Spendour of the Seas

[GMC]

My wife and I will be sailing the Splendour in December from Tampa. Can anyone provide any info on this ship? Also, we are looking for a nice hotel where we can stay the night before departure and park for the week. Our ports of call are Cozumel, Belize, Costa Maya and Grand Cayman. ANY information will be greatly appreciated.

 

 

Thanx

 

Soverign of the Seas 2002

Carnival Glory 2003

[scarborough]

We will taking the same cruise 01/02/05 and would like the same info. :confused:

[little miss s]

I was on the Splendour in April 2004 and would be glad to help with any info. I've been to all the ports you mentioned except Grand Cayman, so I could help with some port questions as well.

 

The Splendour is a very nice ship. I thought it was very glassy and bright. My favorite place on the ship was the Solarium.

 

We always snorkel and go shopping in Cozumel. I've been there several times. I've been to Chankanaab twice, Dzul Ha, San Francisco beach, Mr. Sanchos, Playa Bonita, and Coconuts, which is a restaurant on the east side of the island. The best snorkeling was at Dzul Ha. Chankanaab is excellent too, but the tourists are destroying the coral and it's very sad.

 

In Belize, we went cave tubing with a private excursion company. It was great. I would love to go back to Belize again and snorkel at Shark Ray Alley.

 

Costa Maya was...hmmm. I didn't like it or dislike it. Majahual was a hole in the wall little town with 1 dirt road as the main street. It was not what I expected as cruise port, but it was interesting to see a new tourist destination in it's infancy, before all the fancy hotels get built. The area where the ship docks is very nice. There's 2 swimming pools, restaurants, bars and shops.

 

Hope that helps.

[shotgun21]

Me and my family are taking the same cruise in December. The 11-18. I have been surfing the message boards for the same information. What I have found so far, is that the ship is great! The majority, with the exception of maybe one review liked the ship, food, and the entertainment.

I also searched the web for information on the port of Tampa and I believe there was information there on parking. We are flying in to Tampa the day before and are currently looking for a hotel overselves. Jimmy

[GMC]

Thank-you for the info. Anyone else? Hotel recommendations?

[GMC]

Anyone have more info??

 

 

Thanx

[clingandclatter]

I was on the Splendour in April of this year, but on a shorter cruise - only stopped at Costa Maya & Cozumel. It's a good ship & we had a good time & had lots of stuff to do (or nothing to do if that's what we felt like). In Cozumel we did the sail/snorkel/beach party excursion. That was good although I felt the snorkeling location wasn't as great as it could've been. The staff on the catamaran was fabulous. In Costa Maya two of us went to the Chacchoben Ruins. (The others had already seen ruins on a previous trip). We chose these as it was the shortest ruins excursion & we still wanted time to hang out. The port at Costa Maya is totally built by the cruise lines & has the potential to be a good "hang out by the pool" day. If I ever went back, I probably wouldn't do an excursion there but rather hang out on the "beach" (you can't really go swimming in the sea because it's rather rocky but they do have chairs and stuff set up in sand) I have some pictures up here:

<a href="http://community.webshots.com/album/133720649ZDrjtW">http://community.webshots.com/album/133720649ZDrjtW</a>

[Tatka]

I was on Splendour this May.

 

Loved the ship. Lots of glass, beautifull 7 decks atrium, nice pool area, rock climbing wall, 18 hole minigolf. I loved Solarium pool opened 24 hours a day, and it was very convinient as temperatures at night were cold.

 

Didn't like the food, specially buffets...but don't count me , you won't find many cruise ships with a food equal to Celebrity's.(even QM2)

 

Other than that you'll probably like this ship. We had lovely waitress Oana Makavei from Romania. King and I restaurant has huge wall to wall windows which offer great views.

 

Room cleaning service was great too.

[DChabira]

Are you going on the 12/18/04 sailing? My family and I are booked on this cruise (3 cabins).

 

I am originally from Sarasota (55 miles south of Tampa) and I will be in Tampa next week (July 13-21). I plan to scope it all out as far as far as hotels, parking, terminal location.

 

If you have specific questions e-mail me at dchabira@cox .net and I'll try to answer your questions when I return.

 

David

[Mexico]

I was on Splendour this May....

 

Didn't like the food, specially buffets...but don't count me , you won't find many cruise ships with a food equal to Celebrity's.(even QM2)

We likewise sailed on the Splendour in May - the crossing from Galveston to Barcelona - and are preplexed with your lack of specificity as to why you didn't like the food. We have sailed on Celebrity and the Queens and find the Splendour equal or better! What is it that you didn't like? We don't do buffets however! You must be a Windjammer!

 

We really need to be prepared as we will be sailing on her return crossing in November. Has the quality of food detoured that much in such a short period of time?:mad:

[CruiseDuck]

In downtown Tampa there are several Hotels just minutes from the port. The closest is the Marriott Waterside. The trolley line runs right outside the hotel and goes down to the port and to the new Channelside district where there are resturants and some stores. Next to Channelside is the Aquarium that is interesting to visit. A couple of blocks away is the Radisson Riverwalk. It's not on the trolley line but it's on the river and has a nice pool area. Also, downtown is the Hyatt. It's OK but is used more for business trips. My office overlooks the Port so if I can help with anymore questions about Tampa please feel free to ask.

 

We are scheduled to take the first trip out of Tampa on the the Splendour. It's scheduled to be in Tampa on 11/27. It will be coming from a Transatlantic cruise form Madrid. It will be the first time that the Splendour has been in Tampa.

[Tatka]

We likewise sailed on the Splendour in May - the crossing from Galveston to Barcelona - and are preplexed with your lack of specificity as to why you didn't like the food. We have sailed on Celebrity and the Queens and find the Splendour equal or better! What is it that you didn't like? We don't do buffets however! You must be a Windjammer!

 

We really need to be prepared as we will be sailing on her return crossing in November. Has the quality of food detoured that much in such a short period of time?:mad:

 

1) Last time on Celebrity Century we had waiter and assistant serving 2 tables as opposed to 4 on Splendour. On X more white glove service feeling.

 

2) I think vegetables on RCI were from the cans.

 

3) Meat wasn't chewable on some occasions.

 

4) Less variety than on Celebrity.

 

5) The same dishes were lower quality.

 

Celebrity is considered a "foody" company and this is not a big secret for anyone. Their food is prepared under guidance of Master Chef Michel Roux after all.

[LavenderRs]

Duck,

We will be on that same cruise from 11/27-12/4/04. We are flying in from Portland, OR on Thanksgiving Day and then will spend the 4th in Tampa as well. Am looking forward to the trip and getting a feel for Tampa in our limited time there. I'm looking for lodging now. There is a place called Sailport Resort that I get mixed feelings about from the reviews -- any feed back on this one. Otherwise I think we will try for the Waterside and call them direct.

I can't believe it is getting so close -- considering we booked this trip at the end of last year.

Lav

[dmf208]

i have found the grand regency hyatt in tampa which looks very nice. For feb I got a AAA rate of 187 per night for a club level room. Is anyone familiar with this hotel? I know it is close to airport althougth not sure how far from dock. We are arriving three night before the cruise and are planning to do stuff in Tampa.

[dmf208]

bump

[CruiseDuck]

dmf208....The Grand Regency Hyatt is a very nice hotel that is located within minutes from the airport. It is located on Tampa Bay. The dock is about a 15 minute ride from the hotel.

 

LavenderRs.... I am not familiar with the Sailport Resort? Where is it located? We are part of a larger group that are going on the cruise from Progress Energy. Hopefully, there will not be any delays as the Splendour will be coming in to Tampa for the first time on 11/27. At least, hurricane season will be coming to an end on 11/30. We had to evacuate last week for Hurricane Charley. Fortunately our area was not hit. Unfortunately, a significant portion of Florida was devastated.

[twister23]

We will be cruising on the Splendour (from Tampa) 3/25. Due to budget constraints, I am looking for el-cheap-o hotel. I found Howard Johnson in Tampa, and they provide free shuttle to/from the airport and Port of Tampa. Good deal for us, but maybe too low-class for some.

 

As far as excursions, definitely look into independent excursion companies. From what I have read so far, the group numbers are much smaller (12 or 15 compared to 50-100 with the cruise excursions). We're looking at tubing in Belize, swimming with the Stingrays in Grand Cayman, touring Tulum in Cozumel, and going on our own to Mahahual from Costa Maya.

 

Hope this helps some of you!:)

[Riotgrl13]

the pier is in downtown Tampa and about a five minute ride from the hotel. there is also the Marriott Waterside which is about two minutes away. I know I live there and drive by the pier every day to work. Feel free to email me at xveggiex @aol.com if i can help with other questions. Have also sailed this ship twice, and am going a third time on Dec 11. WooHoo

[de_cash]

We too will be sailing on the 11/27 trip on the Splendour out of Tampa. We are from just north of Gainesville so we will be driving to the port that morning.

[missymatt]

Cruise Duck, does the trolley from the Marriott Waterside go right to the pier? Like to the ships? We are staying there the night before our cruise in Dec. Can we take the trolley or just take a cab? Thanks, Missy

[Riotgrl13]

you can take either. the trolly stops near the Marriott *very near* and runs right past the pier to Ybor City.

[missme2]

Twister23: We will be cruising with you on the 26th. I am also looking for a cheap hotel in Tampa. I don't consider myself "cheap"...I usually like to go first class all the way. However, I do not want to pay a lot of money for a hotel room that we will basically be sleeping and showering in. We are flying down the night before the cruise and will be checking in late. I can't see spending $150.00 on up for a room that we will literally be in for approx. 8 hours. How far in advance did you make your room reservations? Thanks.