Back from the Splendour of the Seas - Review and Photos

[Libby1787]

Day 4: Mykonos, Greece

 

As we pulled into Mykonos around 1pm, we could see these giant thunderheads in the distance that looked very dark and stormy. I was hoping they wouldn’t move over to Mykonos and fortunately, we lucked out for the time that we were on shore.

 

Earlier in the day (around 9am), my husband went to the Top Hat lounge to get us our tender tickets. We were assigned group 8. The rest of our family signed up for the trip to Delos, so they were automatically given tickets to tender into Mykonos (to then get on their boat to Delos) around 1:30pm. Their tour group met in the theater before heading to shore.

 

Groups 1, 2, and 3 were announced fairly quickly after we anchored in Mykonos. Then, around 1:30pm, there was a pretty long hold up. They didn’t call any groups for about 45 minutes. My husband and I figured this was because all of the shore excursion groups were using the tender boats to get to shore, but a woman came over the intercom and said there were delays due to the wind and ocean conditions. This was sort of odd considering the water looked very calm and we didn’t feel much wind. The delay was kind of a bummer, just because we expected to be off the ship around 2pm, but since we were in Mykonos until 9pm, it wasn’t the end of the world. Plus, we were hanging out on the lounge chairs – not too shabby. It also allowed us with time to walk around the ship and take pictures of the beautiful clouds, water, and town.

 

[View from the ship]

 

[Mykonos town]

 

Between 2:30-3pm, group 8 was called down to deck 1. We filled up our tender and left for the harbor. It was probably a 3 minute boat ride, but still fun. It was cool to see the ship as we motored away. Once on shore, we decided to cut through one of the small alleys and take a back way to the famous windmills. This was a great choice. Neither of us knew what exact road to take, just the general direction, but it was so much fun to explore. The white buildings with the bright blue roofs/shutters/doors were absolutely beautiful and charming. We ended up walking through some quiet, local neighborhoods, which for me, was the highlight of our time in Mykonos. After about 20 minutes, we found the windmills. Surprisingly, with 3 cruise ships anchored in the bay, it wasn’t too crowded. We also enjoyed the view of ‘little Venice’. We decided to walk up a main road to the get to a higher spot on the island for better views. It was a fairly steep walk, right next to traffic, but it was nice once we got to the top (probably about a 15 minute walk).

 

[beautiful colors]

 

[Windmills]

 

[Little Venice]

 

After hanging out and taking in the view, it was time for some food. We had passed a crowded, little gyro place as we winded through the alleys down below, so we headed back there for some pitas. I ordered a chicken pita and my husband ordered a lamb kebab. I have never had such a tasty and delicious pita in my life. The name of the place is Snack Bar Leonidas.

 

[best pita of my life]

 

Once we were finished eating, we strolled around some more and ran into the mascots of Mykonos: giant pelicans. They were fun to watch, and boy, are they big!

 

We walked back to the harbor and strolled along the promenade, passing by all of the restaurants and shops. My husband really loves libraries and he saw one on the map we got from the ship. It wasn’t too far from the promenade. It was fun to walk through and look at all the books in Greek. There were also some cute Greek girls drawing and doing their homework.

 

Next up, it was time for gelato. We went to a place called Scoop, right on the promenade. It was pretty good. You definitely have your pick of gelato places in Mykonos. They are everywhere.

 

By this time, it was around 5pm, and the boat from Delos was just pulling into the harbor. We ran into our families, chatted, and then headed back to the ship. It was also starting to rain at this point, so we decided it was best to head back.

 

I can’t comment too much on the excursion to Delos, but our parents and sisters said it was a great tour for those who are interested in Greek mythology.

 

Once back on the ship, we hit the Park Café for some snacks and then got ready for dinner.

 

My mind is blanking on that night’s entertainment, possibly because we didn’t go. We had a big day ahead of us in Athens, so we probably just took it easy that night.

 

Next up, our busy day in Athens! Ciao!

[Kik35]

Great review and pictures!!:) Can't wait to read the rest of your review. We hope to take this cruise Spring 2014, so appreciate all the tips. We were on a Med cruise last month(mainly Italy) so loved seeing your pix of Venice. Beautiful city!!-Claudia

[LBumb]

Great pics

[Cruising89143]

I'm enjoying your review. We are booked on this ship for June out of Venice but our itinerary is a little different. The photos are outstanding.:)

[Libby1787]

Day 5: Athens, Greece

 

During the fourth night, we encountered lightening storms and rain. All I kept thinking about was trekking up the Acropolis in torrential rain.

 

When 7am rolled around and it was time to get up, we were docked in Athens. The weather hadn’t let up. It was dark and cloudy and looked like it was going to pour.

 

At 7:45am when our group walked off the ship to meet our tour guide, it started to rain. Figures, I thought. But luckily, the weather quickly turned around and we were in for a wonderful day in Athens.

 

This is sort of a random moment to touch on this, but because our group had to meet our tour guide early in the morning, we all decided to order room service for breakfast. Two of the rooms chose a delivery time between 6:30am-7am, and two rooms chose the 7:00am-7:30am delivery time. My husband and I chose the earlier time but we didn’t get our breakfast until 7:15am. Our sisters marked the later time and didn’t get their breakfast until 7:45am, so needless to say, they were eating on the go. This really wasn’t that big of a deal, but I just wanted to note it in my review to let everyone know that it’s safest to choose an earlier delivery time when you have an early tour.

 

When I started my research for the trip, I knew we wanted to see as much as Athens as possible during our time there (docked at 7am, had to be back on the ship by 4:30pm). Therefore, I turned to the internet to look for a private tour guide that would take the 8 of us to all of the highlights of Athens. After reading countless reviews (a lot from Trip Advisor), we chose to book a full day tour with Nikos from Private Greece Tours. The booking process was very easy and Nikos was readily available via email if I had any questions. The tour we chose (Nikos is very flexible and will customize your tour) included stops at the Acropolis, Temple of Olympian Zeus, the 1896 Olympic Stadium, the changing of the guard at the Parliament Building, downtown Athens, the Plaka, the Ancient Agora, and the new Acropolis museum.

 

We met Nikos in the port terminal at 8am and we were given 2 options: go straight to the Acropolis to avoid the lines and crowds and possibly have a wet experience, or wait it out and hope that the rain stops and head to the Acropolis later the day. Given that our group doesn’t like crowds and that we were all so excited to visit the Parthenon, we opted to drive straight to the Acropolis. We couldn’t have made a better decision. We arrived there in about 20 minutes, quickly got our tickets, and walked up the Parthenon with no line and almost no people. And the best part was that we all put our umbrellas away as we were climbing the steps to the top. The clouds parted and we had fabulous views of the city with beautiful rainbows in the sky. We joke now that we basically had the entire Acropolis to ourselves. By the time we headed back down around 10am, the line to get in was unbelievable. The large tour groups were endless, most of them being cruise groups. We really lucked out. I would highly recommend that if you want to see the Acropolis, do it as early as possible and with a small group. It will be worth it.

 

[The clouds parting at we walked up the Acropolis]

 

[Rainbow over Athens]

 

[Parthenon]

 

[Greek flag at the Acropolis]

 

[The sun shining on the Parthenon]

 

Next, we headed to the Temple of Olympian Zeus, then to the old Olympic stadium, then to the changing of the guard. All three sites were amazing with, once again, no crowds. Meanwhile, as we toured, Nikos informed us all about Athens, it’s rich history, and Greek mythology. Nikos never got off the bus with us, but he instructed us where to go to get the best view, picture, food, etc. It was great. We got time to explore on our own, but we always had someone there to answer our questions, tell us about the sites, and so on.

 

[Temple of Olympian Zeus]

 

More of Athens to come!

Edited November 7, 2012 by Libby1787

[Libby1787]

[1896 Olympic Stadium]

 

[Changing of the Guard]

 

We drove around downtown Athens for a bit before ending up at a lunch spot near the Plaka. The restaurant was recommended by Nikos and we really enjoyed it. Once again, I ordered a chicken pita. I’d have to say the one in Mykonos was better, but you really can’t go wrong. After lunch, we strolled through the Plaka, did some souvenir shopping, then visited the Ancient Agora. The ruins were beautiful. I should make a note here about the weather – it was still behaving! No more rain after that early morning drizzle. After, we headed to the new Acropolis museum, but my husband and I decided to walk around the streets of Athens given that we only had an hour before we had to head back to the ship. We ordered some Greek coffee and wandered the streets. Our parents visited the museum and wished that they had more time to see everything because it’s pretty large. I would definitely say that our tour was go go go, not leisurely at all, but that’s exactly what we wanted. Most of us probably won’t get the opportunity to visit Athens again, so we’re very happy we got to soak in as much of the city as possible.

 

[Lunch]

 

[Ancient Agora]

 

[View of the Acropolis from the Ancient Agora]

 

Nikos dropped us back off at the terminal around 4pm and the line to go through security was pretty insane. There were 4 other ships at port and they must have all had late afternoon departure times. Luckily we had until 5pm before the ship sailed away, but we saw a few groups that had to cut in front to avoid missing their ship.

 

All in all, we had an amazing day in Athens thanks to our tour with Nikos. For those of you that are interested, we paid 400 euros for our group of 8, plus tip. The tour started at 8am and ended around 4pm. We were driven around in a spacious Mercedes minibus that could probably hold 14 people.

 

[saying goodbye to Athens]

 

More of Day 5 to come...

[Libby1787]

Back on the ship, we celebrated my sister-in-laws birthday. The coolest part about it was that she was turning 24 on Oct. 24th, and her name is Athena and we just so happened to be in Athens on that very day.

 

[Our awesome waiters dancing for us]

 

Later that night, we joined in on the Quest game show, which was hilarious. This was the first time we cruised with Royal Caribbean and we could tell a lot of people came prepared for that game. It was tons of fun.

 

[Quest game moments]

 

[Quest game moments]

 

Next up is our one and only day at sea. Finally a day to do nothing!

 

Ciao!

[Spoiled111]

We just got off the Splendour on October 20th! We had a junior suite and enjoyed it!

[FionaMG]

Day 5: Athens, Greece Given that our group doesn’t like crowds and that we were all so excited to visit the Parthenon, we opted to drive straight to the Acropolis.

 

Good call. I absolutely second that. When we went there a couple of years ago we took the train and by the time we arrived there it was packed solid. Your pics look so much better than what we went through.

[Libby1787]

Day 6: Day at Sea

 

Woohoo! We finally had a day to do nothing…and it was needed! While we appreciated how port intensive the cruise was, we all enjoyed having a day to relax and enjoy the ship. I really don’t have much to say about this day. It included a lot of napping, eating, drinking, and more napping.

 

One very cool thing I got to do with my mom was the Galley Tour. My mom purchased the RCI cookbook and by doing so, we got a free private galley tour. It was very neat. I always love seeing the ‘behind the scenes’ stuff (I wish I could afford the ‘behind the scenes ship tour’, but maybe one day!) and the galley was spectacular. Also, everyone we encountered, from the baker to the room service manager to the soup preparer, were all so friendly and nice.

 

[baker's station - only 5 bakers on the ship and it's a 24 hour operation]

 

[Galley]

 

[Pumpkin soup was on that night's menu]

 

[Lots and lots of coffee]

 

During the afternoon, the 8 of us participated in the Music Movie Trivia in the Schooner Bar. It was very fun and challenging.

 

After dinner, we caught the show in the theater – it was a man performing songs from the 1950’s and 1960’s. He was awesome! By the end, everyone was dancing in the aisle to ‘My Girl’.

 

Next, we watched the aerial show in the Centrum, which was followed by the 70’s Dance Party, which was one of the most fun times I had on the ship . In the beginning, the five main activity directors were dancing along with us and teaching us dance moves from the 70’s, and then all of the sudden they disappeared. My sister and I figured they had other places to be, but 10 minutes later, they showed up in full Village People costumes and continued to dance with us. It was hysterical. They were all so fun. At midnight, the dance party moved from the Centrum to the Viking Crown Lounge, but we knew it was best to turn in because we had an early morning arrival at our last port, Dubrovnik.

 

[Aerial show from the 7th floor]

 

[so fun!]

 

More to come on Pearl of the Adriatic!

[Spring]

Thanks so Much, 9 days and I am on the Splendour

[Sinppu]

This is just beyond beautiful.

[PCWalton1]

Wow, terrific review. Some of the ports bring back memories of our cruise back in May. Thanks alot. :)

 

Bill

[tonybecks]

So excited - I step foot on Splendour on Saturday and this is just making my excitement so much greater! :):):)

[Spring]

So excited - I step foot on Splendour on Saturday and this is just making my excitement so much greater! :):):)

 

I will be getting on the day you get off, :D

[Libby1787]

Day 7: Dubrovnik, Croatia

 

We docked in Dubrovnik at 7am and had to be back on the ship at 1pm – very short time at port, which was kind of a bummer as you could easily spend a couple of days exploring Dubrovnik. I learned through Splendour Live! that our Captain was born and raised in Dubrovnik. Pretty neat!

 

[The Splendour in port]

 

I had done a lot of research for what we should do/see in Dubrovnik and Cruise Critic was a huge help. I read on another member’s review that said once you get off the ship, you have a choice to take a taxi to the Old Town (10 euros) or take a Panoramic Tour (1 hr – 50 euros) that would eventually end up at the Old Town. Sure enough, the taxis were right there, with a clear sign for the 2 different taxi trips and the listed prices. We opted for the Panoramic Tour and it was wonderful. We took two taxis, 4 people in each, and we drove together as we weaved up the hillside. We stopped at three different locations, the last one being where the cable car stops at the top of the mountain. It took us about 30 minutes to get to the top. The road was pretty narrow too, but it was a fun ride. The views at the top, and even along the way, were stunning and well worth it. Our taxi driver spoke some English but for the most part, he wasn’t too talkative. The other taxi driver spoke perfect English and was very informative about Croatia’s history. He had actually lived in California for a part of his life, but he moved back to Dubrovnik to fight in the war in the 1990’s.

 

[View of the Old Town]

 

After we winded our way back down the mountain, our taxi dropped us off that the front of the Old Town. We knew that we wanted to walk the city walls, so we purchased tickets right after we crossed through the entrance. Luckily, it was still early enough that we didn’t have to wait (around 9am), but later as we left (around noon), the line was very long. Here’s another tip of mine: go early – sounds familiar right? That seems to be the key at these ports where cruise ships drop off thousands of passengers that all want to see the same thing.

 

Once we climbed up the steep and long set of stairs to get to the top of the walls, we had such a fun time walking around the entire city. I must have taken 100 pictures. The ocean was so clear and calm. I usually get freaked out by heights, but it wasn’t too bad. I think it would have been a lot worse if it had been crowded because then we would have had to pass people on the narrow walkway.

 

[On the walls, looking down at the Placa (main street)]

 

[beautiful]

 

[Walking the walls]

 

After making one giant circle (there are other entrances/exits if you don’t want to walk the entire walls), we ended up down at the entrance again. From here, we all split up to wander around the city. My husband and I strolled around and checked out the harbor. It was beautiful over there. We noticed a cruise ship (Costa) that was anchored and tendering passengers straight into the Old Town harbor (awesome location). Our taxi driver had told us that Costa ships get priority over all other ships to tender because they were the first cruise line to bring passengers to Dubrovnik. I thought this was interesting. We explored more of the old town and mostly just wandered around. We eventually met up with everyone around 11:30am and we grabbed a cab back to the ship (10 euros per taxi). As we were leaving, I saw that there is so much to do outside of the Old Town. It’s a bummer that we didn’t have more time to walk around outside of the walls, but maybe one day I’ll be back!

 

[Gorgeous coastline]

 

Once we got back to the ship, we all headed to the MDR for lunch, as it was our last day to eat lunch there. I thought it was so-so. The best part about it was the enormous salad bar. They had almost every topping you could imagine. I didn’t think the food, other than the salad, was that great. I probably could have gotten better food at the Windjammer. The nice part about the MDR for lunch is that it’s a nice and relaxing atmosphere.

 

After lunch, I had to do what I dread most about vacation: pack to go home.

 

We also said goodbye to our wonderful waiters that night. We decided to skip the magic show in the theater, but we caught one last aerial show before we headed to bed. The next morning, we had to be up and ready to go by 7am because me, my husband, and my SIL were using the ‘Express Departure’ program which allowed us to walk off the ship with luggage in hand between 7am-7:30am.

 

More on that to come…

 

Ciao!

 

cruisingator - How fun! Are you going to Katakolon and Santorini instead of Athens and Mykonos? Our waiters said that the itinerary switches to those two ports once in a while.

 

Spoiled111 - You got off the day we boarded. How funny!

 

Spring - Have a wonderful trip!

 

Sinny - Thank you! I just got a new camera before the trip and I'm really happy with it.

 

Bill - I remember reading your Splendour review. It was such a huge help and a great read.

 

Tony - Glad you're enjoying the review. You're going to have a blast on the Splendour!

Edited November 8, 2012 by Libby1787

[Cruising89143]

Our itinerary is Dubrovnik, Corfu, Santorini, Athens, Katakolon with a sea day on the way back to Venice. I am looking forward to it. Your review has been awesome. Thanks for taking the time to post it.

 

I am interested how the self debarkation worked. We have an early flight back to Atlanta. I emailed the Concierge on board earlier this week and she told me the times that it normally took place.

Edited November 8, 2012 by cruisingator2

[mjldvlks]

Great review. Dubrovnik is one of those places we seem to run into on every cruise that we never would have visited if it hadn't been a stop on a cruise we picked for other reasons, but turned out to be wonderful.

 

If you are looking for lunch in the old town, look for Mea Culpa Pizza. Our Pizza was good and our freinds said their calzone was also. It was also very resonable. We sat outside and visited with some passengers from another ship that was in town that day. Great times.

[Coolcruise02]

Awesome review!

[scottishwee35]

[1896 Olympic Stadium]

 

[Changing of the Guard]

 

We drove around downtown Athens for a bit before ending up at a lunch spot near the Plaka. The restaurant was recommended by Nikos and we really enjoyed it. Once again, I ordered a chicken pita. I’d have to say the one in Mykonos was better, but you really can’t go wrong. After lunch, we strolled through the Plaka, did some souvenir shopping, then visited the Ancient Agora. The ruins were beautiful. I should make a note here about the weather – it was still behaving! No more rain after that early morning drizzle. After, we headed to the new Acropolis museum, but my husband and I decided to walk around the streets of Athens given that we only had an hour before we had to head back to the ship. We ordered some Greek coffee and wandered the streets. Our parents visited the museum and wished that they had more time to see everything because it’s pretty large. I would definitely say that our tour was go go go, not leisurely at all, but that’s exactly what we wanted. Most of us probably won’t get the opportunity to visit Athens again, so we’re very happy we got to soak in as much of the city as possible.

 

[Lunch]

 

[Ancient Agora]

 

[View of the Acropolis from the Ancient Agora]

 

Nikos dropped us back off at the terminal around 4pm and the line to go through security was pretty insane. There were 4 other ships at port and they must have all had late afternoon departure times. Luckily we had until 5pm before the ship sailed away, but we saw a few groups that had to cut in front to avoid missing their ship.

 

All in all, we had an amazing day in Athens thanks to our tour with Nikos. For those of you that are interested, we paid 400 euros for our group of 8, plus tip. The tour started at 8am and ended around 4pm. We were driven around in a spacious Mercedes minibus that could probably hold 14 people.

 

[saying goodbye to Athens]

 

More of Day 5 to come...

 

I like last photo that is beautiful... I enjoyed to read and see the photos too...thanks for your time to wrote it and put the photos... I look forward to Splendour of the Seas next year...

[Libby1787]

Departure Day

 

Well, this is my last post for this review and it’s kind of bittersweet. It was so much fun to relive each day of our vacation and browse through all of our pictures. Thank you everyone for the feedback and kind comments. And to those of you who will be cruising on the Splendour in the near future, have a blast!

 

My husband and I had an early flight, along with my SIL, from Marco Polo airport on Saturday morning (@ 11:35am) to Philadelphia on US Airways. We decided to walk off the ship with our luggage in hand between the designated time (7am-7:30am) so we didn’t have to worry about rushing to the airport. It was such a smooth process.

 

We hit the Windjammer at 6:30am and it was surprisingly busy. We then said goodbye to our parents and my sister (my parents and sister were staying in Venice for the day and then flying back to the States on Sunday, and my husband’s parents were traveling to Rome and Florence before heading back home). We took an elevator to deck 1 and walked off the ship around 7:15am. There were quite a few people doing this (the elevator was packed mainly due to the large suitcases) but there was never any line or crowd.

 

Our original plan was to take a taxi from the terminal to the airport, but when we arrived at the taxi stand (probably a 3 minute walk from the ship), the man said it would cost 45 euros. We thought this was pretty steep, so we opted to take the People Mover to Piazzale Roma, and then hop on the ATVO Line 1. Since it was still so early, we knew we had enough time to do this. The unfortunate part about this plan was that it had started to rain, heavily, and there are no overhangs when walking to the People Mover from the terminal, nor a shuttle like we took when we arrived (it was probably a 5-10 minute walk). We were soaked by the time we got to the People Mover. It took about 5 minutes to get to Piazzale Roma and we purchased our bus tickets at the manned booth near the People Mover exit. We ran across the street and stood under a little bus stop overhang and waited for Line 1. I think it runs every half hour (arrives 10 to the hour and 20 past the hour) so we didn’t have a long wait till 7:50am. When the bus pulled up, we stored our luggage underneath and grabbed a seat. The bus wasn’t full so we had room to spread out, which was nice considering we all looked like we had just stepped out of the shower.

 

After a 20 minute bus ride to Marco Polo airport, we got off the bus and headed to the US Airways counter. By this time, it was just past 8am, and the check-in counter wasn’t open. It looked like all of the other airlines were open, but I couldn’t really tell because the US Airways counter is tucked in the corner. We waited in a short line for about 20 minutes before they opened, and from there it was a breeze. We checked our luggage and passed through security in a matter of 10 minutes. Also, from what it looked like, we were on the only US Airways flight leaving Venice that day, so that’s probably why the counter wasn’t open until 3 hours before the flight.

 

The one thing I will say about Marco Polo airport is that it looks like it could turn into a madhouse, especially during the summer. We were there fairly early and it was already starting to get pretty crowded (i.e. hard to wheel your suitcase through crowds and lines), but overall, we had a good experience traveling through there.

 

Our flights home went well (other than the fact we were flying US Airways – I told my husband, next time we travel international, we’re sticking to the international carriers – my parents flew Swiss and had so many more amenities than us).

 

[Flying over the Alps]

 

Overall, I couldn’t have imagined our trip to go any better. We had so much fun, mainly due to the incredible staff and the wonderful ship. I already have an itch to cruise again, so hopefully you’ll be seeing another review from me in the near future! Until then, I'll be stalking all of the other reviews for travel tips :)

 

Ciao!

[mjldvlks]

Great review, thanks.

[Darkwolfe]

 

[Changing of the Guard]

 

A little history tidbit for those interested. The rifles the guard are carrying are M1 Garands that were originally developed by John C Garand just before WWII. General Patton called them "The greatest battle rifle ever developed". John Garand never collected on any royalties from the manufacture of his rifle design. That was actually by his own choice.

 

The rifle is heavy. Empty, the one I own weighs in just under nine pounds. Fully loaded with eight rounds of 30.06 ammunition, it brings the weight up to roughly 9.5 pounds. Doesn't sound like much until you carry it around for a few hours!

 

Greece Received 186,090 M1 and 1880 M1C/M1D rifles from the U.S. government prior to 1975. As you can see they are still in use for ceremonial duties by the Presidential Guard. However, if I were inspecting the Guard, that young fellow on the left would be getting chewed out for the bolt being left open on guard!

 

Great review! I need to make that trip myself one day. :)

[ms8654]

Wow! Thank you for such a great review! I just booked my cruise today. I did a similar itinerary before but it's been a while since I've sailed RCCL. A few questions...

 

1. There used to be a shuttle bus from Piazza Roma to the ships, but this was pre-People Mover. Do they still offer this service or must you take the PM to the shuttle bus?

 

2. Was it one bottle per person or cabin when embarking?

 

3. At disembarkation, I'm taking the same USAir flight you took. Was the booth to buy return bus tickets easy to find? I was there last year as a port stop, but didn't need to look for the ticket booth.

 

Thank you in advance.

 

Marie

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD

[ageria]

Hi!

 

Loved the review! We are thinking of doing this cruise but can't decide whether to go in early or mid October. What were the temps like in Venice and the Greek isles when you were there? Thanks!