4/26/09 Live from Carnival Splendor !!!

Day 1. Sunday

Embarkation day (Long Beach Ca.)

We had a nice drive from San Diego, took us around 1.5 hours but when we got to the cruise terminal, we were stuck in traffic, turns out the people there were still picking up passengers from last weeks cruise.

What a mess, we arrived around 11:30am to find a mess of people everywhere. Turns out the ship arrived around 7am so by the time we got there, 11:30am people were still getting off the ship. Long Beach is still the worst Cruise Terminal on the planet. They now have a VIP room right next to the Parking lot but no bathroom in it. By the time we checked in, they were starting to board VIP and when we got to the front of the Dome, it was pretty much a free for all, no VIP line, not organized at all and the staff was just trying to deal with everyone. They would tell me, no sir sorry there is not VIP line now just move along.

I am sure its going to be even worse getting off the ship when we get back like the last time, more people onboard this ship and Customs is very slow and a royal pain in the you know what here in Long Beach. A Carnival rep told me that the Splendor added an extra 1000 passengers to the mix.

We met some of our Cruise Critic Members while standing in line, even Pat a Cruise Critic Member which was in a Wheel Chair had to wait with everyone else, Carnival was more concerned with the Wedding Party and pretty much kicked the Wheel Chair people to th curb. She had a nice Carnival Rep wheel her onboard.

We went up to Lido Deck and had some Lunch, Lido is very nice, we sat by the SeaSide Theater and also by the Serenity lounge chairs. This is where the Grill and Pizza bar is located. Tonights SeaSide Theater movie is Ghost Town. The movie starts at 10:15pm but our Welcome onboard show starts at 10:30pm. I'm guessing this is why I never got to see the movies up on deck at night because there is always somethng else going on.

Cabin

Our inside Cabin is a Cat. 4e up on Empress 7370, we are close to the elevators kinda midships. But currently our Midship elevators are inop due to the crew is using them to move luggage up and down so we are using the rear elevators to move about the ship.

Our Cabin is TINY !!!! Its a queen size bed and thats about it, We do have the nice Flat Screen T.V. and every channel is nice and clear. I had the cabin Decorated with Happy Birthday for Wendy. Carnival Vacation Club delivered out Chocolate Dipped Strawberries and I am still waiting for our checked luggage.

Wendy's mom Cathy has cabin 1366 on Riveria Deck, her cabin is a Cat. 4B inside but its also TINY, Its the same configuration as ours, what makes it bad is that her cabin is a cabin for 4 Passengers !!! It has a queen size bed on the floor and 2 overhead beds. I do not see how 4 people will be able to live comfortably in her cabin for 4.

Our Inside cabn onboard Spirit cabin 8265 is probably double the size of these 2 cabins. So now I know to book a Cat.9a or a Cat. 11a Suite next time.

Wendy is tired and currently sleeping, its only 3:45pm, the ship has a Ships Tour at 4pm and the Lifeboat Drill is schedule for 5:15pm.

So far so good, everyone seems to be in a very good mood and the crew seems happy as well, I can't wait for Dinner tonight where we can just sit down and have a nice steak dinner. So far we have everyone seated at our table.

I had to go to the Pursers Deck to get a Extention cord, I had forgotten mine to use with my CPAP. There was a lady at the Concierge section, she took forever, another Platinum Guest person was waiting and waiting with me and we chatted for a while, when the lady infront of us was finish, she had a Blue/Red Sail & Sign card, the lady beside me looked at me and said, What the Heck, we waited this long and she is only a first timer LOL.. The regular line at the Purser Deck was going pretty fast so go figure.

We havent toured much of the ship yet, we are currently enjoying our tiny cabin for now, but Lido Deck is very nice and there is nothing wrong with the Pink decor, people made it sound like it was too much, its not.

Boy, they are really pushing those Drinks of the Day, every 2 minutes another guy would come wth those drinks, they are currently 7.50 in the nice Carnival Gift glass.

This is it for now, I will post later tonight about our Dinner, Show, Casino and what ever else.

Fred

The cabins are smaller than the insides on other ships in the fleet? That's weird...I'm sure you'll have pics :)

Glad I checked the board one more time before doing my laundry, I always enjoy your postings. Have a fantastic cruise!

I thought it was just me feeling that our 4B was really, really small last summer! Have a great trip Wendy and Fred :)

We would love to see some pics Fred.

Day 1. Sunday

 

Embarkation day (Long Beach Ca.)

 

We had a nice drive from San Diego, took us around 1.5 hours but when we got to the cruise terminal, we were stuck in traffic, turns out the people there were still picking up passengers from last weeks cruise.

 

What a mess, we arrived around 11:30am to find a mess of people everywhere. Turns out the ship arrived around 7am so by the time we got there, 11:30am people were still getting off the ship. Long Beach is still the worst Cruise Terminal on the planet. They now have a VIP room right next to the Parking lot but no bathroom in it. By the time we checked in, they were starting to board VIP and when we got to the front of the Dome, it was pretty much a free for all, no VIP line, not organized at all and the staff was just trying to deal with everyone. They would tell me, no sir sorry there is not VIP line now just move along.

 

I am sure its going to be even worse getting off the ship when we get back like the last time, more people onboard this ship and Customs is very slow and a royal pain in the you know what here in Long Beach. A Carnival rep told me that the Splendor added an extra 1000 passengers to the mix.

We met some of our Cruise Critic Members while standing in line, even Pat a Cruise Critic Member which was in a Wheel Chair had to wait with everyone else, Carnival was more concerned with the Wedding Party and pretty much kicked the Wheel Chair people to th curb. She had a nice Carnival Rep wheel her onboard.

 

We went up to Lido Deck and had some Lunch, Lido is very nice, we sat by the SeaSide Theater and also by the Serenity lounge chairs. This is where the Grill and Pizza bar is located. Tonights SeaSide Theater movie is Ghost Town. The movie starts at 10:15pm but our Welcome onboard show starts at 10:30pm. I'm guessing this is why I never got to see the movies up on deck at night because there is always somethng else going on.

 

Cabin

 

Our inside Cabin is a Cat. 4e up on Empress 7370, we are close to the elevators kinda midships. But currently our Midship elevators are inop due to the crew is using them to move luggage up and down so we are using the rear elevators to move about the ship.

 

Our Cabin is TINY !!!! Its a queen size bed and thats about it, We do have the nice Flat Screen T.V. and every channel is nice and clear. I had the cabin Decorated with Happy Birthday for Wendy. Carnival Vacation Club delivered out Chocolate Dipped Strawberries and I am still waiting for our checked luggage.

 

Wendy's mom Cathy has cabin 1366 on Riveria Deck, her cabin is a Cat. 4B inside but its also TINY, Its the same configuration as ours, what makes it bad is that her cabin is a cabin for 4 Passengers !!! It has a queen size bed on the floor and 2 overhead beds. I do not see how 4 people will be able to live comfortably in her cabin for 4.

Our Inside cabn onboard Spirit cabin 8265 is probably double the size of these 2 cabins. So now I know to book a Cat.9a or a Cat. 11a Suite next time.

 

Wendy is tired and currently sleeping, its only 3:45pm, the ship has a Ships Tour at 4pm and the Lifeboat Drill is schedule for 5:15pm.

So far so good, everyone seems to be in a very good mood and the crew seems happy as well, I can't wait for Dinner tonight where we can just sit down and have a nice steak dinner. So far we have everyone seated at our table.

 

I had to go to the Pursers Deck to get a Extention cord, I had forgotten mine to use with my CPAP. There was a lady at the Concierge section, she took forever, another Platinum Guest person was waiting and waiting with me and we chatted for a while, when the lady infront of us was finish, she had a Blue/Red Sail & Sign card, the lady beside me looked at me and said, What the Heck, we waited this long and she is only a first timer LOL.. The regular line at the Purser Deck was going pretty fast so go figure.

 

We havent toured much of the ship yet, we are currently enjoying our tiny cabin for now, but Lido Deck is very nice and there is nothing wrong with the Pink decor, people made it sound like it was too much, its not.

Boy, they are really pushing those Drinks of the Day, every 2 minutes another guy would come wth those drinks, they are currently 7.50 in the nice Carnival Gift glass.

 

This is it for now, I will post later tonight about our Dinner, Show, Casino and what ever else.

 

 

Fred

Wow, Fred, you had to wait LONGER than a "first timer!" Gee, I hope that doesn't ruin this whole cruise for you!

Hey, Fred . . .

One evening you and Wendy should grab a slice (or two) of pizza and a drink, and then go up one more deck to watch the big screen. View from those tables along the railing is really good, and you've got comfy chairs and a place to put your plate(s). And those enclosed hot tubs in that area are pretty neat, too.

Enjoy your cruise - - Bon Voyage!! :)

Cabin size is 185 Sq ft, same as on the Spirit Class ships. Are they really smaller, or only appear smaller? Seems like going from an inside to a suite is quite a step for your next one.

I'm excited to follow this thread so I can do some planning for my cruise in July. Right now I'm a little lost...new ship, new cruise line, new itinerary, new port. I'm trying to decide what night we should book the supper club, and I'm stressed about embarkation because I keep hearing how BAD it is in Long Beach.

We're staying at the Queen Mary, so my plan right now is to walk downstairs and do the early check-in, and then we can go do something for a while until the disembarking crowds thin out. We will have VIP boarding because we're in a Cat. 11, so I'm hoping that helps a little.

I'm also already fretting about getting off the ship! We have a 2:30 flight back to Houston out of LAX, and I will probably book a Carnival transfer unless anybody has a better idea!

I too am curious about the cabin size - thought the insides were a 'standard' size fleet wide - is it possible the Splendor insides are smaller?

Bon Voyage and have a great cruise - hope you are enjoying the steak dinner!

And Happy birthday to Wendy :)

Hello Wennfred,

I am so jeolous that I am not on board. My sister, Pat, is one board with you. It was so cool when I noticed that you were on the curise, too, as I knew you would blog while on board. Hope your steak was tasty.

Have a great crise.

jcg

Thank you for posting...how much do they charge for internet access on ship?

Our room will be right across from yours...empress 7372, when we sail in August!

I too am curious about the cabin size - thought the insides were a 'standard' size fleet wide - is it possible the Splendor insides are smaller?

 

Bon Voyage and have a great cruise - hope you are enjoying the steak dinner!

 

And Happy birthday to Wendy :)

According to deckplans.com, both of those cabins are identical in size, 185 sq ft, it must be something to do with the decor difference.

Glad you made it aboard, Fred -- hope the current swine flu outbreak doesn't affect your itinerary (but I fear it may). Do let us know how Wendy liked her birthday surprise(s)! :)

The swine flu won't affect Fred's itinerary at all, it's only reported in Mexico city and has had no affect on the port cities yet.

Fred, thanks for the review, can't wait for more and some pics!

Enjoy your cruise and keep us informed all week. If you see TexmanAl and Pechez, tell them their Maine Squeeze says HI! I just got off the Freedom yesterday and had a blast.

I'll be watching for you all week! Have a great time!

David

hope you enjoy your cruise

if you can, please take some pics of the pool areas

i havent been able too find any good ones online

thanks :)

Fred Thanks for the Live Review ..You always do a great Job ....You have the talent of drawing us in with you........I have to wait until Febuary for my Splendor Cruise so i am looking forward to living it through you!:)

Splendor Day 1 Evening

The ship is currently moving at 19 Knots but you can not even feel it, feel as if we were just crawling at 5 knots. Very little movement. I guess the size of the ship makes it feel that way.

Life boat drill went well, very fast, I would say 20 minutes max. It was 5:30pm when we were done so we headed back to the cabin to return our Life Jackets and get ready for dinner. Our Dinner time is 6pm.

We made it to dinner and found some great tablemates, All CC members but only Pat and Mike are posting members online. We also have 1 single passenger eating with us. I have a friend from work onboard, never even saw them today, I told him way back that his wife needed to call her T/A to link our booking numbers together, I guess she dropped the ball and are having dinner elsewhere.

I ordered the Sweet and Sour Shrimp, Ribs and the Flat Iron Steak. All very yummy. Everything was very good. We will have to order the Steak medium next time as it came too well done.

We also scored a great Waiter, his name is Imade. We had our food up asap. Another table person came by and saw that we were starting desserts and they havent even started with their salad. We were out of the dining room in 1 hour.

Off to the Casino we went, we did very well and Cathy hit a machine for 100.00 so she was pretty happy. I dropped 60.00, oh well.

9:30pm back in our cabin, way too tired to do anything else like the welcome onboard show, CD is Brad, never did get his last name and the comedian is Seth Baldward, pretty funny guy, I saw him on the Paradise last year.

We had a problem with our remote control in the cabin and I called Maintence and after 1/2 hour I called the Pursers Deck and they pretty much said they would check on it and they would get back to me, they never did. One hour went by and I went down to the Pursers deck to see if I can get a new remote control, things get done faster when you see them face to face and when they saw that you are a Platinum member. We had 2 video/audio techs in our cabin in 5 minutes. The remote sensor behind the t.v. was to far back. So now we are able to change the channels.

We will be heading to the dining room for breakfast around 8:30am and we have a photo op with all of the Cruise Critic members at 9:30am. Hopefully I will get to meet some of the Host like Mach. There are many CC members on empress deck, they have their door signs up.

Thats pretty much it for our night. Its 5:37am and Im going back to bed. See ya later.

Fred

Never been on the Splendor but I believe we had Imade as a waiter on one of our cruises? Not sure which ship now but he was GREAT!!! Enjoy the food - and yes a good idea to always order the beef a grade 'rarer' than usual.....

have some smoked salmon for me!!!

Looking forward to this "trip talk", Fred. Splendor will be my next cruise. Don't understand your ranking Long Beach as the "worst" port :confused:, but will continue to digest your informative posts.:)

(fwiw, market just opened . . . cruiselines averaging down 10% . . . swine flu craze I'm sure)

Looking forward to this "trip talk", Fred. Splendor will be my next cruise. Don't understand your ranking Long Beach as the "worst" port :confused:, but will continue to digest your informative posts.:)

 

DO they still sail from next to the QM? I remember our one and only sailing was right next to where the Love Boat used to sail from, right next to this big green bridge. We could see the QM WAY in the distance.

It all made sense seeing an Love Boat episode when we got back.

Questions & Answers

Well, I saw comments about the actual size of these 2 cabins, I have been in many many inside cabins but never in a walk in closet. Even Pat said the same that these cabins were alot smaller. I will take a picture today once the cabin is made up, I will also take Video footage to post up on Youtube when I get back, Maybe in town somewhere I can find a tap measure to size up the cabin correctly.

SunnyinMA,

Yes the inside cabins are much smaller, Our initial shock was when we saw Cathy cabin, the 4B, no way can you get 4 people in that cabin, there is no walking room. The 2 upper beds drop down and thats it for room, the only room you got is the tiny hallway that leads to the bathroom and exit door.

You guys have seen my photos of cabins R129 onboard Paradise, cabin 8265 onboard Spirit and cabin U4 onboard Elation, those cabins were Large compare to these 2 cabins here on Splendor.

Sunnyfafla,

I dont think you get what I was saying, the person taking forever was in the wrong line, Should of been standing in line with the other folks, She figured since she was very nicely dress and good looking that she can sneak over to the Concierge Desk for help and she did, then to find out she was holding a regular blue and red Sail & Sign card meaning that We behind her with +15 cruises had to wait. One day when you become platinum you will understand, we worked hard for those perks lol. And no that will not ruin my cruise but I did let the guy have it, so did the other Platinum person that was with me. She was really pissed off, I pretty much brushed it off.

DGP1111,

Thanks for the advice on the pizza and location, I will go take a look at that area after breakfast, I saw the second level from below but haven't gone up there yet. Those lounge chair infront of the seaside movie screen look very comfy.

WildCat68

Just wait for the pics.

Cindy,

You are doing it right, Staying at the Queen is the right thing to do because Pat told me she stayed at the Hyatt and due to the many conventions going on around this place, there was no places to Park to go out to get some good dinner, they had to return and eat at the Hyatt and that cost alot. With all of the crowd and traffic, we said the same thing, next time we are staying at the Queen, just to avoid all of the mess here at the terminal.

I don't think that Long Beach Cruise Terminal will ever get it right, They could never do Disembarkation right and now with the addition of 1000 more passengers they can't get Embarkation right. They should go over to Miami and see how its done, Miami has to deal with 3 or 4 ships, Long Beach has only 1 ship to deal with.

Check this out, We had to keep out Passports out and had to show them 3 more times before getting onboard. Who and Where the Heck is anyone going to SNEAK in after first entering the Dome or even past the Security Xray section, now you know how Anal these people are. I am sure that Carnival has nothing to do with this process and its probably coming the Home Land Security B.S. Even at the Airport you only show your Passport once.

So trying to balance your Carry on while holding on to your Passports and Sail & Sign card was another pain.

Thats why I vote Long Beach as the worst cruise terminal on the planet. Will I sail out Long Beach again? PROBABLY NOT.< Read that Carnival> San Diego Cruise Terminal is a breeze and effortless to get onboard and to also debark.

Froufie

I have sailed on RCI and as you know their cabins are much smaller then Carnival, well this pretty much reminds me of RCI cabins. We have a tiny Coffee table to match the size of the cabin LOL. Pictures when I get home to follow.

MichellP

Thanks, that Swine Flu is freakin me out, I am only going out to Stone Island with the CC Group and also to Rythms of the Night in P.V., at the Rythms of the Night tour, they serve up a really nice dinner. Now I will not be able to eat or drink anywhere in Mexico. The news just stated 1600 cases of it there in Mexico. I hope no one catches that and brings it onboard the ship.

Right now I would be happy if Carnival cancelled all stops and refunded all of our excursions, Im more of a underway sea going person anyways, we can always do Mexico another time when this Swine Flu epidemic is cleared.

Igerrish

I will see TexmanAI and Peachez today at the Photo Shoot.

Bigdaddy,

I will take some good shots of the pools, that will be a Good Thread to start. Thanks for the idea.