Review: Splendour of the Seas 6/15/13

[Cruising89143]

I decided to write a review of my recent cruise on the Splendour of the Seas due to the fact that there is very little information about this ship on Cruise Critic. I believe that this is due to the fact that the Splendour splits her year between Europe and South America.

 

Please keep in mind as you read that this review is the opinion of one person and some may or may not be in agreement with my comments and that's fine. With that said, here we go.

 

Splendour of the Seas - June 15 - June 22, 2013

Entered Service: March 31, 1996

Completed a 45 million dollar revitalization on 11/25/11.

Ports of Call: Venice Italy, Dubrovnik Croatia, Corfu, Santorini, Athens and Katakolon Greece, Venice Italy

 

We left Atlanta on the late afternoon of Wednesday June 12th flying on Delta direct to Venice Italy. We booked our flights through Kayak.com back in September of last year. This was the first time using Kayak and I highly recommend them. We were able to fly Business class for just a little more than the price posted on Delta's website for coach. The Kayak website actually links you directly to the airlines website to book your flight. Very easy.

 

Our flight time direct to Venice from Atlanta was listed as nine hours and forty-five minutes but we made it in nine hours flat non stop. A long flight but overall we found the Delta service great. We were on a Boeing 767ER both ways.

 

 

 

 

With the nine hour flight time and the six hours difference in time between Atlanta and Venice, we arrived at the Marco Polo airport at 8:30 AM on Thursday morning June 13th. I had ordered a car service from Venice Group Services.

http://www.venicelimousinerent.com

 

We were staying two full days in Venice prior to our cruise so we needed a way to get ourselves and luggage to our hotel. Prior to leaving I had looked at all options for transportation from the airport to the Piazzale Roma (bus and taxi area) in Venice. The Piazzale Roma is the closest that one can get car or bus wise to Venice. Options other than hiring a car service:

 

Taxi - Cost about 40 euros from the information that I read

Water Taxi - Cost is around 100 euros and up.

Bus - 6-7 euros

 

We wanted something easy and it was. The driver met us just outside of luggage claim and we were on our way. The cost was $50.00 and well worth it not to hassle with carrying luggage on the bus which is by far the least expensive option to get to the Piazzale Roma. There are a few more options out there but the above seem to be the most popular.

 

As mentioned earlier, the Piazzale Roma is the closest one can get to Venice with car, bus or train. The Piazzle Roma bumps into the Grand Canal. When choosing a hotel for our two night stay, I kept this in mind. I wanted a hotel that would be easy to carry luggage and get to the people mover on cruise morning. For those that prefer a hotel in other areas of Venice such as near the San Marco or Rialto area, a private water taxi or Vaporetto would be the answer in place of carrying your luggage over a large number of small but many bridges and their many steps.

 

Our hotel for the two nights was the Hotel Papadopoli. I checked it out and the reviews were very consistent on this being a nice hotel and it met the criteria of being very close to the Piazzale Roma. We only had one bridge to carry luggage over. Looks much easier than it is when carrying multiple pieces of luggage and trying to dodge others walking over the bridge.

 

 

We booked directly with the hotel.

http://www.mgallery.com/gb/hotel-1313-hotel-papadopoli-venezia-mgallery-collection/index.shtml

 

Our room overlooked the Tolentini Canal. Cost of room averaged about $350.00 a night U.S. We were traveling during high season for Venice and we had a standard room. The room while a little smaller than we are used to here in the U.S was very nice and clean. The bathroom was much larger than I expected. The room rate included wireless and breakfast for two mornings. The breakfast by the way was very good. Plenty of options as they tried to have something that would appeal to the many different nationalities staying at the hotel.

[Cruising89143]

Lobby and small bar at the hotel. The bar was actually a nice place to have drinks prior to dinner. We did this both nights. They also have a person playing the piano. Very relaxing after a hard day sight seeing and a nice way to start the evening.

 

Our room could be noisy at times. Especially early in the morning but overall it wasn't bad and we would stay at this hotel again with no hesitation. The staff was very accommodating.

 

View from our room overlooking the Tolentini Canal.

 

We really did not sleep at all on the flight over even though it was an overnight flight. Once arriving in Venice, we were able to get an early check-in at the hotel. Our room was ready at 11:00. We decided to grab a quick shower and find lunch. I was told that the worst thing to do after a long flight was to lay down and take a nap. We decided to press through the day and stay awake. That was very good advice.

 

We went around the corner from the hotel and the first place that we ran across was a pizza place (there are many in Venice). Lunch was very good as was the very cold beer.

 

[PhilNDebbieAtSea]

Pictures and review are awesome, thanks!!

[Cruising89143]

As stated above we spent two days in Venice pre-cruise. After lunch on the first day we decided to buy a 36 hour Vaporetto pass. This was much less expensive than purchasing single tickets and you can ride as much as you want getting off and on at different areas around Venice. The Vaporetto is the same as a city bus here in the U.S but's on the water.

 

We decided to take the Vaporetto around to San Marco Square which is basically the entire route around the Grand Canal. It was very relaxing which is what was needed after being up all night and trying to push through the day. We saw many sights around Venice which IMHO is one of the most unique and beautiful cities in the world.

 

Scenes from the Vaporetto

 

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[Keith1010]

Great photos.

 

Keith

[peteukmcr]

Thank you for sharing, I'm subscribing as your sailing has exactly the ports we're visiting on Splendour later in the year.

 

Great photos btw.

[Cruising89143]

One suggestion that I forgot to make at the beginning of this review. Along with researching your cruise here at Cruise Critic, pick up the Rick Steeves books and videos on the locations that you plan to travel. A good source of information IMHO.

 

We made our way around to San Marco square on the Vaporetto. This is where you could tell that it was high season for Venice. San Marco was very busy and very crowded. We decided that we would just look around for the day but on day two we did make our way back over much earlier in the morning to see some of the sites in the square.

 

The Campanile - Trip to the top costs about 8 euros and that is for the elevator ride. The views from here were outstanding as was the cool breeze.

 

 

We also visited St. Mark's Basilica - Cost was free to enter but there are additional costs once inside if you want to see places other than the main part of the church. They do not allow photos once inside. There was a very long line to enter St. Mark's but it moves very quickly but it is out in the direct sun. Also they don't allow bare shoulders or knees showing. I had on shorts but they did not say anything as they just about covered my knees. Women seemed to have more issues here than the men. If you do not have the correct clothing, they will sell you a cover up for one euro. I saw people exiting the church handing their cover ups to those that they felt would have an issue getting in with their dress.

 

The church as many other places in Venice was undergoing restoration work on the exterior of the church.

 

 

The Doges Palace. A beautiful place but once inside they do not allow photos. This is to preserve the paintings inside of the palace. I don't remember the cost to get in as we purchased a museum pass that covered multiple places. No standing in line to purchase tickets at each place. There was a small building just behind the Campanile that sold the passes. A huge time saver and thanks to Rick Steeves for that advice.

 

[Cruising89143]

Prior to leaving I read on the Cruise Critic Italy boards that there was a transportation strike planned for Friday June 14th. It did happen. The Vaporettos only ran during rush hour in the morning and afternoon of that day.

 

In the end this was a good thing. We set out from our hotel on foot. We were about a thirty to forty-five minute walk to the Rialto Bridge and San Marco square. This enabled us to see the real Venice and something that I highly suggest. Do not sit on a Vaporetto all day as you only get a small piece of Venice. Walk the streets. You will not get lost. There are signs everywhere stating one of three things. Per Rialto, Per San Marco or Per P Roma. Depending on where you're headed, those arrows will get you there.

 

This is the oldest of the four bridges that cross the Grand Canal. Built in the 1500's. This is the Rialto Bridge. This is also a very hot tourist spot and it will be very busy in this area. Pack your patience.

 

Steps up to the Rialto Bridge

 

 

Views from the Rialto Bridge

[Cruising89143]

Dining in Venice: We really did not plan our places for dining prior to leaving. We wanted the flexibility to choose where and the time. The hotel was very good at giving suggestions to some of their favorite places. They were spot on each time. I suggest asking the locals as they know the best places to eat.

 

For lunch each day we chose pizza and it did not disappoint. For dinner we were wanting pasta as either of us are not huge seafood fans. Again we had a great dinner both times and the service matched that. Overall on this cruise we found the locals in every place visited to be very nice and helpful. Language was not an issue. Just about everywhere we went, everyone spoke English.

 

Venice can be expensive. Remember that everything has to be basically hand delivered as there are no trucks or cars. Supply boats are brought in through the canals and off loaded. Items then have to be hand trucked to each business.

 

My final thoughts on Venice in a moment.

 

Next up was cruise morning. We awoke and decided to head over the the cruise terminal at around 10:30. We checked out of our hotel and then headed back over the one bridge. The bridge led us back to the Piazzale Roma and then to the people move. The people mover is a small train that takes you closer to the cruise terminals. The cost is one euro and tickets can be purchased at the people mover terminal.

 

Now this is the area that some might not agree with me but I will never take the people mover to the cruise ships again. I was told that it was not a long walk once you exited the people mover terminal and that's true depending on where your ship is docked. There was supposed to be a shuttle running to take passengers and their luggage to the cruise terminals. There was not one running when we were there.

 

Our ship was docked at one of the terminals that was farthest away from the people mover. In the hot humid Venice sun carrying luggage (yes it was on wheels) was not my idea of fun. It was a good twenty minute walk and by the time we reached the cruise terminal we were in a full sweat. Next time I will spend the money to take a private water taxi to the cruise area. After we boarded the ship, we later stood at the top overlooking the same area that we had walked earlier and many did not look happy as they were making their way to the terminal. The Norwegian Jade passengers had an even further walk as their ship was docked behind us.

 

Once arriving at the terminal, they had one line for those with tags and a line for those without. We had tags and you work your way up to the guys taking your luggage and loading it on a belt to go through the scanner. At this point you take the escalator up and follow the signs to check in. They do have Priority check-in for those in suites, Diamond, D+ and Pinnacle. Check in was easy. We were issued board pass #1 and they started boarding shortly after.

 

Once at the terminal, it was a piece of cake. Getting there was not as fun.:)

 

My final thoughts on Venice. She is a beautiful city that has to be experienced to be appreciated IMHO. She has a lot to offer and is a unique place. Cruising out of Venice down the Grand Canal provided by far the most beautiful sail away that I have experienced.

 

We will be back again.

 

Here is a video that I put together. You can expand to a full screen by clicking on the little square in the bottom right hand corner of the video.

 

http://cruisingator.smugmug.com/Travel/Splendour-of-the-Seas/30144737_bq8N34#!i=2599384591&k=f54vwSS

[Cruising89143]

Now I will spend a little time talking about the Splendour. Our last cruise was on the Celebrity Reflection. We had an outstanding time on that cruise. We did find ourself comparing things on this cruise verses the Reflection. Not the ships themselves but the other areas. It's hard not to do.

 

The Splendour of the Seas

 

The Splendour along with her sister Legend are the two smallest ships in the RCI fleet coming in at around 70,000 tons. We chose this cruise for three reasons. Size of ship, itinerary and length of itinerary. This was only a seven night cruise which we needed this time around.

 

The Splendour underwent a major 45 million dollar revitalization in fall of 2011 and she looked great. I saw no real wear and tear on this ship at all. RCI added a Chops Grille and Izumi restaurant in the Viking Crown lounge. Don't worry, they reconfigured the lounge and there is still a very nice Viking Crown lounge with outstanding views.

 

RCI also added the nursery, big screen system by the pool, way finder system, wireless internet and the new R-Bar in the Centrum.

 

The crew on board was great with the exception of the Guest Services desk. They did not seem like a happy bunch at all and I never saw the desk busy. Saw very few officers around the ship which was the opposite of Celebrity where they were everywhere every day.

 

The ship also added the new Centrum entertainment Aerial Show. This happened on three nights. A different short show each of the three nights. Here is the show from the first night.

http://cruisingator.smugmug.com/Travel/Splendour-of-the-Seas/30144737_bq8N34#!i=2599055717&k=mxD65QD

 

Something different and nice to see that RCI is trying to be different from their competitors. Also, there was live music all over the ship. Out by the pool, in the Centrum, different bars, etc. The Viking Crown turns in the dance club in the late evening.

 

RCI also added a Diamond and Concierge lounge by taking in part of the Top Hat lounge on deck five forward. This was somewhat of a disappointment as they were not able to put up complete walls to separate from the Top Hat lounge and if there was any type event going on in the large lounge, it was very noisy in the Concierge lounge.

 

 

Notice that this is more of a partition than a wall with another door that leads to the Top Hat lounge. The Diamond lounge is built the same way. I was told that this had something to do with Coast Guard regulations but who not sure why it was built this way.

 

[drarill]

Great review and amazing pictures!! Looking forward to the rest!!:):)

[Cruising89143]

The one area of the ship that we enjoyed was the Park Cafe. This was also added during the revitalization. On boarding day very few knew of this area and most head to the Windjammer. It was very quiet back on the first afternoon. The only real difference that we noticed in the menu was the roast beef sandwich was pork tenderloin or at least it was on the days that we ate there on this ship but it was still very good. It is located inside of the solarium.

 

Plenty of places to sit on both sides of the Solarium.

 

 

The solarium pool area

 

[Clarea]

Interesting how they did the DL and CL on Splendour. It could be that they learned from that experience because they chose to add the lounges in a different area on the sister ship Legend.

 

Enjoying the review and photos.

[Cruising89143]

Pool area. One night on the big screen they showed The Wizard of Oz. One thing that I did pay attention to as I don't really care for the big screens on a ship. I never noticed the volume to be loud. They showed movies in the evenings and during the day they showed music videos but the volume was never loud when I was out there and turned completely down when the band was playing.

 

The Splendour does have a nice big outdoor promenade deck. Something that is going away on most of the new builds. This was very nice in the evening to walk out at sunset along with being down near the water.

 

[Cruising89143]

Viking Crown Area

 

Chops Grille - Added during the revitalization. It is located in the aft area of the lounge and has outstanding views.

 

Izumi

 

Viking Crown Lounge

 

One addition to the Viking Crown lounge is the new VCL menu. Two nights we were tired and decided to have drinks and dinner here. The food is prepared in the Chops/Izumi kitchen and was very good. It's my understanding that only some of the Vision class have this option.

 

[PCWalton1]

Thank you for posting all the pictures of your cruise. We too cruised on Splendour out of Venice last year and it was very memorable. Your review brings back fond memories. :)

 

Bill

[Cruising89143]

The R Bar was an addition when the ship was revitalized. It is located on deck four in the Centrum. There was a band here every evening prior to dinner. I noticed two different bands here during the week. We enjoyed coming here for a drink but one major complaint for me was the number of announcements. Why have a Compass if you have to tell us every hour what is going on? On Celebrity there is one announcement a day and that is at noon from the Captain. This was annoying and when we were sitting at the R-Bar the speakers were directly above us and it was loud. The announcements were done in several different languages so it was never a short announcement.

 

 

Centrum

This was the entertainment center for the ship. They held the aerial acts here along with the them parties. Seems that they had something going on every night here.

[Cruising89143]

Thanks to everyone for the kind comments. :)

[Cruising89143]

Stateroom

 

For this cruise we chose cabin #8010 which is a Grand Suite on deck #9. Without a doubt this was by far the noisiest cabin that we have ever had on a ship. It was located directly under the pool deck and directly above our cabin was the outdoor Windjammer seating area. It usually started about four in the morning with the crew cleaning the deck and moving chairs around. Then when the WJ opened it was a constant sound of walking and chairs being moved back and forth.

 

We have had cabins located directly below the pool deck before and have never had this issue. We also missed Celebrity's non smoking policy. Our neighbors on this cruise smoked out on their balcony all the time. While they had every right to do this and we knew this going in, it still was annoying to have the smell linger and linger. We also missed the no smoking policy in the casino.

 

Odds and ends about the ship.

 

The ship advertised as having ship wide wireless. Our cabin was about 50 yards away from the RCI On-Line area on the same deck and it would not work in our cabin. If I walked down to the RCI On-Line it worked fine and was surprisingly quick. Kind of annoying. Don't count on it to work in your cabin.

 

The Cruise Director and Activities Director were annoying on this cruise. The CD reminded me of a used car salesman. His morning show was a complete joke. The Activities Director was loud. Annoyingly loud. Again, this is where we kept comparing RCI to Celebrity. None of this kept us from enjoying the cruise but it was easy to notice.

 

The food on this ship was some of the best that we have experienced on RCI. We had MTD but never made it once to the MDR. We always book MTD just in case we decide at the last minute to dine in the MDR. We dined three times in Chops and it was without a doubt the best food and service that we have experienced in Chops on any ship. We also enjoyed the VCL menu two nights. Service here one night was not up to par but the food very good. We used room service a good bit including one night for dinner on the balcony. It was quick and hot food was hot but they usually screwed something up on about every order. Finally the Windjammer. We ate here once for breakfast and dinner and twice for lunch. By far the best experience in the WJ in a LONG time. Especially after cruising the two Oasis class ships. Plenty of variety and the food was good. As good as buffet food can be. :)

 

Entertainment - We only went to one show but left after about twenty minutes. To be honest, after experiencing the entertainment on Oasis and Allure it's hard to sit through the shows on the smaller ships. Add to that we were usually tired from the day in port. I do know that they had entertainment all around the ship. Plenty to do if you wanted it.

[maggieq]

Loving your review and pictures. I too have used kayak for fare alerts but unsure how to get a first class fare close to an economy fare.

[Cruising89143]

 

 

Our first port of call was Dubrovnik in Croatia. Prior to the cruise I had no idea if we would enjoy this port but it was one of our favorites. A very beautiful area. The locals were very nice.

 

 

 

Arriving in Dubrovnik Croatia. MSC Armonia docked under the bridge.

 

 

The Celebrity Silhouette following the Splendour into Dubrovnik.

 

 

We had four other ships in port that day. Three were docked at the port and one (Costa) was anchored closer to the old town. The port handled the three ships well. Old town itself was a little more crowded near the Pile gate of the old town. Actually a little crazy in this area. A LOT of tours from all the ships in one area but it soon cleared out and things were a little calmer once we started the climb.

 

On this cruise we decided to book all of our excursions though RCI. We found that easier.

 

For Dubrovnik we chose "Walking the City Walls" tour. It's basically a walk on the wall around the old town of Dubrovnik. It does require a LOT of steps so one needs to be prepared. Wear comfortable shoes. I actually saw one lady walking these in heels. She was struggling to say the least. I would estimate that we climbed well over 500 steps throughout the walk. The first set of steps was 78 up to the first level. It was a good workout but well worth the views.

 

For this tour were bused from the port and after about a 15 minute drive started the tour by taking the time to climb up above the old town to get some nice shots of where we would be walking.

 

[DreaAST]

Great pics! I'm excited for the rest of your review. I was on the sailing 2 weeks before you. Such a great itinerary and trip :)

[Cruising89143]

Walking the City Walls

 

The Pile Gate. Entrance to the Old Town.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Cruising89143]

Also in Dubrovnik was the Grand Celebration. The former Celebration for Carnival. She is still in the Carnival family sailing for their Spanish division line.

 

 

 

We had lunch at a place located next door to the Old Town. It was called Dubravka. Very laid back place and the food was good. The menu was varied but we stuck with the pizza. Yes we ate a lot of pizza the first few days. :) First it was very good and we stay away from pizza at home so this was a treat. It's vacation right??

 

 

A view from our table.

 

 

Overall we enjoyed Dubrovnik. We will be back next year on our next cruise to Europe and will plan to try something different than the Old Town excursion.

 

See you next year Dubrovnik

 

[Cruising89143]

Next port of call was Corfu, Greece.

 

We chose to do a panoramic tour of Corfu for this port of call. It was about a four-five hour excursion by bus to various places around the island and probably one of the most boring. The tour guide on our bus tried to be interesting but we listened to information about olives for over an hour while riding around through Corfu. Ask me anything about olives and I can tell you. :) Of course we did hear about the history of the island and other interesting information also but the boring stuff outweighed the interesting. I looked around the bus towards the end of the cruise and there were more heads bobbing back and forth than were awake. If I were to return, I would simply take the cruise line shuttle to town for the day and have lunch. This area looked nice as we drove through it.

 

The island itself was beautiful. RCI only offered four excursions here. It was a short call. We were only here until 3:00 and had to be back on board by 2:30.

 

Not really much to tell so I will just post some photos.

 

Port area of Corfu as we arrive.

 

 

 

Driving around Corfu.

 

 

 

We had a thirty minute stop at this place on the tour. We had the best two desserts here. They were both traditional Greek desserts.

Baklava and a cake called Karidopita. Both were outstanding.