Photo Blog - Ben the Bendy Man's Splendid Splendor Adventure, July 3rd, 2014

[Nalagh]

Things to do (Flashback - Bermuda September 2013)

 

 

 

 

These photos truly capture the essence and the beauty of the path to Warwick Bay. This is my favorite spot in Bermuda, which just happens to be my preferred port of call thus far in my travels.

[lifeisgoodPat]

More Please!

[SMSACE6]

More Please!

 

ditto! Especially now that I have booked this ship for next year (not that I expect to be diverted to Bermuda:D). Will look forward to more of Ben and his manservant's adventure:)

[kylenyc]

Saturday afternoon July 5, 2014

Bermuda Sailaway Party

 

It was an amazing but far too short a stay in picture-perfect beautiful sunny Bermuda (Hey... It sure beats rainy cold St. John Canada any day). As the hour of our departure approached, Cherie, Peggy, George & Ben headed to the Liner Bar to prepare for the Sailaway Party we had planned. Cherie had wanted to order some hor d'oeuvres and rum punch, while the rest of the gang was bringing wine.

 

Cherie was steaming from the ears working with Carnival over three days trying to order proper hor d'oeuvres (canapes and such) and drinks for the party. It was looking like we'd have to make due with just wine but at very last minute Carnival contacted her and decided to provide fruit and cheese platters. It was not exactly what we wanted but at this point we were glad they were providing something. They also did recognize how frustrating the process was and discounted the cost of the platters. Hopefully, Carnival will learn from this experience for the future so they can respond better... "Oh you want to spend more money on your cruise?... How may we help you do that?" (Carnival isn't quite done yet trying to make it up to us). (Also, Ben and his butler may test whether they've learned anything sooner than they might expect).

 

Pictures courtesy of Peggy (peg013)

 

 

 

 

Edited August 25, 2014 by kylenyc

[kylenyc]

Saturday evening July 5, 2014

Anytime dining, boleros, singing waiters... Oh my!

 

Even though this was Ben's second Carnival cruise, this was the first time he'd been to the main dining room or tried "Anytime Dining". After dining in the steakhouse twice, we had all sort of agreed we should dine in the main dining room at least once. We were seated immediately in the center of dining room which was rather cramped with tables an arms length from each other. Service however was friendly and prompt, and the food was only fair to good overall.

 

The real surprise was when the the Maitre D introduced the Dancing Waiters. Ben had read about them but nothing in his little plastic injection-molded life had prepared him for the spectacle before him as his waiter donned a bolero, stood up on a pedestal just above him, and started dancing and shaking his backside. It was fare worse his innocent imagination could conjure up. He's still rather stunned as his manservant edited the video to post it.

 

Thankfully, it's back to Pinnacle Steakhouse tomorrow night!

 

Dancing waiters (Video)

 

 

A nice sushi and french onion soup.

 

A warm and dry seafood penne and a wine chiller that's not cold and doesn't have any ice in it.

 

This waiter mentally prepares.

 

Please make them stop.

 

Edited August 25, 2014 by kylenyc

[kylenyc]

Sunday July 6, 2014

Lunch at the buffet and Gummi bear smackdown

 

The shock of dancing waiters soon dissipated after dinner, a few hands of black jack, and a visit from a towel animal. (He had an awesome towel monkey too but forgot to take a picture <kicks his squire in the shins>)

 

The next morning Ben's butler woke up rather surprised. It was nearly afternoon, and he was surprised our bright-eyed bubbly bendable hadn't bumped him out of bed much sooner. He was rather perturbed when he discovered Ben stuck to the wall by some vengeful Eagles fans. When Ben was finally able to compose, they headed up to the buffet for a pleasant lunch and spent the day enjoying the company of friends.

 

Before the cruise, Ben had tried to make some drunken gummi bears for the the cabin crawl but the attempt failed miserably. He learned you certainly can't rush the process. You have to refrigerate while they soak them otherwise they turn into a mushy gooey (but tasty) mess. Not having enough time to make them aboard the ship, his friends gathered around to sample the different varieties of gummi bears "au natural".

 

The genuine Haribo gummi bears won hands down over a rather awful tasting "Brach's gummi bears. The Brach's tasted like plastic. We had bought two varieties of Haribo's - The genuine variety imported from Germany and the US version. Both were yummy and had different flavors.

 

Towel elephant! Yippee!

 

Save me!

 

Lunch at the buffet - Carved pork, fish filet, and yellow rice. Yummy! Ben wonders why the plates are so big.

 

Ben's fails to make drunken gummi bears before the cruise. They need to be refrigerated while they soak or you'll end up with a gooey (but tasty) mess overnight.

 

Genuine Haribo Gummi Bears for the win!

 

Brach's are blech.

 

Next up: Last evening aboard the Splendor and ending on a high note.

Edited August 25, 2014 by kylenyc

[Cyber Kat]

Lunch at the buffet - Carved pork, fish filet, and yellow rice. Yummy! Ben wonders why the plates are so big.

 

Because they eliminated the trays (so I've been told) and these are plates pretending to be trays. I much prefer smaller plates with trays so you can have a place for your silverware and drinks!

[Theresa522]

Ben always wanted to try this!

 

lmao this is soooo funny

[Nalagh]

Sunday July 6, 2014

Lunch at the buffet and Gummi bear smackdown

 

 

Save me!

 

Great picture, however retribution has yet to come! :D

[kylenyc]

Sunday evening July 6, 2014

Pinnacle Steakhouse Night III, A magical evening

 

After the shock of dancing waiters the night, we retreated into the Pinnacle Steakhouse for one last overindulgent meal. After listening to his friends rave about the ribeye, Ben let his manservant order the 16 oz spice-rubbed cut of heaven. Our philanthropic flexible friend decided to let his squire spoil himself but didn't realize how far it would go until it was too late. He watched as the amuse bouche and focaccia were devoured, and then bite by delectable bite so did the steak until eventually he had to take matters into his own hands and push the plate away before his butler nibbled at the trimmings.

 

Focaccia, salsas, and amuse bouche

 

Sommelier (sorry forgot the friendly chap's name) trains a waiter on serving wine

 

A different amuse bouche

 

The awesome chefs of the Pinnacle Steakhouse

 

16 oz spiced rubbed ribeye heaven

 

Ben saves his butler from finishing the trimmings. Don't do it!

Edited August 28, 2014 by kylenyc

[kylenyc]

Sunday evening July 6, 2014

Pinnacle Steakhouse Night III, A magical evening (Continued)

 

After barely finishing his delicious ribeye, Ben's butler leaned back his seat desperately needing some time before even looking at the dessert menu. We were suddenly surprised when a man walked over to our table and informed us that Marina had invited him to perform for us.

 

Standing between Ben and George, "Barman" the Magician took out a deck of cards and proceeded to make a marked 7 of clubs disappear and reappear on command. We "knew" this was all slight of hand but despite our staring intently and focusing hard on his every move, we couldn't figure out how the tricks were done. We constantly exploded into outbursts of "No way!" and "Impossible!" as he flawlessly performed mere inches from us, holding the cards up for close inspection. He finished his performance by making the card reappear out from inside a zippered wallet tucked in his suit breast pocket, leaving us amused and amazed, and ending our night and our cruise on a high. Carnival/Marina/Barman and all the friendly crew that Ben had encountered made up for the frustrations he had encountered, and managed to turn Ben's cruise into one unforgettable vacation.

 

Thus ends the last evening of Ben's cruise and just in time too because...

 

Ben's leaving for another mini-cruise aboard the Carnival Splendor in just a few hours! This time Hurricane Cristobal is threatening to rock Ben's boat. It doesn't look like Mother Nature and Carnival will divert us to Bermuda a second time... But Ben can only hope.

 

Thanks everyone for keeping Ben company!

 

The End

 

Barman confronts a skeptical George

 

As you can see, regular playing cards.

 

Nothing up my sleeves

 

Barman gives Ben some sage advice "Keep Smiling"

 

 

Packed and ready to leave for the Splendor in a few hours!

Edited August 28, 2014 by kylenyc

[SMSACE6]

Very nice review! Thanks for taking the time to do it, and have lots of fun on your next adventure.:)

[lifeisgoodPat]

Thanks for the review….Enjoyed it!

[Chelleum]

Great review, I will be on the Splendor in November.

[timmy1958]

Awesome review!

[JohnSpo]

You did a great Splendor review. I will be sailing her in 2 weeks on the 7 day Canada/New England. Great photos of the ship and steakhouse. I have my reservations booked the first night for the steakhouse. Depending on the menus in the MDR, I will most likely book again later in the week.

 

Thanks for posting this review.

 

Enjoy your labor Day weekend cruise.:cool:

[FOLcruisers]

Thanks for sharing! We enjoyed your photos. Wea re sailing on Splendor in 45 days…CHOMPING AT THE BIT!!

[Star24K]

Thanks for sharing your review and photos!

[kylenyc]

Thank you everyone for your compliments and following along with Ben! :D

 

We just got back from another 4-Day Splendor Labor Day weekend mini-cruise yesterday! I'll be posting a separate review with lots of pictures time-permitting but I want to follow-up on some of the issues we had last time on this Independence Day weekend cruise.

 

Return of the Surf & Turf - The Surf & Turd can once again be properly called the Surf & Turf - We couldn't resist ordering it again to see if anything had changed and whether our Surf & Turd was a fluke. This time it was perfect! I believe Carnival just recently introduced the Steakhouse Menu into their Main Dining Rooms. So, Ben doubts this review had anything to do with the improvement :p. For a $20 surcharge, we ordered an AMAZING Surf & Turf in the Anytime Dining - Black Pearl Main Dining Room and we would not hesitate to recommend it to anyone except to say that for only $15 more, you can enjoy it in The Pinnacle Steakhouse which is a much nicer dining experience and includes amuse bouche, appetizers, and dessert. We ordered the Surf & Turf yet again in Pinnacle Steakhouse and it was also outstanding. Whether you order specialty steak in the main dining room or dine in the Pinnacle Steakhouse, it's worth every penny. Yummy!

 

Ordering Party Platters - Having learned how rigid Carnival is with their procedures, we were not surprised that when we again ordered party platters they would only deliver it to our cabin and refused to deliver to any public venue where we were hosting the parties. So, instead, we intercepted the crew members while they were delivering the platters to our cabin and simply told them to "follow us" to the venue which they nicely did. Now if only Carnival were smart enough to learn this trick and tell people that. :p They did however again serve us very generous portions. There must be a sticky note in our reservation - "Warning: PITA". :P

 

Ordering Off Menu - Carnival still refuses to allow ordering anything off the room service menu or party menus even if it's the most trivial change. Example: You can order a ham and cheese from room service but you can't order a grilled ham & cheese even though they have the best grilled sandwiches and Deli station ever. :rolleyes: You can of course order a ham & cheese and then a grilled cheese sandwich and try to make your own. :p Like wise, they don't make a club sandwich, but you can order a BLT sandwich plus a turkey sandwich and make your own.

 

Ben once again had a fantastic time on the Splendor and had some wonderful interactions with many many crew members. It's too bad Carnival won't be doing 4-Day cruises over Independence Day or Labor Day weekends next year. Still, he'll be having his personal assistant obsessively searching for the resident discount and no solo traveler surcharge deal on another weekend cruise next year.

Edited September 3, 2014 by kylenyc

[sshs]

Thank you everyone for your compliments and following along with Ben! :D

 

We just got back from another 4-Day Splendor Labor Day weekend mini-cruise yesterday! I'll be posting a separate review with lots of pictures time-permitting but I want to follow-up on some of the issues we had last time on this Independence Day weekend cruise.

 

Return of the Surf & Turf - The Surf & Turd can once again be properly called the Surf & Turf - We couldn't resist ordering it again to see if anything had changed and whether our Surf & Turd was a fluke. This time it was perfect! I believe Carnival just recently introduced the Steakhouse Menu into their Main Dining Rooms. So, Ben doubts this review had anything to do with the improvement :p. For a $20 surcharge, we ordered an AMAZING Surf & Turf in the Anytime Dining - Black Pearl Main Dining Room and we would not hesitate to recommend it to anyone except to say that for only $15 more, you can enjoy it in The Pinnacle Steakhouse which is a much nicer dining experience and includes amuse bouche, appetizers, and dessert. We ordered the Surf & Turf yet again in Pinnacle Steakhouse and it was also outstanding. Whether you order specialty steak in the main dining room or dine in the Pinnacle Steakhouse, it's worth every penny. Yummy!

 

Ordering Party Platters - Having learned how rigid Carnival is with their procedures, we were not surprised that when we again ordered party platters they would only deliver it to our cabin and refused to deliver to any public venue where we were hosting the parties. So, instead, we intercepted the crew members while they were delivering the platters to our cabin and simply told them to "follow us" to the venue which they nicely did. Now if only Carnival were smart enough to learn this trick and tell people that. :p They did however again serve us very generous portions. There must be a sticky note in our reservation - "Warning: PITA". :P

 

Ordering Off Menu - Carnival still refuses to allow ordering anything off the room service menu or party menus even if it's the most trivial change. Example: You can order a ham and cheese from room service but you can't order a grilled ham & cheese even though they have the best grilled sandwiches and Deli station ever. :rolleyes: You can of course order a ham & cheese and then a grilled cheese sandwich and try to make your own. :p Like wise, they don't make a club sandwich, but you can order a BLT sandwich plus a turkey sandwich and make your own.

 

Ben once again had a fantastic time on the Splendor and had some wonderful interactions with many many crew members. It's too bad Carnival won't be doing 4-Day cruises over Independence Day or Labor Day weekends next year. Still, he'll be having his personal assistant obsessively searching for the resident discount and no solo traveler surcharge deal on another weekend cruise next year.

 

LOL@"surf and turd!" I'll miss the holiday 4-days too, but have my eye on the 8-20-15 4-day to Saint John! Hope to see Ben and friends then, if not before!

 

Vicki (and Bill)