Sailing the Splendor again to New England/Canada 10/4/14

I wasn’t planning on writing a review since I did one last month that was the same basic itinerary, but the experience was different enough that to warrant a quick review. I’ll probably work on uploading some pictures this weekend.

DAY PORT OF CALL ARRIVE DEPART

Sat New York, NY 4:00 PM

Sun Boston, MA 2:00 PM 10:00 PM

Mon Portland, ME 8:00 AM 6:00 PM (1st elegant night)

Tue Fun Day At Sea

Wed Halifax, Ns, Canada 8:00 AM 4:00 PM

Thu Saint John, Nb, Canada 10:00 AM 6:00 PM (Changed to 7:00 due to unfavorable tides) (2nd elegant night)

Fri Fun Day At Sea

Sat New York, NY 8:00 AM

I took the Greyhound to New York again; it’s rainy so there is a quite the line at the taxi stand to get a taxi. When it’s my turn, some guy off the street gets into the cab! Luckily the driver threw him out and told him he had to wait in line like everyone else.

At check-in, my credit card is declined! I had done online check-in a few months back, but the credit card had been replaced in that time due to compromises.. So I gave them the new card, took a few extra minutes to get that all squared away. Then it’s off to get on the ship, have some lunch on Lido. I drop off my carryons once I hear that rooms are ready. Then I go to the excursion desk to book the Behind the Fun tour. The rain does let up so that we have a nice sail-away :).

This cruise, I’m in 1201 on the Riviera deck. It’s 1A porthole on starboard side of the ship. I’ve previously been in this type of room and shared it with my brother so it felt extra spacious this time. With that being said, I probably would not select this room in the future. Riviera deck itself is convenient for getting off in ports as they seemed to have a gangway there for almost all the ports (sometimes in addition to the “official” gangway on Lobby deck). Cabin 1201 is most forward cabin on this deck, it’s at the very end of the hall, next to a crew door. Crew are constantly using that door, so you’ll hear it in your cabin. It’s not terrible, but I would surely try to avoid it if possible. Then there is the usual noise when entering port. (I need to try not such forward rooms; it’s a long, long walk from the comedy club at the end of the night ;))

The room steward did a fine job, I even got an ice bucket this time that was filled with ice regularly. I guess I could of asked for one on previous cruises, but never bothered. This time, I did bring a cooler/lunch bag with my waters/soda, so maybe that signaled the ice bucket this time. He also kept the towel animals in the room each night, they had previously removed them each night :(. Gave him an extra tip ;).

Boston

I had some breakfast in the MDR, but it’s not really worth it. It’s nearly all the same stuff as Lido, but just takes longer. Lunch in the MDR had a few interesting options.

We get to port at a rather unusual 2PM and apparently there were delays in getting off the ship. I didn’t really notice as I was not in a rush and could just walk from my cabin to the gangway in just a minute. There is another ship embarking as we are in port, so the Splendor is docked in a different spot than last time. I head towards the Silver Line 2 stop that I had used last time, but there are actually quite a few stops for it that are even closer to where the ship was docked. I walk around town, taking in the sights and playing a GPS based game. It’s neat to see the city at night with the lights. Even more rare to see your own cruise ship all lit up (since you are usually on the ship at night, you can’t see it all lit up).

I get back to the ship around 7:30, so since I have Early Dining, I have some dinner on Lido and catch some comedy with Sheila Kay and Al Ernst. Love Al, he had me laughing so hard that it hurt one night. His adult shows are good without a bunch of cursing. I also go to catch the Marriage Game; the questions are the same, but still funny. I would probably arrive ½ hour after it starts next time, when they finally start going over the answers, they repeat the questions anyway.

Portland

I was planning on doing Lucky’s Lobster this time, but the timing just didn’t work out for me so I wonder around the town a bit. I headed back to the ship for some lunch, its spicy Caribbean stuff. Without going into TMI, I seriously pay for this the next few days… I wander around a different part of town some more after lunch.

For some reason, it’s the first elegant night. I would have expected it to have been the next day, the first sea day, but roll with it. It’s the first night we have a full table at dinner (steak house on the first night for some and being late in port yesterday for some). They play the usual That’s Amore and have the couples dance.

If I didn’t mention it before, this is my 3rd time on the Splendor and I always thought it was a recording playing of the song. Turns out there is actually a guy singing the song! His name is Barman (his last name) and he is also the ship’s magician. He stops by our table tonight (later on the BTF tour, one of guest mentioned they requested the magician each night and got him). He starts off with a simple card trick and I saw him swapping the card, so I was not impressed. Next trick is a bit more advanced, but I have an idea how he did it… Now, the final trick, I’m clueless on how he did it.

Sea Day

Even though I’m taking it easy, I’m feeling super tired and sleep in quite a bit today. I do make it in time for some sea day brunch in the MDR. Then it was off to the cabin crawl that was partially organized from the roll call here on CC. It was really neat to see the different rooms, we had a good variety of them, including

1A Interior

1A Porthole

Ocean View

Interior

Interior on Lido

4J non-handicap (I had a HC version last time and thought it was so great, but the non-HC is rather tight like an interior, or even more so)

Aft Balcony (Great view and not windy like the other regular balconies)

Grand Suite (So much space, but kind of awkward placement of things, same tiny TV and it’s not viewable from bed)

Tonight’s entertainment is Max Winfrey, I go to the early show and it’s quite packed. I had to sit on the bar stool things way in back :(. I’m not even sure what to call Max’s act, but he is not the usual hypnotist! He is kind of a comedic body performer? He juggles, rides a 6ft unicycle, etc. I really enjoyed it.

It’s also Adult/Quest night in the comedy club. They asked for the usual oddball things like an AARP card, teeth, car keys, etc. And of course we end with men in their underwear in high heels ;).

Halifax

We docked far away from Pier 21 and had to take a shuttle over. There are 3 other ships in port (HAL Eurodam, Ruby Princess, and a small Silversea ship). I walk along the wharf (there is some wifi!), visiting the Maritime Museum on the way back, admission includes getting on the Acadia ship. However, the hours are different for the Acadia ship, so I miss getting to get onboard that.

There is no comedy tonight so I go see Fiesta Latina even though I remember not liking it last year. It seemed improved this time and was bearable. I watched a movie on Lido, there is popcorn (not much butter and you have to salt yourself). When the movie ended, it’s Mexican Night Bistro! I’ve never actually been to one of these, took some pictures, but skipped the food.

Saint John, NB

Brilliance of the Seas is in port with us today. Malcolm had mentioned a tip of going to the mall and going all the way to the back, there is an elevator or escalator to save yourself the walk up the steep incline. I’m not sure I made it all the way back as I ended up in the City Market. On the way back, I went to the New Brunswick Museum. Comedians tonight are Seth Buchwald (saw him last time so I skipped his shows) and Johnny Millwater. Johnny is quite the comedian and singer and straight jacket escapist.

Last Sea Day and BTF tour

To be followed soon with pictures..

Thanks for your review! I am booked for this cruise next year in a 1a porthole room. I have been in one of these before, but it was in the Caribbean in calm seas, so am expecting more ocean movement in the Atlantic. Did you notice much movement, being that far forward? The noise and the long walk, I can cope with, but just wondering how it was for movement. Thanks:)

Thanks for the review, leaving on the Splendor today!!

Thanks for your review! I am booked for this cruise next year in a 1a porthole room. I have been in one of these before, but it was in the Caribbean in calm seas, so am expecting more ocean movement in the Atlantic. Did you notice much movement, being that far forward? The noise and the long walk, I can cope with, but just wondering how it was for movement. Thanks:)

I thought things were relatively calm this trip, did not have to take any Dramamine. The night we were leaving Saint John, I could see some big waves from my porthole, thought maybe the captain was speeding up a little to make up for leaving the port late.

Thanks for the info. I am not really prone to sea sickness, especially on the larger and newer ships, but was just curious how it was. I will take some of that Dramamine with me just in case.

Last Sea Day

It’s Behind The Fun day! I’ve heard so much about this tour that I had to do it this time.

It’s been almost a week, so please forgive me for anything I’ve forgotten or gotten out of order at this point, lol. We met in the library early in the morning. There is light refreshments (pastries and beverages), the tour guide gives us a little pamphlet on the numbers of stuff they use a week on the ship, has the chocolate melting cake recipe on the back. The tour guide takes cell phones from the handful of people who brought them. We are wanded by security and then it’s off to the bridge!

It’s just neat to see such an off limits area, we of course do a picture with the captain and a group shot with the captain. The ship is mostly on auto-pilot and we are having calm seas so there really isn’t that much going on here. There is a cubby wall with a ton of flags, I remember seeing something like panama backup flag (Splendor is actually too big to go through the canal).

Now the rest of the parts could be terribly out of order, I brought a notepad, but did not write a thing down during the tour! We went to the bow of the ship and had a group picture taken. There are two whirlpools up there for crew to use. We went to the dressing room and back stage area of the theater. A dancer talked to us about their costumes and costume changes. And a stage manager talked to us about what goes on with the shows in terms of the background drops, lights, sound, etc.

I think we went to the crew galley before going to the passenger galley. Crew galley makes different food and is much smaller. In the passenger galley, we see a cake decorator and the fruit carver. He has carved some soap things that we’ll get later. There are also the watermelon heads that I think are from the Mexican night… He also shows us a demonstration on starting a flowerly melon.

We head below the decks and get to see the I-95 of the ship. We walked by some crew cabins, but don’t see inside them. We go to the crew bar and have a little rest stop for bathrooms and additional light refreshments. We pass by the brig and the morgue, don’t really see inside those. We go to the laundry and see the giant machine that dries and folds the sheets in seconds. Since we’re below the water, there are water tight locking doors that separate the areas. These are quite loud when opening/closing.

We also went to the engine control room; it’s mostly all screens of stuff being monitored. The engineers answer a bunch of questions from the group. At the end of the tour, we head up to the Steakhouse. I really didn’t care for this part as the; it’s more of a sales pitch for the Steakhouse rather than showing us anything cool. They have the proteins saran wrapped on the table, telling us how premium this stuff is. I’m thinking I really don’t want to eat from the place, because they have their meats out on display all the time on the ship without ice/temperature control. He gives us our soap carving to conclude the door. We then exit to the dining area where there is champagne, mimosas, oj, and water. They have us take a little survey and give us our other gifts, the bag and cap.

I think we finished kind of early at around 11:45 AM as I have time to make it to the cruise director Q&A. After that, I go back to the cabin and there are some chocolate covered strawberry treats for me. Munch on some of that and go over to Lido for something more substantial, there is the Chocolate Extravaganza going on. The cakes look pretty, but not much taste. I headed back to the cabin for a book, but end up taking a long nap.

After dinner, I hit some comedy and then go over to the Legends show. I’ve never seen it before, the thought of guest performing it always turned me off. It was interesting, most did well to ok. There was some trio in attached dresses that apparently went off script, falling/fighting all over the place. The middle one was a man, I remember thinking that is an ugly woman at first… They were absent at the lobby photo session after the show. Malcolm even gets into the show! He was in drag doing a dance routine! I didn’t even know it was Malcolm until someone else posted after I got home from the cruise; I was thinking she moved a little bit awkwardly, but still a great job by not a pro. Then at the end, I thought it was rude they didn’t introduce her like they did the other guests!

I take in the last comedy show of the cruise with Johnny Millwater, he really does escape from a straight jacket! I thought he was joking when he said he does that.

Debarkation

3rd time on the ship, I’ve got this down pat. I do the self-assist option; I’m off the ship and at the Port Authority by 8:30 AM. This includes a long line for the taxi as it is raining again. The drivers don’t like short trips like mine :(.

Thanks for your review.

Statue of Liberty of course

Carnival photographers with their Statue of Liberty

Towel Animal!

Came back to a missing lamp! (It was replaced same day, didn't notice if it was broken before)

Ship all lit up in Boston, wish I held the cam more steady, but it was cold!

Locks in Portland

Crew bus in Portland, some of them got time off to go to a local mall. :-)

This cabin had creepy eyes on their door.

Splendor parked all far away (we had to take shuttle) in Halifax.

Parrot at museum.

Mexican night

Market Square, one old guy was hilariously talking to them as if it was his buddy. (His buddy was near by and did have a little resemblance to this)

Forget which ship in the night

Johnny Millwater said we could take pictures at this part of the show, so he really does do the straightjacket bit. Has volunteer from the audience help get him all strapped in.