Just off the Splendor and the Port of New York--any questions?

[samzgirl84]

Just came back from a great week on the Splendor, sailing out of the Port of New York. Willing to help with any questions.

[PittsburghGirlee]

Just came back from a great week on the Splendor, sailing out of the Port of New York. Willing to help with any questions.

 

 

Did you enjoy your cruise and the Spendor?

Did you eat in the MDR? If so, how was the food & service?

Did you visit the casino? If so, what slots do they have?

That is about it for me.....ha

[PortSideCruzan]

Just came back from a great week on the Splendor, sailing out of the Port of New York. Willing to help with any questions.

 

Hi samzgirl84, :)

 

Thank you for your post concerning Splendor questions. I have

already done my homework for my upcoming voyage on her,

however I do have a few lingering questions I can muster up.

 

Speaking of muster, how was your muster drill experience?

 

How was your experience with the port? And was the ship

docked at pier 90?

 

Did you see any of the Splendor's production shows such as

Vroom, The Beat & Fiesta Latina?

 

Did you get a chance to visit the chocolate buffet during the

last sea day?

 

Very happy you had a great cruise! Thanks again for taking questions.

Have a terrific day!

 

:)

[Leosmom]

Welcome back Samzgirl84! glad to hear you had a good time :)

 

I do have a few questions.........

Are there any dishes that you especially enjoyed in the MDR?

 

Love the sun, but need to stay in the shade. Did you notice any

shaded lounger areas on the open decks? Seems I'm always spending

so much time hunting shaded areas on the ship.

 

How was the adult Serenity area? too noisy, crowded as others have

reported ? (hope not!):eek:

 

Did you try the Comedy Brunch? how was it?

 

Thanks for taking the time to answer questions :)

[dcspada]

Welcome back! Glad to hear you had a good time!

I was just wondering which night(s) Elegant Night fall on. Is the first one the second night of the cruise? I'll be sailing her on 6/26 and have the steakhouse booked for the 3rd night.

 

Thanks in advance! :)

[Wilwant247]

We are sailing the Glory in Oct out of NY, it is my first time in the city......got lots of questions. How was the boarding process? What time did you get there, what time were you on board? What time did they start debarking, what time were you off the ship? Was the port hard to get to or to navigate?? Did you stay pre or post cruise in a hotel? If so where and how was it?

[Cyber Kat]

Just came back from a great week on the Splendor, sailing out of the Port of New York. Willing to help with any questions.

 

Glad to hear you had a great week - where did you go? Were you on the Bermuda cruise?

 

I've done extensive research on the Splendor, so I think I have most of my ship related questions answered, but I still have a few.

 

Did you do the Behind the Fun Tour? Do you know how fast it sold out? We plan to get to the port early, so we can get on line for the Shore Excursions desk. My sister is platinum, so we will get priority boarding.

 

Did you check your luggage or carry it on? I have a suitcase that is just under the 16" x 24" size that Carnival says you can take aboard and it fits through the x-ray machine with plenty of room to spare, but the last time they gave me a hard time - not Carnival, but the port people (I think they have a deal going with the porters ;) ). They kept saying it was too big. They let me through with it, but the woman followed me from the door to security going on about it the whole time!

 

I hate to have to take TWO suitcases when one will do and of course there are things I don't want to check, like camera, iPod, Nook, etc - so I would need something to put them in, if I check the bag.

 

Was the buffet open for breakfast on departure day? It always was on previous cruises we've done - but things do change!

[Maraprince]

Did you have to cross the street with your luggage to get picked up by a relative or friend or were they allowed into the port on the upper level to pick you up?

 

What time were you able to start boarding? Trying to gauge timing for our pickups going to the port. Don't mind waiting to get into the cabin. We will just head to the buffet with our handcarries until the cabin is available.

 

MARAPRINCE

[samzgirl84]

Thanks for all the questions. I will try to answer them all as honestly as possible.

 

We very much enjoyed our cruise and we enjoyed the Splendor. We liked the pink and did not feel it was overwhelming like some have stated on here. It is all personal preference. Deck 5 and 9 are the only decks that run from fore to aft. Once you get that established the ship is not difficult to navigate. Upon embarkation, you will receive a little ship map which we found to be most helpful.

 

We had no problem in the Port of New York at all. We flew in 4 days early and stayed with our daughter and son-in-law on Long Island. On cruise day, we took the Long Island RR to Penn Station and then took a taxi from there right up to the ship. The taxi from Penn Station to the port was about $15 for the two of us. The Splendor is docked at Pier 88. Carnival does sell a pre-cruise transfer you could look into. The Port of NY is in Manhattan and it is very busy with a lot of traffic down there.

 

We arrived at port at 11:30 and were on board by 12:30. I would have preferred to be there by 10:30. There would probably be a lot less people there then. Embarkation went by quite fast, I thought. We were allowed to drop out bags off in our rooms right away. That was a help.

 

 

The port of NY has the most beautiful sailaway. It takes about 1.5 hours to sail thru NY Harbor to the ocean. You will see the Empire State Bldg. and Freedom Tower on the left and Ellis Island and the Statue of Liberty on the right. You will pass right under the Verazzano Bridge. It really is very lovely.

 

I think the Muster drill was the fastest and most painless drill I've ever attended. I appreciated the fact that they really stressed for everyone to be quiet and listen. It was over so quickly.

 

We ate at the MDR for all of our dinners and 1 lunch and 2 breakfasts. We had ATD and service was slow at times. All the wait staff worked very hard and were very accomodating. I don't know if service is faster for scheduled dining. Our food was great.

 

My favorite MDR starters were: stuffed mushrooms, chicken tenders, vegetable spring rolls, strawberry bisque

 

My favorite MDR main courses were: lasagna bolognese, spare ribs, prime rib

 

My favorite MDR desserts were: black forest cake, bitter and blanc

 

The chocolate buffet was good. It was smaller than I remember but very good. They even would make you a sundae or a milkshake if you requested as part of the buffet. That was a nice surprise!

 

The Comedy Brunch was fun and the food was great. We had elegant night on the the first sea day and the 2nd to the last day.

 

We did not go in the casino (I am too cheap). I have no opinions on that--sorry!

 

There are lots of lounge chairs that are in the shade: some up on deck 12 and the mid pool area has a cover over the whole pool area for bad weather. It is just great. I did not find the Serenity area to be noisy or crowded. The Lido pool area was very loud!

 

After the cruise, we had a pre-paid transfer booked on-line through Carnival. It was so worth the $30 p.p. charge. We got off the ship and stepped onto the bus and waited for some others to board and went right to JFK airport. It took us almost an hour to get there. It would have cost a small fortune if we would have taken a taxi and it was completely worry-free. Our driver dropped us off and helped with the bags. I would definitely have the transfer if I sail out of NY again.

 

Debarkation was a long wait this time. I was quite surprised as they really stressed the Self-Embarkation over and over. So those of us who put our bags out the night before did not have our zone numbers called till starting at around 9:30. We had zone 4 (because of our pre-paid transfer to the airport) and we were off the ship by 10:00.

 

One last thing, we had a spa room and we absolutely loved it! We layed around in the wonderful Thalassotherapy pool twice a day and used the steam and thermal rooms everyday. It was never crowded and was very quiet and relaxing! The laconium is a room that has slightly heated chairs but no steam and it was so relaxing to go in there and read. If you do not have a spa room, seriously consider purchasing a day pass. It was my favorite part of the cruise.

 

Well, I think I answered all the questions. Have a thoroughly enjoyable cruise!

[samzgirl84]

Our cruise was to Bermuda. We really enjoyed it as we had never been there before. The weather was gorgeous and warm and sunny (so nice to leave behind the long, cold, dreary wintery weather here in Canada).

 

We did not do the Behind The Fun Tour on this ship.

 

We checked our luggage with the porter when we arrived at Port. If you are concerned about that, we were allowed to go right to our rooms to drop off our carry-ons before going for lunch. I am sure you could do the same with your regular luggage.

 

Yes, on debarkation day, the buffet and the MDR were both open for breakfast. We usually go to the MDR for a nice relaxing breakfast before debarkation.

[big_duck]

Deck 5 and 9 are the only decks that run from fore to aft.

 

So do decks 1,2,6,7,8,10,11

 

We checked our luggage with the porter when we arrived at Port. If you are concerned about that, we were allowed to go right to our rooms to drop off our carry-ons before going for lunch. I am sure you could do the same with your regular luggage.

 

What time did you board?

[big_duck]

Just thought of another question.

 

Are you Platinum or Diamond? If so, what was the gift? I'm trying to decide if I need to pack a beach bag.

[092306]

Thanks for the info, glad you had a good time!

[Debster992]

Samzgirl,

 

Thank you for the thoughtful responses. We were upgraded to Spa Balcony room for our May sailing and am looking forward to the T pool. Did you have a Spa room and would you get one again?

 

Cheers!

[JNicho4920]

Thank you so much for all the answers to sooo many questions.....we are going on the Splendor Oct 8th.....I am so excited.....getting from Penn Station to the ship is my concern.....I was told not to take a cab to the ship due to too much traffic in mid-town....i'm so glad to hear you didn't have a big problem.....thank you again :)

[Leosmom]

Just came back from a great week on the Splendor, sailing out of the Port of New York. Willing to help with any questions.

 

Thanks samzgirl for taking the time to answer all our questions!

you gave us lots of good info......now I am not as concerned with

All the bad reviews the Splendor has been getting recently :)

[Cyber Kat]

Thank you so much for all the answers to sooo many questions.....we are going on the Splendor Oct 8th.....I am so excited.....getting from Penn Station to the ship is my concern.....I was told not to take a cab to the ship due to too much traffic in mid-town....i'm so glad to hear you didn't have a big problem.....thank you again :)

 

When you get to Penn Station look for signs for 8th exits - or ask someone - NYers are a lot friendly than people give them credit for! Cabs should be readily available on 8th - I don't remember if there is a taxi stand. Cab should head up to 33rd or 34th and straight over to 12th. Traffic should move along 12th pretty good - and the cabs are very good an maneuvering (you might not want to look out the window :D )

[Cyber Kat]

We did not do the Behind The Fun Tour on this ship.

 

We checked our luggage with the porter when we arrived at Port. If you are concerned about that, we were allowed to go right to our rooms to drop off our carry-ons before going for lunch. I am sure you could do the same with your regular luggage.

 

Yes, on debarkation day, the buffet and the MDR were both open for breakfast. We usually go to the MDR for a nice relaxing breakfast before debarkation.

 

Thanks for all the answers! So glad you enjoyed your cruise and the Splendor - I can't wait!

[Gilgo Surfer]

Hi Samzgirl!

 

I was just wondering how your ride on the LIRR was. I was thinking about doing this but I am a little concerned about it. I know those trains can be packed with commuters in the morning and my wife and I have large suitcases. How was your experience with this? I'm thinking maybe the best thing to do is stand by the doors with our luggage rather than try to find a seat.

 

Any input on this would be appreciated. -Thanks!-:)

[JohnSpo]

Sanzgirl. Great information for the Splendor. Do you happen to know the cost of the Day pass for the spa?

 

Thank you.

[Mulege]

Is Malcolm Burn still the CD. He was most annoying and very unprofessional on our cruise.

[irishnyc]

Hi Samzgirl!

 

I was just wondering how your ride on the LIRR was. I was thinking about doing this but I am a little concerned about it. I know those trains can be packed with commuters in the morning and my wife and I have large suitcases. How was your experience with this? I'm thinking maybe the best thing to do is stand by the doors with our luggage rather than try to find a seat.

 

Any input on this would be appreciated. -Thanks!-:)

 

I've taken the LIRR into Penn during weekday rush with luggage (while hugely pregnant too!) and never had a problem. I wouldn't stand by the doors with my luggage - that's just rude to passengers getting on at stops after you, and you'd get annoyed having to move. I usually try to sit in the handicapped area if I have luggage because it's roomier. There are overhead racks for smaller pieces of luggage as well.

 

$15 from Penn to the Port sounds a little pricey, but still not a bad price, I suppose. I've taken cabs many times to Tribeca from Penn and it's less than $10.

[don pablo]

Do you happen to know the cost of the Day pass for the spa?

 

Thank you.

 

 

I if I can remember what my TA told me way back last November when I booked our June 26th cruise

 

day pass $35

length of cruise $150

couple's length of cruise $250

 

or you can just book a spa room like I did, it was cheaper then a non-spa when I booked.

 

Paul

[don pablo]

One last thing, we had a spa room and we absolutely loved it! If you do not have a spa room, seriously consider purchasing a day pass. It was my favorite part of the cruise.

 

 

We too have book a spa balcony (rm 1114) for our june 26th cruise

 

how was your room? was it noisy? was there lots of ship movement?

 

 

Thanks

Paul

[TYSMOM]

Hi Mulege, yes Malcolm is still the CD on this ship. However he will be on vacation the week we are on the boat.