Splendor Western Caribbean April 19-26 review

Hi all! Just got back last night from the April 19-26 Western Caribbean cruise on the Splendor. A little about myself and my wife. We are in our mid 30's from Orange County, Ca. This was our 3rd Carnival cruise, second on the Splendor. The other was a 3 day on the Inspiration out of Long Beach last October.

We first sailed on the Splendor when she was based out of Long Beach, Ca in August 2012. We had an OS and on the first night I proposed to her, so the ship holds a special place for both of us. About 7 months ago I was looking at her itinerary out of Miami and saw she was doing a Western Caribbean cruise on our 2 year wedding anniversary. So we put the deposit down on the same OS # 7328 that I proposed to her in. The ship stopped in Cozumel, Belize, Roatan and Grand Cayman. Of those four ports Belize and Roatan were the ones we were most looking forward to. We looked at Belize for our honeymoon but it lost out to St. Lucia in the end. In early march we found out my wife was pregnant with our first child so it turned into a wedding anniversary/baby celebration. She was 10 weeks along when the cruise started. I would be the only one drinking this cruise :D

We flew from LAX to FLL the day before the ship left, used Uber for the first time to get from FLL to the YVE Hotel in Miami. I must say that it sure beats a cab ride and what they charge. It was $68 for the 28 mile trip, and I had a $30 off credit for my first ride, so $38 was a great deal.

I didn't take any pics of the YVE Hotel room, we just got a studio since we were just going to be crashing there and nothing else for the night. But let me tell you the room is small, especially the bathroom. If you sit on the toilet the sink is literally 12 inches from your legs. The room did have a view of the turning basin so on the 19th when I woke up I was greeted with this lovely view

I have more pics of the suite as well as videos I took back in 2012 if anyone is interested. Its around noon. We walk around the ship, get some food and kill some time. When walking back to our room by the elevators we see luggage carts with bags on them marked FTTF. We see ours but Im not sure if we can just take them or not so we let them sit. At 3:00 they are still there, except there are more luggage carts and ours with other bags marked FTTF are pushed all the way in the back. My wife sees a steward, asks if we can take them and he says sure. So we lugged our bags to our room. Basically the faster boarding and bags right to the room with FTTF was a wash.

We were FTTF in October and it went great, we were on the Inspiration almost alone til around 2:30 or so, bags were by our room door, absolutely loved it. After the muster drill while looking at our S&S cards I notice they didn't even bother to put the FTTF sticker on the back of the cards. So I walk down to guest services where there is a huge line, except the one dedicated to platinum, diamond & FTTF. Walking right up to the front causes quite a few dirty looks from the people standing in line, lol. They realize their mistake and put the stickers on the back. Another mess up.

Muster drill went fine, and the ship departed Miami around 5:30, 1 1/2 hours late, no biggie. While leaving we decided to take a bad selfie on deck 7 right below the bridge.

Carnival Breeze was infront of us, and infront of her was the Norwegian Epic. The one thing I don't like about the Breeze just by looking at her is the deck that runs the whole length around the ship with the hot tubs on them. Looking down from a balcony the last thing Id probably want to see are people below me in a hot tub. Other than that the ship looked great.

The Norwegian Epic on the other hand is probably one of the ugliest ships Ive ever seen. The decks on top of the bridge just don't compliment the ships lines, as well as the art work on her hull.

The Costa Atlantica was behind us but I didn't get any shots of her til later in the cruise.

More to come.......

So looking forward to your review!

I like your writing style! Hope you enjoyed your cruise... What am I saying...?? you're on a cruise.. you're ENJOYING!

GT

I have been saying all along that FTTF is a waste of $50 , when we were on the Breeze we boarded 5 min after FTTF. I guess some folks have money to burn.

Holy cow, the Epic really is one ugly ship!

You're off to a great start. Thanks for taking the time to post it.

The last 4 cruises we noticed the same thing ftf luggage sitting in the elevator lobby still hours after we boarded they should find a better way to get them on the ship Not all crushed under all the other bags. I loved that cruise if you go back I have a great Marriott property to stay at in Miami they pick you up at the airport and then had a shuttle to the port as well. Check out my travel blog http://www.atouristlife.com

:)

I would love to see some more pictures (or video) of the room. I will be in the room right next to you on the June 1st sailing.

I will PM you my e-mail address but just wanted to post this message here in case you don't check PM's.

Thank you

EDIT: Ok it seems I can't PM you. My e-mail address is islanders1986@gmail.com

I'm really looking forward to the rest of your review!!!

Sorry for the lengthy delay, been busy with work, etc. Found out yesterday my wife and I are having a girl!

While leaving Miami a small boat thought it would be a good idea to cut across the ship within 100 feet or so....gutsy and also very dumb. Ship was blasting its horn at it while going down the channel.

The Splendor passing Miami Beach

Monday the 20th was a sea day. Very relaxing and calm seas. Woke up to watch the CD morning show.

The CD was Kevin Donohue and his assistant CD was Chloe. I never had a chance to talk to either but they were very high energy and nice. Kevin's Love & Marriage show was hilarious. They both did a great job the entire cruise.

On the sea day I took an opportunity to take a pic of my wifes wedding band and engagement ring...

I took the same pic 32 months earlier the morning after we got engaged from the exact same spot on the ship....

Im a sentimental bastard I guess.

Here is the ship somewhere in the Caribbean on the first sea day. Weather was great!

More shots of the 1st day at sea...

Ive sworn to myself that if the Splendor ever changes owners/names or gets scrapped Im buying one of these teak benches.

Woke up Tuesday the 21st, our 2 year wedding anniversary to this view...

Carnival Paradise was docked next to us. My wife and I sailed on the Inspiration a fantasy class ship last October and enjoyed the ship. They may be getting old but the Inspiration and from the looks of it the Paradise look to be kept up very well. Them lacking balcony rooms except for the suites is a big downer, but the OV room we had for 3 days was just fine.

More shots of the Carnival Paradise. You don't appreciate how much bigger a ship the Splendor is until they are right up to each other.

Before we left for our excursion we needed to take the 11 week baby bump picture. I couldn't think of a better place than the spot on the balcony where I proposed to her.

I would love to see some more pictures (or video) of the room. I will be in the room right next to you on the June 1st sailing.

 

I will PM you my e-mail address but just wanted to post this message here in case you don't check PM's.

 

Thank you

 

EDIT: Ok it seems I can't PM you. My e-mail address is islanders1986@gmail.com

Here are some pics of the ocean suite.

There is no better location on the ship than the suites on deck 7 Empress deck. 90% of the grand & ocean suites are located on this deck midship. There were nights where we barely felt the ship moving, if at all. Not too low, not too high, just the perfect location. There are also only rooms above and below you so its very quiet. I took a video of 7328 back in 2012 and its on youtube.

I also took a video of just the balcony in 2012

and on one of the "secret" decks forward on the ship. Great place to watch the ship arrive/leave port. I highly advise you check them out sometime.

BTW the wind noise on the camera is just that, it was very very quiet out front, cant even hear the bow cutting through the sea.

and a few pics of the vanity area/bathroom. Worth every penny more to me than a regular balcony room. Wife absolutely loved the vanity and larger bathroom....and Im sure the dozen red roses didn't hurt either. As we all know, happy wife happy life. :D

Here are some pics of the ocean suite.

 

 

 

 

There is no better location on the ship than the suites on deck 7 Empress deck. 90% of the grand & ocean suites are located on this deck midship. There were nights where we barely felt the ship moving, if at all. Not too low, not too high, just the perfect location. There are also only rooms above and below you so its very quiet. I took a video of 7328 back in 2012 and its on youtube.

 

 

I also took a video of just the balcony in 2012

 

 

and on one of the "secret" decks forward on the ship. Great place to watch the ship arrive/leave port. I highly advise you check them out sometime.

 

 

BTW the wind noise on the camera is just that, it was very very quiet out front, cant even hear the bow cutting through the sea.

Thank you for these. It's funny I actually had already watched your cabin video on YouTube. Stumbled across it through a Google search.

Congratulations on having a baby girl! I was glad we met you and your wife on the cruise. I hope you had as much fun on the cruise as we did. I'm looking forward to the rest of your review. It's always interesting to read someone else's opinion of the same cruise. I agree with you about FTTF. It was a waste of money for this cruise. We didn't get our luggage till later also.

Congratulations on having a baby girl! I was glad we met you and your wife on the cruise. I hope you had as much fun on the cruise as we did. I'm looking forward to the rest of your review. It's always interesting to read someone else's opinion of the same cruise. I agree with you about FTTF. It was a waste of money for this cruise. We didn't get our luggage till later also.

Thanks! We are super excited! Now comes the hard part, picking her name.

We booked a day with Nachi Cocom in Cozumel. It was a $17 cab ride each way, about 15 minutes from the port. It was $55 each for all inclusive drinks and a 4 course meal served at your leisure while you relax on the beach. It wasn't the prettiest of days in Cozumel. Sort of overcast with the sun peeking through at times.

Nachi Cocom

me reading on my kindle on the beach

My wife and I had mixed feelings after we left to return to the ship. We spent some time in their pool which was nice, food was so so. In reality Ive had much better Mexican food in so cal. The water was a murky brown color and we didn't even bother to go in as you can see in the pics. It was nice just to sit out and relax in the shade for a few hours, but it really wasn't worth the $55 each, especially since my wife wasn't drinking.

The ship left a little late due to stragglers, but also in port with us a few miles away was the Disney Magic. Maybe we will cruise on a Disney ship after our daughter is born....

I have been saying all along that FTTF is a waste of $50 , when we were on the Breeze we boarded 5 min after FTTF. I guess some folks have money to burn.

i agree.... FTTF is a wasted 50$

We booked a day with Nachi Cocom in Cozumel. It was a $17 cab ride each way, about 15 minutes from the port. It was $55 each for all inclusive drinks and a 4 course meal served at your leisure while you relax on the beach. It wasn't the prettiest of days in Cozumel. Sort of overcast with the sun peeking through at times.

 

Nachi Cocom

 

 

 

 

me reading on my kindle on the beach

 

My wife and I had mixed feelings after we left to return to the ship. We spent some time in their pool which was nice, food was so so. In reality Ive had much better Mexican food in so cal. The water was a murky brown color and we didn't even bother to go in as you can see in the pics. It was nice just to sit out and relax in the shade for a few hours, but it really wasn't worth the $55 each, especially since my wife wasn't drinking.

 

The ship left a little late due to stragglers, but also in port with us a few miles away was the Disney Magic. Maybe we will cruise on a Disney ship after our daughter is born....

Enjoying your review and CONGRATS!!!

Great review!

We were on the Breeze watching you sail by. Was hoping you had a closer pic and maybe could see us snapping pics as you passed!

Great review!

 

We were on the Breeze watching you sail by. Was hoping you had a closer pic and maybe could see us snapping pics as you passed!

where were you located on the ship? I took more pics of the Breeze.

If you follow the deck that is along the top of the Breeze sign forward, we were standing on that top rail with all those people but toward the front end of it. In the picture you posted the way it is situated, if you zoomed in under the orange bowl of the slide we would probably be in that area.

where were you located on the ship? I took more pics of the Breeze.

First of all, congratulations to both of you soon-to-be parents! :) I just started your review today and will definitely be following along as I'm really enjoying. We were on a Western Caribbean cruise in April 2014 out of Miami, FL, but were on Carnival Liberty. We also spent the day at Nachi Cocum and the water was the same when we were there. I'd seen pictures posted by others before our trip of the water being very Caribbean like and crystal clear, but it looked more like the water at the beaches in South Carolina we've been too. It was also choppy the day we were there with a lot of sea weed. We were told it's only like that a few times a year and I think it has something to do with the wind direction. We also missed a port on our cruise last year, so we're beginning to think that April may not be the best month to cruise and will stick to May from now on and take advantage of the lower prices. Thank you for taking the time to share your cruise and I'm looking forward to the rest.

ok where was I......On April 22nd we were in Belize. When we dropped anchor and it wasn't the best of weather in the morning.

We booked the Xunantunich ruins excursion through Carnival for the day.

Since its a 2 hour bus ride to and from the ruins we were the first people off the ship and on the tender at 7am. Everything went very smoothly, there were probably 3 buses with 150 people or so on the excursion. The buses were nice and clean and had a restroom in the back.

Xunantunich was a long day, but worth it. My wife and I looked at Belize as a honeymoon destination in 2013 but decided on St. Lucia, so we were really glad to be able to visit the country if only for half a day. The tour guides were great and the ride didn't seem like 2 hours to the ruins. After the bus ride you have to cross a river to get to the ruins....

The ruins are amazing! The pics don't do them justice.

more of the ruins...

The view from the top of the pyramid was great!

Its not a hard climb to the top of the pyramid but it is tricky in some areas. Everyone from our group made it and was rewarded with an amazing view. It was probably the most humid we've ever been but such a great day.

My wife and I....

By the time we returned to the ship the weather had improved. The water was a beautiful shade of blue. As beautiful as our beaches are in So Cal the water is never this light blue.

pulling up to the ship in the tender....

our balcony is directly in the middle of the pic, gives a good idea of the size difference between an ocean suite and a regular balcony.

and the ship underway leaving Belize...til we meet again....