Trip Report - Carnival Pacific Islands

[cruiser3775]

Back last week from a 12 day cruise on Carnival Splendor from Sydney. Went to Vanuatu, New Caledonia and Fiji.  My third cruise in the last eight months, and my first on Carnival. I'm new to cruising and trying out different cruise lines. Previously, I've been on Princess and Holland America. Solo traveller, senior citizen.

I have to start by saying I won't be cruising on Carnival again.   I chose it because I wanted a winter break to somewhere warm, and there was very little choice leaving from Australian ports in the June to August period.

The cruise line calls it a "Fun ship" and it is really geared to families and younger travellers. There were others my age, but few of them were travelling solo or in pairs, mostly as the older generation in  multi generational family groups. 

The ship:  The decor is a standout if you like tasteless kitsch. Someone said it was "like someone vomited pink donuts".  I was at first amazed but eventually started to admire the creativity of the designers. Every new venue I encountered was  different, interesting and amazing to look at. I found some nice quieter places to sit. The Christmas theme of the cruise was not overwhelming. There was a big tree in the atrium and some Christmas decorations around, and the musicians did a few Christmas songs before resuming their usual repertoire. The ship seemed to be mostly in good condition, though a little worn from use.

My balcony cabin was larger than the ones I had on Princess and HAL. It was serviced once per day, unlike my earlier cruises  where service was twice per day. The TV was small and the software for the "Carnival Hub" was riddled with problems and not user friendly. The bathroom had a larger shower and better water pressure, but the hot water was not very hot. Crew were wonderful, friendly and efficient. Cleaners were very evident everywhere, and I saw no signs of Covid on the ship.

The shops were the usual high priced jewellery, watches and ship themed clothing and souvenirs. The duty free spirits prices on the ship were more than competitive with duty free ashore in New Caledonia and Fiji.

FOOD: I was disappointed that you had to pay for room service, which was free on my earlier cruises.

I like to eat at shared tables and have conversations with others. That was very difficult because there were few others who had that preference, so when I turned up to dine, I more often than not got put on a solo table. I also found the food in the main dining room was very hit and miss, and the quality was mediocre. The serves were quite small, so many people simply ordered two of each course. There was a lot of overeating and some very large people, but it was possible to choose healthy things.

The buffet had better choices, and I found I could sit at a shared table if I asked others who were sitting on a larger table by themselves. They also did a good self choice breakfast and had some good salads, cakes and slices. The coffee was awful, but I took my own.

I liked the range of other food choices, like the Asian stir fry station where you choose your own ingredients and it is cooked in front of you. The Deli did excellent sandwiches. The Indian food place was a standout. Once I discovered it, I ate there a lot.  I'm not a burger fan, but that was another choice. Liked the self serve soft icecream stand, too.

Drinks:  I didn't have a drinks package, and not much OBC.  I had an occasional pre dinner drink, but at $16 or more, it would soon add up. I'm a wine drinker, so I brought onboard my one free bottle of wine, which I drank over a few days in my room. The wine list on Carnival was the worst of the three lines I have cruised on. Expensive, with ridiculous markups on mediocre wines. I bought some wine by the bottle, and either got them to keep it for me for subsequent dinners, or took it back to my room.

Entertainment:  Almost nothing I would have chosen. Geared exclusively to young people. Lots of thinly disguised on-selling for the shops and the spa.Some ridiculously juvenile acts and games. Movies were either children's entertainment (daytime) or action/violence stuff at night.  Comedy was toned down in the daytime and R rated at night. I went to one of the comedy acts in the day time and he started by saying "You need to come to my night time show. I'm only doing this stuff for kids because I'd lose my job if I didn't". He then proceeded to denigrate a wide range of people, borderline sexist and racist but apparently acceptable to management as long as the language was clean.  The big stage shows were spectacular, with good sound and light effects, but only a small cast.  The various musicians at bars and the atrium were mostly talented, and there was a good range.

The ports: Disappointing. Looks like Carnival chose the cheapest options. Vanuatu was a token visit to Mystery Island, an uninhabited coral island, with nice beaches and palm trees, but nothing to give you some appreciation of local Vanuatuan culture.  Fiji was better, but bad weather cancelled the second port.  New Caledonia was visited twice, coming and going. Surely they could have found another South Pacific Island port to make the itinerary more interesting?  I enjoyed my two separate days in Noumea, and liked the French influence. The weather was nicely warm but not hot.

 

I seem to have more negatives than positives. I can see that Carnival is a good fit for families with children, and for those who like to party. It just wasn't the best fit for me.

 

[OzKiwiJJ]

I think the South Pacific ports are a bit limited these days for various reasons - damage from storms, limitations on the size of ships visiting etc. 

 

We've done one cruise on Carnival, on Legend several years ago. It was amusing in many ways and the MDR meals on that ship were surprisingly good. They also had wine packages back then, 5 bottles from a short list that worked out about 15% cheaper. I didn't like the shows but we loved the Piano Bar for after dinner entertainment. We'd cruise on them again as a last resort but still prefer Princess (just). 

[Cruisers47]

Hi

 

i have read your review and thank you for that, it is appreciated .

 

I was also on Carnival legend years ago.

 

we have come back from an overseas cruise but had all sorts of trouble with the flights.  It was booked through a travel agent as a package (I usually book everything myself)  but this seemed very good,  got to the airport and found that because our airline had changed the flight the agent had not advised us of the new ticket numbers and ofcourse this was code share so we had to ring the agent to get more information,  standing at the airport waiting on a call back was not a good start.  I am glad it was not a weekend or after hours!  Same coming home from Europe flights changed and trouble.
 

anyway for that reason we are not going far next winter and have booked two on Carnival.  We realise it is not a luxury cruise line but I don’t want to spend all winter in Melbourne!    Also the Olympic Games are in Paris next year.  I think airfares etc will be extremely high.   
 

the South Pacific islands sound good.
 

actually you did say some good points about the cruise and I have taken them and will enjoy the cruises.  

 

we were on Azamara this year.  Drinks were basic even though they were supposed to be premium.  I think all the cruises have cut back on things.   Cabins are only serviced once a day.   Happy on RCL as we are diamond and get 4 free drinks a day each,  that is enough for us.

 

anyway sometimes cruises are just to get meals made and no cleaning to be done,   
 

eileen

[aussielozzie18]

Thank you for your review.  Very balanced.  I  cruised solo to the Pacific Islands in May on the Splendour.  I choose to be seated in a table of 2 in the MDR and because the tables were so close together found myself chatting to those on tables of 2 closest to me and it would often be the case that 3 tables of 2 would all be chatting together.

 

I started off eating at the MDR but by the middle of the cruise I started going to the Buffet for dinner because like you I found the MDR portions small (& I don’t consider myself a big eater) and yes I liked their buffet range as well as the other included food options.

 

Did you consider doing one of the local tours on Mystery Island?  I haven’t done them myself as I prefer to swim & snorkel but I believe they visit the school & village.

 

I was warned off the comedians by fellow cruisers on board.

[SinbadThePorter]

2 hours ago, Cruisers47 said:

Also the Olympic Games are in Paris next year.

 

The surfing section of the 2024 Olympic Games is being held in Tahiti.

 

In theory you could have the Olympics and the South Pacific all in one trip. 😊

[arxcards]

Thanks for your candour. 

 

Vomiting Pink Donuts 😂 I won't be able to unsee that when we board on Boxing Day. I think kitsch describes Carnival décor well.

 

I sort of know what to expect with Carnival, even though it has been a while. I am looking forward to some of the features, including the late night comedy followed by late night pizza, a sleep-in, then sea day brunch. All of this is very different to how we usually spend a sea day, in line with the way Carnival is different to our preferred cruise lines.

[Cruisers47]

26 minutes ago, SinbadThePorter said:

 

The surfing section of the 2024 Olympic Games is being held in Tahiti.

 

In theory you could have the Olympics and the South Pacific all in one trip. 😊

Ha ha …

[Aussieflyer]

Thank you for your review - it mirrors many of my comments on our cruise in July on Splendor though I found the hot water temperature in the shower fine. Agree on the food - MDR was quite so so whereas the buffet and the extra outlets were much better. There did seem to be a reasonable number of older people not part of the large extended families on our cruise but suppose it is luck of the drawer. There were things we enjoyed (and ended up in a trivia team which was a hoot) - we liked watching deal or no deal for example. 

I would go on Carnival again and know what to expect but for me it would be a fill in for when nothing else is around. Interestingly people do say P&O food is quite good so maybe even them for a winter quick get away.

[cruiser3775]

I completely forgot to mention the brunch in the Golden Pearl Restaurant. This restaurant is dedicated to fixed time diners in the evening, but three or four times during the cruise they ran a brunch there.  It was excellent quality. Even the coffee was good, and I'm very particular about coffee. Given the wide range of foods, you could choose to eat a large cooked breakfast, or treat it more like lunch, including dessert offerings.  My favourite discovery there was the 'Breakfast Parfait', a parfait glass layered with yoghurt, honey, nuts and seeds and dried and fresh berries. Yum!

 

[yes!yes!yes!]

I enjoyed your review.

I have seen the vomited pink donuts on you tube and agree it looks the least appealing interior.

I haven't cruised with Carnival, but wont rule them out in the future.

In our family we refer to the South pacific islands as the boring islands. 

[Tripmode33]

Really appreciate you taking the time to do a trip report on Splendor.  We board her for the first time at the end of the month for 12 days (4+8).  After having tried Luminosa earlier this year, know a little of what to expect from Carnival.  Must say, we're really looking forward to it.

[JJK2008]

We've cruised Carnival a number of times. They are budget cruise line market themselves as such. Knowing that, we have always been satisfied with Carnival and will cruise with them in the future. Catching a good deal during winter or even in the summer months is still worth it to us. A chance at a variety of food, shows, out at sea are what we look for. 

[Hogbay]

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I'm loving Winter Splendor cruising, unbelievable value with covid $900 obc . The share tables are at the set dining times . I like the correct portions size of the dinners and any issues with a particular dish is rectified straight away. The waiter do ask tell them not CC . The 2008 Costa Donut decor is something to be experienced . Plenty of places to hide from 'The Fun ' lots of food outlets included in fare the BBQ up stairs with pulled pork and chicken hasn't been mentioned . Tv Hub takes time to react , some 16 on demand moves to choose from ,cabin steward can help . No problem with hot water in any of the cabins we have stayed . Royal has once a day cleaning too and charge ,for room service in US $ and hot breakfast. Mystery Island is a very popular stop for all cruises lines , snorkel ,swim beach day and Carnival has two types of tour moden village and cultural village to the main island . Ile De pinns ,il of pines is still not open to cruise ships and Lifou marine park closed too . Photo failed to up load .

[colourbird]

Our first cruise was on a Carnival ship (Spirit) with a large family group and that got me hooked on cruising as I previously never wanted to go on a cruise (saw too many episodes of The Love Boat when I was a kid and thought all you did was dance and drink for the duration of the cruise).

 

We aren't loyal to any cruise line and just book based on itineraries, ship features and timing.

 

I like the sound of some of the food options you have described on Splendour (especially the self-serve Asian and Indian), so based on that may book another Carnival cruise, but would have to check the dates so the cruise doesn't coincide with school holidays.

 

We did manage to survive one P&O cruise which we were warned never to do, but we didn't experience any issues, so should be fine on another Carnival cruise.

 

[ceeceeDee]

Poor P&O tends to get a bad rap. We've cruised with them multiple times and never had a bad experience.

[Tigerlily75]

I wish Carnival would send us some of their more modern ships. I've cruised on Spirit and Legend and thought they were pretty out there decor wise, but Splendor and Luminosa seem next level. I did enjoy my previous cruises very much, but I just haven't felt inspired to cruise Carnival again on those ships! I thought their food was pretty good, but agree the comedians are not great. The "adults only" shows generally rely on swearing and sex without actually being funny, like a 14 year old who has just discovered both

[plettza]

22 hours ago, cruiser3775 said:

, but the hot water was not very hot.

 

You (or other readers) mightn't be aware there's a temperature safety feature on the dial.  It's physically stopped at 30°c or so but there's a latch on the dial that needs to be depressed whilst turning the to adjust the temperature of the water.  It's not that evident how it works straight away.

[plettza]

I will say, we cruised aboard Splendor the first time back in January/February and weren't too impressed compared to our numerous sailings aboard Spirit and Legend.

 

I found most of the seating, such as lounges and seating in the Lido Marketplace too low.

 

I was disappointed they took away Blue Iguana Cantina which made burritos and tacos, etc.  This was an undiscovered treasure in the morning for breakfast burritos if the Cantina is still available on Spirit and Legend.  I do agree the Carnival Deli makes great sandwiches and the Masala Tiger is another excellent option onboard Splendor.

 

I was also frustrated with the access to the Gold Pearl restaurant located aft.  There's a small atrium where dozens of people gather waiting to get into the dining room.  There's no thoroughfare from the main area of deck 4 to the Gold Pearl.  You need to to five and then down.  I also found the food was better onboard Spirit and Legend pre-CoVID.

 

On the Lido deck (deck 9), where our stateroom was located, we found you need to walk outside on the lido area to make your way the Marketplace.  This is problematic if it rains, which it did in Port Vila.  If you're carrying food back, there's not much covered area so if it's raining, you might get wet.

 

Speaking of the Lido, Splendor lacks the three-pools Spirit and Legend have.  On Splendor, there's a pool mid-ship and one located aft.

 

Lastly, tender access is slow and challenging.  Tenders are (mostly) loaded/unloaded from the top rather than the sides.  This means people take forever to walk down or up the tenders' stairways.

 

However, that said, were booked on again in October.  Given the choice from Sydney, I would take Spirit or Legend over Splendor any day.

Edited August 8, 2023 by plettza

[colourbird]

18 hours ago, aussielozzie18 said:

I was warned off the comedians by fellow cruisers on board.

 

I'm going to stop seeing comedians on ships from now on, i've found most of them are rude and racist. There's nothing funny in listing all the nationalities onboard and mentioning their stereotypes, "why aren't you Aussies in the pub having a drink instead of watching me?" "New Zealanders did you bring your sheep etc... 

 

On the other hand we've seen some pretty good magicians like Tim Ellis who we had to see twice (and that still wasn't enough).

[SinbadThePorter]

Just to be contrary, I'll say that Carnival is off my cruise list. Life is too short to waste time on dud ships.

 

That said, my opinion is only based on Luminosa. Maybe other Carnival ships are far better, but pretty much everything about Luminosa rubbed me the wrong way.

 

The good part. Nothing was wrong with the cabin. It was dated, but so are all cabins on twenty year old ships. The shows were very good.

 

The bad part. The decor is appalling. The Marketplace was done up like a kindergarten play center. I didn't know whether I should be looking for food or lego. The food itself varied from adequate to awful. Whichever chef thought it was a good idea to replace bacon with soggy ham at breakfast should have been made to walk home. I tried several hot rolls at the Deli, they were roasted on the outside and cold in the center. The MDR food was better, but the room itself had all the atmosphere of a company cafeteria, despite the inane dancing that would break out at odd moments. The layout of the ship seemed to designed to maximise congestion on all public levels. This was a particular problem in the Marketplace as the throughways were constantly blocked during meals, leaving you shuffling through various bottlenecks just to get out of the place.

 

There is more, but it might start to sound like I'm whinging. 😊

[Tripmode33]

5 hours ago, ceeceeDee said:

Poor P&O tends to get a bad rap. We've cruised with them multiple times and never had a bad experience.

We, usually loyal Princess cruisers, did our first P&O  Australia cruise this year. I must say we were very pleasantly surprised, and would not hesitate to book again with them.

[cruiser3775]

Thanks for all the comments. I did know about the hot water temperature controller, but it still didn't make the water hot enough. I guess I should have talked to my excellent cabin steward about it, but I just put up with it. It wasn't cold water, just not very hot.  On bathroom things on Carnival, can I recommend you BYO soap and shampoo. The body wash and shampoo they offer in a dispenser is dire. My hair looked like a straw broom on a scarecrow after I unwisely used it.   Apart from those two bulk dispensers, you are provided with only one miniature soap bar in the bathroom, nothing else.

Yes, I agree than the bench seats in the MDR are too low.  Short people almost have their chins in the food when seated, but there are also chairs which are the proper height.  I didn't experience the crowding and long queues, mainly because I avoided them by eating later for every meal.

The ship itself, aside from the weird and wonderful decor, does have some logistics problems, like lifts that don't go to every floor, and blocked off aft entrances to the MDR which force everyone to go only to the forward entrance. 

[arxcards]

2 hours ago, SinbadThePorter said:

Just to be contrary, I'll say that Carnival is off my cruise list. Life is too short to waste time on dud ships.

 

That said, my opinion is only based on Luminosa. Maybe other Carnival ships are far better, but pretty much everything about Luminosa rubbed me the wrong way.

 

The good part. Nothing was wrong with the cabin. It was dated, but so are all cabins on twenty year old ships. The shows were very good.

 

The bad part. The decor is appalling. The Marketplace was done up like a kindergarten play center. I didn't know whether I should be looking for food or lego. The food itself varied from adequate to awful. Whichever chef thought it was a good idea to replace bacon with soggy ham at breakfast should have been made to walk home. I tried several hot rolls at the Deli, they were roasted on the outside and cold in the center. The MDR food was better, but the room itself had all the atmosphere of a company cafeteria, despite the inane dancing that would break out at odd moments. The layout of the ship seemed to designed to maximise congestion on all public levels. This was a particular problem in the Marketplace as the throughways were constantly blocked during meals, leaving you shuffling through various bottlenecks just to get out of the place.

 

There is more, but it might start to sound like I'm whinging. 😊

Ahh, yes. The table dancers in the dining room. A bit on the strange side, but probably more entertaining than a Baked Alaska parade.

[Cruisers47]

1 hour ago, cruiser3775 said:

Thanks for all the comments. I did know about the hot water temperature controller, but it still didn't make the water hot enough. I guess I should have talked to my excellent cabin steward about it, but I just put up with it. It wasn't cold water, just not very hot.  On bathroom things on Carnival, can I recommend you BYO soap and shampoo. The body wash and shampoo they offer in a dispenser is dire. My hair looked like a straw broom on a scarecrow after I unwisely used it.   Apart from those two bulk dispensers, you are provided with only one miniature soap bar in the bathroom, nothing else.

Yes, I agree than the bench seats in the MDR are too low.  Short people almost have their chins in the food when seated, but there are also chairs which are the proper height.  I didn't experience the crowding and long queues, mainly because I avoided them by eating later for every meal.

The ship itself, aside from the weird and wonderful decor, does have some logistics problems, like lifts that don't go to every floor, and blocked off aft entrances to the MDR which force everyone to go only to the forward entrance. 

I always take my own shampoo and conditioner no matter which ship.

[Amaroo Andrew]

In Feb 2018 I was invited to join friends on Carnival Legend for a NZ cruise. It was the worst cruise I had ever been on and I vowed to avoid Carnival like the plague. In 2022 a mate puts me on to a very cheap repositioning cruise from Seattle to Sydney on Carnival Splendor in September. Surely I couldn't get two dud cruises with Carnival.

I did !

I must emphasize that the crew were terrific and have no complaints about about that part of the cruise. 

The good  bits were the Masala Tiger for lunch and the Red Frog Pub for karaoke. So endth the good bits.

If you think the pink donuts are bad try the brown Greek urns on Legend. I must admit I did start to like the art deco style decor in the accommodation passageways.

Overall the food was woeful and the entertainment was worse than the Sunday afternoon free concerts at the local RSL.

The cabin wasn't too bad but I am still trying to work out why they needed to put a 8 foot lounge into a two person cabin. If the TV was any smaller it could have doubled up as a monitor on a laptop. The bathroom was better than a Princess offering.

Port stops requiring tender use was a complete shambles and the embarkation at Seattle and disembarking at Sydney were even worse.

It is my opinion that Carnival has come to Australia to make P&O look good. That said, I have been hearing reports P&O is improving and not too bad. I might give them another go.

As for Carnival:- Never ever ever again.