So...what's wrong with Splendor?

Hello,

Reading some Splendor reviews as we are considering it for a 2015 cruise...what is up with all the bad reviews? I thought perhaps it is because of the northern itinerary, but the mention of bad food, smelly dish ware, rude staff. Nothing to do?

Anyone been on Splendor and Liberty/Freedom/Valor can compare for me?

Thanks!

I was on the Splendor when it caught fire but wouldn't be able to review it since all we did was get towed back to port. One thing I do remember was it was decorated with alot of pink. Oh and the crew we had was wonderful considering the circumstances. But I think even a bad day is wonderful if you are cruising.

Happy sailing all!! :cool:

Wow, not cool!

I could care less about decor, I survived the Victory three times...

Sailed on the Splendor 3 times. Great ship.

Been 3 times now on Splendor.

Very ugly boat, but we had a good time nonetheless.

Will be on her Friday Can let you know after our 8 day Repositioning Cruise

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

I've sailed on the Splendor and Liberty, and would sail on either again. In fact I'm back on the Splendor this Friday!! :)

I have sailed on the Splendor 3 times and Friday will be going on my fourth! An absolutely great ship - I always have a blast on her! Go and enjoy!

I sailed Splendor on the Swine Flu Cruise when all we did was float aorund the ocean and make a stop in San Francisco in the rain! Eventhough it was a disaster, we loved the crew and ship...sailing again in less than 40 days!

I have cruised on Splendor twice this year with different itineraries, I enjoyed myself very much. I thought the food was great, staff was friendly. I didn't go see most shows but the one I did see, I loved. I really have no complaints.

Delete

I just posted a review (that's not up yet) that's titled, "Don't Worry - It's Fine." The sting of bad reviews was confusing since I sailed her 4 times this year and just got off the ship on Thursday. There is room for improvement - as on any ship - but the staff were mostly friendly and helpful. They brought me food and drink when asked, and I had a great, relaxing time (it was an older crowd, going to Canada). I really liked Chris, the acoustic guitar player in the Lobby, the Show Band at various venues, and other entertainers. The Lido does need some improvement, and the MDR was a bit hit and miss - but the food I had was all fine to good, with a few great items. For what you pay, it's a great value and a nice, if gaudy, ship! I would definitely sail her again!

We have cruised for 15 days on the Splendor and are booked on her for an additional 15 days. She is a fine ship.

We had a great time on her. Would sail her again.

Also sailing on Friday. Can't wait. Haven't had a bad experience yet!

I was on the 10/11 sailing with my mom and this was her first time cruising and first vacation since my dad's passing. This not my first carnival cruise and was on Splendor in April. I had pre-arranged wheel chair to get her on ship and also FTTF. Nothing worked, security person in line was rude, wouldnt allow us to the closed lines for special services or priority but she was stressed and was making comments as not her job (she had to hand out Custom forms for Canada)..I did feel empathy for her. Embarking too long to explain but wheel chair assistance was a nightmare. Finally get to room and luggage was lost, maintence was in room because safe was broken, then i had to call because tv and closet door was broken. Ship is showing wear and tear. Because mom was stressed and ill had to cancel steakroom reservations for first night and the woman extremely rude. Used the phone number for FTTF reservations again encountered very rude person. She denied there was such a service for emabarking with wheelchair. Majority of staff on Splendor omg so wonderful...I hate that on my second sailing I am still cant find my bearings on ship......and staff, even security misdirected us multiple times .....but i have to tell you that they were so sweet and really tried that i cant be angry. Disembarking was another nightmare but thankfully found myself in the place to have special services take my mom out in wheelchair which she insisted she didnt need ....long drama...she lost her sail and sign card.....she accepted wheelchair after stressing out. The young man who took us was also a room service steward and remembered us. He was the most incredible person ever...I am ashamed that due to circumstance i could only offer him nominal tip and didnt get his name....If anyone has suggestions on to getting my feedback to carnival on him would be grateful......btw ..not hating on carnival , will cruise them again......but cant help but notice a downgrade in some services with some staff. LMAO to my surprise mom will sail again :)

I was on the 10/11 sailing with my mom and this was her first time cruising and first vacation since my dad's passing. This not my first carnival cruise and was on Splendor in April. I had pre-arranged wheel chair to get her on ship and also FTTF. Nothing worked, security person in line was rude, wouldnt allow us to the closed lines for special services or priority but she was stressed and was making comments as not her job (she had to hand out Custom forms for Canada)..I did feel empathy for her. Embarking too long to explain but wheel chair assistance was a nightmare. Finally get to room and luggage was lost, maintence was in room because safe was broken, then i had to call because tv and closet door was broken. Ship is showing wear and tear. Because mom was stressed and ill had to cancel steakroom reservations for first night and the woman extremely rude. Used the phone number for FTTF reservations again encountered very rude person. She denied there was such a service for emabarking with wheelchair. Majority of staff on Splendor omg so wonderful...I hate that on my second sailing I am still cant find my bearings on ship......and staff, even security misdirected us multiple times .....but i have to tell you that they were so sweet and really tried that i cant be angry. Disembarking was another nightmare but thankfully found myself in the place to have special services take my mom out in wheelchair which she insisted she didnt need ....long drama...she lost her sail and sign card.....she accepted wheelchair after stressing out. The young man who took us was also a room service steward and remembered us. He was the most incredible person ever...I am ashamed that due to circumstance i could only offer him nominal tip and didnt get his name....If anyone has suggestions on to getting my feedback to carnival on him would be grateful......btw ..not hating on carnival , will cruise them again......but cant help but notice a downgrade in some services with some staff. LMAO to my surprise mom will sail again :)

Wow, I am so sorry you had that experience! Ours could not have been more different! We took my cousin, then 10, with us, and got special assistance because she has Muscular Dystrophy. She doesn't normally use a wheel chair, but her poor little legs get worn out by walking long distances and standing in long lines, so they provided a wheelchair for her. Our only issue was she was embarrassed to be seen in a wheelchair and didn't want to ride unless my husband pushed her because he'll drive her around all crazy. Anyway, I think embarkation stuff has more to do with the land crew, so that could be why we had a different experience, if we sailed a different port.

Back to the OP's question: we had a great time on Splendor! The staff was fantastic and we became particularly close with our wait staff. Service was great all around! The only complaint we had is that the decor is quite ugly, but I feel that way about most Carnival ships! I don't like the "Vegas" style of over-the-top decor. But the ship was very clean, well laid out, lots to do, overall a great cruise!

I was on the 10/11 sailing with my mom and this was her first time cruising and first vacation since my dad's passing. This not my first carnival cruise and was on Splendor in April. I had pre-arranged wheel chair to get her on ship and also FTTF. Nothing worked, security person in line was rude, wouldnt allow us to the closed lines for special services or priority but she was stressed and was making comments as not her job (she had to hand out Custom forms for Canada)..I did feel empathy for her. Embarking too long to explain but wheel chair assistance was a nightmare.

I had a terrible experience in the NY cruiseport too! Despite my boarding pass saying both "platinum" and "priority," the security person wouldn't let me in the priority lounge - no idea why. She finally went in the lounge to confirm that I was NOT allowed, and I followed her in. When I showed my boarding pass, the nice person in the lounge asked the original security person, "just what was the problem?" The cruiseport staff needs some training! Otherwise, no problems...

if you're reading the cruise critic member reviews, well there's a few things...

historically, the ship will suffer in terms of its 'star rating' from 1) the swine flu incident, 2) the fire incident, and perhaps 3) the around the horn central america cruises which were not at all ordinary. these few events and the reviews around those times are enough to potentially affect the overall ratings...

further, keep in mind the ship has been year round in new york for a while. from my own experience, cruising in january this year, that was a somewhat bizarre cruise, seeing people walk around in their winter coats and departing among snow and ice and such. i think that might affect certain reviews too - it's not always your 'typical' cruise.

on my own cruise... 1) the decor is a bit bizarre. pink donuts, pink zebra stripe and black tile with neon green grout? it's pretty clear why mr. farcus was asked to step back a bit after this one! 2) our cruise director eli was 'green' too - and it showed. i heard a few people complaining about lack of activities, etc. 3) i would say that some of the staff were not as friendly as i am accustomed to. i think part of it was probably the weather - would suck to be the guy at lido deck aft bar in a winter coat leaving when it was 30 degrees. 4) the mix of people was a bit 'different' than i'd experienced in other cruises. 5) anytime dining on this ship was TERRIBLE for us, we had an 'im sorry' treat from the maitre de in the room most nights if that's any indication... 6) the itineraries are also a bit 'different' - in that it runs the dreaded PC, nassau, freeport, and canada cruises, with some other misc. itineraries, but those first 2, a lot of people wouldn't 'love'. all of these things may play into reviews / rankings

don't get me wrong though - *I* had a great time. while some crew were not up to my expectations - MOST were! we had a great piano player (who is no longer there), we came across several 'favorite' bar staff, etc. all in all i still loved the ship, albeit with its bizarre decor - it kinda grows on you. i'd definitely sail on her again - and hope that some of the above extenuating circumstances were just that - i'd have confidence enough to give it another shot without qualms. perhaps not in january though! i would say though that i encountered more circumstances warranting constructive criticism on that cruise than any of my others - but none of it was particularly 'bad' - just not as 'good' as i would have expected typically - or that could have readily been delivered.

i hope that makes sense, and helps to some degree lol. in the end it's a one off ship that has sailed a lot of one off experiences, which may affect it's ratings. i wouldn't be concerned though, and would sail her again without reservation

I sailed her twice and would never hesitate to sail her again.

I'm also sailing on Splendor this Friday. In fact 5 th time this year. I could care less what colors the decor is. Maître D Ramesh is one of my favorite. Missed dining room one evening cause hubby wanted to see movie on Lido,which made me miss my favorite Baked Alaska, Ramesh had chef make one special for me the following night. I found all crew to be very friendly. I found guests to be rude. Crew work very,very hard and it doesn't cost anything for a Please or Thank You. Some of the selections on menu was nothing I was crazy about,but I didn't go hungry. Casino staff I am friends with on Facebook. I found guests to be rude and pushy,and also demanding. Not the same when you sail from the south,but I speak my mind. So I will continue to sail Splendor .

I was just thinking "what bad reviews?" as I read all I can find about ships that I'm sailing soon and didn't remember reading any about Splendor that were negative.

But if you're talking about the reviews on the "main" review page, I don't read those. I gave up long ago. I think the majority of people who post there (I've stopped) never visit the cruiseline's page or read about the ship beforehand, or the ports, or embarkation, or, well, anything, and the vast majority have unrealistic expectations.

I'm not thrilled with her decor, but am really looking forward to seeing the ship layout (not a fan of the close aft pool areas on Conquest class). And we have a fantastic Roll Call for our repositioning (several of us sailed the 8-night San Juan-Miami repo on Conquest last November) and great itinerary.

So, my advice to people is to not bother reading those reviews. If you want info, do your reading here. Do your homework on the ports on those boards. Be realistic in your expectations.

I can't wait to sail Splendor and will post a full review here - on THIS board - when I return. :D

I'll be on Splendor Friday for the 5th time since February...

I haven't found anything wrong yet!

It seems any ship sailing out of New York on lackluster itineraries suffers less than stellar reviews. This is especially true on the northern itineraries. Add that she's a stand alone in the CCL fleet and a bit of a history makes it a bit harder.

She'll rebound when she moves.

We sailed on the Splendor 3 times this year and loved every minute of it. We had too much fun to notice what the color of the decor was