Splendor Review Long (with pics) 8/21/13 - 8/29/13

[rob6465]

Great review. Wife and I are cruising Carnival magic out of Houston on dec 8th for my birthday but really want to cruise out of NYC so i can visit my family since i grew up in NYC. We are thinking Sept-dec 2014...yankee game or dec in NYC.:D:D

[eletur01]

HI your pictures are great. In the picture of the arcade, that is my daugther and her boyfriend. How funny is that. :D And also i found some of our travelers in the deck party! :) We definatley had a great cruise and the weather was great! Thanks for the pics and postings!

[windsbud]

I was on the same sailing. I also would love to go back to Grand Turk. Awesome day. I'm going to try and do a review with some pictures this weekend.

[092306]

Enjoying your review and pictures!

[Lisa0719]

Thanks for the great review. We sail on her in 9 days!

[megnut78]

OMG that is so funny that the picture is of your daughter! My DD was waiting to play on it, so I snapped a few pics. Hope she doesn't mind having her picture on here. Glad u found some more people in the deck party too! Yes I think we had wonderful weather!

 

HI your pictures are great. In the picture of the arcade, that is my daugther and her boyfriend. How funny is that. :D And also i found some of our travelers in the deck party! :) We definatley had a great cruise and the weather was great! Thanks for the pics and postings!

[megnut78]

Thanks for the great review. We sail on her in 9 days!

 

You'll have a great time! I wish I was going again!

[megnut78]

I was on the same sailing. I also would love to go back to Grand Turk. Awesome day. I'm going to try and do a review with some pictures this weekend.

 

Can't wait to see your review and pictures!!

[Jimmy Geegitz]

nice pics!

[Jamman54]

Great review and pics!!! :) We were on the cruise before you. Thanks for taking the time to post it.

[megnut78]

Great review and pics!!! :) We were on the cruise before you. Thanks for taking the time to post it.

 

I have been reading your review too and loved it!!! Thanks!!

[megnut78]

Dec 8th is my birthday :) Can I come? lol We only take a cruise once a year and it's always in the summer. I was trying to convince my DH that we should go for our anniversary in January, but no such luck. I told him maybe I'll go by myself for my birthday ;)

 

Great review. Wife and I are cruising Carnival magic out of Houston on dec 8th for my birthday but really want to cruise out of NYC so i can visit my family since i grew up in NYC. We are thinking Sept-dec 2014...yankee game or dec in NYC.:D:D

[razzzbere]

Thanks for the awesome review and pics!!!

[megnut78]

3RD DAY AT SEA - TUESDAY AUGUST 27TH

We decided to let the kids sleep in - Alyssa had participated in the Camp Carnival stay out until 3am. My son did it on his first cruise when he turned 9 and my daughter was excited for this cruise, because she got to do it too. It's $33 and they do all kinds of activities from 10pm - 3am. At that time, the Camp Carnival counselors drop them off at their room. I woke up in a panic around 5am, because she didnt tell me she was back. But she was sleeping soundly in her bed.

Anyway, we went to the MDR for breakfast/brunch. They had the Punchliner Comedy Brunch, so we got there around 9:30am, so we could be there in time for the 10am Smiley Joe Wiley. Well, right around 10am, they informed us that he wasn't feeling well and would not be on, but would be there for the evenings shows. No big deal. I do have to say this about the MDR for breakfast/brunch (now that is just my experience) Two out of the three times we went, the service was really not that good. They forgot things and on this particular morning, they forgot a lot of things and we literally could not get them to come back to our table. I found the language barrier very bad in the MDR, even with our own waiter at night. Dont get me wrong, he was very good - but aside from ordering our food, he basically had no clue what we were saying the rest of the time. But the waitstaff in the morning, just seemed like they could care less.

This is my friend Lisa's meal that morning:

 

My omelet:

 

After that, we decided to go and visit the Inch of Gold man about a necklace I had previously purchased and turned colors and faded. So he was located on Deck 9 right inside the door from the DJ area. There is a guarantee on these necklaces, as I was told when I purchased it. So, he informs me that my only option was the one type they had for $1 an inch. I did not like that style and told him, even though I paid more than $1 an inch for mine (he insists that I did not) I was willing to pay the difference for one that I actually liked. I saw one for $1.50 and was willing to pay the $.50 per inch difference. He said no, I was not allowed to do that. My only option is the one they have, because they dont have the one I have in stock. I told him I wasn't going to leave with something that I didnt like. I hope that makes sense to all of you, because apparently it didnt to him. He was pretty rude about the whole thing and I was getting a bit upset. So when a lady that was purchasing something, asked me what happened, I told her and showed her the necklace. Well, the man that worked there (I think his name was Pierre) turned to the lady and started speaking to her in Spanish. My husband understands and speaks Spanish, but apparently this man didnt think about that (odd in this day and age that he wouldnt realize we might understand what he is saying). So I was shocked when my husband tells him in Spanish that he understood exactly what he was saying -- apparently this guy told this woman that we were being ridiculous and dont listen to us. We went down to the Fun Shops to speak to a manager, my husband stayed there and tried to work this all out while I went back to the cabin to get the kids up. DH told me later when I met up with him that she found a piece of the same necklace in the back and she was going to make a necklace and a braclet. They were scraps left over. When I got it the neck day, I realized the necklace was a few inches too short and more like a choker. I honestly didnt have the energy and didnt want to waste any more of my cruise dealing with this.

We brought my daughter to lunch, my son went off to Circle C and I think to eat on his own.

 

My DH decided to have ice cream for lunch ;)

 

[megnut78]

We decided to walk around and take some random pictures before it was time for my daughter to go to Camp Carnival and it was time for us to go to the Art Auction. Pictures below and on the next pages.

LIDO BUFFET

 

LIDO POOL:

 

LIDO GRILL FOR HOTDOGS AND BURGERS:

 

PIZZERIA:

 

LIDO BAR:

[megnut78]

DJ ON THE LIDO DECK:

 

ELEVATORS LOOKING DOWN FROM DECK 9:

 

 

ALYSSA POSING IN FRONT OF THE PINK DONUT WALLS:

 

VIEW FROM DECK 5 - YOU CAN SEE THE FUN SHOPS, PIXELS ON DECK 4 AND THE LOBBY ON DECK 3

 

LOBBY:

[megnut78]

CASINO DECK 5:

 

 

THIS IS THE PAINTING I WANTED AT THE ART AUCTION, BUT IT WAS $3400!!

 

I actually dont go to the art auctions for the free champaigne. I actually dont even drink champaigne at all. I went a couple of years ago on the Glory and purchased a piece of art for a really good price, that is valued at triple of what I paid. It's not anything big or huge, I paid a couple hundred dollars for it. Anyway, if the auctions aren't really long (which this one was not) I enjoy going to see what they have and if I can get any deals. I got my number pulled out of the bucket for a free work of art, but I did not wind up getting it. I dont feel that something is free when you have to pay $35 for the shipping. But I really had already known that going into this.

 

This day honestly went by way too quickly. After the art auction, I think I went back to the room for a little while to wait for the kids to get back from their activities. I told them to meet us back at the room by 4:30 pm so that they could shower and get dressed for formal night. A little side note - every year we get really dressed up for formal night and this year I promised DH that we didnt have to go all out - he didnt have to wear a jacket and tie, etc - just a nice shirt and nice dress pants. Well, his dress pants did not fit him, so he did not go to either formal night :( The first formal night, our waiter was nice enough to send two lobster tails to go, which was a really good thing he did, because DH said the Lido buffet was closed that evening. The second formal night, I told the kids we were going to get some pictures taken, whether they liked it or not :D So we got dressed and off we went around 5:15pm or so. We went to two locations for pictures and then off to dinner - and DH off to the Lido for his dinner. My mind seems to be blank again, as to what I had for dinner. There was nothing that wasnt good. I tried Oysters Rockefeller one night and had to spit them out - I am not an oyster fan at all, but figured I would try them while I was there. Needless to say, I wont be doing that again. Oh, ya know what - I think I had a seafood medley of stuff this night. It had scallops, shrimp and mussels (I only ate the shrimp and scallops). The kids had a variety of things during the cruise - I have to say this - the fried chicken looks really good, but it is SOOO dry. We even tried to dip it in honey mustard and it was just not happening. The spinach and feta roll up things for a starter were very good. Our friend Lisa had tried the chilled soups every night they had them. She did not like the cucumber one, either did my DH.

 

After dinner was over, we went to the show in the Theatre called VROOM. It was a great show and we really enjoyed it! After the show, we went to the adult only comedy in the El Morocco Lounge at 9:45 pm to see Smiley Joe Wiley and then at 10:45 pm to see Jimmy Carroll. We enjoyed both of them a lot. Much better than the two they had earlier in the cruise. After the comedy, we called it a night and went to pick Alyssa up at Camp Carnival Night Owls

.

 

The kids waiting for dinner outside of The Gold Pearl MDR:

[megnut78]

4TH DAY AT SEA - WEDNESDAY AUGUST 28TH (LAST DAY :()

I got up before the rest of my family around 8:30 am and got showered and dressed and went immediately up to deck 4 to find the pictures from the prior evening. I also wanted to go through all of the pictures and see if I had missed any and wanted to purchase them before we left. I was there for probably about an hour. We got the kids up and met Lisa in the MDR for the Punchliner Comedy Brunch at 11am. We sat in the middle this time and had a very nice meal and time. Our waitress was very good. We had free coupons for a free drink and we used them on this day. The kids got a virgin Pina Colada - DS got strawberry and DD got regular. Churros and Carmel cheesecake for dessert lol - never had dessert during breakfast, but hey it was the last day. The churros were not what we were use to. They were very thin and hard, not soft like I expected. DH is such a kid and him and my son made a man out of our dessert.

 

 

After brunch, Lisa and I went to another art auction. Nothing great this time either. After the auction we went to the fun shops were it was INSANE! You literally could not walk through the shops, as they were having the watch sale for $20. People had PILES of them. I had to get out of there as quickly as possible lol. For the rest of the day, I think we walked around, took some pictures and just chilled out and relaxed before heading home. I did start to pack up our stuff, as I didnt want to have to do it that evening. So this did take quite a bit of time during the afternoon.

Dinner was prime rib and I think I tried something else as well. We did not go to any shows this evening, but we walked around some more - took a few more pictures and DH waited for the burgers to open at 11pm (didnt open this evening until 11:30pm) to have a last late night snack before we got home.

THIS IS MY DS BRIAN AND HIS FRIEND JAMES - HE DIDNT GET JAMES INFO BEFORE LEAVING THE CRUISE. :( THEY ARE BOTH 12, CAN YOU BELIEVE IT? LOL - JAMES SAID HE IS TURNING 13 IN DECEMBER THOUGH.

[megnut78]

RED CARPET NIGHTCLUB

 

LOOKING DOWN THE HALL OUTSIDE OF THE RED CARPET NIGHTCLUB

 

OUTSIDE OF THE ARCADE:

 

 

OUR ELEVATORS ON DECK 2:

 

OUR LAST TOWEL ANIMAL - ALTHOUGH IT WAS NOT AN ANIMAL, I LOVED IT.

[megnut78]

THE PICTURE NEAR OUR STAIRWELL:

 

LEADING TO OUR ROOMS:

 

BAND IN THE CASINO:

 

HALLWAY DECK 5:

 

INSIDE THE RED CARPET, OUR DS WAS HAVING HIS LAST PARTY WITH CIRCLE C:

 

[megnut78]

PIANO BAR:

 

 

EL MOROCCO LOUNGE:

 

LOOKING DOWN FROM OUTSIDE OF EL MOROCCO:

 

THE LAST EVENING IT WAS RAINING, SO THEY PUT THE ROOF ON:

 

[megnut78]

THE THEATRE:

 

THE FUN SHOPS T-SHIRT SALE:

 

ME INSIDE THE FUN SHOPS:

 

 

PIXELS:

 

EARLY THURSDAY MORNING:

[megnut78]

THURSDAY, AUGUST 29TH

I woke up really early, not even sure why. I woke once in the night around 330am and feel back to sleep and then woke up again for the day a little before 5am. I realized we had internet service, so I laid in bed and checked some of my emails. DH got up and went up the front of the ship on Deck 10 to take some pictures. Got the kids up around 6am and got everyone dressed, packed up and ready to head out the door. We met at sometime between 630 and 7am for breakfast in the MDR again. So we actually went to the MDR for breakfast 4 times (not 3). We had originally planned on doing self disembark, but since we were FTTF, we got luggage tags 1 and we would be the first off after self disembark. When we were finished our breakfast, we went back to our room and grabbed our carry on luggage and headed to Deck 3 to sit in the theatre and wait. We got off the ship around 8:45 am - luggage was mostly all together in section 1. We got a porter that brought us up to where the car service would pick us up and we were off. It was a fairly quick ride home.

Unfortunately, I had to work the next day and Saturday and then we celebrated my son's birthday on Sunday with the rest of my family and friends. Yesterday was the first day I have had off since the cruise to sit down and type this all up and upload the pictures. We had a great time. There are definitely things I wish I would have done - I really wanted to try the slot tournament and the behind the scenes tour. It went by WAY too quickly and sometimes I wish I could live on a ship :) DH didnt like having so many days at sea. He likes to get off the ship and see things. Next year is really a toss up for us about what we are going to do, but I'm sure we wont make any final decision until after the New Year. I would really like to go on the Breeze or the Dream, but that would mean either driving or flying down to FL or New Orleans. DH really wants to go to Bermuda, but that means going on RCI and paying more, which I would really like to stay on Carnival - I just enjoy it more.

Our cabin steward John from India was great. The first day I asked for ice and he made sure there was always ice filled up every day. Our waiters were nice, but as I said previously, did not communicate well. They always seemed so rushed and overwhelmed, but I guess that's what happens when you have 7 tables (I asked). The bartender Paul from Ireland that came around the MDR was great too, but it's a shame that he was let go during our cruise and he told us he was being escorted to the airport by security when they got to NYC. I can't even imagine what he did, not sure I want to know. In regards to our cabin, I have now tried an interior room, a balcony and an oceanview room. I enjoyed the balcony when we had one on the Pride, but I have to say, to save the money, I would definitely go with an Oceanview room again. It's the same size as the standard balcony rooms, you are just missing the balcony. The interiors are really small for a family of four, but we made it work that first year :) The pictures below are from the 2nd formal night that we purchased. I took pictures of the pictures at home, so they aren't that great. Hope everyone enjoyed my first review. I would be more than happy to answer any questions! THANKS for reading!!

 

 

DH and DS goofing around in the theatre as we were waiting to get off the ship:

[cruise pup]

I enjoyed your report. I'm going on the Splendor in December and I love looking at the photos. I did the Sea Lion Encounter/Swim at Coral World. It was pricey but I loved it. Sea Lions are more my thing than turtles, although I did have an awesome time in Barbados where the snorkel trips make a stop at a site where there are enormous turtles and you swim with them. These turtles aren't native to the area but got there somehow and stay because of all of the snorkelers feeding them. If you ever get to Barbados you should do this. The site is off shore near the Sandy Lane Hotel. Were there a lot of iguanas roaming around at Coral World? There were so many and a number of the lady visitors were freaking out, although iguanas only look meaning, they're actually very sweet.

[texasmelrose2]

Loved your review..thanks for sharing! As for the chain ordeal, I can completely understand your frustration. If they are going to guarantee something they should make good on it and not force you to have something you don't want. And for the salesman to talk "behind your back" in Spanish was rude. :mad: I always see a line for the chains, now I know to stay away.

 

I love that family picture of you all...it's so cute how your son and daugher look like mini-me's of you and hubby, beautiful family!