The good the bad and the ugly from my adventures on the Carnival Splendor

[lovelearnteach]

Yes indeed, As I stated earlier- the Muster is done in different areas of the ship depending on class/age as directed by the USCG.

Well I still don't understand how it works, doesn't seem to make sense to me, maybe I'm dense :eek::D:).

[lovelearnteach]

Is there an option for jealous. Not for the pink elephant but getting a trip paid for, I assume. My uncle never gave me didly.

 

 

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My uncle is special needs and lives with me and I take of and look out for him. I basically act as his travel agent planning everything out for him, he is unable to travel by himself, yet not in need of constant assistance. He never married or had children so we have always been close :).

[lovelearnteach]

Truly different strokes for different folks. When I leave my home I want it to be special, so I avoid doing the same line or even vacation over and over. I don't pack my bags because I am miserable at home and don't want to work or do chores. This story might be different if I was freezing my butt off in the winter or didn't truly love my home and job.

 

 

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Forums mobile app

I was the same way, but the older I get the more I like the same :eek::D:).

[lovelearnteach]

Yes I understand.

 

CCL along with the other lines must follow the USCG rules.

 

We will be wearing layers and be fine.

 

thanks

I never thought about or compared I guess the Splendor is the smallest ship I've sailed on, so they have to have theirs outdoors?

[lovelearnteach]

 

Hi Lovelearnteach :)

 

Thank you for taking the time to put together a review. Happy

Birthday also! So far I think your review is a breath of fresh

air because it's different, along with interesting. I'm far too

hesitant to write a review for fear of my every word being

picked apart to death & the comments getting far off topic.

 

In regards to the muster drill, as I mentioned in a previous

reply, my last two Princess voyages the muster was held in

the theater, the casino and in a club.

 

On the Splendor it was held outside on deck four, the lifeboat

deck. That being said, in my humble opinion I believe all

muster drills should be held directly at the lifeboat stations

(outside) so people really know exactly where to go if a true

emergency were to occur.

 

Enjoying your review, looking forward to reading more. We

had a terrific voyage aboard the Splendor, however my wife

and I traveled on her May/June with very different itinerary's.

 

:)

Thank-you :).

 

You may be right :).

[lovelearnteach]

Outdoor muster in the cold may not be a bad thing. You might think the pax would line up, shut up, and let the staff do their thing so everyone can get back inside! :D

You may be right but I believe there is a middle ground. On Princess they make you take your life jacket and put it on, Carnival didn't and if you've never put one on they can be tricky.

[lovelearnteach]

I am loving your review. Thank you so much for posting.

Thank-you :).

[Vitamin_Sea]

Well I still don't understand how it works, doesn't seem to make sense to me, maybe I'm dense :eek::D:).

 

Well..Lets look at grapes. They are similar because they are grapes, yet they are very different. Same thing with ships, similar but different. The USCG calls the shots. :eek:

[Vitamin_Sea]

I never thought about or compared I guess the Splendor is the smallest ship I've sailed on, so they have to have theirs outdoors?

 

Actually, the Splendor is not really small.

 

113, 300 Tons

950ft length

passenger 3006

crew 1150

[lovelearnteach]

Well..Lets look at grapes. They are similar because they are grapes, yet they are very different. Same thing with ships, similar but different. The USCG calls the shots. :eek:

I guess I'll have to google them I would like to tell them just exactly what I think of their decision :eek:;).

[lovelearnteach]

Actually, the Splendor is not really small.

 

113, 300 Tons

950ft length

passenger 3006

crew 1150

No she's not, I'm just assuming she is the smallest that I've sailed on.

[Vitamin_Sea]

No she's not, I'm just assuming she is the smallest that I've sailed on.

 

I did look up the three, PCL ships you have sailed and they are all about the same weight class as the Splendor. Within about three tons.

But they are likely built at different ship yards and are different inside.

 

The Splendor was originally being built for Costa.

[Maraprince]

When I sailed on the Miracle out of NY, our muster drill was on the outside decks as well.

 

RCI also does not require life jackets at their muster drills anymore either.

 

So far, I am not seeing anything really negative in your review to say, never again.

 

Sailing around the holidays puts extra stress on the staff to make sure everything goes well and everyone has a good time. The CD was excellent on our 12/3 sailing and had lots of activities planned on the sea days and port days as well for those who chose not to leave the ship.

 

Our friends were very satisfied with the size of their outside balcony cabin, the overall quality of the food, the wide selection of food choices (one was a diabetic and always found a dessert to eat), the overall service (day one their cabin steward was a little slow in giving them things that our cabin steward provided (we were on deck 8, they were on deck 6), but by the end of the cruise, they tipped their cabin steward extra for all that he did! Our wait staff in the dining room was also excellent. How many times did they go back and get another appetizer or another main course to share? Extra tips at the end for them too.

 

If you didn't want a booth, you could have asked the Maitre'd to change to a table. Your request would have been noted and acted upon. Considering your uncle was special needs, there would be no question that a regular chair would be easier for him to manage.

 

The children seemed to be much better behaved on the Splendor compared to the Explorer (RCI) and we did not have any issues with the elevators other than sometimes it was hard to determine which elevator "dinged". Sometimes by the time we figured out, the door was closing!

 

As far as a Meet & Greet for your roll call, our roll call arranged to have one and was given the Board Room at 1PM on day 2 at no cost. Some pastries and coffee were provided also without charge. It all depends on the "group leader" for your roll call. The Assistant CD stopped by for a bit.

 

We too have sailed with Princess many times but due to the extensive damage in Red Hook after Hurricane Sandy, their schedule this year was disrupted.

 

After awhile the "pink" tends to go away and not just jump out at you. The Legend has an urn motif throughout the ship. Either you love or hate the Legend -- there is no middle ground with that ship!

 

Sorry your overall impressions were so negative.

 

MARAPRINCE

[lovelearnteach]

After lunch, and patting myself on the back for a good pick, we mosey around the Times Square area before heading to our 4:00p.m. Top of the Rock appointment.

 

I had originally wanted to do the Empire State Building, but after research and friends in New York suggesting, decided Top of the Rock was the better option. We enjoyed it, the views were amazing and the elevator ride was kewl. I thought there could be better signage as the place is a bit of a maze, but we did eventually get everywhere we wanted to go.

 

It was then off to the Rockefeller Center Skating Rink, so icionic and puts you in the Holiday spirit. We just watched we didn't skate.

 

Then back to the hotel for a respite before heading to dinner at Pure Thai Cookhouse.

[ibcnusoon]

Looking forward to your review! We were booked on the Splendor for November 2014, but then Carnival cancelled the cruise and moved the heck out of New York, so we booked with Celebrity. :)

 

I took my girls to NYC last weekend to see the tree, the Rockettes and Radio City, etc. and we stayed at The Warwick Hotel, I saw availability at the Radio City Apartments, if we were looking for a fridge and microwave, I would have definitely booked!

 

Keep it coming!! :D

[Maraprince]

If your uncle is special needs, you would have received priority boarding at NYC automatically without paying for Faster to the Fun.

 

MARAPRINCE

[Vitamin_Sea]

Looking forward to your review! We were booked on the Splendor for November 2014, but then Carnival cancelled the cruise and moved the heck out of New York, so we booked with Celebrity. :)

! :D

 

I do believe CCL will return after they retrofit the ships to meet new, international standards emission laws to burn cleaner fuel by 2015. It is an expensive retofit to install these "scrubbers".

All ships operating within 200 miles of Canada are affected by this new law.

[babsee101]

Enjoying your review! Thanks for using a large font and changing to a format using paragraphs. These old eyes are not what they used to be! lol

 

I am especially looking forward to your pics of the Splendor. I think I would like the décor a lot. I am a huge fan of PINK! :)

[lovelearnteach]

Well I'm not trying to toot my own horn, but another excellent pick if I do say so myself. Awesome food, although neither of us liked the Thai iced tea. We started off with vegetable spring rolls, fried, very tasty. Terry got Pa-Yao beef noodles soup, mild and liked it very much, I got the jungle curry fried rice with chicken and a sunny side up egg, hot phenomenal! Awesome Thai food I highly recommend it :).

[Salt Wind]

Is Splendor the ship that caught fire last year?

[lovelearnteach]

Don't know why these didn't attach to the last post but here are the pix :confused:.

[lovelearnteach]

After dinner we did a little souvenir shopping, and sightseeing and went back to the hotel for the night.

 

We loved our 1st day in NYC, and are in love with this city. We would love to come back just to see more of the city and other boroughs as we never really got out of Manhattan. A wonderful start to our vacation, we couldn't have asked for better.

[Jamman54]

Thanks for taking the time to post your review. Knowing how time consuming it is to do so, I appreciate your effort, regardless of whether your opinions are positive or negative, as they are your opinions, and should be respected. Looking forward to the cruise portion of your review.

[PortSideCruzan]

 

Is Splendor the ship that caught fire last year?

 

 

 

 

 

Hi Salt Wind :)

 

The Carnival Splendor had an engine room fire November 8, 2010.

The Carnival Triumph had an engine room fire February 10, 2013.

 

 

[lovelearnteach]

I did look up the three, PCL ships you have sailed and they are all about the same weight class as the Splendor. Within about three tons.

But they are likely built at different ship yards and are different inside.

 

The Splendor was originally being built for Costa.

Well the whole system sounds ridiculous to me!