Just off the Splendor

Embarkation and debarkation went fairly smoothly. Yes, S&S cards were waiting in the mailboxes. Our room attendant, Bernardo, offered us twice a day service but we opted for evening only. I was surprised to learn that there was a playlist show every night, with the exception of the Sam Hunt concert. The shows were hit and miss...I really enjoyed 88 Keys and Epic Rock, but Studio VIP and 80's Pop to the Max were just meh. MDR was also a hit and miss when it came to food. Always found something to eat, but the menus seemed a little blah. The banana and white chocolate bread pudding was pretty tasty. Our waitstaff team was excellent! Went to the Punchliner for two shows. Both comedians were good, not great. Overalł we had a fun time, but something was definitely missing. I just can't figure out what it was....

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What time was your Check in time and what time they actually start boarding? We're on Splendor Dec 4th and curious on when actual boarding begins.

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What time was your Check in time and what time they actually start boarding? We're on Splendor Dec 4th and curious on when actual boarding begins.

 

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I'll be on that cruise as well as the 11/27 cruise. Getting close!

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I'll be on that cruise as well as the 11/27 cruise. Getting close!

 

 

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I know, right! Less than 40 days now. Are you from North Carolina? We're driving down from Asheville.

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I know, right! Less than 40 days now. Are you from North Carolina? We're driving down from Asheville.

 

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I live in Indiana now. Grew up in Orlando but lived in West Jefferson, NC (up by Boone) for a good while. My screen name comes from my profession. I'm a trucker. Carolina Viking is my CB handle and 71208 was at one point my truck number.

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We're on the Splendor next week so I'm interested in seeing how the new boarding/S&S thing goes if they're still doing it.

Embarkation and debarkation went fairly smoothly. Yes, S&S cards were waiting in the mailboxes. Our room attendant, Bernardo, offered us twice a day service but we opted for evening only. I was surprised to learn that there was a playlist show every night, with the exception of the Sam Hunt concert. The shows were hit and miss...I really enjoyed 88 Keys and Epic Rock, but Studio VIP and 80's Pop to the Max were just meh. MDR was also a hit and miss when it came to food. Always found something to eat, but the menus seemed a little blah. The banana and white chocolate bread pudding was pretty tasty. Our waitstaff team was excellent! Went to the Punchliner for two shows. Both comedians were good, not great. Overalł we had a fun time, but something was definitely missing. I just can't figure out what it was....

 

 

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Thanks for your review.

I board this Sunday. I have seen a couple of other reviews recently that said "something was missing", or similar.

I have seen all those shows recently, so I doubt if will see them again. I don't really care for the playlist production shows all that much anyway.

We do enjoy the comedians, do you remember their names? We have from horrible to excellent. Hope they're at least decent.

Also, did you visit the piano bar? At least, did you go past in the evenings and did it look "happenin"?

Overalł we had a fun time, but something was definitely missing. I just can't figure out what it was....

 

 

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Not enough pink? LOL

We had Faster to the Fun...so we were onboard about 11:30-11:45 (don't remember the exact time). I'm pretty sure this is the new way to obtain S&S cards. They said that your card would be in your mailbox when your room is ready, but as we walked down the hallway to our room we noticed that all the cards were already in the mailboxes. So nothing is really stopping someone from just sneaking by their room ahead of time to grab their card.

The one comedian was named Kenny Miller. The other guy was Brad...something (sorry I can't remember his last name). They were both ok and amusing - with Brad being the funnier of the two - but I kept thinking of my Breeze cruise 2 years ago when the comedian had me laughing so hard that my face hurt. I did not happen by the paino bar, but I can say that the piano player from the bar was the warm up for the 88 Keys show. He was really good!

The other thing I wanted to mention is that going through security at the port, they confiscated our clothes steamer. We have brought this on every single past cruise without an issue. The lady said that this was a new policy that came into effect 3 weeks ago. I assumed that we would be able to obtain it back after the cruise was finished, so I asked her where we could pick it back up and she replied "go put it in your car". We obviously didn't drive to the port, so that was out of the question. Anyone care to enlighten me on this *new* policy???

Embarkation and debarkation went fairly smoothly. Yes, S&S cards were waiting in the mailboxes. Our room attendant, Bernardo, offered us twice a day service but we opted for evening only. I was surprised to learn that there was a playlist show every night, with the exception of the Sam Hunt concert. The shows were hit and miss...I really enjoyed 88 Keys and Epic Rock, but Studio VIP and 80's Pop to the Max were just meh. MDR was also a hit and miss when it came to food. Always found something to eat, but the menus seemed a little blah. The banana and white chocolate bread pudding was pretty tasty. Our waitstaff team was excellent! Went to the Punchliner for two shows. Both comedians were good, not great. Overalł we had a fun time, but something was definitely missing. I just can't figure out what it was....

 

 

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Thanks for your thoughts.

Redflag216. When you say that you had a great time, yet someting was definitely missing but you just cant figure it out. That is exactly the way I feel about my cruise on Splendor in September. I loved the ship, and had no major issues (a couple of minor ones, all dealt with satifactorily), and nothing out of the ordinary sticks out as leaving me feeling this way. But for the first time something felt off/something missing.

If you don't care about the shows, go check out the live band FUNkology. It plays good music (70-90 hits) and the female lead singer has a very good voice.

If you don't care about the shows, go check out the live band FUNkology. It plays good music (70-90 hits) and the female lead singer has a very good voice.

I love live bands, I will definitely do this!!!

@SMSACE6 I'm glad I'm not the only one lol! This was my 7th Carnival cruise and the first time feeling this way afterward. By the last night I was ready to go - mainly because I was missing my dogs at home. I even started packing up my suitcase earlier than usual.

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Redflag216. When you say that you had a great time, yet someting was definitely missing but you just cant figure it out. That is exactly the way I feel about my cruise on Splendor in September. I loved the ship, and had no major issues (a couple of minor ones, all dealt with satifactorily), and nothing out of the ordinary sticks out as leaving me feeling this way. But for the first time something felt off/something missing.

I must agree. This ship, is just off. It's not the carnival norm, imo. 31 carnival cruises. This ship isn't a happy place to work.

To me the workers are not carnival happy workers.

No playing around, no joking, no responding when we asked if they were getting to visit the port.

It's like we were not suppose to talk to our room stewards.

I always say you can't have a bad day on a cruise ship unless it's you. But this was the closest we have ever had to a bad cruise. The ports were beautiful. The ship was beautiful to me. I love love pink and zebra. Comedy shows, great. Made lots of good friends.

The staff that serviced us were just barely polite. Not carnival friendly. So everything was just a little off.

We even had the last cruise sheet and bedding on our bed on night 1. We found "evidence" and the bag of new bedding items were still under the bed. Our stewards worked from 9 am to 10 pm. Just a sad ship to me. Didn't have a fun upbeat vibe imo.

If you don't care about the shows, go check out the live band FUNkology. It plays good music (70-90 hits) and the female lead singer has a very good voice.

I agree whole-heartedly with this. Marsha and Ollie the lead singers were great. Every night that they played I made it a point to go and listen to them. At certain times they even played requests. :D

Thanks for the feedback.

If you don't care about the shows, go check out the live band FUNkology. It plays good music (70-90 hits) and the female lead singer has a very good voice.

We're cruising in December, do you have any idea if FUNkology will still be on the Splendor? My hubby would be a happy camper if he had a good live band to listen to at night.

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We're cruising in December, do you have any idea if FUNkology will still be on the Splendor? My hubby would be a happy camper if he had a good live band to listen to at night.

 

 

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The band has a facebook page with a few hundred followers. Best to go ask them there.

The band has a facebook page with a few hundred followers. Best to go ask them there.

Will do!! Thanks.

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Just visited their FB page. The band will be on Splendor until Feb 2017.

Our cruise on the Splendor is not for awhile yet - feedback on the food in the dining room and Lido please. Just found out there is a Tandoori - yeah! but no Guy's Burgers. What nights were elegant nights? Thank you for your feedback.

Does anyone know if the Splendor upgraded to the American Table menu - just finished reading a cruisers review on her trip in June and it was still old version.

We had Faster to the Fun...so we were onboard about 11:30-11:45 (don't remember the exact time). I'm pretty sure this is the new way to obtain S&S cards. They said that your card would be in your mailbox when your room is ready, but as we walked down the hallway to our room we noticed that all the cards were already in the mailboxes. So nothing is really stopping someone from just sneaking by their room ahead of time to grab their card.

 

The one comedian was named Kenny Miller. The other guy was Brad...something (sorry I can't remember his last name). They were both ok and amusing - with Brad being the funnier of the two - but I kept thinking of my Breeze cruise 2 years ago when the comedian had me laughing so hard that my face hurt. I did not happen by the paino bar, but I can say that the piano player from the bar was the warm up for the 88 Keys show. He was really good!

 

The other thing I wanted to mention is that going through security at the port, they confiscated our clothes steamer. We have brought this on every single past cruise without an issue. The lady said that this was a new policy that came into effect 3 weeks ago. I assumed that we would be able to obtain it back after the cruise was finished, so I asked her where we could pick it back up and she replied "go put it in your car". We obviously didn't drive to the port, so that was out of the question. Anyone care to enlighten me on this *new* policy???

I may be wrong, but I think that has been on the prohibited items list for longer than 3 weeks....

RTlady....American Table is now on the Splendor. I went to the Tandoor a couple times during the cruise. All I had was the roti though. The corn on the cob there looked and smelled really good, but I did not try it. I kept going back hoping they would be serving paneer, but they never did :( I also made my way up to the Rotisserie. There, I had the mac 'n' cheese and the tomato and mozzarella slices with pesto. Although there is no Guy's burgers, there is Off the Grill - which serves hamburgers, hot dogs, grilled chicken and veggie burgers. I believe they also served nachos there as well. I had a veggie burger (as I don't eat meat) and it was pretty good. There was always a long line for the grill. I think I ate my weight in pizza...it was sooooooo good!!! I only ate from the lido buffet for breakfast and for lunch on embarkation day. Nothing really appeals to me there. My family went to the buffet for dinner on the night of the Sam Hunt concert. They said the food was decent. Why didn't I join them, you ask? I went to wait in line for seats for the concert. People started lining up before 6pm. The concert started at 8pm. That same night there was a Mega Deck party and the lido buffet served a late night Mexican fiesta. Surprisingly, the food was delicious. They had churros!

If there are any other questions, I am happy to answer :)