Another Splendid Splendor cruise (with pics) 6/29/15

Ahoy Everyone!! My name is Jeff “Jamman” Maskall, and I am a Cruise Addict!! We just returned from an 8 day, round trip cruise from New York, aboard the Carnival Splendor to Grand Turk, Half Moon Cay, and Nassau. I briefly thought about not doing a review of this cruise, since we have been on her three times in the past two years, but quickly realized that every cruise is different, so of course I had to do a review! That, and the fact that we, okay mostly Patti, took over 2,000 photos during the cruise, which we just have to share with everybody. Also, since the Splendor will not be back in New York next year, who knows when, or even if, we will sail on her again.

At the beginning of the year, this cruise was not even on the radar, since we had the Pride booked for April, and the Breeze booked for August. But then I received the casino pack and play offer for the “almost free” cruises. Seeing that this offer included late June and early July sailings, I immediately texted Patti at work, (she’s a teacher), and asked her when her last day of school was, and when Ryan’s high school graduation was. Patti was so excited to finally be able to take advantage of this offer, and ordered me to book immediately!! Lol. This Carnival Splendor sailing was perfect for us since it was from our homeport of New York, so no flights or hotels to book, and it went to two of our favorite ports, Grand Turk, and Half Moon Cay. We decided to upgrade to a balcony for a $120 per person, and we were able to get a bowling alley balcony next to one of the aft wraps on deck 7. Perfect!! Now all we had to do was wait.

Now I’m going to have to disappoint the members of the Ryan fan club, as he wouldn’t be taking this cruise with us. First, we would have had to pay full rate for him, which then would have made this cruise not “almost free”, and therefore, not doable. Ryan was just fine with that, since he told us he had college orientation during that time, amongst other things he needed to do. Besides, Patti and I have not sailed alone together since we sailed on the Carnival Destiny when she was brand new back in 1998! But don’t worry, Ryan will be back sailing with us again next month on the Carnival Breeze. So, for those that will miss Ryan on this cruise, I offer a few photos of our recent high school graduate, of whom we are extremely proud…..

Okay then, let’s get this review officially started!!

After 5 months, and a very hectic last few weeks, we are ready to go. The van is loaded up for what could be anywhere from a one hour to two trip into New York, depending on the traffic. That’s the downside of driving in to the city during the work week. We left at 8:45am, and Ryan took our picture as we prepared to leave…..

Ryan waves goodbye to us. Is he smiling because he has the house to himself, or because he’s planning a huge party while we’re gone? Will our house still be standing when we get back? Dear Lord!! Lol…..

Well, we are on our way. Patti takes this shot of me as we pull onto the New Jersey Turnpike…..

To be continued…..

Hey Jeff, another good start to what will be a great review. It will make me think back to the cruise we did together on the Splendor.

Was a pleasure to meet Jeff and Patti on this cruise!

Welcome back, Jeff! So excited for your review!

Looking forward to your review! We will be on Splendor in December and will also be visiting Grand Turk and HMC.

Very happy you did decide to write a trip report for this cruise! We were on the Splendor in May - the Cruise To Nowhere and we enjoyed her!

Kim

YAY!!! I've been waiting for this review :)

Looking forward to reading another one of your reviews. I'm pretty sure our family was sitting at the table next to you guys at the British Colonial Hilton. :)

Can't wait to read the rest of your review. Me and wife are doing the same cruise on 8/12 less then 5 weeks.

YAYYYY!!! Been waiting for this. We are in "dry dock" and I need a splendid cruise fix! Congrats to Ryan on his HS graduation.

Hey Jeff, another good start to what will be a great review. It will make me think back to the cruise we did together on the Splendor.

Thanks for following along Jimbo. Wish you and your family was with us again.

Was a pleasure to meet Jeff and Patti on this cruise!

It was a pleasure to meet you and your daughter as well Wayne!

Welcome back, Jeff! So excited for your review!

Thanks for reading. Lots of pages will be posted today.

Looking forward to your review! We will be on Splendor in December and will also be visiting Grand Turk and HMC.

Thanks for following along. You will love the Splendor.

Woo-hoo another Jamman54 review !!! Can't wait to hear all about this trip .

Very happy you did decide to write a trip report for this cruise! We were on the Splendor in May - the Cruise To Nowhere and we enjoyed her!

Kim

It took me only a few seconds to realize that I had to write this review. Thanks for reading.

YAY!!! I've been waiting for this review :)

And your wait is now over. Enjoy!! :D

Looking forward to reading another one of your reviews. I'm pretty sure our family was sitting at the table next to you guys at the British Colonial Hilton. :)

Thanks for reading, and yes that was us! We had a great day there!

Can't wait to read the rest of your review. Me and wife are doing the same cruise on 8/12 less then 5 weeks.

Thanks for following along. This review will be done by the time you leave. It has to be done, we sail on the Breeze in 35 days!!:D

YAYYYY!!! Been waiting for this. We are in "dry dock" and I need a splendid cruise fix! Congrats to Ryan on his HS graduation.

Thanks Karry!! You need to get another one booked!!! Keep looking for those offers.

Woo-hoo another Jamman54 review !!! Can't wait to hear all about this trip .

Thanks!! I hope to get a lot of pages done today.

OK gang, forgive me if I don't respond to questions or comments right away as I am now in writing and posting mode. Enjoy!!! :)

We are flying up the New Jersey Turnpike, and we have made it to Exit 16E, the exit for the Lincoln Tunnel in less than 45 minutes…..

As soon as we got off of the Turnpike we were STOPPED, in bumper to bumper traffic, all the way to the tunnel, and even through it. Crap!!! It took us a little over an hour to get into New York from here, when it should have taken ten minutes. At least as we approached the tunnel, we had this nice view of lower Manhattan…..

We’re approaching the tolls…..

Yikes!! 14 bucks to sit in traffic and burn gas!!

This is what 12 lanes merging into 4 lanes looks like…..

It was stop and go all the way through the tunnel…..

To be continued…..

Luckily, once we came out of the tunnel, it only took 15 minutes to make it to the New York Cruise Terminal at 12th avenue and 55th street. It is now 10:40am……

We headed up the ramp to the parking level, where we got our first glimpse of the Splendor…..

At the top of the ramp we paid our $320 for parking for our cruise. The rate is $40 / day, payable in cash or credit / debit cards. Yes, there are cheaper options around the port that usually involve multiple handling of luggage, cab rides, etc. We choose to park at the port as a convenience. It really comes in handy at the end of the cruise, but I don’t want to talk about that now. Here’s the Carnival Splendor docked at Pier 90…..

This is the luggage drop off area, and there is the cute bomb sniffing dog that will check out the inside of your car before you can drop your luggage off….

We are parked for the cruise…..

Down the elevator one flight, and right into the VIP line…..

To be continued…..

At the top of the ramp we paid our $320 for parking for our cruise. The rate is $40 / day, payable in cash or credit / debit cards.

Yikes! And people were complaining that parking in Long Beach recently went up to $19 a day!

so excited to read this! we leave on the splendor aug 4!

From this point on, this was the fastest check in I have ever experienced cruising out of New York, considering that this was my 17th time doing so. There was no one in the VIP line in front of us. We put our carryon bags on the scanner, and they didn’t even open up our bags to check on the two bottles of wine we had brought with us. From there we walked into the VIP lounge, right up to the check in desk. We noticed that they had just started allowing the Diamond passengers to board. Check in took all of about two minutes, and we were allowed to board the ship immediately. There is a door from the VIP lounge to the gangway, so you didn’t have to pass the masses waiting in the chairs to board. The only downside, if you consider it to be one, is that you bypass the embarkation photo photographers.

We boarded the Splendor right at 11am. Our first view was of the Lobby Bar….

Looking up the Atrium all the way up to the sky light…..

The Guest Service Desk.....

The Lobby seating area…..

I am the first one to the Shore Excursion Desk…..

To be continued…..

I am at the Shore Excursion Desk to pick my cabana on Half Moon Cay. I was surprised when I booked that there were still some left. I was also there to put my name on the waiting list for a cabana at Grand Turk. I had been checking every day since I booked to see if one would open up, but no luck. The problem being that when two ships are in Grand Turk the same day, they only allocate 5 cabanas to each ship. The Carnival Glory would be in Grand Turk with us. When we get to Grand Turk I’ll let you know if I got one. Here are the Shore Excursion Desk hours…..

There is a table set up in the Lobby to handle Steakhouse reservations, in case you didn’t make them in advance…..

There is also a table set up to handle Cheers inquiries. Purchasing Cheers when sailing from New York is a bit different that other homeports. You can’t purchase it until about two hours after sailing. Any drinks that you have purchased before then, will be included in the Cheers program, and taken off your Sail & Sign bill.

Since Patti is not a big drinker, Cheers doesn’t work for us, but I’ll include the info needed for you to decide if it right for you…..

To be continued…..

Our next task would be to head up to the Cloud 9 Spa. Patti wanted to get a Spa Pass for the cruise…..

The Reception Desk at the Cloud 9 Spa…..

Here is the Spa Pass information. We decided to get the couples pass for $349. I think that the price had gone up, because I had thought that the couples pass was cheaper than that. We’ll let you know at the end of the cruise if it was worth it or not. Wow, that’s like at least two cliffhangers now! Lol…..

Here are some Cloud 9 Spa views…..

To be continued…..

Yay...another review from Jeff...thanks so much...I have been checking the boards a few times a day...LOL...And it's on the Splendor...one of the Carnival ships we've never sailed..but will be on in October...Interested in the spa info...I love the thermal pool and heated tile chairs on Hal...so may have to check this out on the Splendor...Again...thanks for doing this review:)

Here are some views of the gym. You’ll never catch me in there!! Lol….

The Fitness studio……

One of the Relaxation Rooms…..

The Thalassotherapy Pool. I am really looking forward to spending some time in there…..

To be continued…..