Splendour review as promised

[MICK48DC]

Nice ship , good ports , lovely staffThis was our first cruise (although we have travelled extensively in 5*hotels worldwide both on business and pleasure) and were concerned about the appalling recent reviews ,thankfully our cruise was very enjoyable

1) Boarding was at 12pm for a 5pm departure so we arrived at 11.00 and were sitting in the Schooner bar by 11.15 , very impressive . We requested and were given a table for 2 which was great

2) Stateroom , I researched this carefully beforehand , we wanted a balcony and its was a close call between Junior suites on deck 8 or smaller rooms on deck 7 , the disadvantage of deck 8 was potential noise from above around swimming pools etc but we chose the JS 8036 which was right opposite the corridor to the lifts (less walking) and under the pool towels on the upper deck , noise was minimal , we would pick this cabin again .

3) Food , Food was good but not great , King and I menu was a touch repetitive but pretty good overall , portions were on the small side , Windjammer was great for breakfast and lunch but disappointing for dinner (we went once) , we expected the food to be upgraded in the evening but it was the same old buffet as lunchtime , but overall it was fine , Service was terrific

4) Staff , they were mostly South American and were great , very friendly and helpful , cabin attendant did not get off to a great start however when he said no to Bathrobes (we called housekeeping who provided within minutes)

5) Entertainment was disappointing i thought , Soul Sensation was great but Elton john 'look a like' was only ok if you are a fan , otherwise it was jugglers/ magic etc etc , great venue though

6) Despite the ship being small by todays standards there was plenty of room especially around the pool area , Solarium was a peaceful area (and the roof opened once)

7) Ports , all good , we booked trips for Corfu and Turkey (both excellent ) and did our own thing in Dubrovnik and Santorini, these proved good decisions

8) Disembarking , we were off by 8.0am , very impressive , no problems (dishonest tip , we paid £15 to RC for coach to airport but no tickets were issued and none asked for , anybody could have hitched a ride!!)

9) Dislikes , American bias , RC obvious target the American market however i reckon the split was 50 /50 yet everytHing is aimed at the US visitors , Jenifer , the ports and shopping guide was truly dreadful to this non US observer

10) Ship was in good condition , if you looked carefully you could see the ship was 10+years old but overall was a lovely ship with great bars and venues Overall it was a great ship with very very friendly staff , will cruise again

[twoatsea]

I found you on page 8 or somewhere! Glad I did as we sail on Spendour in November. Thank you so much for taking the time.

 

Would you please advise as to which tours you took in Corfu & Turkey? If ship excursions, which ones & were they accurate according to the descriptions?

 

Any other info you have to offer would be great.

 

Thanks again

[wolfcathorse]

I need to know who your master was. Was it Capt Oerjan Raadmannsoey or Capt Tommy Nyster. I need to update my Current Captains thread.

[Krazy4Kruisin']

I found you on page 8 or somewhere! Glad I did as we sail on Spendour in November. Thank you so much for taking the time.

 

Would you please advise as to which tours you took in Corfu & Turkey? If ship excursions, which ones & were they accurate according to the descriptions?

 

Any other info you have to offer would be great.

 

Thanks again

 

We were on the same cruise. In Turkey, we booked a private tour with Levent Solmaz, who came highly recommended from these boards. http://www.info@leventsolmaz.com. We really enjoyed our tour with him. There were just 4 of us, so we didn't have to fight the crowds to hear what the guide was saying at the various stops. And he catered the tour to what we wanted, not what the ship says we should see. We stopped at a wonderful little local restaurant for lunch.

 

In Corfu, we did the ship's tour of Achilleon Palace, Parema and Old Town. I can tell you that we didn't think the ship's tours were worth the money. We also did a ship's tour in Santorini and were very disappointed. But that was mostly due to our guide, who seemed a bit hung over.