My Splendid Report on the Splendor 4/28/18-5/5/18

[mkcurran]

I didn't take many pictures so this will be a written report. Fell free to ask questions along the way.

 

First let me introduce you to my cast of Characters:

 

Me--The ring leader and head scheduler for the cruise, whether I liked it or not.

 

Hubs--The wonderful man I married 21 years ago on the day we boarded the ship.

 

Mom--The wonderful woman who agreed to go on this cruise rather than drag us along on her bucket list cruise--which was the NCL Sun Panama Canal Cruise that turned into the construction cruise--We all dodged a bullet there!

 

Dad--A young man in spirit, but his 80 year old body disagrees. This was his first cruise.

 

And a special thank you to my boss for taking vacation the week after I did, so I can have time to write this report for y'all.

[mkcurran]

4/27/18--Driving into the 7th circle of purgatory.

 

As good cruisers do we hit the road the day before the cruise. With only 260 miles to travel we planned for a nice leisurely drive. Yes we were indeed driving into the City of Angels. In Dad's truck. With Hubs as the driver.

 

To get there we decided to drive by the Salton Sea, to see what we could see. On this route is a casino that my parents love dearly. So we stopped at Red Earth Casino for some gambling and lunch. The plan was to wear the parents out so that they would sleep through the LA traffic.

 

After an hour of gambling, we loved the place too. We were ahead just enough money to pay for the good lunch provided in the restaurant.

 

We drove on and the traffic found us shortly. We wound our way through Riverside and down to Westminster in traffic that might have been going 20 at the good points. Hours of stop and go y'all. Poor Hubs had not one but two back seat drivers. Civilizations rose and fell, then we finally arrived at the Best Western in Westminster for the night. I can confidently say that LA is not built for trucks. Dad's truck overhung every single parking space. Anyway we got two wonderfully huge rooms for only $250. Senior rates rock!

The rest of the night was uneventful except for the burnt Popeye's Chicken. I'm going to quit seeking Popeye's out. They've been a source of disappointment lately.

 

Final thought for the day--I am definitely not a big city girl.

[Muumuu]

So looking forward to the rest as we will be on this August

[mkcurran]

4/28/18--Embarkation Day The Fun Begins

 

We get up in the morning and have breakfast at the hotel. Now our boarding time is 12:30. I keep telling this crew of over grown kids we have a lot of time to kill before we can board. I finally give up at 10:30 and agree to head to the port. I gave nobody the directions--so they couldn't leave me behind. ;) But only if we took the scenic route.

 

By scenic route I mean we drove through down town Long Beach. Never ever book a hotel room there folks. There's a reason the prices are cheap. The Hotel Current was in a good neighborhood, for those of you who want to know.

 

We made it through the construction zone and found the port. There was an event going on at the Queen Mary. This event made the parking situation fun. People were parking at the end of rows and making their own spots. There was no handicap spots available, so we weaved through the garage until we found a very tight spot on the 4th floor.

 

Everything unloaded we wheeled it over to the elevators. The elevators are quite few. We waited through 4 full elevators until we had enough space to fit me, hubs, Mom, Dad, and the half of the house they packed. But it was all good as we got a good view of the ship while we were waiting. Once we got down to the first level we got to hand off the cases of household goods to the porters who barely stopped working long enough to take a tip.

 

Now that we were much lighter we had a new goal in mind. You might think it was to get on the ship, nope. First a pit-stop. The bathrooms are conveniently located at this port, in case you were wondering.

 

So off we headed to the terminal building. If you get lost along the way there are plenty of smiling face willing to point you in the right direction. It is now 11:30 and a full hour before our boarding time. So I find the early/late line. This is where we are given a boarding group number and proceed through security. By the time we clear security, all of 5 minutes later, our boarding group is called. By the time we actually make it to the boarding area, it's open boarding. So we walk/wheel straight onto the ship.

 

Now we boarded with Dad using his walker and Mom sitting in a wheel chair. No preferential treatment was given. Not that was expected, but I know some of y'all wonder about that.

 

Anyway by 12pm we were sitting in a nice area outside of the Lido are on deck 10. This turned out to be the smoking area once we pulled away from the port. Anyways we were happily eating BBQ about 15 minutes later. The pulled pork really is the best. We hung out until the cabins were ready. On the way to the cabin we saw that our suitcases had all made it and were sitting on the carts ready to be delivered.

[mkcurran]

4/28/18--Embarkation Day The Fun Continues

We made it down the hall only to find out that the cabins at the end (ours) weren't quite ready yet. I asked about stashing our carry-on. I was told that would be fine, just put it in the closet. So suitcase stashed we went back into the hallway to find the parents parked and waiting for their room to be finished. We walked away like we didn't know them. ;)

 

We walked around and explored the upper parts of the ship for about an hour. We got back to our room I did something I've never done before on vacation. I started unpacking. There was no room in our tiny interior spa cabin to have luggage laying around. I got the carry-on squared away and went to bug the parents. They thought their balcony room was small. I laughed and showed them our room.

 

It was about time for the muster drill so we headed down that way to find out where we were going and to wait. At this point Dad was going it with just a cane and Mom was walking. They got pulled out of the crowd to go to the special muster in the dining room. Muster was as expected, loud, crowded, and too long to be standing on an uneven surface.

 

Muster behind us we walked back up 6 flights of stairs. We found our suitcase had been delivered and I finished the unpacking before dinner. Now we have rooms on the front of the ship, so of course we must be assigned to the dining room at the back of the ship.

 

We found our way, because I know how to read the maps by every elevator. 20 minutes later the parents finally show. They got so lost that a very nice soul from the other dining room walked them all the way over to our dining room. Now 4 days before the cruise I put a request in with Mr. Heald to get a table where Dad could just roll in and park his walker out of the way. Mr. Heald took time off when I made my request, but it did get forwarded to the Maitre D. And he came through splendidly. And seeing all of the steps around the dining room I am so very glad that I sent the request ahead.

 

This night I ordered the Mahi-Mahi from the port of call menu and the Calamari. Both were excellent. And somehow our waiter Surya found an extra order of calamari and dropped it off. This was going to be a trend for the week. We skipped desert. After Diner we went up the the Lido deck to watch the movie. Even after two blankets it was way too cold to sit and watch a movie. So we gave up and decided to try the spa out instead.

 

One of the perks of a spa room is getting access to the Thalasso spa and the steam rooms. The process is simple you exchange your room key for the magic key that lets you into the permitted areas. We both went, but only hubs brought his key. Why risk losing two keys? No problem, we got the magic key and went to meet my new boyfriend. The Thalasso spa is nothing short of magical.

 

After a very relaxing time we retired to our room.

 

Final thought for the day--I need one of those spas for my house.

[mkcurran]

So looking forward to the rest as we will be on this August

 

Hope you enjoy it. Otherwise it might make good reading material as you fall asleep.

[rnr4thatsme]

Great review so far!

[mkcurran]

4/29/18--First Day at Sea

 

Today we woke up to a gently rocking boat. The only plan for the day was Mom wanted to play Bingo. We got up and got dressed. I knocked on the parents door and found them just getting ready. We are early risers so the only thing open for breakfast is the buffet. We head down with plans for the parents to find us.

 

If you've ever been to the breakfast buffet, you know it's boring. I got scrambled eggs, plenty of bacon and a couple of pastries. Those eggs are a crime against humanity. Even hot sauce couldn't make them edible. So I went back up and found the eggs benedict--which were good.

 

After breakfast we had our first go at the casino. If you go in the morning, it's way less smoky. After breaking even we met back up with the parents so Mom & I could buy bingo cards. When then went and had the best lunch of the week off of the buffet. I don't know if we were just that hungry, but the food tasted wonderful.

 

After a quick nap it was bingo time. Bingo on the ship was more about the entertainment than it was about the actual game. While I enjoyed it, Mom did not.

 

Tonight was the first formal night. So after bingo we took the time to get ourselves properly gussied up. We had a plan tonight. Get dressed, proceed as a group to the casino to play for a bit until dinner, then take the parents with us down to the dining room. We all got there and nobody got lost. I figured this way the parents will know the proper route to the dining room and could make it on their own in the future. I was wrong.

 

Anyway And extra fried oyster appetizer magically showed up for me tonight. And then Surya was handed me second lobster plate with dinner. I took it, saw my mom give me a look. This look said I might be disowned if I did not hand over the lobster. Good thing for my mom, I love her more than lobster.

 

After dinner we headed to our first and as it turned out only playlist production show for the trip. It was the Epic Rock show. The visuals were good, the dancing repetitive, and the singing--not so great. We rounded out the night with a visit to my new boyfriend. That spa is big enough to get some wave action going in it, FYI.

 

Final thought for the day--It's a good thing I really don't like lobster all that much.

[mkcurran]

Great review so far!

 

Thanks!

[pblack]

Thanks for starting a Splendor review! I'm anxiously awaiting my cruise in August for my second time on this ship.

[mkcurran]

4/30/18--Cabo Baby!

 

We woke up to the parents knocking on the door to tell us they were headed down for breakfast. We eventually dragged our buts down to the buffet. No eggs benedict today and a mile long line for omelets/eggs. I waited it out and when the line finally died down I went to get an omelet. No less than 3 people tried to cut in front of me in line. The cooks pay attention. I ordered at my proper turn. They use the same eggs for the omelets as they do for the scrambled eggs. They are marginally better freshly cooked.

 

After breakfast we went up to the "secret" deck on the tenth floor. Otherwise known as going through that door around the corner from our cabin. We watch as the tender boats approach and everything is getting set up for the day. Our plan is to stay on until after lunch and then take the tender.

 

So after what was to become my normal buffet lunch, a big salad and a sampling of the other food. We hear open boarding for tenders is now on. That's our song! We ride over to the marina in a half empty boat.

 

After we get off the tender hubs says, I'm not getting on another boat. So, so much for my plans to take a water taxi to a beach. So we wander around the marina. We find the fish around the docks really cool to watch. After we walk most of the way around we turn to head back. Getting thirsty we stop at one of the many bars where I get a margarita and hubs gets a coke. We sit there and really start looking at the boats in the marina. These boats are so big they have other boats on top of them! We watch one guy prep his dingy to be lowered. He gets it all hooked up and then leave it that way until long after we were done. We left a bit disappointed that we didn't get to see the dingy hit the water.

 

We walked back to the tender area and proceed to bake on the tender for 30 minutes before we finally head back to the ship. Coming back aboard I get asked to remove my hat. Huh? What are y'all smuggling on top of your heads?

 

For dinner tonight I had the penne mariscos. I don't remember the appetizer, But I'm sure Surya brought me a second of what ever it was. Mom and Dad were late to dinner. They had gotten lost again. They were so late we actually ordered our food not knowing if they'd show up.

 

After diner we tried out the comedy club. We had no problems finding a seat. There were slight problems with finding a laugh. The dude on stage wasn't that funny. From there we went back up to visit my new boyfriend.

 

After we had our way with my boyfriend we walked out onto the "secret" deck. The moon way full and just rising out of the water. There was no wind and it had finally warmed up. These are the kind of nights that make cruising so magical.

 

Final thought for the day--I was thankful that it really started to feel like a vacation.

[LuckyStar]

We were disembarking on 4/28 so we wondered how those who drove would park. We loved this ship and had a ball. AND the spa tub is MY boyfriend....;)

[OddJob]

I'm loving your trip report. Makes me laugh. And then I have to quickly Alt-Tab when the boss walks by. My boss didn't should have taken a vacation, too.

[mkcurran]

5/1/18--Mazatlan

 

Today I woke up with the intention of skipping the buffet and making the long trek down to the dinning room. Instead we found my parents already eating on the lido. Which turned out to be a good thing. The eggs benedict were back. And this time they were made with biscuits and bacon--yummy!

 

By the time we finished with breakfast we were docked in Mazatlan. The ship was pulled in nose to nose with the Seven Seas Regent. Not to brag, but our ship made their ship look puny. We stayed up on what we were now calling our deck and watched the masses walk off the boat. Mazatlan is an industrial port and you have to ride to the port building on the trolleys. We stayed up until it looked like the flow of people was slowing down.

 

Today Mom wanted to go with us onto shore. Our plan was to walk the blue line and hopefully make the church. So down to deck 0 to get off the ship. Mom borrowed Dad's walker for the day. Now the trolleys have a special row in the back for people who need extra room---strollers, walkers, and wheelchairs. It took three tries to finally get a trolley where we could get mom in on that row. Nothing like being overrun by able bodied people who could literally sit any where on the trolley. I spotted another lady with a walker and let her into that row as well. I took the seat in front of mom.

 

Now I'm going to digress for a moment here. We spent all of the week with either mom or dad using a walker. On a cruise ship this isn't always an easy thing to do. On more than a few occasions we had to by pass 5 or 6 elevators before we could get the wheels on. People with walkers can not move as fast as the rest of y'all. Please look around before you walk up and crowd onto an elevator. Hold that elevator for the person with the walker. They've probably been there 10 times longer than you already.

 

Anyway back to Mazatlan, we walked the blue line to town. We stopped along the way to talk to the blue shirted volunteers. They are really nice people. We made it all the way to the church. Now this was Mexican Labor day, so many shops were closed for the day. So we did not do much shopping in town. After making it down town we hailed one of the open air cabs to take us back to the port. We did our souvenir shopping at the port building.

 

Back on the ship I decided today was the day I was going to go down the water slide. So we got suited up, I slathered my nearly albino self with sunscreen, hubs declined to do the same. Up we went to the Thunderball Pool. Holy heck it was hot, but the water felt good. A quick trip down the slide and we bobbed around in the pool for a bit. Then we went and may have taken a nap on the loungers.

 

After waking up with hubs several shades redder we got ourselves ready for dinner. Where we waited, and waited. Suyra had us order appetizers. He had faith that the parents would show up. It was escargot night. The night I know mom didn't want to miss. Plan B was to have Suyra pack up a couple and take them back to her in the room. But alas, 30 minutes late, the parents showed up. I had the veal this night. This is not a mistake I will ever make again. How do you make veal tough? Luckily I had room for not one but two smores parfaits, as Suyra magically found an extra one. This guy gets me.

 

After dinner we caught the movie on deck, Wonder. Really good movie. Then we proceeded to our nightly routine.

 

Final thought for the day--I'm never getting directions from my mom.

[mkcurran]

We were disembarking on 4/28 so we wondered how those who drove would park. We loved this ship and had a ball. AND the spa tub is MY boyfriend....;)

 

Were you the ones in the elevator who wished you were heading back out instead of going home? ;)

[mkcurran]

I'm loving your trip report. Makes me laugh. And then I have to quickly Alt-Tab when the boss walks by. My boss didn't should have taken a vacation, too.

 

Thanks!

[mkcurran]

5/2/18--Puerto Vallarta

 

How can this cruise be half-way over? I'm not ready!

 

Anyway this morning we get up and make our way down to the dining room for breakfast. I really want real eggs with out having to stand in line.The eggs were good. Hubs was sulking because biscuits and gravy were not an option. Suck it it up buttercup. We have a big day ahead of us.

 

Today both mom and dad were going to get off the ship. The plan for the day was to hop a cab down to the Malecon. $4 each got us a ride in a van with some very nice people. I handed the guy a twenty as he wrangled the walker in and out of the van by himself.

 

5 minutes into wondering and mom found some shops she wanted to visit. So we parked the husbands on a bench and spent some money. 15 minutes later we get back to the guys. The next stop is for some cold bottled water. We wonder down the road a bit and dad stops. We look around to see what has his attention. Usually it's an old car. Not today. There are four guys on top of a pole on the beach.

Here's a link to a video of them:

 

Those guys are way braver than me. I never would have made it to the top of the pole.

 

Further down the road we need a pit stop. A very nice guy in a tequila shop let us use his facilities. While the parents were busy the guy tried his hardest to push the flavored tequila on us. About 10 samples later he still hadn't found anything we liked. Sorry guy, I'm a Tekali girl. But we tipped anyway and wondered on.

 

A mine motif-ed opal store caught mom's eye. Dad says, "if you find something you want buy it." Okay who is this guy and what did he do with my penny pinching dad? Mom for some unknown reason didn't take him up on this rare offer. I think she was getting confused between pesos and dollars and thought the stuff was over priced.

 

So we wondered on until we found the Cheeky Monkey and $1 Margaritas. Dad, or the guy who looked like dad, offered to buy lunch. So I had the best chile rellano, hubs had enough fajitas for us both, mom got enough fish and chips for the entire table, and dad, in a move I recognized well, order a hamburger. That's my dad--they guy who will travel 1000 miles buy boat to get a hamburger.

 

While waiting for our food a drum player and a dancer come up for entertainment. They passed a bucket for tips when they were done. We donated, they were good.

 

We wondered on a bit more. Down by the light house we finally decided we'd seen enough so I flagged down a cab. The driver stopped traffic so that we could cross the street and get in his car. $20 for the 4 of us back to the port. I tipped the guy extra for helping us not get run over.

 

Back on the boat we napped and caught Pith Perfect 3 on the big screen. Unfortunately we didn't get to watch the end as we had to get down to dinner.

 

And guess what? The parents made it with-out getting lost! 5 days and the finally figured out how to get to dinner. They even beat us to the table. Tonight I had the fish taco appetizer from the port of call menu. Best app yet. Then I should have ordered two more to make dinner. Instead I got the toughest swordfish fillet ever. You win some, you lose some. On the good side I had room for cheese cake.

 

I have no idea what we did in between dinner and the nightly visit to my boyfriend. But I do know we found the steam rooms after enjoying the spa.

 

Final thought for the day--I want to go back and visit PV..is was my favorite port.

[mkcurran]

5/3/18--Second day at sea

 

I woke up in the wee hours of the morning--something I had eaten hadn't agreed with me. Anyway, when we woke up for the day, we headed down to the buffet. Just a little french toast for my uneasy stomach.

 

After breakfast mom and I hit the t-shirt sale on the lido. then we went to the drawing by the shop. We won....nothing.

 

Hubs and I went back to the cabin. I needed a bit more sleep.

 

For lunch I went to the deli, wanting to take it easy on my stomach. Hubs went and got a burger and fries. We found the parents enjoying lunch at the tables by the pool. We liked the spot so we stayed there long enough to catch the hairy chest contest. That was funny. A hairy silver fox won. The second winner was, and I quote, "Possibly the hairiest guy ever on the ship."

 

At this point hubs and I decided that we didn't want to get dressed up for the second formal night. pizza on lido while watching Jumanji was the plan. The parents hit the deli for dinner. We saw half the people the were normally around us in the dinning room up on the lido that night. Guess they have to offer more than carbonara and shrimp to get people to dress up.

 

As the sun set, the deck got cold. I went up to get a couple of blankets. All out. I asked if I could just buy a blanket, since they had some wrapped in plastic right there. This went from being a yes or no question to something that just couldn't be understood. Whatever. Just give me two towels. And two minutes after I got back to the table and we wrapped up in the towels...they closed the dome over the pool. there was much cheering. Wait why didn't they do that the first night when we were out here freezing our butts off?

 

Oh well, turn the towels back in and go up to visit the boy friend. Except he's angry tonight. Water was sloshing over the edges. After more than a few eight second rides we gave up holding on and did a quick visit to the steam rooms before calling it a night.

 

Final thought for the day--With that sliding roof I might actually consider taking this ship to Alaska.

[mkcurran]

5/4/18--Third sea day or the day where pack, almost sobbing.

 

Today I woke up with the intention of getting us down to sea day brunch. Which was a good plan as we slept in. When we finally get to the dining room we get seating with a couple of lovely ladies from Missouri and one young couple that kind of kept to them selves.

 

We ordered steak and eggs. We had to ask for juice. But at least the coffee was plentiful. We sat for what seemed like forever before our steak and eggs came out....and then were given to the young couple at the end of the table. Right after the waiter put the plates down he looked up at our crest fallen faces and realized his error. As he took back the untouched plates and delivered them to us the young couple looked slightly disappointed. Our food looked way better than the pancakes they had ordered.

 

The eggs were over cooked, the steak under cooked and the "home fries" were left over curly fries. This was the most bizarre breakfast I've ever eaten. Well except for that time I got served french toast that was dipped in pancake batter.

 

After breakfast we hit the casino for one last go around. I spent a few hours in there. But once it was all said and done we'd dropped about $200 for the week. Not too bad.

 

Today at lunch was the chocolate extravaganza. We made a show of eating some food before I hit the line for chocolate. I love chocolate. So much so that if you forget my name but want to get my attention, just hollar out "chocolate." I will turn around. But today I discovered I have my limits, not for the chocolate, don't be silly. But for lines to get chocolate. After 20 minutes and barely making it past the cheesecake I decided I was good with what I had.

 

Sitting there talking with hubs he said when we do this next time I want to go to St. Thomas. Wait. Did I hear that right? They guy who fights me on every trip, because he doesn't want to really go, but then has a good time after all, wants to go on another cruise? Too bad they killed the future cruise desk on this boat. I would have booked right then and there.

 

After one more nap where we were rocked to sleep by the sea it was dinner time. Everyone made it in a timely manner. tonight Surya found extra steak tacos. At this point we were all staring at full plates of prime rib. I sent the tacos over to the next table, where they were enjoyed.

After dinner I returned to the room to shove all the dirty clothes and everything that wasn't essential into the suitcase to set it out. Mom had managed to snag #6 tags for all of us earlier. After what may or may not have been some sobbing we returned to the lido deck to catch Ferdinand. A very cute movie.

 

After the movie it was one last trip up the stairs to see my boyfriend one last time. I sure was going to miss him.

 

Final thought for the day---I really need a Thalasso pool at home.

[mkcurran]

5/5/18--The magic just had to end

 

So we woke up docked in Long Beach. Boo. Up and down to the buffet. Hey it's a ghost town! Awesome no lines and fresh food. All filled up we head back to the room to stuff everything into the carry on.

Knowing how the good spots for waiting were going to fill up fast today hubs and I headed down to the Lido to steak out a good spot about 8 am. The tables were taken but we scored two loungers close to the door to get back in. Sweet. Mom and Dad show up in a bit. They are packing their own seats, so they just camp next to us. Debarkation started early. They started by calling platinum, diamond, FTTF, and desk 12 people who were carrying their luggage off to go first. We chilled while they opened the roof back up.

 

They called a couple more decks for self assist. They they told people not to go down to deck 3 unless they were called. It gets crowded. Finally around 9 our tags get called. We grab a glass elevator down. We go to find the line. Then, because we have wheels, they pull us a different direction. And boom, we were off the ship! Nice!

 

We walked the gangway, got to the ramp and they tried to pull us to join the line for the elevator down. Mom and Dad declined. They said they had a week's worth of cruise food to walk off before they reached the truck.

We get to the bottom and put mom and dad near the line to clear customs while we retrieve the luggage. Suitcases found we joined back up with mom and dad and started into the line. Then out of no where a lovely person in a blazer spots the wheels and pulls us out of the line and sends us directly to the border patrol agent. A quick glance at our passports and a statement of nothing to declare and we were on our way to the garage with too few elevators and on our way home.

 

Final thought for the day--I wanna go back!

[bury me at sea]

I enjoyed your delightful review and am glad you enjoyed the cruise.

 

We have spa cabins booked for the first time and are looking forward to the experience.

 

Thanks for posting.

[riclop]

Thanks for the review.

[WaggesAZ]

We board the 26th and your review is a wonderful read, full of joy! Thank you so much for taking the time to write this and I am so glad to know you were able to make so many wonderful memories with your parents and husband! St Thomas is amazing, and if you can sail from San Juan Puerto Rico, that is an AMAZING itinerary with fabulous island stops!!

[willdra]

Thanks for sharing your review!! I laughed a lot! 🤣🤣

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums

[mkcurran]

Thanks for sharing your review!! I laughed a lot! 🤣🤣

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums

 

Thanks! But should you be working on your review? :confused::loudcry: