Carnival Splendor Thoughts.

[Yehootu]

My wife and I primarily cruise on Princess, but have done several Carnival Cruises. We started with Princess as we cruised with my Mom. She passed away peacefully in April and we decided to do a quick getaway and the Carnival Spendor fit the bill
 The cruise was a 7 day Mexican Riviera, one that we’ve done several times before. Being that we booked late, we chose a Ocean Suite room.

Embarkation: As with our last Carnival cruise, you can’t beat Long Beach. Just the distance you have to walk keeps everything moving soothly. Being we were in a suite, we had priority boarding and at 11:30, just kept walking. Went to room and it was ready, no waiting till 1:00. On Princess with my Mom, she was Elite and in a wheelchair, it seemed to take little longer. I ike Long Beach. Kinda different to get cruise cards at your room.

 Cabin: Ocean Suite 7-264. Very nice. More storage than I’ve ever seen. Bathroom with dual sinks, and a jetted tub/shower.
The tub was little tight for me, 6’1” 220lbs, was great for my wife. Nice sized room. Princess we always sail in their mini suites. Tub, but not jetted and only a single sink. Less storage. The balcony on splendor was very shallow. The Princess balconies a lot bigger. Same problem on both lines, no plugs by bed. Duct tape does the trick. After so many past cruises on Princess, it took about 3-4 days till I could remember the door swung out, and was not a slide type door. Very quiet room. TV was VERY small and only 1 for the suite room. Princess minis have 2 TVs and are a lot larger. probably for the older eyes.

 Dining: We had been assigned 8;30 dining, and as a suite pax, we were entitled to select our dining time/type. I took advice from CC and sent an email to the maitre’d and when we got our cruise cards, we had ATD. First night great 2 top by the window. Nice spacing. Next night, sat in seats that were so close to one another, we swore never again. Luckily the other time we did dine in dining room we got a table next to the one we had the first night. Service was good and food OK. I love fish and do think Princess offers better fish dishes.
The Sushi Bar was good and we had Sushi twice. 
 Lines: I don’t mind standing in a line, but not a 30 minute one. Mongolian Wok was always packed. I instead chose the Bar -BQ or the Tandor. Breakfast lines for eggs went pretty fast. Didn’t get much from Buffet. Deli was good when not packed.
On Princess food is available all day long from Buffet, and then just like Carnival, you have burgers and Pizza. Less lines, even though they can get backed up. Coffee Bar needs more than on person just like the Deli.
BIGGEST complaint would be the lack of sanitation stations on Carnival. Interesting how both lines owned by same parent company and such a difference. The older set up has hand sanitizers when ever you enter a food area.On newer and remodeled Princess ships, hand washing stations.

Loved the comedians at both the early and late shows. Production shows not to much. Princess comedians, seem all to do the same jokes.

I prefer a more open layout type of ship, and I realize on Princess you need that to handle the walkers and scooters(my Mom included). The elevators on the Splendor were fast and never crowded, again most likely due to a more active/younger clientele. Walkways seemed crowded in, but then you get a lot more bars and entertainment venues.

Ports: Cabo, water taxis didn’t have any lines by the time we got off, 11:00. Walk around and eat and drink
          Mazatlan took water taxi to Stone Island. Was expecting lunch crowds, but it was dead
           PVR, into Malecon to eat and drink.

Disembarking: What a ZOO, this is where Carnival needs to really figure this out. The staff just gives up and lets passengers do what they want. Totally unacceptable.Passengers yelling at each other, not a good scene.

Next 2 cruises back to Princess, but we’ll be back when the Panorama comes to Long Beach. Need to take the kids and grandkids on a cruise soon, so might not be able to wait for Panorama. I did like that we reached Red Level and got our 2 free drinks. Princess makes you wait till next cruise to receive rewards. On Princess only 1 in the cabin is able to buy drink package, not so with Cheers.

Happy Sailing..Aloha

[Are.we.there.yet?]

Thank you for your thoughts.  All ships and cruise lines have their pluses and minuses.  We’ll be on the Caribbean Princess next week and then on the Carnival Splendor in August.  We’ll enjoy both ships.