Carnival Splendor Review (overdue!!) OV 7 day Western

[SunnydayKim]

Next stop...Victor's Monkey Business. This was $5 extra per person and a really cool place. There is a private tour guide that takes your group on a tour. So, add in some tip money to your budget as well.



Monkeys, lemurs, birds of all types, etc. It was set up as kind of an interactive zoo. There is also clean bathrooms here, a gift shop and water bottles/etc for sale. Victor Bodden actually lives here- so you can see his house as well, just not view it. This stop is also available on non-Victor tours, but I think the pricing is more like $10.


We all had the chance to have a monkey climb on us.



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Kim

[SunnydayKim]

I think this little guy was more Keiran's style! (you can tell by the smile instead of the "what am I supposed to do look" on his face with the monkey!)

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This parrot had some claws! It hurt! Beware if you have hair!

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(well, maybe Keiran still isn't big into animals on his shoulders!)

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Just to note there was hand sanitizer and as I said a full bathroom area here too.

Kim

[Twintowngirl]

I am enjoying reading your review of the Splendor! So far she isn't one of the ships I am planning on going on but I am in the process of doing my first cruise review ( after 6 cruises!) and I am gathering ideas for photos and a more creative writing flair.

We were at Victor's Monkey zoo in 2012....fun place!

Happy sailing to you and your family and thanks again for sharing your story and photos.

Deb

[SunnydayKim]

[quote name='Twintowngirl']I am enjoying reading your review of the Splendor! So far she isn't one of the ships I am planning on going on but I am in the process of doing my first cruise review ( after 6 cruises!) and I am gathering ideas for photos and a more creative writing flair.

We were at Victor's Monkey zoo in 2012....fun place!

Happy sailing to you and your family and thanks again for sharing your story and photos.

Deb[/quote]

Thanks for reading and happy sailing to you as well! Have fun writing your upcoming review, they are lots of fun reliving your vacation. But, do take some work with the pictures (and remembering details!).

[SunnydayKim]

OK, so I forget his name :( However, we had a great tour guide & driver on this tour.

Before I forget, here is a picture of him and our van!

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Kim

[SunnydayKim]

We wanted to do a little more snorkeling and hit the beach. We parked and our driver gave us directions to a good snorkeling spot about a 10 minute walk away. Well, we evidently did not find the spot he was talking about, but still had fun in the water and saw fish snorkeling!
The things I didn't like about this beach were that you had to pay for any chair, which I understand (but we were only planning on staying for less than an hour, so didn't feel like doing that) AND you had to pay for a spot in the shade? Even on the beach sand. That didn't make any sense to me. And, in order to sit there, you couldn't just pay a few dollars, you had to buy a wrist band. So... we made our trip to the beach extra short as Sharon & Johnny weren't getting in the water and were just going to watch.


This beach was crowded, but nice. The water was clear, lots of shallow areas for Keiran to play in and we had a nice time. Steve & I again took turns swimming out a bit to snorkel.



[B]Snorkeling selfie:[/B]


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[B]Lots of fish[/B], even if this wasn't the reef!

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[B]And of course, crystal clear water![/B]


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[B]The family shot[/B] (steve hates these pictures, but "in action" we have no other way to get pictures of all 3 of us together! The one with the longest arm wins (Steve) and since he doesn't like them, if in one shot we all aren't looking- oh well. No re-do's! So, this picture isn't the best, but it is what I have!)



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[B]Our water baby...[/B]


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Sharon sitting in the sun (the only "free" spot on the beach!)

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Kim

[SunnydayKim]

After about an hour total at the beach (including walking back and forth to the spot to meet our driver) we headed back to port with some more scenery and history on the way. Also, our driver made a stop to get good, cheap Honduran coffee for Sharon. She gave a bag to our driver and and kept the rest for them to bring back for themselves & gifts.

The ride back was on the other side of the island and my goodness... I could see us getting a vacation home there! If only flights were more frequent and reasonable, I think we would! Maybe one day we will plan a land vacation and spend a week in this beautiful part of the world.

As I mentioned, payment was $25 per person. We paid + tip at the end. It was a wonderful day and the drop off was much closer to the boat this time then when we met him; dropped off right in the port area.

We were STARVING when we got back onboard. We did have some fruit while we were out, but that and water was all since breakfast. It was around 3pm when we went up to Lido and ate lunch.

This would be the only night we didn't eat in the MDR for dinner. We just had too late of a lunch to be hungry at 6pm. After lunch, a nap was in order!

We woke up late from our nap, walked around the ship and did (something!). Then, Keiran wanted to go to camp, but camp was closed unless you wanted to eat there. So, we hung out a bit more, got Keiran a bit of dinner from the buffet and he went off to camp around 7pm.

I think that this was the night Steve & I went to 3 comedy shows. They had 2 really funny comedians on that had a lot of just funny comedy, not your standard cruise-ship jokes. Although I like a good room-steward ninja hiding under the bed or cruise ship toilet sucking you down the drain joke, they can get old multiple nights in a row! These two comedians were funny and their set could be told anywhere. We went to both family shows and then one of the adult showings.

Tonight was a party in the kids club and so Keiran stayed late. I picked him up about 11:30pm and off to Lido deck to get milk and then straight to bed. As an FYI, at home Keiran is in bed at 8:45 and usually falls asleep by 9-9:30. On a cruise, with so much to do and longer naps during the day, we allow him to stay up later (and hopefully sleep in a little later than his normal 7am too!). Bedtime routine on the ship included milk from the lido to bring back to the room, and he would have a chocolate from our room steward's turn down chocolates. Then, brush teeth and time to lay down. There were not many options for kids TV at this time of night, but Keiran got to know the wonderful world of Tom & Jerry! Usually, within 10 minutes of laying down (even with the TV on) he would be asleep.

That was it for a wonderful day at Roatan. Next stop, Grand Cayman.

Kim

[beshears]

It looks like you went a different direction (Grand Turk, St. Thomas, San Juan) than what we are to do, but that is OK. :) You are giving me pointers on the ship, etc., which really helps out.

Thanks for letting me inow what time "tea time" is.

Also that we can pick up "extra" copies of Fun time at the pursers desk. I never thought of that, and it seemed like I always had to wait until my friend would check it out. This way, we both can have a copy.:)

[SunnydayKim]

To anyone who was reading this review, thank you. I apologize for the delay, but I will finish this as I love "reliving" our cruises.

Life has gotten in the way since I last wrote on this. My father had a heart attack and a double bypass, but thankfully he is recovering and doing great now. Between that scary time, work and a few minor illnesses in our house, the delay has just gotten longer.

I will be finishing up this review this week.

And for those of you that are sailing on Splendor in the upcoming months, you will have a great time. Hopefully something that I write will help in your vacation planning as so many other trip reports have helped me!

Kim

[SunnydayKim]

Grand Cayman- Snorkeling & Stingrays

Well, the farther away I write this, the more details I lose. So, I will try to remember as much as I can!

Another perk of FTTF is tendering. Grand Cayman is a tender port and the line to pick up your "number" started early- I saw people lined up at 7:15 when I went down for my coffee. With FTTF, we just went down to guest services, they had someone walk us to an elevator and we were on the first tender.

We booked the Stingray Excursion with Moby Dick Tours to visit Sting Ray City and snorkel.

The excursion was on time and there were only about 15 of us total. We met Moby Dick right in the area at port and all walked over to the bus which took us on a "tour" to learn about the island on the way to the marina.

The boat itself was very nice and it was wonderful to have small number of people on board. I will say, although I enjoyed this excursion- I am not certain if I would take this company again. There is no real reason, they were all nice, but just not "wow". Maybe it was just the day.


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The ride out was nice and sunny, but the waves were coming! It was a very rough day out in the water and this did put a bit of a damper on our snorkeling and stingray city.

We snorkeled first. It was too rough for Keiran to get in the water. Really too rough. It was almost too rough for us. Steve & I took turns snorkeling. We saw some great fish, but the currents and choppy waters made it difficult to swim too.

Stingray City sandbar was rough as well. But, it was shallow enough and not as big waves so Keiran came into the water with us. The stingrays were amazing. It was a bit scary as the waves would push you over and we had to watch out for the rays.

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Even though the weather was not on our side for a nice, smooth trip, we made the best of it and had a great time.

We went back to the port area (the bus either dropped you off at beach or port). There was this little stand that had really yummy meat pies. They were inexpensive as well, a nice little kick of spice in them! Right inside the port area. I did a tiny bit of souvenir shopping and then headed back to the ship.

Back on ship we had a late, small lunch. I think it was from the grill but do not remember! Keiran loved the hotdogs.

A nap was in store for all of us this afternoon, followed by our regular routine of some afternoon trivia, pre-dinner prep.

Tonight after dinner was again a camp Carnival time for Keiran and the comedians/casino for Steve and I. (Sorry, again- the details of night-by-night have now escaped me!)

I will wrap up with Sea Day and overall Carnival Splendor thoughts on the next post!

Kim Edited June 28, 2015 by SunnydayKim
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[anonmom]

I'm currently deciding between a balcony and an Oceanview for a cruise I want to take in December with my boyfriend and our 4 yo.

The Oceanview is definitely cheaper, of course, but did you feel cooped up at night, like you had to just sit on the bed and talk quietly so your son didn't wake up? I feel like if we have the balcony it will be no big deal for one of us to sit on the balcony while the other runs out to the bar for drinks so we can sit and talk normally together.

Also, sorry if this is too personal, but what did you do about sex? Did you just stick to daytime when your son was at camp? I guess that will be our plan, but it does seem weird to be spending a whole week sleeping in the same tiny room with our daughter.

And how does room service work? Is it fully included, or is there an extra charge, or do you just tip?

[familyofd]

If I can chime in on inside room, the last cruise I stayed in a room with a window was 2002, and this cruise in June we got a room with a window in the very front of the ship room 6203, it can only hold 2 people I think ,but there are other rooms that may be bigger (in front), in no way did I want to stay in this room, I hate being closed in , bla bla, but in all reality I didnt mind it at all,
I was a little seasick and it didnt bother me being upfront,It was quiet and you can use the balcony in front of the ship to see ports as you are coming in, too hot during the day to stay there but its fresh air anytime you need it, at night we were out till midnight or so to feel cooped up and that's where it might be different with a 4 year old as I am unsure if there is night babysitting. My parents had room 6201 and our room was def bigger.