July 2012 Splendor Review w/Pics

[pyroguy]

Tuesday, July 31, 2012 (cont.)

 

We started off the evening with a garlic roll baked in a clay pot. These things are pretty awesome – just as I remembered them from the last CT we did.

 

…garlic roll baked in a clay pot…

 

The first entrée was called “Tomatoes Our Way!” and consisted of Carbonated Tomato foam (excellent), Chardonnay poached grape tomatoes and Cocoa Butter Coated grape tomatoes.

 

…Tomatoes Our Way!...

 

Next was “Tuna Banh Mi” a tuna mixture on Lemon Bread sandwiched between sesame crisps and garnished with a miso cream avocado gel.

 

…Tuna Banh Mi…

 

Next was the Cornish Hen which was a caramelized Cornish hen breast with butternut squash and Sofrito. They also made some cream cheese and balsamic vinegar caviar and placed them inside of caramelized shallots.

 

…Cornish Hen…

 

Next was Bavarious which was Granny Smith Apples and Turnips simmered in Chicken stock with some garnish.

 

…Bavarois…

 

Next was the Salmon with Herb Pesto, Cured Tomatoes, Carrots dusted with Mushroom “earth” and some condensed beet rollups.

 

…Salmon…

[pyroguy]

Tuesday, July 31, 2012 (cont.)

 

Next was my favorite of the night, Wagu Beef short ribs with Potato Pebbles and Pumpkin Fudge. He actually put gravy over the beef after serving, but I couldn’t wait to bite in.

 

…Wagu Beef…

 

The final course was called “Chef in a Candy Store” and has over 32 different prepared items on the plate. There were a multitude of different flavors and textures and it was quite good. Looks awesome…and it was!

 

…Chef in a Candy Store…

 

We had the opportunity to ask questions during and between courses. One of the themes of the night was the amount of coordination that goes into what they do. On an average night, they must prepare between 9,000-12,000 plates. There’s a staggering amount of planning and efficiency that’s built into what they have to do to make all of that happen correctly.

 

We really love doing the Chef’s Table. It’s well worth it…and our next cruise we will do it again. However, my one complaint is that they don’t serve you the WCMC we made. Yes, it’s cheap, and yes, it’s not as “fancy” as all the other food we ate that night. I know it’s cheesy to ask. It’s like asking for a Michelob during a wine fest. But darn it, I like it and that’s what I want. I would have asked for it, but I thought maybe it would be tacky, so I just left it alone. :o

 

I would like it if they brought us in the WCMC we made in the galley in future Chef’s Table events.

 

Anyway, after dinner, we found my sister-in-law in the Spectacular theater watching a juggler with the kids. Little man was sound asleep in her arms – just too much for him (as would be a common theme throughout the week).

 

We carried him off to bed and crashed for the night.

[pyroguy]

Wednesday, August 1, 2012

Cabo San Lucas, Day 2

 

Our second day in Cabo we had planned on the “La Isla” barge or floating platform thing. It was an inexpensive day that promised “premium snacks” and an open bar. They also promised snorkeling and kayaking with equipment included in the price of the tour. There is a working bathroom on board. I do not know if the ice and water is actually purified because it came out of a cooler and not a branded bag of any kind.

I had specifically booked this tour because I wanted the ability to snorkel while my wife and the other family members who don’t snorkel could either swim or sit on the boat and do whatever they wanted. I had been helping Little man in the bathroom or something when they announced time to snorkel because when I got out all the gear was gone (if you can call it snorkeling gear…pretty rough stuff in poor condition – and no fins). Anyway, I wasn’t very happy about it since this is the exact reason I booked the tour. I asked the operator how I could still snorkel and he said we would have to divide into groups and go at different times. That never happened. Everyone with the gear just stayed out (it was maybe a mile away from where we were docked to the Los Arcos point) until it was time to leave so I didn’t get to snorkel at all. They also promised a water slide…which they had, however it was an inflatable slide that floated in the water. If you could get onto it from the water, you could use. However, I’m pretty strong and I could only do it a few times before I was worn out. I would guess maybe 3/10 average people could actually have enough strength to use it. They need some type of low platform or something to get you up on before climbing it. I ended up getting myself on it and then using my arms to help many others up because most couldn’t get up on it.

 

They did give us some snacks that were made of some homemade salsa and chips and some refried beans. They tasted good after swimming and kayaking.

 

The open bar was kind of cheap and cheesy. They didn’t have a drink list, you just had to tell them what to mix together and they would do it. I tried to get them to make me a Margarita but they didn’t have the ingredients. It was easier to just order Squirt and let it be.

The boat was fairly nice and the operators were friendly. There was one other thing, though and that was their “photographer” who took pictures that the boat would sell us later. Now, I know I’m not a professional, but really the guy was always in the way, asking us to move because he was taking pictures of others, he was always bothering us for pictures…and he didn’t even hold the camera correctly. I think he was just some kid they gave a DSLR to and told him to take some pictures. I thought he was annoying and with everything that happened I told him I would take my own pictures and not to bother us anymore.

 

…The Carnival Splendor…

 

…same people from the day before asking us again if we wanted anything from them…

 

…My Bud hanging out on a lounger on the barge…

[pyroguy]

Wednesday, August 1, 2012 (cont.)

 

…close up of Los Arcos…

 

After La Isla (it’s a 3 hour thing) we shopped a bit more in town and then came back to the ship so the kids could get their daily fu-fu drinks.

 

…Kids at the bar getting their drinks…

 

Since my sister-in-law was celebrating her birthday on the cruise, my wife and I treated her husband to the steakhouse this evening. They had a great time and said it was very good food.

 

…this was our group’s 2 tables for the week in the Golden Pearl…

 

…I had 2 “smoked duck” appetizers because I remembered loving it. It’s still awesome…

 

…Princess just loved how Learoy always cut her meat for her…

 

…I had the braised short ribs…

[pyroguy]

Wednesday, August 1, 2012 (cont.)

 

Little Man fell asleep at dinner from all that swimming so we decided to call it a night early. We had a big day at Puerto Vallarta tomorrow!

Little man is a super hero fan…even carries his own cape and mask with him wherever he goes in case he needs to “save the day”. His favorite pal “Oscar” also has a secret identity. Tonight, our steward decided to let the towel animal in on the action and create a super hero from Oscar’s uniform.

 

…this is Oscar…

 

…Super Hero Towel Animal…

[pyroguy]

Thursday, August 2, 2012

Puerto Vallarta

 

Puerto Vallarta is 2 hours ahead of ship’s time (Cabo was 1) so to compensate, the ship turned their clocks forward 1 hour for Thursday and Friday. For this day we had scheduled to go to the Las Caletas beach tour which we were going to purchase online, but since we said we were on a Carnival Cruise, they were contractually obligated to tell us to go thru Carnival for our tour tickets. It was only $10-15 more to go directly thru Carnival, but it was weird.

 

Puerto Vallarta is a docked port. The Splendor did a neat maneuver when we got to the pier before docking. She did a “zero-turn” 180 degree flip right there at the pier – I guess so we didn’t have to back out of our stall at night. Pretty cool.

 

...a little HDR in Puerto Vallarta…

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…breakfast in the Lido buffet…

 

The time change messed me up. The tickets said to meet at I think 9am so we met outside at 9am PV time. Unfortunately it was supposed to be Ship’s time. ..so we had over an hour to kill so we did some shopping around the port at some more open air shops.

 

…off the ship and Welcome to Puerto Vallarta…

 

…local flea market shops near the port…

[pyroguy]

Thursday, August 2, 2012 (cont.)

 

…batteries were a little expensive there in PV…

 

Soon it was time to meet for our excursion. We were soon led to a large catamaran near the back of the Ship. It was warm, but we decided for the top so we could get good views of the coast as we traveled to the beach.

 

…From the top of the catamaran…

 

The Las Caletas tour is pretty cool – and much more organized and put together than the previous day in Cabo (also a lot more expensive so you get what you pay for). Basically you take this catamaran about an hour and 15 minutes to a private beach. For this trip they have waiters on board with the free booze, water and juice flowing. You travel along the coastline and they are telling you all about the location history, etc. They also sing and dance to keep you entertained.

 

You are encouraged to sign up your kids for the kids-tour which is free with the excursing (zip lining, animals, etc.). We ended up not doing is just because the kids were having too much fun on the beach.

 

When you get to the beach, although there was another group there, it was about noon so we were seated at a table and led to an open buffet of a large selection of local favorite food…all very good and interesting. Any water you wanted came in a sealed bottle. They also had a dessert buffet that was very good.

 

After that, you go to the beach and get in. My Bud and I went to get our included snorkel gear and went snorkeling for about 2 hours. The snorkeling is the best near the dock where the catamaran is tied up. We saw a seahorse, sea turtle, several eels, a sea snake, surgeon, puffer, angel and some others that I think were parrot fish. Thousands swimming all around us. I got a lot of video that I will post when I get a chance.

 

 

…scenery along the way (HDR)…

 

 

…finally at Las Caletas…

[pyroguy]

Thursday, August 2, 2012 (cont.)

…a little swimming beach picture…

 

 

I didn’t have my good camera out at the beach and most of the pictures I took at the beach were videos and I ran the battery down. I’ll see if I can post some videos of the snorkeling fish soon.

 

On the way back to the Ship, we were treated to some Queen lip-synching from the crew. The waves were a little rough and my wife got somewhat seasick. The rest of our party was doing the “Rhythm of the Night” excursion which was at the same place as Las Caletas but just in the evening. So we were by ourselves for dinner tonight.

 

I believe CCL knows PV is a low dinner night for the MDR and that’s why it’s Fillet night. Wow…it was really good.

 

…fillet and braised ribs…

 

…little man had the shrimp…

 

But he fell asleep again. Calling it an early night.

[pyroguy]

Friday, August 3, 2012

Day at Sea

 

This day at sea would be relaxing. A little Camp Carnival for little guy, swimming and ice cream for the other kids. It was also the second “cruise elegant” night.

 

This is the second day I took a lot of pictures around the ship – ones that I’ve already shown earlier in this review. The kids FINALLY got to use those quarters that stopped us during embarkation in the arcade. They didn’t last long at $1 per game.

 

…little man in his super hero cape (minus the mask)…

 

…that night Desi – the Maitre’d came over and made some napkin animals for little guy. We had been able to get him to nap a little during the day so he didn’t fall asleep at dinner tonight.

 

…Desi making little guy his napkin doll…

 

…Monkey in the room…

[pyroguy]

Saturday, August 4, 2012

Day at Sea

 

The final day at sea was chilly and windy. Me and my bud played mini-golf but the wind was blowing the balls around. The slide was closed. The Lido top was closed all day. I tried to read all day and relax.

 

…one of the waiters at breakfast saw little guy trying to make a napkin like Desi had the night before – so he showed him again how to do it. Very cool…

 

…Lido roof closed…

 

…My bud playing golf…

 

We also let the kids do some “build-a-bear” animals in camp carnival.

 

…Princess making hers…

 

…little guy making “scratch” the cat…

 

…and bud making his (he’s too old, I know but Mom was trying to be fair)…

[pyroguy]

Saturday, August 4, 2012 (cont.)

 

…At dinner that night little man go the BMC (bacon mac & cheese)…it was very good…

 

…I had the prime rib AND BMC…

 

…we got one last picture with Desi – unfortunately I forgot my autofocus after doing some video before…

 

We went around to all of our wait staff & stewards and let the kids give them their “extra” envelopes for being so awesome during our cruise. It was really fun for the kids and they got a lot of hugs. It really makes it tough to leave these people as you get to know them over the week. Mr. Made had just gotten married, was on his 2nd week aboard the Splendor and had just found out his new wife was pregnant. He said it was $20 for 100 minutes of online “Skype” time there on board so that’s what we gave him. Hopefully he could spend some extra time with his newly pregnant wife.

 

…Mr. Made…

 

…Learoy from Jamaica…

 

 

That night we put out our luggage and went to bed. 

[pyroguy]

Sunday, August 5, 2012

Debarkation, LAX

 

We got up early for breakfast in Lido. Mr. Made (from the MDR) was there serving breakfast so it was really nice to be able to see him again before we left.

 

 

…Clarence, the room steward for the standard balcony cabin…

 

Debarkation was pretty simple. We just waited for our group to be called and headed out the door. We went through customs without any problems...and found a room with numbers on the wall and bags on the floor by the numbers. We found our bags (one was in an adjacent pile with the incorrect number) relatively quickly and headed outside.

 

We had pre-arranged for the shuttle to take us directly to LAX at 10am (Carmel)…but it was only 8:30. They said in about 40 minutes they could come get us so we just waited outside until he got there.

 

…everyone sad because we were leaving…

 

Our flight was at 7:05 and we arrived at LAX at about 9:30. We couldn’t check our bags until 4 hours before the flight. That meant we had to sit outside security for 5.5 hours. Then we could check our bags and go inside security to sit for another 4 hours. That was tough…but it was a very limited flight schedule that day (for the price) so we just had to deal with it.

 

…little man got to sit in the co-pilot’s seat…

[gfy012]

I have to comment on the La Isla barge you went on. We vacation in Cabo in a condo on the marina and we can see that barge from our balcony. We nick named it The redneck boat club. Ha ha ha ha! That's what it looks like coming in and out of the marina. :)

[hannahsmomtoo]

Thank you for your review.

Two questions when you get a moment..

 

#1 Did you use American currency in Cabo / PV?

 

and

 

#2 Your portrayal of the vendors in Cabo has me a bit nervous. ( Although I appreciate the honesty.)

How would one pick a vendor.. from the crowd.. if one DID want to take a tour or parasail etc?

 

Thank you so much, again your pictures are incredible.

[bwg03]

Awesome review and great pictures!

[rotting_hell]

Excellent review!!!! Pics are GREAT!!!!!!! Thanks for sharing!!!!!!:D

[tee3240]

Thank you very much for sharing your vacation. We (me, Hubby, son11 & daughter8) will be doing our first ever Carnival cruise next July when the Splendor comes to NYC. Loved your pics! :)

[Joyce From Yardley]

Hi,

 

Enjoyed reading your review & seeing your Great photos. We are going on the Splendor in Feb. doing a B2B2B. We are leaving from Long Beach going to South America & around the horn. We will be bringing home the Splendor for its NY cruise season. We will be at away for 48 days, our longest cruise ever.

 

Thanks for the heads up about Cabo & Puerto Vallarta. In about a month we will be on be on Celebrity's Infinity. We are taking a 7nt Alaska cruise followed by a 17nt Panama Canal cruise & will hit those ports of call at that time.

 

Hope that you & your family are back on the high seas for another great vacation in no time at all.

 

Joyce & Of Course Harvey

[LizfromOz]

Thanks so much for this review. We are coming from Australia in September (next month!!!) and part of our month long holiday is a cruise on the Splendor (9/16). Our family of 4 are so excited and to see your lovely photos is just fantastic. I'm glad to hear that you enjoyed Las Caletas as we have booked that excursion as well.

 

Thanks again, Liz

[twindaddy]

Great review, thanks! My only qualm would be Las Caletas...we LOVEd it, and my girls had a blast doing the kids activites, a huge zip line, donkey ride, face painting, and animal petting. I would encourage your kids to give it a try next time! Sounds like the snorkling was great too!

 

We will be on the Splendor in December and we are trying rythym of the night, I hear good things!

[Rosefloater]

Thank you for your review.

Two questions when you get a moment..

 

#1 Did you use American currency in Cabo / PV?

 

and

 

#2 Your portrayal of the vendors in Cabo has me a bit nervous. ( Although I appreciate the honesty.)

How would one pick a vendor.. from the crowd.. if one DID want to take a tour or parasail etc?

 

Thank you so much, again your pictures are incredible.

 

Yes you can use American money. The vendors use an exchange rate of 10 pesos/$1.

 

Pyroguy - Your pictures are great!!

[Mulege]

The current exchange rate is $1 equals 13 pesos. If they only give you 10 to 1 you are being cheated!

[treasure4two]

2012 Carnival Splendor Review

Introduction

 

Also, My hobby is photography. I am not a professional, but I read and practice a lot. Hopefully you will enjoy the fruits of my labor. For this entire cruise, I took over 2,100 pictures and 200 videos.

 

This is the gear I used:

Nikon D7000 DSLR with a Nikon 50mm f/1.8, Tamron 18-270 f/3.5-6.3, Nikon 10.5mm f/1.4 fisheye* and a CarrySpeed CS-Pro.

Nikon SB-600 Flash

Olympus Stylus Tough TG810 and 1080SW waterproof cameras

New iPad (1080p video)

Dell mini-10 w/Seagate 1TB external drive (for backing up videos and pictures)

Memorex AirStash with 32Gb card (for transerring videos from iPad to SD card because I hate iTunes)

*I rented this lens from borrowlenses.com because it lists $700 and I wanted to test it a little first. Absolutely loved the lens (you will see pictures here) and the company was great to deal with. I spent about $100 for the 10-days I had it including shipping and insurance.

My husband and I have our own photography business(we use Canon) and in looking at your pictures, I think you have a great eye, great skill as a photographer, and potential-the food pictures are exceptional plus you have an adorable family, so always good pics there!). We did not start our business until he was injured on his job and could not go back, at age 49. We were actually blessed by the injury as he is now living his dream of being a professional photographer and owning our own business and he is well known and recognized in Charlotte for his work, so maybe, in your future, there could be a new profession. Good luck and good shooting!!

[susie8862]

One of the best reviews ever. Thank you for taking the time to write and show all of your pics. You have a beautiful family. Going to be on the Splendor for the first time in January. Stuff like this gets me more and more excited. THANK YOU.......:o

[pyroguy]

Thank you for your review.

Two questions when you get a moment..

 

#1 Did you use American currency in Cabo / PV?

 

and

 

#2 Your portrayal of the vendors in Cabo has me a bit nervous. ( Although I appreciate the honesty.)

How would one pick a vendor.. from the crowd.. if one DID want to take a tour or parasail etc?

 

Thank you so much, again your pictures are incredible.

 

Thanks for the encouragement.

 

Yes, American currency worked fine. Most street vendors quote dollars in thier prices, establishments post in pesos but convert at ~10:1.

 

As for picking a vendor, we looked for establishments (buildings) rather than just people on the streets. I don't know if it matters, but it seemed better to us.

 

One caution...we tried to get a wave runner rental with our trip to Medano beach trip. The guy was telling us all the things he could get for us and wanted everything up front. Then we realized that he was just a middle man too and he would be paying a couple different people for our taxi and others for the wave runners. Then he started changing timeframes, etc and we got spooked and decided to leave.

 

Didn't feel comfortable giving one middle man all the money up front for something on the other side of the bay. Pay the person only, not the middle men.