Our Splendid Splendor cruise (with pics) 8/13/13

[Jamman54]

Sadly, the time came for us to leave. I wish we had a couple more hours here. I paid our tab (ransom), and got my Sail & Sign card back. We only had to show our card to Port Security, and we were on our way back to the ship….

 

 

Goodbye Grand Turk!! (until next time)….

 

 

Time to go people!!!....

 

 

Because we were there such a short time, (6 hours), nobody wants to head back to the ship early. Of course that results in long lines to get back on the ship….

 

 

Even though they were using two gangways to re-board…

 

 

Once back on board, we went directly back to our cabin, since we planned to watch our sail away from our balcony. This was our view, looking towards the gangways. Yikes!! We won’t be sailing on time….

 

 

To be continued….

Edited August 28, 2013 by Jamman54

[Chakuna]

Now this is how you do a review!!!! I feel as if I was there with you! Excellent job...looking forward to more!!!!

[TrqoisWtrs]

Great review and pics. Love the different colored font so its easy to pick out. :)

[foxcent]

Now this is how you do a review!!!! I feel as if I was there with you! Excellent job...looking forward to more!!!![/quote

Totally agree

Edited August 28, 2013 by foxcent

[Jamman54]

Now this is how you do a review!!!! I feel as if I was there with you! Excellent job...looking forward to more!!!!

 

Great review and pics. Love the different colored font so its easy to pick out. :)

 

Thanks Everybody!! Glad you are enjoying it. Stay tuned for much more!!

[Jamman54]

We decided to break out a bottle of wine to enjoy during the sailaway.

 

 

Ryan decided to meet up with some of his Club O2 friends at the arcade. We were supposed to sail at 3pm but we are already late, and they are still getting the last of the passengers onboard…

 

 

Right about 3:30 they finally threw the lines….

 

 

And then we pulled away from the pier….

 

 

The beach is deserted…..

 

 

Don’t see any pier runners!!....

 

 

To be continued…..

Edited August 28, 2013 by Jamman54

[Jamman54]

Patti took a few shots as we spun around to head back out to sea….

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We’ve spun around for one last look at the pier….

 

 

Onward to Half Moon Cay!!!......

 

 

To be continued….

Edited August 28, 2013 by Jamman54

[Jamman54]

Not long after sailing away, Ryan burst into the cabin all excited. He had won a PSVita, (hand held gaming system), on one of the machines in the arcade. He said he had only spent about $5.00 before he won, which is excellent since the system is worth about $200.00.

 

 

Of course he is holding an empty box. One of us would have to go to the casino cashier with him to get the real deal. Patti volunteered, and after she got back, we just hung out on our balcony until it was time to get ready for our 8pm Steak House reservation…

 

 

The Pinnacle Steak House – Deck 11 Aft….

 

 

We always make a point of eating at the Steak House at least once a cruise if the ship has one. It is a GREAT experience from start to finish. Here is the Entrée presentation…..

 

 

Sorry, no food porn here, but I will tell you that I had the portabella mushrooms, and shrimp cocktail for my appetizers. The shrimp here are not the one bite and done type like in the MDR, but two to three bites. They are nice and big!! For our entrees, I chose the 18oz spiced rub ribeye, and Patti had a whole Maine lobster. For dessert, I had the carmelized Washington apples, which were served in what could be a wash basin, and Patti indulged in the chocolate sampler. It was all extremely good!!!

 

The Pinnacle Steak House……

 

 

 

To be continued……

Edited August 28, 2013 by Jamman54

[Jamman54]

Another Pinnacle Steak House picture…..

 

 

Patti at the Pinnacle Steak House….

 

 

Afterwards we went to play some blackjack, and I lost $200.00 in no time. I need to find the luck that both Patti and Ryan have found!! We then made a stop at the internet café to check emails. The service was slow to non-existent, so after about a half hour of trying we gave up. The internet café manager took our cabin number and promised to credit us back for the minutes we attempted to use tonight. More on this issue later. Back to the cabin, and tonight’s towel animal.

 

 

 

We had a GREAT day in Grand Turk today, and a GREAT meal at the Steak House!!

 

 

Coming next – Paradise on earth, Half Moon Cay!!

Edited August 28, 2013 by Jamman54

[sjn911]

I am soooo enjoying you cruise and way you enjoy it...I see saving for cabanas and a balcony like yours could change everything..I mean wow..every second a different view and VIP feel on a reasonable budget, your pictures are sooooo good and I love NYC..Sarah

 

Lol..just noticed drum roll post 4999...LOl..Sarah

Edited August 28, 2013 by sjn911

[Jamman54]

Hi Everybody!!! Time to begin telling you about our wonderful day at Half Moon Cay…..

 

 

We were up at 6: 45am to catch a beautiful sunrise….

 

 

 

 

We could already see the island in the near distance. We would be getting there early. We then went up to the Lido for a light breakfast of pastries and fruit, then back to the cabin to get ready to go ashore. Ryan decided that he would like to sleep in a while longer, and he would take a later tender in. In the meantime, the ship had dropped anchor and there was a tender alongside already, beginning to load supplies and crew, to head to the island.

 

At this time what was supposed to happen was this. Those that had rented the oasis, villa’s and cabanas, (that’s us!), were to meet at the El Morocco Lounge at 8:30am, and then as soon as the crew and supplies were loaded, we would be led down to join them on the first tender to the island. Then the VIP’s, followed by the tender tickets, beginning with # 1 would follow. Here’s a copy of the Tender FAQ’s……

 

 

 

First of all, why have the oasis, villa, and cabana people assemble in a lounge that couldn’t be any further from the tender loading station. The El Morocco Lounge is on Deck 5 Aft, while you boarded the tenders at Deck 0 Fwd!!! It made no sense at all. So anyway, the nice staff member in the lounge cheerfully tells us that they are ready for us, and leads us on what seemed like a ten minute trek to the tender loading station, and much to our surprise, we boarded an already almost full tender. The crew and supplies had gone on the earlier tender we had seen, and this tender was the first one full of passengers. It seems that they had let those holding tender tickets 1 – 5 board ahead of us, so that many of our group had to stand, and even some had to wait for the next tender. Not the way it was supposed to be done, but we got over it quickly. We were on our way to paradise!!!

 

 

 

 

 

To be continued…..

Edited August 30, 2013 by Jamman54

[Jamman54]

Once on the island, we went to the information desk to check in for our cabana. They pointed us in the direction of a safari truck that would drop us off at our cabana, but since we were only a little way down the beach, we elected to walk it. Patti said that she wanted to walk around and take some pictures before it got crowded, so I took the nice walk on the beach to our cabana. The following few pages are some of the pictures that Patti took.

 

A very inaccurate map of HMC….

 

 

Welcome to Pirates Cove….

 

 

Pirates Cove first aid station…

 

 

The crew is setting up Rumrunners Bar. This Bar comes to play at the end of the day. Details will follow later….

 

 

Rumrunner Bar Patio….

 

 

Shopping stalls…..

 

 

To be continued……

Edited August 30, 2013 by Jamman54

[Jamman54]

The Gift Shop….

 

 

Distance signs….

 

 

 

Island Chapel….

 

 

 

“No phone, no fax”….

 

 

To be continued…..

Edited August 30, 2013 by Jamman54

[Jamman54]

Carnival Splendor at anchor off HMC….

 

 

Carnival Splendor and tenders…..

 

 

The Oasis….

 

 

Lagoon Water Park….

 

 

Looking down beach…..

 

 

I Wish We Could Stay Here Forever Bar…..

 

 

To be continued……

Edited August 30, 2013 by Jamman54

[bjinouno]

I Wish We Could Stay Here Forever

I WANT...... NO I NEED...... TO GO BACK can't wait to read and see more of our day there....

[jimbo5544]

I Wish We Could Stay Here Forever

I WANT...... NO I NEED...... TO GO BACK can't wait to read and see more of our day there....

That is why it is our favorite port of call.

[lifeisgoodPat]

Can't wait to see MORE! Love your review

[herb]

HI JEFF :D

 

so glad to see you here posting your review. I am reliving our Splendor cruise, which we did 2 weeks prior to yours, through your pictures and posts (even though we were rerouted due to Tropical Storm Dorian).

 

Whenever I see a picture of the ship I say "hey, there's our cabin" LOL...

 

We also ate at the Steakhouse and since we were a party of 8 they combined 2 tables and we were seated directly in front of the piano. It was as if we were VIP ... :D

 

You're right about the scrambled eggs. The first breakfast I got the one's from the buffet line as we always had in our past 19 cruises. Not quite sure how they were prepared, but they had to have been the worst ever... from that day on we went to the omelet station to order eggs...

 

A question for you Jeff...We had a great time on the Splendor... except...on our previous Carnival cruises the aft pool area was a quiet retreat for adults wanting some pool time without a lot of noise, but this time they even had the loud DJ playing there. We also noticed that they had a band set up in the casino area and boy, were they loud! :eek: Is this something new Carnival does now??

 

Can't wait to read more and see more of the wonderful pictures you took :)

[smjlt]

Can't wait to read your review..In a hurry now but didn't want to loose the review! =)

[Mrs.G's Mr.G]

Jeff I am loving your review and it is making my wife and I more excited about our upcoming Splendor cruise. I have to ask, was Tony Ray on board? Not that I am a big fan of his, he is good, but this is why I ask. He was the casino entertainer on our first cruise on the Triumph back in 2007. He was there again a year later on the Liberty. We saw him yet again on our Valor cruise 18 months later. We thought it was a strange coincidence that we was on all 3 of our cruises.

 

Our next cruise was out of New York on the Miracle and I commented before we left that I guess we will not be seeing Tony Ray and his wigs this trip. But low and behold, guess who was playing on the lido stage during boarding. Then we did the identical cruise a year later and yes, you guessed it, the man, the key board and his wigs.

 

The spell was finally broken this past April for our 2nd Valor cruise out of San Juan. So I was just wondering if he was on the Splendor.

 

I am looking forward to more of your review.

[Jamman54]

A question for you Jeff...We had a great time on the Splendor... except...on our previous Carnival cruises the aft pool area was a quiet retreat for adults wanting some pool time without a lot of noise, but this time they even had the loud DJ playing there. We also noticed that they had a band set up in the casino area and boy, were they loud! :eek: Is this something new Carnival does now??

 

Can't wait to read more and see more of the wonderful pictures you took :)

 

Hey Herb!! Glad you are enjoying the review. Sorry that you didn't get to sail your scheduled itinerary. Several crewmembers that I spoke to were happy to get back to HMC for the first time in nearly a month. Carnival has used DJ's at the main lido pool for a few years now, but having an additional DJ at the Aft adult pool is something that is new to me also. The DJ was only out there for a few hours in the early afternoon though. We wouldn't even try to use the pools or hot tubs until at least 5pm.

The volume did seem a little more amped up, but wasn't uncomfortable to me. Carnival rotates their entertainers thru the various venues, such as the lobby, casino, Robusto bar, etc., so the same entertainers are not at the same place every night.

 

Jeff I am loving your review and it is making my wife and I more excited about our upcoming Splendor cruise. I have to ask' date=' was Tony Ray on board? Not that I am a big fan of his, he is good, but this is why I ask. [/color']

I am looking forward to more of your review.

 

No, he was not one of the entertainers on board. Thanks for reading. I will be continuing our HMC day later on today. Lots of photos need to be uploaded first!

[Crusin Karen]

Jeff I am loving your review and it is making my wife and I more excited about our upcoming Splendor cruise. I have to ask' date=' was Tony Ray on board? Not that I am a big fan of his, he is good, but this is why I ask. He was the casino entertainer on our first cruise on the Triumph back in 2007. He was there again a year later on the Liberty. We saw him yet again on our Valor cruise 18 months later. We thought it was a strange coincidence that we was on all 3 of our cruises.[/color']

 

Our next cruise was out of New York on the Miracle and I commented before we left that I guess we will not be seeing Tony Ray and his wigs this trip. But low and behold, guess who was playing on the lido stage during boarding. Then we did the identical cruise a year later and yes, you guessed it, the man, the key board and his wigs.

 

The spell was finally broken this past April for our 2nd Valor cruise out of San Juan. So I was just wondering if he was on the Splendor.

 

I am looking forward to more of your review.

He was on our 2011 and 2012 Miracle cruises also. We spent almost all our time after dinner at the casino bar where he played and have lots of great pictures of him. Bought him quite a few drinks too! :p;) Very nice guy. I was disappointed he wasn't on our Miracle cruise last February. Does anyone know what ship he is on now? Thanks again for a great review, Jamman. :):)

[Jamman54]

We continue on with our day at Half Moon Cay.

 

 

Looking down the beach at cabana’s 1 thru 4…..

 

 

Patti has arrived at our cabana…..

 

 

We have had this particular cabana once before. We always rent a cabana when we visit HMC. It is up to each individual, family, or group to decide if renting a cabana, villa, or oasis is the right thing for them. Please don’t insist on telling me they are a waste of money, as you try to “borrow” my floats and snorkel gear, and use my shower, and I won’t call you frugal!!! Lol!!

 

 

Here are the details for those who don’t already know. A regular cabana as pictured above is $229.95, and includes the following for up to four people: floats, snorkel gear, snacks, soft drinks, water, a private shower, a fan with a mister on the deck, two cushioned loungers, four cushioned chairs, and a round picnic type table. They are air-conditioned, but open in the front, but I remember when they used to have a curtain that could be closed. Purchasing a cabana also gives you priority tendering to the island,(so they say!!). You choose your cabana # and beverages when you first board the ship. (remember that from day 1?)They tell you that if you have more than four people you can pay extra to include them, but don’t do it, as they never check, and the snacks and beverages provided can easily sustain more than four people. And how often will everybody be snorkeling or using the floats at the same time? Even when meeting in the lounge, no one checked our excursion tickets, so anyone could have joined the line down to the first tender.

 

The two story villas are $499.95, and are initially set up for eight persons, but can hold up to twenty. Again, paying extra charges for more than eight persons are probably not necessary. In addition to the snacks and beverages mentioned above (but for eight people), extra amenities with the villa’s include a hot tub, and private bathroom.

 

 

The cabana snacks…..

 

 

Now I have some issues with the above!! First, what happened to the sliced pineapple and melons that they used to give? Also, I’m not seeing the veggie platter that used to be included. Thirdly, with the amount of dips that they give you, you will run out of dip before you have consumed a quarter of that huge bag of chips that they give you!! Cutbacks yes, deal breaker, no.

 

 

Cabana beverages (8 sodas, 2 large bottles of water)……

 

 

Truer words were never spoken!!!.....

 

 

My favorite part is the view….

 

 

To be continued…..

Edited August 30, 2013 by Jamman54

[Jamman54]

Here’s another view of our cabana….

 

 

The nearby Captain Morgan’s Rock Bottom Bar…….

 

 

This is where most of the activity was centered. There was a DJ, dancing, fun, and games. This was the loudest and most crowded section of the beach, so if you wanted peace and quiet, you needed to be down near cabana 8 or higher!!

 

 

Looks like the Carnival Splendor is loading another tender to send over….

 

 

These are Villa’s A, B, & C…….

 

 

Looking further down the beach to cabana #7 and beyond….

 

 

Looking back down the beach towards the entrance…..

 

 

To be continued…..

Edited August 30, 2013 by Jamman54

[disfan13]

Here’s another view of our cabana….

 

 

The nearby Captain Morgan’s Rock Bottom Bar…….

 

 

This is where most of the activity was centered. There was a DJ, dancing, fun, and games. This was the loudest and most crowded section of the beach, so if you wanted peace and quiet, you needed to be down near cabana 8 or higher!!

 

 

 

Looks like the Carnival Splendor is loading another tender to send over….

 

 

These are Villa’s A, B, & C…….

 

 

Looking further down the beach to cabana #7 and beyond….

 

 

Looking back down the beach towards the entrance…..

 

 

To be continued…..

 

30 days for us!!! I am loving your review!! May I ask why cabana #4? We are renting one for the first time and am undecided what to rent. more pics please!!!

The last time we were at HMC it rained most of the day - didn't ruin it for us bit we can't wait to explore it a little more this time!