Nicole721

There was no Playlist show tonight, so after dinner, we sat out near the casino, where there was a singer doing a live acoustic set. The evening movie was an encore presentation of Dirty Dancing, so we stayed in the room, where TBS was running a Cameron Diaz marathon.

When midnight struck, we headed down to deck three for our final formal night throwback activity: the Grand Gala Buffet. The line wrapped all the way around the lobby and the doors opened late, which, at midnight, meant plenty of people trying to creatively cut the line and plenty of people grumpy about people cutting the line.

Carnival stopped doing these buffets years ago. I think John Heald said at one point it was because so much food was going to waste and given how much food they put out, I imagine that’s very true. The spread was incredibly creative and expansive, with tropical fruits, all kinds of breads and salads, fruit and ice carvings, a variety of aspics and seafood, sliced duck and various pates and the dessert spread to end all dessert spreads. And if all of that wasn’t enough, there was a separate hot bar, with sandwiches, chicken breasts and beef filets. It was midnight, and they were serving filet mignon on a buffet line. Beyond the sheer manpower it takes to pull off this kind of event, I can’t even begin to fathom the expense. It was truly extravagant. We didn’t eat much – a bunch of grapes, a slice of cake and a parfait between the two of us (plus a slice of cheesecake we took back to Mom) – but the experience of walking through it and marveling at the presentation and variety…I missed that. And I didn’t realize how much I missed “old cruising” until we were reminded of the things we no longer have (like the Captain’s Party and this grand buffet).

Tournedos of Beef Tenderloin

Baked Vegetables Princess

Baked Alaska

The dinner menu was a throwback, as well, with the old Captain’s Gala menus. Entrée options included lobster, beef tenderloin and, my favorite, Vegetables Princess. And Baked Alaska for dessert (not on parade, but just as delicious). We each ordered the beef tenderloin and split a Vegetables Princess and it was just as tasty as I remembered it to be the last time I had it – more than ten years ago.

Bread Basket

Italian Wedding Soup

Chilled Strawberry Bisque

Caesar Salad

Tossed Salad with Iceberg, Tomatoes, Cucumbers

This evening was our second formal night, the throwback formal night, and plenty of old school Carnival events on the Fun Times as part of our Journeys itinerary. First up was the Captain’s Cocktail Party. Ten years ago, the line to get in was dozens of people deep 20 minutes before the doors even opened and it was just about impossible to get a drink. This time, the attendance was thin -- either because it was the first of the evening (the first cocktail party was at 5:00 PM, with the second at 7:00 PM) or because many of our fellow cruisers had Blue and Red cards and may not know that the Captain’s Cocktail Party meant 45 minutes of free drinks. It worked in our favor, though: we had as much champagne as we could drink and plenty of mini quiches and meatballs replenished on our plates.

Instead of hitting the pool deck, we lounged out on our balcony, where we left port a little later than scheduled. The views of El Morro and La Perla as we sailed out towards open waters were spectacular. Sailing out of San Juan, the best views are from pure aft, with second best being the starboard side of the ship.

Our time in port was short – we docked around 8:00 AM and our back onboard was at 2:30 PM – so by noon, we were ready to start our walk back to the ship. As we were walking, we spotted a Starbucks and I just had to make one more stop. The Puerto Rico Starbucks locations have a pastry called Quesito con Nutella, which is like a flaky Danish filled with Nutella. It’s delicious and it’s not a proper visit to San Juan until I have one.

With the obligatory Quesito con Nutella checked off the list, we made one more stop at the Walgreens to stock up on Diet Coke (for Mom and Stephanie), coconut water (for me) and snacks for the airplane ride home. A Holland America ship was docked with us (with a Royal Caribbean and a Celebrity ship at a pier across from Old San Juan), and Walgreens was packed with hundreds of ship workers and tourists stocking up on the essentials. Walgreens also had a large selection of souvenirs, but there are also plenty of booths along the pier where you can pick up t-shirts, beach towels, magnets and all kinds of jewelry.

We dropped our bags back at the room and headed up to the Lido deck for lunch. I was still stuffed from the delicious PBJ sandwich I had at Cuatro Sombras (…and the Quesito from Starbucks) so I picked at a plate of hacked nachos we put together with chips from the burrito bar and chili, cheese and pico from the grill. Lido hacks are fun, aren’t they? On a ship without the 2.0 upgrades, the nachos were just about as good as it got.

Hydrated and caffeinated, we set out to walk around and explore as many of the side streets as we could. I’m obsessed with the streets in Old San Juan. The colors, the narrow streets, the way every building is different and unique. I can’t get enough. This was my fourth visit to San Juan and I still walk around with my jaw dropped to the ground. Every corner we turned brought something new into view, and the longer we looked, the finer the details were. We spent an entire morning just walking around.

As we left the ship and began our walk, the damage became a little more obvious, in the form of crumbling facades and blown out windows that hadn’t yet been replaced. But San Juan is fully functional, with power restored and running water.

It was a scorcher outside, with temperatures in the upper 80s, so as we left the ship, we ducked into a nearby Walgreens to grab some coconut water to hydrate with before we continued on our walk through Old San Juan.

A short walk from the Walgreens was Cuatro Sombras, a highly rated coffee shop not far from the pier. We stopped in for some coffee and a sandwich and it was packed, but lucky for us, we followed the signs through the courtyard to a coffee lab in the back of the building, where there were plenty of tables, no lines and a charming view of the colorful building across the narrow cobblestoned street.

Day 7: San Juan

If you asked me to list my favorite Caribbean ports, San Juan would be towards the top. To be fair, I’d probably have more than a few at the top, but San Juan would be up there.

There’s so much I love: I love that every building is a different color and I love the way the colored buildings are punctuated by cobblestone streets. I love the immense pride Puerto Ricans take in their country and their culture. I love San Juan. I love the coffee. I love love love the language. I can’t speak Spanish as well as I used to, but anytime I’m in a Spanish speaking country, it just comes back, rolling off my tongue the way it did when I was still in school.

When the hurricane hit Puerto Rico in September, every news report was like a bee sting to my heart. The vibrant island I’ve fallen in love with over the past ten years was so damaged and we didn’t really know what the reality of the situation was. When I visited Cuba in September, the Cuban people we met and conversed with had mentioned they were frustrated at how the damage to their island was misrepresented in the American media and how worried they were it would hurt tourism. And the same goes for Puerto Rico – we didn’t know if (and how much) progress had been made towards recovery. We didn’t know if the state of San Juan was as bad as the rest of the island. But what we did know was that in order for the country to recover, it needed to reopen to tourists as soon as possible.

It was raining when we pulled into San Juan, and we took our time getting ready to leave the ship with no real rush: our only plans for the day were to walk around Old San Juan, maybe pick up the trolley to El Morro or Castillo de San Cristobal. We had a nice pre-cruise stay in San Juan a few years ago, and I spent a long weekend on the island with one of my friends last year, so there isn’t much in San Juan I haven’t done, seen or taken a picture of. As we were getting ready, Stephanie saw a picture on Instagram of a rainbow on the other side of the island. This day also marked the sixth anniversary of our grandma’s passing, and we knew the rainbow was a sign that she was with us. Two years ago, the last time we cruised on this day, the exact same thing happened as we docked in Bonaire: a short rain shower followed by intense sunlight and a rainbow on the opposite side of the island. I like to believe that there are signs that our loved ones are looking out for us after they leave us, and this was our little sign that she was still cruising with us.

We missed breakfast in the dining room, so we had a quick one up on Lido deck before we stepped to the outside deck to survey the island. If we didn’t know a hurricane tore through the island three months prior, we would have never known: San Juan is up and running, and aside from the replanted palm trees, from the cruise ship, everything looked as we had left it.

Have fun and post lots of pics and notes (please see if there is a duty free liquor store BEYOND security as there was in the previous/old BCN port terminal bldg? :) )

 

Will be on the Horizon transatlantic and looking forward to 'enjoying' the ship!:hearteyes:

Planning on doing a full trip journal of this one, and I'll post plenty of pics on Instagram/FB while we're onboard! I'll keep an eye out for the liquor store ;)

Have a fabulous trip, Nicole721:cool:

Thank you!!!

The evening’s entertainment centered on a Playlist show of Epic Rock, which is another one of the better Playlist shows. The Splendor Playlist cast really did a fantastic job, too – this was their best performance of the four we saw over our cruise.

After the show, we headed back to the room to relax for a bit before the late night 80s Rock and Glow Party. I don’t know where MarQ finds the energy: up early in the morning to deal with guests, standing over my shoulder watching me filter my Instagram pictures at the Playlist Shows (he sat in front of us before Epic Rock began and he literally had a never ending receiving line of people wanting to chat with him and take pictures) and then leading high energy dance parties into the night. We barely lasted through Thriller before we dragged ourselves back to the room and into bed. The next day would bring us into San Juan, and after the hurricane, we were eager to see what the reality of the situation in Puerto Rico was.

Braised Short Ribs

Chicken Milanese

Cheesecake

Carnival Chocolate Melting Cake

We took turns showering when we got back, getting all that sand and sunscreen off, and started getting ready for dinner, where we reunited with Alex, our favorite server on the Splendor. Every night he served us, he made sure we had everything we could want or need and was just so happy and jovial and funny. He’s dream team material, for sure.

Asparagus Vichyssoise

Fried Shrimp

Marinated Chicken Tenders

Mixed Greens

Ellory drove us back to the pier to meet back up with our water taxi and we parted there, with him asking us to leave reviews online if we enjoyed our tours (so, consider this that!). And as we began the 45-minute ride back to the ship, with a reggae version of Baby I Love Your Way playing on a speaker and the sea spray misting my face as the bow of the boat plowed through the waves, I could not have been happier or more at peace. Nevis and this entire excursion was beyond any expectations or hopes I could have had.

We got back to the ship at 4:30 PM – just when all aboard was scheduled. There were dozens of people standing around the deck three promenade watching for pier runners and as Stephanie reminded me, we were the people we’re always watching for!

Back at the room, Mom was literally sitting at the door, waiting for us to get back. She may or may not have called guest services twice to make sure the ship wouldn’t leave without us. And she had room service peanut butter and jelly sandwiches waiting for us so we’d have a snack when we got back. I love those room service PB&J’s. They’re the perfect post-excursion snack.

After lunch, we had two and a half hours to spend at the beach across from the bar, where complimentary beach chairs and umbrellas would be waiting for us. We had the option of walking down to the Four Seasons Resort, but the day was too gorgeous not to spend it at the beach. The water was pristine and the shore was filled with seashells. There was a nice breeze coming in over the water and even though this was a public beach, there was no one else but our group.

The sunlight was intense and we headed back to the bar (our designated meeting place) a half hour early so we could browse our social media feeds before heading back. We had a departure time of 3:30 PM and the bus arrived early. Stephanie went back to the bus early while I checked my work email, only to text me moments later that I was the last person and everyone was waiting on me. It was early, but I was that person. Oops. Sorry, everyone. But you know. Wi-Fi calls and the ship clearly wasn’t answering.

As we reached our next stop, Ellory dropped my favorite Nevis fact on the group. Nevis fun fact #4: swearing is illegal, and the first time you’re caught and cited can land you with a $500 ticket. Subsequent offenses can land you in jail for up to two months at a time, so leave those four letter words in St. Kitts. Oh, and it’s considered a diss if someone wishes you a Good morning or a Good Day and you don’t respond in kind.

Our final stop on the tour brought us to the Lime Beach Bar, where we were greeted with punch (with rum or without) and led to tables where a server took our orders with a choice of barbecued chicken or grouper fish with pesto sauce. Stephanie and I both opted for the chicken and it was absolutely delish, grilled to perfection with a sweet and spicy barbecue sauce. Oh, and the bar had primo Wi-Fi that was infinitely faster than the internet we had on the ship (where it may or may not take over an hour to post a single picture to Instagram).

The next part of our tour had us driving through some old plantations that have been turned into hotels. We got out of the van to do a quick walking tour at the Hermitage Plantation, which happens to be the hotel where Princess Diana took Princes William and Harry for a two-week vacation after she divorced Prince Charles. If it’s good enough for Lady Di, it’s certainly good enough for us, and I could see why she was drawn to the property: it’s private, peaceful and absolutely beautiful.

Nevis fun fact #3: on our way up to the plantation, we passed numerous herds of goats and sheep. The sheep don’t have any wool because of the climate, so they look like goats. The only way to tell them apart is their tails – the sheep’s tails point down and the goat tails point up. The goats are set free every morning to graze by their owners, and are trained to roam home in the evening. Oh, and Nevis also has a monkey problem. Apparently the French brought them over as pets and they overpopulated. As we left the plantation, Ellory pulled over on the side of the road to pick a leaf off a tree to lead us in a game of guess-what-this-leaf-smells-like (spoiler alert: it was a cinnamon tree) and we saw a monkey sitting under the tree. As it ran away, five other monkeys appeared and dispersed as quickly as they appeared.

We continued on towards our next stop, and Ellory pointed out how many businesses were using solar panels. The government wants the island to go green by 2022, and with so much sunshine (rainy season lasts from April through November and more days than not are full of pure sunshine), it makes sense to leverage those bright Caribbean rays for clean energy.

Once we got to Nevis, two vans with tour guides were waiting for us. Stephanie and I were in Ellory’s van, and he wasted no time in getting us on the road (first of many fun facts about Nevis: there is only one main road called Island Main Road that goes around the entire island…21 miles around). There are no stop lights in Nevis and very few traffic signs (to the point where they’re largely considered suggestions, at best). Ellory was a treasure chest of Nevis facts, which he regaled with for the entire time we were together. Did you know that Nevis only has a population of 12,000 people? That’s crazy to me. My high school was over 4,500 students and the town we’re from just outside Chicago has a population of nearly 50,000 people. Nevis covers just around 36 square miles, but has more than 70 churches. The island is obsessed with cricket and everything will stop when there’s a big match. They like soccer, too. Interesting, huh?

Ellory kept the facts coming, but I was fascinated by the landscape outside of my window. Tourism is the main standard of industry in Nevis (and while the government is the largest employer, the second largest employer is the Four Seasons resort), but as we drove through the streets, we didn’t see any tourists. In fact, nothing seemed built up specifically for tourists the way it is in St. Kitts and in that sense, the island felt relatively untouched. As we drove through the town center, it was bustling with people walking around, hanging outside their storefronts and chatting, while live music played jubilantly in the background. Nevis may be the sister island to St. Kitts, but it’s like, the cool, more laid back sister. Everything felt a little more peaceful in Nevis, a little more deliberate.

Fun fact #2: Nevis is the birthplace of the man who inspired the greatest modern musical -- Alexander Hamilton. Hamilton was born on the island and lived there until he was nine, and the house where he was born still stands, now as a museum. We didn’t get the chance to go outside, but Ellory drove us past for a quick photo op from the van, giving a brief history lesson on Alexander Hamilton to those on the van who hadn’t yet seen the musical (…twice).

We continued our drive through Nevis, making our first stop at the geothermal hot springs. The hot spring is a natural phenomenon where naturally hot water (really hot – it averages 104-108 degrees Celsius) flows down from the ocean and into this spring, where a manmade pool has been built for people who want to bathe in it. The water has a high sulfur content (which makes it smell…not so great) and contains over 70 minerals, which give it healing properties. Ellory urged us to stick our feet in or go up to our knees. The entrance to the pool was slick (an older woman fell all the way in when she slipped on the stairs) and the water was boiling hot to the point where I couldn’t imagine getting my whole body in that hot of water without feeling like I was being made into soup, but my feet felt amazing when I got out.

Ellory continued our drive, telling us about the school system and the socioeconomic dynamics of Nevis, before coming to a quick photo stop at a vista that overlooked Nevis Peak, a 3,000-foot high volcano that is visible even from St. Kitts.

The tour departed promptly at 10:20 AM, one of the port operators walking us over to a private water taxi, for the 45-minute ride over to Nevis. The water taxi was plenty spacious for our small, 24-person tour group and the crew was really fantastic, pointing out all of the major sites (like the new Park Hyatt hotel right on the water). The topography of both St. Kitts and Nevis is really stunning to take in from the water, with craggy, imposing hills that slope dramatically from the sea up to the sky, lush greenery covering every peak as far as the eye could see. From the water taxi, with St. Kitts behind us and Nevis ahead of us, we basically sat there with our jaws dropped the entire ride. It was absolutely stunning. The waters were a little choppy as we moved into the space where the Atlantic Ocean meets the Caribbean Sea, but other than a little extra motion, the ride was nice and peaceful.

Day 6: St. Kitts

We were already docked in St. Kitts when I woke up, and I was ready to get up and get out: we had a big day planned.

This was our third visit to St. Kitts, and our first time not going to the Brimstone Fortress and the batik studio at Romney Manor. We loved the excursion so much we did it twice. We were ready for a change, though. We contemplated just doing things on our own – the downtown area was full of shopping as we remembered it – but it’s a good thing we didn’t, as there were three other ships in port, which meant we didn’t dock at Port Zante like we had in our previous two visits, but rather, across Basseterre at another berth – one without shopping. And after contemplating another catamaran tour, we booked a tour to Nevis. We’d never been to Nevis before and since the tour would bring us there by boat, we’d get the boating thing in, too. What can I say – I just can’t get in enough time on the water!

Our tour didn’t depart until 10:30 AM, which gave us plenty of time for a normal wakeup time and a leisurely breakfast up on Lido. Mom was still getting over her bout with seasickness, so it would just be Stephanie and I making the journey over to Nevis. Mom got off the ship with us to check out the shopping, but other than a few vendors selling under some tents, there was nothing – she immediately circled back to the ship. Stephanie and I found our tour under a shaded tent and we grabbed some seats to wait for it to depart.

Loving your review!!! I’m sailing on the Splendor for the first time in October for a girls trip!! This will be my first cruise on carnival in five years and the first cruise ever for my sister!!! I can’t wait to see her become addicted to cruising like me!!!

 

 

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How exciting!!! Have SO much fun!!! :)

Meeeeeee :D We leave the day after tomorrow!

Yep!

We walked off our dinner a bit, lingering on the promenade on deck 5, where there was some primo air conditioning and a live reggae band playing my favorite Bob Marley songs. A day in the sun was taking its toll, but the cool air near the casino was the best antidote.

There were no production shows this evening – the entertainment was the Hasbro Game Show and the Love and Marriage Show. We skipped both and took a siesta in the room before the 9:30 PM showing of Wonder Woman.

We barely made it through Wonder Woman before crawling back to our beds. We’d dock in St. Kitts early in the morning and we had a full day exploring Nevis on the agenda.

After the party, we headed off to dinner, where we were seated with a new dining team that weren’t as funny or charming as Alex, but were certainly efficient and friendly. We all ordered the Beef Wellington, which was served in obscurely small slices, but was delicious nonetheless.

Grilled Beef Skewers

Asparagus Cream Soup

Flatbread

Chilled Bing Cherry Soup

Beef Wellington

Vanilla and Chocolate Tres Leche