Another Splendid Splendor cruise (with pics) 6/29/15

[Jamman54]

Here we are sailing under the VNB on a VERY foggy morning…..

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

To be continued…..

[Jamman54]

We have left the VNB behind…..

 

 

In front of us, New York City appears out of the fog…..

 

 

We are passing Governor’s Island……

 

 

 

Looking up the East River to the Brooklyn Bridge…..

 

 

The fog is lifting, so now we have a better view of lower Manhattan…..

 

 

 

To be continued…..

Edited August 1, 2015 by Jamman54

[Jamman54]

Here are a couple of early morning views of the Freedom Tower…..

 

 

 

Looking towards midtown and the Empire State Building, you can see the clouds breaking up…..

 

 

The first rays of the sun are touching lower Manhattan…..

 

 

The sun is rising on New York City…..

 

 

Looking up the Hudson River towards the Manhattan Cruise Terminal…..

 

 

To be continued…..

[Jamman54]

These two tugboats are waiting for us, and will help us dock at pier 90…..

 

 

We are now sailing past the Chelsea Piers…..

 

 

This is our tugboat escort…..

 

 

Patti has joined me on the balcony as we sail into New York City…..

 

 

We are passing the Circle Line pier…..

 

 

The Intrepid Air & Sea Museum…..

 

 

To be continued…..

[Jamman54]

You can visit an actual British Airways Concorde jet…..

 

 

 

Another view of the Intrepid as we slowly sail by…..

 

 

We are now approaching the Manhattan Cruise Terminal…..

 

 

This is Pier 88, which for the most part is used by NCL…..

 

 

This is Pier 90, where the Splendor will dock…..

 

 

To be continued…..

[Jamman54]

The two tugs are helping the Splendor make that tight turn into her berth at Pier 90…..

 

 

 

 

We are almost in…..

 

 

 

The longshoremen are pulling in the lines…..

 

 

To be continued…..

Edited August 1, 2015 by Jamman54

[Jamman54]

The fuel barge has arrived to refuel the Splendor for her next cruise…..

 

 

They are tying up the lines. The cruise is officially over. It is 7:20 am, a little bit later than normal…..

 

 

We hung out in the cabin until 8:15, when it was time to head down to the Pink Pearl to wait to debark. They had coffee, juice, and danish there for us, which was a nice touch.

 

They were running a bit behind this morning, as self debark didn’t start until 7:45. For those that put their luggage out, in New York, it can take a little longer for zone debarkation to start. Since the terminal is on the pier, which is over the water, the forklifts have very little room to work with when delivering the luggage to the pickup area. Therefore, all of the luggage must be off the ship, and the forklifts out of the pickup area, before zone debarkation can start.

 

Finally, at 9:20 am, we were the first with zone debarking, to be allowed off the ship. Malcolm was down there, waving and saying goodbye to the passengers as they left.

 

Once off the ship, it didn’t take us too long to find our luggage, grab a porter, and go through customs. The porter took our luggage and us up the big elevator to the parking deck, and then loaded our luggage right into the van. Great service!! As we left the rooftop parking at the pier, Patti got this picture of the Splendor…..

 

 

This way to the Lincoln Tunnel, and back home to New Jersey…..

 

 

As we left the Lincoln Tunnel, Patti took these last two pictures of the Splendor from the New Jersey side of the Hudson River…..

 

 

 

We were back at home within an hour, another fun cruise completed. The end.

 

We have enjoyed all of our cruises on the Splendor, but since she will not be in New York next summer, who knows if we will ever sail on her again. We feel that if we have to travel any great distance to board a ship, we’ll want to go on a ship that we haven’t been on, or one that we haven’t been on in a while.

We like to sail out of our home port of New York at least once a year if we can, and we have the Sunshine booked out of New York in August of 2016.

 

No cruise is perfect, so I refuse to nitpick at the little things that may go wrong, or let it affect our fun.

 

We tried the Cloud 9 Spa passes for the first time this cruise, and though we enjoyed all the amenities provided, we felt the cost for the 8 day pass at $189/single, or $349/couple, was a bit steep. We have decided that we will not do it on our upcoming Breeze cruise, unless of course, the price is lower.

 

I want to give a shout out to the casino staff and hosts, for making the experience of losing money an enjoyable one!! Lol.

 

My biggest complaint would be the lack of sports programming in the sports bar. The place was almost always dead, with the exception of the Women’s Soccer World Cup Final. On my last cruises on the Pride and Liberty, the EA Sports Bar ALWAYS had some kind of sport being shown, with LIVE games every night, so I refuse to believe that NO SIGNAL crap!!

 

That’s about all I can think of since most everything has been covered in the review itself. If anyone has any questions, ask away, and I will get you the answers.

 

Another great big shout out to my fellow roll call members. You were all awesome!! I hope we get to sail together again soon. (next August maybe?). It was GREAT to meet new friends, and to see old friends again!

 

Finally, I want to thank my lovely wife Patti, and her amazing picture taking abilities, which makes it so easy to weave a story around them. Thanks to all of you that been following along, and posting your comments. I hope you enjoyed the ride! It is because of you, that we will continue to do these photo reviews. Next up: the Carnival Breeze.

 

So for now, may you have clear skies and smooth seas. Happy Sails!!!!

[islandatsea]

Totally awesome review Jeff! Enjoyed seeing and reading about your cruise. Thanks for taking your time to do this detailed review :) .

[Jamman54]

Totally awesome review Jeff! Enjoyed seeing and reading about your cruise. Thanks for taking your time to do this detailed review :) .

 

Thanks for reading and glad that you enjoyed it! :)

[WinstonsMom]

Another great review, Jeff. 83 days until we're onboard the Splendor for our trip to Bermuda. Your reviews have certainly added to my excitement about being on her for the first time!

 

Did you or Patti have a chance to wander down to decks 4 or 5 while onboard? If so, did you notice if there were lounges chairs (or any seating) on these lower, exterior decks? We so enjoy sitting out there while at sea and were disappointed when there were none on our recent Pride cruise. Just hoping they will be around on the Splendor.

 

Thanks!

 

Lisa

[aztekpm]

Another great review! I love the ship class, to me it's a perfect size, not too big, nor too small and so far Liberty is my favourite ship. I was debating between the Conquest and Splendor next spring, but Conquest won for the itinerary and time in port.

[sp2]

Thanks so much Jeff and Patti, for another awesome review. I have been following along and enjoyed it so much. We are sailing for the first time from New York in October so this was a real treat.

I'm glad you are sailing again in a couple of weeks and hope to see another review then. Will Ryan be joining you?

All the best to you!

Sharon:):)

[Jamman54]

Another great review' date=' Jeff. 83 days until we're onboard the Splendor for our trip to Bermuda. Your reviews have certainly added to my excitement about being on her for the first time!

 

Did you or Patti have a chance to wander down to decks 4 or 5 while onboard? If so, did you notice if there were lounges chairs (or any seating) on these lower, exterior decks? We so enjoy sitting out there while at sea and were disappointed when there were none on our recent Pride cruise. Just hoping they will be around on the Splendor.

Thanks!

Lisa[/quote']

 

Glad you enjoyed the review, and hope it was helpful in your planning.

 

I noticed loungers piled up outside on Lobby Deck3. Nothing on Deck 4 since that deck is used for muster. Deck 5 is the Promenade Deck.

 

 

Another great review! I love the ship class, to me it's a perfect size, not too big, nor too small and so far Liberty is my favourite ship. I was debating between the Conquest and Splendor next spring, but Conquest won for the itinerary and time in port.

 

Thanks for following along! The Conquest is one ship we've yet to cruise on.

[Jamman54]

Thanks so much Jeff and Patti, for another awesome review. I have been following along and enjoyed it so much. We are sailing for the first time from New York in October so this was a real treat.

I'm glad you are sailing again in a couple of weeks and hope to see another review then. Will Ryan be joining you?

All the best to you!

Sharon:):)

 

Thanks for reading Sharon!! There's nothing like sailing from New York. You are in for a real treat!

 

We are excited about our upcoming Breeze cruise, and of course we'll be doing our photo review on it. Yes, Ryan will be with us this time.

[WinstonsMom]

I noticed loungers piled up outside on Lobby Deck3. Nothing on Deck 4 since that deck is used for muster. Deck 5 is the Promenade Deck.

 

LOL, I knew I should have checked the deck plans before asking! Thanks for noticing the loungers. We just love to watch the water up close and personal so to speak.

 

I hope you and your family have a lovely time on the Breeze!

[jbhcw]

thanks again for a wonderful review...we'll be sailing the Splendor in October...cannot wait...also will be looking forward to your breeze review:)

[Jamman54]

thanks again for a wonderful review...we'll be sailing the Splendor in October...cannot wait...also will be looking forward to your breeze review:)

 

Thanks for reading! Enjoy your cruise on the Splendor.

[ATHENA3]

Thanks for a great review as always and the pics were amazing. I’m still laughing about the Otis the drunken fall comment. :D

[Cruisin_Greg]

Really enjoyed reading about your experiences, and viewing all the wonderful pictures. Friends of ours have booked a cruise on Splendor for January, to the West Carribbean, and we're seriously considering joining them. What you provided in this review was a GREAT overview of what the Splendor is like.

 

Pretty sure we're going to be joining them.. :) Just need to work out the flight details.

 

Thank you again.

[wajowander2011]

Enjoyed your review very much! Will be looking forward to your next review. Thank you for doing these.

[Jamman54]

Thanks for a great review as always and the pics were amazing. I’m still laughing about the Otis the drunken fall comment. :D

 

Thanks for reading! That was a great comment! :D

 

 

Really enjoyed reading about your experiences, and viewing all the wonderful pictures. Friends of ours have booked a cruise on Splendor for January, to the West Carribbean, and we're seriously considering joining them. What you provided in this review was a GREAT overview of what the Splendor is like.

 

Pretty sure we're going to be joining them.. :) Just need to work out the flight details.

Thank you again.

 

Glad you enjoyed the review. You need to pull the trigger on that cruise!

[Jamman54]

Enjoyed your review very much! Will be looking forward to your next review. Thank you for doing these.

 

Thanks for following along!

[qzbean]

This was the most well-timed review ever, as we depart on the Splendor in three days! Thank you so much for the play by play and the great pics! Loved it, and it did the job in getting us VERY EXCITED about our cruise!

[pghsteelerfan]

I just fished reading another great review by you and always enjoy your story telling, details, and beautiful pictures. Sorry that you didn't do as well in the casino or bingo on this cruise...just wondering if it was because your good luck charm (Ryan) wasn't on this cruise with you.

 

It's always kind of sad seeing a good review come to an end and I always feel I'm on the cruise with you, but I know there will always be another Jamman54 review to look forward to. In the meantime, I need to start getting in gear and and getting ready for our upcoming cruise...50 days till we set sail. The time will fly by because, number one, it's summer and number 2, we've got something going on now every weekend up until we leave for our cruise, including a NASCAR race in Richmond the week before unless we get rained out as we did this past May.

[PC Cruisin]

Thank you for giving us an awesome review. One day I look forward doing a cruise out of New York! Looking forward to your Breeze review soon. I will be going on the Breeze in 2017! What ports will you be going to? All the extra info will be a plus!!