Splendor review - October 18-25

[cathyz]

DH and I sailed on the Carnival Splendor October 18-25, 2009 along with Hurricane Rick and a great group of Cruise Critic folks.

We drove down from northern California and stayed at the Hilton Long Beach the night before the cruise. We had
reserved the special Carnival Cruiser park and stay package with the hotel on-line and it worked out really well.
We had a nice king room on the 10th floor for only $89. We left our car in the garage during the cruise and were
not charged parking for the whole 8 days since Mark at the front desk had made a note on our parking ticket, so we
were able to exit the garage easily. During check-in, I asked Mark at the front desk about getting a shuttle to the
port the next morning, they don't have a list to sign up on, he said to just let them know when we were ready. So
we went to the restaurant for breakfast then to the front desk to let them know we were ready for the shuttle (about
10:00 a.m.), he radio'd the shuttle and found that he was not near the hotel (at the airport I think), so said we
could have a taxi on the hotel take us to the port. Mark filled out a voucher that the valet gave to a taxi waiting
in front and we were off to the port which is only a couple of miles away.

We arrived at the port during the height of debarkation from the previous cruise, so decided to take our luggage to
the early check-in counter and then return to the garage area to turn our luggage over to the porters when things
calmed down a little. We walked right up to the check-in counter and had our Sail&Sign cards and our Zone 2 pass in
our hands in less than 5 minutes and then found a nice spot on one of the new seating areas around the planters and
waited a while, in a little bit the crowd was thinning, so DH took our 2 suitcases to the porters and I sat with our
carry-on. As we approached the check-in counter an employee handed us the usual paperwork plus a letter explaining
our itinerary change to avoid Rick. We would be doing Ensenada on Monday to let the storm pass south of us, then
two sea days on the way to Puerto Vallarta on Thursday, Cabo on Friday as usual, missing Mazatlan. Some people
grumbled about the change, but no one was really angry and most completely understood. Later in the day, the
captain made an announcement that we would be traveling about 100 miles wide of Rick to avoid any problems and we
left port about 90 minutes late since he was putting on extra fuel just in case. It ended up that Rick moved out of
the way faster than predicted, so we were able to go directly from Ensenada to Puerto Vallarta just skirting Cabo
(we could see it as usual on the way by). We did have some relatively rough seas for a day or so and rain on
Wednesday night, but then it all passed and the ocean and ports were very nice.

The ship is very nice and very new (newest one we've cruised on) and is very pink, but after the first couple of
hours we really didn't notice the pink circles much. Our balcony cabin (6271) was very comfortable and identical to
our last one on the Spirit. We were very near the atrium elevators and stairs which was very convenient, except
that we were farther forward on the ship than usual, so the Lido eating areas were a long way away.

We were at an 8-person table (109) on the lower level of the Black Pearl restaurant at the late seating. The table
wasn't full, just 2 other couples that we got along with very well and hung out with from time to time during the
cruise. Our maitre'd, Klaudio Vukic, was the best maitre'd we've ever had. He was very entertaining, danced and
sang standing up on a podium, and visited our table several times during the week. Our wait staff, Inyaman (he told
us to call him Ya'man) and Wijayanti (she said to call her Putu) were great, very quick and effiicient and friendly.
There were no delays between courses or ordering, there was plenty of bread and the water glasses were filled
constantly. Alam, the 'table artist' stopped at our table a few times and did card tricks, he was very
entertaining. The food was very good to outstanding on this ship, all the items that we really like from previous
cruises were as good or better than in the past and new things we tried were also excellant. The dining room was
never completely full, there were partial tables and a few completely empty tables all week.

On Wednesday night, DH and I had dinner at the Pinnacle Steakhouse. The food and the service was excellent as
usual. Our hostess, Tiz, was very professional and friendly. The sommelier, Ioana, was very efficient and our wait
staff Nisa and Bonica were very efficient, friendly, and unobtrusive. We probably should have eaten there more than
once to try some of the different items.

Our whole cruise critic group and our tablemates all agreed that overall, the Splendor crew was the most friendly
and efficient any of us had had on a ship, ever. We had several very friendly and efficient bartenders at the
various bars. We especially liked Yuliya at the Liner bar and her husband Oleksander who was at the atrium bar in
the day and behind the scenes at the Piano Bar at night. Also at the Liner bar was Anak and Neil who were very
friendly and fun. The servers in the piano bar (Arif, German, and Samitanun) were also very efficient and fun. Every
bartender and server everywhere remembered us, what we drank, and our folio numbers, many got extra tips from us on
the last day.

We spent every evening after dinner in the Grand Piano Bar with Ron Pass and it was one of the highlights of the
cruise. Ron is an amazing performer and entertainer and a really nice guy. We had great sing-alongs and got to
know the passengers that also seemed to be there every night including many of our very fun Cruise Critic group
(Poolguppy, Bawston, and many more). We bought Ron's CD that was recorded right there on the Splendor a couple of
months ago and it takes us back to the cruise when we listen to it. Ron will be leaving the Splendor November 8 and
doing a new gig at a new piano bar in Puerto Vallarta. He said he will come back to Carnival next year but doesn't
know which ship yet even though he'd prefer the Splendor since he lives in Las Vegas.

We also took the 'Behind the Fun' tour on the last sea day. This tour was amazing and I would highly recommend it,
even at $95/person. The tour was over 3 1/2 hours long and quite detailed, lots and lots of walking and climbing
steep crew stairs. We were given a tour of the engine control room by the head engineer, a tour of the main galley
by the head chef, Sanjay Chowdhury, and visited the captain on the bridge and had a chance to chat with him and take
pictures. We also saw most of the crew areas, all the dining rooms, laundries, environmental controls, the I-95,
freezers, morgue, brig, and many many more places on decks 0, A, and B, it's an amazing 'city' down there.

We didn't do any excursions in the ports. In Ensenada we just walked around the little shopping area there at the
port. In PV we just walked around the shops there at the port, in both ports looking for a specific tequila.
Because of the itinerary changes of several ships, there were 3 ships in PV (we were originally to be there alone).
We were kind of squeezed in between the Mariner of the Seas and Celebrity Infinity and in such a strange place that
we had to actually back all the way out of the port area, not enough room to turn around I guess. We were also with
the same ships in Cabo, but there weren't any backups at the tender pier. It did take a while to get off the ship
because there were some swells in the harbor which slows down the tendering operation. We had tender sticker #27,
which we got at about 9:00 a.m., and we sat in the main lounge for 30+ minutes waiting for them to call our number.
Once we started down to the tenders we walked right on to the tender and were in Cabo in minutes. And the return
trip was easy since we didn't stay until the end of the day. The captain stayed an extra hour in Cabo (4:00
instead of 3:00) since he felt bad about the itinerary change, he wanted to give something back to us (he told us
this during our tour of the bridge the next day).

We had debarkation tags #12 and were off the ship by 9:45, found our luggage quickly, and went through customs
quickly (no customs agents checking, just Carnival employees and then security at the exit door). Since we
neglected to get a card or information to call the Hilton to get their shuttle back to the hotel to get our car, we
just decided to take our own taxi to the hotel (I think that taxi driver just moved from NY, he was a crazy driver!)
which cost $12 including tip and we were in our car and exiting the parking garage at 10:30 and on our way home.

We had a great time on this ship and will be doing this cruise again in a year with a group of friends (28 so far)
and expect to have as good a time then as we did on this cruise.

We will soon have pictures available in a link in my signature.

[jayesouthworth]

Thank you for the review, I can't wait to go in January. We are going to make reservations for the steakhouse, this will be our first time doing that on a cruise ship. We want to see what everyone is ranting and raving about.

We have done the Mexican Rivera several times, but this will be our first time on the Splendor and we are looking forward to being on a new ship.

Looking forward to seeing your pics.

P.S. We're from N. California as well, just further north about 4 hours. We're flying into LA and staying at the Hilton as well.

[misguidedangel]

Good to hear you had a good time. As for the pink color, I found that it relaxed the people and made everyone calmer! Pink has that effect on people!

I wonder what happened to Miguel, he was the maitre'd of the Black Pearl in September! Oh my, that isn't good. He is very nice and most excellent to hugz....

Ports--Cabo is quite nice isn't it. I didn't care much for Mazatlan. Puerto Vallarta I spent the least time out. I did the dolphin swim and we took a boat ride to Vallarta Adventures and back. I did go the Flea Market, but never ventured away or far...not even to go check out Walmart!!!!!

Behind the Scenes--heard good reviews from two ladies who went, so I'll hope to do that tour on the Glory in January!

[flutepilot]

"Ron will be leaving the Splendor November 8 and
doing a new gig at a new piano bar in Puerto Vallarta."

Oh my - I wish we could hear him, but we are on the Novembeer 8 cruise. I hope the new person is as good.

Dan

[cathyz]

Originally Posted by flutepilot

"Ron will be leaving the Splendor November 8 and
doing a new gig at a new piano bar in Puerto Vallarta."

Oh my - I wish we could hear him, but we are on the Novembeer 8 cruise. I hope the new person is as good.

Dan

Yeah, Ron is great, too bad you'll miss him. The next piano man on the Splendor will be Steve Brisley who we heard on the Spirit earlier this year. I don't think any others are as good, Ron is considered the #1 piano man in the Carnival fleet with Damien Brell a close second (we've cruised with him too). Steve will be fine though.

[onlyleigh]

Miguel is still on the Splendor. He and Claudio swap dining rooms every so often to keep things fresh.

[DesertDiva]

This will be my second Carnival cruise, as I did the Carnival Spirit several years ago. Once on a Princess ship, and several times on Holland America. I really like Holland America, but my friend and I got a fantastic price for a holiday cruise. I work for a school district and I'm limited to the the times I can cruise.

My friend is concerned about the safety of Americans in Mexico, but I think the majority of the violence is in the border towns.

We booked an oceanview midship on the Main deck since she has issues with motion, but I'm wishing we had booked a Spa cabin. I'm sure it will be a great cruise!

[misguidedangel]

O I C, that makes sense. Miguel said he wasn't signing off for a little while still..

RON PASS--oh yes, he is good, very good. He was on the Valor in January and is quite funny--and cute! He did Old MacDonald, after 10pm of course, and it is quite funny.....He will be missed!

I'd go back on the Splendor again, I was there in September and it was non-stop action from the minute I got on to the second I got off!!! I can't say as I really had time to relax and chill out.....

[LATK]

We just came back from a week in Mazatlan, which was wonderful. I hope the OP can return someday to enjoy the town. We at no time were concerned for our safety. If you want a fun day with/without children try the aquarium. Wonderful warm people!

[cathyz]

Originally Posted by LATK

We just came back from a week in Mazatlan, which was wonderful. I hope the OP can return someday to enjoy the town. We at no time were concerned for our safety. If you want a fun day with/without children try the aquarium. Wonderful warm people!

I'm the OP and we have been to Mazatlan before and will be going again in a year on the Splendor again with a group of friends. I like all the ports on the MR (maybe not Acapulco so much, too big) and really like the Mexican people, all we have met are very friendly. I have never felt unsafe in any port, as someone else said all the problems are in the border towns and some in Mexico City.

[cathyz]

Originally Posted by jayesouthworth

Thank you for the review, I can't wait to go in January. We are going to make reservations for the steakhouse, this will be our first time doing that on a cruise ship. We want to see what everyone is ranting and raving about.

We have done the Mexican Rivera several times, but this will be our first time on the Splendor and we are looking forward to being on a new ship.

Looking forward to seeing your pics.

P.S. We're from N. California as well, just further north about 4 hours. We're flying into LA and staying at the Hilton as well.

The pictures are now on webshots http://travel.webshots.com/album/575281873tLbvxi, but DH isn't finished doing the captions yet though.

[thepeach]

Originally Posted by misguidedangel

Good to hear you had a good time. As for the pink color, I found that it relaxed the people and made everyone calmer! Pink has that effect on people!

I wonder what happened to Miguel, he was the maitre'd of the Black Pearl in September! Oh my, that isn't good. He is very nice and most excellent to hugz....

Ports--Cabo is quite nice isn't it. I didn't care much for Mazatlan. Puerto Vallarta I spent the least time out. I did the dolphin swim and we took a boat ride to Vallarta Adventures and back. I did go the Flea Market, but never ventured away or far...not even to go check out Walmart!!!!!

Behind the Scenes--heard good reviews from two ladies who went, so I'll hope to do that tour on the Glory in January!

Miguel was in the White Pearl Dining Room. We were on this same sailing, and he changed our table and dining room as we were assigned a table for 2, which we didn't want. He changed our table on the Victory a couple of years ago also. As the OP said, there were a lot of empty tables, and although we were at a table for 8, only 4 of us showed up all week.

[Wolfie48]

Originally Posted by cathyz

The pictures are now on webshots http://travel.webshots.com/album/575281873tLbvxi, but DH isn't finished doing the captions yet though.

OK I got the captions done....but need to put in titles now.

[melissy123]

Hi, do any of you have a copy of the menu or the capers. I've seen the 8-day menu on zydeco's website, is it essentially the same?

[cathyz]

Originally Posted by melissy123

Hi, do any of you have a copy of the menu or the capers. I've seen the 8-day menu on zydeco's website, is it essentially the same?

We have the capers, but DH probably won't scan them anytime soon, but in looking at the menus, they are the same.