Splendor Review of 4/8 Cruise

[mousey]

First off let me say that this cruise and therefor the review are not the usual for us. My youngest brother passed away unexpectedly a week before we cruised and we only went on it because our DS (16) and his friend had been looking forward to it for over a month as it was our DS's yearly Spring Break cruise.

 

The Splendor is a larger ship than we are used to. Below are the good, the bad, and the ugly.

 

The Good:

The ship is bigger than any other ship we have sailed on and we found that although there were lots of people on board we always found quiet places to just sit and talk. There was never a problem finding seats on deck or in the buffet. You might have to look around a bit in the buffet at busy times, but there was always somewhere to sit. We loved every single thing we ate at all the foods venues were we dined. We loved the selection and quality of the food in the MDR. The DH thought the sushi bar was okay, nothing great, but nothing to complain about. The buffet food was surprisingly good and we enjoyed the omelet bar. The DH loved the Burrito Bar and all the carved meats that were served throughout the cruise. We all loved the pizza and Deli sandwiches, and all the desserts all over the ship we really delicious! We loved, loved, loved the desserts!

 

The crew was good although for the very first time ever I did happen upon one or two surly bar waiters but nothing to ruin my cruise or even complain about. I just chalked it up to their having a bad day. Everyone other staff member was awesome, from our MDR wait staff, to our room stewardess, Galena, who made sure we had fresh ice and a very clean cabin everyday.

 

The best part cruise were the excursions we took. The DH, DS (16) and his friend went zip-lining on the first day of our stop in Cabo. On the second day I went on a paid visit to Nikki Beach were I was told I would get two drinks and a snack, plus use of the hotel pool and facilities. Well, the snack turned out to be more of a delicious meal than a snack and the presentation was awesome. You had your choice of beverage, alcoholic or not. The food was great and the wait staff was was friendly and always available to service you when you wanted service. There was music playing in the background coming from the restaurant as I chose to lay on "beds" that were provided on the beach. An umbrella was positioned perfectly to shield me from the sun and all was well with my world and I kicked back and did nothing but relax all day. I could have done some para-sailing, rode ski jets, and done other various activities had I so chosen, but I just wanted to relax, and relax I did.

After the DH, DS, and his friend finished riding ATVs they joined be at Nikki Beach and no one asked them to pay for anything although they did order some of the delicious food that Nikki Beach serves. All in all I do this excursion again in a heartbeat.

 

The other thing we did was a Carnival excursion called the Sea Safari which we all loved! It consisted of a high speed boat ride (a raft actually), horseback riding to a beautiful waterfall where you could swim next to a little family-owned cafe where you could get something to eat and drink, then we rode the boat to a location where we were able to snorkel and see lots of fish and were given fresh fruit to eat. Then we headed to a private little cove were we were able to swim, lay in a hammock, and were served a delicious Mexican buffet. The food was hot, fresh, and wonderfully delicious. You could eat as much as you wanted and there was an open bar where you could drink as much as you wanted. This was one of the best excursions we've been on and we would recommend it to anyone that would like to do something adventurous. It was a great way to spend the day. The people that run this excursion for Carnival were absolutely wonderful. They couldn't do enough for you.

 

I'll finish this review later.

[Nanaimobound]

First let me say how sorry I am for the loss of your brother.

Thanks for sharing with us.

I am always glad to hear reviews on Splendor. We love this ship, and loved all the food as well.

I can't wait to continue with your review, as I am pulling suitcases out right now to get started with our packing!

[RenoNanaOz]

First off let me say that this cruise and therefor the review are not the usual for us. My youngest brother passed away unexpectedly a week before we cruised and we only went on it because our DS (16) and his friend had been looking forward to it for over a month as it was our DS's yearly Spring Break cruise.

 

The Splendor is a larger ship than we are used to. Below are the good, the bad, and the ugly.

 

The Good:

The ship is bigger than any other ship we have sailed on and we found that although there were lots of people on board we always found quiet places to just sit and talk. There was never a problem finding seats on deck or in the buffet. You might have to look around a bit in the buffet at busy times, but there was always somewhere to sit. We loved every single thing we ate at all the foods venues were we dined. We loved the selection and quality of the food in the MDR. The DH thought the sushi bar was okay, nothing great, but nothing to complain about. The buffet food was surprisingly good and we enjoyed the omelet bar. The DH loved the Burrito Bar and all the carved meats that were served throughout the cruise. We all loved the pizza and Deli sandwiches, and all the desserts all over the ship we really delicious! We loved, loved, loved the desserts!

 

The crew was good although for the very first time ever I did happen upon one or two surly bar waiters but nothing to ruin my cruise or even complain about. I just chalked it up to their having a bad day. Everyone other staff member was awesome, from our MDR wait staff, to our room stewardess, Galena, who made sure we had fresh ice and a very clean cabin everyday.

 

The best part cruise were the excursions we took. The DH, DS (16) and his friend went zip-lining on the first day of our stop in Cabo. On the second day I went on a paid visit to Nikki Beach were I was told I would get two drinks and a snack, plus use of the hotel pool and facilities. Well, the snack turned out to be more of a delicious meal than a snack and the presentation was awesome. You had your choice of beverage, alcoholic or not. The food was great and the wait staff was was friendly and always available to service you when you wanted service. There was music playing in the background coming from the restaurant as I chose to lay on "beds" that were provided on the beach. An umbrella was positioned perfectly to shield me from the sun and all was well with my world and I kicked back and did nothing but relax all day. I could have done some para-sailing, rode ski jets, and done other various activities had I so chosen, but I just wanted to relax, and relax I did.

After the DH, DS, and his friend finished riding ATVs they joined be at Nikki Beach and no one asked them to pay for anything although they did order some of the delicious food that Nikki Beach serves. All in all I do this excursion again in a heartbeat.

 

The other thing we did was a Carnival excursion called the Sea Safari which we all loved! It consisted of a high speed boat ride (a raft actually), horseback riding to a beautiful waterfall where you could swim next to a little family-owned cafe where you could get something to eat and drink, then we rode the boat to a location where we were able to snorkel and see lots of fish and were given fresh fruit to eat. Then we headed to a private little cove were we were able to swim, lay in a hammock, and were served a delicious Mexican buffet. The food was hot, fresh, and wonderfully delicious. You could eat as much as you wanted and there was an open bar where you could drink as much as you wanted. This was one of the best excursions we've been on and we would recommend it to anyone that would like to do something adventurous. It was a great way to spend the day. The people that run this excursion for Carnival were absolutely wonderful. They couldn't do enough for you.

 

I'll finish this review later.

So sorry for your loss, I am glad to hear you had a wonderful time on your excursions. We leave in 27 days, love the Splendor and can't wait to hear more.

[CurlyCali8]

I'm sorry for your recent loss.

 

Thanks for your review so far, we'll take our first cruise ever on Splendor in July. The Carnival excursion sounds wonderful; don't think my DS is quite old enough, though. (He'll be 7 1/2.) Looking forward to more!! :)

[cvpends]

I am so sorry to hear of the loss of your brother!

[vivavegas]

Sorry for your recent loss. Sounds like you enjoyed your excursions!

[Seniorstallion]

Very sorry for your loss. Thank you for being so thoughtful and thinking of others by doing a review. So happy that you had a great time and were able to still cruise with your family.

 

We will be on th Splendor in July and there has not been a lot of feedback about her so we really appreciate your detailed excursion reviews. There will be six of us from 49 to 16 so it's nice to know there is something's we can all enjoy.

[boltnut55]

Hey, good to hear that your family decided to go on the cruise. As we had "met" in the Roll Call, I thought about you from time to time during the cruise wondering if you made it on board. At some point down the line, I'll get to writing my review, but meanwhile will be waiting to read more of yours :D

[mousey]

Sorry to take so long getting back to my review of our 4/8 Splendor cruise.

 

Back to some of the Good stuff:

 

One night we were looking at some of our pictures in the photo gallery when we heard a really some really good Latin music coming from the atrium. The DH and I looked down and saw lots of people on the dance floor. The DH asked me if I wanted to go down and dance because I usually love to. At first I didn't think I wanted to but I know he was trying to cheer me up so I said yes and down we went. We started dancing and the band didn't stop playing, the went from one song right into another, it really was fun and at one point a Conga Line formed. We finally wore ourselves out and left, but they were by far the best band on the ship as far as I could tell.

 

I don't remember if I mentioned this yet, so forgive me if I repeat myself, but we never had a problem finding a chair on deck. We don't hang by the pool but we did sometimes see vacant chairs there. I think one of the reasons is that it was pretty cool out on deck on this cruise. Anyway, finding chairs was never a problem. Maybe the chair hogs were too cold to be out. LOL:p

 

The Bad:

 

Don't ever book a room in the aft of the ship unless you have too! It was way to rocky back there for my taste. This is not a fault of Carnival of course, just a "live and learn" kind of thing.

 

I rarely complain about anything but in this instance I must say that except for one of them, the comedians on this cruise were not all that great. They were not totally awful, just not that funny. Not worth staying up for anyway. The good thing is that they rotate them on and off the various Carnival ships so on your cruise you may not have the same ones that we did. They weren't really bad, just not really funny. Also, I have to agree with some of the others that have sailed before me in that except for the Latin band I mentioned above, there wasn't one other musical group, singer, or piano player that I thought was good enough to stop and listen to. Maybe it was just where my head was at, but I usually have a good ear for this stuff living with two musicians, the DH and the DS. My DH agreed with me.

 

The Ugly:

 

The only bad thing I have to say about this cruise is that for the first time ever on a Carnival cruise I did encounter a couple of bar waiters (mostly outside and once in the Casino) that were not so much unfriendly as just totally indifferent and one bar waiter on the Lido Deck that was actually very surly. He actually slammed my soda down when he served me. I think some of this may have been because I had a soda sticker on my card. I always tip $1 even though I know I've already paid a 15% tip that is automatically added to my bill, so these people lost out. I will say there were way more nice bar waiters then there were negligent ones, but I was a tad disappointed having never encountered this before on Carnival.

 

As far as the ship itself, well I have to agree with those that say the decor is pretty pitiful. Again, it could have been my mood but it was one ugly ship. What I liked about it was it's size. We never felt crowded and except for one time when we had a sea day and made the mistake of going to lunch at exactly noontime, we rarely encountered any lines to speak of in the buffet or anywhere else. We had to wait a bit for pizza on embarkation day but that was to be expected I think.

 

Also, for the first time, I did see people at the buffet in their white Carnival bathrobes, but it seemed to me that people were just coming in from the pool area were it was really cool outside. It didn't bother me a bit. However, on the last night of the cruise we did see a women come in towards the end of dinner in the buffet in her bathrobe. She looked like she had just gotten out of the shower and had come down to get some food to take back to her room because she just got some food and left. I did think it was a little bit tacky, but hey to each their own.

 

In General:

 

None of these things, the Bad or the Ugly ruined my cruise and it would never stop me from sailing on the Splendor again. I just mention them because I'm trying to give an honest review of how the cruise was for us. I will say that my comments as to the lady in the bathrobe on the last night in the buffet, the ship's decor, and the various entertainment venues are subjective and just my personal opinion. Others may feel totally different about all of that. The only thing that can't be denied, is the rudeness and disinterest of some of the bar staff. That would be the only thing that I would say Carnival should work on if they should read this review.

 

All in all, considering the state of mind I was in, I had a really fun time and the DH, DS, and his friend did too and that's what was most important to me. I still love Carnival and hope to sail at Spring Break again next year.

 

Tips:

 

If you sail this time of year be sure to bring somethings warm to wear on deck for when you're not sitting directly in the Sun. It was really cool on deck and at the last minute I forgot to pack a sweater, jacket, or hoody. I must admit I was tempted, only tempted mind you, to put on my Carnival bathrobe when I wanted to go out on deck! LOL :). It was also very cold, for me at least and even the DH mentioned it, inside the ship. I had some other tips but I forgot what they were but as they come to me I'll post them here. Also, if anyone has any questions, I'll be glad to answer them as best I can. For those of you that are going to be sailing on the Splendor soon, I hope you have at least as nice a time as I did, and at best an even better time!

 

I'd like to apologize to the lovely people on my Roll Call for not making an appearance at the Meet and Greet, but I just wasn't up to it and I hope you all understand. I'm sure you do.

 

Thanks to all of you for your kind words regarding the loss of my brother. He was the baby of the family (at 60 years old, a running joke in our family). He was a really great, funny, lovable guy. As a matter of fact, when I was having one of his pictures enlarged for his Celebration of Life mass, the guy behind the counter handed me the finished picture and said, "He looks like he's a really jolly guy." And so he was. He's going to be missed terribly by all his family and the many friends that loved him.

[mousey]

Hey, good to hear that your family decided to go on the cruise. As we had "met" in the Roll Call, I thought about you from time to time during the cruise wondering if you made it on board. At some point down the line, I'll get to writing my review, but meanwhile will be waiting to read more of yours :D

 

Please give me feedback as to what I've said about the cruise, I'd love to know how others felt about the same cruise that we were on. Did you enjoy the music venues? Did you encounter any indifferent or rude bar waiters? What did you think of the decor? And most of all, did you have a really great cruise?

[mousey]

Hey, good to hear that your family decided to go on the cruise. As we had "met" in the Roll Call, I thought about you from time to time during the cruise wondering if you made it on board. At some point down the line, I'll get to writing my review, but meanwhile will be waiting to read more of yours :D

 

Please give me feedback as to what I've said about the cruise, I'd love to know how others felt about the same cruise that we were on. Did you enjoy the music venues? Did you encounter any indifferent or rude bar waiters? What did you think of the decor? And most of all, did you have a really great cruise? I sure hope so!:)

[mousey]

I guess there are no questions about the Splendor. I'll bump this up and check back once more and then give it up.:)

[cvpends]

I think I may have run into that same bartender at the Liner bar on the Lido. He wasn't exactly rude, just uncaring with a bit of a sneer on his face. But he did make a mean Miami Vice!!

[cvpends]

Oh, and regarding the decor, my husband and I both absolutely LOVED it! I asked my husband if he thought the ship had too much pink, and he said he thought even more would be great. He and I both feel that the Splendor is the prettiest ship we've been on. We even got a kick out of the fried eggs on the ceiling of the Pink Pearl dining room:

[riclop]

Do you remember the name of the band or duo that played in the attrium? There was a great duo playing there called Summer Breeze and we enjoyed them duringthe many weeks that we have been on the Splendor.

[cvpends]

Do you remember the name of the band or duo that played in the attrium? There was a great duo playing there called Summer Breeze and we enjoyed them duringthe many weeks that we have been on the Splendor.

 

I'm not sure about the week Mousey was there, but the week I was there it was Take Two, and they were great fun to listen to!

[vaguy22]

@mousey First of all, sorry for your loss. as to the decor, Just another example of Joe Farcus excess. Next year if you cruise out of Long Beach, take a tour of the Queen Mary. Then you will see how the inside of a ship should look like!!!

[mousey]

I'm sorry I don't remember the name of the band, just that it was a Latin band and they were awesome for listening and dancing.

 

Thanks vaguy22 for your kind words. We are gong to have to check out the Queen Mary one of these days since we live so close.

 

I know, some people love the decor of the Splendor and others don't. Actually it wasn't the pink that we didn't like, it was all the circles and dots. After awhile it was just yuk! But it did make for some fun conversations between the DH and me. The DH thought the circles looked like plumbing washers and I thought they looked like wood-grained CDs. :eek:

 

Anyway, the decor did not ruin our cruise not even one iota. We has as good a time as we possibly could given that my brother had passed away the Tuesday before our Sunday cruise. It is what he would have wanted.

[felidaet]

Thanks for the review of the Splendor. My family is going to be on it 12-2-2012. I am especially glad to hear that the food was great. I have seen a lot of reviews on various sites saying the food is not very good on Splendor. I was hoping that maybe those people were just picky eaters. We cant wait....

[cruisinJenF]

I'm sorry I don't remember the name of the band, just that it was a Latin band and they were awesome for listening and dancing.

 

Thanks vaguy22 for your kind words. We are gong to have to check out the Queen Mary one of these days since we live so close.

 

I know, some people love the decor of the Splendor and others don't. Actually it wasn't the pink that we didn't like, it was all the circles and dots. After awhile it was just yuk! But it did make for some fun conversations between the DH and me. The DH thought the circles looked like plumbing washers and I thought they looked like wood-grained CDs. :eek:

 

Anyway, the decor did not ruin our cruise not even one iota. We has as good a time as we possibly could given that my brother had passed away the Tuesday before our Sunday cruise. It is what he would have wanted.

 

Lol I think the circles look like pink frosted donuts ;)

[LAdad]

Regarding your excursions, did you book directly or with Carnival for all three excursions. Going out for the first time on splendor in June!

[fishtaco]

Was this your first time Aft or was the swell a bit big?

 

I am sailing splendor in june and am in a far aft cabin,we have had aft cabins before (different cruise lines) but the past 3 we have been midship. Apart from the vibrations when coming into port or anchor I cant really remember it moving about that much except very late at night, sort of like heavy sideways shuddering,I remember thinking they must have pulled the stabilizers in to save fuel lol.

 

Was it really bad back there on the splendor:eek:

 

Den

[vaguy22]

I'm going on the Splendor Oct 28 for the Atlantis charter Haloween cruise. I'm sure that crowd will have interstng things to say about the decor. The costumes and the music that week will be over the top.

[treasure4two]

Sorry to take so long getting back to my review of our 4/8 Splendor cruise.

 

 

The Bad:

 

Don't ever book a room in the aft of the ship unless you have too! It was way to rocky back there for my taste. This is not a fault of Carnival of course, just a "live and learn" kind of thing.

**

Do not book the front either, at least on the lower levels. We booked

2 porthole(2220 and 2221) cabins. Everyone on our floor,forward of ours and us also, felt and sounded like the anchor was coming through our cabins and it was loud that I could not hear the TV on its loudest level.

I have had other portholes ,like on Imagination, and the sound and shake were minimal. I love the Splendor and am great with insides or OV, but never again on the front(and now, the rear-forward and aft to you who prefer those proper terms), but love the Splendor and booked her for the 2nd leg of the SA cruise in 2013, inside, just middle, Riveria deck. I love a dark cabin!

[mousey]

CruisnJenF - OMG that's funny, I actually love the pink-frosted donuts at Yum Yums!

 

 

LAdad - We booked one excursion, one of the best I've ever done through Carnival, the Sea and Snorkel Safari, it was awesome but moderately strenuous. You go on a high speed Zodiac raft ride to a little, tiny village that you walk through to reach your horses. Then you horseback ride for about 25-thirty mins. up and down a mountain (not a really high one) to a little family-owned cafe that sits right next to a really refreshing waterfall that you can swim in. After that you horseback ride back to the little village, get on your Zodiac rubber raft and take a short ride to where you can snorkel for about 1/2 hr. They give you your choice of a piece of fruit as refreshment. Then you take another short ride to another little village that is in a cove. You can swim there but there are some undercurrents. The DS and his friend are good swimmers and loved it. At this stop there is an open bar, with soda, alcoholic drinks (wine, beer, & hard stuff), water, juice (they actually use a machete to chop off the top of a fresh coconut for your to drink the coconut water from it). You can have as much to drink as you want! There is also a buffet of fresh, homemade, Mexican food. It[s hot and delicious! They give you hot, wet, face towels so you can wash your face and hands before you eat. There is food for everyone even vegetarians. I loved it. Not gourmet food, but really fresh, delicious food. We stayed there about 1 1/2 to 2 hrs. It was awesome. They have a beach shower there and bathrooms so you can clean up a bit if you want and change clothes for the ride back. I loved this but its not for people who are out of shape or little kids. I'm 65 and I was able to do it because the guys that run that excursion are absolutely awesome and helped me all the way along. Getting me on and off the horse. It was funny because the guy that was the head of the excursion adopted me as his "Aunt" and he was forever looking out for me or asking his assistants to "make sure my Aunt is okay." At one point I was carrying two plates of food, one for me and one for the DH, to a table at the place where they had the buffet and one of his assistants came running up to me (I was about to have to climb about four stone stairs up to where the tables where) and took the plates from me and said, "Let me help you Auntie." They were so sweet and careful with me. I wouldn't have been able to do this excursion without help and these guys treated me like I was a beloved older Aunt and never made me feel embarrassed about lagging behind a little. They were an amazing group of guys. Really, I'd do this excursion again in a heartbeat if these guys were still in charge of it.:D

 

Our other two tours were done through other independent companies before we cruised. One was a very vigorous zipline that the DH, DS (16), and his friend went on and they loved it but they said it was physically grueling. The three of them are in good shape, the DS being in the best shape of all of them and they said it wasn't exactly a piece of cake, but they had a great time anyway. They came back exhausted.

 

The next day the DH and DS went ATVing while the DS's friend and I kicked back at Nikki Beach. It's a restaurant that provides you with two drinks of your choice and a snack. When I think snack, I think of something small. They gave us a huge plate of food! We had the use of the beach beds and umbrellas w/tables, and the hotel pool. It was awesome. You could shop from the vendors on the beach, rent all kinds of water toys, or go para-sailing. We had an awesome time.

 

 

FishTaco - I found out after the cruise that there was a small storm in our area coming back into LA the night before which caused so much swaying. Before that it wasn't bad at all. I think you'll be fine.

 

I hope everyone sailing on the Splendor coming up has a great time. In spite of our sad situation with my youngest brother passing away the previous week, we were able to enjoy our cruise just as he would have wanted us to.

 

This will be my last post for awhile. There is someone else on the board posting a review about their trip on the Splendor. They got on while we were getting off. They may have more info re the Splendor so look out for it.