Carnival South America and long Carnival Cruises

[RMLincoln]

Splendor will be sailing around South America next year, doing 3 legs to complete the trip from LA to NY.

 

We have sailed on Carnival Spirit twice and enjoyed her very much, once Alaska and once Mexican Rivera. Then we sailed Carnival Liberty 7-day Caribbean last spring and found it different, much noisier and more crowded. And Carnival Splendor is a sister ship to Carnival Liberty.... so I'm nervous about signing up for 48 days, but it's great price and a unique itinerary.

 

We are considering the 48 day SA cruise on Carnival Splendor expecting a somewhat more subdued atmosphere and older demographic that may suit us better - we are 57 and 69, easily entertained, enjoy the shows, never lacked for something to eat on a cruise ship. We cruise for R&R balanced by adventure and are hoping this cruise may be just the ticket for us.

 

Any comments form those who have sailed longer Carnival itineraries?

 

Any comments about Carnival Splendor vs Carnival Spirit?

 

Thanks for you thoughts. m--

[Georgie562]

The Carnival Liberty is in no way sister to the Splendor.

 

The carnival Splendor is a bigger ship and the only one in its class so for it beign the only ship on this only itinerary I would say go for it!

 

I have been on both Splendor and Spirit and like the Spirit better. It's the perfect size and it feels more personal than the Splendor and way easier to navigate.

 

Long cruises with lots of sea days are great because you get to relax all day. However I do believe this South America journey on the Splendor is very port intensive and could get quite expensive.

 

On my previous Hawaii cruise I was not impressed at all with the onboard activities. Arts and crafts, hairy chest contest, tea time, just not my type of thing.

On my 15 day cruise to Hawaii the majority of passesngers were older so I would say the demographic for the complete 48 days cruise would be the same since not that many can take that much time off from work, school.

[Georgie562]

Thought you'd be interested in this booklet:

Happy cruising :)

https://www.goccl.com/content/news_and_alerts/documents/SL_South_America.pdf

[skittl1321]

The around the Horn cruise has been done before on the Splendor. It seems to be rated fairly highly, but there is one review titled "cruise from Hell".

 

http://www.cruisecritic.com/carnival-south-america-and-antarctica-cruises/cr/

 

I cannot imagine a cruise of this length, even with the "leg" options would attract a rowdy bunch. It will be an older (who either have banked vacation time or are retired) and wealthier (but not luxury cruise wealthy- likely the people who do short luxury cruises, but could not afford a long one, or people who are Carnival die hards) group than the typical Carnival cruise.

 

I would plan to entertain yourself many sea days- Carnival doesn't seem to diverge much from their standard entertainment, and that's a LONG cruise. There will be stuff to do, but it might get old- but the chance to go to those ports. WOW.

[firefly333]

Splendor supposedly was built for Costa, but then they gave it to Carnival instead.

 

so, its in a class by itself, not like any other carnival ship.

 

Im doing the 15 day Hawaii TA next year .. so I would do a long cruise, if I could get away.

[chicasarita]

Never done a long cruise before or been on those particular ships. However, I think South America would be an awesome place to cruise. I have traveled in South America via land extensively. There are so many wonderful places available along the coasts. However, the seas can be very rough around the bottom of South America. Most small boats cut through North of Tierra del Fuego and miss the rough seas, but I don't know what the large cruise ships do.

[RMLincoln]

Thanks for these thoughts. We are seriously considering this cruise! I will doing more (and more) research and have read several of the reviews noted above, including the "Cruise from Hell" review which gave the cruise 3 stars and seems they had a poor dining room server and didn't ask for a new table... sounds like a solvable problem to us. There are many good reviews there too!

 

The demographics sound more our speed. It would be a wonderful, great opportunity but great things are a bit scary too. I'm investigating some of the pricing options.

 

It seems that as past pax we can get the Early Saver rate but with a refundable deposit... but I"m not sure if they would then honor the match of price drops that is the benefit of an Early Saver rate. OY. A lot to process. And over the weekend it will be hard to get answers.

 

So thank you very much for your replies and help while we continue to stew. What a pleasant plight:) m--

[MadManOfBethesda]

May I suggest that you pose your questions on the (already very active) roll call thread. It already has over 450+ posts and many of the posters did the reverse itinerary when Splendor repositioned to Los Angeles in 2009. With all due respect to the people who have responded here, you're going to get more knowledgeable answers from the posters there:

 

http://www.boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1569069

 

BTW I did a similar itinerary last year on RCL when Mariner of the Seas was moved from L.A. to Brazil. The cruise then was 30-days in two segments and ended in Santos (the port for Sao Paulo). I am also booked on the first two segments of Splendor's itinerary next year, which coincidentally is also 30-days, but ends in Buenos Aires, Argentina. I am not taking the final 18-day segment to NY because I want to spend additional time in Buenos Aires as well as a side trip to Iguazu Falls.

[RMLincoln]

May I suggest that you pose your questions on the (already very active) roll call thread. It already has over 450+ posts and many of the posters did the reverse itinerary when Splendor repositioned to Los Angeles in 2009. With all due respect to the people who have responded here, you're going to get more knowledgeable answers from the posters there:

 

http://www.boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1569069

 

BTW I did a similar itinerary last year on RCL when Mariner of the Seas was moved from L.A. to Brazil. The cruise then was 30-days in two segments and ended in Santos (the port for Sao Paulo). I am also booked on the first two segments of Splendor's itinerary next year, which coincidentally is also 30-days, but ends in Buenos Aires, Argentina. I am not taking the final 18-day segment to NY because I want to spend additional time in Buenos Aires as well as a side trip to Iguazu Falls.

 

Thank you so much. I will begin chewing through the roll call. The link above didn't work but I think the hosts have combined threads and it may have been unavailable for a short time.

 

I have a lot of mixed feelings, excitement, apprehension, concern aobut the noise, the gaudy decor eyc but what an opportunity! In the end I think we are flexible enough to have a very good time. I do hope your plans work out well for you! m--

[sanmarcosman]

Splendor supposedly was built for Costa, but then they gave it to Carnival instead.

 

so, its in a class by itself, not like any other carnival ship.

 

Im doing the 15 day Hawaii TA next year .. so I would do a long cruise, if I could get away.

 

Hawaii TA?

[Sargent_Schultz]

I was on the 2nd leg of the SA trip the last time Splendor went around the horn. It's still one of my all time favorite cruises.

 

Lots of pictures and info from Buenos Aires to Valpariso.

http://www.zydecocruiser.net/splendor09/index.htm

[Luv2Cruz32]

I would love to do this cruise one day. That would be such a great opportunity for me.

[aam3]

Splendor will be sailing around South America next year, doing 3 legs to complete the trip from LA to NY.

 

Then we sailed Carnival Liberty 7-day Caribbean last spring and found it different, much noisier and more crowded.

 

I noticed you were on the Liberty in April. Were there a lot of college students on board? It might have been spring break for some schools, or possibly end of school year trips. I don't think you would find the same atmosphere on a longer cruise. I would suspect that it would be closer to your Alaska sailing.

 

If we could get the time off work, we would be jumping all over this one...but, we are both teachers so the schools dictate our holidays. Too bad :rolleyes:

[mistycruiser]

We've booked all 3 legs and are really looking forward to this cruise. Re: your question on past guest versus ES, if the price of the cabin on Past Guest goes down before final payment is due then you can get the price adjusted off the final payment amount. After final payment no OBC except with ES. We booked all 3 legs because the cost of airfare back from Buenos Aries seemed almost as high as staying on the ship for the last 18 day segment. :)