The good the bad and the ugly from my adventures on the Carnival Splendor

[iluv2cruise830]

This review is very interesting for me, becauseI'm going on the Splendor tomorrow!!!

[Nisky18]

I'm also going on the Splendor tomorrow!

 

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[jimbo5544]

Yes and no, as most cruise ports have plenty of tours and tour operators at the port for last minute deals.

 

I like to have plans in place even if the plan is to wing it in the port. It relieves the stress and anxiety for me having to plan and execute every detail of our vacation :).

Some have WAY to many. They wait like vultures to attack....:eek:;)

[Vitamin_Sea]

Some have WAY to many. They wait like vultures to attack....:eek:;)

 

Yes, This is when they make money.

Its also good when there is compitition... And a bit of haggleing never hurts.

 

:eek:

[jimbo5544]

Yes, This is when they make money.

Its also good when there is compitition... And a bit of haggleing never hurts.

 

:eek:

 

True enough.

[lovelearnteach]

Hello friends sorry I've been mia all day, I had to cool off before continuing. Least I get this entire thread pulled I will continue with my account of my vacation, and leave it at that, as there is little else I can do about it :mad::mad::mad:!

[lovelearnteach]

and you usually pay WAY less for an excursion if you book with the locals.

 

Booking with CCL is likely the safer option but the most expensive.

Oh no doubt you get it cheaper, but some ports I rather be safe than sorry, and others I feel totally comfortable winging it :eek::D;).

 

Also some excursions you can only do through the cruise line.

[lovelearnteach]

This review is very interesting for me, becauseI'm going on the Splendor tomorrow!!!

Thank-you :).

 

Happy cruising, if they have a group on called VOGUE Performing Arts, go see them, they are a group of 10-18 year old girl dancers that are really quite good. They are booked by CCL, but not affiliated with CCL, and much better than the CCL dancers :).

[lovelearnteach]

I'm also going on the Splendor tomorrow!

 

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Happy cruising :).

[karinvt]

Oh no doubt you get it cheaper, but some ports I rather be safe than sorry, and others I feel totally comfortable winging it :eek::D;).

 

Also some excursions you can only do through the cruise line.

 

I agree with this! I almost never book through CCL but there are a few exceptions where I would.

[lovelearnteach]

Some have WAY to many. They wait like vultures to attack....:eek:;)

Yes some can get quite aggressive, but remember this is their livelihood. Weather or not your family eats depends on how much of the tourist dollar you can get, your gonna hustle ;):). That's how I always look at it anyway and I've found just saying no thank-you nicely and moving on is the best policy for us. Unless of course we are looking to get a tour, in which case you have to put your poker hat on and get the best deal for you :D;).

Edited January 4, 2014 by lovelearnteach

[lovelearnteach]

Yes, This is when they make money.

Its also good when there is compitition... And a bit of haggleing never hurts.

 

:eek:

Exactly my friend :D:)!

[lovelearnteach]

True enough.

You got it ;):).

[lovelearnteach]

I agree with this! I almost never book through CCL but there are a few exceptions where I would.

The excursion I did in Freeport was cooking on the beach which can only be booked through the cruise line. Was it over priced, perhaps a little, but I enjoyed myself and my time spent doing it.

[karinvt]

Details please :)

[lovelearnteach]

Dec. 23, 2013

 

Today is another port day, we are in Nassau, Bahama's from 11:00a.m.-8:00p.m.

 

Today is an ugly day at breakfast in the MDR. A waiter and I had some words, but let me start at the beginning.

 

We go to breakfast in the MDR and they sit us at a table for 10. We are the last to be sat, and as soon as we sat the waiter starts taking orders at the other end of the table. Giving us just enough time to peruse the menu and decide what we wanted.

 

He finally takes our order last, and off he goes and almost 30 minuets later comes back with everyone's food. Okay great in the meantime, apparently he doesn't have an assistant because we had no drinks, no pastry, nothing. Well into about 10 minutes we all start getting real grumbly, like where is an assistant to get us drinks and things. One young guy gets up and says he's going to get the Maitre D', so in the mean time a female waitress from another station hears our grumbles and comes over and starts to get us drinks, she was the real hero of the situation.

 

She asks another male waiter who the assistant is for this station and he says a name I don't remember. Well it was this male waiter that I ended up having words with.

 

So about this time here comes the guy and the Maitre D' who promptly starts questioning all the staff in the area. Suddenly up pops the assistant for this station who was who knows where, although I do believe he at least had a pot or pitcher in his hands of some sort.

 

So the Maitre D' starts snapping fingers and barking orders and we have pastry and drinks, and about this time up pops the waiter with our food.

 

As he quickly starts to pass it out this other male waiter says, oh that's why it took so long 2 people at the table ordered omelets.

 

Excuse me what has that got to do with it, can we please just get our food, I said. I'm thinking do you really think trying to now put the blame on us for bad service is our own fault, oh no you ain't.

 

He then says back to me well people should know if they order omelets it's going to take longer, especially when they get all that stuff in it, and it was said with attitude both in tone of voice and body posture.

 

Look you need to walk away and go take care of your own diners, I said. At that point I felt, instead of talking back just serve us our food and leave it at that.

 

He did walk away then and did not say anything within ear shot of me again. Look, just apologize, serve us the food and leave it alone, because. After I thought about it I came to the conclusion maybe he was attempting to cover for his buddies, but it wasn't the end of the world either way. Annoying yes, life shattering no.

Edited January 4, 2014 by lovelearnteach

[lovelearnteach]

Details please :)

:D I'm almost there.

[lovelearnteach]

After breakfast we head back to the cabin to gather our stuff and be prepared to be gone all day again. My plan for today is to go to Ardastra Gardens, Zoo & Conservation Centre, and then back to town for some shopping. There were a lot of cruise ships in port today and mobs of people.

 

We get past the entrance building, and all the hard sell guys, and start to scope out a taxi situation, as I realize walking is not the wisest option for us.

 

A nice man who I instantly got a good vibe from asks what are you looking for. I say a ride to AGZ&CC and back. He says he can help me, I ask how much he says $8 each way, I say great. He has us wait on a ledge by a restaurant. He then tells another couple sitting there he has their ride to Paradise Island.

 

We ended up sitting and waiting there for about 10-15 minutes, as all the taxis were busy taking people to PI. In the mean time the man is talking to us and we are having a really nice conversation. Here's our taxi, it's the man's "niece" and he gets into the driver's seat and drives us to AGZ&CC.

 

He drops us off saying I will see you at 3:00p.m. and he gives us his phone number should there be any problems, or we want to leave earlier. I only have a $20 and he conveniently doesn't have any change, so I say keep it and we will be all squared up for the ride home, and tip.

 

 

[lovelearnteach]

Ardastra, what can I say, we enjoyed our time there, although I can somewhat understand the criticism on tripadvisor of it being outdated. It's a small zoo by American standards, but I felt the staff took a lot of pride and cared for the animals well. It's a little pricey to get in but I felt if it was going to help support this darling little zoo then so be it.

 

We enjoyed spending the day here and Terry got to pose with the flamingos, which just put him over the moon. At 3:01p.m. our guy showed up and off we went, but instead of going back we asked what was good for lunch.

[lovelearnteach]

He takes us to "Seafood Row", and a place called The Anchorage Market and Restaurant. There are a lot of Restaurants in this area. He asks us if we want him to come back and get us, he'll give us a really good deal. I say no thank-you we'll walk back as I can see the cruise ships from here.

 

We had a nice lunch, I got some kind of fruit punch very good. I also got the fried conch with fries, it was good, not great, although the sauce to dip them in was really good.

Edited January 4, 2014 by lovelearnteach

[Jen1000]

The lobster and shrimp look great. Celebrity served us the smallest lobster tails in the world on the only night they had lobster. We could not believe how small!

 

Tonight is the 1st formal night in the MDR. We had requested a table for 10, as we like to meet other people. Well as I said earlier we were travling with a friend, Sherry, and her partner, so we linked our reservations so we could sit together at the same table of 10 together.

 

Well something got lost in translation because we were given a booth for 4 almost to the back of the Gold Pearl Restaurant. Well we didn't go to dinner the 1st night in the MDR and I had not talked to Sherry yet, Terry had, but I hadn't, so we got to the table 1st. I'm thinking no this is not okay, this is not what we wanted, I was just about to get up and go talk to the Maitre D' when Sherry showed up.

 

Well we decided to let sleeping dogs lie, and stayed at our little booth :). Our waiter and his assistants were excellent so that was definitely a factor in keeping us put. It was not the most comfortable seating, you felt like you were sinking down to the ground, and we weren't the only ones complaining about the seating in the MDR.

 

I'm not sure what this app is I got I didn't get a good pic of the menu, sorry. I got the Broiled Maine Lobster Tail and Jumbo Tiger Prawn Shrimp, very yummy. For dessert I got Caramelized Apples on Puff Pastry, very yummy, and Cherries Jubilee, not very good.

 

It was napkin wavin night ya all :eek::rolleyes::D:).

[Jen1000]

On my last cruise I did a couple of Celebrity tours that were CHEAPER than a comparable tour booked privately.

 

and you usually pay WAY less for an excursion if you book with the locals.

 

Booking with CCL is likely the safer option but the most expensive.

Edited January 4, 2014 by Jen1000

[lovelearnteach]

The lobster and shrimp look great. Celebrity served us the smallest lobster tails in the world on the only night they had lobster. We could not believe how small!

Princess too, chalk another one up for the Splendor :)!

[lovelearnteach]

On my last cruise I did a couple of Celebrity tours that were CHEAPER than a comparable tour booked privately.

Wow that's hard to believe, good for you :)!

[swanlady2000]

Really great review. We are due to sail with Carnival doing the same cruise in April. It will be our 5th cruise and have previously sailed with Princess, RCL and P&O (we are from the UK). I have enjoyed every cruise I have done so far and for us it is definitely a case of itinerary over cruise line as I am doing 2 nights in NY prior to the cruise (I want to see as much as the world as I can for the right price so cruising is the ideal way to see it).

 

Looking forward to reading more :-)