Splendor 5 nighter to Canada September 1-6, 2014

Hello fellow cruisers. This was our first Splendor cruise, but 15th on Carnival.

We arrived at the NYC port a little before 11am, breezed through security and headed to the platinum/diamond/suites lounge. It was quite full already, but within a few minutes all who were already checked in were called to board through the lounge exit door. A little while later our cabin # was called for check-in. Oddly this time we were not able to head to the ship through the lounge exit but had to go back out into the terminal to the far end where it was already at general boarding. There was a lot of confusion by the guy where you hand in your Canadian immigration form—he was trying to point out where people needed to sign the form as it seemed that many missed that line at the bottom. Got in line to board, doinked our Sail n Sign card, and to the gangway we went.

Headed to our aft wrap cabin which was very nice. Plenty of storage space, flat screen TV, somewhat concave beds though. One thing I don’t get is we seem to get the balcony door that does not slam shut, yet all the ones around us do.

The pools were not open till around 1pm, but the waterslide never did open that day which was disappointing.

The muster drill. When is Carnival going to observe how efficiently and quickly other cruiselines do this. Carnival takes entirely too long, and much time is spent asking the crowd (which by us was already quiet) to be quiet. Then 10 or 15 minutes later they finally gave instructions. Now I am not about to skip the muster drill, but having cruised dozens of times I have yet to hear something “different” on any cruiseline about muster. May I never need to use this information.

We had Your Time Dining and ate in the midship dining room 3 of the 5 nights, and when they asked us about dining alone or with others we opted for dining with others and had a fantastic and fun time with fellow cruisers.

Lido buffet was good for the most part. The deli aft was good and Tandoor was wonderful; wish they were open for more than just lunch. Thought the pizza mid-ship was quite good too. Didn’t try out the grill.

The Taste Bar had food a few nights and all of it was very, well, tasty! :)

We did the Sea Day Brunch the last day at sea to use our drink coupons. We were at a table for ten and service was very slow. They must have run out of the bread basket items because ours had only dry popovers in it when it finally arrived, but tables who were already dining when we arrived had nice assorted breads. I had the spicy chicken which was very good, others had eggs, pancakes, etc. I took the brownie dessert to go and enjoyed it later on the balcony and it was delicious.

Ice cream soft serve machines weren’t so good—a lot of times it was really too soft.

Past Guest party was in the theater. There were not a lot of platinums on this cruise it seemed but many gold stood up when he was asking those at the various levels to stand up. Diamond got some kind of wine I think and a photo with the crew. If you are just walking in and a drink server walks past you, you cannot get a drink from their tray. They only serve you if you are sitting down, which many of us found amusing. And you can get something other than that punch if you ask a server (and don’t forget to tip!).

Lots of photo opportunities various nights which we love. I just wish the purple background was there before the last night! We did get some nice photos of us.

We did get to see the 2 comedians; they were just ok. We didn't go to the 2 production shows.

Water slide is nice, but it seemed that after a few times the seams of each piece started to irritate my back (I do the waterslide lying down—the fastest way!)

I liked the layout of the Splendor better than Glory, Freedom, etc. I like the open aft pool area, and I like that the mid-ship pool can be covered. Also the movie screen mid-ship is great and we enjoyed watching a movie one night.

Lots of tv channels on the cabin tv: cbs, abc, nbc, cw, fox, tcm!, tbs, tnt, usa, cartoon network, boomerang, cnn (so you can stay in touch with what’s going on if you choose to—we do not!) OK, I did watch a Castle rerun one night!

I love that the menus are on the tv. We also checked our onboard account daily.

Room steward was good, and we received good service everywhere that comes to mind.

Platinum gift was the coffee mug with coffee and a few teas.

Used the gym a couple times. The spa is multi-level and looked very nice.

Wine & Food pairing was the first sea day and it sold out. I don’t recall that happening before; we got there just at 12:30 and we were too late.

Waterslide was not open day of embarkation! I was annoyed.

Name that Tune—turned out to be country songs so we left since we don’t know many.

The group that played disco by the casino was very good.

You are no longer given a receipt for drinks. For the bracelet I bought at the $10 sale and I think the shot glass I did receive a receipt. And photos.

Ladies night at the Red Carpet club had free sparkling wine one night.

You will pay tax if you buy drinks while in NY harbor. Note that if you get the soda package, you will also have to sign a receipt to pay for the tax on any soda you buy while in NY harbor.

Martini sampling at the wine bar for $17.00 most nights starting at 5pm.

I noticed the deck 8 aft cabins had a very large overhang from the Lido deck.

Serenity is oddly placed beneath miniature golf, so it’s not always serene there.

In Saint John we walked the new trail from the ship to the Reversing Falls area. It was quite a long walk but we enjoyed it. When we got back downtown we headed to Britt’s for a bit, then back to the ship where I promptly headed to the waterslide.

In Halifax we walked to Point Pleasant Park along the waterfront to the south, did some shopping at American Superstore, and then walked and ate along the waterfront north of the ship port. Enjoyed lobster in both ports.

The last sea day was beautiful and I heard that some saw a whale and some dolphins. We just lounged most of the day.

Returning to NYC the pilot boarded Splendor at 4:30 am, and we were back at the dock with lines tied by 7:15am. The lovely Norwegian Gem came in right behind us. Being platinum, debarkation in NYC was a breeze.

Enjoyed Splendor a lot and am sorry she won’t be spending more time in the NYC area.

Thanks for posting your review! We've missed our Canada cruises - looks like we'll miss again next year since the only 5-day is the week of Labor Day. DH is a teacher and we still have kids in high school so we can't sail that week.

Can you tell me about the trail to Reversing Rapids in Saint John? When we walked we took the trail part of the way but then had to exit out onto the main road. Thanks!

Thanks for posting and glad you had a good time. Friends of ours were on this sailing and really enjoyed it.

Thanks for posting your review! We've missed our Canada cruises -. . .

 

Can you tell me about the trail to Reversing Rapids in Saint John? When we walked we took the trail part of the way but then had to exit out onto the main road. Thanks!

It goes around the river and then at some point you are on a sidewalk on a main road, but it then goes all the way to the big bridge over some serious rapids and whirlpools. It was great. We went to a restaurant that was over the bridge, then took the nice walk back. it was probably almost an hour walk each way and we walked briskly. Ok, on the way back I did stop a few times. Got good photos of the ship too.

Thanks for your review! I have booked the 7 day cruise for September next year. Long wait:( Can you tell me the name of the restaurant you had lobster at in Halifax? I live in Ottawa Canada, and have been many times to Halifax, but not in the last 15 years or so. Looking forward to spending a few hours there next year and would love to savor some good lobster.

Thanks for your review! I have booked the 7 day cruise for September next year. Long wait:( Can you tell me the name of the restaurant you had lobster at in Halifax? I live in Ottawa Canada, and have been many times to Halifax, but not in the last 15 years or so. Looking forward to spending a few hours there next year and would love to savor some good lobster.

It was called Salty's.

Thanks for the review, ran this itinerary last year and loved it. Hopefully I'll get back up to the Canadian maritimes soon!

Thanks for your review.

Thanks for the review. Leaving on this cruise in 32 days and can hardly wait!

It was called Salty's.

Thanks, I have heard this one recommended by others too. :)

Some good places for lobster rolls in Saint John:

Britt's Pub on Princess Street

The Ale House which is along the waterfront with a bunch of other restaurants.

Thank you for your review! DH and I will be on it October 4th!

It was called Salty's.

My favorite place to eat in Halifax! :D

For those looking for info. on Halifax here is a very good free downloadable port guide by Tom Sheridan for Halifax with maps and pictures.

We will be boarding Oct. 4.

http://www.tomsportguides.com/Halifax-06-15-2011.pdf

Thanks for the review!