Splendour of the Seas 29 Aug Med Cruise

[Londonlady]

This is not going to be great content as we really did not experience everything on the ship, but it may be of some interest to anyone sailing or planning to sail on SOS.

 

Some background -

We have sailed on Radiance, Voyager and sailed Brilliance this past June. Also 2 cruises with Princess and 5 with Celebrity.

 

I wanted to take my mother on a weeks cruise around the med. This particular cruise seemed perfect as she has some mobility problems and the larger ships would pose a problem in the amount of walking necessary, also the ports of call were all places she has never been and I wanted her to experience.

 

Off we go:-

We live in UK so drove to Gatwick on 28th for a flight to Venice. We had booked Hotel Olimpia in Venice for the night before the cruise. A big thank you to CC'rs as it was these boards that pointed me to this Hotel. Of course I was attracted be the proximity to P.Roma and that there would only be one bridge to cross to get to the Hotel, which was pretty important with Mother plus walking cane, husband trying to carry all the heavy luggage and me pulling the carry ons. Can't recommend this Hotel enough. Wonderfully placed right on a canal, short walk from P.Roma, clean spacious rooms. Perfectly good breakfast, lovely gardens at the back. Would definitely book this Hotel again if making a trip to Venice.

 

Managed to take quite a good long walk albeit at a leisurely pace during the very balmy evening, and up early and out before the crowds to make it to St Marks. Supposed to be a 20 minute walk but with Mother and a stop for a drink it took us 90 minutes. But hey she is great for 81yrs!!:)

We got the water bus back and checked out of the Hotel at 11am and made our way across the bridge to Piazza Roma to look for the shuttle bus I had read about on here. Yes it did arrive and we were on and at the port and onboard the SOS by 12pm. The embarkation process was a breeze.

Of course staterooms were not going to be ready until after 1pm, DH had kindly suggested wheeling on Mothers luggage so that she would not have to wait and could get herself settled and unpacked as soon as staterooms were ready. So off to the windjammer for welcome aboard buffet. Have to say the Honey Stung chicken was the best I have ever had:) Infact DH and I agreed that the windjammer food on this ship was better than any other RCI ship we have sailed.

 

I can't tell you what the restaurant food was like as we ate in the windjammer everyday, as that is what Mother preferred to do.

 

 

The Ship

 

All very easy to get around being smaller. I have never waited so little time for an elevator, seemed as soon as we pressed a button it was there!!

The bands/live music were all very good. Sailing from Venice there were a lot of Italians onboard (be prepared for noise!!!!) so lots of latin dance type music and do they like to dance!! Around the pool, anywhere really, but great to see people enjoy their vacation so much!

 

Staterooms a little on the small size from what we are used too, normally we would have balcony or at least outside, due to total cost of this we had to go for two interiors. When they put our two beds together one side had to be against the wall making it difficult for the wallside person to get out of bed:eek:. Older small TV, small bathroom, not so much storage space in the bathroom as on the bigger ships. But you know it was all perfectly okay for a 1 week cruise.

 

At sea days you do need to get out early to secure your lounger. Being as there are only two decks with loungers they go pretty quickly. Anyone who gets annoyed about chairhogs, maybe not the cruise for you, as the Italians and Spanish put their towels on at 9am then do not use the loungers until lunchtime! I never saw any staff removing towels, whereas on the Brilliance in June beds were checked every couple of hours and towels removed if nobody there.

 

All ports on this cruise you get a good amount of time, Dubrovnik, Kusadasi, Corfu and Santorini. We made sure we got off as soon as possible to try to stay out of crowds. Bit more difficult on the way back to ship, and beware that Italians in particular do not take any notice of a line, no matter how long you have been standing in it, so the shuttle bus return becomes a freeforall. Other than those hairy moments we had good times ashore. Santorini we had no line for the cable car as we got off as soon as we could after 8am, it was great as barely any people around when we got to the top. When we returned at around 11.30 there was about a 2hr wait for anyone wanting to get up there!!

 

We had some fabulous sailaways as most coincided with sunsets. We did a couple with a cocktail in The Viking Lounge and the rest we stood out on Deck.

 

I had been concerned that DH would be disappointed with this ship, no specialty restaurants, much smaller than he likes, but he really enjoyed it and said he would sail her again. Mother of course had a ball and loved every minute.

 

So in summary

The Ship was spotlessly clean.

The staff with just a couple of exceptions were very helpful and friendly.

The food (windjammer and Spa) great, no complaints at all.

Entertainment very good. Quite a few pool parties, and BBQs and a pasta party etc.

Ports of call, fabulous.

Embarkation and debarkation superb.

 

As long as we could have our big ship fix, we would certainly go on this ship again. Infact Mother had such a great time I think I will have to start saving hard to take her on another!!

 

 

Sorry it's not a particularly fab content review due to us not really utilising everything:o but just to let anyone who is going on this ship know that she really is a nice ship!!

[swcruise]

Thansk for your review, I have booked the same cruise for early next summer and am avidly following the reviews. We had some concern on her being older as wer are used to the Voyager/Radiance styles, but a lot of people have put my mind at rest saying it can be charming and more personal in service.

 

Tks again

[sandravb79]

Thank you for the review, I'll be on the other itinerary of the Splendour in just 3 weeks.

 

You mention food at Windjammer and Spa, is there a "Spa Cafe" too? (Celebrity Century had one, and we loved the food there).

[Big Wonga]

Good review, we were on the same ship but the week before taking in Split rather than Dubrovnik.

 

We spent 5/7 evenings dining in Windjammer as opposed to MTD as we found it more reaxing there. Also, we managed to have a bit of a banter with a cracking waiter called Salvatore.

 

Finding a sun lounger was a problem in the mainstream area (by the pool or around the running track) but we usually parked ourselves in a splendid little area on the deck just below the climbing wall. There's a bout 40-50 loungers there and it's usually quiet and serene. Also, it's easy to get to the solarium from there for a dip in the pool or jacuzzi if wanted.

 

There's no spa cafe but you can grab a snack by the bar near the pool on deck 9 or in the solarium.

 

What did you think of the cruise director Anthony and his assistants William and Giovanni? Anthony was hilarious and the good thing was he remembered me and my wifes name and we even made it on splendour live! :D

[Bobal]

I think it was a great review. Not everyone does everything on the ship and I'm sure there are plenty of people, like yourselves, who have to take it a little easier to fit in with elderly relatives. I'm so pleased your mother enjoyed it.

 

We were on Splendour 2 years ago and thought it was great, the sailaway from Venice is fabulous. We've recently returned from Legend (having sailed on Voyager and Explorer in between) and I have to say that those smaller ships have a certain charm and make for a friendlier environment.

[sandravb79]

Big Wonga, that's the itinerary we will be on.

At night in the Windjammer, is it buffet, or is it also "served", yk, with waiters?

[Big Wonga]

Big Wonga, that's the itinerary we will be on.

At night in the Windjammer, is it buffet, or is it also "served", yk, with waiters?

 

Buffet and the food served in the Windjammer is exactly the same as what you get in the MDR. Infact, the Windjammer has a little station where they can make your stir fry fresh and it's certainly much tastier than all the other fare.

 

The food that was served in the MDR was lukewarm so we gavce it a miss. If i remember correctly, the food was only different in the first formal night where escargot was served as a starter.

 

On our second formal night, we actually went up to the Windjammer straight after the meal in the MDR becasue we wanted to tuck into the fruit selection not available in the MDR.

[Londonlady]

Sorry wrongly informing you on a spa cafe!! It's the solarium, thats where you get burgers, hotdogs (and the only place you get fries!!) pizzas and also the make crepes to order at night time. I did not mention that the Honey Stung Chicken on welcome aboard buffet was the tastiest I have had:p

 

We found all the entertainment staff great, the have a family atmosphere on there I guess with it being a smaller ship. The waiters and service staff in Windjammer were all great. As mentioned the stir fry to order counter was very good, DH enjoyed that a lot. Another night it was pasta to order and when in Greece it was kebabs. Also there were very tender minute steaks available EVERY night in windjammer. On Brilliance in June we had them maybe twice.

 

Now if SOS had a craps table DH would book it again in a heartbeat;) I look at it it from a different angle no craps table makes it even more financially viable:D

[mckendus]

Thanks so much for the review. I've seen very little on Splendour since my dh and I made reservations for May 1, 2010. I found it very helpful.

[podemos]

Thank you for your review. I am considering this cruise and itinerary for next year's vacation! I've had concerns of this ship's age. Are there any signs of aging on the ship? Also, were there a decent amount of kids on this ship?

[AF-1]

Very good review; we sailed on splendour in 07; same itinerary. it was one of our favorite cruises. Ship;food;staff; all were great

cheers

[Londonlady]

Thank you for your review. I am considering this cruise and itinerary for next year's vacation! I've had concerns of this ship's age. Are there any signs of aging on the ship? Also, were there a decent amount of kids on this ship?

 

I really didn't notice too much in the way of age signs. All carpets, paintwork etc looked in good shape. Very very clean. Must be lots of new stuff on there, as the sit down tables and chairs on deck 9 around the pool area all looked pretty new, and lots of them meaning you could take your food from windjammer and eat outside.

LOTS of kids, lots of young kids. Spanish and Italians still reproduce more than others I think:)