Any recent Splendour cruisers out there?

[margbem]

Splendour doesn't seem to get many reviews. Anyone out there just been on her - specifically Eastern Med trip? How is she? Food good?:confused:

[beachnative]

:) We sailed out of Venice on the Splendour on June 28th. The entire experience was wonderful. We are not new to cruising and rank this cruise among the top we've taken.:)

 

Ship: she is a very attractive, clean ship.

 

Crew: fantastic. Each and every request we made was acted upon with care and with a smile.

 

Food: excellent in the dining room. Now, I do agree that Royal Caribbean's food has slipped recently but we were very pleased with our food. There were times when we didn't order an entree but ordered several appetizers instead (but we often do that at home).

 

Dining room service: ranked at the top of the scale...including the MTD.

 

Windjammer: only ok. They even ran out of silverware at two lunches. The pancakes were never warm. However, we were always able to find something else to enjoy.

 

Ports: very good. If you are going to Mykonos I'll be glad to tell you where to eat lunch.

 

Passengers: what a great mix of people.

 

The bottom line: we have decided to repeat that cruise once we finish the other 4 we've already booked.

[margbem]

Beachnative - thanks for your prompt reply!! We read some terrible comments about the Splendour earlier in the year so it's nice to hear such positive news.

 

We call at Dubrovnik, Kusadasi, Santorini and Corfu. Did you visit any of those ports?

[beachnative]

We did the other route but ours included Corfu. We were going to do the 8 hour jeep excursion at Corfu but my wife broke her ankle a week before we took the cruise. As a result we took the shuttle into town, walked some of the car-free streets (she had use of a "roller buddy") and ate at Rex Restaurant. We enjoyed the restaurant as it had very good food but would normally have taken the advice of one the shop owners and eaten at a more locals type place. Corfu town was pretty but touristy. If you do a search you might be able to find some of the earlier threads that we found helpful in our planning.

 

If you need info on the Venice embarkation and finding the shuttle to the ship I can supply that.

 

This is a thread that would be good on the Med. site so if it disappears you might look for it over there.

[margbem]

Thanks again, Beachnative. We are staying in Venice for 2 nights before we get on the ship and have booked everything through RCI so we have transfers included. We wouldn't normally do this but we are taking my husband's parents with us and they are in their 80's so we need to be looked after!! Hope we are!!

[beachnative]

Fantastic. His parents are very lucky...they will be on a ship whose crew gets an A+++ for taking care of people in need. Do not hesitate to ask the crew for advice on what the parents could tolerate. Mario from the Azores at shore excursions was very open and helpful. Anthony Richard, the CD, was always willing to give us advice and extremely pleasant about it. Heck, one of the waitresses in the Centrium even polled 6 other staff members to determine if my wife would be able to handle going to the beach in Mykonos. And Kumar the head waiter in the dining room was by and far the most outstanding on any cruise we've sailed. I hope you are fortunate enough to have Erica and Roderick (waiter and asst. waiter in the dining room)...the were fantastic.

 

You will absolutely love this crew. Have a wonderful time.

[suekay]

We, too, were on the June 28th sailing. My Mum is 79 and loved everything about the ship and it's crew. In fact, the crew were all so attentive that she got quite offended;) - she joked that they must think she was an old lady:D

 

It was our third time on Splendour in the Med (we alternate with Voyager out of Venice) and I'm sure we'll be going again (God willing)

[willow surfside]

We are going on the Splendour of the Seas, Eastern Med. as well. I really appreciate your wonderful review. You mentioned shuttles from Venice to the ship. I would appreciate the information on that AND if you have a suggestion on a hotel in Venice as well. We will be there two nites. Thanks!!

[suekay]

www.venicebanana.com/eng/maprom.htm

 

See the above site for a map of Piazzale Roma. The free port shuttle bus goes from the bottom right hand corner of the map marked "touristic bus". It looks like a commercial tourist coach rather than a city bus

 

We took the ATVO airport bus from Marco Polo Airport to Piazzale Roma, dumped our big bags in the left luggage office (also shown on map) then walked to Hotel Agli Artisti near the train station pulling a small overnight bag. On the day of the cruise we took the vaporetto one stop back to Piazzale Roma, picked up our suitcases and took the shuttle bus to the port. Easy when you know how:D

 

Agli Artisti is clean and cheap for Venice, but be aware there is no elevator. This year we had the tiniest room I've ever seen (unlike our last stay) but we were more than happy - it had all we needed for a short stay. http://www.agli-artisti-venezia.it

[beachnative]

willow surfside: We stayed two nights pre-cruise at the Hotel Rialto and one night post cruise at Hotel Monaco and Grand Canal (had stayed there before). Both are nice and convenient to the sights and right on the Grand Canal. We ate our last dinner at the Grand Canal Restaurant of the hotel...right n the canal and very special. The food was excellent. The next time we are in Venice will be during the winter months and plan to stay at some Rick Steve's suggested hotel. If you haven't used one of his guides it is worth reading. We generally eat where he suggests and have found him to be very reliable.

 

suekay: I can see how your mom felt that way. What a wonderful crew. We have decided that we like that size ship because it gives the crew the opportunity to be more friendly.

[Dr. Cocktail]

Hi Beachnative:

 

I was extremely encouraged by your positive and reasonable review of Splendour. I will soon be departing on her Dubrovnik itinerary and had a few questions. Did you notice many tables for two in the dining room and if so, did some strike you to be "premier" locations.

 

Also, did you have access to the Concierge Lounge and was the Concierge of assistance in getting you priority tender tickets? If not, how much of a pain was tendering?

 

Thanks!

[AF-1]

I was on your same cruise in May of last year. You can read my review on members reviews. It's listed on 5/07 under Tim Kerwin. I loved the ship.

[charliepenrose]

Thanks for the great reviews - I am on the Oct 11 Splendour Eastern Med/Dalmation Coast -- Can't wait to see venice, and all the ports