JOANN226

Will be on the Adventure of the Seas on June 8th, how do you get tickets for the ice show. Can you order them before you get on the ship.

I am also on the Anthem 9/23, they have posted the change of itinerary, we will be going to Portland Maine and Nova Scotia, and giving a 50% refund of the cruise

I think this is fair and it is better than getting sea sick.

All have a safe cruise

Joann

Let us know how the new check in goes with your S/S cards in the box outside of you cabin. How was the boarding with your boarding pass and passport

 

Tks:confused::confused:

I got off on the Splendor 10/30, wonderful time, the S/S cards were in our mailbox when we were able to go to our rooms. They are sealed in an envelope. One of our best cruises, did not have any issues at all. Great room steward, and our waiters were so friendly and took good care of us at dinner. Loved the dancing in the dining room. Any other questions just ask.

Joann

I also was on the Splendor, we had a great cabin steward, we had our stateroom done morning and night. Our steward was wonderful, he even gave us a gift and my sister was in the stateroom next to us and he gave them something also.

I enjoyed the dining room waiters, the food, I am not that picky about food except that I do not eat fish, my husband had fish most of the night. I like the desserts the best, I sure had enough of that for the week. We were on Carnival last year to Hawaii, and the shows were amazing, I didn't see that in this cruise, the last night was the best. They need to change the lead singer, she doesn't have the greatest voice and I think they need to change that.

We had a room on the Verandah deck, I was worried about the noise from above, but we did hear anything, we slept very well. We did most of the trivia games in the lobby. Breakfast and lunch buffet was very good, I feel that there were a lot of choices. We went to the comedy club every night and I thought the comedians were funny and we enjoyed it.

I can say also that getting on the ship was organized, you received your number and waited to get on, we got to the pier about 11:30 and we were on by 12:30. Plenty of seats to sit and wait.

Thanks for the great review, I will be on the ship on Saturday, I will post my review when I get back. I checked the weather looks like rain in all our ports. That's why they made umbrellas.

Joann

I will be on the Splendor this Saturday, I will let you know when I get back if they had it, we went to one and kind of participated and we laughed the whole time, and your right about it is amazing on what people will do to win. Any other questions, let me know I will give you a reply when I am back. Leaving on Friday for Fort Lauderdale staying over night there and have a service picking us up and taking us to the pier in Miami.

Joann

Thanks for the 2 of you on the review, I will be on the Splendor on Oct 22, I wonder why the dining rooms were so empty. I guess it goes with the crowd. We frequently sail with Carnival we always have a great time. I haven't been on the Southern Caribbean cruise, so we are looking forward to it. I will let you know how it was.

I have read that they don't do singing and dancing in the dining room at night, we were on a 10 day cruise to Hawaii on Carnival and we danced every night, we had the best staff in the dining room. I like when they make it not so formal, its about having fun.

Thanks

Joann

11 Days, saying on the Splendor Oct 22

You can get a car service to take you, we are sailing out of Miami but flying in the day before into Fort Lauderdale, we booked a service it is $15.00 a person.

Great Review love the pictures, you looked amazing in that red dress, I am booked on the Splendor Oct 22

Here's the funtimes from my recent cruise :)

 

https://flic.kr/s/aHskHamN9v

Thank you, wanted to see what movies they show, great movies. Love watching them under the stars.

You'll love the Splendor. It's a great ship and the pink isn't overwhelming. If you want, read my review of my recent cruise aboard the Carnival Splendor. Have a great cruise.

 

Food for thought: Did you know the Splendor was originally called the Costa Splendor? It was transferred to Carnival during it's construction in 2007, leaving the Carnival Splendor as an only class ship in Carnival's fleet. Since Costa is under Carnival, the Splendor is apart of the Concordia class in Costa's fleet. Carnival also have some Spirit, Destiny and Dream class in Cost's fleet. Just thought I'd share that with you :)

 

 

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Thank you for all you input, I am so excited hearing all the positive things about the Splendor, I am booked 10/22/16 and counting down the days. One question did they have activities during the sea day to do. We were on Carnival to Hawaii last year and they had such amazing things to do, but we did have 5 days at sea to do them. Loved the days at sea.

Joann

Looking forward to review, I am on the Splendor in October

Have fun, enjoy everyday

Just got off the Splendor.

In the main dining room every night there is an option to purchase steak or lobster tail cooked in the steakhouse.

On the formal night lobster was an option on the regular menu at no additional cost.

What 2 nights were formal nights?

This will be our 85th cruise!!! We love cruising also!!! :)

85th Cruise, that is amazing, I guess you have been everywhere by now. Good for you. I started cruising to late in life to get that many in. I have only done 12 cruises, we have done a lot of vacations, not all cruises. Keep going make it 100.

Joann

I always sail out of Miami since I live 30 minutes away from the port. I always cruise with my mother and nephew, but they couldn't make it this time. I got to port at 11:00, and was on the ship at 11:30. This has been the earliest that I have ever boarded out of my 28 cruises. Embarkation was a breeze.

 

I booked an inside cabin since I was cruising by myself. When I cruise with my mother and nephew, we book a balcony.

 

As soon as I boarded the ship, I headed to my cabin, but it wasn't ready yet since it was 11:30 even though I had priority boarding. I headed to lido deck to have lunch. I went to the burrito bar, and had a whole wheat burrito with chicken and shrimp. It was so delicious.

 

After I ate lunch, I went to my cabin which was ready. I dropped off my carry on bag, and went to check out promenade deck and back to the lido deck. It was very cloudy so I didn't go to the pool like I usually do.

 

The muster drill took 30 minutes. It was the start to the perfect cruise. Everything went smooth on this cruise. The only inconvenience on this cruise was the long muster drill.

 

Since I went on this cruise by myself, I had assigned seating at 6:00. I went to see the Maitre D' about my seating arrangement, and was told that there were 3 other solos at my table, and a mother and daughter. (Out of my 28 cruises, I have sailed solo 4 times. As a solo, I had always eaten at the buffet for dinner). I'm so glad that I decided to eat in the main dining room because I had the best table mates. We always hung out after dinner and enjoyed the entertainment all over the ship(production shows, karaoke, comedy, etc) I like assigned dinner a lot more now. I had missed having the same waiters every night. Our waiters were amazing, and we were never at dinner more than an hour. On our last few cruises, there has been a super long wait for anytime dining any time that you go.

 

The cast of the Playlist productions on this ship is the best that I have seen. They're all amazing performers, singers, and dancers.

 

In Ocho Rios, I booked the River Tubing excursion through Carnival. I loved it!

 

In Grand Cayman, I booked the Dolphin Encounter and Turtle Farm excursion also through Carnival. I highly recommend it.

 

In Cozumel, I went paddle boarding. I had done this excursion before, and I loved it. This time, not so much because it was windy.

 

The Cruise Director, Chloe Loddo is one of Carnival's best. She's super funny, brilliant, and a true professional.

 

This ship is absolutely beautiful, and there are so many fun activities scheduled. All of the staff on the ship was amazing.

 

Debarkation was a breeze. I was off the ship at 7:30, and home by 8:00.

Thanks for the great review, I will be on the Splendor in October, first time on this ship.

Joann

I am also booked for 10/22 counting down the days. Love Cruising

It didn't ask you because you are going out of Ft Lauderdale (Port Everglades) and FL doesn't have the staggered check-in yet. Miami does but FL and Miami are 2 different ports.

 

As for FTTF we thought it was worth it last week on Conquest out of Ft Lauderdale. And we didn't even get to check-in early because we got to the port late. But the rest of the week it came in very handy for Guest Services, Tenders and debarkation. In the future we will probably try to sail out of Port Canaveral and be able to utilize early check-in with FTTF and have our rooms ready for us when we are allowed to board. We live about 35 minutes from PC. :)

When was the FTTF available to book on your cruise, we are doing the Splendor in October and I think I might book it, as of now it is not in the excursions yet.

I'll be sailing on the splendor in November. Do you happen to have the fun times?

 

Do you actually live in South Korea, my son is a teacher in South Korea, he works in Osan and lives in Dongtan.

 

Joann

I am booked on the Splendor for October 2016, we booked some excursions, the men have an excursion in Aruba for snorkeling. I wanted to know if me and my sister can walk to any sights when we get off the ship. Is there any beaches close to the port.

Thanks so much

Joann

I spend 10x more time reading CC than I do writing - love this forum, so much great information! Wished I'd discovered it before I ever took my first cruise!

 

So we had 8 great nights, 9 great days on this cruise to the Southern Caribbean: Grand Turk; La Romana, Dominican Republic; Curacao; Aruba. This was our 2nd Carnival cruise, and it was so much better than the first (which was very good), just because we've realized that we prefer bigger ships, longer cruises and older crowds. All of this you cannot realize until you have a few cruises under your belt. (Unless of course you join CC years before you take your first cruise, to figure it all out!).

 

There is really nothing terrible in this review, we had a great cruise. The negatives were just observations, but did not affect our overall enjoyment of our cruise. We're of the opinion, that every cruise is a great cruise before we even leave the house! So if you're off to the southern Caribbean or on the Splendor and want to ask questions, I'm happy to answer if I can.

 

Embarkation was quick and efficient (skip the drinks being offered by the wandering server, they're very weak, just go to the bar). Debarkation was very slow, we didn't get off the ship until 11:20 due to delays in the Customs hall at Miami. Nothing to do with Carnival I'm sure, but it was torturous waiting in the public area for our zone to be called. Self Assist is faster, but on this particular day, not by much.

 

We ate lunch on embarkation day at the Tandoor (and a couple of times in the week), the food was excellent and the lines were very short. Being at the back of the ship helps, a lot of people don't know it's there. Same with the Rotisserie up on Deck 10 above the buffet, a lot of people don't know it's there, and there were almost no lines.

 

The buffet staff were so efficient working a mass of hungry people. Lido is not my favorite place to eat. We took breakfast and dinner in the Main Dining Room, we had Late dining, the food and the service was excellent. The MDR and the public areas are VERY cold - carry a little wrap or cardigan.

 

Future Cruises - we booked a future cruise and got $100 OBC, but the rep managed to get it wrong 3-4 times - and on the final correction, he didn't give me any documentation. When I got home and checked my email (all 444 emails!), I discovered it was still wrong. When I called and said I'd cancel it the rep on the phone told me I"d lose my $500 deposit! This was not a good way to end a cruise - after some wrangling with a supervisor (the day after I got back from a wonderful cruise!), they cancelled it without penalty - but lesson learned - when you walk away from the desk, get it in writing!

 

Guest Services - friendly, efficient - but they need more kiosks! there's only 2 on the ship, and one of them was not working for half the cruise. It would cut down on the lines at the desk for certain. And while I don't want to start a whole new thread on the topic of gratuities, I wish Carnival would figure out a way to get people to give good reasons why they wish to stiff the staff on their gratuities. Standing at that desk listening to people who just wanted to save $200, having availed themselves of the services from those staff was disheartening.

 

Cabin staff - excellent - can I just say I love towel animals?:) I wouldn't want them in a hotel room or a bed and breakfast, but on a cruise, I look forward to seeing them! And the steward that brings me coffee while I'm still in my PJs every morning, I love him too. Free room service - love this about Carnival (MSC charges for the food and for the delivery if you just buy basic).

 

Pixels Gallery - what a hot mess! We went looking for our photos towards the end of the cruise and couldn't find ourselves! I wish they could find a better way of organizing this as we try to buy at least one photo each cruise, and they're losing money I'm sure as people get frustrated looking at thousands of faces and not recognizing themselves.

 

We were in a balcony this time and realized we spent a lot more time in our cabin than we usually do, hate to be anti social, folks, but I think we're ruined!

 

Loved that there was live music and therefore dancing all over the ship, people would dance up to the burger place and sashay away, and sway through the Atrium and boogie away. It was wonderful - and a great atmosphere. The public décor - gaudy pink, donuts, fried eggs (supposed to be pearls) in the MDR, it was all a bit strange. Not very elegant, a bit over the top, but hey ho, it was someone's idea of fun.

 

The theater shows were good - the last night was great (Epic Rock). The marriage show, Liar club, Welcome show was ok. The Cruise Director Chloe Loddo wasn't really as polished as other CDs. Roddy, the piano man, who also played the other nights in the piano bar was a very good pianist, not so great as a singer. He looked like Barry Manilow, but from Bulgaria. The Piano bar was a nice place to sit and listen to some good music, it wasn't full at all most nights. The comedy club Adult show had ridiculously long lines. We actually got thrown out one night (told to leave) because they want the room completely empty between one show and another. We left, we didn't realize we'd done anything wrong, and we certainly had never been thrown out of anything before!

 

I don't understand why Carnival wouldn't just use some of the other rooms, as obviously the Adult Comedy Club is a very popular event. It was a bit of a crazy thing to see long huge lines to get into a club, that obviously wouldn't have enough space to hold the number of people in the line. That left a bad taste in our mouth.

 

Clean - the ship was SPOTLESSLY clean. Except the Casino, which may have been clean, but FELT dirty because the smoking was nauseating. We walked through it several times because it's on Deck 5 and convenient to getting to the other side of the ship, but I think Deck 2 would probably work for commuting and we wouldn't have to breathe in all that second hand smoke. At the time we couldn't be bothered to figure it out, but a quick look at the maps which are conveniently posted at every elevator, would help. The free maps at the Guest Services desk are nice too.

 

The spa - went for a manicure, all dark, quiet and soothing in a lovely room overlooking the beautiful ocean, spoilt by a loud, complaining woman who was getting her hair done. I wished she were back in New Jersey where she wanted to be, apparently, because she was ruining the spa experience for everyone else in the room! That was the day a HELICOPTER landed on the ship!

 

Yes, drama! I wish I'd witnessed it, but I was in a dark, quiet supposed-to-be soothing room and heard nothing. I never did find out what happened, as we were off the coast of Curacao, and were told over the PA system that it was a routine US training. But several people who were up on deck witnessing the whole thing said neither the chopper nor the man who got off it (and then got back on within a few minutes) wore any markings to indicate it was American. So the mystery may continue on that one. Anyone have any ideas about this?

 

Excursions - some were better than others, but Carnival does make it easy for you to do something fun without having to do too much research. I'm not sure if it's the cheapest option, but it's certainly the easiest. In Curacao, someone who hadn't paid, managed to sneak himself onto the Ostrich Farm excursion, and because the woman in charge couldn't figure out who it was (and he didn't 'fess up), he stayed. That meant there was one seat short on the Ostrich Farm truck, so someone had to ride in the jump seat. A little better organization on land would have been a good thing.

 

All in all, another great cruise - better than the last one - each keeps getting better even as we switch cruise lines in our attempt to try them all! We're thinking Holland America to see Alaska as our CC peeps here seem to think that's the best way to see it, the fun is in the planning.

We did Celebrity to Alaska it was amazing

Thank you all so much for your input, now I will book the excursions.

Joann

We are sailing on the Splendor in October, we are looking at an excursion in La Romana, they only have one time slot and that is 9:30. The ship is to dock a 9:00 am, can you still book the excursion. I would guess that if we got in late that they would just cancel the excursion. Let me know what you have done in the past, I thought that their would be more times to book.

Thank you

Joann

Just got off of the Splendor on Sunday. Had an amazing time.

 

Not going to do a play by play review, but will share some thoughts.

 

The staff was fabulous. We were in 9207 balcony, my parents were in 9205 directly next to us and my kids were in 2221. The kids are 23, 19 and 15 yr old twins. On paper my hubby was in the kids room and the 19 yr old w me due to Carnival restrictions however in actuality hubby was w me in and all 4 kids were together. Yes I know against the rules. The stewards were well aware of what we were doing. We were in the kids room multiple times a day and kept a close eye on them. They were definitely not out of control at any point. I am an extremely strict mama with very high behavioral expectations.

 

Rudy was our steward on deck 9. The room was spotless at all times. He was on top of the one maintenance issue there was and called it in even before we were aware of it. He offered to service 1x or 2x a day. We chose 2x.

 

Imade was the steward for deck 2 and also did a great job. He asked if we wanted morning or evening and didn't offer both. We selected evening.

 

We played trivia several times winning 2x (80's music trivia and Ghostbusters) My son won on in club O2 for screaming the loudest. Both boys seemed to enjoy O2. Scott interacted well with them. There didn't appear to be a lot of organized activities that happened. They were scheduled, but the kids didn't seem to be in to them. They all just wanted to hang out and play video games.

 

We enjoyed all of the comedians, but especially Roman. The 2 comedians on the last 2 nights repeated their material so seeing them once was enough.

 

I generally love the Piano Bar, but not so much on this ship.

 

I like both of the single guitar musicians Lucas and Ron. They both did a very nice job. Run for Cover was pretty good as well.

 

My favorite place to eat was the the deli for the great Panini's. That was an amazing afternoon snack.

 

I was not impressed with the chocolate extravaganza. Most of the items just weren't good. And the chocolate pudding was gross.

 

The steak house was amazing. Definitely worth the $$$.

 

Room service portions were small. Definitely order 2 portions per person for breakfast. I so miss waking up to tea and toast in bed.

 

Grand Turk: We did the Sting ray excursion. It was nice. Probably saw 20 or so stingrays of various sizes. Bring cash to buy the CD of pictures. The snorkaling is from the beach at Gibs Cay. No reefs, just a sandy beach. You will see some fish but nothing exciting.

 

LaRomana: We did the dune buggy excursion. Loved it but driving through the villages was sad. We brought candy to throw to the children who come running out to see you. I never felt unsafe and the tour operators are very attentive and helpful. They offer you the opportunity to try local fruits for free and to by reasonably priced crafts. The port area is touristy, but I think their community is very dependant and truly needs the $ the cruise industry brings. I felt very welcomed there. The workers come down and do a song as you sail away.

 

To be continued...

We are doing this cruise in October and want to book that excursion also, when I look into the excursions they only have one time 9:30 and we don't dock until 9, was it the same on your cruise. Thanks Joann

I went to jens fun music trivias in lobby. Loved the disney trivia

We were there every afternoon, did you love Jerry out on the dance floor, he was a good singer also. Was a lot of fun.