LucyR.

All I do is wait until I see what has been stocked in my refrigerator Bar in my cabin and then I call the bar cabin service and do an exchange for different liquors and sodas and waters. It will quickly be exchanged

right away. No hassell.

I plan to buy my coffee card when I get on the ship.

The beaches in La Paz has beautiful clean clear ocean and their several beaches. My advise is to book a ship tour so you don't miss out on seeing the beaches. They are located in different areas far from eachother. The ship's tour will provide you a great experience.

I speak Spanish so I am able to get around easily. But... like I have said...the beaches are located in different locations and that is the beauty of La Paz.

I have stayed at a hotel for week ends in La Paz and it felt great to see the beautiful palm trees at night time.

It is a poor fishing town so don't off the tourist areas because the people of La Paz will give you strange looks. My stupid sister and her friend decided to go up to the hills of La Paz and realized they had made a serious mistake just walking around and seeing the poor people in their houses. It was not a tourist area.

My advise is to explore the Malecon with a friend and stay in the tourist

area. There are lots of wonderful stores and restaurants . LucyR.

We can get free ice cream cones anytime on the Sapphire.

At dinner time you can create your own sundae. I like to order the Kid's

menu ice cream named the VOLCANO. It is a large bowl of ice cream, whipped cream, sliced banana, chocolate surup and sprinkles on top.

I RAN AWAY from the T.A. Companies that gave lousy service and wanted to charge me $80. that would be paid to them if I changed my

mind before the 90 day ship rules.

Yes, they gave me some obc and discounts but not worth it because I prefer to have a T.A. who will be there for me when there is a serious

problem with a cruise that I have booked.

I have been with my T.A. for 10years now. LucyR.

Since you don't want to wait in long lines then arrive at 1:30p.m.

Being Platinum is not as high as being ELITE. Elite gets on the ship before the Platinums.

Never arrive later than 2p.m. if you can help it. The ships prefer that you arrive by 2p.m. You will need to get ready for the Muster drill before the

ship leaves the port.

This is my advise based on what I have read on the embarkation rules.

I got real lucky by accident on the Sapphire because I had booked the 4 day cruise for Halloween and I received a future cruise credit for the cruise. It was called the Voyager Goodwill cruise credit.

I decided to cruise on the 3 day cruise to try it out on the Sapphire. I also received future cruise credit.

I applied the FCC's to Sapphire cruise for Dec. 15th and Feb. 1st.

Then.... I had already booked Sapphire for Jan. 29th which was a 4 day

cruise. Again I received FCC. I chose to apply it to my future cruise

on the Sapphire for March 1st for the sea of Cortez.

I became an Elite member which made it a better deal for me. I have now cruised on Princess a total of 21 times. YEAH! LucyR.

The ship plans to embark us cruisers on Pier 93 at the world Cruise Center, SAN PEDRO/L.A., CALIF.

BUT..... when we return on Jan. 5th we will disembark on BERT 46, located on 3011 Miner St. That location is far from Pier 93 where I will be

parking my car.

Princess plans to provide us with a coach bus to take us to the parking lot located on Pier 93.

HAS ANY BODY HAD THAT EXPERIENCE BEFORE??? How did it work for you? Was it a hassell? LucyR.

I requested not to get an upgrade but I still got upgraded at the last

minute to a BALCONY. It was really nice. I am not complaining but still

they did it without my permission. I also prefer mid-ship.

I think it is too late to complain if the ship is full and you are already on the ship. That is my opinion.

Presently I have an AFT cabin and will not mind if I get upgraded to a balcony but the ship is full. I still hope the upgrade fairy or Lady Luck

shows up.

In all the years I have cruised I have never missed a port due to weather or an illness on the ship. So when we were told that we would miss out

on going to Puerto Vallarta I was just surprised. I did ask if I would get

the port charges for not stopping at P.V. but I was told that I wouldn't

get it because the ship had to pay the port charges for going back to Cabo.

Some of the new cruisers were surprised that the ill passenger wasn't

picked up by a helicopter or a boat. That is what they told me. I am just

reporting what I heard and what was my experience.

Most of the passengers were very concerned for the health of the sick passenger and cared about her.

I am not a greedy person because I reported to you all is that I almost fell and could have injured myself so I know how accidents can

happen when we don't expect to get injured or get sick all of a sudden.

Princess has been super generous with me in giving me future cruise credit. There is no way that I would demand a compensation. I just asked because it was my first experience ever in missing a port. This is

why I say I have been lucky.

I was not aware that there was another thread on the same subject.

I just wanted to report to this message board my personal experience. I wanted to see if some of the other cruise critic members had more information than I did.

The ship computer was super slow so I spent most of my time trying to send an important e-mail to a relative who was having a serious problem

and it took days before I could contact her. My computer minutes were

used up fast.

There are some NEGATIVE members and some POSITIVE members on this message board. I never argue with the bah hum bug posters.

I want to thank the POSITIVE members who really read every word I said and came to the conclusion that I was just writing my personal experience on the ship. I thank you all for your kindness towards me.

I am the OP. LucyR.

We had left Cabo, and it was in the early evening after dinner that I heard the Captain ask passengers if anybody had type O blood to donate

for a sick passenger. It was announced twice.

Then... it was approx. 9p.m. when I heard the Captain say that we had to return to Cabo to drop off a sick passenger.

Captain also said that we wouldn't be able to go to Puerto Vallarta due to a time problem. I am sure lots of passengers got disappointed.

But it was okay with me because I will be going on the Sapphire again

on Dec. 29th which is very soon.

Most of the passengers were very nice and caring that the passenger

was being taken care of in Cabo and we all received a letter stating

the passenger was okay.

There were a couple of passengers using the Medical Center for different reasons when they asked the Doctors what was the medical problem

of the sick passenger but were not given the cause of the medical problem of the middle aged woman that was sick.

The gossip on the ship was that the woman was on a jet ski and her body got slammed on to the stearing front of the jet ski and that is

how she got injured and got internal bleeding.

That is all I know on what happened. Some people asked the front desk if we would get some type of compensation but were told "NO".

I hoped to get some type of credit but we didn't get anything. I am guessing that missed ports happen all the time to all ships. It was my first time that I have had the experience of a changed itinerary due to

an ill passenger.

This accident that the passenger had is a reminder for all of us to be careful when doing a water sport on the ocean. The ocean was choppy

in Cabo. Plus, it is also important to buy medical evacuation insurance

because we never know if we will get in an accident. I almost fell down

on the ship due to not paying attention to where I was stepping but I was able to hold on to something to stop me from falling. I always try

to be real careful when walking around the ship.

I met a senior lady that used the shower gel provided for us in the shower. She made the mistake of putting the shower gel directly on her skin and it caused a serious rash and hives on her body. She had to see the doctor everyday for medical care. She did get better. I was happy for her.

A doctor got ill with a gallbladder problem but he was able to stay on the ship until we returned to port. He plans to see a specialist.

I had a great time on the ship and I love looking at the ocean. It makes me very happy to be on the ocean waters. I didn't want to leave my

7 day cruise. But in a few days I will be back on the ship. I promised

my favorite waiters that I would take them some New Year hats. I plan

to go shopping for the hats at a Party Store where they sell lots of cute

hats. The crew workers love small gifts. They don't always have time off

to shop so I always take them some gifts and they love the gifts.

Most of the desserts are filled with sugar, cream, chocolate, etc. They are just too rich for most sesitive stomachs. Just order a sliced fruit plate or sorbets that are made of mostly ice and some fruit flavor.

I don't know if you are allowed to eat ice cream.

I always order a fruit plate as an appetizer eventhough it is not on the menu.

Instead of eating apples you might want to eat apple sauce.

People say that the hot cereals are very tasty in the morning.

Tapioca pudding is also served on the ship. I wonder if you can eat that.

It will be a tasty snack to just eat a few spoons of it.

I am leaving on a cruise on Sunday so I am already thinking of eating

foods that are healthy for me. I don't like to eat heavy sauce type meals

for dinner. So I plan to be careful in ordering.

Princess ships are very festive and a lot of fun. It is fun to hang out at the Atrium on deck 5. They usually have music or some fun activity.

I always have fun in that area. Have fun on your cruise and protect your body from foods that don't agree with you.

The cruiselines have lactose free milk. It is a lot better for your stomach.

Plain white rice is always served at lunch or dinner. It will be better for

your digestion than bread.

Princess has great icy sorbets that are tasty for dessert.

Baked potatoes are good too for your stomach. You can also order baked

fish. They have some simple soups to eat.

Princess will show you their dinner menu every evening for the next evening. You can also order foods that are not on the menu.

Princess has a lot of spicy foods on their menu I have noticed so watch

out. For example: the duck is marinated in a spicy sauce. Stay away from

any foods that have sauce because the sauce will bother your stomach.

My final advise is just to eat with family members because you could get

sick all of a sudden from some food that didn't agree with you. Try to

get a table near the front of the dinning room because the restroom is

located near the front door.

I have a friend who was exposed to agent orange and once in awhile he

will vomit coffee if he doesn't take his meds before eating.

Have lots of fun on the cruise. Eat to live and let your intuition tell you if a certain food is safe for you to eat. I have a delicate stomach and sometimes when I taste something and I don't feel it is safe for me to eat I just leave it on the table. The waiters don't care if you don't eat

something you don't like. They aim to please.

Sometimes I don't eat much and I just tell the waiter I am not hungry.

The Buffet is a great place to choose some simple snacks for you to take to your cabin. I like taking a banana back to my cabin. You can also request fruit for your cabin.

Always use the elevators instead of the stairs. It will be easier on your body. I know you will have a great time. Just take it slow and eat small

snacks all day that agree with you.

YES, You can ask to have your coffee from the International Café sent to your table where ever you are eating at. I have done that and it is so much fun

drinking hot cappuchino in a beautiful large beautiful cup in the dinning room

The service is same as ordering a soda or liquor drink to your table.

Whenever I order a special coffee drink at the International Café... I always ask for the beautiful cup to drink my coffee. Most people like to get their coffee in a

paper cup to go so they can go to where ever they were going to.

The fancy cups have to stay in the area of the café so if I want to take my coffee back to my room I ask for a paper cup. LucyR.

What are the ages of your three kids? The reason that the girl at the NCL said not to say that your kids would be in one room was because most likely NCL prefers to have one adult on each cabin.

My advise is to change over to two window cabins that are connected for the safety of your kids nomatter what their age is because there have been

cases where kids can get sexually abused by other kids on the cruise or a

predator of kids.

You all looky loos have to believe me. Just go to Events at sea website and you will see some of crimes committed against children.

Recently a young teen girl was raped by other teens on the ship. I forgot what ship it happened at but it is a reality that cruiseships are not always safe.

One time I saw a teen girl running down some stairs with some cruise ship friends and she fell hard down the stairs and seriously injured her back.

Meanwhile her parents were having a fancy dinner at some diner not realizing what her child was doing. It was really sad to hear that girl screaming with pain.

Another time a teen girl with all her clothes on jumped into the cold ship pool late at night and it was really a cold night. I ran to my cabin to get her a large towel. Kids do crazy things on ships to impress the other kids on the cruise ship.

The majority of times nothing happens to kids but who wants their kid in

trouble when on a cruise? Accidents do happen also.

I GIVE UP! All of you negative people who have called me a liar can go ahead and live in your fantasy world. I am not going to bother taking time writing a review on my next cruise since most of you didn't notice that I also said I had a great time on the ship.

It was my cruise experience and Edward John Smith has given me some great advise to just let it go and stop trying to defend myself to all of you

mean spirited people and real petty people.

One more thing... I did report the spoiled food problems to the Lido deck workers. It will take months before Carnival sends me a letter stating they have received my written complaints.

I just wanted to inform some of you that will be cruising on the Splendor soon.

Halos, thank you so much for taking the time on responding to some of these naysayers statements. I still can't believe that people think that

the chocolate mix doesn't have instant dry milk that can get rancid if it is too old. It was too old because I was told by the worker that the machine had been cleaned but they didn't notice that the coco mix was old.

I AM NOT COMING BACK TO DEFEND MYSELF ANYMORE TO FOOLISH

STUPID PEOPLE WHO DON'T BELIEVE ME AND WHO DIDN'T CRUISE ON

THE SPLENDOR ON JAN.29TH. LUCYR.

How dare you post photos of deserts from other Carnival Ships. YOU were not on the Splendor on Jan.29, 2012.

I am only complaining about the problems on the Splendor on Jan.29th.

The Splendor used to have wonderful deserts and foods that I truly enjoyed but times have changed and people have to be aware of those problems. They may be minor problems but still serious enough to make people sick on an expensive cruise. I paid $997. FOR SOLO ME. There is no way that I would want to get sick on spoiled food.

Making fun of me is not the way to treat a loyal member of cruise critic.

We are all here to help eachother. I am glad for all of the information I learn here on cruise critic. I also try to be helpful to others here. LucyR.

Nanaimobound, Your last cruise was on 2010. I cruised on Splendor from

May 2009, until Oct. 31,2010. The food was still good and not spoiled but

I noticed the service had gone downhill after 6 cruises on the Splendor.

I just got off the Splendor on Feb.4, 2012. I am sorry to say that things have changed for the worse.

The activities I used to enjoy are nolonger as much fun as I used to have. The food and service is not as good as it used to be.

I chose to warn people about certain spoiled foods so they would be careful in selecting certain foods. Kids don't complain when they eat spoiled foods and they end up getting sick. This is why I reported this

problem. Yes, some people do eat spoiled foods and think the food is safe to eat even if it does taste different.

Some people say you get what you pay for. Carnival has raised the rates for us solo cruisers. I am not paying $997. that I paid for just to cruise by myself and I don't need a roomie to save money. I just expect decent food and service.

I have cruised since 1973 on 7 different cruiselines. I have choices on what ships to cruise on.

I want to thank Edward John Smith, Oceanbums, Yvonne, Pjinaz, and

Halos for believing that I am telling the truth of my personal experience on the Carnival Splendor.

I liked the statement that Halos made that we cruisers can lower our expectations or just move-on. I have gotten tired of lowering my expectations on the Splendor and have decided to move-on to other ships and other types of travel.

John Edward Smith advised me to not pay attention to the "attack dogs".

I totally agree with him but I don't plan to let you naysayers call me a liar in a roundabout manner. I will confront you if I have to do that. I will not let you flamers say whatever you please and think that you can get away with slamming me. I will answer you back! LucyR.

I still plan to cruise but not on the Splendor because the food and service has gone downhill. I paid $997. for solo me for this cruise and it is not worth it to me if I am getting lousy service and lousy food.

Hot chocolate does have powdered dry milk in the coco mix. When I tasted the hot chocolate it was in the evening when the workers were not around to complain to so I waited until the next morning to complain.

Some of you said that it doesn't have milk...does it just have water? Duh!

I decided to try again to get some hot chocolate the next afternoon and

the machine mostly put water in the cup so I complained. The worker just had to bang the machine to make it work normal. The coco mix still didn't taste normal to me so I decided to stay away from it. It must have been old coco mix with rancid dry milk.

No I didn't have to see the expiration date to know that the coco mix was spoiled. "DUH"! The taste was so bad I had to spit it out right away

and rinse my mouth.

Vanilla beans have brown spots and not black flecks. I could see the difference. I could tell there was something wrong with it.

All of the waiters were trying their best to serve us all as best as they could but my main complain is that they have to serve too many people

and they did make a lot of mistakes like forgetting to give some of the

people their food at our table.

When I got served the prime rib dinner the waiter never came back to see if everything was okay. I waited and waited until almost everybody at my table had almost finished eating their food. I had to get up and search for my waiter to talk to my waiter about the mistake.

I decided to choose a different item instead of the prime rib because they never gave the other diner horseradish or sour cream for their dinner.

I knew they were not going to provide that for my prime rib unless I would ask for it and have to wait for it until they would bring it to my table. The waiters were really busy serving too many people at dinner time. I don't blame them I blame the cruiseline for not providing enough

waiters and assistant waiters like they used to have years ago.

I have been cruising since 1973.... so I do know the difference in service.

I used to enjoy cruising on the Splendor but now I plan to try other ships.

I do like the Carnival ships the best because I have a lot of fun on them.

I plan to cruise on the Carnival Imagination soon. I have cruised on it

in 1999. I have cruised 25 times on different Carnival ships. I am a Platinum VIP on Carnival.

I think it is really funny how some of you look for petty things to say about what I have posted. It's like blame the victim. Blame me because the food was spoiled? It was also funny when someone said that it could have been the meat and not the dressing that was spoiled in the Ruben sandwich.lol. Does that really make a difference in what I experienced?

A spoiled sandwich is a spoiled sandwich nomatter what is wrong with it.

I want to thank the people who agreed with me that the food has gone downhill. Even the hamburgers didn't have any flavor. I used to love to

eat the hamburgers... but not anymore.

I forgot to mention that they took my portable battery small fan out of my luggage and they didn't leave a letter in my luggage informing me to pick it up on disembarkation day. They just left the torn plastic bag in my luggage. I did tell the front desk about it. They were upset that I didn't get a letter in my luggage. They wrote down the complaint.

I really did have a lot of fun on the ship and gave it a high rating on the fun I had on the ship and a low rating on the food on my cruise review.

Everybody has their own experiences. I had my own experiences that I have written about. Other people on the same cruise had a wonderful time and loved the food with no problems. I am not advising people to stop cruising on the Splendor. I am just saying that Splendor is nolonger on my list of ships to cruise on. LucyR.

I wrote a cruise review but it hasn't been posted yet for some reason.

I had a wonderful time dancing, singing, meeting lots of cruisers, etc.

The ship staff are great. My cabin insider #7345 cat.1-A was great.

I have cruised on Splendor 6 times and the food has gone downhill.

Healthy safe foods is important to me. I don't need to eat fancy foods but I do enjoy eating food that is not spoiled.

The hot chocolate machine had spoiled milk and needs to be cleaned out real good.

One of the soft ice cream machine needs to also be cleaned out because I saw specks of black dots in the ice cream.

My grilled Ruben sandwich had spoiled thousand island dressing on it so I had to throw it out.

My two traveling friends ate sushi on the last evening and had to vomit it

because it was spoiled. They had been eating sushi all week long but on their last evening they both got sick.

Service is real bad for "Anytime Dinning". They don't have enough help to serve the people. I noticed that when I ordered pork chops they didn't bring me the apple sauce until I was almost finished eating dinner.

I ordered well done prime rib but it was real raw. I exchanged it because I noticed they didn't bring the sour cream and horseradish for another lady at the table for her prime rib meal.

When I asked for butter for my baked potato I was told to use the butter that is used for the bread and rolls. I thought that was tacky.

I am used to having an assistant waiter come to my table and ask what else we need. Hardly ever showed up. The Maitre D' never showed their face at our table each night.

I am not the type to complain unless it is a real serious problem.

I was on a Mexican Riviera cruise and I did complain to the Ship's security manager that I didn't like the Mexican security searching my tiny coin money purse. They said they were looking for fruit. They didn't bother to search all of my bags. So I thought it was strange that they would put their hand in my money section of my purse.

The Ship's manager said it was normal to search my coin purse. No big deal. MY ADVISE is to hide your money somewhere on your body.

Overall I had a wonderful time but I just didn't like the dinner service and the lack of assistant waiters to meet our needs.

I don't need advise. I just want to report my cruise experience. Everybody does have a different experience on a cruise ship.

I just want to inform people to beware of spoiled foods and some bad service in the dinning room. I am not the type to complain a lot. I just like to inform people of my own personal experience.

We are all different in what we like or don't like. LucyR.

I have stayed in the Splendor Cat.1-A #7345, many times. It is a fantastic cabin because you walk in....to the left is the closet and storage space and vanity table, on the right side is the bathroom/washroom,the t.v.,frig, and the twin bed. There is enough space for a second bed which

gives you lots of walking space. The small table and chair is located on the left hand side. The other bed is hidden in the ceiling.

Look at the deck plans and you will notice that 7345 is situated like the

other catagory cabins. It is comfortable for two persons.

Now...look at the other Cat-1-A that is situated sideways. Those cabins are very small but still nice. You walk in and the bathroom is located

on the left side, on the right side is the frigerator, vanity table, closet

space and storage space. The twin bed is to your left with the second bed

in the ceiling. I have stayed in those cabins too but it is only good for one

person.

Carnival should go back to giving us SOLO CRUISERS a discount like they did in the previous years.

Management should own up to their booking mistakes. They make many mistakes but they never admit to them. I end up having to forgive them.

They should let us be able to do a "name change" on the Early Saver since most of us have had the experience of friends and family members changing their minds about not going on a cruise. For example: I paid for a relative to cruise with me and he can't cruise with me and I can't do a name change to invite another friend to cruise with me. I end up cruising solo.

Lisa, It is the pre-cruise information that is always the most helpful. Once you get on the ship there will be plenty of crew workers to give you advise.

Have lots of fun on your cruise. Lucy

Mathgeek, posted some great photos. YEAH!

Notice the lady with the STOP SIGN? If you are a Carnival VIP... just walk to the left side of her to a small building to sign up for your cruise card.

VIPS get their cruise cards right away at that building. You just have to wait if the main door hasn't opened yet for boarding. Once the door opens stay to the right lane to get into the main cruise building to go through security and then you are free to go to the elevator or escalators to go onto the gangway.

Once you are on the ship... the first stop will be the buffet unless your cabin has already been cleaned. The cabins are usually ready by 1:30 to 2p.m. That has been my experience. All the fire doors leading to your cabins will be closed until the cabins are cleaned up and ready.

I can hardly wait for my cruise! Lucy

The parking lot is just in front of the cruise terminal. Just a few steps and you are there.

Instead of taking the escalators you can just take the elevator to the top floor once you have gotten your cruise card and are boarding the ship... and then you walk towards the ship door. YEAH!

Parking is expensive at $12. per day but worth it.... every penny. It is so nice.

If you have lots of luggage.... you can first drive up to drop off your luggage and hand to a porter. If you want quick porter service just show them the tip money in advance and they will come running.

Also STOP ON THE LEFT SIDE OF THE LANE for faster porter service.

If you look to the right side you will see a long line of people wanting to get porter service. Not a good idea to go there.

Make sure you have your luggage tags or you will have to go pick up your luggage tags at a different line.

You can get your luggage tags from your computer. Or... you can make up your own luggage tags and tape them to your luggage if you know your cabin number.

Since there is usually one ship in the cruiseport which is the Splendor it will not feel like a ZOO.

That cruiseport is hassell FREE as far as I am concerned. Lucy

Birches - You should have asked to speak to the Sports Bar Manager.

The crew worker bartendars like to watch soccer because it is their favorite sport.

They do have baseball and basketball, and football games on the sports bar t.v. The reason being is that those shows are televised from Denver, Colorado. The guy wanted to see soccer while he worked.

You could have watched the baseball game in your cabin t.v. too.

I love the Carnival Splendor a lot. It is like a summer home for me. I make myself at home.lol. I cruise SOLO all the time now because it is affordable. Plus, it is a fun ship more than other cruiselines. Lucy