Splendor - Just off the ship today - Jan 28, 2014 - Review

[paulypride]

Once again, love your revue.

 

One question, how were the seas going down?. Any storms along the way?

 

Cheers

 

Len

 

No storms, seas were fairly calm, no big waves. No rain except for 20 minutes in Freeport and then the sun came out.

[jks336]

I would love the Breeze or the Sunshine, but someone on the Splendor told me that they heard that there is a good chance it will be the Pride since they are only scheduled to be in Tampa till April 2015.

 

just saw on the listing for cruises up till april 2016. Pride is going to Baltimore

[paulypride]

just saw on the listing for cruises up till april 2016. Pride is going to Baltimore

 

Yup Pride is indeed going to Baltimore now. I personally think it could be the Legend now since it will be finishing up its Australia run in early April 2015.

[paulypride]

so we finished Saturday night at the Punchliner, to see Shelia Kay. For those of you who have not had the opportunity to do so, you are missing out. She is hysterical and she is a huge animal lover/rescuer as well. She's from New Jersey and has alot of shows on land as well. She has been on numerous TV shows as well, including Law & Order SVU.

(I had no pic of her since you cannot take photos of the acts in the Punchliner, so I grabbed this off her FB page)

 

We headed off to bed after comedy.

[shoppingfever]

Great review! Thank you for sharing your trip and pics with us!

[paulypride]

Sunday January 26, 2014 – At Sea

 

So we were now done with our port days, thank goodness, as this itinerary isn't the most exciting. We took this cruise to enjoy the ship and we have been doing so so far and we plan to get the most out of the next two days as well.

 

Did our usual up later and then went to the Future Cruise Presentation. Not because we planned to book a cruise at that point, but because as a Travel Agent, I wanted to hear if there was any news that would be useful to me. There wasn't anything, but it was only 45 minutes and Daniela, the Future Cruise Manager was pleasant to listen to speak and made some funny jokes.

 

After this we heading down to the Golden Pearl for our lunchtime try of the Sea Day Brunch. We once again got a table for two and I once again had to stand there like an idiot waiting for them to find me a chair with no arms. For the life of me I don’t understand why they order chairs with arms in this day and age when so many folks are overweight. Oh well, I digress….they got me the chair finally and we had a very good lunch. I had a double cut pork chop in a gorgonzola sauce and Shawn had the Mac & Cheese with fried chicken breast. For dessert we had caramel cheesecake (it was ok) and banana creme pie (outstanding). We also had a return of the corned beef hash and I had a wonderful popover. Which I found out was only available after 11am – hence why we didn’t see them on our first trip to the Sea Day Brunch.

 

We did some more trivia – but the one we did really well in was Musicals Trivia, but alas we got one wrong only and came in 2nd place. Damn “Miss Saigon” LOL!!! You would have thought they moved the LGBT Gathering for the day to the lobby for that half hour though!

 

We followed it up with Baseball Trivia #2, we did well, but what was awesome was to have Daniel on our team again. He was a young kid who we met last year on the Miracle, he was cruising with his family. He teamed up with us on Sports Trivia last year and we won, we gave him the Ship on the Stick then. We ran into him again earlier this cruise and he was on our team for US Presidents Trivia and I forget what other one, but we won and I gave him the medals from those. We also ran into him at karaoke one night where he came in sang a song by Flo Rida, "Low Low Low" and took off....He is a good kid, seems very nice and was polite. It was nice to see him again.

[paulypride]

Baseball Trivia #2 was being hosted by a new staff social host, Banks – and he knew nothing about Baseball, it was quite amusing, hopefully he will get better as he gets more acclimated with the ship, the routine and his job.

 

We then went to the VIFP - Gold and Higher Past Guest Party. It was nice to get some free drinks. I was gonna take full advantage of that. I had 3 rum punches. We saw the CD again (miracles happen) and the Captain, Ettore Bovo and the senior staff. The Splendor Band performed, it was a nice time.

sorry the pics arent so good the lighting in the theatre messes up my settings!

 

On the way out of the reception we stopped in the casino to try the Cash Crane. I do pretty good on those machines usually with stuffed animals and such...and I continued my luck!

and like a smart husband, I handed it right over. lol

[paulypride]

Dinner was good. Started with the eggplant parm appetizer. For the main course I had the Cheateubriand and Shawn had the Southern Fried Chicken. We also ordered the Grilled Tiger Shrimps. For dessert I had the Baked Alaska, I mean how could I not, its like a sea/cruising tradition. Our waiter explained that they don’t do the traditional flambee parade since the ceilings are too low and they would potentially set off the fire detectors. Shawn had pineapple sherbert, which was excellent. The Baked Alaska was sliced paper thin and honestly was disappointing.

 

 

So against our better judgement, we decided to go to the main stageshow, “Vrooom” – I have to say I was pleasantly surprised how much better it was then the other shows. It had great costumes, sets, and music selections. I would recommend this show over all others.

 

We then decided to call it a night and get ready for our last day.

[paulypride]

Oops, forgot to add the pics of our formal night photo sessions! They take really good pics on the ship I must say!

[paulypride]

Monday January 27, 2014 – At Sea

 

I got up early and let Shawn sleep. I went to trivia and Scattergories. Shawn had a Cloud 9 Spa appointment and then had the dress rehearsal for “Legends Show” that night. We caught back up around 1pm and had some lunch.

 

We spent the afternoon playing trivia and games and we got our final medals for the week. Including the two I gave to Daniel we ended up with 14 medals and 2 Ships on a stick! Not bad for a week and beats our record from last year on the Miracle. At some point I think we will max out our winning potential.

Yeah we wore them all to dinner the final night!

 

We had our final meal in the Golden Pearl and we certainly were sad to say goodbye to Iwayan, Dusko and Anggara, who were the best dining room service team we have ever had. “Our Last Supper” was as always quite good. Shawn had the Fettuccine Alfredo with Chicken and Mushrooms as an appetizer, Prime Rib as the main and apple pie for dessert. I chose New England Crab Cake, Navy Bean Soup, Panko Breaded Shrimp and Curly fries and my favorite Carnival dessert, the Grand Marnier soufflé.

 

We went to the Spectacular Spectacular Theatre to get a good seat for the Legends Show and at 9pm, Shawn had to go and get ready for the show, so I sat there with anticipation, so excited and nervous for him at the same time!! I was in row three, dead center stage. I knew I would get some great pics of the show!

[paulypride]

Finally the Legends Show began and as someone who has seen quite a few of these shows, and not because I am biased, the level of the guests who were singing were better then any other show.

 

Here are some pics from the show and afterwards in the main lobby.

"Shania Twain"

"Elvis"

"Bruce Springsteen"

"Eli, the cruise director as Beyonce"

"Social Host Ross as Diana Ross"

"Frank Sinatra"

[paulypride]

"Tina Turner"

"Cher"

"Neil Diamond"

"Gloria Gaynor"

"Garth Brooks"

[paulypride]

and now the guy who I consider the star of the show....my husband as Michael Jackson!!

 

[paulypride]

some of the Legends show cast taking a bow and afterwards.....

 

This is Shawn with Kenny and Sandy from Long Island who I mentioned earlier in this review!

[paulypride]

So thats all for the daily breakdown of activities and such. I will post my personal observations and critiques in the next day or so, as well as shout outs for great crew members!

[jks336]

Yup Pride is indeed going to Baltimore now. I personally think it could be the Legend now since it will be finishing up its Australia run in early April 2015.

 

that would be cool. I want to go on the legend then saw it was going to Australia. :(

[jenny105]

This is my first time on Carnival and I didn't realize there was a Legends show. Awesome! I caught one in Vegas years back. Looking forward to it! :)

[Giantfan13]

Once again, great review. We are on the Splendor in less than 2 weeks now.

 

After reading your reviews, we are so looking forward to getting away.

 

Cheers

 

Len

[Midwestgal]

Love your review....you guys would be fun to cruise with !

[Giantfan13]

Didn't want to make a comment of your weight, but since you mentioned the chair issue, on our last cruise, we traveled with a couple who also need chairs without any arms so they can sit comfortably. Might be something Carnival should seriously look into to.

Glad you got your chair though. Out friends had some nights when they couldn't get chairs without arms.

 

Cheers

 

Len

[sgttami]

Thanks again for the detailed review.

 

I agree that the itinerary is not exciting and I've done it before so I'm looking forward to exploring the ship as a first time Carnival cruiser....2/13.

 

My sister and I will post our opinions (AKA..review) when we get back.

 

12 more days in the cold......

[disfan13]

Pauly, great review - my partner and I were on the Splendor in October and got an awesome TA rate. The crew were fantastic! Glad to see you enjoyed your trip! Great pictures!

[paulypride]

This is my first time on Carnival and I didn't realize there was a Legends show. Awesome! I caught one in Vegas years back. Looking forward to it! :)

 

 

Jenny, it's alot of fun. Its on all ships on voyages of 7 days or longer.

[paulypride]

Love your review....you guys would be fun to cruise with !

 

Thanks Robin, we try to have as much fun as we can! :)

[paulypride]

Didn't want to make a comment of your weight, but since you mentioned the chair issue, on our last cruise, we traveled with a couple who also need chairs without any arms so they can sit comfortably. Might be something Carnival should seriously look into to.

Glad you got your chair though. Out friends had some nights when they couldn't get chairs without arms.

 

Cheers

 

Len

 

Len, not a problem at all. They are always very accomidating, but in general they should have wider seats or armless. For example, I could not use the chair in our room at all, and some of the seats in the clubs/lounges were tight.