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Out of all the ships I sailed, I loved the Splendor the best. We upgraded for very little to interior spa cabins and the spa on the Splendor was a must-do every night before bedtime!

We sailed the Southern Caribbean for Thanksgiving once. Actually, we spent the day snorkeling in St. Lucia Piton's, then had the usual Turkey in the MDR that night. Nothing special at all, spent Black Friday in St. Kitts, but there were no deals. :p

It didn't feel like a special holiday on the ship, in fact, I felt like I missed Thanksgiving and Black Friday altogether, and when we got home, felt rushed through the Christmas holiday shopping as I usually have most of Christmas shopping done on Black Friday or that weekend.

Cards available right now!

On Verizon or AARP? How can you search for Carnival auctions on Verizon?? I can only sort the auctions by date.

Nothing for us, checked all 6 of us, same ol' offers.

Congrats!

We sat in front of Captain Morgan's bar, which had a full bar (great place to hang out and cool off in the hot sun) and a DJ outside the bar that played music all day and games in the afternoon. At lunchtime we just had to walk behind the bar to a walkway that brought us to the lunch buffet.

We enjoyed the area because it was lively and entertaining watching the beach games.

If you want a much more quieter area, head further down past the bar!

In lieu of packing a nightlight, we just leave the bathroom light on and the door closed (light seeps through).

There are no towels on the beach at HMC, you'll need to take the pool/beach towels from your cabin.

Lounge chairs on the beach at HMC are free, you can move them anywhere, there are trees along the back of the beach if you want free shade, too.

We sailed Splendor last June out of New York City and, so far, it's my favorite ship from the Carnival fleet.

One thing I would mention is if the buffet closes and you haven't eaten lunch, go to the back of the ship by the adult pool and you'll find a wonderful little deli back there making sandwiches!

On Grand Turk we just plopped ourselves down on the beach and hung out for a few hours. The timing there is rather short. We did take a walk down the beach to see Topher the dog play in the sand and surf at Jack's Shack.

On St. Thomas, we ventured over to St. John and snorkeled at Trunk Bay. Since my parents were with me, I scheduled them a jitney tour of St. John.

In San Juan, we did a few nights pre-cruise but if you are only there for the day, you can take a ride through Old San Juan on the free trolly, shop, or tour the two forts. We did all that during a rpe-cruise weekend.

There are forums here for each of these port calls. There are many other things to do on each of these islands.

I checked each of the 6 family members' Carnival VIFP account and none of us received this offer.

That's ok, I did receive the free cruise offer last year and was able to get a spa inside on Splendor for $0. :D Can't complain!

Thank you everyone for replying! All of you provided exactly what I wanted to know! We will definitely make reservations that night!! Does anyone know what time the show is on a Saturday night?

 

 

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When we went in 2012, we had a Saturday evening show and dinner, made dinner reservations for 7:30pm, telling them you want to stay for the show. The flamenco show is between 8:00pm and 9:00pm Friday and Saturday nights.

It's best to call the restaurant a few weeks before and make a reservation. http://www.barrachina.com/indexb.php

map and info: http://www.puertoricodaytrips.com/free-trolley-old-san-juan/

I took my elderly parents on 2 trips around Old San Juan in the trolly. They loved it, good opportunity to see the city instead of on foot.

We stayed pre-cruise at Hotel Plaza De Armas in Old San Juan, a few blocks from Barrachina's. We walked to dinner one night, saw the flamenco dancers, and got a free shot of pina colada's.

Would book hotel and area again!

San Juan forum: http://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?f=131

We sailed the Splendor out of New York City this past summer and really enjoyed the ship. We had an interior spa cabin and we want another again on our next Splendor trip in January 2016 out of Miami. The spa is a great place to escape to and relax. I find myself stopping by the Thalassotherapy pool after a long day and relaxing on the heated loungers just before bedtime.

DO IT! We took the upsell fairy's offer on our Lido interior on the Liberty, she offered us a balcony cabin on veranda deck for only an extra $200 for 3 of us.

We did Maho Beach on St. Maarten during our trip. It was nice to relax on a beach on our last day. We rented 2 chairs and an umbrella and had bar service at our chairs. Would do it again or tour the island next time, either one, we loved St. Maarten.

St. Kitts is beautiful. They have a Fort for touring and they stop at Caribelle Batik for very lovely souvenirs. Afterwards, you can be dropped off at the beach or back to port. If you don't want to sit in a van and tour the island, they also offer a train ride through the country. The non-cruise ship tours are your best option.

I found both island very safe to do on your own or through the local guides.

I loved St. Maarten and St. Kitts - so so about Grand Turk and San Juan. Never been to Curacao or Aruba, but upon reading reviews those are touring islands, not much beach or sites to see.

I'd do the southern caribbean beacuse I haven't been to 3 of those islands, but would jump at the chance to get back to St. Maarten and St. Kitts.

Ideally, if you can do a southern cruise out of San Juan, you can get St. Maarten, St. Kitts, St. Lucia and Barbados (and well, St. Thomas, too). I love that itinerary!!

I've read stories where parents packed the kids and told them they were going somewhere (not fun), and then pull up to the ship and tell the kids to get out we're boarding!

Whatever you do, sound likes it will be a great cruise for you and mom, and the little ones - especially his first cruise! Enjoy!

Thanks for posting! I loved the Splendor when I sailed her out of New York this past summer.

To be covered with pre-existing conditions you'll need to get travel insurance within 14-21 days after your initial payment.

If you decide later on to get insurance and in need of pre-existing conditions, there is CSA Insurance which will cover pre-existing conditions, provided that you secure it within 24 hours of final payment. You'll pay a little more for this insurance, but it's an option in case you miss out on pre-existing insurance within days of booking.

I'm late to the party - just now reading your review! I think over the last few years I've read every one of yours! Looking forward to it, on page 1 now!

I traveled to San Juan with my Dad in a wheelchair for our Victory cruise. Boarding was so easy and swift we didn't have any problems.

Upon return in San Juan was a DISASTER. The ship had very long longs to disembark. Once we reached the lines for Customs, someone from customs pulled my Dad out of the line with me (as I was pushing him). When i made a motion for the rest of the family, including my mother with oxygen, to follow us, the Customs Agent YELLED that they were not allowed special treatment, that they had to wait in the long line. I thought that was the stupidest rule EVER and was thisclose to being arrested. So what happened was I sent Dad in the wheelchair with my mom with oxygen with the customs agent, who once they passed customs stood around for more than 45 minutes waiting for us to get through the line. I could have SCREAMED, leaving them outside in the heat with my mother STANDING the whole time.

My last cruise with my Dad was with NCL out of New York City. Once we arrived, someone (I am not sure if it was an NCL person or terminal person) immediately came over to us, made sure all our bags were on the cart, then escorted our entire party together to the front of the line, which was very long.

This question comes up every year about this time. The short answer is "no". The travel industry is not like the retail business. Cruise lines, airlines, etc. do not rely on a single day of the year to increase bookings. You might, however, find a great deal on something travel related, like luggage.

Not necessarily, the travel industry now has some one-day only Black Friday codes. Although I'm probably talking about Orbitz or Southwest, never heard of a cruise company doing so. Would be nice though, one day only 50% off code?

I loved the Splendor. I loved the spa and the spa cabins. I'd take that over a Guy's burger.