Live from Splendida 18 nights

[mscdivina2016]

Jeddah Saudi Arabia to Trieste Italy 18 nights.

 

After a difficult night at the airport immigration taking 3 hours due to Ramadan we made it to our hotel at 930pm.

 The whole area is all in Arabic but people were very helpful.  My wife had to keep her head covered everywhere mostly out of respect.  It technically is not required but let's not stand out if we don't have to.

 

The port building is not near the ship. The.port is a container port.

 

Day 1

 

 Boarding today was easy. We got there at 11:30am and they don't have a YC white tent.  They have a large half circle awning type cover with a red carpet and YC banner's.

 We were immediately checked in and we're sitting in a lounge area in 5 minutes. No drinks, booze or even snacks available.

 We had to go through immigration and were escorted onto a beautiful Mercedes coach with plush leather ,tables and such while those not in YC were in a different area and put on school bus vehicles.  

 We were driven to a second entrance for YC and were greeted and escorted right to YC where chips and juices were served 

No booze as it's Saudi Arabia!

 

This ship is like Divina, as the restaurant is in the rear,  lunch was good, had a regional flair to it.

 

The pool is heated!!

Rooms are smaller than other YC rooms. TV has one English channel but we bring a DVD player with us so we are set.

 No bottle of booze in room till we leave the.kingdom.

 

Going to dinner in a half hour.

 

 

 

 

[michelle028]

Thank you for taking the time to post. Could you please post pics of the MDR dinner menus.

 

I can't find them anywhere online. I see only the mdr menus for caribbean sailings.

[phissy]

5 hours ago, mscdivina2016 said:

Jeddah Saudi Arabia to Trieste Italy 18 nights.

 

After a difficult night at the airport immigration taking 3 hours due to Ramadan we made it to our hotel at 930pm.

 The whole area is all in Arabic but people were very helpful.  My wife had to keep her head covered everywhere mostly out of respect.  It technically is not required but let's not stand out if we don't have to.

 

The port building is not near the ship. The.port is a container port.

 

Day 1

 

 Boarding today was easy. We got there at 11:30am and they don't have a YC white tent.  They have a large half circle awning type cover with a red carpet and YC banner's.

 We were immediately checked in and we're sitting in a lounge area in 5 minutes. No drinks, booze or even snacks available.

 We had to go through immigration and were escorted onto a beautiful Mercedes coach with plush leather ,tables and such while those not in YC were in a different area and put on school bus vehicles.  

 We were driven to a second entrance for YC and were greeted and escorted right to YC where chips and juices were served 

No booze as it's Saudi Arabia!

 

This ship is like Divina, as the restaurant is in the rear,  lunch was good, had a regional flair to it.

 

The pool is heated!!

Rooms are smaller than other YC rooms. TV has one English channel but we bring a DVD player with us so we are set.

 No bottle of booze in room till we leave the.kingdom.

 

Going to dinner in a half hour.

 

 

 

 

Wow, Steve!
What an amazing last minute adventure.  I was surprised when you reported this new cruise.

Looking forward to your daily posts on this cruise.

Hope you both can get some ballroom dancing in on this cruise.

Have a great time.

Pat

[Captain-John]

Interesting itinerary and I'd like to do a similar passage one day so keen to hear your thoughts. Might pick a UAE starting point for ease if there is ever one available.

 

I remember the pool being heated on both Preziosa and Meraviglia and I had been advised otherwise prior to my sailings, so interesting you have noted the saem.

 

If I'm not mistaken (every chance I am!) you were on an NCL Encore repo last year, I remember your username and postings as I had relatives on the same sailing that I was following.

 

 

[Cruiseskier]

Steve,

Is the heated pool the YC pool or the covered pool or both?  Thanks

[mscdivina2016]

Day 2 morning....

 

To reply to the previous replies Michelle028, I eat in the YC not in the mdr if I see them I will snap a picture.

Pat,I have had this booked for almost 2 years as I also did safari in Kenya pre cruise. A little ballroom so far 😁

 

Pool heated? I will check the others as I roam around and will report.

 

Captain, yes I was on 21 night repo last year 

 

We were supposed to depart at 11pm last night but the port closed due to winds so we left 5 hours later. Will arrive in Yanbu at 330 instead of 11am.

 

The ship passengers are compromised of mostly Italian and German. All announcements are in 6 languages.

Safety drill is a joke and a waste. I have noticed nothing starts as scheduled so far. Safety drill was meet in the theatre at your designated area and wait for instructions on how to put on your life jacket in 6 languages. Then follow crew to your lifeboat and wait again for 6 languages.

 

Our dinner in YC last night was Ribeye steak. Very grizzly and the steak  knives would surprise me if the could even cut butter. Went 0 for 3 on knives. Breakfast this morning in topsail lounge had a great selection, much better than USA sailings.  Late night snack in topsail lounge was also fantastic with a huge selection of sweets and not the olive cream cheese pine cone on a piece of cardboard art stuff.

  We went to the aft lounge last night and stayed for 3 hours. A decent 4 piece band played. There was also 2 dance lessons. English waltz and Bolero. Both were of the vacation variety not the real thing.

We lost satellite late last night so TV was in and out. The show was rock of ages. We did not go as we saw it last month.

 Our YC room is smaller than others was have done. We have a little walk in closet with a safe which is motion activated which is nice.

 Winds are real bad today so most deck activity will be a chore.

 

[michelle028]

Thanks for posting the cabin pics! Let us know what you think of the buffets as well if you eat there 🙂

[mscdivina2016]

Day 3 morning.....

 

We departed Yanbu around 3am this morning.  We should finally have alcohol after a day and a half 😁.

 Thanks to our prior departure port being closed,the delay caused all but two excursions to be cancelled in Yanbu.  We didn't even arrive till 330pm. If you didn't have an excursion,you had a lousy day as the port is small.  

 

 Yesterday I was surprised to find not only the YC pool but the others not being heated. Will continue to check going forward. Not heated means not going in it, but I am a wimp when it comes to that.

 We did walk thru the buffet and there appeared to be plenty of choices and lines we're at a minimal.

 We had room service deliver a pizza and it took 15 minutes and was excellent.

 The show was rock of ages. Very well attended. Tonight is elements.

 The casino has just been slots during odd hours. Not well attended yet. Today all is or will be open.

 

For those with younger kids, the club puts on a show every night in the aft lounge so far. Very entertaining and the kids are happy. All 11 of them.

 

 

 

 

[michelle028]

16 hours ago, mscdivina2016 said:

Day 3 morning.....

 

We departed Yanbu around 3am this morning.  We should finally have alcohol after a day and a half 😁.

 Thanks to our prior departure port being closed,the delay caused all but two excursions to be cancelled in Yanbu.  We didn't even arrive till 330pm. If you didn't have an excursion,you had a lousy day as the port is small.  

 

 Yesterday I was surprised to find not only the YC pool but the others not being heated. Will continue to check going forward. Not heated means not going in it, but I am a wimp when it comes to that.

 We did walk thru the buffet and there appeared to be plenty of choices and lines we're at a minimal.

 We had room service deliver a pizza and it took 15 minutes and was excellent.

 The show was rock of ages. Very well attended. Tonight is elements.

 The casino has just been slots during odd hours. Not well attended yet. Today all is or will be open.

 

For those with younger kids, the club puts on a show every night in the aft lounge so far. Very entertaining and the kids are happy. All 11 of them.

 

 

 

 

Thx for the feedback 😀  are all the shows on the app? Also in terms of excursions did you book them before you boarded the ship?

 

I don't see many excursions listed on my app right now. But again my cruise is not til summer. 

[mscdivina2016]

On 4/15/2023 at 1:35 AM, michelle028 said:

Thx for the feedback 😀  are all the shows on the app? Also in terms of excursions did you book them before you boarded the ship?

 

I don't see many excursions listed on my app right now. But again my cruise is not til summer. 

Yes the shows are on the app.

We only booked 2 thru the ship, the rest with private companies.

 Same tour, just half the price.

[mscdivina2016]

Day 3:was a sea day and day 4 is Sohkna Egypt.(Pyramids port)

 

The sea day was uneventful really. Sleep,eat, and drink.  I did notice a few things that were not an big issue but nevertheless I saw it. 

 The glass windows in topsail are filthy and have been since we got on. Our balcony is also covered. Being in the desert probably doesn't help.

 Our tub has a rust spot that keeps getting bigger .

 We booked the 11 1/2 hour pyramids tour thru the ship. Good tour. What really stood out was the Butlers.

Once we got back late along with a 1000 others at the same time we were immediately greated by a butler who handled us off to another and another all the was to the gang plank, where they stopped people from going on and sent us up to another Butler. They opened the side for us to walk right up for scan in and again walked us to the side bypassing many straight to the bag x-ray. 

  This ship has a real working YC elevator so we used it and made 20 people not happy. But we paid for perks so we enjoyed it.

 

The food in the YC restaurant has been good and the service top notch.

 

[RealNorwegianCruiser]

Lots of russians on your sailing?

Edited April 16, 2023 by RealNorwegianCruiser

[mscdivina2016]

4 minutes ago, RealNorwegianCruiser said:

Lots of russians on your sailing?

No, very few.  Mostly Italian it seems followed by Germans and French.

 

On a side note, they did clean the windows and balcony. Big sand box out here.

[RealNorwegianCruiser]

Thanks! And thanks for the review so far!

 

Going on Splendida from Instabul in May, and must admit Im a bit worried for amount of russian passengers..

[KINGBOBOFTHENORTH]

I was on the sailing immediately prior to yours. Although you're no longer in Saudi Arabia, please note this for future reference. The casino bar did serve alcoholic drinks while the ship was in Saudi waters. The other bars could not. I learned this on Evening 1 of our cruise. Now why the casino bar could serve alcohol, I have no idea. But that's where I got my drinks, lol.

[mscdivina2016]

4 hours ago, KINGBOBOFTHENORTH said:

I was on the sailing immediately prior to yours. Although you're no longer in Saudi Arabia, please note this for future reference. The casino bar did serve alcoholic drinks while the ship was in Saudi waters. The other bars could not. I learned this on Evening 1 of our cruise. Now why the casino bar could serve alcohol, I have no idea. But that's where I got my drinks, lol.

Us too. Lol.  Also YC did as well as well as YC restaurant.  It was sweet wine.

We took 8 full glasses back to our room.

[michelle028]

Are you enjoying the food on the cruise? Did you have a lot of variety in the buffet?

[travelwide]

Can you advise who the HD is as well as the YC Director? Where is everyone? Hope you are enjoying the cruise.

[mscdivina2016]

On 4/22/2023 at 2:59 AM, michelle028 said:

Are you enjoying the food on the cruise? Did you have a lot of variety in the buffet?

Sorry getting back. My phone screen cracked and had to wait to get it fixed.

I only eat in YC so I cannot comment on the main Buffett.

[mscdivina2016]

On 4/23/2023 at 3:48 PM, travelwide said:

Can you advise who the HD is as well as the YC Director? Where is everyone? Hope you are enjoying the cruise.

I know the YC director is Mustaff. 

 This sailing is heavy Italian and French. We are really in the minority here which is why you are probably not seeing anything. I don't know if there a even 100 Americans onboard. Most of us are in YC it seems.

 

The sights are the reason for the cruise. The sailing is just OK but I also sail allot.

We have had balcony maintenance for two days, no hot water for a bit and even no water a few days ago.

 

Food in YC restaurant is hit or miss. Some is really good.

Overall I give this sailing a B.

 Good price and I like YC product 

[adam7392]

I see you are in Katakolon today, do you know if the train from Katakolon to Olympia is running? Reports seem to be a bit hit and miss in previous years as to if it is running.  Will be sailing Splendida in May/June.

[mscdivina2016]

3 hours ago, adam7392 said:

I see you are in Katakolon today, do you know if the train from Katakolon to Olympia is running? Reports seem to be a bit hit and miss in previous years as to if it is running.  Will be sailing Splendida in May/June.

I do not know but I will ask for you.

[mscdivina2016]

15 hours ago, mscdivina2016 said:

I do not know but I will ask for you.

Yes the train is running I was told.

[mscdivina2016]

20 hours ago, mscdivina2016 said:

Sorry getting back. My phone screen cracked and had to wait to get it fixed.

I only eat in YC so I cannot comment on the main Buffett.

I actually went to the buffet last night.  Some food is better than YC. Also more choices.  Might swing by tonight again.

[adam7392]

2 hours ago, mscdivina2016 said:

Yes the train is running I was told.

Hi, thanks for that, makes our day there next month much easier to plan now.