Splendor May 1st-May 8th Review

[evlone]

I was on this cruise and I did spend some time in the casino. What do you want to know???

 

I am not sure if the casino hosts will be the same when you board in Oct but Robert and Mr. K (his name was to hard to pronounce so he had us call him K) were awesome! They were very friendly. Always came by to say "hello" and to see how we were doing.

 

I was lucky in the first slot tournament and won $500.00. Machine number 7 was lucky for me!;):)

 

Sorry Sherrie, I just couldn't resist.

[luv2cruise777l]

Sorry Sherrie, I just couldn't resist.

 

That's ok Vic! :)

 

That was a really fun day! First the "cocktail hour" meet and greet party and then winning $500.00!:D

[UpstateCruizer]

How many hours was the excursion to Las Caletas? How many hours can be spend on the beach? We are planning to book that excursion in August.

 

Thanks,

Tibbie

 

The excursion is listed as 6.5 hours on the website. It took us about an hour to get there and maybe 45 minutes on the way back to the pier. The buffet is set up and waiting for you when you arrive so as soon as you are done eating you can spend the rest of the day on the beach or doing whatever you want. Some of the group had messages and raved about how good they were. I'm not too sure how much or how long they were. I did see the messages being booked on the ride over to Las Caletas since they couldn't be booked any sooner.

[UpstateCruizer]

Thank you for your great review.

 

Did your DH have to go through the security with a bare chest,or was he wearing another layer underneath his sweatshirt?

 

LOL he had a shirt on under his sweatshirt but believe me if I had to choose between him being bare chested and our family being body scanned I'd have stripped him naked myself ;) Just kidding ..I think :eek: The TSA agent was really good about it :) When he started grumbling had I been the agent I would have just waved him on through the full body scanner :D

[RenoNanaOz]

We returned home in the wee hours Monday morning after spending a wonderful week on the Splendor. This was our second attempt at sailing the Mexican Riviera after having been on the Swine Flu cruise to San Francisco a couple years back. I'm so glad we decided to give this ship/itinerary a second try. If there are questions that you would like answered just ask away and I'm sure someone from this cruise will be able to answer if I can't.

 

Shortly after booking this cruise I headed over to the roll call for this sailing. This roll call was awesome with never ending laughs and lots of friendships were made even before sailing. We had more fun on the roll call as well as after we all met on the ship than we've ever had.

 

We flew into Lax a couple days pre-cruise. I had set up a private ride with http://www.execucarexpress.com/. For $58 they picked us up at LAX and drove us directly to the Queen Mary in Long Beach. This rate is good for up to 5 people and is a private ride with no stops and no additional passengers. I highly recommend this service! A shared ride in a 9 passenger van with multiple stops cost us $17 each the last time we were in Long Beach. For the additional $7 we paid for the private service it's well worth not having to make additional stops.

 

Upon check in at the Queen Mary I asked if we could have rooms in the quietest part of the hotel. We were assigned rooms A-022 and A-024 both deluxe staterooms with port hole windows. We love staying at this hotel for the history and location closest to the port. We grabbed the Passport shuttle and headed out to purchase our cruise essentials. There's a Walmart, Albertson's and many drug stores along the bus route. There was no charge on Friday or Saturday to use the Passport shuttle. Upon returning to the hotel we had dinner at the Promenade restaurant. The food is excellent and very reasonable. My son had the homemade mac and cheese which was awesome. I had a lighter linguine with various veggies on it that was delicious. I ended up having it for dinner both nights as it was so good. We also had the breakfast buffet both mornings which was $12.99pp and included your beverages. After dinner each night we spent some time in the piano lounge enjoying the music. The bartender is alot of fun and has been there each time we've stayed at the hotel. This was where we realized how smart it was to have requested a room in the quiet part of the hotel. We found out there were 3 proms at this hotel Saturday night along with another function and a wedding~! We didn't hear anything despite the warnings and being offered ear plugs if we needed them.

 

Sunday morning we walked over to the check in area and got our zone 1 pass then returned back to the hotel to grab our luggage. One of the Carnival guys had advised my dh to check in then go back and get our luggage just in case they weren't taking luggage when we checked in. We could have brought it with us as the porters were there and accepting luggage before check in actually started. They started early check in close to 9:20am outside the dome. During this time there are many people getting off the ship and are sitting outside waiting for their rides. It was sad because we knew that in one very short week that was going to be us.

 

We boarded the ship around 12:15 and headed to our cabin to drop off our carry on bags. From there we went up to the Lido for the traditional lunch. Back to our cabins after lunch as the rooms were ready and some of our luggage had already arrived. Since we had already sailed on this ship in the past we decided to use that time to unpack the luggage that had arrived. Within the next 30 minutes all of our bags except 2 were there. At this point I knew they had found my dh's 6 cans of beer that had been in our toiletry suitcase. Sure enough the last two bags arrived with the letters inside letting us know they had searched both bags. One had a sorry we looked but didn't find anything letter and the other had a notice they had taken the beer and we could retrieve it between 4:30am and 7:30am in the disco on the morning of debarkation. This was the first time in 8 cruises that they had taken his beer but we knew it was a crap shoot so it was no biggie.

 

We were seated in the Gold Pearl dining room at a both for the 3 of us. Our waiters Joel & Jose were incredible and we couldn't have asked for better dinner service. Our previous cruise on the Miracle along with many reviews had us worried that the level of service had declined. We were thrilled to find out that not only was the level of service we received exceptional the food was equally as good. There was not one meal that wasn't beyond expectations. The prime rib and filet mignon along with dh's flat iron steaks were perfectly cooked and tender. I usually order beef once or twice at the most on a cruise but the prime rib was so good on the first night I ended up ordering the prime rib and filet mignon each time they were offered. The deserts in the dining room don't impress me after 9 cruises I usually order ice cream or just skip the desert. I did have the Grand Mariner Souffle for the first time and boy was I smacking my head for not having it sooner~! We did the supper club one night and as usual everything was great. We don't eat much on the lido deck at lunch time but the fries were good as was the late night pizza snack my dh had every night. They had apple strudel cheescake one day on the dessert buffet that was really good~!

 

We used room service for our wake up calls several times on this cruise. The first two deliveries were early but I found myself awake earlier than normal on this cruise. I think I was still on EST since we live in NY which was nice since I never felt tired in the mornings like I usually do. We had breakfast in the dining room 4 times on this cruise. Excellent and everything was exactly as ordered. One morning we had the pleasure of having Abdi as our waiter. This man is the most incredible waiter we have ever had at breakfast. Friendly efficient and exceeded any expectations for service we've ever had. He was so impressive that my dh handed him a tip on the way out of the dining room. We also sent a note to the Maitre`D about our excellent dinner waiters along with Abdi. The Maitre~D shared this with all 3 of the guys who had done such a great job for us. This is the standard of excellence on which all dining room servers should be trained!

 

Entertainment was endless on this ship which again impressed us greatly after having very sleepy entertainment on the Miracle last fall. Their was a duo in the Atrium that played beautifully each night and several times during the cruise. Many people were dancing in the evening. There was a gentleman who played guitar and sang in several locations on the ship. He was incredible and very entertaining. The karaoke host was Kim and he's by far the absolute best host we've ever seen. He had us laughing many nights with his entertainment. There were quite a few talented guests on this sailing which made karaoke alot of fun. Comedians were really good on the way to Cabo and we enjoyed their shows both the PG and the adult shows. The comedians on the way back to Long Beach were good but not the constant laughs the first two guys got. We stopped into the piano bar a few times and everyone seemed to be having fun. We went to a magic type show in the main lounge one night. This was more like a spoof of what you'd expect to see at a magic show but quite entertaining once you realized you weren't going to be seeing a typical magic type show. We did not go to any of the dancer type shows as we had many other activities we were drawn to. Last fall on the Miracle we literally wandered from one area of the ship to the next looking for the excitement you normally find with the entertainment. On this sailing we actually had to miss some of the entertainment which was a much better problem to have than what we had on the Miracle.

 

We had a balcony cabin 7340 on this cruise and had no issues with our cabin. We spent very little time on our balcony as there were other things we wanted to do on the ship. We really do spend very little time in our cabin other than sleeping. My son was in a 1a across the hall in cabin 7336 which is an awesome little cabin. We had booked this prior to Carnival changing the solo rates from 150% to 200%. This cabin had a twin bed and a table along with a couple chairs and counter space. It's the perfect size for a solo cruiser but most likely we will be booking him into a regular cabin the next time. If we are paying the full double occupancy then it makes more sense to go back to having a king sized bed.

 

Felipe was our cruise director and we enjoyed him and found him quite entertaining. We saw more of him on this cruise than we did his assistant which is a good thing. Felipe seemed to be out and about more than most cruise directors. He even stopped into karaoke and sang a song one night. If any of you have cruised with Belgium Chocolate in the past he is now Chocolate Thunder which led me to ask him where the name change came from. We have cruised with him on the Dream, the Miracle and again this time on the Splendor. We had chatted on the Miracle when we saw him there and he remembered us when we talked to him on this cruise. We joked about who was following who etc. He's alot of fun and his part in the Legends show is a hoot.

 

Cabo was our first port and a tender port requiring a tender sticker. One the first stop there we picked our tender sticker up at the loyalty desk on deck 5 near the sushi bar. We were instructed to wait until we heard our number called then head to the main show room. Our number was called about 30 minutes later and we were lead to a crew area to board one of the tenders. There were 2 areas being used for tendering and this area involved some pretty small steep steps. We were warned prior to going to this area so we knew what to expect. It wasn't bad but anyone that may have trouble with small steep steps may want to consider the other location. Upon arriving in Cabo we were called over to an area where the locals were giving out maps of the area. They offered to sign us up for a time share tour with lots of free perks involved. We declined and directed to the area where the taxis were waiting. MAKE sure you have plenty of small bills with you if you plan on making purchases in the port area. They will give you change in pesos and if you ask for us dollars they will tell you they do not have any. A taxi ride for up to 4 people to Medano beach is a flat $10 rate. We headed over to Billigan's and spent the day there. Dolphin took care of us from the minute we arrived until we left. They do not charge you to use their chairs/umbrellas etc as long as you are drinking there. A bucket of 6 beers cost $14 in US. They keep it iced all day long refreshing if you need it. The water was VERY cold and not many people in the water. Beach vendors were plenty and frequent. If the first vendor won't meet your price wait because you'll eventually get one that will.

 

Cabo day 2 was originally the day we were going to walk around downtown but we had such a great day at Medano beach we decided to go back instead of shopping. I am so not a shopping type person so this was great~! This was our shorter day in Cabo so we decided to get up early and try to beat the tender crowds. We were on the second tender and on Medano beach by 7:30am~! Dolphin greeted us and set up with loungers/umbrella and another day of excellent service. The weather was warmer this day but the water was still on the chilly side. I'd love to go back to this beach again~!

 

Puerto Vallerta was much warmer and we had purchased the Las Caletas excursion. We were set to meet the group on the pier at 9:15am. We were greeted and taken to another area pretty quickly. They wrote down everyone's party size so they could have the lunch assignments ready when we arrived. We boarded the boat along with the rest of the excursion group and headed over to Las Caletas. Drinks were included on the ride to and from as well as at Las Caletas. Margaritas, beer, sex on the beach,rum punch pina coladas and soda all flowed freely. The staff were great and kept us entertained. Upon arrival at Las Caletas we were escorted to our buffet section based on our party size. The buffet included tossed salad, ribs, grilled chicken, baby potatoes, ziti, salsa/chips, rolls, a seafood rice dish, warm tortillas and various cookies/dessert breads. It was very good and even my dh who is a picky eater was happy with the food.

 

We were instructed to head down to the further end of the beach for a quickie orientation of the activities available. We made our way there and found a nice little area that wasn't crowded yet. After settling in we headed around the corner to the activity area and found a nicer area to hang that offered shade and was close to everything. We moved all our stuff over there and enjoyed a wonderful day with non stop servers bringing drinks. One important tid bit of advice here is to stop and visit the monkeys and parrots on your way in as you make your way to the buffet. We decided that we'd do that on the way out and missed it as they had already put the monkeys and parrots away. They offered snorkeling and kayaking as part of our day there. The staff was amazing and were really great with my son. He really wanted to kayak as he loves it when he goes camping but the water was rougher than what we were comfortable with if he went on his own. One of the staff offered to go out with him and my son loved it. These guys were great and kept a close eye on everyone in the water in case they got into trouble. Our only complaint with the day was that after the initial lunch there is no food available which isn't normally a big deal but with all the drinks being served it would have been nice to have some type of salsa/chips snack later to soak up some of the alcohol ;)

 

We had an INCREDIBLE roll call for this cruise. The months leading up to this cruise were filled with many laughs and well over 4,000 posts on our roll call. Big shout out to Sherrie for organizing the cocktail party for us and doing an awesome job~! We had an hour of anything you wanted to drink for $11.44 per person. It was a great way to spend time getting to meet the roll call that we had been having so much fun with on these boards. The past guest party was on the day after Puerto Vallerta as we made our way back to Long Beach. Drinks and appetizers were plenty with servers passing around drinks throughout the 45 minute party. If you are generous with the servers they will bring you your drink of choice when they return with a new tray of drinks. The captains farewell was held in the El Morocco lounge on the last night. This included the show band performing and another hour of "free" drinks. Again our servers were more than generous with drinks and brought what was requested.

 

We had flights booked for 11:20 out of LAX so we opted to do the self assist just in case any of the headaches we had read on here occurred. Our dinner waiters had informed us that the ship actually arrives in the port between 6am-7am and we'd be doing self assist between 7-8am. This was great news as we were a little worried about what time we'd get back. Self assist was a total breeze as was customs. This was one of the easiest debarkations we've ever had. The short lines moved quickly and there was an abundance of custom agents to keep everyone moving. Yep, back out into the port area and seeing the excited faces of those waiting to board reminded us how quickly a week really does go by on a cruise ship. We headed over to the parking garage and got set up with a shared shuttle. I don't mind sharing a shuttle on the way to the airport as there as so many people going to the same place that the shuttle filled quickly with no other stops along the way. We did not make reservations ahead of time as we really weren't sure what time we'd be getting off the ship if there were issues. LAX was busy as usual and the lines to drop off your bags outside were much shorter than the lines inside. We dropped off our bags and quickly cleared security. This is one of the airports that uses the full body scans randomly. They asked dh to take his sweatshirt off and he grumbled a bit but the guy said if he took it off he wouldn't have to go through the body scan. He took it off and we walked through the regular metal detectors.

 

To wrap this up I will say this was one of the best cruises we've taken. This certainly showed that the service, entertainment and overall cruise experience is still alive and well on the Splendor. My one concern is that I hope Carnival isn't shifting their "premium" entertainment to the bigger ships while leaving ships like the Miracle in the dust. This cruise was a night and day experience to what we had last fall on the Miracle~! Going into this cruise with long flights I said it would take one heck of a cruise to make me want to go back to Long Beach when we have so many wonderful cruises much closer to us. Well.....I can now say I'd do it again in a heartbeat~!

I do have pics that are still on my camera that I will be sharing soon. Any questions please ask :)

Thanks for taking the time to share your trip review with us. We leave in 30 days and are getting so excited. I look forward to seeing your pictures.

[erewhon]

LOL he had a shirt on under his sweatshirt but believe me if I had to choose between him being bare chested and our family being body scanned I'd have stripped him naked myself ;) Just kidding ..I think :eek: The TSA agent was really good about it :) When he started grumbling had I been the agent I would have just waved him on through the full body scanner :D

 

Thank you for your reply.

[candigirl]

How nice to see a good review of the Splendor. So many I've read haven't had a lot of good good things to say. I especially enjoyed the info on las Caletas as that's exactly what I want to do in PV. In Cabo, did you see a lot of people renting jet skis on Medano Beach? Can hardly wait for 7/31, I've never done a roll call...but there don't seem to be too many people sailing on that date.

[njoyndride]

So nice to read a positive review, I was starting to worry :D.

 

 

The Platinum tendering was great. Went to the Platinum desk, showed my card, and they radioed someone to escort us. There was an elevator blocked off for Plat, got on there with our escort and got off on the floor where the bottom of that steep stairwell ended, and then got right onto the tender.

 

 

Is it Platinum only or do suite guests qualify?

[UpstateCruizer]

How nice to see a good review of the Splendor. So many I've read haven't had a lot of good good things to say. I especially enjoyed the info on las Caletas as that's exactly what I want to do in PV. In Cabo, did you see a lot of people renting jet skis on Medano Beach? Can hardly wait for 7/31, I've never done a roll call...but there don't seem to be too many people sailing on that date.

 

Yes there were jet skis and the usual water sport offerings on the beach for those wanting them :) The water taxis drop right off at the beach as well.

 

So nice to read a positive review, I was starting to worry :D.

 

 

 

 

 

Is it Platinum only or do suite guests qualify?

 

Only platinium for this perk. We had a suite a few cruises ago and the only perk you get is VIP boarding onto the ship. Nothing after that which is sad considering how much those suites cost!

[flatman]

Great review Betty, but how would YOU know the water was cold, You pushed me in remember? lol... Had a wonderful time on this cruise and loved meeting and hangin out with all of you..

 

Jim and Dianna

[jgmann]

Great review. We were on the same cruise and were very satisfied.

 

Consider posting your review on the main Cruise Critic Review page so more people can benefit from it... (http://www.cruisecritic.com/memberreviews/).

[iamirish]

Quick question - when you went to PV - what time was your arrival? Was that local time, if not what was the local time?

I am trying to book a private tour.

Thanks

[luv2cruise777l]

Quick question - when you went to PV - what time was your arrival? Was that local time, if not what was the local time?

 

I am trying to book a private tour.

 

Thanks

 

I was on this same cruise. We stayed on "pacific time" the whole time. We didn't change any clocks forward or backward. The time in port was different then the time on the ship. Cabo was 1 hour ahead of ships time and PV was 2 hours ahead of ships time . So in PV our excursion left the pier area at 9:15 but it was 11:15 PV time. I hope you aren't confused yet. ;):)

 

Keep in mind that you should never use a cell phone as a watch while you are in these ports as the time isn't the same as the ships time!!

[luv2cruise777l]

Great review. We were on the same cruise and were very satisfied.

 

Consider posting your review on the main Cruise Critic Review page so more people can benefit from it... (http://www.cruisecritic.com/memberreviews/).

 

We were so satisfied with this cruise that we booked it again for next year!!!:D

[iamirish]

Thanks :):):) - that is what I thought – the cruise ship never changes the clocks on the ship - we stay on West Coast Time.

[UpstateCruizer]

Great review Betty, but how would YOU know the water was cold, You pushed me in remember? lol... Had a wonderful time on this cruise and loved meeting and hangin out with all of you..

 

Jim and Dianna

 

LOL I saw you shivering so I knew it had to be cold LOL Actually that cute little boy that was sitting near us gave it away with his chattering teeth all while he was telling his mom that it wasn't cold lol

 

 

 

Sherrie I'd love to cruise with guys again and this cruise was awesome but we are already booked on the Spirit to Hawaii 15 day cruise next April. I would defiantly sail this ship again without any hesitations!

[Skuzzlebutt]

In Puerto Vallarta, are there excursions for sale at the terminal? I don't want to buy through a 3rd party because of the time differences and because of two kids need to be flexible.

 

Did you see plenty of boat outings for sale? I'm hoping we can get a catamaran to Marietas Islands or Los Arcos if the kids cooperate...

[UpstateCruizer]

In Puerto Vallarta, are there excursions for sale at the terminal? I don't want to buy through a 3rd party because of the time differences and because of two kids need to be flexible.

 

Did you see plenty of boat outings for sale? I'm hoping we can get a catamaran to Marietas Islands or Los Arcos if the kids cooperate...

 

I can't help you with this one because we had purchased the Las Caletas excursion through Carnival so we were only at the pier for a short time before being escorted over to the boat. If the excursions are offered through Carnival for Vallerta tours they won't sell them to you privately.

 

If I'm understanding you correctly you want to be able to walk off the ship when you are ready and be able to find someone at the pier to take you on an excursion? Based on all of our previous cruises and stops this has never been an issue. There are usually several tours offered privately for walk up purchase. Although I can't comment specifically about PV perhaps someone from our roll call will be able to ........

[Skuzzlebutt]

I can't help you with this one because we had purchased the Las Caletas excursion through Carnival so we were only at the pier for a short time before being escorted over to the boat.

 

If I'm understanding you correctly you want to be able to walk off the ship when you are ready and be able to find someone at the pier to take you on an excursion? Based on all of our previous cruises and stops this has never been an issue. There are usually several tours offered privately for walk up purchase. Although I can't comment specifically about PV perhaps someone from our roll call will be able to ........

 

Thanks! Going to get in the car and leave for Long Beach right now!

[basor]

We are sailing on the 26JUN Splendor and have not been on a Carnival ship for awhile....what do they charge extra for??

 

IE:

 

food other than speciality restaurant

specialty coffee drinks

acitivities - golf, slide, etc.

 

We are trying to figure our $$$ and know about gratuities, onboard boutique purchases, alcohol, photos, etc

 

If someone could send a link to a list of the extras that involve an additional fee or reply with a list that would be super.

 

Thanks for the great review - looking forward to a fun time!

[Nanaimobound]

Thanks for a great review!

When you got off we got on, and I agree it was one of our best cruises ever.

She is a great ship with a great crew, food and entertainment and service was outstanding.

[DZNYROX]

OY Nana what is that drink in your hand?? My DW wants to know??:D