Splendor 9/22/13 - Better (way) late than never

[Malamel]

I meant to write this alot sooner, but if there's one thing I'm good at, it's procrastinating. As a result, I may forget some things, but I'll try to answer any questions as well as I can. Here we go.

 

I live in PA, right outside of Scranton. There was a large group of us leaving from the same area, so our agent charted a bus for us. We had a quick McD's stop for breakfast on our way. We're only a few hours from NYC, so it's convenient to sail from there. We were on the 9 day Eastern Caribbean with stops in San Juan, St. Thomas, and Grand Turk.

 

Embarkation - We arrived around 10:30, had a little bit of a wait, but the lines went smoothly, and within an hour of getting there we were on the ship. We hung out in the Lobby for a bit before heading up the Buffet for lunch. I had a really yummy Italian something chicken, potatoes, and ice cream for dessert. I was thinking of purchasing the Soda package, but I'm glad I didn't, the most I had was 2 a day, usually only 1, so it wouldn't have been worth it for me. Around 1:00 our rooms were ready, so we went to stash our carry ons so we could explore a bit. I was in an Inside cabin with 2 other girls, nowhere near as cramped as I thought it would be, and we were hardly in the rooms, so it worked for us.

 

The layout of this ship was a bit confusing and took me a few days to get used to.

 

Whale Tail!

 

 

Breakaway sailing away before us - I'll be on there in September!

[Malamel]

After lunch we walked around and explored a bit, then at about 4, we went up for the Muster Drill. I wasn't a fan of how they hold it, it was hot, we were crammed together in a small area, but thankfully it was pretty short.

After that we headed up for Sailaway. We had good spots near the railing. There was a fight between 2 "gentlemen" over a deck chair. I loved sailing under the Verrazanno (?) Bridge and seeing the completed Freedom Tower.

 

Moroccan Lounge

 

View from Moroccan Lounge

 

Some pictures from Sail Away

 

 

http://i1060.photobucket.com/albums/t459/mjmell0w2/Facebook/Cruise%202013/1379438_10201643124353941_438608995_n.jpg?t=1400431389

 

[Malamel]

We had early seating dinner. I usually don't eat that early, but it was nice to have the whole night free after eating. Our team was Hector, Ivica, and I can't remember the third man. The first few nights service was a little slow, but got alot better as the cruise went on. I've gotta hand it to them, they were excellent with remembering our names, what drinks we wanted, etc. I'd never be able to do what they do.

 

Some of the things I ate:

 

Starters:

Caesar Salad (Pretty good)

Heart of Romaine

Yukon Gold Potato Soup (DELICIOUS)

Broccoli Cheese Soup (Great)

Chopped Handpicked Field Greens with Ranch Dressing

 

Main Course:

Grilled Chicken with veggies and mashed potatoes

Spaghetti Carbonara

Vegetarian Lasagna (Not a fan)

Southern Fried Chicken

Cinnamon pumpkin, squash, yam, and cheddar cheese pie (Yum)

 

I only had the chocolate melting cake once. I preferred the Diet cakes, they were light, fluffy, and perfect.

 

 

Entertainment

 

This was my first cruise, so I liked the Welcome Aboard show. The group I was with had already seen it a few times, so they were bored with it. We also say the latin show, and Legends. They were pretty good. We usually got there a half hour before the show started and were able to get good seats. We always sat in the same section, halfway back in the section to the left of the main entrance.

 

We also saw 2 of the comedy shows, those guys were great. I can't remember their names, but the one had really super curly hair and he was great.

 

We went to Quest. The group I was with had won on the last cruise they were on, we only came in 5th on this one. Oh well, it was still fun.

 

Banana Daquiri! Soooooooo good

[Malamel]

Our sea days were pretty lazy. We'd wake up around 8:30, grab our beach bags, grab some breakfast, then head out to the aft pool. We never had a problem grabbing chairs near the pool. We'd lay out for a few hours, swim a bit, then grab lunch and eat in our deck chairs. Pretty much every day, I'd head over the the deli and grab a grilled cheese sandwich, the the Grill for a plate of fries, Then to the buffet for a salad. I kept meaning to try the rotisserie, but I kept putting it off (like this review) and never got to it.

 

Around 3 we'd head back to the room to shower, then walk around before dinner.

 

Since this one is a bit short, just a few things I wanted to stick in here somewhere.

-I understand people with small children will need strollers, but it was the real pain in the tush trying to get around massive strollers in the already crowded buffet.

 

-There was a lady (Who we had seen plastered drunk multiple times on this cruise) being talked to by security around Day 4, as she's screaming "Let me off of this ship! I demand to be let off NOW!" WHere do you think you're going to go?

 

This is all for now, I'm headed off to get some dinner, I'll try to finish this a bit later.

[hawaiissunshine1]

Funny I came across this! I have been meaning to write a review (photos included) of my cruise on the Ecstasy in March! Somewhere between the boat and my house, I lost my camera cable, so I can't upload the photos. I just ordered a new cord, so my review will be late as well :)

 

Looks like you had fun! Its fun to sail under the bridges. On the pride, you sail under the Key Bridge and the Bay Bridge. Makes for some cool pictures.

[092306]

I posted a review of our Miracle cruise well after the fact too. One thing leads to another when you return home. I agree, better late than never, thanks for posting!

[BattyL]

We were also on that cruise, so I am waiting for the rest of your review. I think we encountered the same drunk lady and this was at sail away!! Her breath just about knocked you over :eek:

[Malamel]

We were also on that cruise, so I am waiting for the rest of your review. I think we encountered the same drunk lady and this was at sail away!! Her breath just about knocked you over :eek:

 

Haha, Probably was the same one. She smashed a bottle of champagne walking on to the ship before the cruise even started.

 

I'll post more tomorrow when I get home from work.

 

Sent from my GT-N8013 using Forums mobile app

[beachnsnowbunny]

Great review so far. We are also from just outside Scranton Pa. and going on the Splendor Aug. 4th. Looking forward to the rest of your review. :D

[Malamel]

Puerto Rico - We didn't arrive in San Juan until 1 or 2ish, so we lounged around for most of the morning before getting ready to get off the ship. Getting off wasn't bad at all, not much of a wait. The first thing we did was run over to CVS for the Aloe lotion that every single person in our group forgot to pack, and grabbed some snacks. After that, half of our group headed back to the ship, but we walked around for a bit, bought some gifts, enjoyed being on dry land. Around 4 we headed back to rest, shower, and grab some food. We were planning on getting back off to go to Senor Frogs for some "refreshments" so we hit up the buffet instead of the dining room. After a few hours of just hanging out and treating ourselves to some overpriced drinks, we headed back to the ship, well before the 10:30 deadline. We took advantage of the still fairly quiet ship to take over one of the hot tubs for awhile, before heading to bed since we were docking in St. Thomas the next morning.

 

 

St. Thomas - We booked (through Carnival) a taxi and tickets to Magens Bay. It is so beautiful there. I would love to go back some day. Our taxi wasn't getting us until 11, so we had about an hour and a half to walk around and shop a little. Once we got to Magens, we took over a picnic table, went to the restaurant to grab some snacks, and hit the beach! Pictures don't do it justice, that beach is GORGEOUS. We had 2 hours to spend there (which due to my fair skin, was just enough time)

*One person in my group thought ahead and grabbed some cheap $2.00 inflatable rafts at Walmart before leaving, which we gave to other people at the beach when we left. Once back on the ship, we showered and got ready for dinner, then I think that night was Quest. After that, went back to the room, slathered ourselved in Aloe, and hit the hay.

 

 

Grand Turk - We split our day between the beach and Margaritaville. The beach was a bit rocky, but gorgeous, and we stayed in the "quiet" corner of the Margaritaville near the FloRider. A few in our group got food, weren't too happy with it, I only had a Pina Colada, which was good. We stopped in a few of the shops on the way back to the ship (I didn't buy anything) and once again headed back to the rooms for showers.

*It was a bit depressing getting on the ship after Grand Turk, because the next time we would be getting off was when we arrived home in New York.

 

 

Puerto Rico

 

 

 

Free Shots at Senor Frogs!

 

 

The view during breakfast while docked in St. Thomas

 

 

Magen's Bay

 

 

Again, I apologize for the lack of pictures, but I didn't feel comfortable putting my friends on here without permission and they're in almost all of the pictures I took.

[Malamel]

The first of our last sea days was the same as the beginning of the cruise. Breakfast - pool - lunch - pool - shower - wander - dinner - show - drinks - bed.

 

Our last sea day, however, we hit some rough seas. We were outside for about 20 minutes before it started pouring. We grabbed our stuff and ran into the buffet area to wait it out. We waited ... and waited. Then we gave up and put dry clothes on. We watched a movie in the room for a bit (no clue what it was), then headed up the buffet for lunch. It was Chocolate Buffet day, so there was no chance we were missing that. After my usual grilled cheese and fries (with a salad to balance it out), I had cake, cake pops, a bunch of things I didn't recognize - but tasted delicious. While we were eating, we hit some even rougher seas, and as we're sitting there, enjoying our chocolate, out of nowhere water starts coming through the doors about a quarter way into the buffet. The crew kept everything safe, and got it cleaned up really fast, but by then I was feeling a little crappy from the motion, so I went back down to rest. After dinner, we went to the Legends show, and then went to the rooms to put our luggage out :mad:

 

The next morning, we were up at 7, had a quick breakfast and were off the ship by 8:30. Disembarking was quick and smooth, no complaints here.

 

I go on my next cruise in September (Solo to Bermuda on the Breakaway!) and I plan on bringing my tablet with me so I can take pictures and write little notes so even if I wait 8 months to post my review, I'll remember more.

[Malamel]

Towel Animals

 

 

 

 

 

Artwork by our door

 

 

It's a bit weird to look out at night and see absolutely nothing

 

 

I won a medal! During the "adult pool games" where I had to draw things that make me happy ... with sunscreen ... on an extremely hairy man's chest.