Another Splendid Splendor Review with pictures- 7/8-15

[vplsh]

We just returned from a wonderful cruise aboard the Carnival Splendor. My husband and I have been on 16 prior cruises- this was our fourth Carnival cruise,with the previous ones aboard Destiny, Valor and Glory. We have also sailed on Princess, Royal Caribbean and Celebrity. This cruise on Splendor exceeded our expectations, particularly because of reviews on these boards.

 

Embarkation- We arrived in Long Beach Saturday afternoon and stayed at the Courtyard Downtown. The hotel was nice and we could walk to restaurants and shopping. We took a cab from LAX and it cost $60 plus a tip. There is no way it could be cheaper, as there was no traffic and the cab driver moved quickly and knew where he was going. In the morning we took a cab to the port and it cost about $15. We got there around 9:30, dropped the luggage with a friendly porter, and walked right up to check in. How cool that they have you check in outside! We received boarding group 1 and were told boarding would commence around 11:15. We walked around and then sat and watched people getting off the ship until they started calling boarding group 2 at, yes, 11:15. We walked into the dome and upstairs, where we queued up for boarding pictures before walking onto the ship for the first time. It was about 11:30 by this time. Very easy and extremely efficient.

 

Upon entering the ship, we walked around taking some pictures. As you can see, the ship is, as we have all been told by previous cruisers, PINK! I used all capital letters because it really is very pink. I loved it, hubby did not. But it neither enhanced or detracted from our cruise in any way. (Our last cruise was on the very new Celebrity Eclipse, which is beautifully decorated and well designed, so we were a bit concerned. Only a couple of design issues on Splendor could have improved the experience, but didn't hurt it) Here are a couple of pictures to get you started!

 

 

[susie8862]

MORE MORE..PLEASE:):o:)

[Sunmist]

give me more! give me more!! I sail on the splendor in about a month. Cant wait to read your whole review :D

[CurlyCali8]

Perfect timing for me!! Just adding to the excitment....:D

[Sunmist]

question...are there any resturants near by the port to grab a quick bite before boarding? we want to get there early, but don't want to just stand around while we wait. thanks!

[vplsh]

We then headed up to the Lido deck where we grabbed some lunch from the Tandoori grill at the back of the ship. It is as good as reported by others, and we enjoyed it sitting by the bar and adult pool. After lunch we headed to our cabin, 7364, a balcony on the port side of the ship. Our cabin steward, Angelo, and his assistant, were excellent, introducing themselves and always calling us by name. This cabin is across the hall from the pantry, where the stewards get ice and other things for the cabin. Before we left port, I was worried that there would be a lot of noise during the early morning, but Angelo assured me it wouldn't be a problem and he was right.

 

 

Sailaway- Just before sailaway was the mandatory emergency evacuation drill. Unfortunately it is still held outside on a crowded deck, and people don't listen. You would think after the Concordia... But, people still do not pay attention. Oh well. After the drill we headed back up to the Lido Bar for the first of several delicious fruity drinks. This is called Kiss on the Lips. Yummy! I had a few of these throughout the week.

 

 

We stood at the back of the ship while we sailed out of port, chatting with a lovely couple who were on their honeymoon. There were 32 honeymoon couples on the sailing, we were told. After sailaway, we headed to the cabin, where all of our bags had arrived, so we unpacked and enjoyed the view from the balcony for a while.

 

We had gone to the dining room to check on our table and were changed to a two-person table on deck three of the Gold Pearl dining room. We knew we were not going to be in the dining room for three dinners, so we preferred not to share. This night we had reservations at the Pinnacle Steakhouse at 8 pm, so we headed to the Lobby Bar on deck 3 for a pre-dinner drink. We sat at the bar for a few minutes before moving to a table to enjoy the music by Take Two. This would become a nightly ritual. I had a Blue Moon Martini and Steve had an Ultimate Margarita.

 

Dinner at the steakhouse was both delicious and a slight disappointment. The service was really not what we have come to expect at specialty restaurants. We waited a while for someone to take our order and really never knew who our waiter was. The food, however was delicious. I had a crab cake appetizer, lobster bisque and lamb chops, while Steve had the tuna tartare appetizer, French onion soup, and the ribeye steak. All portions were huge, and so we really didn't have much room for dessert. However, we did manage to share a chocolate sampler. And since this was the first night of the cruise, we received a complimentary bottle of either red or white wine. As I said, the food was delicious and, as you can see, beautifully presented.

 

 

 

 

After dinner we went to our one and only show in the theater. We did not enjoy cruise director Gary, nor the singers and dancers. They all seemed quite amateur, compared to others we have seen. After the show we headed back to the cabin to find our chocolates, towel animal, and tomorrow's Fun Times.

 

 

Day 2 At Sea, coming soon...

[vplsh]

question...are there any resturants near by the port to grab a quick bite before boarding? we want to get there early, but don't want to just stand around while we wait. thanks!

 

 

We had a great breakfast at a place called Creme de la Crepe. Their address is 4911 E 2nd St. It was a couple of blocks from our hotel. The only thing right near the port is the Queen Mary, which has a Sunday brunch, but I think that would be way more than you'd want before boarding the ship. You could always pick up something at a Starbucks and eat it while you are waiting.

[vplsh]

 

Day 2- At Sea

 

We ordered our room service coffee the night before and it was delivered right on time, so we enjoyed our first cup out on the balcony for a little while. I had signed up for the Boot Camp at the gym (I know, on vacation!!) and the first class would be at 10AM. We headed up to the Lido buffet for some light breakfast, then I went in search of a small bottle of water to take with me to the gym. I ended up at the coffee shop, where I also had a lovely conversation with Ashley from the cruise director’s staff, who was leading the scrapbooking class. Now, this is not really a class. They just bring all the kits they have for sale and give you a list of things to collect and take pictures of while you’re onboard. Unlike RC and Celebrity, they don’t give you anything for attending the class.

 

I headed up to the gym and started my first boot camp. Oh my, what a workout! Unlike previous classes I’d attended where there were a dozen people, this class was just three of us, so it was quite personalized. After about a 40 minute workout, we were sweating and exhausted, but ready to enjoy the day. (And the chocolate melting cake for dessert in the evening.) While I was doing the class, Steve used the elliptical and weight machines. The gym was quite crowded, but that’s pretty typical for the first day of the cruise.

 

After the class, we changed into bathing suits and went in search of somewhere to sit. Did notice a lot of chair hogging, but there were plenty of seats if you went looking. We were surprised by the number of chairs that could be used. Here is a picture taken from the deck under the water slide.

 

 

And here's one of the Lido pool, which is adult's only. It really was too! Never saw any kids try to get in the pool or hot tubs, and there weren't any sitting around it either.

 

 

See all the chairs? There are many on this deck and on the open ones above. Only problem with the ones on the deck above is that smoking is allowed up there.

We spent most of day 2 hanging out on the deck or wandering around. We had lunch at the buffet and headed to the main dining room for our first formal night dinner. Believe it or not, we didn't take a single formal picture. Too bad, I think we looked great!

 

Our table, when we got there, looked like it was an afterthought, #408 on deck 3 of the Gold Pearl dining room. However, it was an awesome table. Our headwaiter, Carlos, and his assistants were absolutely some of the best wait staff we have ever had. Dinner for this night consisted of the usual formal night fare of lobster or steak. Everything was very good, and the portions were very large. We were truly impressed with everything. And of course, chocolate melting cake for dessert!

 

After dinner we headed to the Adults Only comedy show, which was hysterical. Two comedians (sorry, I don't remember their names) did back to back shows and we really enjoyed it.

[susie8862]

Loving this review. Loving the pics. I know how time consuming it is for you to do this, but I cannot wait to read and see more. :o

[Clinton Mask]

Very nice!

[erewhon]

Enjoying reading your review.

Great photos.

Thank you.

[vplsh]

Day 3- First Day in Cabo

 

One of the main reasons we picked this cruise was to go to Cabo. We have been there 3 times before and absolutely love it. Steve is a golfer and we reserved the golf excursion for him for the second day in Cabo, so we were free to enjoy the area on the first day. Several years ago we did a land vacation here, and stayed at a wonderful resort- the Sheraton Hacienda del Mar. Two years ago we took a cruise to Cabo and spent the day at the resort celebrating my 50th (yuck!) birthday. I emailed the resort again this time and was told that we could not come for just the day. Needless to say, I was disappointed, so I continued to email them and even offered to rent a room for the day (only $97 on Sheraton’s website). Finally, the concierge emailed back that we would be allowed to come and use the facilities without renting a room. So, we woke up that morning and headed to the main dining room for breakfast. After eggs Benedict (very yummy), we headed to the future cruise desk to get tender tickets. The desk was set to open at 8:30, and that’s when we got there. I guess they opened earlier, because the line was already moving. We received group 9 tickets and headed to the theatre after grabbing our things from the cabin.

In the theatre, they directed you to have a seat and wait until your group number was called. Due to high winds, they had to suspend service for a few minutes, but things got moving and groups were called. We got onto our tender and headed into Cabo.

Here's a shot of the Splendor from our tender.

 

[vplsh]

We got off at the dock and walked around the port area, looking for a taxi to take us to the resort. After walking for quite a while, we came to a flea market area, where we got into a taxi and headed off. The dock area in Cabo is full of vendors trying to get you to take a water taxi or book an excursion. With only one ship docking in Cabo each week all summer, they really have to hustle for their livelihoods. They are very friendly and respond to “No, gracias” if you aren’t interested.

 

We arrived at the resort and proceeded to the concierge desk, where we were met by the pool concierge and taken to the restaurant overlooking the beautiful pools and beach. We had a wonderful lunch, with margaritas and a Pacifico beer, then headed to our chairs by the pool. Four hours and several frozen drinks later, we had to say adios and head back to the ship for our Chef’s Table dinner.

 

Here are a few pictures of the resort.

 

The beach area- the vendors did not come up the stairs into the pool area. If you wanted something, you just walked to the steps and they came over to you there.

The next couple are the view from my chair!

 

Bahama Mamas- 2 for 1!

[jmwg49]

Great start! Looking forward to your review of the Chef's Table! We are doing it too in September on the Splendor! Very excited! Thanks for your efforts!:)

[vplsh]

Chef’s Table Dinner-

 

We participated in the Chef’s Table Dinner on the Glory last summer and knew we wanted to try it again, as it was a wonderful experience. We were not disappointed this time on Splendor either. I had emailed the Steakhouse months ago to make a reservation and received an email confirmation. When we went to the steakhouse on the first evening, the manager came over and discussed the evening with us to make sure we had no allergies and to let us know we would receive instructions on when and where to meet the next day.

 

Twelve of us met in the lobby bar at 6:25, and were introduced to head chef Sanjay. He brought us through the dining room into the kitchen, where we were treated to champagne and wonderful appetizers. All this while the waiters are grabbing dinner and the cooks are working! It’s amazing how efficient everything is. After a quick demonstration of how to make chocolate melting cake, we headed out to our private dining room, where name cards and menus were placed on the table for us. Last time we were at the far end of the table, but this time, Steve and I were right up front!

 

I could talk for hours about how wonderful this experience is. It is well worth the $75 per person cost, just for the experience alone, but the food is so unique and the attention to detail is exceptional. It lasts about 3.5 hours, so expect to spend the evening there.

 

Here are some pictures to whet your appetite!

 

Head Chef Sanjay

 

Bread in a flower pot!

 

 

Table setting

 

After dinner we wandered around a while, to work off the food, then headed to the cabin. We were getting up early tomorrow for our excursions- Golf for Steve and Salsa and Salsa for me!

[vplsh]

Great start! Looking forward to your review of the Chef's Table! We are doing it too in September on the Splendor! Very excited! Thanks for your efforts!:)

 

You're welcome! You will love the ship and the Chef's Table. Sanjay is a wonderful host, and the whole experience is so worth the cost!

 

I see you're headed on your first Princess cruise. We've sailed them 3 times and enjoyed each one. They also have a Chef's Table dinner, which is a little different as it's held right in the main dining room. Lots of fun as well!

[vplsh]

Day 4- 2nd Day in Cabo

 

We had a light breakfast delivered to the cabin, and Steve headed out to the El Morocco Lounge to meet his golf group and tender into Cabo. My tour, Salsa and Salsa, was to meet at 7:45 in the same place. When I got there, I found that 6 of our friends from the Chef’s Table were also headed on this tour, so we decided to head over together. We were called, along with others, to the tender and were directed to a tour guide at the tender dock, with a Salsa and Salsa sign. We all got a sticker to wear and headed to the bus to take us to the resort. Funny- the resort is, literally, across the street. Two years ago when we were in Cabo, we did a Segway tour which took us up the driveway to this very resort. It’s called the Finisterra, and is really a beautiful property.

 

The bus dropped us off at the hotel lobby, and we walked through the pool area to a large palapa where the cooking and dancing would take place. The palapa is quite large and overlooks the beach and ocean.

 

 

 

[vplsh]

Our two dancing chefs introduced themselves and explained the process to us once everyone was seated. We were given delicious Iced Jamaica Tea (made from the hibiscus flower) as we were seated and proceeded to learn to make our margaritas. All of the ingredients you need are placed on the table in front of you. As they expect groups of 2, and I was a single at our table, they added a chair and a setting for me.

 

I highly recommend this excursion. If you look it up on TripAdvisor, you will see all of the positive reviews and they are definitely truthful! Here are a few pictures of the different salsas we made.

 

The table set up

 

Homemade margarita

 

Red, green guacamole and dessert salsas

 

 

 

After the cooking and eating- yes, you are given several delicious foods to eat with your salsa, including chips,quesadillas and taquitos- we learned to dance the salsa! It was definitely a lot of fun!

 

When the dancing was done, we were offered the opportunity to spend an hour at the beautiful resort before heading back to the ship, which we did. There were several pools, one with a covered, swim up bar, which we were able to enjoy. We met back at the hotel lobby at 12:30 and were driven back across the street to the dock area.

 

We were wondering around a bit, when Steve called to tell me he was on his way back from the golf course and would meet me for a margarita! (I will never turn that down!!) If anyone is interested in info about the Salsa and Salsa tour or the golf excursion, just ask!

 

Here we are enjoying our post-excursion margarita!

 

[4hunters]

We had a great breakfast at a place called Creme de la Crepe. Their address is 4911 E 2nd St. It was a couple of blocks from our hotel. The only thing right near the port is the Queen Mary, which has a Sunday brunch, but I think that would be way more than you'd want before boarding the ship. You could always pick up something at a Starbucks and eat it while you are waiting.

 

Also as an FYI to anyone interested, there is a food truck that always parks next to the cruise terminal on the days Splendor or Inspiration are in port. The food is very good!

 

Enjoying your review!

[njmomof2]

I'm so happy to read your review...because I have not seen you since you got back and this is the best way to find out how your trip was!!!!

 

I'm so glad it was as good as you had hoped. Your pictures are wonderful and you guys look so happy. And seriously, so many margaritas and drinks, did you develop a hollow leg?!

 

Love you sissy!

 

...for those of you wondering, I'm Lisa's sister. We live about 3 minutes from each other, but due to our work schedules, we don't get to see each other as much as we'd like, so CC helps me catch up on her trips.

[vplsh]

I'm so happy to read your review...because I have not seen you since you got back and this is the best way to find out how your trip was!!!!

 

I'm so glad it was as good as you had hoped. Your pictures are wonderful and you guys look so happy. And seriously, so many margaritas and drinks, did you develop a hollow leg?!

 

Love you sissy!

 

...for those of you wondering, I'm Lisa's sister. We live about 3 minutes from each other, but due to our work schedules, we don't get to see each other as much as we'd like, so CC helps me catch up on her trips.

 

You are too funny, Janet!! Yup, we had an amazing time.

 

I'll get back to the review in a little while!!

 

Thanks for all the nice comments!

[Taco CHon]

Nice review Lisa. I wish we could have met on the first day, but the red shirt thing kind of fell apart. It looks like you and I were in red, but I could not get the rest of the family in red. Looking forward to the rest of your review. After doing my review I realize how time consuming this all is to do. Good job.

[vplsh]

Once we got back to the ship, we headed for a late lunch on the Lido. The ship was scheduled to sail at 4 and our second boot camp class was at 4:30, so we enjoyed a rest before that. Second boot camp was as tough as the first, so I felt ok when dessert rolled around and I enjoyed my chocolate melting cake!

 

Day 4- Puerto Vallarta

 

We have been to PV a couple of times before and really weren’t sure what we wanted to do. Before we left, I researched a lot of tours and excursions and settled on Vallarta Segway. They have several tours and we decided to do one in the town of Bucerias, which is about a 30 minute ride from the port area. We found a cab driver who spoke great English (I have his card at home. If you’d like his name, let me know!) who would take us for $40. He was very engaging and we chatted with him through the whole ride. He dropped us off right in front of the Segway office, and we met Delia, our guide. We have ridden on Segways several times before, so after a quick demo of what we could do, we were off. We spent the next hour and a half riding around this lovely town, with cobblestone streets and dead-ends. We had hoped to ride on the beach, but there had been a lot of rain the day before and there were no areas where the Segways could get onto the beach. On the way back, we stopped at a restaurant where we had absolutely awesome chips, salsa and guacamole with drinks. When we were ready to head back, Delia put us into a combi (a van that works like a bus) for 12 pesos each (about $1!) and it dropped us off right by the ship.

Here are some shots of us on the Segway in Bucerias.

 

 

 

 

We crossed the street and headed to Sam’s Club for tequila. Right across the street from the cruise port is a Wal Mart and Sam’s Club. On previous visits to PV, Steve had gone to Sam’s Club and couldn’t believe how inexpensive the tequila was, but we’d never had room in our luggage to bring any home. This time we came prepared with room for several bottles. So we purchased a total of 5 bottles and the total came to $43.75 US!! We couldn’t believe how inexpensive it was, as all of them were 100% agave. (We learned a lot about tequila on a couple of trips to Cozumel, where we went to a tequila ‘farm’).

We dropped the tequila off when we got back on the ship (it would be delivered to the cabin on the final night) and headed up for lunch. I was supposed to have a massage at the Krystal Resort, which is about a 10 minute walk from the ship, but decided not to go as the skies were darkening and it was really hot and humid. Good choice, as a massive thunder and lightning storm rolled through just as I would have been walking back!

 

We went to the dining room for dinner at our usual time, where we had our usual wonderful service! That evening there was a deck party, which we didn’t attend, with lots of food and music.

[vplsh]

Day 5- At Sea

 

This day was my birthday, and I was looking forward to enjoying a relaxing day in the sun after boot camp number 3. We had breakfast in the Lido buffet, then headed to the gym for a 9 o’clock class. After the class, we changed into bathing suits, found 2 nice chairs by the Lido pool and relaxed until lunch, when we headed to the main dining room. We had received coupons for a free drink in the MDR during breakfast, brunch, or lunch, so we brought those with us. Lunch was really nice in the dining room- I splurged on a burger and fries along with my Kiss on the Lips (I told you I had a few of those!) and Steve had a beer with his Asian chicken lunch. After lunch we hung out outside for a while again. The Lido pool was a great place to spend the day. The bar service was terrific and there was always something to watch!

 

We headed back to the cabin to relax before dinner, and actually watched a movie on the tv. They had a different set of movies each day, and I believe we watched The Dark Knight this time. Before dinner we headed to our favourite bar area on deck 3 to listen to the music of Take Two (this is a duo from the Philippines who sing contemporary songs. We heard them each night and they were really enjoyable) and have a birthday drink with friends. After dinner we headed to the comedy show, since 2 new comedians had gotten on board in PV. They were terrific, and the show was packed! Good thing we got there early and stayed through to the second show as it was standing room only!

 

Day 6- At sea

 

Our final day at sea started with breakfast on the Lido deck and a 10 o’clock boot camp #4. A few people joined our class today, so there were 7 of us instead of our usual 3. Shawn from New Zealand worked us even harder but it was definitely worth it.

 

We had lunch in the dining room again. There were a lot of people trying to redeem their free drink coupons, so the waiters were trying to find bar waiters rather than serve, amd it was kind of hectic. Food was good, though, and we enjoyed the time. We spent some time sitting in the Serenity area on deck 11. They have really nice padded loungers and chairs. Steve saw some turtles and dolphins off the side of the ship while we were there.

 

The weather was kind of cloudy, so we wandered around for a while, then found a couple of chairs by the big screen. They were showing the cruise video, but with no sound. That is one of the few complaints that I have, although it’s not specific to the Splendor. Carnival just doesn’t utilize that big screen very well. On a few days there were concerts being shown, and a couple of movies at night, but other than that they don’t use it at all. It would have been nice to have a movie on during the sea days, like they do on Princess. Just a thought!

 

Final visit to deck 3 Lobby Bar before dinner, having drinks with friends from the boot camp, then a final visit to the dining room. I have to say, the food in the main dining room was excellent and the service couldn’t be beat. We even cancelled our second night in the steakhouse because we enjoyed our dining room experience so much. Kudos to Carlos and his team in the Gold Pearl Dining Room.

 

After dinner we headed to the Punchliner Comedy show again, where we had to sit in the front row for the first comedian. This made me nervous, as the comedian continually told us it was an interactive show, and I was afraid he'd want to interact with us! LOL! We were able to move to a side bench area for the second show by Steven White, who was really funny the first night, was just as funny the second time around.

 

We had done most of our packing before dinner, but had to finish up with the tequila when we got back from the comedy show. Steve managed to get everything packed and outside our door before midnight.

 

Day 7- Time to leave

 

We awoke to the Port of Long Beach. We had received luggage tag group 9, which was estimated to debark at 9:15. We planned to head to Long Beach Airport to pick up our rental car to drive to San Diego around 10, so this worked great. However, we were just finishing breakfast around 8 when our group was called. We easily walked off the ship and were at the airport by 8:30.

 

I guess that's it for the review. As I stated in the beginning, this was one of the nicest cruises we've been on, definitely due to the great crew and wonderful people we met.

 

If you have any questions, please feel free to ask. I have all of the Fun Times at home and can look up things if you'd like to know anything specific.

 

Thanks for reading!!

[cruisingusa]

Very good review I enjoyed it! I am going with the girlfriend in September, so its nice to see details on the trip. Thanks for making the time to make it.