Carnival Splendor 2/10 mini review

When and where did you get your Sail and Sign cards? On the Vista in December they were in our cabin mailbox.

On Splendor on 2/3 they were in the mailbox when I boarded with the first group. The check in process was done by people with tablets scanning your boarding pass, and if you did the online check in properly, one was directed to the lounge.

When and where did you get your Sail and Sign cards? On the Vista in December they were in our cabin mailbox.

They were in our mailbox.

On Splendor on 2/3 they were in the mailbox when I boarded with the first group. The check in process was done by people with tablets scanning your boarding pass, and if you did the online check in properly, one was directed to the lounge.

Thank you. That’s the same process as it was on my Vista cruise.

When and where did you get your Sail and Sign cards? On the Vista in December they were in our cabin mailbox.

They were in our mailbox. Cabins were all ready by the time we got on, approx. 1:30.

They were in our mailbox. Cabins were all ready by the time we got on, approx. 1:30.

That's great! Some of my group has check in time 12:30 - 1:00 the others have 1:00 - 1:30

Thank you so much for this review...glad you had a relaxing cruise !!!

Do you have funtimes?

They were in our mailbox.

Do you have a link for your review? Thanks

Do you have funtimes?

Sorry, I don't. If you have any specific questions, I can try to answer from memory. Or maybe somebody else on this thread that was on the cruise has them?

Great review! We sailed on the Splendor when she was still in Miami, and the crew was amazing. Thanks for sharing!

Thanks so much for the review. Enjoyed it and found it very helpful!

Very nice job on the review !

We were also on this sailing...I think I may have spoken with your husband at some point during the cruise...I remember talking to a guy from Wyoming...at the Meet & Greet maybe ?

We enjoyed this cruise.

Embarkation was fantastic...15 mins tops from getting out of the cab at the terminal to being on board...Amazing.

Debarkation was just as quick...once announced...we were directed to wait at the Black Pearl Dining Room...right next to the gangplank.

Our pre-cruise hotel was the Hampton Inn Long Beach airport...decent rate...great rooms.

We rented a car from Avis...dropped it off at the ICB building in LB...short cab ride to the terminal. Vice Versa upon return...they don't have a lot of cars at that Avis facility though...

Our flight home was on Sunday morning...so we spent the day cruising down the PCH...had brunch at Ruby's Diner in Newport Beach...then back up to El Segundo to an AIrBnB I had reserved which was minutes from LAX. Dinner that night was at In-N-Out Burger...Mmmmm ! Bought a T-shirt that I will wear when I cruise around in my '64 Falcon Convertible this summer !

Dinner was always very good in the Dining room. Service on Valentine's was not so good...had a chat with our head waiter after the meal...he acknowledged they could have done better...and the next nights were A+.

Breakfast was almost always in the Dining room as well. Port day choices were good...and QUICK ! Less than 30 minutes. I had the broken egg breakfast sandwich both times.

SeaDay brunch always good. My wife likes Eggs Benedict...many times the eggs are overdone...but not on Splendor...they arrived perfect every time she had it.

Music...Latin band was OK...singer had a nice voice...BUT...they were lazy...started late / finished early... and next to Casino...so some smoke...but not too bad.

The main band was called "Free at Midnight"... and we thought they were very good...Male lead singer Tyler has a great voice a wide pitch range...is also pretty good at working the crowd. The Female lead was OK. Nice girl...spoke to her for a bit. Found out the keyboardist was from Quebec...Sherbrooke area.

Shows...here is my BIG gripe...show start times do not work well with the dining time. Early 7:30pm Late 9:30pm. We had to leave the show early to be in the dining room on time (Late 8pm). We would never finish dining early enough to get the late show...This really needs some more planning.

CD MarQ...we liked him...found him laid back, easy to talk to, not intrusive or pushy with the sales pitches.

We met a lot of really nice people on this cruise !

~Phil.

Very nice job on the review !

 

We were also on this sailing...I think I may have spoken with your husband at some point during the cruise...I remember talking to a guy from Wyoming...at the Meet & Greet maybe ?

 

We enjoyed this cruise.

 

Embarkation was fantastic...15 mins tops from getting out of the cab at the terminal to being on board...Amazing.

 

Debarkation was just as quick...once announced...we were directed to wait at the Black Pearl Dining Room...right next to the gangplank.

 

Our pre-cruise hotel was the Hampton Inn Long Beach airport...decent rate...great rooms.

 

We rented a car from Avis...dropped it off at the ICB building in LB...short cab ride to the terminal. Vice Versa upon return...they don't have a lot of cars at that Avis facility though...

 

Our flight home was on Sunday morning...so we spent the day cruising down the PCH...had brunch at Ruby's Diner in Newport Beach...then back up to El Segundo to an AIrBnB I had reserved which was minutes from LAX. Dinner that night was at In-N-Out Burger...Mmmmm ! Bought a T-shirt that I will wear when I cruise around in my '64 Falcon Convertible this summer !

 

Dinner was always very good in the Dining room. Service on Valentine's was not so good...had a chat with our head waiter after the meal...he acknowledged they could have done better...and the next nights were A+.

 

Breakfast was almost always in the Dining room as well. Port day choices were good...and QUICK ! Less than 30 minutes. I had the broken egg breakfast sandwich both times.

 

SeaDay brunch always good. My wife likes Eggs Benedict...many times the eggs are overdone...but not on Splendor...they arrived perfect every time she had it.

 

Music...Latin band was OK...singer had a nice voice...BUT...they were lazy...started late / finished early... and next to Casino...so some smoke...but not too bad.

 

The main band was called "Free at Midnight"... and we thought they were very good...Male lead singer Tyler has a great voice a wide pitch range...is also pretty good at working the crowd. The Female lead was OK. Nice girl...spoke to her for a bit. Found out the keyboardist was from Quebec...Sherbrooke area.

 

Shows...here is my BIG gripe...show start times do not work well with the dining time. Early 7:30pm Late 9:30pm. We had to leave the show early to be in the dining room on time (Late 8pm). We would never finish dining early enough to get the late show...This really needs some more planning.

 

CD MarQ...we liked him...found him laid back, easy to talk to, not intrusive or pushy with the sales pitches.

 

We met a lot of really nice people on this cruise !

 

~Phil.

Thanks for the review! We didn't attend the Meet & Greet but my husband did meet several people throughout the week and chatted with them--I remember he mentioned somebody from Canada so I'll ask him tonight if it was a guy named Phil :)

The Splendor:

 

Is very pink. I think everybody already knows that though.... I had seen pictures and it was even more over the top than I thought. We don't much care about ship décor so it really wasn't noticeable after the first day. We went straight to our cabin to drop stuff off. We had a spa interior, #1026. This was kind of an experiment for us. Our first cruise was an interior but our last two cruises were on aft balconies. We wanted to see if we would be okay with an interior. Well, it was fine, but we immediately missed having a balcony to be able to see the weather or to catch a sunrise in our pajamas. So I guess we are officially balcony people!

 

 

 

The room seemed pretty good-sized for an interior room and there was plenty of storage. The desk/vanity area was large and very nice to drop all our stuff on each day. It took us a couple of days to figure out which light switch did what in the room. LOL.

 

 

 

Our room steward was I Made and he was very pleasant and courteous. He greeted us as we arrived and asked us to complete a little form that asked if we needed extra pillows, blankets, etc. It also said to select morning, evening, or both for service. I asked him what was the easiest for him and he laughed and said it is our vacation, we can have whatever we want. We selected morning service. We also asked for extra hangers and extra towels. These were delivered promptly and we always had extra towels every day.

 

 

 

I Made greeted us by name in the hallway whenever we saw him, as did his assistant. He kept our ice bucket full of fresh ice daily although we never asked for it. We are not super needy and he provided everything we could have wanted. We were happy to leave him an additional tip as a farewell thank you.

 

 

 

We loved having the additional spa amenities, such as bathrobes and slippers. We used these every day and DH was excited when I told him he didn't have to find room in his suitcase for slippers, LOL. We also had access to the spa area and DH used the steam rooms daily. He loved them. I am not really a spa/steam room kind of gal but I did enjoy the Thalassotherapy pool daily. Having access to the spa just a floor above us was very convenient and I think we used it a lot more than we would have if we would have had to hike across the ship.

 

 

 

I also used the gym almost every day between 6-8am. I am not a regular exerciser at home and I don't go to the gym. However, something about having it just a few steps away really motivated me to go work out each morning.

 

 

 

The gym and spa facilities were both very well used on this trip. I had read that the spa rooms are usually nearly empty but that wasn't the case for us. There were always 3-4 people in the steam rooms and the Thalasso pool, and the gym was always crowded when I went. Even during slower times of day there was always a handful of people in the gym.

I Made was our room steward on the Miracle during cruise June 2017. His service was great and he always remembered our names. During the June cruise we decided to book another the end of July same ship and itinerary. We were on the same floor forward but on the starboard side. One afternoon I walked over to port side to see if I could find I Made, he came out of cabin and saw me and called me by my name! I couldn’t believe he remembered my name 6 weeks later. We are on the Splendor in spa balcony room for a B2B in June look forward to catching up with him again if he’s not on vacation.

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Thanks for the great review & everyone else chiming in that was on board! Very helpful!

I have a question, hoping someone can answer. I've been offered an upgrade from an OV to a balcony just above the casino, seems it's right above the cage. Was the casino noisy?

Thanks for the great review & everyone else chiming in that was on board! Very helpful!

 

I have a question, hoping someone can answer. I've been offered an upgrade from an OV to a balcony just above the casino, seems it's right above the cage. Was the casino noisy?

Nope. I would take that in a heartbeat depending on the price for the upgrade.

Thanks for this review. Being new to Carnival (booking Spender for 6/18) I have a few general questions:

• What is the benefit these spa rooms I see referenced, and what is this pool people are talking about?
  
• Does Carnival enforce their suggested boarding times?
  
• Could I make a 12:15pm return flight out of LAX?
  

My answers below:

• What is the benefit these spa rooms I see referenced, and what is this pool people are talking about?
  

Access to the Spa, Special cabin décor, Special little goodies in your cabin, Thalassotherapy pool in the Spa.

• Does Carnival enforce their suggested boarding times?
  

Not that I saw in Long Beach...BUT...we were there just 15 minutes before our allotted time.

• Could I make a 12:15pm return flight out of LAX?
  

Yes... I would do self assist debarkation before 9am and take a cab to the airport.

 

Dinner--we ate dinner every night in the MDR, except for Valentine's Day which we had in the Steakhouse. Dining was another experiment for us. We are long time ATD people. I was really not sure we would like having traditional dining. We decided to try it because of DH's food sensitivities. He has developed several as he has gotten older, the worst being onions. Although medically it is not considered an allergy, we find its easier just to say its an allergy because if he eats anything with any trace of onion he will be curled up in a fetal position with stomach cramps.

 

Our last cruise, they were able to accommodate his needs but it was tricky because we had ATD and we had to go over it with every server, every meal. That's why we decided to try traditional dining. All I can say is, we are officially converts and we will always do traditional dining from now on!

 

Our serving team was Theresa, Victor, and Pariana (sp?). They were spectacular. We looked forward to dinner every night just so we could see them. Theresa brought the next night's menu and the breakfast menu every night so DH could choose his meals. He was able to order everything he wanted except for soup--which makes sense that they wouldn't be able to prepare a special batch of soup for one person. What an amazing job the staff did creating alternatives so he could still order whatever dish he wanted. One example is that the stuffed mushrooms have spinach in them which is prepared with onion. So, they diced up some broccoli and stuffed the mushrooms with that. DH loved it. If you are traveling with any kind of food restrictions, I would strongly suggest traditional dining for the ease of ordering--and this is coming from a die hard ATD diner!

 

Highlights from the MDR menus included the filet and short rib duo on the second elegant night, the mango cream soup, the white chocolate banana bread pudding, and the coconut lime cake. We both ordered the flat iron steak a couple of nights. Obviously we come from the heart of steak country and we are big steak fans. We have a favorite local steakhouse that we compare all steaks to. The flat iron steak in the MDR is not as fabulous as that place; however, it was still a really solid option and tender and flavorful. I would give it a B+ in the world of steaks. DH had the salmon fillet and thought it was fantastic. I had a roast chicken dish the first night that was delicious and set the tone for the whole trip. I can't say enough good things about our experience in the MDR.

 

Oh, the maître d, Amith, came around every night to greet everybody. I had emailed him 5 days before the cruise to request a table for two, and he responded within 5 minutes that he received the request. It was a fabulous table right in the middle of the restaurant--not a foot away from other 2-tops--and he stopped the first night and thanked me for emailing him our request in advance. He seemed genuinely pleased that he was able to meet these kind of simple requests. He was so great and he made us feel like we were his special guests the whole week. I bet he made everybody feel that way.

I am actually allergic to onions and was quite worried about the food on the cruise. I am a total newb and have no idea what you mean by ATD. Also do have any further suggestion about avoiding onions and the main dinning room?

I am actually allergic to onions and was quite worried about the food on the cruise. I am a total newb and have no idea what you mean by ATD. Also do have any further suggestion about avoiding onions and the main dinning room?

Also how did you get the maître d name and contact info. I would like to warn them about my allergies (onions, peppers and pineapple.)

I am actually allergic to onions and was quite worried about the food on the cruise. I am a total newb and have no idea what you mean by ATD. Also do have any further suggestion about avoiding onions and the main dinning room?

This is my basic post about allergies..... We travel with a group that combined has allergies to peanuts, treenuts, shellfish, egg whites, chocolate, MSG and liquid dairy. Only had issues with 'user' error, no issues with Carnival. If you have a nut allergy, know that Carnival classifies seeds as nuts.

Each ship seems to do things a little differently. This has been our experiences on the West Coast ships.

If you have an odd allergy contact Special Needs before your cruise. If you have a 'normal' allergy no need to do so.

https://www.carnival.com/about-carnival/special-needs/dietary-needs.aspx

See the Hostess at embarkation when the Maitre 'd has hours. Hours will be in the FunTmes, usually starting around 1pm. The hostess will take that night's order. Each night the hostess or your waiter will bring you the next day's MDR menu-breakfast, brunch/lunch and dinner. If deciding between two entrees, order both. For brunch don't hesitate to order a breakfast and lunch if you want to eat both meals in the MDR. At ATD, an order slip will be generated and given to your waitstaff when seated. They will confirm the order with you.

Only issue we've ever had was one cruise DD's food arrived before mine.

For room service, they cannot make special for you but they can tell you the ingredients. No special area so there is always the possibility of contamination

Buffet is a minefield. Ask the Hostess or the Head Lido Chef or the Food and Beverage crew in the officer whites. DO NOT ask the line cooks or those serving desserts. They mean well but do not know the full recipes. Cross contamination is always a possibility.

Onshore--- we bring allergy cards. I made our own but you can buy some at selectwisely dot com.

You can only bring off commercially prepared food. We bring cereal bars, boxes of cereal, bottled water, hard candy etc.

Many ports will check. Some will do a physical search, others use dogs. You do not want the cute Labrador to sit next to you. I've had them alert on my Lemonheads.

Kids clubs have a form to fill out. There are some snacks served at times. The younger kids meet up at the dinner buffet certain nights. Ask the counselors what's on the menu.