Review of splendor 06/27/2010 to mexican reveria

[CruisinloversfromTexas]

Hi All- I just got back from my honeymoon cruise! My husband and I got married in Texas on June 26th and left for Los Angeles to board the Splendor the next day. Here are a few pics of the wedding

 

Our

[CruisinloversfromTexas]

Our flight from Dallas left at 6:30 am so we got to the airport about 5:00 am. Here are pictures of us waiting...

 

My handsome husband, Steve

 

 

Me...

 

 

at the Denver airport during our layover...

 

 

me...very tired...

 

 

Finally made it!

[DEBnGAB]

You look gorgeous!!!! And congrats!

 

Really like the tangerine colors in the wedding party and with your bouquet!

[CruisinloversfromTexas]

in the cab....

 

 

to Long Beach

 

 

First site...

 

Steve in front of Queen Mary...

 

 

and of course me...

 

 

[CruisinloversfromTexas]

More Queen Mary Pics...

 

 

 

AT LAST....ZONE 3

 

 

Steve...

 

We were able to get on the boat about 12:30 pm...we immediately headed up to the Lido deck as this was not our first cruise so we knew the routine..to eat lunch because we had not eaten since 5:00 that morning and we were hungry. We both grabbed a burger because we were too weak to travel to the other dining room....ha haha...we hate our lunch...headed for the nearest lounge chair and took a nap until our rooms were ready about 2:00. It was very chilly in LA on the boat. We both woke up about 2:00 and headed to our room on the 6th floor....

 

this was out attempt for Steve to carry me over the thresh hold!!!

 

[CruisinloversfromTexas]

We got into our room and immediately went to the balcony. We have never had a balcony but since this was our "honeymoon" we wanted it to be special.

 

Me

 

my handsome Steve...

 

 

Our room steward was John from India and he was very nice and always smiled.....we liked him. We decided to take pictures of the ship...here is the lobby....

 

 

looking up.....

 

 

that was pretty much the end of our first day. We met our new table mates at dinner that night, Lori and Chris from Fresno, Calif. They were a very neat couple and we sort of hung out with them. They were celebrating their 20th wedding anniversary. Now, Steve and I have both been married before so we are not new to being married but have found that we are soul mates. Our travel agent had left us some drink coupons so we headed to the bar before dinner and had a drink and tried sushi for the first time...I loved it...Steve did not...

 

[djmaine]

you both are too cute!!!! I'm looking forward to reading the rest of your review. I love the orange dresses and flowers!!!

[riclop]

congrates and looking foward for more.

[CruisinloversfromTexas]

Monday was a sea day. I for some reason woke up at the crack of dawn and ran to the balcony and brrrrrrr.......boy was it cold. What happend to my Mexican vacation??? I was thinking sun and tans...now all I am thinking is it is freaking cold and I didn't bring any sweat pants or coats! But, this was the first day of our honeymoon and after a year of planning the beautiful wedding (which I will post more pics later) I was not going to let a little cool front stand in my way. So we ordered room service to bring us coffee, slipped into our terry cloth robes that Carnival let's us use, and ripped the comforter off the bed and sat on the balcony wrapped up like two Mexican Burritos! (it was too cold to get the camera..neither one of us wanted to get out of the blanket!)

 

We drank our coffee's and then decided to get dressed and head upstairs to eat breakfast. No getting in the pool this day. After breakfast we walked around the ship. We were sent a letter from the new Cloud 9 spa inviting us to see their new tholassatherapy pool and for a couples package of $348 we could get all week access to the huge hot tub and saunas, but today, just for us, they were taking a $100 off the price. Or so I thought it was just for us. Anyway, after realizing that a day was passing by and we weren't in any kind of pool and my new husband knew me well enough to know that I will sit in a hot tub for hours no matter how small or big, it was worth it. We bought the package and that pool is where I spent my entire vacation!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

After spending hours in that hot tub, Steve and I decided to go back and get dressed and head to the bar again for another drink. I loved the Mojito's at the casino bar!!!! Yum...

 

 

 

 

 

however, it did make me sleepy so once again, we took a nap! After our two hour nap, it was formal night this night, so we definitly got dressed up and headed out for a night on the town! I mean, ship!

 

Me...

 

 

My handsome Steve...

 

[CruisinloversfromTexas]

We ate our dinner (I usually don't take pictures of food, so I don't have any) and then went to our rooms to change into our swim suits and headed to the spa for what would be my nightly ritual, and enjoyed the hot tub. We got back to our rooms and of course the Carnival towel animal was there....

 

 

Tuesday the 27th was still a sea day and was still cool! So we spent our time in the hot tub in the spa. But, luckily, the weather began to get a little warmer as we were headed to Puerto Vallarta so we were able to go to the Serenity Deck! FOR ADULTS ONLY KIDS!!!!

 

 

 

more pics....

 

[LATK]

Congrats on your wedding! You looked lovely! Wishing you many years of happiness together. We are taking the same cruise next year to celebrate our 40th Anniversary. May I ask where your cabin was, if you liked the location and was there any noise? Thank you in advance! (loving your review with all the pictures!!!):p

[CruisinloversfromTexas]

Tuesday night, June 29th we had arranged to eat dinner in honor of our marriage at the Pinnacle Steakhouse. The food was very good. Would I do it every time on a ship? No. Only because you can get the same kinds of food in the main dining room. But, it was a special occasion.

 

Me in the Pinnacle

 

 

Steve..

 

 

Now, the invitation said, cruise elegant so we did, but many people did not, they came cruise casual. Oh well, we usually try to obey the rules...

 

 

I only took a picture of this because it was so dang HUGE! I have never seen cheesecake that big....!

 

 

[CruisinloversfromTexas]

Congrats on your wedding! You looked lovely! Wishing you many years of happiness together. We are taking the same cruise next year to celebrate our 40th Anniversary. May I ask where your cabin was, if you liked the location and was there any noise? Thank you in advance! (loving your review with all the pictures!!!):p

 

 

Hi LATK!

 

We had 6339 on the 6th floor and yes, we heard every balcony door slam on our floor! We heard kids running above us and at night sometimes, the band could be heard from the lobby!

[CruisinloversfromTexas]

Here is my dessert, the chocalate sampler..

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

After the Pinnacle, we quickly went back to the room to change into comfortable clothes, I however, went to the spa and the hot tub, Steve decided to go to the casino. Steve was going to do Karaoke so we were going to meet in the lounge about 9:30. Wait till you see this lounge! I loved it!!!

 

 

I know all of you have known at least one person in your lifetime that has a room somewhere like this!

 

 

Steve singing Karaoke...

 

We stayed here and watched the auditions for the Legends show...our table mate, Chris...auditioned and strongly due to my loud screams...won as Sir Elton John......

 

 

After Karaoke, we went to bed. End of Tuesday...next up Puerto Vallarta..

[CruisinloversfromTexas]

Once again I got up real early in anticipation of seeing our ship dock into Puerto Vallarta and what did I see????????

 

 

Yes! A freaking Wal Mart!!!!! although, I do have to confess, that I forgot to pack Steve some jeans and if he auditioned and won as Garth Brooks in the show, he would have to perform in shorts! I couldn't have that, besides, I have an acting background and he would have to play the part right! So thank goodness it was there....heee heee...

 

 

I will have to continue my review tomorrow...I got to get home! I promise I will be back!

[Inklight]

Yay ... a Splendor review with PICS no less! You both are sooo cute, congratulations on your marriage. You looked beautiful and I love the colors you chose.

 

Thank you for posting this review. We leave next month and I'm so excited I can't concentrate on anything else! Looking forward to hearing about the rest of your trip!:)

[ADATL]

Congrats on your marriage and thanks for posting pics! Great to see the ship. You looked beautiful in your wedding gown as well. :)

[yogimax]

Congratulations!

 

Great photos!

[CruisinloversfromTexas]

So we did end up visiting the Wal Mart to buy some jeans. Everything was in Pesos so we had to translate how much american dollard it would be. WARNING.....THEY DO NOT GIVE CHANGE BACK IN AMERICAN DOLLARS!!!! They gladly accept american money but give change back in pesos. They do have a money exchange booth located in the wal mart if you need to exchange money.

 

Some pictures of the site...I thought these statues were neat and different.

 

 

 

Mountains of PV..

 

[MzOhioLady]

Congrats on your Wedding! You two make a cute couple. I'm enjoying the review and I'm Loving the Pics!! Thanks for posting pics I can actually see while here at work!! :D

[javaj]

Thanks for the great review! More more please :D

 

We leave this weekend. Trying to finalize my packing list. Did you find the sea days chilly, I assume jeans would be useful? Do we need light jackets or sweatshirts?

[CruisinloversfromTexas]

Ok, so Steve and I decided to book the Royal Dolphin Swim for our excursion at this port. We did not go through Carnival (sshhhh...don't tell them) as we found it cheaper by going through directly with the company that was sponsoring the excursion. As soon as we were cleared to leave the ship we immediately found a cab, which Steve was not about to pay $20 for a cab drive 10 minutes away. He knew we could find it cheaper. So, we did not go with the ones within the port. Oh yeah, before I get to that, Steve lost his sunglasses on the first day of the trip so we immediately headed for a street vendor which are located inside the terminal and found the same sunglasses for $10....ok, so we went outside of the terminal and stopped at each cab and all of them wanted $20...Steve spotted some yellow cabs in the parking lot at Wal Mart and since Wal Mart is known for the "roll back" prices, we felt sure we could find one for cheaper than $20.......Steve was right....( I married a very smart man!) he negotiated the trip for $7!!! We got in the cab and headed to the Adventuras Water Park. Our excursio was planned for 11:15 am, but since we got the the park about 9:45 am, Steve managed to talk them into letting us be in the 10:15 am show.

 

We waited about 10 minutes and then our guide came and got us. We were led to the dolphinarium, put our stuff in the lockers that had keys, got fitted for our lifejackets, and waited for more instructions. Our group was small. It was me and Steve and a mother and son and a dad, mom, son, and daughter. We were led to the pool, asked to get in and suprisingly, the water was very warm and not freezing like we thought. Our dolphin trainer, Cynthia, which was my name too....was very nice and friendly and introduced us to Bell and Athina. The dolphins...

 

I highly recommend this excursion....if you have never done it...it was quite an experience. However, you must not be afraid to swim as several times we had to swim out a bit to swim with the dolphins..(I will post pictures of this soon.)

[CruisinloversfromTexas]

Thanks for the great review! More more please :D

 

We leave this weekend. Trying to finalize my packing list. Did you find the sea days chilly, I assume jeans would be useful? Do we need light jackets or sweatshirts?

 

 

Java,

yes, I say jeans and a light jacket. No need for a sweatshirt.

[CruisinloversfromTexas]

I do have pictures of the dolphin swim as soon as I can figure out how to get them to a jpeg from adobe I will post them.

 

So we finished our dolphin swim, they had taken pictures of us and video taped. Now, Steve and I have been on cruises before and paid for video's and the most we ever paid was for Dunns River Falls in Jamaica and it was $40. When we went to see the pictures that they had taken which were incredible pictures, here is where they got you. For 10 pictures and a dvd they wanted $115 american dollars! WHAT???? Ok, no, how about four pictures and no dvd, they wanted $20 a piece for 5x7's and they were willing to give us 6 pictures and the DVD for $105. Uh still no....so we tried to bargain with them, she said...that they were with a company and the company would not allow them to go down off the prices. Ok, so we walked away. I was so upset. I had no pictures to prove that I swam with the dolphins. So, we went to the bar and got a margarita and a beer. Swam in the water park for a bit, grumbled about the cost of the pics and then decided we had had enough and was ready to go back to the ship. But my dear husband knew how much I wanted some pictures so he decided he would go one last time and make an offer. It was a different guy and I picked out the three pictures I liked and Steve said he would give 40 bucks and that was it. The guy said 45, Steve said no, $40. They guy paused a bit....and then agreed.

 

Got in a taxi and headed back to the ship.

 

This night was Garth Brooks auditions in Karaoke and Steve auditioned and WON! Yaaay...he was going to perform in the Legends Show on Saturday night.

 

After Karaoke, we went to the Lido and joined in their Rock n Roll fest...danced some, then went to bed.

 

Next day, MAZALTAN....

[CruisinloversfromTexas]

We arrived early...I got up at the crack of dawn..AGAIN...to see us arrive.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I thought the picture of the titanik was hilarious.....TITA NIK!