Splendour of the Seas 13th July - Quick Review

[dbowe5]

Seems like an eternity but just been a week since stepping off the Splendour.

 

We were a little worried with this cruise as we've always been on Freedom/Oasis class and always in the Carribean - so a bit of a leap into the unknown - apart from being on RCI.

 

Our main reason going on a European cruise was the dreaded thought of getting on a 9 and a half hour flight with our son!!!

 

Booked a JS on deck 8 as we wanted a bath and a bit more room for our 19 mo.

 

PCWalton did a great review not long back so I thought I would just put down my Pro's and Cons.

 

Good points:

 

- We just turned Platinum and the Priority check-in was great in Venice.

- Staff - I think the best we have encountered so far with RCI - especially in Windjammers - they treated my son like a little prince.

- A JS is the way to go - if it's not a massive stretch in price from a Balcony

- The ship was generally in great shape after it's refurb - didn't feel over 15 yers old.

- Schooner bar - Anselmo in there was the best entertainer we've seen on an RCI ship.

- Headliners - A UK quartet called Blake, they were over in the IoM last year and tickets were £40 each, so a bonus to see them on the ship.

- Ports, again being used to Carribean ports, it was a nice change to go hopping about in Europe - when it's on your doorstep you kind of take it for granted. We stopped at Bari (waste of time), Corfu, Santorini, Athens, Kusadasi, Katakolon - all were good but with the latter, if you aren't going to Olympia (we didn't) - there's not a lot to do there.

 

Negatives:

 

Entertainment staff - I've worked as a holiday rep and 95% of the entertainment staff would be better off suited being 18-30 reps - no talent and just running about like children. I've sang and acted in Reps cabarets and hand on heart, the level of performance in them was better than the dirge they served up on the ship. How hard is it to work a Karaoke machine or remember the words to a song they were singing - one guy thought he was a rapper - but a 'C' in front of it and you are there! The CD was good, his staff let him down badly.

 

Big screen - Why, oh why have the screen there when they don't use it. It had nothing on it until the last day when they were screening golf - golf for pity's sake!! Where were the films, or when they had the white party on deck one evening, use the screen to show what is happening - someone was filming it so why not put it on the screen!

 

Access - A real pain in the butt with the little man and his pushchair. You had to get off at deck 2 and then lug him down the stairs to deck 1 - and vice versa when getting back on the ship. One security guard was good enough to call the lift to deck 1 to us when he saw us a couple of times though.

 

All in all, we had a great time but it's the same everytime, you always want to mix different parts of your cruises into one. If we could transport the staff from the Splendour onto the Oasis, I would be a very happy man!!

 

One other thing, Venice is a great city to sail from but if you have a pushchair or wheelchair, it is a huge pain in the butt as we only found 1 bridge - of which there are 100's - that had a ramp.

 

Happy to answer any questions anyone might have.

 

Thanks

Darren

[CAT GIRL]

Thanks for the review. I'm glad to hear that Anselmo is still in rare

form. We've sailed with him before and it absolutely made our trip.

We will be on the Splendour in a couple of weeks. I don't have

anything planned for Bari other than walking around. Do you have

any suggestions for Corfu and Santorini?

 

Thanks,

Anita

[vivavegas]

Nice review! Thanks for sharing your experiences with us!:)

[PCWalton1]

Darren,

Glad to see someone filling in the detail on the ship, my review was a little lacking in that department. :o

I can understand Venice not being a fond port for you with the little guy in his cart, wheel friendly it isn't. But glad to hear that overall you had a great time.:)

 

Bill

[dbowe5]

Thanks for the review. I'm glad to hear that Anselmo is still in rare

form. We've sailed with him before and it absolutely made our trip.

We will be on the Splendour in a couple of weeks. I don't have

anything planned for Bari other than walking around. Do you have

any suggestions for Corfu and Santorini?

 

Thanks,

Anita

 

Hi Anita

 

We caught a taxi in the port to Dassia Beach in Corfu. Whilst it was a quick transfer, the beach had very little sand - mainly pebbles and rocks. The taxi was 50 Euros return and the guy dropped us back into the old town - I even had one of those fish pedicures in the old town!!

 

For Santorini, again we caught the cable car (I'm a big guy so didn't want to get on a donkey!) and just milled about Fira - pleasant enough and some nice bars/restaurants with fantastic views.

 

I'm sure you will have a great time - if your in windjammers tell Kelly, Zoran and Edwin that Zachary says hi and is missing his breadsticks and yogurts!!

 

Thanks

Darren

[dbowe5]

Darren,

Glad to see someone filling in the detail on the ship, my review was a little lacking in that department. :o

I can understand Venice not being a fond port for you with the little guy in his cart, wheel friendly it isn't. But glad to hear that overall you had a great time.:)

 

Bill

 

Hi Bill

 

Your excellent review prompted me into putting something on here!:)

 

Venice was a pain with the little man but it was worth every lift and pull over the bridges - truly a beautiful city!

 

Cheers

Darren

[StlGal]

Hi, thank you for your review.

 

We will be onboard the Splendour over Thanksgiving and can't wait. Have a couple of questions.

 

Did you do the all-inclusive drink package while onboard? If so, what package did you purchase? We are thinking about doing the $55/package and are curious how this worked out for someone else who recently just got off the ship.

 

Did you try any of the food in the Viking Crown Lounge?

 

Thanks again for your review,

angie

[dbowe5]

Hi, thank you for your review.

 

We will be onboard the Splendour over Thanksgiving and can't wait. Have a couple of questions.

 

Did you do the all-inclusive drink package while onboard? If so, what package did you purchase? We are thinking about doing the $55/package and are curious how this worked out for someone else who recently just got off the ship.

 

Did you try any of the food in the Viking Crown Lounge?

 

Thanks again for your review,

angie

 

Hi Anita

 

Sorry but I don't think I'm going to be too much help.

 

We travelled with our 19mo and MIL - so didn't feel we would get the benefit of a drinks package. To give you an idea of bar prices - a glass of rose wine, a vodka, miller lite and a can each of Sprite and Coke cost around $28 - so if you are going to have a few every night it might work for you. A few years ago I would have said sign me up but now we have the little man - I can't be drunk in charge of a pushchair!!:)

 

With regards to the VCL, again I didn't partake of the food there - but I did walk through it to get to Chops (which was excellent by the way) - I don't think it was the right place to take a wild 19mo - but it did look pretty cool.

 

Have a great trip, the ship is looking in great shape and the staff are brilliant.

 

Cheers

Darren

[CAT GIRL]

Thanks for the info. Any suggestions as to what time to

catch the cable car? I'm imagining the whole ship trying to get

on it at the same time.

[PCWalton1]

Thanks for the info. Any suggestions as to what time to

catch the cable car? I'm imagining the whole ship trying to get

on it at the same time.

 

Well, it is not too bad as you tender in and the cable car did a good job of keeping up with that flow. The earlier you can get off the ship the better. They will give out tender tickets the night before and you need to get in line at least a half hour early. Two in our group did that and we got on tender boat #2.

[CAT GIRL]

Well, it is not too bad as you tender in and the cable car did a good job of keeping up with that flow. The earlier you can get off the ship the better. They will give out tender tickets the night before and you need to get in line at least a half hour early. Two in our group did that and we got on tender boat #2.

 

That's cool. That makes me feel better about the cable car keeping

up with everyone.

Thanks