Splendor Review 9/16/12 cruise

[Patty421]

Just off the Splendor and wanted to write about our experience. Although I am not new to cruising, this is my first review. We are a family of four. My husband and I and two little boys ages 10 and 2. This was our 7th cruise. 4th Carnival one and three others that were on Royal Caribbean. This was also our first Mexican cruise from the west coast. Overall a Great trip.

Long Beach Terminal: The first impression was not good. This was the worst embarkation I've ever experienced. It was very chaotic. We were in the VIP lane but it was a mess, no real line. There were only two security booths for 3,000 people to go through. Absolutely ridiculous. It was after noon by the time we finally got onboard. However once we got onboard we headed straight for the lido deck, grabbed some chairs and drinks and began our wonderful cruise.

Decor: Overwhelming Pink, Pink and Pink. I like pink though and found it to be very pretty. My 10 year old boy, not so much.

Room: Last minute we got upgraded to a grand suite which with two kids was a blessing. The extra room was great especially since we had a portable crib in the room. The room was not as nice as Royal Caribbean's version of a grand suite but it did allow us a lot more room. The closet space was awesome; we each got our own closet and had more storage space than we knew what to do with. The bathroom included two sinks and a Jacuzzi tub bath/shower, very spacious. There was a big wrap around couch which opened to a bed. Balcony included a chair with a little table and one lounge chair. Also included a thing called a privacy room which was basically a hallway with a vanity and closets. Room # 7297

Food: Breakfasts were pretty much the same every morning. I personally always went to the omelet stations. The line was actually longer for the buffet food then for the cooked to order omelet stations. Really wasn’t impressed at all with their lunch buffet and the grill always had a ridiculously long line. I’m not a fan of their pizza. On the last day I did try the burrito bar and it was fantastic! I was so upset I waited till the last day. Most of the food in the dinning room was good. I only had one meal I didn’t really care for and that was the lasagna. I’m always disappointed with the lack of choices for dessert. However the caramelized apples on a pasty puff that they serve on formal night was one of the best desserts I have ever had.

Service: Our head waiter was great with our little one, always calling him by name and making him toys out of napkins and paper. I did have a little bit of a problem on formal night though. I am allergic to shrimp but I love lobster and on every cruise when I order the lobster and tell them no shrimp it’s never a problem and in fact they will usually bring me two lobster tails to make up for it. When I did the same on this cruise our head waiter said we can’t do this, it’s already prepared. Well of course that annoyed me and I told him I do this on every cruise, he eventually was silent and walked away. I got my lobster but of course it was just one tail. I didn’t even bother to ask for a second one after all that. We also had no idea who our asst. waiter was as no one bothered to introduce themselves. Our room Stewart Arnold was great. We usually save all the fun times and my son somehow threw them out. On the last day Arnold tracked down all the days for us and laid them out on the bed.

Ports: I wasn’t crazy about Cabo. Although the scenery is beautiful it was too hot that it was so uncomfortable and there were flies everywhere. We did the Lands End boat, beach and shopping. They served a Mexican buffet on the beach but even though the food was good it was so unenjoyable to eat with all the flies. Even on the ship while it was docked in Cabo, there were tons of dragon flies flying over the pool. The second day we didn’t even bother to get off the ship. Puerto Vallarta was amazing. We went to a private beach called Las Caletas. It was about an hour and a half boat ride to get there. The beach was beautiful and there were many activities included. My older son did an adventure course with rope swings, zip lines, etc. he even got to ride a donkey and have monkeys climbing all over him. My husband snorkeled. They even had a sea lion come up to the beach where you could pet and take pictures with, all included in the price. The buffet they served was good. Ribs, pasta, freshly made tortillas. Later we took a cab ride into the downtown area and the driver was very nice and helpful. There were only a couple stores we wanted to visit so he waited for us at each store. At one point he couldn’t park on the street so he dropped us off and parked and then even walked down to where we were and walked us back to the car.

Shows: I didn’t make it to a lot of the shows but my husband saw the show called vroom and he thought it was the best show he has ever seen on a ship before.

Piano Bar: This was the best part of the whole ship. Before this cruise we have never stepped foot inside one of these but they always looked crowed so we decided to give it a chance. Well it was well worth it. Brad the piano man was awesome. We even bought his cd and dvd. Absolutely loved it!

[KirkNC]

Thanks for the review, glad you had a good time.

[susie8862]

Thank you Patty for your great review and taking the time to write it.

Did your children enjoy themselves?

[4hunters]

Thanks for the review. We have been on Splendor twice and love the it! We have one more cruise on her coming up this December.

[ccruisequeen]

I too have a shrimp allergy but not lobster. I contacted Special Needs in advance and they put in a special Order with the two lobster tails no shrimp. Although I was ATD I had the same wait staff and they confirmed the order. I also spoke to the ATD hostess and Matre D to confirm it. You might want to try that the next cruise.

[Patty421]

Thank you Patty for your great review and taking the time to write it.

Did your children enjoy themselves?

Yes the did. My older one is great because he does his own thing. The little one hated the camp though. We got one full day in though and then he wouldn't go back.

[Patty421]

I too have a shrimp allergy but not lobster. I contacted Special Needs in advance and they put in a special Order with the two lobster tails no shrimp. Although I was ATD I had the same wait staff and they confirmed the order. I also spoke to the ATD hostess and Matre D to confirm it. You might want to try that the next cruise.

Thanks for the advice. Before this cruise it had never been an issue. The wait staff always just said ok no problem and brought the lobster tails.

[ccruisequeen]

The problem was the shrimp touched everything including the potatoes and I couldn't risk the cross contamination. That's why it's better to order it in advance (at least in my case).

 

Wish they'd bring back surf and turf!

[skya]

Thanks for the review. I'll be sailing out of New York in August and can't wait.

[Patty421]

Thanks for the review. I'll be sailing out of New York in August and can't wait.

We are actually planning on sailing again in April from NY. We actually live in NJ so this time no 7 hr flight!

[092306]

Glad you enjoyed your cruise! Can't wait to sail the Splendor out of NYC next year!

[cruiseclues]

Thanks for your review...we like to see the facts as you see them...when you said we loved it...I took it to mean Brad the piano man...and that you weren't necessarily saying you loved the cruise. :)