Just Back from Splendour of the Seas

We returned earlier this week from the 7 day Med cruise on Splendour of the Seas. We had a fantastic time! Couple comments on our experience: Do NOT buy travelers cheques to take with you. I purchased travelers checks in Euros from AAA. I could not even cash them at banks in Barcelona. I ended up having to go to the American Express office and pay a 5% fee for cashing Euro checks into Euros. The pursers desk on the cruise ship will cash them for free. If you can, fly in at least 1 or 2 days early. I felt so bad for all the folks that flew in the day we left. They could barely stay awake through dinner. We stayed at the Condes de Barcelona on the front end and the Hotel Colon on the back end for 1 night. Both hotels are in great locations that allow you to catch the Bus Tourista and also walk almost anywhere.

We had a mini suite for the first time. Lots more room and I liked having the bathtub with the shower. We ended up missing many of the shows since we had a 9 pm dinner seating. The shows (5 of the 7) were at 11 pm and after the intense days, we just didn't have the energy to make it to the shows. We did go to one really bad one - Neal Austin - juggler thing but really bad. The Flamenco was EXCELLENT and we even bought one of Ole Ole's CDs.

The ports were great. In Marseilles we went to Arles and Le Beaux. Le Beaux to me was very touristy. Arles was very nice. In Villefranche, we took the train ourselves to Nice and wandered around and then took the Monte Carlo excursion in the afternoon. Monaco/Monte Carlo is worth having a guided tour. The casino was beautiful but don't plan on playing black jack. The tables were not open. Just slots and roulette. You are not allowed to smoke or drink in the casino. Also, the casino is not open in the morning and there is a morning excusrion to Monte Carlo. Florence was beautiful but very crowded. Two hour waits to enter many places. I would recommend taking a private excursion. We used www.driverinrome.com when we were in Rome and I regret not having used them in Florence. Fantastic shopping in Florence - leather and gold. Rome was fabulous. Our driver from driverinrome.com, was Alan and he was great! He took us to the Palantine museum where you purchase an admission ticket for both there and the Coliseum. You wander the ruins of the Palantine, see the Forum and then end up at the front of the Coliseum. By having the dual admission ticket, there is no wait for tickets there and you walk right in. We then went to the Parthenon, lunch at a great little restaurant (best pizza ever), the Trevi Fountain, the Vatican and the Sistine Chapel, the Spanish steps and home. No time for shopping at all. There was a transit strike so traffic was bad. The excursions from the ship got stuck in traffic jams where we were able to hussle down the narrow streets (and drive on sidewalks at times!) and see all the highlights. Some of the ship excursions do not take you to the Sistine Chapel. In Naples we did the Pompeii, Sorrento and Capri excursion. The ruins of Pompeii were fantastic, the cameo factory was very weak, Sorrento had many little souvenier shops but great scenery and Capri I didn't particularly care for. In Capri you take a tram up the mountain (rock?) and Capri town is quaint but is also just designer boutique after designer boutique. Gucci, Prada, Channel, Louis Vuitton, etc. We did not do the walking tour with the guide and some folks said the views were very nice. It was raining (monsooning in the morning) that day. We ended up sitting on the bus at Pompeii for at least 30 minutes and hanging out in the cameo factory for another 30 minutes because it was raining so hard. Most folks souvenier that day was a 5 Euro umbrella! It let up enough for us to tour Pompeii which that was one of the highlights of the entire cruise. The sea day was a rest day needed by all. It wasn't too warm so we didn't go out on the deck - read on our balcony and attended the art auction. It was a great trip and I definitely would like to go back to Barcelona (my all time favorite European city), Florence, Rome and Villefranche. (oh and we did not go to Eze but folks on the ship raved about it)

Have a great time if you are going!!

Thanks for the report. We're going Oct 23. Can't wait.

Thanks for the review. We're leaving Thursday for October 2nd sailing.

Are you saying that the at casino in Monte Carlo the tables are closed all day? Or do you know what time they opened?

How did you like the 9pm dinner seating? Were you exhausted by that time?

I ralize everything is very expensive in general but did you find any good buys? If so what were they?

Thanks in advance,

N

How many dinner seatings were there? What were the times?

Thanks,

Jason

Thanks for the review. It was very informative and helpful.

I am also interested in hearing about the times for dinner.

Leah

Many thanks for your review - I have printed it out for reference for our sailing next Saturday! (2/10) and joining one of the above posters - betonic - and we are sure that we will have a good time too.

I'm glad that you mentioned umbrellas and we will take one small one along, as it may rain during this time of the year!

Cruising is like being wide awake - and dreaming!

j33

Just a word about Neal Austin - the comedian that southcarolinacruiser hated. Think it may be a British sense of humour thing but we thought he was great ! I would say we're very hard to please and we were all sore from laughing - honest ! So, if you're from GB, give him a try - you can always walk out !

Isabel

The seating times are a bit weird; there are FOUR seating times, I think they were 6.15,7.00,9.00 and 9.30. This is supposedly because us Europeans eat later (?) It's actually because (I reckon) the ship docks at ports away from the main attractions so they need to allow more time for folk to get back. The scheduling on the ship is sadly quite poor, but the cruise itself was wonderful.

We also thought Neal Austin was pretty good!

I sailed on the Splendour this past July 31 and my family and I had a WONDERFUL time. :D

Cruise staff was friendly and helpful. Cabin was nice and clean. Food was very good. And the ports of call and excursions we took were terrific!! We too went to Arles & LeBaux. I liked both places. We also did the same thing as you Capri, Sorrento and Pompeii. Totally beautiful place and I would go back tomorrow if I could. And I even bought myself a cameo. It takes a lot of hard work to make that cameo. And size doesn't matter. BTW, who was your tour guide in Capri? We had Mossimo and he was a strange little man, but he gave a great tour with lots of info. :o

Conclusion, we had a wonderful time and no complaints. :)