Splendour of Seas Advice

[tabarber99]

Considering Splendour Aug. 11 & 18 2007 sailings in E. Med. We are well-traveled non-cruisers with 7 yr old twins who love kids clubs. Due to timing issues and constraints this is really our only option but have concerns over age of ship & quality of food. We are looking at Jr. Suites and Owner's Suites. Also what is the quality of bathrooms? I would like to hear the good & bad and from anyone with kids. If kids are happy everyone is happy. Don't want an iffy experience on first cruise. Many Thanks.

[Mrsg324]

I can let you know next month, well technically the first week of Dec. I will be returning from Splendour on Dec. 4

[tabarber99]

Thanks, would love to hear your experience. TB

[hawt1]

Splendour was our first cruise last year. We booked another one while on board we were so enamoured with cruising. We had a 3 and 6 year old with us and they loved it in kid's club.

 

You will always have variances with different itineraries and staff but we thought Splendour was, well, splendid. We had nothing to compare it to at the time and still have nothing to compare it to as our next cruise is about 3 months away.

 

Food was excellent, we continue to rave about it. Kid's club staff were excellent in every way.

 

Public washrooms must have been fine as I have no other recollection of them and the ones in the cabin were fine although I suspect if you are in the Owner's Suite yours may be even bigger and better than ours in a junior suite. If you have a shower with a curtain rather than a glass door, I shoudl warn you that you and the curtain will be best friends by the end of the cruise!

 

Enjoy and do not worry.

[Bassnote_1]

Food is subjective at best, but when I sailed on her almost two years ago, the food in the dining room was quite good, and the buffet food was, well, buffet food. Not the best but it was edible. I recommend breakfast in the dining room if you have time. We often didn't becase all of our excursions left early.

 

The Splendour is in pretty good shape for an "old girl", and I believe she is just out of dry dock as well. So she has been worked on.

 

And how much fun you have is directly proportional to how willing you are to roll with the punches. If you are overly worried about stuff, you may tend to be overly critical and ruin your own vacation. I don't get too excited about stuff and generally have a pretty danged good time.:D

 

She is a smaller ship and so you don't have the crowds and stuff and the crew that we had were excellent and very attentive. Only dampers on our cruise aboard her was the smoke in the casinos and bars and one activities guy with a serious attitude, but it was his last cruise and he let everybody know it.:rolleyes:

 

I look forward to being able to sail her again.:cool:

[Bassnote_1]

If you have a shower with a curtain rather than a glass door, I shoudl warn you that you and the curtain will be best friends by the end of the cruise!

 

 

Ain't it the truth!:D

 

Take some clothes pins and clip em to the bottom of the curtian along with a wash cloth or two and this pretty much solves the problem. A tip I read here on "the boards" that worked pretty well.

[cb at sea]

Hubby and I always book JS's. I really love them, for 2 people, but not for children over toddler age! It's simply not enough room! Plus, there will be no privacy for you the spouse! Either check out a suite or 2 adjoining rooms! (The advantage to 2 rooms is 2 baths!!!!)

A JS and above do have tubs, so that makes the bathroom a tad bigger than a standard cabin's bath. But--in the grand scheme of things, they are still small!

[bulldogmommy]

After having been on all RCCL classes except the Radiance class, I can honestly say the best service I ever had was with my stepchildren on the Splendour for Easter. From my cabin stewart to our wait staff (who did magic tricks every night for the kids), the attention to details on this gem of a ship was splendid!

 

As far as the food, everyone will find dishes they love and those they do not. I always find it amusing to read what people will find to complain about....especially if you do not like something the staff is more than willing to trade it out for something else.

 

Book it and enjoy the experience....By the way, AO club is wonderful and the kids love that staff as well.

[kdowneymd]

My husband and I and our 12 year old son were in an Owner's Suite this past May, right when the ship came out of dry dock. The bathroom i quite large with a nice stall shower with a glass door. There is also a jacuzzi, which I used and thoroughly enjoyed. There is a half partition separating the bedroom from a sitting area which has a fold-out sofa and for your age sons should be fine. There are very thick drapes that can completely surround the queen bed. One caveat about noise. The Owner's Suites are directly under the Windjammer and you will hear noise as they are cleaning and moving chairs and tables but it is tolerable but if you are a light sleeper expect to be woken up. Our son didn't use the kid's programs but met several children his age and they played ping-pong, swam and hung out in the arcade. Splendour does not have an enclosed basketball/soccer area as the other ships we have been on did which definitely made a difference in what the kids could do, but there is a large miniature golf course. The mediterranean is a great cruise, don't miss it.