sshs

I am 30 days from sailing and have not yet received my cabin assignment (booked about 100 days ago). I also check every day! They just sent out an email re upgrade bids (Royal Up), so they may be waiting for all that to shake out before assigning the cabin. 

We were on the 10/24 Bliss sailing too. Thanks for all the insights on why she's not sailing - especially the news about the Halloween charter. Interesting! We're planning to replace it with a short cruise out of LA (our closest cruise port), possibly on Princess. 

My DH and I just booked this cruise. I don't think there is a roll call for it. We're late 50s, frequent cruisers. Looking forward to it!

Great review - thanks for posting all the excellent info and photos. The menus look great too - we just got off the Norwegian Escape and lobster sightings were very rare. Nonexistent in the MDRs, and even the surf-and-turf in the steakhouse had shrimp.

We'll be on Maasdam during her Boston-to-Montreal itineraries and are really looking forward to it. Your itinerary looks wonderful for next year when we're retired. And when our elderly cat is no longer with us - she's too bonded to be without us for that long!

If you haven't already booked the flight, I would definitely book later. I live in NYC and it takes me an hour and a half to get from my office in midtown to my home on Staten Island. Things just take longer here and that's not counting unanticipated problems. The day your cruise is leaving, mine will be coming back and that's the day of the 5-boro bike tour (good for you that it's not the 13th). In any event, Newark should be your best bet from the cruiseport and is the one least likely to be impacted by traffic (especially given LGA's ongoing construction). Good luck!

Our chief complaints are probably cleanliness and staff. Nobody used the wash bins heading into the buffet. On NCL there were multiple people at every entrance making sure you sanitized your hands. There sheer lack of care for health / cleanliness on Carnival was kind of gross. I went into a public bathroom once and decided never again after that since it was so dirty. This was also the first day and the bathroom nearest F55 (where we were spending $100 for dinner), so it was quite disappointing. Always went to our cabin after that.

 

In terms of the staff, most didn't seem happy. We had an issue in the main dining room on the last night with them running out of the wine we ordered, and somehow our card was charged three times for the wine we never received, and our waiters seemed so scared. I made sure to mention to their bosses multiple times in front of them that it wasn't the waiters' fault, but they still seemed nervous. Dining room staff in general just seemed very scared / nervous / unhappy. This also applies to the buffets and other food areas (except F55). That said, all the bar tenders we met and other staffed seemed very friendly. We just felt like there was a serious lack of staff all over the ship, which clearly led them to being over-worked and miserable.

We just got off the same cruise, and I generally agree about the cleanliness and staffing issues. I didn't notice the unclean bathrooms as much as people not washing their hands and the lack of hand-sanitizers. I tried using the hand-washing stations in the Lido, but both times got my non-waterproof watch wet. Fortunately, it was ok.

As for the staff - I think the reason for the lack of staff (which I've commented on elsewhere) is the fact that when they remade the Destiny into the Sunshine, they added a bunch of guest cabins on several floors, but I'll bet they didn't add any (or just a few) staff cabins. It even showed up in the steakhouse, according to our tablemates. Our cabin didn't get serviced the last night, and when I called to get some towels, our steward said he was still working on the rooms (after 11 pm!), but that his assistant got pulled away to help with the luggage. I assured him that it wasn't a problem, but I think it points to the very full plates the staff have - even worse than I've seen on other Carnival ships.

.

 

It sounds like your experience was far different than ours. We are easy going and rarely complain but our Sunshine cruise was CROWDED ! I think Carnival must have hired Ray Charles and Stevie Wonder to redesign this ship. There was not enough seating in the public areas to handle the amount of passengers . Perhaps your cruise was totally different. I am glad you enjoyed the Sunshine. I guess she just is not for us.

Just got back yesterday and agree strongly that it was too crowded. Also seemed really understaffed, which makes sense given that they added a lot of passenger cabins in the redesign, but not crew cabins. The crew they had seemed mostly good and usual Carnival friendly. She was just not for us either.

I was on the 10/11 sailing with my mom and this was her first time cruising and first vacation since my dad's passing. This not my first carnival cruise and was on Splendor in April. I had pre-arranged wheel chair to get her on ship and also FTTF. Nothing worked, security person in line was rude, wouldnt allow us to the closed lines for special services or priority but she was stressed and was making comments as not her job (she had to hand out Custom forms for Canada)..I did feel empathy for her. Embarking too long to explain but wheel chair assistance was a nightmare.

I had a terrible experience in the NY cruiseport too! Despite my boarding pass saying both "platinum" and "priority," the security person wouldn't let me in the priority lounge - no idea why. She finally went in the lounge to confirm that I was NOT allowed, and I followed her in. When I showed my boarding pass, the nice person in the lounge asked the original security person, "just what was the problem?" The cruiseport staff needs some training! Otherwise, no problems...

I just posted a review (that's not up yet) that's titled, "Don't Worry - It's Fine." The sting of bad reviews was confusing since I sailed her 4 times this year and just got off the ship on Thursday. There is room for improvement - as on any ship - but the staff were mostly friendly and helpful. They brought me food and drink when asked, and I had a great, relaxing time (it was an older crowd, going to Canada). I really liked Chris, the acoustic guitar player in the Lobby, the Show Band at various venues, and other entertainers. The Lido does need some improvement, and the MDR was a bit hit and miss - but the food I had was all fine to good, with a few great items. For what you pay, it's a great value and a nice, if gaudy, ship! I would definitely sail her again!

Holding onto hope for our Nov 3rd sailing. While I have a DH that I can't get enough of, he refuses to sail and would likely be a cranky mess the whole time. So taking a much needed holiday with BFF and her hubby but don't want to be their 3rd wheel! We are about 8 wks out. No supplement waivers that far out yet but I've been checking daily! Good luck!

Fingers crossed for both of us, Sweetsforjay!

And thanks for the earlier responses!

I'm sure this has been asked before, but I know that Carnival sometimes drops the single supplement charge on a slower-selling cruise. In your experience, how far in advance of the cruise was it dropped? Much appreciated! (And, if any of my cruising friends see this, it's a logistical issue, not a lack-of-DH issue!)

Vicki

Great pics - we were on the cruise right before you and had a great time too. It was just our 3rd on Splendor since January, so you have us beat! Really miss Chris performing in the lobby.

Thank you everyone for your compliments and following along with Ben! :D

 

We just got back from another 4-Day Splendor Labor Day weekend mini-cruise yesterday! I'll be posting a separate review with lots of pictures time-permitting but I want to follow-up on some of the issues we had last time on this Independence Day weekend cruise.

 

Return of the Surf & Turf - The Surf & Turd can once again be properly called the Surf & Turf - We couldn't resist ordering it again to see if anything had changed and whether our Surf & Turd was a fluke. This time it was perfect! I believe Carnival just recently introduced the Steakhouse Menu into their Main Dining Rooms. So, Ben doubts this review had anything to do with the improvement :p. For a $20 surcharge, we ordered an AMAZING Surf & Turf in the Anytime Dining - Black Pearl Main Dining Room and we would not hesitate to recommend it to anyone except to say that for only $15 more, you can enjoy it in The Pinnacle Steakhouse which is a much nicer dining experience and includes amuse bouche, appetizers, and dessert. We ordered the Surf & Turf yet again in Pinnacle Steakhouse and it was also outstanding. Whether you order specialty steak in the main dining room or dine in the Pinnacle Steakhouse, it's worth every penny. Yummy!

 

Ordering Party Platters - Having learned how rigid Carnival is with their procedures, we were not surprised that when we again ordered party platters they would only deliver it to our cabin and refused to deliver to any public venue where we were hosting the parties. So, instead, we intercepted the crew members while they were delivering the platters to our cabin and simply told them to "follow us" to the venue which they nicely did. Now if only Carnival were smart enough to learn this trick and tell people that. :p They did however again serve us very generous portions. There must be a sticky note in our reservation - "Warning: PITA". :P

 

Ordering Off Menu - Carnival still refuses to allow ordering anything off the room service menu or party menus even if it's the most trivial change. Example: You can order a ham and cheese from room service but you can't order a grilled ham & cheese even though they have the best grilled sandwiches and Deli station ever. :rolleyes: You can of course order a ham & cheese and then a grilled cheese sandwich and try to make your own. :p Like wise, they don't make a club sandwich, but you can order a BLT sandwich plus a turkey sandwich and make your own.

 

Ben once again had a fantastic time on the Splendor and had some wonderful interactions with many many crew members. It's too bad Carnival won't be doing 4-Day cruises over Independence Day or Labor Day weekends next year. Still, he'll be having his personal assistant obsessively searching for the resident discount and no solo traveler surcharge deal on another weekend cruise next year.

LOL@"surf and turd!" I'll miss the holiday 4-days too, but have my eye on the 8-20-15 4-day to Saint John! Hope to see Ben and friends then, if not before!

Vicki (and Bill)

Cyber Kat, we've done the Labor Day weekend cruise to St. John many times - as we are again right before your cruise! - and the problem with St. John is that the weather can change 3-4 times during the course of a day. Often, around 4 or 5, it gets chilly and rainy or foggy. So, we usually take things that can be modified during the day - by adding a sweater, etc.

We were on the Veendam a couple of years ago when it was docked for 3 days in downtown Hamilton. It was great - felt like we were in the middle of everything.

Have been on Splendor twice this year with another cruise coming up this month. Has the Punchliner Comedy, but the old production show format (with the live orchestra), which we prefer. Fun, (too?) bright ship, in pretty good shape. MDR food was good - I tried to avoid the buffets though, which were always crowded. For the price, you can't go wrong!

Just saw this - thanks for sharing your great pics and for all of your work to make it such a fun cruise! Of course, going to sunny Bermuda helped! Hope to see you on another cruise soon!

Vicki & Bill

We were just in 1206 on the Splendor over July 4th and liked it. Definitely a bed and sofa, with a chair and 2 portholes. We showed it on a cabin crawl and people commented how spacious it felt. It does get some noise from the waves and during docking, but that didn't really bother us. Enjoy your cruise!

Yes, we just got off Monday. It's Eric Brouman "the voice from above" from Cleveland. We had seen him before when he was an ACD/comedy club manager. He's pretty funny and was out and about fairly much. We didn't see Donkey, but he might have been where we weren't.

We'll also be on the April repo cruise - and in room 9000, the parallel room to yours. Thanks so much for posting the pics - looks like a great room! Our friends will be on it a couple week prior.