Just off the Splendor....YUCK!

[JJBhouston]

Why didn't you use the Carnival guarantee and just leave?

[DJandSydney]

I think I just found something that I enjoy more - spending a week in St. Martin and pretending to act like a local (haha) and visiting islands for extended periods. I'll just chalk it up to interests changing, that's all!

 

Laura

I liked your review and bad weather all week can add a damper to any vacation. Except if you happen to be on St John Usvi. We do short 4 day cruises that get out fix for some warmth and tropical vibe. Except DJs seem to not have anything tropical to blast on their overly loud speakers.

 

We do our 10 day trips to STJ and that is total Island Time Mon. Give me some Buffet or Chesney and Steel Pan when on a tropical cruise

[KillaFee]

I think I just found something that I enjoy more - spending a week in St. Martin and pretending to act like a local (haha) and visiting islands for extended periods. I'll just chalk it up to interests changing, that's all!

 

Laura

I liked your review and bad weather all week can add a damper to any vacation. Except if you happen to be on St John Usvi. We do short 4 day cruises that get out fix for some warmth and tropical vibe. Except DJs seem to not have anything tropical to blast on their overly loud speakers.

 

We do our 10 day trips to STJ and that is total Island Time Mon. Give me some Buffet or Chesney and Steel Pan when on a tropical cruise

 

Ooooooh St. Johns is on our list!!!!!! :D YES I LOVE island time. Ahhhh....can't wait to get away. I always feel so recharged when I spend some time on the islands. I think I miss that recharged feeling. :D Do you rent a place when you go to St John? We've been looking on Home Away - there are so many places!!!

[KillaFee]

Why didn't you use the Carnival guarantee and just leave?

 

Was there an extra charge for this? If so, I wouldn't do it. I wasn't planning on spending another nickle or dime on this venture. ;)

[KillaFee]

Hi Laura :)

 

I am very sorry yo hear you had a bad cruise on the Splendor.

Did you see the three shows on the Splendor; (Vroom, The Beat and Fiesta Latina?)

 

Did you try the Pinnacle Steakhouse or the Chef's table?

 

I personally would never choose the (Port Canaveral, Freeport, Nassau) itinerary that

the Splendor is doing at the moment. My wife and I sailed on her for 16 days from

May 25 to June 10, everything was terrific.

 

Our itinerary was:

 

Sailaway (New York)

Sea Day

Sea Day

Grand Turk

Half Moon Cay

Nassau

Sea Day

Sea Day

New York (Turnaround Day)

Sea Day

Sea Day

San Juan

St Thomas

Grand Turk

Sea Day

Sea Day

New York

We are going back on the Splendor in Feb of 2015.

Our itinerary will be:

 

Feb 13 ...............New York

Feb 14 ...............At Sea

Feb 15 ...............At Sea

Feb 16 ...............Grand Turk

Feb 17 ...............At Sea

Feb 18 ...............Antigua

Feb 19 ...............St Kitts

Feb 20 ...............St Thomas

Feb 21 ...............Puerto Rico 8am-10pm ( Turnaround Day )

Feb 22 ...............St Kitts

Feb 23 ...............Antigua

Feb 24 ...............St Thomas

Feb 25 ...............At Sea

Feb 26 ...............Grand Turk

Feb 27 ................At Sea

Feb 28 ................At Sea

March 1 .............New York

 

Hopefully you will not let the reasons you listed cause you to not cruise in the future.

Again, sorry to hear you did not have a wonderful vacation on a fine ship with an outstanding crew..

 

:)

 

Hi,

We weren't able to see the shows. They were constantly being cancelled /changed due to the high seas, so on the nights that they were changed to we already had plans. We saw the welcome aboard show, the comedy shows, the male / female duo, and Keith, the solo guitarist. We went to the Rubosto lounge one night to see Frank play, and the poor guy had NOT ONE PERSON listening or watching him. They stuck him in a place that no one visited....we felt horribly for him because he's very talented. The crew was wonderful. I think the staff really went out of their way...I think it was just a perfect storm (pun intended) and everything seemed to go wrong. Your B2B sounds exciting!!!

[Sailor_Sally]

I have been on two cold weather cruises . Alaska & New England . Both cruises the ship felt crowded because very few people were using the outside areas.

[autofan]

I actually think your positives outweigh your negatives. We thought the first winter cruise we went on would be our last for there were so many adults that seemed to be rude and entitled. We have since been on several more and they have been much better. May have just figured out how to ignore. We have always found the children so much more delightful. At least when they run in front of you it is due to excitement, or that is what it appears. I agree the buffet could be laid out much better but once you do figure out how to navigate it is not too bad. Also, we are early risers so we are not present when it is really crowded.

[joeyancho]

Hi carnival gets more ghetto by the day. The low, low price opens up the market to people who could have never cruised years ago. While that may be good for the bottom line, it ruins the experience for those who can remember how nice cruising used to be. Just my opinion, yourmileage May vary.

[MsTabbyKats]

With bad weather, unexciting ports, entertainment canceled.....most people wouldn't have a good cruise.

 

DH and I love to eat in the buffet. One of our "activities" is to watch those piling on the cholesterol....and guess when the heart attack will kick in. It's our version of "The Hairy Chest" contest. :)

 

As far as the pjs....I don't care what people wear....as long as it covers "the parts of the body that shouldn't be exposed to daylight."

 

But...keep in mind...you got "a heck of a deal".

 

If "hecks of deals" weren't available....all those people wandering around in their pjs and eating as if there were no tomorrow....wouldn't have been on the ship.

 

So...if you want to avoid "this type of crowd"....you gotta avoid the "hecks of deals"....and pay more to be with people who can afford more. Period.

 

We're booked for the Splendor in April. The dates are perfect, the ports are good....and we also have "a good deal". As long as our fellow passengers aren't dangerous...DH and I will be spending a lot of time laughing.

 

Seriously....I think there were more positives than negatives in your review....and if you could have walked around enjoying the weather, I don't think the other things would have bothered you as much.

Edited December 4, 2013 by MsTabbyKats

[jimsnapple]

Looks like you had a good time i still think you make your own cruise or vacation & the think the crew help out big time

 

 

Sent from my DROID BIONIC using Forums mobile app

[BattyL]

Yes. I can see what you mean.

 

I really didn't want to hate it as much as I did. I feel weird writing a negative review, because I usually laugh off bad reviews, to be honest. After all, how can one have a bad time at sea? Life at sea is better than a day at work, right? Not this time. We were just in awe of how strange everything seemed on this particular cruise. Something (well, many things) were just "off". Oh well. Live and learn!

 

That's exactly how we felt on the Splendor- just couldn't wait for it to be over. We did enjoy the MDR, and we spent a lot of time on our balcony. Thought we were done cruising too, but we just booked another one on the Pride. I do like that ship.

[KillaFee]

With bad weather, unexciting ports, entertainment canceled.....most people wouldn't have a good cruise.

 

DH and I love to eat in the buffet. One of our "activities" is to watch those piling on the cholesterol....and guess when the heart attack will kick in. It's our version of "The Hairy Chest" contest. :)

 

As far as the pjs....I don't care what people wear....as long as it covers "the parts of the body that shouldn't be exposed to daylight."

 

But...keep in mind...you got "a heck of a deal".

 

If "hecks of deals" weren't available....all those people wandering around in their pjs and eating as if there were no tomorrow....wouldn't have been on the ship.

 

So...if you want to avoid "this type of crowd"....you gotta avoid the "hecks of deals"....and pay more to be with people who can afford more. Period.

 

We're booked for the Splendor in April. The dates are perfect, the ports are good....and we also have "a good deal". As long as our fellow passengers aren't dangerous...DH and I will be spending a lot of time laughing.

 

Seriously....I think there were more positives than negatives in your review....and if you could have walked around enjoying the weather, I don't think the other things would have bothered you as much.

 

All very true!!!

[KillaFee]

That's exactly how we felt on the Splendor- just couldn't wait for it to be over. We did enjoy the MDR, and we spent a lot of time on our balcony. Thought we were done cruising too, but we just booked another one on the Pride. I do like that ship.

 

Glad to hear I'm not the only one, lol!! We would just look at each other and throw our arms up as if to say "what are we doing wrong? Why are we disliking this so much when we ALWAYS have fun no matter what?!"

 

That's great that you're going on another one. I think I will too one day....after all I DID enjoy over 20 of them!!

[jerseyralph]

No flaming here.

 

We boarded the Splendor for an 8 day on 11/9. We met amazing people! A cardiac nurse who gave me advice that may save my life. A radio station owner and his wife, who were delightful. A private school superintendent and his wife, also a professional, who could have not been smarter or more willing to share. That is just a sample.

 

I have never seen anyone walking around in pajamas on any cruise and we have been on many. This morning I did see a girl walk into a college class in what appeared to be pajama bottoms and slippers. Oh well.......At least she did not miss her 8 am class.

 

We do not visit the buffet unless we absolutely have to. We would just prefer to relax over meals. We love the brunch and usually visit it around lunch time. We have a continental breakfast brought to us early by room service. It works really well.

 

The Splendor may be my least favorite ship of all the ships we have ever sailed on. I think it is just plain ugly. The staff was wonderful. Malcolm is fabulous in his leotard.

 

There were people from all over the world with us on our trip. That is a perk of sailing from NYC. There are cultural differences that must be acknowledged and appreciated, though.

[BattyL]

Glad to hear I'm not the only one, lol!! We would just look at each other and throw our arms up as if to say "what are we doing wrong? Why are we disliking this so much when we ALWAYS have fun no matter what?!"

 

That's great that you're going on another one. I think I will too one day....after all I DID enjoy over 20 of them!!

 

Normally we are very easy to please but there were just too many negatives for us on this cruise. I was really surprised when DH suggested another cruise. I do hope you don't let this one change your mind about cruising. :)

[KillaFee]

We took the Conquest out of NOLA a couple of years ago and can honestly say that it was our least favorite ship and least favorite cruise. That being said, a vacation is what you make it. If you can have a good time in a 4 x 4 room with your cruise mate for a week then why was being on this ship so hard? That is why the MDR is open. Thank you for the review. Perhaps you should book a vacation on a remote island somewhere away from people that might irritate you.

 

Whelp! We had a good time, but we would have had more fun in a 4 x 4 room at home. And yes, we do prefer remote islands for sure. Way more romantic than a cruise, if that's what you're looking for (and we are!) ;)

[Vitamin_Sea]

We are on this ship in January.:confused:

I know the ports are not that great.

But the price was rock bottom.

 

Oh well...were stuck with it now.

Edited December 4, 2013 by limoguy1

[2CoolCanucks]

We are on this ship in January.:confused:

I know the ports are not that great.

But the price was rock bottom.

 

Oh well...were stuff with it now.

 

 

You'll have a great time Limoguy. I understand that we're on the same cruise as you and we always have a great cruise… :D

[Vitamin_Sea]

You'll have a great time Limoguy. I understand that we're on the same cruise as you and we always have a great cruise… :D

 

I see you have been on this ship in September.

Was it really messed up?

[2CoolCanucks]

I see you have been on this ship in September.

Was it really messed up?

 

No it was amazing! we loved it so much that we chose to go on her again in January… and we're taking a few friends along with us. :)

You will love it :)

 

As I have posted on an other thread somewhere, whatever Carnival could control on the cruise, they did so well - we were not disappointed.

Whatever they can't control, ie. bad weather, nasty fellow cruisers, sick people, etc. we have learned to take in stride.

Edited December 4, 2013 by 2CoolCanucks

[Vitamin_Sea]

No it was amazing! we loved it so much that we chose to go on her again in January… and we're taking a few friends along with us. :)

You will love it :)

 

:)

Sounds good! Looking forward to it.

 

I read that the Splendor was suppose to be a ship for costa.

[lilmizz]

I have no doubt I'll get flamed for this, but after 8 days of wanting nothing more than to hop on a helicopter and magically land in my front yard, I feel that I'm able to speak on the subject. :p Please feel free to ask specific questions!! I'll be happy to expand on anything.

 

Bugh. That basically sums up our vacation.

 

First let me give you some background info on us. We're both 32 from CT. We love to travel. I'm a seasoned cruiser. I've cruised with Royal Caribbean 23 times, 2 Carnival, 2 Celebrity, and a variety of 1-2 night cruises back in the 1990's. I've done various island vacations in condo rentals in St. Martin, all inclusives in Mexico, Jamaica, and the Dominican. We travel a minimum of 2X a year for week long vacations, and at least 4-5 weekend vacations around the country, so I'm relatively familiar with what to expect depending on the class of hotel / resort / ship you're staying at/in. It's 100% fair to say that you tend to get what you pay for. I WILL say that we got this cruise FOR A HECK OF A DEAL, so it's all relative, and when it comes down to it, I think we got exactly what we paid for.

 

So it's safe to say we'll never cruise w/Carnival again, and I'll tell you why. We might just not cruise at all again after this, since we realized we prefer the calmness, beauty, simplicity, and overall relaxation that an island vacation offers, as opposed the the bonkers ship that we just got off of. It's just not our cup of tea. The aggressive, pushy, pajama clad passengers on this ship just aren't our style. That combined with the crummy itinerary, crummy weather, freakish lido deck which felt like a mix between someones living room and a wonky indoor pool from the twilight zone....just NO.

 

That being said.....we made the best of it because we have fun together and can enjoy ourselves in a 4x4 room for a week if need be. Soooo let me elaborate on a few things.

 

Things we DID like:

-The food in the dining room was fantastic. We ate there every single day for brunch or breakfast and dinner.

-Our steward, Made (pronounced Made-E) was awesome.

-Our room was great! We simply had an outside, but it was a shockingly great size and decorated very nicely. Everything was right where it should be. The beds were pretty cozy as well.

-Embarkation and debarkation were great! Self assist debarkation was WO:NDERFUL. We were able to leave that thing ASAP!! We were OFF the ship by 8:30am and were out and in our car by 9am. Yipppeeee! Bbye Splendor!

-The adult comedy was very entertaining.

-Daniella, the hostess at the Black Pearl at night and Gold Pearl for brunch was wonderful!! She was so cheerful and prompt and always greeted us by name.

-Yurgita from the Martini Bar (El Mojito) was great! She makes an amazing extra dirty goose martini.

-The Gym was nice. We all got kicked out one day because the seas were so high, but I did enjoy the layout and the equipment was great.

-Kieth, the solo guitarist. His sense of humor and wit were wonderful. His condescending jokes and hatred for the cruise ship itself were spot on. He basically said exactly what we were thinking.

-The warm chocolate melting cake.

-The Serenity deck was ok. But why on earth the mini golf is directly above it is beyond me. There are constantly little children running around with swinging golf clubs on the Serenity deck. Not very serene....

-......YUP.....that's all we can come up with.

 

Things we DIDN'T like

-Everything else. :p

-The Lido deck. It needs to just be bulldozed and re-done. I'm not saying that I don't like the layout of the ship.....it takes like a 20 minutes to figure it out. I'm saying that I just don't like THE SHIP. It's so dark and cold feeling. I get it. I've been on a Carnival ship so I know what to expect and I know all about Joe Farcus style. I do have to say that the lime green grout with black tile ALL OVER was a nice touch. :eek:

-The Lido buffet is just crazy. Thousands of people with NO MANNERS just walking around in a confused stouper, piling plates full of bacon and then waiting in line for 5 burritos, pizza, the deli....really? How much food can you eat?! It's so poorly laid out. I've never experienced such mayhem in a buffet before. Gross. They need to dispense Xanax at the door or something because the whole area is just an anxiety attack waiting to happen.

-The music on the aft deck was just bizarre. I have no idea what was coming out of those speakers. Again, I suddenly found myself in the twilight zone.

-The passengers. Why do people think it's ok to walk around in their pajamas whilst on a cruise ship? Oh and if not pajamas, bath robes! I'm sorry, I've always thought that being on a cruise was something special. It's just disrespectful to treat the ship like it's your own stinking living room. I don't want to see what you wear to bed, ok? One night, while walking through the Splendido, a guy flags down my husband and says "yo sh$&*t!!! Is it FORMAL night or something?!". Mind you my husband was wearing a dress shirt tucked into pants and I was wearing a maxi dress. No, it's not formal night. We just like to look nice. Geeze. A memo really needs to go out clarifying that there is no pajama night. It just makes the whole atmosphere seem so low class.

-The Promenade was freezing and smelled like cigarettes. I tried to avoid this area, but most things are off of the Promenade, so it was difficult to avoid.

-The ports of call were crummy and the weather was horrible, but I realize that's beyond the ships control, so I'm not going to fault them for that. It just didn't help the situation. The seas were crazy because of 60 MPH wind gusts, so the decks were all closed off to passengers. Again, it's obviously for our safety, and beyond their control, but having been stuck inside from Monday night until Thursday morning just made us a little stir crazy.

 

In closing, I think this experience made us realize what we like and DO NOT like in a vacation. I think I've just grown out of cruises. I hate to be negative, and I'm usually the first one to point out "what someone might have done wrong to have a bad time" when I read reviews, but this was HONESTLY the worst cruise (out of....28 or something?). I didn't have high expectations, and we pretty much got exactly what we expected. I just thought MAYBE we'd like it a bit more that we expected. The highlight was the food and service. But that's pretty much where it ends.

 

Please feel free to ask questions or flame away, teehee!

 

 

Laura

Honesty is everything, And that you were. Who would flame you? You actually Like all the same things I like on the Ships. Lido deck is ok, sometimes ppl do get overly comfy but what to heck, I don't mind that, I've been known to where my "yoga" pants on lido at night but everyone has a opinion.

 

One of these days Ill do just a Island vaca too, right now Im happy going to diff places and eating good food, while drinking good drinks! Good and honest review either way!! Cheers!

[pamrose228]

Sorry you had bad weather, it can absolutely ruin a cruise. Back in 2004, our 9 day on the Legend from NYC to the eastern Caribbean was horrid because of an impending hurricane. Our port of call, San Juan, St. Thomas and St. Marten was ALL cancelled and we ended up at PC, Nassau and Freeport. Funny thing all of the scheduled ports never were touched by the storm and all three we went to were boarding up and getting ready for the worse and all three got hit real bad.

I realize this was not CCL' fault but excursions were all cancelled, how can anyone say they enjoyed this.

 

Funny thing is two year later I tried it again on RCCL and guess what hurricane cancelled two of three ports. I still keep trying!

[okgirl]

I'm not going to flame you........I think peoples experiences are often overshadowed by their expectations. Plus, it seems that many people go looking for issues........especially on Carnival..........

 

In 31 cruises, on 16 different Carnival ships I've never seen or experienced the negatives that you had on your cruise.....if they happened I'm really sorry......

 

I don't often go to the buffet because I prefer to be served in the MDR......but when I do, I don't go at peak times..........I've seen people in bathrobes in the buffet, but that's only because they don't allow swim suits in the buffet, so that's to be expected.....

 

Did you write a rewiew on the review board?????? If so, I'm sure I'll read it, since it will probably be rated a 1 or 2 star and I only read those for amusement.

[brooms]

I agree that everyone has a right to their opinion, and yes you did state both lots of good and bad points, which usually can be applied to every type of vacation, but if you did not like the itinerary why did you pick this cruise?

And do you not go in and research the ship to see the décor and the lay out?

Not flaming, just asking.

It is one thing to complain about certain things but don't complain about the ship and itinerary when you can see pictures of the ship and you pick the itinerary.

As for the weather, travelling in November you can expect any kind of weather.

On a side note, I was on the Pride the same week and the Splendor was in every port with us and everyone we met from the ship was having a great time.