Carnival Splendor August 12th 2014

[Mr Buffet]

Let me start off by saying this was my 15th cruise and 5th with Carnival. I went with my sister and mother. My girlfriend also went with her family

I enjoyed the cruise and I really can't complain about much. I was able to relax and a cruise beats work and school every day of the week.

 

Day 1 - Left my house in Staten Island at around 10:30. Got to Pier 90 at around 11:30 and was on board by noon. Rooms weren't ready so we were going to head to the buffet. First we decided to stop by the dining room to check our seating arrangements. When we got to the desk we were told we have a table of 8 and to come back at 1:30 if we want to try to change to a private table. Headed to the buffet and decided to try Mongolian Wok because from what I read the lines would be shortest on the first day. I waited 30 minutes and got my food and it was disgusting. Mongolian Yuck.

 

Then I had pizza and it wasn't as good as I remembered it, the crust was way too thin this cruise and a major problem is that they don't constantly have pizza in the oven and instead you have to order what pizza you want and they make it for you so there is a wait for your pizza. I then had my first of many sandwiches on the cruise from the deli and it was delicious. Checked out the food at the buffet and was not impressed but at it none the less:rolleyes:.

 

Had some ice cream and dessert, then headed to the Maitre'D. On the way there we saw a couple getting married in the Punchliner Comedy Club.

We were told our request to change tables will be put in and that we would find out the next day if we were able to get a table change.

 

Purchased a soda card for the week and to my surprise the usual cup/mug that all cruise lines give you with purchase was no longer complimentary and I would have to pay $6 extra to have it. I didn't find it necessary to have so I saved my money and did not purchase it.

 

I then headed to my interior cabin on deck 1 room # 1231 to check it out. Then along with my sister and girlfriend, I went to explore the ship. This ship has a layout similar to most in the fleet and I was able to navigate the ship with no problem and within an hour I knew where everything was.

Then it was time to report to my muster station for the lifeboat drill. The drill was outside and we all had to stand up throughout its entirety. The ship was scheduled to pull out at 4PM with a 3:45PM safety drill. The drill however didn't start until around 3:55PM and the ship still pulled out at 4PM. So while no one was up on deck by the pool to watch the initial sail-away, we were all outside at our muster stations.

 

After the safety drill we headed upstairs but it was raining. Watched us sail- away, took some pictures then explored the ship some more.

Headed to the late seating dinner in the Gold Pearl Dining Room. Don't bother to get to dinner extra early because they don't open the doors until exactly 8:15PM. When my family got to our table to our surprise it was a table of 11, even worse than what we were originally told. Food was good and I had chocolate melting cake for dessert.

 

Went to the Welcome Aboard show and it was pretty bad. The singers and dancers are terrible. It has been the same show for 14 years now with the same songs. The singers would sing the part of a song "Baby, Everything is Alright" and then if you were on the left of the audience you would say "Uptight" and the right would say "Outta Sight." Then it was beach ball time. Same old routine. Our cruise director Eric was entertaining though and had some funny magic tricks that he did with a young child on stage. Then the comedians came out for 2 minutes each and both weren't funny.

 

After the Welcome Aboard show we headed to the Adult Only Comedy show. The comedian was just dropping the F bomb constantly and talking about sex. He wasn't any good.

 

Headed to the Red Carpet Club which is the dance club on board. Couldn't stay too long because smoking is permitted in there and after a while I could not breathe and couldn't take the smell.

 

Headed up to the lido deck where The Grill was open till 1AM and Pizza 24/7. Had some cookies while the movie was on at the Seaside Theater.

 

That is all for Day 1.

[Mr Buffet]

Day 2 - Could not sleep at all that night as the seas were very very rocky, probably the roughest waters I have ever encountered in all of my time cruising. The waves were hitting my window.

 

Got out of bed around 9:15 and headed up to the pool where the roof was closed due to the weather. Water slide was closed. Hot tubs packed with kids and that would be a recurring theme throughout the cruise. Hard to enjoy the pool when there were kids jumping into the pool splashing you in the face every minute. Call me what you want but every time a kid splashed me whether it be by jumping in or kicking their feet, I splashed them back. :p

 

Had lunch, relaxed, walked around, ate some more.

 

Went to Tea Time at 3PM in the Gold Pearl. Carnival needs to find a new way of doing this because once again we had to sit with 5 strangers. Is it so hard to give people a private table? The ship was really rocking at this point and all the tea cups were rattling. Even the waiters found the ship to be extra rocky and found it hard to walk.

 

Went back to my room and was disgusted to find a piece of paper saying our request to have a private table was denied. I ripped the paper in half and threw it on the floor.

 

It was elegant night so everyone got dressed up. The ship was empty as was the dining room due to rough waters.

 

Went to the family friendly comedy show at 7:30 and the comedian was not funny. Her jokes were all about being fat and being from the south. Most of the audience is from the North East and could not relate to her jokes.

 

At dinner a few people were missing from our table as well as the surrounding tables. When we exited the dining room there were barf bags stationed around the ship if anyone needed one. The originally scheduled "Multi-Million Dollar, Award Winning Production" with the Carnival Singers and Dancers was canceled due to the rough seas but no one complained. Instead there was a magician named TC Tahoe. Not bad. When you walked into the Spectacular Spectacular Theatre you could smell throw up and it was disgusting.

 

Then it was off to the Adult Comedy Show. Same comedian from the family friendly show and to no surprise she still wasn't funny.

 

Rough seas calmed down. Ate some food at the Seaside Theater. Went to the Red Carpet, once again it stunk of smoke. Went to bed and got a good night of sleep.

 

That is all for Day 2.

[Mr Buffet]

Day 3-

Seas were a lot calmer on this day. Went in the pool, then the water slide. Was picked to be in the hairy chest competition and came in second place. Went back to the room and was thrilled to find out that our dining table had now been changed to a private table for 3. Went to dinner that night and were greeted by our incredibly friendly waiters. Went to the family friendly comedy show with the comedian from the first night adult show and he was much better. After dinner I sung karaoke then went up to the lido deck and had a hamburger and some fries.

 

Day 4- Grand Turk

When we docked another Carnival Ship was already docked there and had already let people off board. By the time the Splendor started letting everyone off and we made our way to the pool in Margaritaville, there were no seats left. Ended up sitting on the beach right by the pool and went in the pool. The ocean was full of rocks and hard to stay in. Went back to the ship and ate 4 sandwiches and they were delicious. Was able to spend the rest of the day by the pool and go in the hot tub because no one was on the ship. Also went on the water slide without a line. Was able to play mini golf and ping pong. Then had another good dinner.

 

Day 5- Half Moon Cay

Had never been here before was was excited to see what it looked like. There was choppy waters once we docked so there was a major delay with calling the tender numbers. You are supposed to go get your tender number when your whole party is there but that was not the case as many people got tender numbers without their whole party being there. Once we got on the tender it was very rocky with water splashing onto the tender. It was fun. On the Island it was so hot. Had to walk down the beach a good distance but was able to get lounger chairs. This is the most beautiful place I have ever been to. Powder white sand which is never hot and crystal clear water with fish swimming by. The food station was nothing special but the chocolate chip cookies were delicious and hot out of the oven, much better on the Island than on the ship.

Back on the tender and to the ship, had lunch and went in the hot tub, pool and water slide.

[Mr Buffet]

Day 6 - Nassau, Bahamas

 

Not much to do here. Walked around a bit then got back on the ship and enjoyed having it empty for the last time. Went on the water slide multiple times and the hot tub.

That night went to the Adult Comedy show with Comedian Anthony Acosta and he was hysterical.

 

Day 7/8 - Relaxing days at Sea. Saw a hypnotist show and the other comedian Brad Tassel. Both were good. Ate as much as I could on the last sea day.

 

Leaving the ship- The luggage color sections were being called quickly. Went through customs in less than a minute and then it was back home.