Report from Splendor 9 day cruise 12/08-12/17

[BNguy]

I decided to start this thread but it will be no means be a LIVE report, but rather a report on the cruise as time permits me to post the report.

I've already posted our pre-cruise experience at the pier in the thread "Sailing Wednesday on the Splendor", I'll not repeat that here.

 

So let's get down to the good stuff.  After we went through all the pre-boarding fun we headed to our stateroom.  The ship had been in town since Monday so when we boarded we were allowed to go right to our room, we have a Penthouse "A" on deck 9.  I had looked at numerous pictures and video but walking into our room for the first time took my breath away, it was so great.  Our stateroom attendants, Ni and Ali, were there within minutes, in fact Ni was waving at us down the hall as we approached our room.  After they explained all the details, our Butler, Christopher, called and asked if he could come by.  Again, within moments he was there and he explained his duties and told us if we wanted something to just call. 

 

I guess a bit of background, I'm 70 and my great wife is 69, we have cruised 9 times prior to this cruise and already have another cruise on the Splendor next November.  This is our first cruise with Regent and the experience so far has been wonderful.  Everywhere through the ship people will make sure to talk to us and let us know how happy they are to have people back.

 

Ok, enough of that.  First we took care of the muster drill experience which has changed dramatically from when we last cruised.  Now, you watch a video, go to your muster station and check in...and your done.  No more waiting out on the deck for EVERYONE to check in, when all you want to do is start having a good time. 

 

When then went for a bit of lunch at the pool grill, which was very good and then started to tour the ship.  We had our first cocktails in the Observation lounge, nicely decorated for Christmas and very quiet (relaxing) after the boarding process.

 

 

My wife had the strawberry daiquiri and I had one of the signature drinks, the "Splendor", both were quite good

 

Then came the dreaded unpacking which went rather fast and then we toured the other lounges which were open but not serving at the time.

 

Sailaway celebrations started about 4:30 with Boogie and Kasia belting out the hits.

 

For information, our captain is Captain Serena and the Cruise Director is John Barron.

 

Dinner our first night was in the Compass Rose, not much food "porn" but here goes:

 

My wife had veal picatta

 

and I had the scallops, which I might add were wonderful.

 

Our desserts were a raspberry tartlet, no picture however.

 

The show that night was "The comedy and magic of Levent", it was ok but we both were so tired from all the "fun" of the first day that we didn't stay for the whole show.

 

That's it for now.  I will have stateroom pictures sometime during the cruise to post along with other commentary.  Hope you enjoy

[kjbacon]

Thanks so much for this great report and delicious pictures. Happily awaiting more!

[Mudhen]

Loved your report! Thanks for taking the time to write it. Looking forward to more!

[RetiredandTravel]

Thanks much appreciated.  Love the pictures keep them coming.  Glad to hear they changed the muster drill, our last one everyone stood jam packed outside in the cold for 45 minutes.

 

Enjoy.

Edited December 9, 2021 by RetiredandTravel

[RJ2002]

Great report.  Looking forward to more...Enjoy your cruise!

[tripperva]

I wonder if anyone ever fails the covid test and then what happens other than being rejected from the cruise.

[Scout16]

I am also glad to hear that the muster drill has been changed, but I have never been forced to spend extended time on an outside deck on Regent.  Normally you would be seated in the theater or a restaurant for the bulk of the time and on occasion be led out on deck for a brief time. 

[mj_holiday]

Thank you so much for posting, I know it takes time to do that.

[RetiredandTravel]

31 minutes ago, Scout16 said:

I am also glad to hear that the muster drill has been changed, but I have never been forced to spend extended time on an outside deck on Regent.  Normally you would be seated in the theater or a restaurant for the bulk of the time and on occasion be led out on deck for a brief time. 

 

 

The one prior was in Prime 7 which was fine.  Full disclosure we were one of the first groups to go outside the last time, they made everyone stand in line at their station.  It was like herding cats and then they went thru things in great detail, it was probably 45 degrees outside. 

 

[Bellaggio Cruisers]

We made it onboard also!

The Covid testing moved swiftly and smoothly. From the time we got to the pier, did the test, received the results…we were onboard the Splendor in less than 30 minutes. 
The ship is lovely. Feels like we are on the Explorer except for some minor changes. Personally, we prefer the PH on Explorer. We never minded the smaller closet and loved the larger shower area and the enclosed toilet. We feel quite cramped in this bathroom. 
We had dinner in Pacific Rim, which was wonderful. I forgot to take  my phone, so unfortunately no photos. 
we decided to skip the show and retired early…. Still the most comfortable bed and pillows. 
Herb just left to do the Swimming with Pigs excursion. I am readin on my balcony. 
We are so happy we finally made it, after more than two years, to be sailing on Regent again!

sheila

[gcorgain]

Thank you BNGuy and Sheila for the posts. I'll be onboard Explorer in a little more than three weeks and I'm getting excited now!

 

[RetiredandTravel]

10 minutes ago, Bellaggio Cruisers said:

We made it onboard also!

The Covid testing moved swiftly and smoothly. From the time we got to the pier, did the test, received the results…we were onboard the Splendor in less than 30 minutes. 
The ship is lovely. Feels like we are on the Explorer except for some minor changes. Personally, we prefer the PH on Explorer. We never minded the smaller closet and loved the larger shower area and the enclosed toilet. We feel quite cramped in this bathroom. 
We had dinner in Pacific Rim, which was wonderful. I forgot to take  my phone, so unfortunately no photos. 
we decided to skip the show and retired early…. Still the most comfortable bed and pillows. 
Herb just left to do the Swimming with Pigs excursion. I am readin on my balcony. 
We are so happy we finally made it, after more than two years, to be sailing on Regent again!

sheila

 

 

So glad to hear you are enjoying yourselves.  I'm sure its a big relief to actually make it on the ship.

 

Please keep us updated and enjoy.   

[cruiseluv]

16 minutes ago, Bellaggio Cruisers said:

We made it onboard also!

The Covid testing moved swiftly and smoothly. From the time we got to the pier, did the test, received the results…we were onboard the Splendor in less than 30 minutes. 
The ship is lovely. Feels like we are on the Explorer except for some minor changes. Personally, we prefer the PH on Explorer. We never minded the smaller closet and loved the larger shower area and the enclosed toilet. We feel quite cramped in this bathroom. 
We had dinner in Pacific Rim, which was wonderful. I forgot to take  my phone, so unfortunately no photos. 
we decided to skip the show and retired early…. Still the most comfortable bed and pillows. 
Herb just left to do the Swimming with Pigs excursion. I am readin on my balcony. 
We are so happy we finally made it, after more than two years, to be sailing on Regent again!

sheila

Hi Sheila!  So glad you and Herb finally got to cruise! Enjoy the cruise, please continue to share your impressions as time permits 

[Bellaggio Cruisers]

1 minute ago, cruiseluv said:

Hi Sheila!  So glad you and Herb finally got to cruise! Enjoy the cruise, please continue to share your impressions as time permits 

See you…same time, same place on February17th!

 

[zak477]

Thank you BNguy for your detailed comments. So envious of you and also Sheila enjoying the Splendor. We still must wait for our back to back sailing in January.  Enjoy every minute of your cruise and  Merry Christmas to you all. 

[flossie009]

A sunny day(morning) in Great Stirrup Cay, today

 

 

As well as guests having the opportunity to sample the activities at this NCLH private location in the Bahamas it was also one of the very few opportunities for some of the crew to go ashore.

 

 

[Mudhen]

Quickie question about Great Stirrup.....Do we need to pay cash? credit card? for drinks, snacks, etc.?

[cruiseluv]

7 hours ago, Bellaggio Cruisers said:

See you…same time, same place on February17th!

 

Absolutely, counting the days!

[Pcardad]

1 hour ago, Mudhen said:

Quickie question about Great Stirrup.....Do we need to pay cash? credit card? for drinks, snacks, etc.?

There is an area for Regent guests with no charge...

[ronrick1943]

Sounds good, thank you all for posting-looking forward to reading more.

[kjbacon]

10 hours ago, Mudhen said:

Quickie question about Great Stirrup.....Do we need to pay cash? credit card? for drinks, snacks, etc.?

It’s a beautiful island and the bbq lunch is really nice. We currently have reservations for stingray city but are thinking about cancelling to just enjoy walking the beach or kayaking on our time frame.  We could certainly have a BM&MSM (did I get that right) on shore. All included.

[Mudhen]

1 hour ago, kjbacon said:

It’s a beautiful island and the bbq lunch is really nice. We currently have reservations for stingray city but are thinking about cancelling to just enjoy walking the beach or kayaking on our time frame.  We could certainly have a BM&MSM (did I get that right) on shore. All included.

Giggle! Now that's dedication! You might be on to something! We have not made any plans for the day...will just let the day take us!

[BNguy]

Thank you to all who have said they enjoyed my posts, I will have the stateroom pictures later today, but wanted to give you our experience from yesterday.  We did arrive at Great Stirrup Cay on time.  The day before I had received a call from Destination Services that we should make an effort to get on one of the first tenders.  I had reserved a cabana for us on the island, as we just wanted to chill out but also because it promised us some fruit, snacks and someone to fetch us drinks if we wanted. 

 

So we dutifully got up early (ugg, I thought I was on vacation!) and had breakfast in the room and then headed down to Level 3 which is where the tender station is.  Opps, they weren't ready but it was a short wait of about 10 minutes.  The ride to the island was fine and when we got off it seem deserted.  Now you must understand, Great Stirrup Cay is designed to have as many as two or three of the big NCL ships at a time.  The Splendor was the only one in port today.  But none of the booths were manned.  Finally someone came over from Regent and asked why we were standing at the booth that said Cabanas and Villas.  (We weren't alone, there were several other people in the line).  After much consultation via radio it was determined we had to walk up a sandy path to some waiting trams.  Then more conversation on the radio and finally we took off for our cabana. 

 

As information the cabanas are at the next beach over (I believe it's called Fiesta beach), so it indeed was a quiet area.  When our tram got to them we were told where to go.  When we arrived at our spacious cabana, no fruit, no snacks, but at least there was a mini-fridge with water.  We arrived at our cabana about 8 and no one arrived to even acknowledge our presence until 10.  Again, I don't want to sound like I'm complaining, I'm just explaining what happened.  The person what showed up at 10 with snacks and fruit and a drink or two was from our ship, we had met him the previous night in the theatre.  So it turns out the ships staff man the booths at the island and take care of the guests. 

 

Meanwhile we are sitting in our cabana watching the zipliners do their thing and looking over at the main beach and seeing a few paddle boards and a few canoes, but not many people from the ship.

 

After we enjoyed our fruit and snacks we did some wandering and finally about noon decided to head back to the ship.  A lot of the times the stay at Great Stirrup Cay included a big BBQ lunch, however we were leaving at 2 so that was not done.

 

No pictures in the post because it's time for a bit of breakfast on our sea day.  I'll be back later with some pictures.

[BNguy]

Ok enough text, I bet you want a few pictures, so here goes.

 

Entrance to our room on Deck 9

 

As you might gather this is a Penthouse suite which has a separate living area from the sleeping area.  In the dark area to the left is counter that has all the glassware, liquor set up and coffee machine.  Underneath is a mini-fridge.

 

This is the bathroom sink area, it's quite a large area, behind the camera is the toilet and also an entrance to the roomy closet.

 

The shower is amazing, there is a hand held wand, an overhead "rain forest" shower and there are 6 side jets, 3 on each side.  Let me tell you, when you have all those things throwing water at you, it's quite refreshing!

 

The sleeping area is great, nice King size bed and a dressing table

 

 

I apologize if the pictures are a bit dark, I was in a hurry and didn't take into account the outside light, but I think you can get the idea.

 

The veranda is huge

 

A couple from Great Stirrup Cay

Our cabana

 

A look at the main beach and if you look closely you might see a tip of the Splendor showing

 

On the way back to the ship, we see our "home"

 

We enjoyed the show last night, the first production show and then did some bar hopping.  We did have a lot of fun.  Now I'm going to enjoy the rest of our sea day.

 

[jctdlt]

Herb/Sheila how was swimming with pigs?  Our daughter is doing this in January.  Enjoy the splendor.