Carnival Splendor Questions/Concerns (not just a dry dock update thread)

[Vitamin_Sea]

Thank you all for the info and reassurance. One other concern to point out...right here on cruise critic, the satisfaction rate of 68% is 2nd lowest in Carnival's entire fleet and that number would be right at or very close to the bottom of all other major cruise lines as well. Not questioning my trip, just trying to temper expectations...

 

You are basically setting yourself up for a sour cruise if your going to nitt-pik everything.

 

BTW...Just did a quick search and I saw RC Quantum of the seas is at 46%!

 

OMG I guess they cant get the 5000 people on board with that low rating. :rolleyes:

 

Go in with a positive attitude friend. Its gonna be good.

[Florings]

Thousands of people sail each of these ships every week! The vast majority of reviews you read are written because the author had a complaint of some sort, which then skews their entire review. If you look at the reviews and dates, you will see a very few for each cruise - think that there are several thousand people getting off the ship and 2 or 3 review here on CC. And it's almost always bad.

 

Most people who gave a great time don't do reviews. So take those and that satisfactory percentage with a grain of salt.

 

Seriously, is there such a thing as a "bad cruise" under normal circumstances?

[Wheatie59]

I know I'm just one data point but we had an absolutely fantastic time on the Splendor. Was it perfect? No. Took a while to get a drink in the MDR. I didn't like the way the bartenders dumped the soda out of the can, losing all the fizz right away. It was tough to find a seat for the Dive In Movies. The bacon on Lido tasted off one morning. But that's all really, really minor stuff. If your expectations are that everything is going to be absolutely perfect and any hiccups are going to spoil the whole trip, you're probably going to have a bad time. But if you expect, realistically IMHO, that hiccups will occur and you just have to deal with them and move on I think you'll have a great time.

 

I think this applies to life more generally, not just a cruise ship. One of the self-help gurus whose stuff I looked at ages ago called this "getting caught in the story". Something bad happens in the morning and you have a bad day all day because you dwell on the bad thing. Set the hiccups aside and move on and you may yet have a good day.

[sarj04]

You are basically setting yourself up for a sour cruise if your going to nitt-pik everything.

 

BTW...Just did a quick search and I saw RC Quantum of the seas is at 46%!

 

OMG I guess they cant get the 5000 people on board with that low rating. :rolleyes:

 

Go in with a positive attitude friend. Its gonna be good.

 

It appears someone owns some Carnival stock.

 

I'm not here to pick the ship apart....Carnival offers the right value and ports. I'm not expecting the Four Seasons on water, just a clean ship with some decent food options. Carnival has been a good value for me in the past and the ships that failed to live up to my expectations have generally been on other cruise lines. I'll go with a positive attitude, but it's my vacation time and $$$, so I just wanted to make sure we weren't in for a dilapidated ship with poor food and crowds before I commit to this sailing.

[Vitamin_Sea]

It appears someone owns some Carnival stock.

 

I'm not here to pick the ship apart....Carnival offers the right value and ports. I'm not expecting the Four Seasons on water, just a clean ship with some decent food options. Carnival has been a good value for me in the past and the ships that failed to live up to my expectations have generally been on other cruise lines. I'll go with a positive attitude, but it's my vacation time and $$$, so I just wanted to make sure we weren't in for a dilapidated ship with poor food and crowds before I commit to this sailing.

 

Like any vacation my friend, all things are not perfect all the time.

In our experience with the ship, its never let us down.

 

Have a great one

[joellebridgers]

I was on Splendor on the Nov 9th sailing out of Miami. We were a total of 14. We loved it! The ship, as others noted, had a weird layout, but you do get use to it. I loved the adult pool in the back of the ship. I thought the food is good, don't expect 5star gourmet for the price you paid for the cruise.

The staff was excellent and the rooms were always clean and spacious.

I was on the ship when they had a minor engine room fire, it was handled excellently with no interruptions.

You will have a great time! Enjoy! It was one of my favorite ships!

[Jeepenfun]

OK, looks like OP question have been answered so i'll ask something about Splendor i've been noticing about where Splendor is pulling into Grand Cayman at lately.

 

I've noticed Splendor keeps pulling in on the southern side of the island away's away from where the other Carnival ships pull in at which is on the west side of the island just south of 7 mile beach. Like about 5 miles away. My question is with my shore excursion meeting point is at the west tender dock point. If Splendor pulls in on the south side of the island how do people get to the meeting points for their shore excursion which are usually at the west dock? Taxi's have to be limited on such a small island and with 3,000 people on Splendor getting off at Grand Cayman how are they supposed to get transportation to the west side to their shore excursions meeting point?

[Wndrwomn]

:o I am not really a spa kind of person, and with 9 cruises, I have never been to a spa on a ship, much less on land. question is; for those prices, what do you get in the spa? The older I get, the more, I am into pampering myself, especially since I only get to cruise/vacation once a year. Would love to know what those prices include, or where to go to find out. I have heard that Splendor's spa is very nice.:) and thanks

 

Hello :)

When I took my first cruise (Disney) I decided I would treat myself to the spa package where I could use the steamrooms, showers, etc. I never had a massage or treatment on board. In my 3 other cruises, I also purchased the spa packages and the main priority is because of *SPACE*. My first two cruises were with my two kids and my ex-husband. Up in the spa, you take beautiful showers and have a lot of room to move around, dry your hair, do your make-up. In the cabin, the bathrooms are so tiny! MUCH better to relax in the sauna and hot tubs late afternoon, take a relaxing shower, dry your hair, do your make-up and saunter down to your cabin where all you'll have to do is get dressed.

In two weeks I'm cruising again with my two sisters. We will be staying in the Cloud 9 Spa balcony room which includes admission into the spa for two. I will be purchasing a pass for myself which I think is $179 for 7 days. Again, with us three women in a tiny room we will all be much better off getting ready for the evening up in the spa.

To me, it's worth it!

Have fun!