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Our Splendid Splendor cruise (with pics) 8/13/13


Jamman54
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Hello everyone!! My name is Jeff “Jamman” Maskall, and I am a cruise addict!! As are my DW Patti, we’re in our mid 50’s, DS Kevin (18), and DS Ryan (16). On Carnival, we are a Platinum family, myself being only several days away from Diamond after this cruise. Shortly before final payment, Kevin informed us that he had an opportunity to go out of state for the summer, so he would not be joining us this time. We will miss you son!!

 

I have always appreciated and admired the time and effort that some posters spend putting together picture reviews, or any review, for our enjoyment and information. I felt that to payback those in this and other cruise forum communities, that I should do the same. We took tons of pictures and video, so why shouldn’t we share them? Now, we are by no means professional photographers or carry thousands of dollars worth of equipment, so please don’t expect all the pictures to be perfect, but they will tell a story, and we want all of you along for the ride!! Up front, I will you tell you some things that you won’t read about or see here:

 

I do not scan every single page of the Fun Times and other paperwork from aboard ship. I did scan the front pages of the Fun Times, which I will use as a cover page for each day. I also scanned a few pages of what I considered pertinent information. I have all the information, so if anyone has any questions, please feel free to ask.

 

Food Porn: (with a few exceptions). Don’t get me wrong, I love the pictures people post of the various food and dessert items. They make my mouth water sometimes. But when that waiter puts that plate down in front of me, I’m not stopping to take pictures!!

 

Production Shows / Music in general: My wife is hearing impaired, so we don’t attend these, as she doesn’t get much out of them. She does lip read, so we do attend the comedy shows, quest, magic shows, or any other show that is more visual.

 

There are pictures with some of my fellow roll call members present, but I will not identify anyone in my text. If they want to chime in and say “that’s me, that’s me!!” that’s fine too.

 

I think that covers everything, so let us begin!

 

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After 14 months of waiting, the day has finally arrived!! It is an absolutely miserable morning. It is POURING rain, and the weatherman says it will be this way all morning, but it will gradually clear up in the afternoon. As long as it is nice for sail away, I’m OK with that. Living in New Jersey, we are normally about a 45 minute to an hour drive away from the pier. It took us an hour and a half, but because we left home a bit earlier than usual, we arrived at the terminal at exactly 10:30am. The Splendor is waiting for us in all it’s glory, the only ship in port today. Up the ramp to the rooftop parking booth, which is located on Pier 92. After paying the $35./day, ($280.), parking fee,(cash or credit card), we were directed over to Pier 90 were the Splendor was located. Now, if you are driving in, there are other places to park around the area that are cheaper, but may involve a taxi / shuttle ride, and multiple handling of luggage. We elect to pay the extra money for convenience. After arriving at Pier 90, we were instructed to open our doors so that the nice dog can have a sniff. That done, just down a few feet is where normally there are porters to take your luggage. Their carts were there, but no porters. I was able to get a very close parking spot, jumped out of the van, in search of someone to help us. Keep in mind that it is still POURING out. I saw one porter who was returning back inside after taking someone’s luggage out to their car after the previous cruise, and asked if she could take ours. She said she couldn’t because she wasn’t working receiving yet, but she would get someone for us. As promised a few minutes later a porter came out to help us, going as far as to going right to our car to load the luggage. That is something that is not usually done for incoming bags! He attached additional FTTF sticky tape around the luggage handles, and off our bags went. He was tipped very well!! Just to note, that as Platinum members, we get all the FTTF benefits for free.

 

It was now about 10:50, as we rode the elevator down to the terminal level. As we walked into the VIP line, there was no one in front of us, and from what I could see, very few people in the regular line. First up was the scanner. We followed the rules, and packed our allotment of soda and wine into a 12 x 12 cooler bag. It went through without any problem, in fact no one even opened it to check what was in there. I could have put my whole bar in there and got away with it!!! We were next directed to the VIP lounge, where we were greeted at the door, asked for our names, then were directed to have a seat until our names were called. There were about 10 people already in there, and there was water and lemonade available. Once called, the check in process took about two minutes, got our sail and sign cards, then sat back down to wait. We met a couple of roll call members at this point. About 11:15 we were told it was time to board!!

 

Our cruise was officially beginning!! We took our embarkation photo…

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Then we boarded the Splendor for the first time. The Lobby Bar…

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Atrium Elevators…

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Looking up the Atrium…

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Looking all the way up to the skylight…

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To be continued…

Edited by Jamman54
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Once onboard the first order of business, besides a drink, would be to reserve our cabana at HMC (Half Moon Cay). Though the posted Shore Excursion Desk opening time was Noon, there was a young lady behind the desk, so I went to say hello. When I told her I was going to reserve my cabana, she said she would take care of it right now!! I had planned all along to get cabana 7 or 8, but when she pulled out the list, cabanas 7,8,& 9, had already been assigned to the same person. How could that be, I’m the first in line? I didn’t think to ask that, as now my mind was focused on a back up plan. Didn’t want #6 as it was right next to the first three villas, didn’t want to go further down the beach, so I settled for Orange #4. We had been there before. We made our beverage selections, gave her the sizes for the snorkel gear, then she gave me an envelope with all the tickets for the excursions I had bought for the cruise.

 

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First at the excursion desk….

 

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That done it was time to go check out our cabin. Here are a few pictures taken along the way. Wine selections….

 

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Bottomless Bubbles table in the Lobby….

 

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Lobby chairs….

 

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It’s been said before, but anytime I order a pink frosted doughnut at my favorite doughnut shop, I will think of the Splendor…..

 

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To be continued

Edited by Jamman54
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I was thinking about what you said about the cabanas being already booked. It could it have been a wedding? We were on the Splendor 7/28 and there was supposed to be a wedding in HMC during our trip. We got re-directed because of TS Dorian. I have no idea what happened to their wedding plans. We went to St Thomas, San Juan and Grand Turk last.

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We booked 14 months in advance because Patti and I wanted an Aft Wrap, and we wanted an Aft Extended Balcony for the boys, right next door. We wound up booking cabins 6450 (Aft Wrap), and 6452. The reason we chose Deck 6 was because of the six Aft Wraps on the Splendor, only those on this deck can sleep 3 people. Thinking ahead that there was a possibility that Kevin wouldn’t make the trip, I wanted to hedge my bets. As it turned out, Kevin did have to back out, so I cancelled cabin 6452, and moved Ryan in with us, much to his displeasure!!

 

Now a bit about this cabin, as it is configured much differently than your standard cabin. The square footage is about the same, but the shape is somewhat triangular – ish. There are a few videos of this cabin online, and I’ll probably be adding mine into the mix sometime in the future. The thing that stands out in regards to this cabin, and cabin 6485 on the other side, is the size of the balcony. It is simply huge, as the pictures that follow in the next section will show. Though we are right above the port side of the El Morocco Lounge (Punchliners), we never heard a sound from below. If your neighbor above you moves their chairs on their balcony, you will hear it. We had good neighbors. One morning we had a little soot on the balcony that our room stewards took care of right away. When the ship is maneuvering in port you will definitely feel the vibrations from the thrusters. At sea, you will feel more motion than you will feel with a mid-ship location. None of the above bothered us in the least. Speaking of the room stewards, Anak and Supartha, both from Indonesia, were superb, and handled a couple of issues that we had quickly, and to our satisfaction!

 

Sign on the heavy doors, welcoming Diamond, Platinum, and FTTF passengers to go directly to their cabins…

 

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Outer door for cabins 6448 & 6450….

 

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Our cabin door….

 

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Our bed set against the window….

 

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Desk / Vanity area….

 

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Ryan’s sofa bed….

 

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To be continued…..

Edited by Jamman54
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Our bathroom…..

 

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That’s me relaxing for a minute…

 

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Balcony door….

 

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Huge balcony…

 

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Ryan and me way down the other end…

 

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Ryan on the balcony…

 

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To be continued…

 

Edited by Jamman54
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I'm literally jumping out of my seat right now!!! We are in your same cabin in 3 weeks and I'm so excited words cannot even describe it :D

 

Our first cruise ever, so I'm constantly checking here for other people's experience, but yours is the first one on our exact ship, itinerary and room!!! :)

 

Thank you for doing this review - I'll try to be patient waiting for the rest lol

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Great start to your review, can't wait for more!

 

Thank you for taking the time to post it! :)

 

Thanks!! You were one of those photo reviews that inspired me!!

 

Nice start, it was amazing how crappy the weather was and how nice sail away turned into. Enjoyed meetig you.

 

Same here Jimbo!!

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I'm literally jumping out of my seat right now!!! We are in your same cabin in 3 weeks and I'm so excited words cannot even describe it :D

 

Our first cruise ever, so I'm constantly checking here for other people's experience, but yours is the first one on our exact ship, itinerary and room!!! :)

 

Thank you for doing this review - I'll try to be patient waiting for the rest lol

 

Can you take me back with you? I'm right on the way!! :D

You picked a GREAT first cruise!! The review will only get better, as remember it is still raining at this time...

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Our bathroom…..

 

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That’s me relaxing for a minute…

 

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Balcony door….

 

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Huge balcony…

 

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Ryan and me way down the other end…

 

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Ryan on the balcony…

 

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To be continued…

 

wow look at you sitting there with NO drink in hand LOL... Can't wait to read more of your review,,, (ahhh I don't have to write one) I do have a few shots of you that need shareing!

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wow look at you sitting there with NO drink in hand LOL... Can't wait to read more of your review,,, (ahhh I don't have to write one) I do have a few shots of you that need shareing!

 

One of the few times I didn't have a drink in my hand!! :D I have your email, so I'll email you later so that we can get those incriminating shots shared, Thanks!!

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After checking out our cabin, it was time to head upstairs for our embarkation lunch. Patti wanted to do the Mongolian Wok today, knowing that the rest of the cruise the lines would be long. For those that don’t know how the Mongolian Wok works, you select your noodles, protein, veggies, and sauce, put them in a bowl, and give them to the stir fry chef to cook in the wok. We have a few Round Grills in our area which are much better, but for being on a cruise ship, it’s not too bad. Since Ryan was wanting the chicken at the Rotisserie, I asked Patti to make me up a bowl at the wok, then meet us there. Now, most of the buffet venues are on Lido Deck 9, but the Rotisserie is located on deck 10 aft. There are stairs by the Burrito Bar that lead up there. There never was a line, as most people don’t even know it’s there, and there is always plenty of seating, even during the peak breakfast and lunch rushes. Lunch time hours for each venue are as follows: Lido Lunch Buffet, Burrito Bar, Mongolian Wok, Rotisserie, and Tandoor are open from Noon to 3:30pm on port days, Noon to 2:30pm on sea days. The Grill is open from 11:30 am to 6pm daily, and the Deli is open from 11am to 11pm daily. The Pizza, of course is open 24 hours. Mongolian Wok, Deck 9 Mid….

 

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The Rotisserie, Deck 10 Aft…..

 

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Typical Rotisserie lunch…

 

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The Sweet Spot, Deck 9 Aft…

 

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The Deli, Deck 9 Aft Port side…

 

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Tandoor, Deck 9 Aft Starboard side…

 

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To be continued…

Edited by Jamman54
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After finishing our lunch, we decided to go down to the Gold Pearl Restaurant and check out our table location. If you want to change your dining preferences, they begin handling that at 1:30pm at the Black Pearl Restaurant, Deck 4 Fwd. I had emailed the Maitre’d about a month prior, requesting a 4 top in The Gold Pearl Restaurant, and that is exactly what we got!! The Gold Pearl Restaurant:

 

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Our booth, second from the left…

 

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Table # 411……

 

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Gold Pearl Restaurant….

 

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Gold Pearl Chandelier….

 

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Patti then wanted to go unpack our luggage, which was now waiting for us, and I was going to head up to the Liner Bar, for our informal roll call meet and greet. It was a fairly small group, but it was a pleasure to be able to meet the people I had been “talking” to the past 3 or 4 months. A good time was had by all. That’s me having another beer at the Liner Bar…

 

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To be continued….

 

Edited by Jamman54
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Jamman,

I am looking forward to your review, as I am re-living my experience from three weeks ago!!

 

I hope you had as much of a good time as we did on our cruise.

Cant wait to read the rest!

 

Catrin

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