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Carnival Splendor 8/12/14 Review

cruisercathy

By cruisercathy,
in Carnival Cruise Lines

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cruisercathy

cruisercathy

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Just returned today from our 8 day adventure on the Splendor. Myself (25th cruise, 13 with Carnival) and two sons ages 26 (16th cruise, 11th with Carnival) and 22.. 15th cruise (10th with Carnival). This was our second cruise on the Splendor (last one out of Long Beach). I am platinum.

 

We live about 25 minutes north of the NYC terminal (without traffic). We drove ourselves in and left the house at 10:10 AM and we were in our cabin at 11:20. It was a very quick and relaxing, stress free check in.

 

I am now going to break it down into categories..

 

Cheers: We purchased it, for 8 days...$1035.00, you can not purchase it until 6PM but they credit you back for what you bought that day. Well worth it for us. I think I averaged 5 or 6 drinks a day.

 

Cabin: Veranda Deck 8.....8395 Do not book a cabin on this deck......I did not realize this is right under the Lido.....many times I was woken up or had trouble going to sleep with moving chairs in the buffet. It did not ruin my cruise...

 

Food: We went to Sea Day brunch twice....very good, breakfast in the cabin (Half Moon Cay day), rest of breakfast and Lunch on the Lido. My only complaint here is....buffet closes before 3......wish they would leave one open...eating dinner at 8:15 I didn't eat till about 2:30. Late Seating Gold Pearl...table 524...nice window table however it was dark out...LOL. We were seated with 3 very nice Spanish speaking women and a couple (I would say 70 ish) who were on their first cruise and only showed up the first and third night. I enjoyed all my meals, service was OK. My son had an issue about the third night his entree (just pasta) was not delivered yet and everyone else's entree was being cleared. He left out of frustration and I complained to a hostess.....the rest of the cruise he had a pasta dish for a starter and entree with no problem!!! Chocolate Melting cake...yum yum....sons had two of them each night...

 

Need to reboot internet...will continue later

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cruisercathy

cruisercathy

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Entertainment: Loved all the life entertainment including the live showband. I went to the Welcome Aboard Show and the Hypnotist (last afternoon) and the fill in show with the Showband and singers (not the top billed ones), The big show was postponed to participants being ill. The not top billed singers (I can;t remember their names) did a great show of Motown music. My oldest son went to most of the comedy shows and said they were good. My youngest and I were too busy playing roulette..LOL

 

Casino: First night I played one machine won zilch....as in nada so that was all for me......moved to roulette and had some great hours winning and losing for the rest of the cruise. My only problem is people who play with out learning how to play first and the people who think the table only belongs to them............You just get past it and have fun anyway!

 

Weather: it was a rough ride down with lots of clouds, rain and minimal sun for the first two days. Great weather in the ports. weather coming home....half days of rain, cluds and half days of sun.

 

Ports of Call:

 

Grand Turk: We have been there a few times. We walked down the beach to Jacks Shack for swimming with Topher and playing with Cooper and Olivia and Laura (all dogs) and some cocktails! A great time!

 

Half Moon Cay: Our very first time there and loved it. We were on the first tender. The boys went on the Aqua Trek (jet skis) excursion while I laid on my floatie in the water....Great day! We went back onto the ship for lunch so I can't comment on the BBQ.

 

Nassau: We did the SUB underwater adventure. Loved it...... A 45 minute bus ride to Stuarts Cove. Then a boat ride (20 minutes)It is a scooter with a huge helmet attached and you don't get your hair or head wet...you can even wear your eye glasses....saw some beautiful fish.

 

In closing, it was just what I needed before returning to work after having the summer off (teacher). I would go back on her in a heartbeat....look forward to 2.0 upgrades sometime soon!!

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funinthesun1964

funinthesun1964

Posted
Posted (edited)
Just returned today from our 8 day adventure on the Splendor. Myself (25th cruise, 13 with Carnival) and two sons ages 26 (16th cruise, 11th with Carnival) and 22.. 15th cruise (10th with Carnival). This was our second cruise on the Splendor (last one out of Long Beach). I am platinum.

 

We live about 25 minutes north of the NYC terminal (without traffic). We drove ourselves in and left the house at 10:10 AM and we were in our cabin at 11:20. It was a very quick and relaxing, stress free check in.

 

I am now going to break it down into categories..

 

Cheers: We purchased it, for 8 days...$1035.00, you can not purchase it until 6PM but they credit you back for what you bought that day. Well worth it for us. I think I averaged 5 or 6 drinks a day.

 

Cabin: Veranda Deck 8.....8395 Do not book a cabin on this deck......I did not realize this is right under the Lido.....many times I was woken up or had trouble going to sleep with moving chairs in the buffet. It did not ruin my cruise...

 

Food: We went to Sea Day brunch twice....very good, breakfast in the cabin (Half Moon Cay day), rest of breakfast and Lunch on the Lido. My only complaint here is....buffet closes before 3......wish they would leave one open...eating dinner at 8:15 I didn't eat till about 2:30. Late Seating Gold Pearl...table 524...nice window table however it was dark out...LOL. We were seated with 3 very nice Spanish speaking women and a couple (I would say 70 ish) who were on their first cruise and only showed up the first and third night. I enjoyed all my meals, service was OK. My son had an issue about the third night his entree (just pasta) was not delivered yet and everyone else's entree was being cleared. He left out of frustration and I complained to a hostess.....the rest of the cruise he had a pasta dish for a starter and entree with no problem!!! Chocolate Melting cake...yum yum....sons had two of them each night...

 

Need to reboot internet...will continue later

 

We drove ourselves in and left the house at 10:10 AM and we were in our cabin at 11:20. Jealous!!!

Edited by funinthesun1964
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cruise pup

cruise pup

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Nassau: We did the SUB underwater adventure. Loved it...... A 45 minute bus ride to Stuarts Cove. Then a boat ride (20 minutes)It is a scooter with a huge helmet attached and you don't get your hair or head wet...you can even wear your eye glasses....saw some beautiful fish.

 

Stuart Cove is an excellent operation. I did a snorkel excursion with them a long time ago. Back then it was not a ship sponsored excursion and was a lot better than what the ship offered.

 

As you can see by my countdown, I'll be on the Splendor in 11 days. It will be my 4th cruise on it this season. I live in NYC and it's so convenient and economical since I don't have to fly. Staff is wonderful but they know me so well now (last time was b2b cruises so they saw me for 16 days!) I really feel spoiled.

Edited by cruise pup
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Binks240

Binks240

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You and another cruiser from this cruise both indicated you couldn't purchase until 6:00 (she said 7:00) but they credited you back for all your drinks you had. Do you know if that's how it always is or was it because this was one of the 1st sailings with the new price?

 

We are purchasing our our September 13th cruise and I don't want to have to worry about checking or dealing with guest services on getting reimbursed.

 

thanks!

 

 

Cheers: We purchased it, for 8 days...$1035.00, you can not purchase it until 6PM but they credit you back for what you bought that day. Well worth it for us. I think I averaged 5 or 6 drinks a day.

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cruisercathy

cruisercathy

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Newto: I don't remember seeing the Aqua Trax (jet skis online). We booked it on the ship and it was I believe like $80.00 per person. You take a ride in a truck to where they are......sons said it was good.

 

Cruisepup...Stuarts Cove is a beautiful operation, however I was very disappointed in the photographer. Pictures were terrible. (Jealous of all your sailings)

 

Binks: I was upset that we couldn't purchase Cheers when we got on. So we purchased our drinks till 6PM. No one ever told us what we purchased would be credited back, until I checked my account one day.

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Bookbug53

Bookbug53

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Posted
Just returned today from our 8 day adventure on the Splendor.

 

 

Cheers: We purchased it, for 8 days...$1035.00, you can not purchase it until 6PM but they credit you back for what you bought that day. Well worth it for us. I think I averaged 5 or 6 drinks a day.

 

 

Did they give a reason for the delay? We have always purchased it as soon as we board.

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NCTribeFan

NCTribeFan

Posted
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Looking forward to my Splendor cruise (11/1 San Juan to Miami).

 

With so many Carnival cruises under your belt, you didn't realize that Verandah deck was under Lido? I have the deck plans open and a fake booking in process when I get on the phone with my PVP and know exactly where my cabin will be. There's a great website with decks that you can drag to see just what is above and below your cabin, so no unpleasant surprises.

 

I plan on playing roulette this time. I always stand and watch, but I pretty much just stick to slots. I wasn't aware that roulette has a lot of "rules" that I should be following. :confused: Better do some homework before I sail.

 

No Cheers for me. We only have 2 sea days on an 8-night cruise. I'll be off the ship exploring the ports every day, so it probably wouldn't be cost-effective. Now, when I'm on Splendor again to Bermuda, with 3 sea days and 3 days docked in port, I may give it a try. ;)

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Cyber Kat

Cyber Kat

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My only complaint here is....buffet closes before 3......wish they would leave one open...eating dinner at 8:15 I didn't eat till about 2:30.

 

We were on the Splendor last June when they still had the Sushi Bar - it was my go to snack, because we also had late seating. But now I hear it's a Tasting Bar. Did you try that? Know what the hours are? The Sushi opened at 4pm, I think.

 

We're on the Splendor again Sept 1 - I can't wait. I just love that ship and I can't really say why - I just do.

 

Thanks for the review and comments!

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cruisercathy

cruisercathy

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NC.....last year I was on the Breeze and Lido was on deck 10 and I was on Deck 8....I just figured it was the same......silly me....

 

Taste Bar was only opened on certain nights.....I only tried it the last night...grilled ham and cheese with a tad of tomato soup..It was good....

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EMMOM

EMMOM

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Cruisecathy, lol oops ok thank you. I'm trying to decide between splendor or the breeze for next year. We've done the breeze twice, but we live in NJ and the prices for next summer are compareable for once. I would love to sail out of NY for once and be so close to home. But my husband and kids want to do the breeze again since we love the big, beautiful boat. I see you have sailed the Breeze, do you find the 2 boats comparable at all?

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cruisercathy

cruisercathy

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Loved the Breeze!!!!! The Splendor does not have 2.0 upgrades or rope course....Serenity is much nicer on Breeze....it is a completely different ship.

 

We did the Splendor for the convenience of sailing from close to home...we were very happy!! No stress of flying, hotel, transportation.........

 

Only problem on the Breeze was we were aft and experienced an awful sewage odor.........most of the cruise...........

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NCTribeFan

NCTribeFan

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Ah, the Conquest-class is the largest/newest I've been on to date and Lido is above Verandah. Still, as many times as I've been on Fantasy-class ships, I still always double-check cabin location. I wouldn't be happy in a noisy location.

 

I rarely eat at the regular buffet for lunch and have never really paid attention to the hours it was open (or not). I gave up on Carnival's pizza years ago, but I know that's always an option. I'm a deli sandwich lover. I figure that will be my post-excursion late-lunch option (or room service).

 

I tried the taste bar a couple of times on Conquest and once on Pride. Personally, I'd rather have the sushi bar, although it wasn't all that great.

 

I end up eating about 5 times a day! Never have any problem finding something. I might be better off it food wasn't quite so readily available. :o

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