Full Trip Report! Splendor, Taste of the Caribbean, March 17-24

[cindyah88]

For those of you (like me) who enjoy reading a day-by-day trip report, this is for you! I hope it will help others with their future vacation plans and provide added anticipation for those of you that have cruises booked. I'll post a couple of days at a time...enjoy!

 

Pre-trip & Embarkation Day:

     After a super busy season of life, my husband and I decided to try a cruise – after a 20 year absence from cruising! We spend a lot of time on the beautiful SC coast, and the more time we spent AT the ocean, the more we wanted to be ON the ocean. After lots of research (travel research, my favorite pastime!), I came to the conclusion that Regent was the cruise line for us. And I was right! Our time leading up to the cruise was stressful, just because with our careers, it is always hard to be away, like really away. But that was part of the appeal. We did our proctored covid test at home, through the provider that Regent suggested and it was a breeze. I didn’t breathe easy (or even begin to pack) until the negative results were in. Then I had a scare concerning the definition of “fully vaccinated”. Suffice it to say, once we finally made it to travel day, our spirits were high! After a 2 hour drive to the Charlotte airport, checking our bags (we checked all four pieces – 2 large, 2 small, because to us it was worth it not to have to hassle with them), getting through security, we finally settled down at Beaudevin for celebratory midday wine 😊. Beaudevin is a really nice wine bar, highly recommend. Time got away from us (I blame the midday wine) and we barely had time to grab a quick to-go bite that we scarfed down right before boarding. Bumpy but safe flight to Miami, luggage fetched, Regent representative standing right there waiting for us, and away we went. Our Mercedes van transfer picked up one other group of folks, also on the Splendor, and we drove through Miami traffic to the AKA Brickell hotel. Lots of interesting sights on the way, an enjoyable ride. We really liked the AKA. Beautiful, stylish hotel with champagne upon arrival. It was fun to people watch there- Miami chic all around. We had dinner at the hotel restaurant and it was quite good. And did I mention beautiful surroundings? I was quite taken with the restaurant’s lighting fixture.

The next morning we enjoyed a breakfast buffet provided by Regent in one of the banquet rooms. Scrambled eggs, bacon, sausage, assorted fruit, yogurts, etc…sadly no mimosas though. So after breakfast we remedied that by hanging out on the patio outside the restaurant, mimosas in hand, taking in the water views, wiling away the hour or so before our meetup time. At said time, we gathered in the lobby and boarded a very nice bus to the port. It was super exciting to see the ship in person, finally! This was the only stage of the trip (except for our flights) when we had to wear a mask. Not on the bus, but during the check in process.  Thankfully it was quick and we were on the ship, masks off, stuffed into our bags, not to be thought of again for 7 blissful days. Hopefully the mask and testing ridiculousness will be a thing of the past soon. Since when is anything in life risk free? And when did we as a society decide that we need to micromanage free citizens’ health decisions in order to give an illusion of safety? But I digress… We were ecstatic to be on the Splendor! After checking in at our safety station we explored the ship until our suite was ready. I had watched several ship tour videos on Youtube, but I was till blown away to see it all in person. The aesthetics everywhere your eye falls…just gorgeous. But not garish in any way. Every surface, every color scheme, every gathering area, every place setting, every fabric, every light fixture…amazingly beautiful! We had lunch at La Veranda outside in one of the shady spots aft. One of the selections on the buffet was veal scallopini (not your average buffet food!) and it was excellent, a foreshadowing of great meals to come. We then settled into our suite – speaking of beautiful! We decided on a Concierge suite – 7^th deck. It was perfect for us. Again, every detail was exquisite. The balcony was huge and we enjoyed it thoroughly every day.

We especially loved that the bed faced the balcony, more on that later. Olivia, our suite attendant, came by while we were unpacking (with champagne of course!) and wrote down our preferences for wine and spirits and she quickly brought them. Olivia was a gem! She even untangled my curling iron cords every single night at turndown! No one has ever done that for me before! We took a late afternoon dip in the pool and hot tub in order to wind down a little bit. As it approached sail away time we changed into our evening clothes and checked out the Observation Lounge for more champagne (as you do). This turned out to be my favorite lounge, at least for just hanging out. We went to the sail away party a little late and missed out on some of the small bites but still enjoyed the views as we left Miami.

Sunsets are important to us, so I will document each one! This first night we took in the sunset from Meridian Lounge – my favorite lounge for music. The Regent Signature Orchestra is amazingly talented (as a professional musician, I’m qualified to say that 😊) and we enjoyed their mix of jazz/lounge music every night. The sunset was amazing and fit the mood to be sure.

Dinner on night one was in Compass Rose. I love this restaurant! I can’t remember everything we had but my scallops with lemon beurre blanc were top notch. And I ordered my first souffle of the trip for desert – chocolate hazelnut – it was divine. Beforehand I had decided I would order every souffle that was offered, since that’s a dish I love but I never make at home. More on the souffle journey later. After dinner we went to the show – I absolutely love the cruise culture of a nice dinner followed by a show every night! Tonight it was Broadway in Concert and it was our first exposure to the excellent talent of the Splendor’s entertainment team. Loved every minute of this show and it made me very excited about the shows to come. Can we just talk about the Constellation Theatre for a moment? I’ve been in, and even performed in some beautiful concert halls and theatres all over the US, and the Splendor’s theatre is right up there in quality of acoustics and aesthetics. It’s just a really special experience to watch a show in this space. Drink service was great too!

After the show we spent a little while in the Connoisseur Club for my husband to enjoy a cigar and conversation. Then to bed, eager to wake up for our first sea day!

More to come soon...

[GeorgiaPeach51]

Thanks so much for all the detail and photos!  I’m looking forward to all of your posts.  We will be on the Splendor in November, so it is fun to anticipate via your observations. Thanks for taking the time!

 

Joanie

[cwn]

Wonderful report start. Eager for more. I love those scallops and the soufflés too!! We will be on the Splendor for the first time in Dec finally making good our cancelled Spmebdor cruise Feb 20. Can’t wait!

[ronrick1943]

Sounds like a nice trip, looking forward to reading more.

[boblerm]

Hi cindyah88, I see that you figured out how to post photos👍!

 

I was on the cruise before yours and thought that it was fantastic, it looks as if you had a similar experience judging from your first day.

 

Looking forward to reading more.

[mdunne48]

Excellent beginning....looking forward to more installments.

[mnocket]

Great job.  Keep it coming! 👍

[Gpilon]

We were also on this cruise and reading your posts brings back great memories.

 

 

[cindyah88]

DAY 2: At Sea

 

On our first full day aboard the Splendor (March 18^th), we woke up early after a great night’s sleep. We found the mattress and linens to be extremely comfortable and luxurious. We enjoyed watching the open ocean with coffee. We used our in suite Illy coffee system and liked it a lot. We enjoyed breakfast outside at La Veranda, and began what would become a daily habit of loading up a plate for the two of us with smoked salmon and all the trimmings, and eating it with a toasted piece of the dark whole grain bread – such a treat! I usually also ordered something cooked to order, I think it was an omelet on this morning and it was very good as well. After that leisurely breakfast we went to work out in the gym. It has amazing views, so we lifted a few freeweights just for good measure, and to say that we experienced the gym 😊. I would have spent some time on a bike but I found the position of the pedals very uncomfortable. An incumbent bike would have suited me better but those were taken. Still, a great space and lots of complimentary drinks available, Vitamin water, etc. After our short (very short) workout we went to the spa…ahhh now this is way more fun than the gym! We went several times during our cruise, and here is how we did it: whatever deck we happened to be on, we would make our way to the deck 5 promenade and walk all the way around aft (which is great fun in and of itself) and drop our bag on one of the loungers at the infinity pool – there were times when this area was pretty full, but we always found at least one open lounger. The treatment rooms are separate for girls and guys, we didn’t realize this our first time which caused some amusing confusion! The three areas are the aromatic steam room- VERY hot and steamy (duh) but in a nice way. And I loved the shower that was in there for cooling off. Then the cold room, with its seats and super cold walls. And the dry sauna with an amazing ocean view. Oh, and also the experience shower, with varied showerheads. My favorite spa ritual was: steam, shower, sauna, cold…repeat. Followed by hanging out in the infinity pool and marveling at the view. What fun! We spent most of the afternoon at the main pool, securing loungers on the second level in the sun, since (as much discussed) there were none available near the pool, and certainly not in the shade. But this suited us fine, and we would hop up and change location pretty frequently, just for fun. We tried out the pool grill for lunch, they had a tex/mex buffet going. Guacamole was great, queso was good, taco meat was good, but by far the best offering was their homemade tortilla chips – excellent! – especially with a Corona w/lime. One thing we loved about the pool area and service was the glassware. Yes it was non-breakable, but very nice quality. Every Corona we had by the pool (and it was quite a few) was served in a tall pilsner glass, and every glass of Sauv Blanc (also quite a few) in a stemmed glass. A far cry from the flimsy solo cup style you would receive at most outside bars. Also, the pool attendants were constantly straightening chairs, replacing towels, and making the place look immaculate at all times. The pool itself is so nice, and I love that there are steps for entry, rather than just a ladder, like many cruise ships. Water temperature was perfect for us, not too cold. Post pool time was spent relaxing in our suite and enjoying our balcony. Since our dinner reservation was later – 8pm, we had time to linger and watch sunset.

After changing into evening clothes, we stopped by Observation Lounge for the awesome views of the colorful dusk sky. There was a captain’s welcome reception in the theater, so we stopped by there as well. They showed an exciting short film about construction of the upcoming Grandeur!

We then headed to Meridian again and took in the pre-dinner music along with a cocktail. We tried several of their specialty cocktails throughout the week and all were excellent. My favorite was bourbon based, and served with one huge ice cube. I can’t remember the name, maybe someone else knows? An aside…it’s so great to be able to hop around to different lounges/locations of the ship quickly and easily – because of the smaller ship size. Also because of the layout I think – the spaces are divided up very logically, and it’s just really easy to go all over the place, but never get lost. The deck plans at each elevator are helpful too! Our dinner was at Prime 7 and it was a lovely experience. It seemed expected to have both white and red wines with dinner, so we obliged! I had a crab cake with the Wente chardonnay to start, both superb. For my main, I had the surf and turf – a perfectly cooked filet and king crab legs, along with a Cab, can’t remember the details for that wine but it was very good. The crab meat had been taken out of the shell and presented beautifully with a tiny pitcher of clarified butter on the side. The standout side dish for us was the potato gratin, so good! They serve it in Compass Rose also. We shared the famous caramel popcorn sundae for dessert and it was delicious. All in all a fabulous, extremely upscale dining experience. Then to the show! Tonight it was the week’s guest entertainer, Isabel Commandeur. She is a fabulous singer from the Netherlands and, along with the outstanding RS Orchestra, performed a top notch show of varying genres – pop, broadway, and opera. Her operatic singing was my favorite. After a nightcap in what was quickly becoming our favorite lounge, the Meridian, we turned in – finding that Olivia had once again made our suite look perfect, restocked waters, etc, and yes – untangled my curling iron cords 😊.

 

[Gpilon]

3 hours ago, cindyah88 said:

DAY 2: At Sea

 

On our first full day aboard the Splendor (March 18^th), we woke up early after a great night’s sleep. We found the mattress and linens to be extremely comfortable and luxurious. We enjoyed watching the open ocean with coffee. We used our in suite Illy coffee system and liked it a lot. We enjoyed breakfast outside at La Veranda, and began what would become a daily habit of loading up a plate for the two of us with smoked salmon and all the trimmings, and eating it with a toasted piece of the dark whole grain bread – such a treat! I usually also ordered something cooked to order, I think it was an omelet on this morning and it was very good as well. After that leisurely breakfast we went to work out in the gym. It has amazing views, so we lifted a few freeweights just for good measure, and to say that we experienced the gym 😊. I would have spent some time on a bike but I found the position of the pedals very uncomfortable. An incumbent bike would have suited me better but those were taken. Still, a great space and lots of complimentary drinks available, Vitamin water, etc. After our short (very short) workout we went to the spa…ahhh now this is way more fun than the gym! We went several times during our cruise, and here is how we did it: whatever deck we happened to be on, we would make our way to the deck 5 promenade and walk all the way around aft (which is great fun in and of itself) and drop our bag on one of the loungers at the infinity pool – there were times when this area was pretty full, but we always found at least one open lounger. The treatment rooms are separate for girls and guys, we didn’t realize this our first time which caused some amusing confusion! The three areas are the aromatic steam room- VERY hot and steamy (duh) but in a nice way. And I loved the shower that was in there for cooling off. Then the cold room, with its seats and super cold walls. And the dry sauna with an amazing ocean view. Oh, and also the experience shower, with varied showerheads. My favorite spa ritual was: steam, shower, sauna, cold…repeat. Followed by hanging out in the infinity pool and marveling at the view. What fun! We spent most of the afternoon at the main pool, securing loungers on the second level in the sun, since (as much discussed) there were none available near the pool, and certainly not in the shade. But this suited us fine, and we would hop up and change location pretty frequently, just for fun. We tried out the pool grill for lunch, they had a tex/mex buffet going. Guacamole was great, queso was good, taco meat was good, but by far the best offering was their homemade tortilla chips – excellent! – especially with a Corona w/lime. One thing we loved about the pool area and service was the glassware. Yes it was non-breakable, but very nice quality. Every Corona we had by the pool (and it was quite a few) was served in a tall pilsner glass, and every glass of Sauv Blanc (also quite a few) in a stemmed glass. A far cry from the flimsy solo cup style you would receive at most outside bars. Also, the pool attendants were constantly straightening chairs, replacing towels, and making the place look immaculate at all times. The pool itself is so nice, and I love that there are steps for entry, rather than just a ladder, like many cruise ships. Water temperature was perfect for us, not too cold. Post pool time was spent relaxing in our suite and enjoying our balcony. Since our dinner reservation was later – 8pm, we had time to linger and watch sunset.

After changing into evening clothes, we stopped by Observation Lounge for the awesome views of the colorful dusk sky. There was a captain’s welcome reception in the theater, so we stopped by there as well. They showed an exciting short film about construction of the upcoming Grandeur!

We then headed to Meridian again and took in the pre-dinner music along with a cocktail. We tried several of their specialty cocktails throughout the week and all were excellent. My favorite was bourbon based, and served with one huge ice cube. I can’t remember the name, maybe someone else knows? An aside…it’s so great to be able to hop around to different lounges/locations of the ship quickly and easily – because of the smaller ship size. Also because of the layout I think – the spaces are divided up very logically, and it’s just really easy to go all over the place, but never get lost. The deck plans at each elevator are helpful too! Our dinner was at Prime 7 and it was a lovely experience. It seemed expected to have both white and red wines with dinner, so we obliged! I had a crab cake with the Wente chardonnay to start, both superb. For my main, I had the surf and turf – a perfectly cooked filet and king crab legs, along with a Cab, can’t remember the details for that wine but it was very good. The crab meat had been taken out of the shell and presented beautifully with a tiny pitcher of clarified butter on the side. The standout side dish for us was the potato gratin, so good! They serve it in Compass Rose also. We shared the famous caramel popcorn sundae for dessert and it was delicious. All in all a fabulous, extremely upscale dining experience. Then to the show! Tonight it was the week’s guest entertainer, Isabel Commandeur. She is a fabulous singer from the Netherlands and, along with the outstanding RS Orchestra, performed a top notch show of varying genres – pop, broadway, and opera. Her operatic singing was my favorite. After a nightcap in what was quickly becoming our favorite lounge, the Meridian, we turned in – finding that Olivia had once again made our suite look perfect, restocked waters, etc, and yes – untangled my curling iron cords 😊.

 

Did you catch the surprise performance by Shania Twain?

 

[cindyah88]

I heard about it but we missed it! But it was so cool that she was on board! We got to speak with her and her husband one night at dinner, they were very nice. It seemed  like they had a great time and I thought it was very classy how the other passengers treated her, just letting her enjoy her vacation. She sat near me at the very first show (the broadway revue) and gave one of the singers a standing ovation- I thought  that was really special 🙂

[GeorgiaPeach51]

Wow!  The fabulous Splendor AND Shania Twain!  Sounds like you are having a wonderful trip!  Thanks for sharing it with us.  Makes me happy to read it!

 

Joanie

[Gpilon]

14 hours ago, cindyah88 said:

I heard about it but we missed it! But it was so cool that she was on board! We got to speak with her and her husband one night at dinner, they were very nice. It seemed  like they had a great time and I thought it was very classy how the other passengers treated her, just letting her enjoy her vacation. She sat near me at the very first show (the broadway revue) and gave one of the singers a standing ovation- I thought  that was really special 🙂

Very nice couple, indeed. They were in the Regent Suite and we were directly below them so would "chat" balcony to balcony. Being we are originally from Montreal, we also had something in common with Shania. Fun cruise.

 

[boblerm]

On 4/11/2022 at 1:42 PM, Gpilon said:

Did you catch the surprise performance by Shania Twain?

 

Can we hear some details about her surprise performance?

[PinkMEB]

Fellow South Carolinian here. Loving your trip report about Splendor. We were on her the first two weeks in February. You are reviving my wonderful memories. Awesome ship. 

[Gpilon]

On 4/12/2022 at 4:59 PM, boblerm said:

Can we hear some details about her surprise performance?

She performed a few of her songs along with David Nevin in one of the lounges. A surprise and also agree with Cindyahh88 that fellow passengers and crew let she and her husband enjoy their cruise undisturbed. 

[cindyah88]

We heard that her performance happened very late, 1am or so. Which is why we missed it🥱.

 

Sorry I haven't gotten another installment written yet! I'm a music director at a church, so Easter week is super busy. Soon tho!

[cindyah88]

I hope everyone had a nice Easter - He is Risen Indeed!! 

 

Days 3 & 4:

 

Day 3 (March 19) was an unexpected sea day. The captain determined that water conditions at Costa Maya were too choppy to safely be at port. While we had planned a busy excursion there – ATV through the jungle, then to a beach club, we weren’t too disappointed, since the ship was the major attraction anyway. So we enjoyed a leisurely room service breakfast, which we had ordered the night before because of our planned excursion. I must admit, if there’s a food option on the Splendor that was not as excellent as the others, it’s room service breakfast. It’s not bad…just not great either. Therefore we decided to get “second breakfast”, like the hobbits 😊 at Coffee Connection. We discovered the little overnight oats/granola/berries parfait thingys – delicious! And I had a beautifully made latte!

We also explored the library on our unexpectedly free morning. As an avid reader, I very much appreciated this piece of art:

We walked around and perused lots of the other paintings and artwork. So impressive! I wish the folks at reception could provide a resource about the many pieces. Like an “art trail” around the ship with descriptions, etc….we asked about it and they said Regent is working on it – I hope so! We did find the one Picasso that is available for all to see. The other one was in Shania’s suite😊. After our stroll, we decided to join in on Bingo in the Meridian lounge. That was a fun time, even without winning any of the rounds! We ended the morning with some time at the spa and the infinity pool. Man oh man, what a wave pool it was that day! The ship really was rockin’ and rollin’, as evidenced by the bruise on my arm I brought home as a souvenir, acquired by trying to hold on to the rail in that pool! The crew came and closed it down right as we were getting out. It was a fun and memorable experience!

For lunch, we stopped by Chartreuse and they had plenty of tables available. What a beautiful space! I was so excited because I love French food and our dinner reservation was still a couple of days away. So we got to experience this restaurant twice, yay! Chartreuse, like the infinity pool is aft, and it was very rocky. We observed several couples change tables or give up altogether and leave. My husband and I enjoyed it thoroughly however and somehow managed to not slosh our wine out of the glass!

We had a goat cheese appetizer which was divine. We shared the Croque Monsieur (it’s huge!) and it was everything you’d hope a grilled ham & cheese sandwich slathered in bechamel would be 😊. Dessert was a delicious lemon blueberry cake – highly recommend.

After lunch was pool time and balcony time.

An aside…that little Bluetooth speaker goes with us everywhere and it is a powerhouse! It’s durable and gives amazing sound quality, whether you’re listening to yacht rock, jazz, or ambient music (a few of our faves). JBL Flip is the brand, if you’re interested.

 

After a wardrobe change, it was sunset/music/cocktails at Meridian lounge, twilight/music/cocktails at Observation lounge, then dinner at Compass Rose – a fantastic way to spend an evening. I can’t remember our CR dinner but I do remember my souffle! It was flavored with Grand Marnier and it was outstanding, probably my favorite sweet souffle of the week. After dinner was the show Diamond Run. I’ve read varied reviews of this show but we LOVED it. It was my husband’s favorite of the week. There is a spy plot, with the main character being a dancer – he never spoke or sang a word – and that is the kind of artistic creativity that is simultaneously impressive and enjoyable! The singing was top notch but the dancers were the stars of this show. We were so energized and in a good mood afterward that we actually made it to one of the “late night” activities – Guess That Tune in the Observation lounge. Really fun!

 

Day 4: Harvest Caye

We arrived on day four to Belize, excited to explore NCL’s private island. We grabbed our favorite breakfast of smoked salmon at La Veranda, then made our way down to a lower deck to catch a tender (too rough to dock, everyone who went ashore tendered in). It was a quick ride across blue water, and we were there.

We went straight to the beach. It’s a beautiful beach with lots of nice chairs and tons of palm trees. The water is not great though – a little murky. There is drink service, so we had a morning beer on the beach, always a good time. Then it was time for our excursion – a boat ride through the mangroves. Beautiful scenery, but hot and humid! Glad I brought my Regent water bottle with me. Afterward we hit the pool – it’s huge and beautiful, and was totally refreshing after our sweaty excursion. We had a drink at the swim up bar, and as a thunderstorm moved through, we went in the restaurant beside the pool and had a surprisingly good lunch. The flatbread was a standout. After lunch we took a tram back to the ship. After a little rest, I attended the Island Fusion cooking demonstration. The chef was engaging, and all the dishes plus cocktail she prepared looked amazing, but we didn’t get to sample ANYthing! Not a bite, not even offered a glass of wine while we watched her cook. I knew the covid restrictions prohibited class cooking, but I was expecting at least a pre-plated sample. Pretty disappointing, but it makes me even more determined to sail on the Splendor again in the future when I can actually cook in this amazing kitchen. The best part of this particular class was the view…

We hit the pool in the late afternoon and then got dressed for our dinner at Pacific Rim. It was amazing! We ordered so many courses, I can’t even begin to remember everything we ate, but it was all excellent. We also had sake, which was a fun change of pace. The servers in this restaurant are all beautiful young women in black dresses. The ambiance is elegant and sophisticated. We had a great time. The show on this night was cruise director David Nevin’s show. I’m hesitant to say, because I know he has a lot of fans, but we left early – it’s the only show I didn’t see in its entirety. He definitely has a great voice and is very talented but his show bordered on trite/slightly clichéd for us. I’m sorry!! Instead we went outside on deck 11 to see the moonlight on the waves and walk around. We were full and sleepy after such a big meal, so we turned in early, excited to wake up in Roatan!

 

I hope to post again tomorrow, if anyone is still reading 🙂

[Smitty A]

5 hours ago, cindyah88 said:

 we went outside on deck 11 to see the moonlight on the waves and walk around

 

I hope to post again tomorrow, if anyone is still reading 🙂

I have never thought to go out and intentionally look at the moonlight on the waves!   I have to remember to do that!   Sort of like stopping to smell the roses 

 

[cindyah88]

Days 5 & 6

 

Day 5 (March 21) was our day in Roatan, Honduras. We woke up early and watched (from our comfortable bed, since it faced our balcony – loved that!) as we approached the island. We also angled our tv toward the bed and set it to the live bridge camera, so we had two perspectives. This was great fun, and beautiful – Roatan is more mountainous than I realized and the scenery as we approached was eye-catching. We had any early room service breakfast and then went to meet up with our tour group. We did the included tour Best of the West, and it was great fun. We boarded a bus (in the rain, but it quickly passed) and went to West End for some shopping time, in addition to a chocolate making demonstration. Instead of doing much shopping, we opted for an iced coffee which we enjoyed outside looking at the turquoise water. We then hopped back on the bus for a short ride to a park with a series of hanging bridges in the rainforest. This was quite an adventure, and a little scarier than I was expecting, but fun!

Then on to the beach portion of the day – our favorite part! We went to Paradise Beach Hotel on West Bay beach. Most of our group chose to have lunch, but we opted out and spent the whole time in the ocean with lunch beers😊. The water was absolutely perfect.

They had a nice, well landscaped pool area also, and we ended our time there. All in all it was a great excursion, but after 6 hours we were ready to be back aboard the Splendor. Since we had skipped lunch at the beach club, we went to the pool grill for a burger – an item that could be improved upon – too much bun, dried out patty. Back in our cabin we ended up having one of the nicest afternoons of our trip. The captain announced that as we left Roatan, the ship would be doing a maintenance maneuver of turning 360 degrees, before we depart for open seas. He said we would enjoy all angles of Roatan views during sunset. We enjoyed this so much! We ordered a cheese plate from room service and sat on the balcony with wine and music, and soaked it all in.

Next was pre-dinner cocktails at the Meridian – snazzy drinks AND socks 😊

We had dinner at Sette Mari and loved the experience! The antipasti is top notch – love the zucchini chips! I had veal saltimbocca which was delicious. The show on this night was Divos & Divas – my favorite….maybe. I seriously loved all the shows, it’s hard to pick a favorite, especially with how varied they all were.

 

Day 6: At Sea

 

After breakfast on the aft deck we hit the pool and the spa until lunch time. At La Veranda, we finally grabbed one of the inside alcoves, such beautiful ocean views. They had cannelloni on the buffet and it was outstanding, I’m still thinking about it!! In the late afternoon we enjoyed a nap and changed for dinner early, since there was a Captain’s Cocktail party in the main staircase area. Several of the singers performed, and it was quite nice – a lot of people though – one of the only times the ship felt crowded. My husband went to the C Club for a pre-dinner cigar and I opted to go the Observation lounge for a martini.

Still marveling at this lounge – the views outside and inside.

We had reservations at Chartreuse and had a fabulous meal. Standouts were the mushroom soup and my favorite souffle of the trip, hands down – the blue cheese souffle. Looking back on it, I should have ordered a second one! Our table was right beside Shania’s table so we had the opportunity to chat with them a little bit – what a cool experience! The show was another one of Isabel Commandeur, and she sang more opera selections this time – excellent!

A word about the dress code – I had read a lot about the evening attire, and how it was less formal than on some cruise lines. While I guess that’s true – I didn’t see any tuxedos or long gowns (well maybe a couple) – I do think most passengers’ evening attire was quite chic. I saw lots of sparkle, lots of dapper jackets on the men, and I was relieved that I had brought a few sparkly outfits as well.

Honestly, the ship is so beautiful, I feel like it’s appropriate to dress up in the evenings, out of respect for this fantastic ship/resort/staff/crew. There’s no way I would have enjoyed my blue cheese souffle as much if I had been wearing jeans and a sweatshirt 😊

[Gpilon]

Thanks for taking us along, and back to, this cruise. We recognize this handsome couple from aboard the ship. We thoroughly enjoyed the cruise, food and cocktails. We went offshore in Roatan only to visit the “downtown” area. Fifteen minutes later we were back on Splendor after a quick visit to the Harley Davidson shop. We were more than happy to soak in all Splendor had to offer and our only real onshore experience was Key West. We lived in Dublin for 5 years so I boarded Splendor on the 17th wearing something appropriate. We were directly below the Regent Suite so when on our balcony would wave and speak with Shania. Great cruise and memories. 

[Linda VH]

Love the t-shirt!

[Camillus112]

The T-shirt, clever take on my favorite song from a favorite duo.  Now I'll be humming all day long...

 

[Gpilon]

2 hours ago, Camillus112 said:

The T-shirt, clever take on my favorite song from a favorite duo.  Now I'll be humming all day long...

 

And it went with the day!

 

[cindyah88]

The problem with writing day-by-day trip reports is that life gets in the way of actually completing them!

This last installment will be brief 🙂 

 

Day 7 and Final Thoughts:

After a quick breakfast at Coffee Connection, we went off ship to go on our (Regent, included) excursion in Key West. Since we had never been here, we decided to do the Conch Train, and see the sights, hear the history, etc... We had a loooong wait outside in the sun, followed by a loooong walk to the "train". Another slight complaint - there is absolutely NO leg room on the conch train. Pretty uncomfortable. But we enjoyed seeing the town, and the famous southernmost point. Afterward, we also had the option to go on a glass bottom boat tour, but we decided instead to head back and enjoy our last day on the Splendor. After some pool time, we had to face the sadness of packing and preparing for disembarkation. Then we headed to the pre-dinner show - Bohemian Soul. We loved it!! No surprise, we've loved all the shows. This one was unique, some familiar and some unfamiliar songs, and AMAZING costumes! Then we went back to our balcony for one last sunset, followed by dinner in our beloved Compass Rose. I had the dover sole, and it was delicate and delicious. Also, a passionfruit souffle' - an excellent end to my week of souffle' adventures! 

Disembarkation the next morning was easy. Our group was later in the morning so we had the pleasure of hanging out in La Veranda for a leisurely breakfast, and then we relaxed in the Observation Lounge until our time. A bus ride, lunch at the airport, smooth flight, 2 hour drive, and we were home. It was so nice to get home on a Thursday night, because we had a couple of days to regroup before the start of a new work week.

 

Final thoughts:

Our experience with Regent and the Splendor, as is probably obvious if you've read this far, was absolutely wonderful! We thought the food was excellent, most of the included wines also. Cocktails were on point - both classic and creative. Our suite was perfection, as well as our suite attendant Olivia. The main stage shows exceeded our expectations to say the least. Regent has hired some top notch talent. The R Symphony Orchestra as a whole, a quartet, or solo performers - outstanding. We loved attending their shows in the Meridian. Our included excursions were great, and another example of how nice it is to just let the professionals handle the details - we've been "do it yourselfers" as far as travel for most of our marriage, and it was truly luxurious to take a vacation that was all inclusive, in every sense of the word. Regent took great care of us. And the star of the show - the Splendor herself! From table place settings to exquisite art to beautiful marble to fantastic lighting features...Just WOW. We plan to sail again on this fabulous ship in 2023, maybe a 10 day cruise!

 

The very few things that missed the mark (in our humble opinion):

-It was a warm weather Caribbean cruise, and I would have liked to drink some nice dry Rose' but the quality of what was on offer was sketchy. 

-Boogie and Sasia. We would have loved to enjoy poolside live music, but not by them. I admire their energy and I'm sure they are lovely people, but we found her voice to be strident and irritating. So our late night music options were limited, since we skipped their nightly shows in the Splendor lounge. We usually ended up in the Meridian (excellent, as described above), or the Observation, which leads to...

-the music in my favorite, the most beautiful Observation lounge. I don't understand why this standout space doesn't have more/better live music. Andrew is a lovely pianist, but not singer. And why not some variety, like a classical trio, or a guitarist, or a singer/songwriter set? Maybe that happens on longer cruises, I don't know. But hopefully I'll find out 🙂

-the burger at the pool grill. It should be better, it just should.

 

It's been a pleasure to record this travel journey. I wrote it as much for me and my family, to have a written account, able to reflect back on what a fantastic trip it was, as I did for fellow travelers. Lord willing, I'll have more Splendor trip reports in the future. And then on to Grandeur!

 

Godspeed everyone, thanks for reading!

Cindy