Rock712

Very glad to see this. We're booked on the Sunshine for one of her Journeys cruises next April. Despite the wildly mixed reviews you see on this ship looking forward to sailing on her.

We just boarded the Splendor out of Miami 2 weeks ago ,and while not platinum ( working on it , couple more cruises ) we did have a suite , so we had priority boarding. Right after entering terminal there is a check-in area for all Platinum/Diamond/FTTF/Priority. After checking in and rec S&S cards we were escorted w/ another couple to an elevator and then to the Platinum/Diamond lounge. We were in lounge approx. 20 mins , and then a Carnival rep came to lounge and escorted everyone directly to ship.

Very easy . organized , and efficient !!!!!

A cabana on Half moon will be the best money you've ever spent on a cruise. I agree with a previous poster that said to try to get # 7 or higher to get away from the crowds. We were in # 9 a couple of weeks ago. Great location

I told my wife this trip that if Carnival would come up with a cruise that just went to Half Moon for a week , spending every day relaxing on that beautiful beach and the evening back on the ship for the food and entertainment , it would sell out every cruise guaranteed

Rock,

 

we were on the same cruise as you and agree with you on everything. Out of the 6 or 7 cruises we have been on with both Carnival and Royal, the other guests on this cruise just seemed very rude. I know everyone is on vacation so we did not let anything REALLY bother us....we had a Great Vacation and loved the ship and crew. But my father, who has mobility issues and is in a wheel chair would have people practically step over his chair to beat him into an elevator. We would have to wait till the 5th or 6th elevator to show up before we could get him into one...It was absolutely CRAZY around dinner time by the Golden Pearl early sitting. That is where I would say was the MOST packed with people. Stay away if possible or just take the stairs.

Hey Teetime , yeah , I cant quite put my finger on what it was , but I remember asking my wife around the fourth day that doesn't it just seem like there's an unusual amount of rude people on this cruise. It's not like anyone was being openly hostile towards other people , it just seems like there was an unusual amount of instances where I saw people just throw what I would call general manners right out the window. I mean we were all on the same ship bobbing around a big old ocean. It only takes about 10 minutes to walk from one end to the other , so doing something ignorant to get one step ahead in line of the next guy really doesn't get you that far in the great grand scheme of things.

Fun review. Like you, I tend to see these little DISTRACTION more and more. I sure hope these trends do not catch on to the majority of cruisers. All in all most cruiser are very polite and pleasant.

I DO HAVE A SPLINDER question.

What would you say is the most congested areas of the ship and at what times to best avoid those areas. I'm planning on my trip to be a relaxing vacation.

Honestly , never really felt crowded and congested anywhere on the ship the entire week. I guess if I had to pick though , two things do come to mind. The area where the shops are located did seem smaller than some of the other ships we've been on. There is one shop on each side of the ship , one sell clothing , toiletries , genl mdse , etc , and the other sells watches and jewelry. At least twice during the week they ran specials where they took certain mdse , T shirts and purses one time , and watch sets the other , put them on big table outside the stores , and offered great deals. OMG , the people were absolutely crazy. The area was small enough , but then add a large group of people trying to get those 2 for $20 T shirts and you've got a rugby match going on. Now , as a disclaimer , my lovely bride was one of those people right in the middle of the scrum. I just leaned against a wall , out of the way , and every once in a while I'd see a familiar arm lift up out of the crowd , holding a T-shirt , I'd give the yes or no nod , and back in she went for the next round.

The other area that seemed a little small was the Pixels picture gallery. They did have pretty good hours , but if you go there and it's crowded , wait and go back another time. Sometimes it just seemed like there was way way too many people in too small of an area doing the " where is our picture " death march. I'm especially fond of the ones that after being there for hours , frustrated and unable to find their pictures , will just start pulling other peoples pictures at random , looking at them , trying to will themselves into that picture.

Seriously though , thought the Splendor was a great ship , hope you have a fantastic time !!!

Lets see .... a couple of weeks ago on the Splendor I had just started a walking tour excursion of San Juan and forts when my stomach really started to bother me. Made a good decision and turned around and went back to ship. Stomach continued to bother me for a couple hours and was allright. Hmmm... quess I could have blamed the ship , I had heard a rumor that all odd numbered decks and even numbered cabins were quarantined the week before , but instead I went with the old I've been on a cruise now for five days , been eating all the wrong stuff for a type two diabetic , have lost 50 lbs in the last year and now attempting to gain it all back in 5 days so maybe it just caught up with me this morning. Personal responsibility , sometimes a tough pill to swallow.

Outstanding Review - nothing worse than the old weeklong minute by minute review of someone's trip. Your observations were fantastic.

I do have one thing you'll appreciate binocular related. We were on the Splendor two weeks ago. We did Half Moon first , our second time there and I'm in full agreement , a cabana , though pricey , is the only way to go.

Anyway , our second port was St. Thomas , and right after we docked the Giant Mother of the Seas docked right next to us. I think it was The Allure. Anyway , the Splendor is not a small ship , but this thing dwarfed us. So I'm sitting on our balcony , staring at the 4 to 5 thousand balconies on the side facing us , and I told my wife I really wish I had brought the binoculars because there had to be a least one nekkid person walking around one of those rooms with the curtains open. My wife just laughed and gave me the old " sorry honey , maybe you'll see naked girls somewhere else on the cruise." Two days later we're in Grand Turk , docked next to one of the small Aida cruise ships. Wife and I are on the top deck playing miniature golf. We finish up and are walking back to the stairs when all of the sudden I hear this screeching noise that sounds like an 18 wheeler locking down its brakes . I turn around and see smoke coming from my wife's tennis shoes. She's staring at this guy , doing his best impression of a young Greek God , on the top deck of the Aida ship who had just walked up there and dropped everything to get some sun. So now I'm about to give her 4 different kinds of hell for staring at this spectacle when these two young ladies , right out of central casting for Playboy magazine , strut up the stairs to the same deck. I immediately decide not to chastise my wife , mainly because I think I lost the ability to talk or even put a rational sentence together. The only thing I was praying for at that point more than a pair of binoculars was the hope that these two young ladies would feel the need to heed all of the doctors warning about sun and skin cancer and start slathering sun tan oil all over each other. Alas , that didn't happen , but I did learn that binoculars are indeed an essential packing item for any future cruise.

We just did FTTF to Half Moon on the Splendor a couple of weeks ago. The only advice I would give is check w/ Guest Services on the procedure to be on 1st tender. I failed to do that and we actually missed the first tender and ended up waiting in a pretty good line for the next one. No big deal , my fault and nobody else's for not asking the right questions. Also , if you don't want to wait in a long , long line going back , do not wait till the end of the day. Go back early , say around 2 ish and the lines should be fairly short

I started to write a review of our recent Splendor cruise a couple of weeks ago , but realized it was turning into one of those minute by minute accounts of our time on board ..... so , instead I think I'm just going to throw some random thoughts and impressions out there and especially thanks to certain people that kept us entertained throughout the week

First , thanks to the poor guy throwing a fit at embarkation because he kept insisting to everyone he should be able to board first due to his " handicap ". As the first group of Diamond/Platinum guests were being escorted aboard , he just shoved his way into the line , all the while hobbling and barely able to walk with the assistance of his wife and a cane. Everyone just sort of stepped to the side, not wanting to be the one to complain. Of course , 1 hr later we see this same guy charging to the front of the Buffet line , walking perfectly fine , no limp , no hunched over , and miraculously , thanks to the healing powers of being aboard ship , no cane. We saw this same thing repeated as he charged through for a good seat in the showroom , and also boarding the tender for Half Moon. Later in the week as he was bounding up the stairs I mentioned to him that I was glad he seemed to be feeling better and he just gave me the " look ".

Next , special thanks to the group of people travelling together from a country lets just say is " Far East" of here. It was wildly entertaining to watch you push your way to the front of every line , ignoring peoples complaints because you didn't speak or understand English. Yeah , didn't speak or understand English until you needed something , at which time you spoke better English than most of the other passengers on board.

Next , Carnival , for the love of everything that is sacred and holy , stop putting bathrobes in every cabin. There are just way , way too many people that use that bathrobe as their main piece of clothing , especially on sea days. Folks , if there's more of you than there is bathrobe to go around it , please put something else on. I know you're on vacation , but so is everyone else and we're trying to eat and keep it down.

Oh , and special thanks to "that guy". The one guy we've had on every single cruise we've been on that has to be the center of attention at every show , event , demonstration , excursion , etc. You know who I'm talking about , it's the guy who when he and his wife walk into the showroom everyone start's thinking ' for the love of sweet Jesus , do not let them sit next to us "

Also , if you're going to play bingo , have some small clue as to how to play. Special thanks to that guy that around the third or fourth number called stands up and yells Bingo

All in all , we had a wonderful week on the Splendor. Great ship , great service , very friendly crew. Like I said , started to write a full review but was getting bogged down in the details , so if you're wanting to know anything specific about the ship , ask away and I'll try to reply

Well , we had another great Carnival cruise. I'm going to give you my impressions of our week on the Splendor. This is not going to be one of those minute by minute , blow by blow reviews of our entire week , but instead just some thoughts that I'll try to organize and present in what I hope is not too boring of a review !!!

So first , lets talk about why the Splendor. Quite simple really . It was a ship we had never sailed , we liked the itinerary ( Half Moon , St Thomas , San Juan , & Grand Turk ) and finally we were celebrating our anniversary , so it had to be a ship sailing that week. Also , we're in Tampa , so the port of Miami not that bad of a drive.

Arrival / Embarkation - First , if your driving to port of Miami do yourself a huge favor and use the tunnel to get to the port. It turns a 1/2 hour nightmare thru downtown traffic and lights into a 5 minute ride through a tunnel. We opted to park at port , parked in multi-level garage directly across from terminal , $$20.00/day. We had a suite and in addition purchased FTTF , so embarkation was a breeze. From the time we left the car to walking on the ship was maybe 20 minutes. We stopped by excursion desk to pick our HMC cabana and then right to our room. Since we were celebrating our anniversary we splurged and went with a Spa Suite , # 1024. King bed , sitting area with sofa , chair , and coffee table , desk area w/ chair , full shower/whirlpool tub w/ glass doors , double sinks , tons of counter and closet space. Large balcony w/ 3 chairs and small table. A/C worked great , matter of fact at times room got too cool. The only negative thing I can say about this room was that it was directly under the treadmills in the gym one floor above and in the mornings definitely some noise from people running on those treadmills , but nothing that bad and it was only for a brief time. All in all , we were very pleased with the cabin. ( ok , I know this is where I should post some pictures of the cabin , but it was only after we got back and I was downloading all of our pictures that I realized I never took one picture of the cabin or balcony )

Thank you to everyone for the replies. Helpful info !!!!

It seems like I've read conflicting stories...

Power Strips. Are they allowed to give you extra outlets , or will the room stewards confiscate if they see them ??

I had that problem yesterday and this morning , but was just able to book excursion about 10 minutes ago.

Anyone using the POM tunnel to get to port vs the downtown route ?? Sailing the Splendor next Sun. Just wondered if new tunnel to port makes it easier or not much difference

I'm with the majority here. Would never pick a cruise because of the CD , but a good one can make it more enjoyable once on board. We've cruised twice w/ John Heald and once w/ Butch B. and they definitely made things more fun and entertaining at times.

I thought the cabanas had to be booked once onboard?! UGH! I was waiting to book then and now they are gone. Did they used to have to be booked on board? That was the whole point of getting the FFTF! GRRRrrrr!

It used to be this way. last time we went to HMC you booked as soon as you got onboard. Now they've added to excursion list , you can book in advance , and then once onboard you go asap and pick which cabana you want. They go in order of first come , first serve. Right now we have one reserved for our upcoming trip on the Splendor in 3 weeks , but wont know until onboard which cabana we get.

Going on the Splendor in a few weeks. Wife has been on a health kick the last several months , done a great job losing right at 50 lbs so far through healthy eating and exercise.

My question is has anyone on any ship seen soy milk offered at either the lido or MDR for breakfast. If not I know you can brink soda or water on board with you , how about a container of milk ??

I know they have low fat or fat free milk offered , just cant ever remember seeing soy milk offered

Thanks

You know , to all the people that are posting here and on other social media outlets that this kid got what he deserved , drunk and stupid , etc. ,etc. .....all I can say is that I can only assume that you were fortunate enough to be born old and very smart. Yes , he may have been drunk , and yes , he probably did something that caused his own death , but the fact still remains that this is a young man that had his life end just as it was really beginning. I'll be 55 in a few weeks , and as I think back to all the experiences I've had in life between the age of 21 and now , what a tragedy it would have been for me to have never experienced all of the wonderful things life has had to offer in that time. I don't think any of us can sit here and say we didn't do stupid things when we were young. I was lucky enough to have survived all of them , but I can think of at least a couple of time that 1 slip , one misplaced footstep , one wrong turn of the wheel and my story would have ended up just like this poor young man. So don't be so judgmental and feel a little compassion for this kid and his family and his friends who's story ended before it really began

Here is what I like about your post. After reading countless posts about how one small thing is going to absolutely ruin the entire cruise experience , your post is much more " I'm not happy , but it's going to be ok " and I respect that. Here is what I learned almost 15 years ago at my own wedding - it's the brides day. The old saying of " happy wife - happy life " starts with the wedding day !!!! There can be 8 cabins , or 80 cabins involved , but if this young lady is concerned about getting sea sick and deck 6 helped alleviate those concerns , then that's the ticket !!

You'll be fine. Think about it. When you're on your balcony you're usually staring out at the water , not straight down at the water , so your view wont be changed that much. Have a great cruise , enjoy the experience , don't sweat the small stuff. Again , congratulations on having a great attitude about the whole situation.

I'm on their website all the time , have used a PVP in the past , and have never once received a call.

Sorry , spell check turned on , but forgot to turn on stupid check. By upcoming trip last month I of course meant upcoming trip NEXT month !!!!!

Definitely worth every single penny. We had one on our last trip and now have one reserved for our upcoming trip last month. Last time we had # 10 , which is far enough away from the worst of the crowd but still close enough to be a reasonable walk to everything. Bathrooms very close. HMC is one of the best , if not the best , stops you will make on a cruise and a cabana makes it that much better.

We're booked on the Splendor in 5 weeks , so glad to see so many positive reviews. I've been reading a lot of reviews lately on different ships and frankly it blows me away that there are people actually choosing one ship over the other due to a hamburger. I mean it's a hamburger people. you'd actually miss out on all the other amenities , entertainment , ports , etc. , just because of a hamburger , or burrito , or anything like that.

Anyway , looking forwar to our upcoming cruise

Our very first cruise over 10 years ago our TA did just about everything to steer us away from Carnival. Frankly , we decided to go with them based on price. With the exception of an Alaska cruise on Princess , all of our subsequent cruise have been on Carnival and we've never had a single negative experience. I'm not saying every single thing has been perfect , but perfection has never been our expectation. There are going to be issues. But every time there has been an issue , Carnival has dealt with it to the best of their ability , which satisfies my expectations

The thing that always amazes me when you read reviews either on CC or Tripadvisor or any travel websites is that 10 different people on the same cruise will give you ten different reviews ranging from "horrible , will never step foot on a Carnival ship again" to " more fantastic than the birth of my children, wish we had another week to enjoy more ". These are from people on the same ship , same food , same servers , same excursions , etc. The guy in cabin 7401 gets his luggage delivered within minutes of boarding the ship and he writes that service on this cruise is the best of any cruise he's ever been on. Meanwhile , the guy next door in 7403 is still missing one bag six hours later and writes that service on this ship is horrible and it would never happen on RCL , HAL , NCL , or any other cruise line. Which review do you believe ???

Reviews for the most part are written and read by people with the glass either half full or half empty. I always find it interesting to see what other people experience and how they react to it. We're sailing for our anniversary on the Splendor in a few weeks and based on the reviews I've been reading we're in for the best cruise of our life or we're the biggest idiots ever for booking this ship. Guess we'll just have to find out for ourselves !!

Thanks for taking the time to write a detailed review. All in all a very fair review in that both the good and bad were noted. One thing I will say is that I don't think you should say you'll never sail Carnival again because of the bad experiences. Every cruise is different. For instance , the last time we were in Cozumel we did the same inclusive beach house excursion and it may have been the best excursion we ever took. Service and food were fantastic. Now , having said that on our day there were maybe 15 people there. We've done the steakhouse on two different ships and both times it was fantastic. Again though , I don't think your review was unfair. There is no excuse for the fact that you couldn't get anyone to respond to your complaints. I don't think you were being unreasonable about things. Below par service deserves a below par tip.

Thanks again , but never say never. your next Carnival cruise may be the best one yet