Splendor 4/15 to 4/22 review as best I can

[FightOnRon]

Random thought,,,you know there are a lot of threads about a lot of things on the Carnival forum,,and I did see virtually 90% of what is compalined about,,,but in such little amounts I laughed it off. I would give this cruise 4 out of 5,,but there was one semi-disturbing incident but I will get to that later.

 

Today when we got to the ship I did walk by the pool and saw one of those things talked about,,I saw Speedo man. All I can say is,,it's a good thing there isn't any bleach onboard or I would have poured it into my eyes afteer that site. There was a thread about this.

 

On a tender coming back from Cabo I saw my first pod of out of control 20 somethings all being pretty loud and pretty drunk, the others on the tender couldn't get off fast enough,,but that was mostly because 4 young ladies were feeding the fishes over the side of the boat with whatever they ate and drank for probably two days now. there was a thread about this.

 

I also saw security,,this day,,,with another pod of the tattooed young adults being harrased because of whatever they did. There was a thread about the tatooed people on the Lido (BTW,,as I said I am 60 but if I was in my 20s,,i too may have been in that group too). Funny thing is I never really saw them much during the cruise.

[cathyz]

Today when we got to the ship I did walk by the pool and saw one of those things talked about,,I saw Speedo man. All I can say is,,it's a good thing there isn't any bleach onboard or I would have poured it into my eyes afteer that site. There was a thread about this.

 

Thanks for the great review, we'll be on the Splendor in Sept for the 3rd time, not my all time favorite ship, but she IS leaving us, so we wanted to cruise on her one last time. We were on a cruise once (can't remember which one now) that had a small group of Germans (maybe 10) who spoke no english AND wore speedos around alot. They were all older folks (most much older than me and I'm chasing right behind you), so it wasn't a very pretty sight! :eek:

[FightOnRon]

Other takes from day 4.

 

First not so good dinner in the MDR. It seemed as though 1/3 of the staff was off or gone ,,our crew was down to 2 from 3 and had to do 10 tables, not their regular 8. Service was really slow and not becuase they were messing about,,they were sweating like bullets,,but it was just impossible to keep up. So dinner took a long time,,and we missed the show as it went through that. Consequently most of the food was lukewarm. Now my dinner was hot enough,,but it wasn't very good. I had the pork steak. Nothing really was appealing and I am a big steak eater but tried to stay away form the everyday food choices. But honestly, I wasn't hungry enough to worry about it. This would have been a good night for the steakhouse.

 

I remember a thread aobut which nights were the worst in the MDR and the consensus was night 4 or 5. On this ship is was night 4,,night 5 turned out to be beyond good for me.

 

The show was some type of Latin celebration,,it was the 2nd with the Splendor singers and dancers.

 

be right back

[FightOnRon]

Last of day 4 observations.

 

Not much chair hogging going on. MOre people got off the ship so there were more free chairs. We were back ont he ship maybe 2 hours before debark,,and thee were chairs eveywhere if you wanted to get some sun.

 

Kids are now a bit more wild. NOw they are running a lot and parents can't seem to stop them or care to,,mind you there are a lot paying attention and being good,,but because they are that way they don't stand out. Saw some running full speed past some dhip's officers,,the officer's told them to stop,,they didn't,,told the parents to stop them,,parents igonred them and kept walking.

 

Sometime the tatooed people that are talked about in that thread somewhere are more civil then the parents. I talked to a young lady that works in Capm Carnival and she wasy everyday is like two it is so hard to keep the kids entertained. She said the worst was when they had to stay up until 3 then dela with whmever picks the childrem up,,,she said she can hardly keep up.

 

More observations about MDR dress code. The minimum and the suggested guidlines ahve been discussed here ad nauseum. We all as thinking and reading adults know what is the minimum. I will say for the most part people go beyond the minimum. Seems as there are more dressed nicely on any given night. And by nicely I mean for guys, nice shirts, big boy pants. There was a thread about jeans in the MDR and while it is not a banned dress item save for fancy night,,,you see more dockers then anything,,followed by what I assume are dress short. Not many jeans and not many tshirts. Again for night 4,,i counted 1 baseball cap,,and no it's not the same guy everyday. MAny times kids are dressed up way better then,,well heck me.

[kazbar]

looking forward to reading the rest :)

[FightOnRon]

Oh,,I took pictures of those signs that talk about not reserving chairs and ones stating 30 minute limits,,including it scrolling across the big movie screen on the Lido. They are not myths. The lido,,btw,,can get really loud as reported. But you know,,it's just a lot of people having fun.

 

I also like those drawing that were on the walls between our cabins,,it thought that was unique,,I suppose some would thnk it is not fancy enough,,but I thought it was interesting.

 

For you Disco types,,opens at 11 eveynight but I have no idea what happens,,I am always too done by then. There was a really good single guitar player.

 

FOr TV watchers when they are getting ready,,,all the major networks are covered but in Florida time and Florida channels.

[LAdad]

Hey Downey... we're in Bellflower!

Great review so far... you've really touched on some topics that I haven't seen in other reviews.

Do you know if only half of your cabin is doing a Carnival-booked excursion, can everyone early tender off the ship together?

Have you or your friends checked your AT&T bills yet for roaming data/ roaming voice/ international charges? I have Verizon but I've never thought of using an AT&T GO phone (prepaid, right?) to use while in port for texting. Genius!

[cvpends]

Very unique and interesting review. Can't wait to hear more!

[FightOnRon]

Hey Downey... we're in Bellflower!

Great review so far... you've really touched on some topics that I haven't seen in other reviews.

Do you know if only half of your cabin is doing a Carnival-booked excursion, can everyone early tender off the ship together?

Have you or your friends checked your AT&T bills yet for roaming data/ roaming voice/ international charges? I have Verizon but I've never thought of using an AT&T GO phone (prepaid, right?) to use while in port for texting. Genius!

 

Whne you have a ship excursion it tells you on your ticket when to meet in the aft showroom. Then at the prearranged time thye line you up and tell everyone to hold thier ticket and one emplyee looks at them as you file past him,,being leb by another. You go down to deck 1 and amrch off the ship. So my guess would be no to the early tender,,unless you want to hide them in a hallway down on deck one and have them join in at the back of the line when it goes by,,I seriously think that would work.

 

the tenders move people pretty quickly and they have a couple of really large ones that move massive amounts,,its guessing when to leave to get in the line on deck 5 for the stickers. More people leave on day one then day two (per my waiter).

 

Yes,,AT&T phones are prepaid,,you can get them at BestBuy. It's all I have ever had since they came out. Just sign up for the pay as you go plan. I never asked them what their charges were,,they claimed heir phones showed a signal from AT&T,,my Gophone was linke to TelMex and I only had a signal in port.

[sanders]

Great review so far. At lunch time is the menu the same every day in the MDR?

[FightOnRon]

Great review so far. At lunch time is the menu the same every day in the MDR?

 

YOu know,,whenever at sea I always eat in the MDR for lunch,,this time I did not so I honestly can't answer.

 

Of course the breakfast one is but I like the what appears to be made to order breakfast. But for lunch I have to admit I either ate deli (which was really good and my buddy is a big sandwhich guy so he was there alomost everyday ), or burgers or pizza because they had no lines. The pizza guy hardly ever had one made and ready,,but it didn't take long and 2 times I orders full pizzas and they gladly make them for you,,you just have to wait. I also tried the rotieserre on the last sea day but I marveled at the way they carved the chicken. Just like KCF can turn a chicken into a 3 breasted animal,,Carnival had a way to cut up chicken so I couldnt' tell what part I was eating. But I will say it was very very tasty.

 

If I could bet,,my guess would be that it is the same everyday but the nice thing is you get served.

[willyguy]

Hi Ron can you put the fun times on here?

[FightOnRon]

Hi Ron can you put the fun times on here?

 

I wish I could but I am still living in the 20th century in that respect. No scanner or anything like that.

[cathyz]

Great review so far. At lunch time is the menu the same every day in the MDR?

The lunch menu on all ships in the MDR is different every day. Breakfast is the same tho. http://www.*****/carnival/maindiningroom.html

[sanders]

Thanks... I will go have a look at it.

[Crusin Karen]

cathyz, thanks for those menus. We have never eaten breakfast or lunch in the MDR. We like the buffets and I love to people watch at the pools/on Lido! :rolleyes: I'd much rather wait on line than wait for a waiter to bring me food. :cool: I was looking at the 'everyday menu" which is a new feature since we sailed last May. I have heard a lot of talk about the bacon mac and cheese side. We are 13 months away from our cruise, but I am already excited about it! :D:pI didn't see it on the menu...OP or anyone else, is this offered every night? I also thought I read about alligator fingers??? :confused::confused: TIA

[jmwg49]

cathyz, thanks for those menus. We have never eaten breakfast or lunch in the MDR. We like the buffets and I love to people watch at the pools/on Lido! :rolleyes: I'd much rather wait on line than wait for a waiter to bring me food. :cool: I was looking at the 'everyday menu" which is a new feature since we sailed last May. I have heard a lot of talk about the bacon mac and cheese side. We are 13 months away from our cruise, but I am already excited about it! :D:pI didn't see it on the menu...OP or anyone else, is this offered every night? I also thought I read about alligator fingers??? :confused::confused: TIA

 

No sure how often the Bacon Mac and Cheese is offered, but when we were on the Miracle in February, it was once. It was quite tasty. As for the alligator fritters, they were mostly breading, somewhat spicy..I would give a pass next time, but can say I tried!

[Mulege]

I'm glad I found this! We are booked on the Splendor for the lst time for May, 2013. As you can see in my sig, we do a lot of "repeat cruises" so we are excited to be going on a "new ship." ;):p We are a bit closer to the pier in Manhattan than you to yours in CA, so we are losing the Miracle for the Splendor. Welcome home and thanks for sharing your cruise with the rest of us!

 

Please check your reservation. Splendor is repositioning to NY on 2/3/13 via a 48 day voyage around South America.

[Mulege]

Please check your reservation. Splendor is repositioning to NY on 2/3/13 via a 48 day voyage around South America.

 

Oops I guess I can't read, you are on Miracle. Enjoy.

[Crusin Karen]

Yes, we were on the Miracle 3x because she sailed from Manhattan which is just across the George Washington Bridge from us. Miracle is going out west and we are getting the Splendor "in exchange" so we are looking forward to being on a "new ship." :p;):cool: We are booked for NEXT YEAR. We usually cruise at least once/year but had to take 2012 off! :( :mad::(Thanks for the heads up about the mac and cheese. I thought it was being offered every night for some reason.

[FightOnRon]

Last thought about Cabo. As the ship was warming up to leave we got aobut 10 feet and stopped. Late guy was coming. this is the guy that normally you would see running on the pier and being left behind. For some reason this special man and his boy were important enough to had the ship stop for them. They were booed heartely when they pulled up. It amazes me how some people know everything a ship should be doing and I will touch on that later.

 

About lunch in the MDR. Another reason we never made it was our timing was way off. As a group we had trouble being hungry all at the same time so eating at other stops were easier. Mostly the ding dong friend was our hangup.

 

Also honestly by now we are having trouble being hungry. People compalin about the dinners being small,,especailly the side dishes. This is true but I felt for an adult the portions were controled nicely and our waiter would bring things extra is if we wanted. That helped with ding dong because she inevitably would not want what she ordered and would want something that someone else had so our waiter would cater to her and do it quickly. I tipped him nicely when it was over.

[FightOnRon]

Day 5,,Puerto Vallarta.

 

We again had a light breakfast in the cabin because we were doing something none of us had ever done and didn't know if we would get sick or not. A bunch of 60 year olds going zip lining. Again our breakfast order was on time.

 

LAst night there were kids tearing thorugh the hallway earlier. About 1030 I looked out (yeah,,we are party animals) and the cards on the doors were gone. I figured the kids did the old "swipe the cards" trick. So I called room service when I awoke to check and they had the cards ,,asked if I wanted to be served now,,I said sure ,,so technically breakfast was early.

 

Oh,,,a random thought,,speaking of the much talked about roving bands of teens and hard charging kids.

 

Only saw like two groups of maybe 4 teens roving. Never blocking stairs (and I use them a lot). I know they were there but I only saw them at the pool or in the club for them. Also, only saw 3 kids playing ride the elevators and only once.

 

We had booked excursions through independents today,,knowing we had a long day it seemed no matter what happened we would get back to the ship. We actually went zip lining on that road where the Splendor passengers were robbed. There was so much traffic I am not sure how the heck they weren't spotted. I will say,,if I could,,I would still be there zip lining if I could. Best fun excursion I ever had. We were at Los Veranos and I say they run a pretty nice operation there.

 

When we got back I had hired a driver for 3 hours so we climbed into the van and cruised around the city. The independent broker we booked with was outstanding and we saved a ton of money.

 

This was the night we were to go to the steakhouse but the day before I cancelled the reservations. Alghouth I am 2nd of the youngest of the roving band of old people, I was the only one that never ran out of "gas". At one time or another everyone would be napping but me. So generally I would go out on my private deck to read. I liked deck 3 because of one major factor. When I reading I would like to look up and see the ocean or the sites when docked and with just railings it was nice. If I did the same thing on the serenity deck you can't see through the bulkhead. There were a lot of never used lounge chairs on 3. Drawback is there is no sun as you are shaded by the muster drill deck on deck 4.

 

When we got back on board today there was a local mariachi band palying in the lobby,,they ere very good it you are into that type of music.

 

Dinner tonight was great for me afterall. If was petit filet mignon night. The filets were teamed with shortribs. I asked if I could have two steaks instead because of thier size. Alejandro,,our waiter said not a problem,,and he bought me 4 steaks. Seriously they added up to one nice size steak but the point is,,it was free vs the steakhouse and it was extremely good and hot. Also seems as though the personal problem was over. Everything was moving quickly again.

[CKEA_Cruising_Family]

We will be on the Splendor in June. Do you recall what nights they had the waiters dancing in the MDR? I know some people hate this but my kids LOVE it. I want to make sure they go to the MDR on these nights and don't eat with Camp Carnival (which they also like doing a couple times during the week).

[willyguy]

I wish I could but I am still living in the 20th century in that respect. No scanner or anything like that.

 

Thank you for all of the information.

[FightOnRon]

We will be on the Splendor in June. Do you recall what nights they had the waiters dancing in the MDR? I know some people hate this but my kids LOVE it. I want to make sure they go to the MDR on these nights and don't eat with Camp Carnival (which they also like doing a couple times during the week).

 

They danced or sung every night ,,we did miss one night but I haven't gotten to that yet. One night they danced for the men so all the women and mail servers grabbed women out of the group to dance,,,my DW did it and I have her on video. then one night they did the reverse and they grabbed guys to sing and dance. I would say this happens between 630 and 7,,probably arond 645. Remember I was at anytime dining.

 

ETA: I will check my video and see the date stamp to tell you when that was and the reverse was the night after.