Splendour of the Seas

[lke]

We thoroughly enjoyed our cruise the week of January 22 on Splendour. We did feel the employees at the purser's and excursion desks could have been more accomodating, but on the whole, our first cruise was enjoyable. We couldn't tender into Grand Cayman due to rough seas, but thanks to information on cruisecritic.com, I half expected this.

 

For those who asked earlier, I wanted to give an update on prices. They do sell the lanyards at the gift shop to hold your seapass. The cost was $3.50. The cost of the "drink of the day" has gone up to $4.25. The cost of the wine packages (1 bottle of wine per night ) came in two categories. The basic "good wine" package (which we ordered) was $154.00. The "better wine" package was $225.00. We attended several of their evening shows, our favorite being "The Drifters". Our food was very good and our waiter and assistant waiter (table 88) were superior! For those asking about buying liquor for their consumption there is a $9.50 "user fee" on EACH bottle purchased. At one point I read on one of the boards that on the first night you could purchase several bottles and only pay one user fee. I was informed that that fee was on each botle purchased no matter what night or day it was purchased on. The gift shop is only open while "at sea", generally closing between 10 and 11 p.m.

 

I attended the talk on shopping in the ports and found the information useful. I purchased their $20 passbook with coupons and really didn't find it very useful for my purposes. My recommendation would be to ask to see one, scan through it, then decide for yourself if you wish to purchase one.

[markser]

Thanks for the report. We depart on the same ship and itinerary in a few weeks.

 

I do have several questions (and may think of more):

 

Do you know how much earlier than 2:00 pm the boarding actually began?

 

Because the ship didn't stop at Grand Cayman, did you arrive at the next port any earlier and get additional time there?

 

Were you aware of many/any passengers getting the novovirus?

 

Thanks again.

[Sheffie]

oops.

[markser]

See, I knew I'd have more questions.

 

I've read on this site that on some ships the seating times have been changed or additional ones were added. Did this happen on your cruise?

 

Thanks.

[Sheffie]

Ike, thanks for the quick, yet informative review! It makes me even more excited! (If that is possible:D )

 

Markser are you travelling with us on March 26th?

[harry0]

Ike thanks for the report-short and sweet and very informative- I would also like the earliest time they will allow us to board-I leave Thurs for a 2 day precruise stay in Tampa then we hit the Seas on Sat. the 12th-

Thanks in advance

Harry

[lke]

Sorry I didn't get back to the board earlier. I tried several times to log on but received an error message. In reply to several of your questions:

 

We scouted out the pier the day before. When we talked to the valet for the car parking (very reasonable - $10 a day plus a $10 tip), he told us people started arriving at 10:00. We arrived at 10:15. We went upstairs and then they started "processing" us. We then had a seat and they served cookies and coffee and juice. We started boarding around noon. Apparently the ship had come in late that morning, so they were a little behind schedule - we heard that normally they start you boarding at 11:30 a.m. It was nice to be ahead of the masses. Our boarding information had said to come at 2:00. By that time we were on board and enjoying lunch!

 

When we couldn't tender into Grand Cayman we stayed in the area for a while. Apparently quite a few people had missed the cruise ship in Tampa due to their planes being delayed due to weather. They had flown to Grand Cayman to hook up with us. They tendered one boat of passengers out - they were terribly seasick by the time they got on board. They totally cancelled the other boat that was to tender the rest of them out. We set sail for smoother seas. Apparently, everything is tightly scheduled at the ports so we couldn't arrive early at Costa Maya, so we just set off earlier, but sailed a little slower, arriving at Costa Maya "on time".

 

There were no viruses on board that I know of. When we first arrived in our stateroom I wiped down everything you normally touch with alcohol wipes (from Wal Mart), i.e. bathroom sink, phone, drawer handles, etc.

 

There was a 6:15 p.m. and 9:00 p.m. seating time. Apparently the early time always fills early. They had mixed up our arrangements and hadn't placed the 4 of us traveling together at the same table. They had to do a lot of re-arranging to work it out for us. They told us it would be no trouble to get us a table together at the late seating, but we really don't like eating that late.

 

Hope this helps.

[JDee]

 

We scouted out the pier the day before. When we talked to the valet for the car parking (very reasonable - $10 a day plus a $10 tip),

 

 

Valet Parking?? Must be something new. Always was under the impression you had to unload luggage, pax and drive across the street for self-parking....

 

At disembarkation, what was the procedure to get your car back?? Thanks....

[lke]

You can park the car yourself (after unloading your luggage), but for $10, they took and parked your car in a special area of the garage and when you returned they had it waiting on the lot right next to where you reclaim your luggage. They had it at the curb for us within 2-3 minutes. It was well worth the $10!