Splendor - Just off the ship today - Jan 28, 2014 - Review

[paulypride]

So the main show for the night was "Fiesta Latina" sounded interesting so we thought why not? Mistake! The two singers had very little chemistry and while she played Latina well, he was laughable. He was flamboyant to an extreme and honestly his vocals weren't all that great. I think the issue was he was more Broadway and they had him singing genre's which weren't his specialty. They had a few songs while I can't see how they want to attribute to Latin artists they aren't.....Hot, Hot, Hot while having a very fast beat and tempo is by Buster Poindexter who is about as white as white can be. Lol. The sets and costuming were great, as were some of the female dancers, the male ones not so much.

 

We then went to the Robusto Bar for more karaoke.....Shawn sang twice and we had some of the strangest performances ever. The rendition of Bohemian Rhapsody with the drunk white guy and the opera singer and one random elderly Asian man dancing like John Travolta in Pulp Fiction was over the top! We called it a night after karaoke as we knew we were getting up early the next day.

[Andoria]

Yay, an awesome Splendor review! I have less than three months to go before I get my turn.

[JohnSpo]

I've read that the red is marginally better.

 

:D

 

I was also on this Splendor Jan 20th sailing. I also dined in steakhouse the first night. It was an awesome meal.

 

Luckily I chose the red for my free bottle of wine. I thought the red merlot was good and went well with my surf and turf entree. The surf and surf was excellent by the way. As shown in the photo above, I also had the shrimp cocktail. It was awesome. I went back to the steakhouse on day 5 of the cruise. I had the NY strip. I thought it was OK but not great. The next time I go to the steakhouse, I will get the surf and turf again.

 

I look forward to the rest of the review. So far it is great! Thanks for taking the time to post the review and photos.:cool:

Edited January 29, 2014 by JohnSpo

[portport]

YAY!! I can't wait, we are going the end of March, and now very happy that I got the FTTF! Love to know that you guys had a great time being yourselves without the stares, makes me happy that I chose Carnival!

[sgttami]

My sister and I just booked this cruise last night for the 2/13 sailing. We've cruised before but this will be our first Carnival.

 

I was looking for a recent review and this hits the spot!! Thank you....

 

Counting down the days left in the cold!!!

 

Pam

[NCTribeFan]

Sorry to hear about the casino smoke. As a former smoker (and asthmatic), I find it really affects my ability to enjoy the casino.

 

Didn't enjoy the Latin show much on Conquest, either. And we sailed from San Juan (to Miami). I kept wondering what the Puerto Ricans on the ship must think of the show. We did, however, have an absolutely fantastic 3-piece salsa group, something I've been saying for years that Carnival should have on every ship!

 

I'm very glad to hear that it seems people are less and less shocked or surprised to see same-sex couples in public. :D

[Crusin Karen]

Thanks for this review. We sailed on Splendor in May when she lst came to Manhattan, mourning our Miracle moving out west and we were so pleasantly surprised that we loved her! We sail again in THREE WEEKS! :D:D I am starting to get very excited and a good Splendor review is exactly what I need! :p Congrats on your anniversary. You look like a very nice couple.

[Laurab23]

Great review.We were on Splendor in April and Nov.Mr V the maitre'd is the best ever.

 

Laura

[JohnSpo]

The only negative so far for the entire cruise was that the casino is not ventilated well for the cigarette smoke. We are not the type to think smokers should be left out but not at the expense of non smokers health and comfort, but this is NOT about smokers. If Carnival is going to have smoking in any venue they need to make sure there is proper and adequate ventilation/filters.

/QUOTE]

 

I do agree about the poor ventilation in the casino. I walked through the bar area of the casino and started to cough and gasp for air. I could not wait to get away from there. I usually am not sensitive to smoke so to me this was very poor ventilation. I did not notice a smoke problem while walking the promenade but the casino is just terrible. I did see the casino bartenders ask smokers at the bar to move to the right part of the casino bar away from the promenade. I guess Carnival is aware of the problem but I hope they take care of this. Nobody should have to cough and walk around with smelly smokey clothes.

Edited January 30, 2014 by JohnSpo

[Jamman54]

We enjoyed our Splendor cruise last August. Thanks for taking the time to share your experience!!

[Crusin Karen]

We enjoyed our Splendor cruise last August. Thanks for taking the time to share your experience!!

Hey. Jamman, been waiting for you to find this! OP, if you haven't already done so, read Jamman's AWESOME Splendor review! :)

[Giantfan13]

great review so far, and can't wait for more. We are on the

Splendor in 2 weeks and want as much info as possible. Keep it coming.

 

 

Cheers

 

Len

[paulypride]

Hey. Jamman, been waiting for you to find this! OP, if you haven't already done so, read Jamman's AWESOME Splendor review! :)

 

Jamman's review was what inspired me to do this review. His was so good. I hope mine can compare :)

[paulypride]

Thanks for this review. We sailed on Splendor in May when she lst came to Manhattan, mourning our Miracle moving out west and we were so pleasantly surprised that we loved her! We sail again in THREE WEEKS! :D:D I am starting to get very excited and a good Splendor review is exactly what I need! :p Congrats on your anniversary. You look like a very nice couple.

 

Karen, thanks for the nice couple comment. I know I am awesome, my husband well he can be a typical husband...LOL j/k!!

 

We too loved the Miracle and while I loved the Splendor, my husband loves the Miracle most. It is because he hated the layout of the non-spirit class ships - the galley in the middle. He liked the Fascination as well for this reason!

[paulypride]

I was also on this Splendor Jan 20th sailing. I also dined in steakhouse the first night. It was an awesome meal.

 

Luckily I chose the red for my free bottle of wine. I thought the red merlot was good and went well with my surf and turf entree. The surf and surf was excellent by the way. As shown in the photo above, I also had the shrimp cocktail. It was awesome. I went back to the steakhouse on day 5 of the cruise. I had the NY strip. I thought it was OK but not great. The next time I go to the steakhouse, I will get the surf and turf again.

 

I look forward to the rest of the review. So far it is great! Thanks for taking the time to post the review and photos.:cool:

 

 

My pleasure about the photos. I love to take pictures and always had my cameras with me. I have eaten at the steakhouse on three CCL ships now and i thought the Splendor had the best service, I was kind of disapointed in the decor, it really didnt stand out much for me in my opinion from the rest of the ship design.

[djhsolara]

Enjoying your review. You got on Splendor the day we left her...

[paulypride]

Sorry to hear about the casino smoke. As a former smoker (and asthmatic), I find it really affects my ability to enjoy the casino.

 

Didn't enjoy the Latin show much on Conquest, either. And we sailed from San Juan (to Miami). I kept wondering what the Puerto Ricans on the ship must think of the show. We did, however, have an absolutely fantastic 3-piece salsa group, something I've been saying for years that Carnival should have on every ship!

 

I'm very glad to hear that it seems people are less and less shocked or surprised to see same-sex couples in public. :D

 

My husband is 100% Puerto Rican and he was cringing the whole time during the show!!

[djhsolara]

So the main show for the night was "Fiesta Latina" sounded interesting so we thought why not? Mistake! The two singers had very little chemistry and while she played Latina well, he was laughable. He was flamboyant to an extreme and honestly his vocals weren't all that great. I think the issue was he was more Broadway and they had him singing genre's which weren't his specialty. They had a few songs while I can't see how they want to attribute to Latin artists they aren't.....Hot, Hot, Hot while having a very fast beat and tempo is by Buster Poindexter who is about as white as white can be. Lol. The sets and costuming were great, as were some of the female dancers, the male ones not so much.

 

 

 

You are spot on about this. We said the exact same thing...absolutely no chemistry.

[paulypride]

Continuing on along.....

 

Wednesday January 22, 2014 - At Sea

 

So we got up especially early today as there were some activities that we wanted to do as well as partake in the sea day brunch.

 

The brunch was good although we didn't have any of the lunch side items. Our plan is to go back on one of the last two sea days for lunch. I had a spinach, onion and mushroom Swiss omelette with a side of chicken sausage and corned beef hash. The has was outstanding. This was definitely not for a can, but rather you could tell that it was freshly ground up corned beef. Shawn also had this along with his frosted flaked encrusted French toast. I have a sneaking suspicion that the hash may get ordered again as well on our lunch visit.

 

We got to the Splendor Lobby for the first trivia of the day - history. I like to get there early and get a good spot. Sometimes though people arrive late and miss some questions. The people next to us came in at question 7 or 8. I being the nice guy I am caught them up and they were very sweet and appreciative. I finished with 19 out of 20 right only to lose to you guessed it, the couple who I assisted who got a perfect score! Nope never again shall I do that! So close for medal number 3!

 

Then stayed on to play US trivia and went to the Lido to play big screen trivia.....lost by 1 point each game.....grrrrr. Went for the experience at 1130am for Boy Band trivia....by far my worst this week, only 23 of 40 right. Then TV theme song trivia....woo Hoo....finally got that 3rd medal. Now I get my ship on a stick and on my way to getting a second one!

 

Shawn loves the hairy chest contest, I would rather not be in the vicinity, more afraid one day I will get dragged up there. So we went.....I have to say this one was more fun then most, Ross the host did a fine job mixing it up and having fun with it.

[Crusin Karen]

Karen, thanks for the nice couple comment. I know I am awesome, my husband well he can be a typical husband...LOL j/k!!

 

We too loved the Miracle and while I loved the Splendor, my husband loves the Miracle most. It is because he hated the layout of the non-spirit class ships - the galley in the middle. He liked the Fascination as well for this reason!

Oh, the Miracle was the BEST. I actually liked the Spirit more, just because of the colors. You can see from my sig how many times I have sailed on a spirit class ship. They are so easy to get around. Jamman is a big fan too! We actually went on the Miracle last Feb. JUST because we knew she was moving out west and wanted to go on her "one more time." We have always cruised in May and were shocked when we went to book the Miracle and the Splendor was replacing her! :confused:If it was a choice between the 2, I would pick the Miracle, but Splendor was a great cruise too! Just wish they would bring the Breeze up here to Manhattan for a couple of cruises! :rolleyes: ENJOYING this very much and thank you for sharing with us!

[Scotch Mist]

We thought "Fandango" we terrible! They sounded like one of the preset rhythms on the keyboard was being played with a few notes added for good measure. Unfortunately for them, the comments from fellow guests the night they played in the casino were most cruel!

 

The best entertainers were (I think they were called) "Music Society" and Keith.

[paulypride]

We then decided to have a easy afternoon. Shawn took a nap and I went to deck 10 to people watch and get a lot of this review done up to that point.

 

After the siesta we changed and went to dinner. Dusko brought over the bottle of wine from the night before and we ordered. Shawn had French onion soup, Cesar Salad and shocking he ordered a pork dish. Shocking because whenever I make pork at home he screams from the mountain tops how much he hates it....well he liked the jerk pork roast.....little does he know it's gonna be added into the monthly menu at home. Lol. I had the Braised Short Rib and sesame eggplant fritter and rice. One of the best meals of the week.

 

 

As mentioned earlier, Shawn auditioned for the role of Ricky Martin on the Miracle last year, but finished in second. This year he wasn't sure if he wanted to audition again, but once Antoinette saw him she was all about getting him to do so and he did, this time for Michael Jackson! The auditions were held on the lido stage which was very uncondusive to singing. Way too big of a space and the speakers were ok at best. The song that he had to sing was "Billie Jean" and he did a great job, but unfortunatly he came in second again. I think I was more disappointed then he was, but I am sure he was on some level as well.

 

We left karaoke and heading to bed, but not before some late night ice cream ;)

[JandR1LuV]

Love love love your review. The pics are so nice btw. I am sailing On the Splendor the end of May for my 30th birthday and I am super excited.

[paulypride]

Oh, the Miracle was the BEST. I actually liked the Spirit more, just because of the colors. You can see from my sig how many times I have sailed on a spirit class ship. They are so easy to get around. Jamman is a big fan too! We actually went on the Miracle last Feb. JUST because we knew she was moving out west and wanted to go on her "one more time." We have always cruised in May and were shocked when we went to book the Miracle and the Splendor was replacing her! :confused:If it was a choice between the 2, I would pick the Miracle, but Splendor was a great cruise too! Just wish they would bring the Breeze up here to Manhattan for a couple of cruises! :rolleyes: ENJOYING this very much and thank you for sharing with us!

 

I would love the Breeze or the Sunshine, but someone on the Splendor told me that they heard that there is a good chance it will be the Pride since they are only scheduled to be in Tampa till April 2015.

[NCTribeFan]

Oh, I like the looks of that brunch! I'm a morning person and always go to the buffet and have a made-to-order omelet, so I've already had my breakfast and I'm not impressed with the lunch options at brunch.

 

Next time, I'll have to have an early, light breakfast and have a "real" breakfast for brunch on sea days.

 

I sailed Miracle twice when she was in Ft Lauderdale. LOVE the layout. Really don't like the layout of Carnival's other ships. I believe the Spirit-class ships were originally intended for a different cruiseline but Carnival took delivery of them instead. I really had hoped to sail them all, and now Spirit is already gone, Legend is leaving soon, and Pride is moving to FLL. Was going to book the 2nd leg of the Pride repo to Tampa and they cancelled them! Stupid, stupid move, imho.

 

My HAL Hawaii cruise was on Zaandam, which was similar to a Spirit-class layout only smaller. Loved it!

 

Poor Shawn! Must've been agony for him at the Latin show! :p