splendor is a very nice ship – maybe even my favorite in the fleet. I am not a big ship fan (my preferences are midsized like Spirit Class or Radiance Class). Despite being a big ship, Splendor really gets a lot right. I wouldn’t hesitate to sail her again.

 

As I mentioned above, I do prefer Princess and RCI to Carnival, but after sailing Splendor the gap is narrower than ever.

[cdamion]

First, a little about us – this is a guy’s trip. Just my two sons (12 & 13) and I. After a week-long business trip, I picked up the kids and we headed to the Queen Mary in Long Beach for 2 nights before the cruise.

 

When we got to the Queen Mary there was a little bit of a misunderstanding about the room – the room they initially assigned did not sleep 3 people, so we had to upgrade to a larger room. Once inside it was a very nice room with a view of the harbor and downtown long beach. After being there a little while, the fire alarm went off and they started making announcements to evacuate the ship. I grabbed the cruise docs, passport, and birth certificates because I figured if the emergency is real we could replace everything but the passport and birth certificates.

 

Rather than wait outside with everybody else, we decided to head over to the fishing area near the Carnival terminal to watch the Inspiration leave.

 

 

 

[cdamion]

After watching the Inspiration set sail, we headed downtown to go shopping for last minute things and clothes for the kids to wear on formal night. After shopping we looked around downtown for food, but by now it was pretty late and the crowd was pretty much 21+ so we decided to head back to the Queen Mary for dinner. When we got back inside, all was calm and there was a note left under the door apologizing for the false alarm and evacuation. We ate at the Promenade Café which was ok, but overpriced. Later on I headed to the Observation Bar for a couple of drinks before calling it a night.

 

Downtown Long Beach from cabin:

 

 

Queen Mary at night:

 

 

Queen Mary hallway:

 

[cdamion]

Woke up to the people in the next room having a normal conversation. The Queen Mary simply has the thinnest walls I have ever experienced. When the people in the next cabin spoke, it was as if they were sitting right next to me. They were not being loud at all, but the sound really carried through the walls.

 

We decided to get up and do the self-guided tour of the ship which took a couple of hours.

 

Bridge:

 

 

Engine Room:

 

 

 

Crow’s Nest:

 

[cdamion]

After touring the Queen Mary we headed over to San Pedro and Ports o’ Call to do a Los Angeles Harbor Tour, which was nice. We happened to time it right to see the Sapphire Princess heading out on a cruise to San Francisco and Santa Barbara.

 

 

 

[cdamion]

We also saw several container ships and some local wildlife.

 

 

 

 

[cdamion]

After the tour we returned the car to the Long Beach airport and took the bus downtown for more shopping and walking around. We headed to bed early so we could get up early and watch Splendor arrive. I have to admit the Queen Mary is a bit eerie in the middle of the night when nobody else is stirring around. We headed out to the aft deck of the Queen Mary and finally around 5am the Splendor arrived.

 

[cdamion]

We got up around 8:30 to pack and get ready for early check in over at the Splendor. The plan was to go check in between 9 and 9:30 and then return to the room for a couple hours.

 

Next thing we knew the fire alarm on board the Queen Mary went off again for a couple of minutes. This time it stopped before we left the room, so we continued packing thinking it was over. I called the front desk to inquire about the bell desk bringing luggage to the ship and was advised that we were supposed to evacuate (again). This time we brought the luggage so we could go check in for the cruise. As we were leaving, they were letting people back onto the ship again. Once we got to the check-in counters we learned that the computers were down. After a few minutes, they manually checked us in and gave us a Zone 1 boarding card.

 

Before heading back to our room we headed to the back of the Queen Mary to look at the Splendor.

 

 

TO BE CONTINUED (tonight or tomorrow).

[boaterette]

Very nice. I am enjoying reading your reivew. I have been on the Splendor and liked it but do prefer the spirit class.

[LAdad]

Sailing on the Splendor in June, making this review very interesting and timely. Looking foward to your thoughts on Your Time Dining vs set time dining on the Splendor. Thanks!

[susie8862]

Outstanding review. Sailing her to Hawaii in January and also staying at the Queen Mary. (is it walking distance to the ship?)

Your pics are beautiful.

[cdamion]

Outstanding review. Sailing her to Hawaii in January and also staying at the Queen Mary. (is it walking distance to the ship?)

Your pics are beautiful.

 

Queen Mary is a one minute walk to the terminal. Two minutes if you walk slowly. Just be aware that the walls are very very very very thin. Other than that, it was very nice to be on the ship. I would certainly stay on board if I sail out of Long Beach again.

[susie8862]

Queen Mary is a one minute walk to the terminal. Two minutes if you walk slowly. Just be aware that the walls are very very very very thin. Other than that, it was very nice to be on the ship. I would certainly stay on board if I sail out of Long Beach again.

Thank you. :) Again....I loved your review.

[cdamion]

Sailing on the Splendor in June, making this review very interesting and timely. Looking foward to your thoughts on Your Time Dining vs set time dining on the Splendor. Thanks!

 

I do not like your time dining. As has been the case every time I have sailed, it appeared to be crowded with people waiting to be seated. Keep in mind that I did pass by during peak times. I much prefer to have assigned seating and have the same wait staff and table mates every night.

[cdamion]

When we got back to our room, there was another apology under the door for the evacuation. It was clearly a form letter, so apparently the fire alarm problems on Queen Mary are nothing new.

 

At 11:30, as directed, we checked out of the Queen Mary and headed back over to the terminal to board. At the same time, a storm moved in and the temperature dropped into the high 40’s and the wind and rain started. We waited outside for maybe 45 minutes as the wind was blowing and most people waiting were freezing. There was a little bit of confusion about where to stand because some of the zone number signs had blown over so several were moved out of the wind.

 

For some reason at noon, people were still getting off of the ship which delayed boarding a bit. Finally we started boarding and headed right up to the Lido buffet to relax in the warmth of the ship and eat. Everybody was pretty wet because of the rain blowing across the long gangway – everybody was running to get across before freezing and getting too wet.

 

While the weather certainly didn’t help things, I really didn’t like the process for embarkation at all in Long Beach. It was the worst I have experienced. It doesn’t make sense to have everybody waiting outside with a very few benches, and relatively little covered area. Luckily, this was the only negative thing about the entire cruise.

 

After eating I did the obligatory stop by the Maitre D to check on the MDR table assignment – he didn’t show me where, but said it was a 6 top by the window with another parent traveling with 2 kids that were a similar age.

 

Next we explored the ship from top to bottom. (NOTE: I am going to have a bunch of photos from top to bottom of the ship after the review, just too many to put in the middle here)

 

We started off at the Cloud 9 spa (I looked inside as the boys impatiently waited). After seeing the thalassotherapy pool and various steam rooms, I decided to buy a week long pass for $149. Im really glad I did as I went up there for an hour or more every single day (except the long day in Puerto Vallarta).

 

Briefly, what the pass gets you is access to the thalassotherapy pool, which is like a large Jacuzzi with salt water and minerals. On the other side, you get a very hot aromatherapy steam room; an oriental steam room which is kept at a slightly lower temperature, a tepidarium which is dry and kept at about 85 degrees, and a laconium which is right at the front of the ship and kept at about 72 degrees with heated loungers.

 

The laconium (looking out over the bow of the ship):

 

 

The tepidarium:

 

 

The thalassotherapy pool:

 

[cdamion]

A little before 2pm we discovered our room was ready. They said there would be an announcement when the cabins were ready, but it never came. I was once again pleasantly surprised by the cabin. It has been a while since I have been on Carnival and I had forgotten how big the cabins are compared to other lines. We (I) unpacked and all of our stuff fit in the closets and drawers with no problem. Also our suitcases all fit under the bed, so we had plenty of space for 3, which was nice. The couch was made into the third bed.

 

Here are pics of the cabin and balcony from midway through the cruise, so please excuse the mess. (the towels you see on the table are the result of my younger son’s newfound love of making towel animals).

 

 

 

 

[cdamion]

After a little while it was time for the muster drill, so we headed back outside to the chilly air for the safety briefing. I really didn’t notice anything different with this drill compared to previous drills. One thing I did with the kids was picked a specific place to meet in the event something did happen. In this case, we picked a specific sign at the muster station to meet at. For sailaway, we initially stopped by the Lido deck for the sail away party, but there was not much going on at all even though the pool was covered. We just opted to head back down to the cabin and watch from our balcony. I really do miss Miami sailaways. There was nobody to wave to or anything – not even the local fishermen were out on the jetty because of the crappy weather.

 

After sailaway, I stopped at guest services to put limits on the kids’ sign and sail cards (in retrospect, I really should have put a limit on my own card!). The kids wandered off to explore more and I headed up to the spa for my first relaxing time in the thelasso pool. After a little while, I was already glad I purchased the spa pass. In the pool I met a very friendly couple from the roll call. I thought they looked familiar from a picture so I asked. We chatted a bit until it was time for me to go meet my kids.

 

We headed to the Camp Carnival/Circle C/Club O2 orientation at 7:15 (why schedule it during early dinner?). If you have kids in Circle C or Club 02 (12-17) do not waste your time going. It was 43 minutes of info for Circle C and 1 minute each for Circle C and Club O2.

 

After this it was time for our late seating dinner. We were seated in the back corner of the Gold Pearl on the Starboard side behind a wall, so we could not see the rest of the dining room. I didn’t like the location of the table at all, but our table mates were very friendly and our wait staff was excellent, so I did not bother to change tables.

 

Let me pause for a moment to single out our waiter, Clive from India. He is tied for 1st place for the best waiter I have had on a cruise. He went above and beyond to take care of the adults as well as the kids at the table. Funny, for all the talk about Carnival being the bottom of the barrel, Wal-Mart, etc. By a good margin, the 2 best waiters I have had at sea were on Carnival ships – even better than RCI and Princess (my favorite line). THANKS CLIVE!

 

For dinner I had the cured salmon appetizer along with Caesar salad. The main course was the sweet and sour shrimp. One of the shrimp was a little undercooked to the point of the batter not being completely cooked. The rest was fine – odd. Other than the one shrimp, everything was tasty. The kids actually opted to eat from the regular menu and even tried the ‘didja’ menu every single night – which always had food that is normally out of their comfort zone.

 

After dinner was the Welcome Aboard show. I brought the kids because it was their first cruise. This time Todd Whitmer did his cruise director thing. A couple comedians came out and it was over. No singers or dancers – possibly because the seas were a little rough. I keep saying this, but this was seriously my last welcome aboard show – same old stuff regardless of the line.

 

After the kids went to bed I hit the casino and stuck to the slots which were pretty friendly to me (unlike RCI’s slots which suck money out of my pocket just by walking near the casino). When I got back to the cabin there were a stack of plates inside. I see the kids have discovered room service.

 

One thing I skipped. Every cruise, I make it a point to catch every sunset. Because of the storm, we didn’t really get a good sunset. Here are the remnants of the storm in the background – that is Disney Wonder following:

 

 

Disney Wonder:

 

[cdamion]

All three of us slept in a bit. It was still a bit chilly outside, but the seas were calmer and the clouds were gone. We were just lazy during the day today. My oldest son wandered the ship and headed to Circle C. My younger son hung out in the cabin watching movies and enjoying the fact that he had control of the tv without his brother bugging him – apparently his idea of a great vacation day. I headed to the gym for a while which was more crowded than I expected. I waited a while to get on the cardio machines, and then had to wait a while for the weight machines. Despite promises to hit the gym every single day – this would be the first and last time I was in there.

 

I was supposed to meet the kids for lunch, but the 13yo had now made friends, so sightings of him for the rest of the cruise were pretty fleeting. The 12yo and I had lunch together followed by the cruise critic meet and greet, which a few people attended, along with a couple of the officers.

 

Afterwards my 12yo and I headed to afternoon tea. When he went back to rest in the cabin (watch yet another movie), I headed back up to the spa for the steam rooms and thelasso pool. Afterwards we got ready for formal night number 1 and had our pics taken (which I did buy a couple poses). I also realized that we never had our official welcome aboard drink yesterday, so we went to the bar in the lobby and I bought some sweet drink in the disco ball. The kids had some kind of chocolate drink from the kids drinks.

 

After relaxing in the lobby we headed outside to catch the sunset, then went to the Captain’s welcome reception in the aft lounge.

 

Here is my younger son enjoying his drink in the lobby:

 

 

Monday’s Sunset:

 

 

My Disco Ball cup doctored sunset:

 

 

My older sun at the Captain’s reception:

 

[cdamion]

Tonight’s dinner was the lobster, so of course I had that (2 servings, thank you very much). The appetizers were shrimp cocktail (here is where you see the cutbacks – it is only offered one night, where previously it was available every single night) and the strawberry bisque. My kids had the alligator fritters off of the didja menu. I had the cherries jubilee for dessert and the kids had the warm chocolate melting cake. My younger son ended up having the warm chocolate melting cake every single night and has proclaimed that it is his all time favorite dessert.

 

After dinner we (from now on “we” means my 12yo and I because the 13yo now is spending most of his time with his newfound friends) headed to the show “The Beat” which I mostly enjoyed. I wasn’t really impressed by the singers, but the dancers were very good as was the staging of the show. They put some money into the lighting and lasers in the theater.

 

After the show, my son headed to the cabin to lay down and watch a movie and I headed to the casino, which again was very kind to me on both the slots and the blackjack table. Tonight I did have to hunt the 13yo down because he was hanging out with his friends until late. Rather than ground him, I gave him a strong warning and another chance, and he was never late returning to the cabin again.

 

Well, at the end of the first sea day, I have to say I am impressed with Splendor. There are nearly 3700 people on board the ship along with 800(!) kids. The ship really doesn’t feel that crowded, which really surprises me. My previous Carnival cruises all felt very crowded with not nearly as many people or kids. I guess Splendor is big enough to absorb everybody. Everything on board is also in great shape too. I was very leery of cruising during spring break, but so far so good!!!

 

TO BE CONTINUED... (next stop Cabo #1)

 

PS: Here is one more sunset from today I forgot to add:

 

[vivavegas]

Loving your review! Looking forward to reading more. Your boys look like perfect gentlemen.:)

[cdamion]

Loving your review! Looking forward to reading more. Your boys look like perfect gentlemen.:)

 

Looks can be deceiving!! Just kidding. I am actually so proud of how they were on board. I gave them more freedom and responsibility than they normally have and they did exceedingly well with it.

 

Hope you enjoy the rest too!

[cdamion]

We were about 30 minutes late in arriving to Cabo due to the weather and rough seas on Sunday, so the Captain announced that we would be in port for an extra hour into the evening. Looking back from the balcony, we saw Spirit already anchored.

 

 

 

The only thing I arranged for in Cabo ahead of time was a whale watching tour through Ocean Riders. The tour wasn’t scheduled until 12:00 so I went down to the future cruise desk while the line was short and we headed out around 10:30 to get the tender to the dock.

 

We always ended up on larger tenders, but they had these small ones going to the ships too:

 

 

Splendor from the tender dock:

 

[cdamion]

I talked to a couple of vendors on the walk around the harbor to compare prices for other activities. When we got to ocean riders at about 11:30, the guy at the counter said the tour left at 1:30pm, which was a minor irritation since we now had a couple hours to kill and nothing planned.

 

We ended up going on a glass bottom boat tour over to Lands End and the Arch. I ended up paying $10 per person (I know I could’ve gotten $8 on the other side of the harbor, but didn’t want to walk back over there to save $6). The tour was very nice and lasted a little under an hour. It was just the 3 of us, plus a couple on a land based vacation.

 

Splendor & Spirit:

 

 

Pelican:

 

 

Cave (can’t remember the name):

 

 

Lovers’ Beach:

 

[cdamion]

Upside-down Baja California:

 

 

The Arch:

 

 

 

[cdamion]

Some of the locals by the Arch:

 

 

Divorce Beach (ocean side of Lovers’ Beach):

 

 

Land’s End:

 

 

The Arch from the Pacific side: