Our Side by Side Cruise review Glory & Splendor

[keene state mom]

hey !!! so exciting to read your review, and finally my name made it in a review ..I am so sorry to hear you had some health problems , scary, I paid that same 5,000 for a ruptured appendix, so I know that can hurt, worse then the belly but at least it was not my heart .

 

we are also going on the Glory with Tiffany this October , if you can make it we would love to see both of you .If not then definitely keep in touch ..

 

Gail

[cmptrwiz]

hey !!! so exciting to read your review, and finally my name made it in a review ..I am so sorry to hear you had some health problems , scary, I paid that same 5,000 for a ruptured appendix, so I know that can hurt, worse then the belly but at least it was not my heart .

 

 

 

we are also going on the Glory with Tiffany this October , if you can make it we would love to see both of you .If not then definitely keep in touch ..

 

 

 

Gail

 

 

 

This getting older is for the birds! I'm sorry to hear about your appendix problems too! We would love to join you guys in October, but it just won't be possible this time. We had such a great time with you guys last time. I tried to send you some photos but I must have the wrong email address. Send me your current address to cmptrwiz@gmail dot com

 

 

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[helene109]

We choose the glory over the Splendor for next month and have your same ports great to hear it has more food options, we have a balcony and our kids have an inside thanks again!

 

 

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[mpdog42]

Wednesday Curaçao day 5: we didn't have to get up early because the boat was going to arrive in the early afternoon. So we slept in a little watched a movie on TV and played a little bit of pinochle. After that we went out on the lido deck to get something to eat and we caught it just right. They were still serving breakfast on half of the buffet and lunch on the other side, so we had the best of both worlds. We grabbed a little of everything, but mostly breakfast. After eating we went back to the cabin to prepare to get off the ship in Curaçao. We had booked a tour on the Internet with Irie tours consisting of a five hour tour west end beach and island tour for $75 each. It seemed a little expensive at the time, but was well worth it. We arrived in Curaçao at 1:00pm and our tour was scheduled to begin at 2:00pm, but we were asked via email to checkin 10 minutes early. As we departed the boat there were some young women standing there with Irie shirts on so we asked about our tour and they said our names were on their list, but we needed to go out to the roundabout and meet our driver. As we were leaving the secure area just outside there were a couple of guys selling weed and offered us some. Of course we turned them down and went on our way. As we were waiting for our tour we weren't too far from the guys selling weed so we watched as they approached people offering their product. We arrived about 15 minutes before our checkin looking around for our guide. There weren't any distinctive Irie vans near the roundabout where we were instructed to meet. I began to get a little nervous until a group of five showed up for the same tour. A guy selling tours offered to call and check what was going on so I gave him the phone number and he was kind enough to call. He then told me he got a hold of them and they were on their way, but they had to stop at a hotel to pickup another passenger. They finally arrived around 2:00pm and the driver was very apologetic so then we all seven of us loaded up in the van and took off and we were on our way. As we were going through the city to our destination the driver mentioned some highlights on our way to the beach. The first beach was a beautiful little bay that we had to walk down some stairs until we got to the beach. The sand was beautiful and the water was a wonderful turquoise color. We grabbed a couple of loungers put our stuff down and headed for the water with our snorkels. When we entered the water visibility was good so we started swimming towards some rocks on the side of the cove. We we got there we found a few fish that were pretty. We swam around the rocks for a while seeing some nice fish but not very big. I got out of the water and headed over to the loungers. I'm not sure if we were supposed to pay for the loungers, but we were only there one hour and nobody said anything so we used them without any cost. I pulled ours up into the shade so we didn't get too hot. Another couple obviously from Europe parked there loungers next to ours. I say they were European because he had on a speedo swimsuit. They swam for a little bit and the came back to the loungers and the woman sat down and removed bikini top. I looked over at her and I was pretty shocked. I was trying to get my wife's attention just to let her see something you don't see every day in the United States, but she was busy. After a little while she put her top back on and they loaded up their stuff and left. When our time was up we headed back up the stairs to the air conditioned van took a couple of pictures and the headed down the road. The next stop was a National Park where we went into a cave down by the water on the Atlantic side where the water wasn't nearly as pretty as the Carribean side, it was dark green almost black. After the cave we walked up to a lookout point that was beautiful and took some pictures of the ocean. We walked back to the van and loaded back up and headed down the road. The next stop was another beach that had some sea turtles swimming by a dock and a whole school of thin long small fish. It looked as if it could of easily been 1000 or more. After checking that out we drove to one more beach called Willywood that was very picturesque and the sun was starting to set. We walked along the beach and took a few pictures, but decided we wouldn't get in the water. Everybody in our group seemed anxious to get going again. After leaving Willywood we stopped in a place where there were flamingos out looking for food. The water they were in was both fresh and salt and they were looking for shrimp to eat and that is why they are pink, because they eat a lot of shrimp. After seeing the Flamingos we headed into town. When we reached the town he started up the tour narration as we headed to the ship. When we reached the ship it was 7:00pm so our excursion lasted 5 hours. We both felt it was well worth the money. After getting on the ship we quickly showered, dressed and went down to the dining room. This night was the night that had the menu that isn't available on any of the seven day or shorter cruises. Because this was an eight day cruise I figured the extra menu would be at the end, but no it was tonight. We sat down and both ordered the Beef Wellington and it was delicious. After dinner we wandered around for a while and then headed to bed.

 

You know you took a couple of hits off that joint!!!:D

[teknoge3k]

Great review, we were on the Splendor last month. I'm glad to see other people on CC with positive experiences with AirBnB. We've done AirBnB several times in Miami as well as other parts of the country and love it. Our apartment in Miami Beach was cheaper per night than any hotel room plus it was much nicer. But there are a few people on here who are totally against AirBnB/VRBO and swear it's a scam.

[cmptrwiz]

We choose the glory over the Splendor for next month and have your same ports great to hear it has more food options, we have a balcony and our kids have an inside thanks again!

 

 

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The Glory is a great ship! We had a great time as you could tell. I did enjoy the Guys and the Blue Iguana food options and wished they were on the Splendor. You guys and your kids will have a wonderful time. Hey you are on a cruise how "bad" could it get? If you have any questions let me know.

 

 

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[cmptrwiz]

You know you took a couple of hits off that joint!!!:D

 

 

 

Nah! We didn't and if we did it would only be for medicinal purposes! I have enough bad habits! It was kind of fun to watch them approach all the different people getting off the ship. They did sell a couple of joints while we were watching to younger people.

 

 

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[cmptrwiz]

Great review, we were on the Splendor last month. I'm glad to see other people on CC with positive experiences with AirBnB. We've done AirBnB several times in Miami as well as other parts of the country and love it. Our apartment in Miami Beach was cheaper per night than any hotel room plus it was much nicer. But there are a few people on here who are totally against AirBnB/VRBO and swear it's a scam.

 

 

 

Thanks! The AirBNB we used was definitely cheaper than a hotel. The only downfall was the one we used didn't provide any kind of breakfast although we could of prepared one if we had bought groceries. The other downfall was no transportation to the pier or airport we had to provide our own, but we still saved money!

 

 

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[teknoge3k]

Thanks! The AirBNB we used was definitely cheaper than a hotel. The only downfall was the one we used didn't provide any kind of breakfast although we could of prepared one if we had bought groceries. The other downfall was no transportation to the pier or airport we had to provide our own, but we still saved money!

 

 

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I must say I've never stayed in one that provided any meals. Usually it's just a furnished house or apartment that we have for however long we book for. We usually just go out to eat or buy groceries and cook at the place. Like you, we always either have a rental car and/or use Uber.

[cmptrwiz]

I must say I've never stayed in one that provided any meals. Usually it's just a furnished house or apartment that we have for however long we book for. We usually just go out to eat or buy groceries and cook at the place. Like you, we always either have a rental car and/or use Uber.

 

 

 

Well it's in the name "air bed and breakfast". Just kidding! I guess I assumed most or some of them provided breakfast. This was our first time with AirBNB.

 

We have only stayed in one BNB and they provided a fantastic breakfast and gave us the leftovers to take home.

 

 

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[teknoge3k]

Well it's in the name "air bed and breakfast". Just kidding! I guess I assumed most or some of them provided breakfast. This was our first time with AirBNB.

 

We have only stayed in one BNB and they provided a fantastic breakfast and gave us the leftovers to take home.

 

 

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We have never stayed in a bed and breakfast, I guess that's why we didn't miss it. I just compare it to VRBO. Whenever we travel VRBO and/or AirBnB is where we book from if we don't take the RV. In Miami Beach we were a block from Lincoln Road Mall and 2 blocks from the ocean. We paid $165/ni - Hard to find a hotel in South Beach that's decent for that price.

[molole]

I remember reading some reviews saying Splendor has better top deck than Conquest class ships.

 

What is your opinion?

[Gallivanting Souls]

Sound like you had a great time. My hubby and I will be on the Spendor in Jan. Can you please tell me more about the AirBNB? If you can't give info here, please email me. Click on my member name.

[nealstuber]

Surprised with your number of cruises they did not do your laundry for you. We've always enjoyed the Platinum laundry service to come home with clean clothes. Would be really to have started the 2nd half with 6 bags of clean clothes.

Also, I've read that Carnival we transport your bags for you on a side by side?

Have these things changed?

Thanks for a great review.

 

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[BNBR]

Great review so far. I need to spend more time reading through it! Was very nice meeting all of you as well. I get some nice memories reading this thread!

[cmptrwiz]

I remember reading some reviews saying Splendor has better top deck than Conquest class ships.

 

What is your opinion?

 

 

 

I'm not quite sure what you mean about the top deck? Are you talking about the top deck where they still have rooms or the serenity area or the very top where the running track is?

 

 

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[cmptrwiz]

Great review so far. I need to spend more time reading through it! Was very nice meeting all of you as well. I get some nice memories reading this thread!

 

 

 

We really enjoyed meeting you, your wife and your two boys. We appreciate you sharing your villa with us. It was a great experience. We wish you guys all the best!

 

 

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[BNBR]

We really enjoyed meeting you, your wife and your two boys. We appreciate you sharing your villa with us. It was a great experience. We wish you guys all the best!

 

 

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Our memories of this cruise are very much centered around the wonderful CC members we had the pleasure of spending time with. Keene St.,You, Bobswife, etc. So glad you enjoyed your B2B! It's about time you get a review up!

[nealstuber]

I'm not quite sure what you mean about the top deck? Are you talking about the top deck where they still have rooms or the serenity area or the very top where the running track is?

 

 

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The open stern on the Splendor is a great improvement vs the Conquest class. The aft pool on those ships feels like a Gym.

 

 

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[cmptrwiz]

Surprised with your number of cruises they did not do your laundry for you. We've always enjoyed the Platinum laundry service to come home with clean clothes. Would be really to have started the 2nd half with 6 bags of clean clothes.

Also, I've read that Carnival we transport your bags for you on a side by side?

Have these things changed?

Thanks for a great review.

 

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We aren't quite platinum. They changed the requirements a few years ago otherwise I think we would have been already. We are Looking forward to being platinum and using the free laundry!

 

 

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