Review (short) of 5/28 7-day Splendour Cruise

[lucyjohnz]

We did the 7-day Med cruise on RCL's Splendour. We enjoyed the cruise but were exhausted by the end of it. We spent 2 days in Barcelona pre-cruise and 1 day in Chicago post-cruise making for 10 long days of travel. On the cruise, we went to Marseilles, Villefranche, Livorno (Florence/Pisa), Chittachia (sp? Rome) and Napes. We especially like Florence and Pisa and would like to visit the Isle of Capri again without doing the Blue Grotto. Here's my overview of the trip:

 

1) Stayed at the Hotel Continental Palacente for two nights in Barcelone pre-cruise - great little hotel located 1 block North of Placa Catalunya and the start of Las Ramblas. Rate was 130 Euros for a queen-bed room, 120 Euros for a 2-twin-bed room - get the 2-twins room as the Queen bed felt pretty small. 24-hour buffet included hot food (soup, paella, etc.), fruit, candy, bread, olives, wine, beer, bottled water and soda. There's also a free stand-up internet terminal. AC in the hotel was great and it's a very pleasant hotel. Rooms are not large but the bathrooms are.

 

2) Did taxis from airport to hotel, hotel to port and port to airport. Cost 20-30 Euros for 4 of us with tip. We waiting in quite a long line at debarkation to get a taxi.

 

3) Did the Nostradamus tour Sunday in Marseilles - waste of time - hot and boring. Also missed the RCL's M&M because of it. Would have been better off doing a taxi tour.

 

4) In Villafranche, tendered in around 10:30 and tried to take the train to Nice but didn't quite get the right train schedule and ended up waiting an hour until the next train. Moral to the story: look up the route online before the trip. Walked downhill from the Nice station to the ocean - took about 45 minutes through a congested, construction-ridden city. Didn't care that much for Nice. Came back in time to take the train to Monte Carlo where we took a cab to the casino (10 Euros). The private tables (you pay 10 Euros each to go in) open at 4 and we got there around 5:20. Played a little Roulette (with 5 Euro minimum chips) and won 30 Euros but since it cost 40 for 4 of us to get in and 13 Euros for a Gin and Tonic, I think we lost money. It was fun anyway - Blackjack table minimums were 25 Euros and up. Took a taxi back to the train station and just missed the next train by minutes. Waited another hour to return. Got back around 8pm.

 

5) In Livorno, did a tour with a group of 4 Australians to Florence and Pisa with Limo in Rome group - I enjoyed Florence even though it was hot and pretty crowded. Saw David at the Accedemia without waiting in the hour-long line - our private driver had made reservations for us and walked us right through - cost 11 Euros/pp. There isn't much to that museum except for David. I've heard the Uffizzi is much better for its collection but we weren't in the mood for more museums. Found an air-conditioned internet cafe in Florence and spent about 30 minutes there for about 3 Euros. We next went to Pisa and had a whopping 40 minutes to spend there - I'd have preferred 2 hours as Pisa is nice and we wanted to climb the tower. We didn't because we didn't have enough time. Our guide didn't offer much to our group of 8 other than getting us into Accademia without lines and a pretty uneventful trip to Florence. But, it was still cheaper (75 Euors/pp) and less crowded than doing a ship's excursion so that was good.

 

6) In Naples, we took the hydrofoil to the left of the ship around 10:35 to the Isle of Capri for about a 45-minute ride. Then we stepped off the hydrofoil and caught the last jet-boat to the Blue Grotto. They didn't leave again until 3pm - maybe this has to do with the tides. At the grotto, we ended up waiting about an hour in choppy water for our rowboat to take us in. I got seasick - the Ginger pill didn't do it for me. Then, once in the rowboat, I got sick again - if you've ever had any hint of motion-sickness, take Dramamine or Bonine before this trip or you'll be sorry. I managed to quit being sick right before we entered the grotto and it was really lovely and lighted by a neon-blue light. We stayed about 5 minutes, took the boat back to Capri-town, ate lunch outside at an expensive restaurant and then took the hydrofoil back around 3:30. Hydrofoil cost 22 Euros each for RT ticket and Blue Grotto cost about 17 Euros each without a tip to the speed boat or row boat drivers. Would I do the Blue Grotto again - nope, I'd rather see more of the Isle of Capri.

 

7) Did the "Rome: Eternal City" Tour with the ship for $190 each. We waited about 30 minutes in line to get into Vatican Museum and then spent about 2 hours in the museum, another hour in St. Peter's and a shop and then on to a marvelous lunch. The afternoon was spent at the Colleseum (no waiting in line) and then back to the ship by 5:15. It was a good tour but the Vatican was hideously crowded and all those crowds were gone by noon (the museum closes at 3pm) - if you have the choice, go in the afternoon. Would I visit the Vatican museums/Sistine Chapel again - nope, too crowded and hot. I might go back to St. Peters though - it was gigantic, cool and impressive. Was this tour worth it - probably not at almost $200/pp. We probably could a private tour for much cheaper and bought us a REALLY nice lunch for the difference. But, by Thursday, we didn't want to have to think about anything - we just wanted to be led around.

 

8) Ship topics: Food - we found the food in the dining room to be mediocre to good. We sent steaks back on several nights because they were overcooked. The lobster was delicious though and the service was great. The food on this cruise was just not that good compared to other RCL and even other Carnival cruises. We were not very impressed with it.

 

9) Internet on the ship is expensive ($.50/minute) and slow. Also, we could NOT get internet mail to work at all for AOL and it didn't work for my work mail. We tried using it the first day and gave up after that.

 

10) Can't say much about the Entertainment as we didn't participate in hardly any of it. Did go to the casino quite often and for the first time, came back with about $200 more than I started with. I came in 2nd in the Blackjack tournament but they limited the number of players so I only got $164 but that was still great. Slots seemed tight and we had all our luck on the roulette and craps tables. I did finally get a straight flush on 3-card poker betting $5 so that was probably my $200 profit.

 

11) Cabin: we had an outside (3032) and the girl's had an inside (3029). 3029 is right under the Schooner Bar piano and the girls (ages 18 and 20) had to endure Billy Joel music every night until 12-1am. The cabins though were roomy and the location was great in terms of proximity to the dining room (decks 4-5), casino (deck 4), shops/purser's office (deck 5) and exit off the ship (deck 1 or deck 4). We would NOT have used a balcony but did enjoy the window.

 

12) Flight plan home was: Barcelona-London-Chicago-Dallas with an overnight planned in Chicago so we could see the Art Institute on Sunday. Our flight to London was 90 minutes late and with a 2-hour layover, we literally RAN through the airport to catch our flight to Chicago. We made it but our checked bags didn't. We stayed at the Chicago O'Hare Airport hotel for a Priceline rate of $55/night with just our carryons and checked out Sunday morning. We took the shuttle back to the airport and then the shuttle to the rental cars and rented a nice car for $35/day. We drove into Chicago and easily found the Art Institute and it is FABULOUS. That's one of the best museums I've ever been to. We drove back to the airport with a stop at Super Dawg Hot Dogs (had to try it but it was just OK, not great hot dogs) and were back in the airport by 2pm. We entertained ourselves until our 5:30pm flight and got home just fine. Our 5 bags were delivered 6am Monday morning. Yipee!

 

Overall impressions: I liked Florence, Pisa and the Isle of Capri. The cruise itself was exhausting and I don't think I'll do another 7-day Med. cruise. We may look into 10-12 day cruises or just come back to Italy and go to Venice and Florence/Pisa. The people in Barcelona and Italy were very friendly and helpful. Not so much so in France - I don't think I'll return to the French Med for an extended stay.

 

If anyone has any questions, you can email me or post here - I'll usually check this site daily.

[Snackdaddy]

lucyjohnz,

 

Thanks for sharing your experiences of your 7-day Med cruise on RCL's Splendour. Although you folks were exhausted, I'm sure you have some great family memories.

 

How did your 18 and 20-year olds enjoy the trip and the tours? We will be sailing on the 6/28/06, 12-night, Brilliance with our 19-year old son and are looking into tours we think the whole family will enjoy. Please advise. Thanks.

[dmh515]

We are going on the Splendour June 25 with daughters 24 and 21, and son 16. Wondering what the dining times are, when are formal nights, any other "dress-up" or theme nights (someone mentioned toga night which doesn't appeal to me, but my kids might love it) and any other hints for making the kids happy. Guess we'll take lots of dramamine for the visit to Capri; we all tend to feel it when we're on small boats. We're doing a private tour to Aix-en-Provence and Les Baux de Provence from Marseille - did you hear from anyone else who might have ventured there? Really wondering if we will see much on a Sunday. We're planning to make Villefranche our "light" day by just taking the train into Monaco for a few hours, and have private drivers for the 5 of us in Pisa/Florence and Rome. We're doing the ship's tour of Capri/Sorrento/Pompeii the last day, so we will definitely enjoy having time to just relax at sea afterward. Also doing 2 days pre-cruise in Barcelona (our 21 year old has been on a UT Maymester course in Sevilla and we are meeting her in Barcelona), then doing 1 day post-cruise in Barcelona before coming home to Houston and New York (24 year old lives there). I'll just be happy to have all five of us in one place at the same time, so seeing the sights is just the "gravy"! But still trying to plan as much as possible so we don't have any unpleasant surprises. Thanks for any details you can offer.

 

Dee Dee

[lucyjohnz]

Well, first the 18 and 20-year-olds (both girls) enjoyed the cruise but the 18-year-old got rather bored by all the architecture/churches. The 20-year-old probably enjoyed them more since she is an avid photographer and enjoyed all the different (from Texas!) architecture. The 18-year-old and I enjoyed the casino in Monte Carlo (yes, 18-year-olds and up can gamble in the casino there and on the ship). The girls also enjoyed the coliseum but the Vatican museums were hot and crowded and they didn't enjoy them as much.

 

There are 4 dinner times: 6:30, 7:00, 8:45 and 9:15. The 6:30 and 8:45 dining times sit on the bottom level of the King and I restaurant (Deck 4) while the 7:00 and 9:15 diners sit on the 2nd level. We ate at the 6:30 time but got there later and later every night until by the last night, we got there around 7pm. We had a window table for 8 and had a beautiful view every night from the windows - the view isn't quite as good on the 2nd level. Formal nights were Sunday and Thursday nights. On our Sunday 1:30pm excursion, we got back around 6:15 and RUSHED to get to formal night. Lobster was on Thursday night. We only missed one evening meal in the dining room (Monday night since we didn't return from Villefranche until 8pm) but never saw anyone in togas on the other nights. Most of the dress was country club casual but people did dress up more for formal nights.

 

Here's a link to my daughter's pics from the cruise - they're pretty darn good!

http://www.pinkprancer.com/photos/scenic/medtrip05/medtrip05.htm

[dmh515]

Lucy,

 

Thanks!! The info is greatly appreciated and the pictures are wonderful! My husband is a digital camera nut, but his won't be as artistic - just good momentos! We are signed up for early seating and had been on a wait list for late (what we usually prefer in the Caribbean), but after reading everyone's posts, we decided to get off the list and hope for 7:00. But if they will just serve you late, we might be just as happy with 6:30 - especially if there's a view!

 

Were there other young adults on your sailing? What did the girls do at night on the ship? My girls are singers, so they might spend a lot of time in the Karaoke club or piano bar, but probably only if there are others their age in there. They are both excited about the casinos. We have taken the oldest to Vegas, but the younger one turned 21 on her flight to Madrid two weeks ago, so this will be her first chance to gamble. Hoping there are also other teenagers for our 16 year old to hang out with.

 

Hope you don't mind my asking so many questions! We're getting very excited. I need to get more organized and actually start a little packing. Any other tips you can think of would be most welcomed.

 

Dee Dee

[Pat848]

Lucy

Were taxi's easy to get at the airport to hotel? You said 30-40 Euros - was that total? How much from airport to hotel? Hotel to port? Can you buy transfers from port to airport at the end?

[Debbierpof]

Lucy - thanks for sharing those photos! I'm an avid photographer (my two tots being my favorite subject right now). Would you mind asking your daughter if she would e-mail me? I would like to ask her questions about her experience as a photographer (what lens she used, etc...). I am bringing my Rebel EOS (35 mm) with me along with a zoom lens. My e-mail is debbierpof@comcast.net and I will be on the Splendour on July 23. Thanks!

Debbie

[Tatka]

Wow.. Great review and pictures...

 

I think your itinerary was a little better that ours last May (15 - 22) 2004.

 

Barcelona - Marseilles - Villefranche - Livorno - Civitaveccia - Naples - Day at Sea - Barcelona.

 

Try doing Rome after exausting (although wonderful) Pisa/Florence!

 

Our favorite stop was Villefranche and we are trying to figure out how can we spend more time there (it is $$$$, www.easycruise.com maybe?)

 

We also went to Capri and did blue grottos (loved it), next time we want to see Amalfi coast , Positano and Pompeii (were so tired we couldn't go anywhere except Capri and Naples double decker tour)

 

We also spent a day in London on the way back. Only 10 hours but a lot of ,fun!

[Tamara]

Dee Dee, Toga nights are a "Costa Cruise Line" thing. We did Costa with a group of kids this year for spring break and toga night was actually quite fun, I was amazed that almost everyone participated.-Tamara

[lucyjohnz]

Taxi: I think these were the prices (for 4 of us and 4 large pieces of luggage and 6 carryons):

Airport to Hotel Continental Palaceta (near Placa Catalunya): 30 Euros - the actual meter said something like 17-18 Euros and he added 3 Euros for 3 extra people and another 3 for airport and we tipped him for a total of 30.

 

Hotel to Pier: seems like this was 25 Euros

Pier to Airport: seems like this was 30 Euros

 

Taxis around town ran 8-12 Euros with tip. The most expensive was to Park Guell from Placa Catalunya at 12. From Placa to Sagrada Familia it was 5 Euros (he didn't charge the 3 Euros extra for extra passengers).

 

As for things to do for teens, there were very few on our May 28th cruise - but, I'm sure that had to do with the time of year. Seems I heard something about Kareoke events every night, though, so those should be fun.

 

Here's a little info on packing: bring your own bottled water and take it with you on every excursion - it was hot and humid in most of the ports and we drank lots of water. I took a small backpack that I either carried on my back or on my shoulder (to deter pickpockets) but I stored the bottled water, sunscreen (used it A LOT!), kleenex (for restrooms without TP) and the BEST ITEM, a handheld fan. Europe just isn't air-conditioned like Texas. In most places, there was no AC or poor AC. I brought a little paper fan from home and tore it up using it. Then, I bought a cheap plastic/cotton fan in Florence (see it in pics) and we used it constantly - it cost 3 Euros. Finally, I brought a belly pocket (don't know what else to call it) that I wore under my shirt - it held my money and credit cards). My husband carried a belt pocket that held his money, credit cards and our passports. This way, if my backpack was taken, all was not lost. The girls went without purses and put anything in pockets or even stored a 20 Euro bill in their bras in case we all got separated. Last but not least, I carried a Franklin electronic translator - translates in 4 other languages: Spanish, French, Italian and German. It cost $19.95 at the Franklin site online and it was great.