GAPearl Goes Solo on the Splendor! 11/1/14 SJU-MIA Repo Cruise Review.

[MsTee]

Hi Kim! I'm checking in… can't wait to read your review of this A-M-A-Z-I-N-G cruise!!! It was great meeting you. Hopefully we can get together to visit Curt's Bar when then weather is better. :)

[deladane]

 

 

 

Yay! I can't wait to read your review! I did a similar itinerary on Celebrity back in 2010- we went to St. Croix, St. Kitts, Dominica, Grenada, and Tobago, round trip from OSJ. Looking fwd to seeing what you did at each of your ports!

 

ps: I have this dress too!! Gotta love Old Navy (I think I ended up buying 4 or 5 of their dresses in this style this summer, all in different colors and prints haha)

[gapearl]

Hey everyone! Sorry I disappeared all day. I had a new alarm system installed in my house this morning, then spent 2 1/2 hours at the computer shop waiting for my laptop to finish getting fixed. I got a new hard drive installed, so I had to redownload and sort all 2,000 of my pictures again. :eek: I've been writing and uploading and resizing pictures for the last 2 hours and I'm ready to get started on the next two days, so let me go pour another glass of wine and I'll soon get back to it! :)

[CruisinGirl777]

Another GAPearl review .... ahhh, great :p.

 

Really enjoying all the time and detail you put into your reviews. You look like you are having a blast and it feels like we are right along with you. I absolutely loved Cartagena too, definitely my favourite land vacation. Hope to run into you sometime on a cruise :).

[Shake-n-Bake]

Hi Kim,

It was great to meet you on this cruise. Looking forward to reading this. :D

[gapearl]

Friday, October 31

Puerto Rico Day 3

 

Happy Halloween!

 

My short time in Ponce had come to an end and it was time to head back up to San Juan. After eating a Halloween cupcake for breakfast, I left Hotel Belgica around 10 am to walk around the plaza one final time and pick up a few souvenirs. I'm so glad I decided to come to Ponce. This is a very nice town and it was fun to do something different in Puerto Rico. If you will be visiting the island for a few days prior to your cruise, think about renting a car and doing as I did. Explore the island a little bit and see more of the natural beauty that still exists here outside of the tourist areas.

 

Here's a few more shots from Ponce.

 

 

More lions in the Plaza Las Delicias.

 

 

I had my hair stylist put some red in my hair before the cruise, so especially I loved this one. :)

 

 

 

I think is some Puerto Rican lottery. I saw these tickets for sale all over Ponce, but I don't think I've ever seen them in San Juan.

 

[gapearl]

I love the pink ribbons on this hotel for breast cancer awareness.

 

 

This street is full of shopping, both souvenirs for tourists and everyday things for locals.

 

 

 

 

Finally, some mannequins with a booty! :p

 

[gapearl]

The cathedral.

 

 

 

 

Me by my rental car.

 

 

Vegas baby!

 

[Swampbaby]

Yep....I am cruising with my dad :) He has had some health problems recently and we don't know what he future will bring so we are going to go now while we can and enjoy every minute together

 

Please let your Dad know he's in our prayers. Like you say go now and enjoy your time with him while you can.

[blueangel74]

Monicia!!! OMG did you notice he sat with Harold? :eek: I have a great picture of us on the first elegant night. :)

 

 

Seems like we were not the only ones to "experience" Harold. Feeling sympathetic for his dinner mates this week. Can't wait to see the picture.

[gapearl]

Being the princess that I am, I stopped by the Plaza del Caribe mall on my way out of town. It was only 5 minutes away from downtown Ponce where I was. Lots of kids were here in their costumes trick-or-treating with their parents. This mall has some nice boutiques as well as your mainsteam stores like Foot Locker, Aldo, JC Penney, etc. I walked around for 30 minutes and managed to escape with only two rings and not two big bags of shoes, but only because I had nowhere to put them!

 

Looks like some Halloween event was happening later.

 

 

Gheez, already?

 

 

My drive back took me through Caguas, where I stopped for lunch with Luis again and picked up a few last minute cruise stuff from Walgreens. All of the traffic I avoided on the drive down was on the road today. Atlanta traffic is nothing compared to what they have here! First, the roads are only two lanes. Second, the public transportation is bad so everyone has a car, sometimes 2 or 3 per house. It was a lot of stop and go and I finally made it to my hotel at 3:30 pm.

 

Adios Ponce! Hasta mas tarde.

 

 

That road sign is on the wrong side, isn't it?

 

 

Tonight I stayed at Le Consulat, a boutique hotel in middle of Condado. It's a part of the Choice Hotels brand and I had the required 12,000 points for a free stay, so the room cost me zero dollars! The average rate is about $99 a night. I got lucky and found a parking spot close by on the street and didn't have to pay for a parking lot. After getting checked in, I headed out to walk around for a little while and immediately ran into some people from the roll call "group". ;-) This would end up happening all night.

 

My room at Le Consulat. It was on the small side but very comfortable. They provided two complimentary bottles of water.

 

 

[wrigley80]

Please let your Dad know he's in our prayers. Like you say go now and enjoy your time with him while you can.

 

 

Thank you so much. You never know what tomorrow will bring so go and enjoy the time together. Thank you for the prayers

[gapearl]

After a nap, I got some bad news from Luis. He was going to come hang out with me for Halloween but something last minute came up and he couldn't make it. Earlier this year I had thrown around a few costume ideas. First there was the naughty cop idea, handcuffs and all. Then I thought about a cute little sailor outfit, since I was going on a ship the next day. I shot that one down and decided on a bedazzled bodysuit with fishnets, 5" stilettos, a long blonde wig, and cute Cabbage Patch doll. Yep, you guessed it. Beyonce and Blue Ivy! hahaha In the end I didn't bring a costume at all and just stayed in my blue Target maxi dress.

 

 

I found a nice restaurant for some dinner. I needed to load up on carbs for tomorrow (you'll find out why soon) so I had some pasta and a sangria. I wish I can remember the name of this restaurant but they offered mofongo with yuca instead of plantains. I remember exactly where it is and might try to find it on my next visit to San Juan. I'm not a fan of plantains in large quantities but I love yuca and this sounded pretty good.

 

 

Some people from the group were hanging out at the Marriott across the street so I went there to say a few hellos. There was a band playing and some people were dancing. Not a lot of people had on costumes. About 8 of us cruisers headed to the casino to play for a bit. All of them hit the poker table, but I went for the craps table. I've only played craps once before in Vegas. There was only one other lady playing and the dealers were really nice and helpful in coaching me throughout the game. My initial $20 lasted me a good 45 minutes and I walked away when it doubled. My dinner was paid for so I was happy.

 

Dancing in the lobby of the Marriott.

 

 

I walked through Condado some more and was surprised not more was going on. A few small bars were crowded. La Concha (The Renaissance Hotel) was having a party in the lobby and it was packed. Mostly everyone was dressed in costume here. I didn't even stay for a drink. It was just too crowded and I really wasn't feeling it. Everyone that stayed in Old San Juan seemed to have a similar experience and turned in early. One thing I've noticed about the San Juan nightlife is that there doesn't seem to be much for the 30something crowd. The age of the people hanging at the Marriott were mostly 50somethings, and the bars were all 20somethings. By the time I headed back to my hotel around 1 am the streets were already clearing out. I needed some sleep anyways. I have a big morning coming up tomorrow!

 

Halloween party in the La Concha lobby.

 

 

Lots of traffic but not a lot of people out and about.

 

 

 

Up next: I bet you've never done this on embarkation day!

[Beachlover1964]

Great review so far! Looking forward to reading about your adventures.

[gapearl]

Saturday, November 1

Embarkation Day- San Juan, Puerto Rico

 

Buenos dias! It's 6 am and I'm WIDE awake with excitement! Time to get dressed and head out. I have to get going by 6:30 am. No, I wasn't in that big of a hurry to be the first to board the ship, but I had to get to the Roberto Clemente Stadium because I was running a 5k today! Go ahead and say it cause at least 10 other people did. Kim, you're nuts! Yeah, I know.

 

I had the worst luck with directions this trip. I saw the Plaza Las Americas mall the stadium is across the street from on the interstate when driving to my hotel yesterday. Also I had looked up directions before coming to Puerto Rico, and I knew it was no more than 6 miles away from Le Consulat. I plugged in Roberto Clemente in my GPS and set off for what should have been a 10 minute journey. I had a feeling I was going the wrong way but didn't think anything of it. Maybe it's just taking me a different way. HA! Yeah right! It took me to the Roberto Clemente STATUE not STADIUM across town in the opposite direction! I stopped at a police station to ask for help and the officer gave me some confusing directions. Ten minutes after that I was like what in the world am I doing at the airport? I started to think I wasn't going to make it, but almost an hour after leaving for that 10 minute drive, I made it.

 

 

This was a Halloween fun run. Most runners wore costumes, but I just wore my regular workout gear. This was a small race. It was in it's first year as a part of the Halloween Half Marathon franchise. There were only about 75 runners and walkers. I registered the week before for $30 and a couple days later it was lowered down to $15. At that point I knew not a lot of people had registered. Parking was $3. As I left my car I noticed the stadium was still rather dirty. There was a huge party and concert here the night before. They cleaned up a lot but there was still bits of trash scattered. I noticed a lot of empty "adult behavior protection" wrappers on the ground. Ok, well alrighty then. I registered, got my #56 runner bib, as well as my t-shirt.

 

 

Pirates of the Caribbean.

 

 

Dorothy and Beetlejuice.

 

 

Beetlejuice! Beetlejuice! Beetlejuice!

 

 

Good running shows are a must.

 

[ktinnc]

Kim!! So glad we met! Ill send u our pic in the next day or two. I'm subscribed of course but I'm depressed our cruise is over :( cant wait to read more though especially since I know some spoilers lol

 

Sent from my Kindle Fire using Tapatalk 2

[gapearl]

The race started at 8 am and took us through the stadium.

 

Runners getting ready for blast off. I was behind them ready with my reggaeton playlist all set.

 

 

My view half way through the run.

 

 

I was tracking my progress through my Nike running app. It wasn't a true 3.1 miles but I guess this was close enough. I was one of the first 15 or so to finish. My time was actually about 2 minutes quicker than this, as I forgot to hit stop as I finished.

 

 

They had apples, bananas, and water for us at the end, as well as a pretty cool medal. I wish I had remembered to bring some GU. One of those would have been perfect. A few porta potties were there for us, but this princess refuses to use those. They're gross! I met a couple from Canada also in the race that were heading to the ship. Good job, Dave and Lathainya!

 

 

My finisher's medal.

 

 

This wasn't my fastest run by any means, however I was very proud to finish. I had a VERY bad allergy season this year that left me unable to run without needing a Zyrtec and an inhaler every time. I literally could not breathe so I could not run. I even went to see an ENT doctor, where they said I might have a trace of asthma. I spent the summer walking and weight training, but missing running. I just started back to running only a month before the 5k and had to train my body all over again on how to run. I felt very accomplished when I reached the end, especially on a cruise day! Now that I have a 5k, 10k, and half marathon under my belt, a full marathon is next. I'm actually thinking of running the Miami ING Marathon in January 2016 and going straight to the ship after that. If anyone has done this, please respond. I'd love to hear about your experience!

 

Edited November 13, 2014 by gapearl

[gapearl]

It was back to my hotel to pack up and get cute for boarding. It was about 11:30 am when I checked out and it took me forever to find a gas station to fill up the rental. There was no way I was taking the tank back on empty. The outrageous prices they charge when you do that would force me to take out a second mortgage on my home. Would you believe me if I told you I got lost again? :mad: I found myself over the bridge, more lost than a Kardashian in a library. Finally I found a gas station, found the airport, and found a taxi to take me to the ship.

 

Don't get too excited at the gas prices. This is per liter, not per gallon.

 

 

At 1 pm I had made it! It was a flat rate of $21 plus $1 per bag. I handed my bags over to a porter and gave him his tip. He saw my priority boarding tags and assured me my bags were going straight to my room immediately. LOL yeah right again.

 

A few other ships visiting San Juan today.

 

 

 

And there's the Splendor! :D

 

[gapearl]

As I was coming into the terminal, I started to see more people from the roll call and roll call, ahem, group. I was directed to a table to fill out a no I don't have ebola medical questionnaire, and after no less than 3 workers confirmed I had it (the form, not ebola), I was able to head to the short platinum line. GEORGIA PEARL! I love your reviews! The lady picking up her sail and sign card at the counter next to me clearly recognized me. I don't remember her name and don't believe I saw her any more all cruise, but if you're reading hey girlfriend!!! Just before passing through security, I was so busy running my mouth that I wasn't paying attention to anything and spilled my bottle of wine. Oh $%@#!!! They didn't bother checking my sodas. Next thing I knew I was onboard and ready to enjoy my new home for the next 8 days.

 

Here's the Fun Times for day 1. Splendorifics was one of the nicknames of the roll call group.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[gapearl]

I dropped off my bags in my cabin and text my buddy Sean to let him know I was onboard. Sean, aka seannyice, is also writing a review. We've become good friends this year and have hung out a couple times when I was in his area. He met me at the lido for lunch and a few others from the roll call group joined us. It was a table full of trouble makers! After eating we went across the street to CVS so I could buy some more wine and a bottle of rum. Again, after passing through security, I had no problem with my bottles. I guess those dropping off their duty free purchases were newbies. :p

 

Lunch from the lido buffet and tandoor grill.

 

 

Sean in front of the ship.

 

 

Now my turn!

 

[gapearl]

I was in stateroom #2344, which was an ocean view. I booked this a couple of weeks after Carnival spoiled me and upgraded me to an ocean view on my Sensation cruise, so I wanted another one. The price never went down enough for me to get a price drop, but a couple weeks before the sail date the price went wayyyyy down for the interior cabins and the solo supplement was waived. I could have saved over $600 if I had just done what I always do and booked an inside cabin. Oh well. :rolleyes:

 

 

 

 

 

[gapearl]

My minibar area.

 

 

A full drawer of makeup and jewelry....

 

 

Only 7 pair of heels....

 

 

A closet for casual clothes....

 

 

And a closet for dressy clothes.

 

 

One of the perks of cruising solo is having all the closets to yourself. I brought an extra 10 pack of hangers and used every one in addition to the ones provided. I already admitted I'm a princess. Not a diva, but definitely a princess. ;) LOL

[gapearl]

After unpacking I roamed the ship some more with Sean. We had a drink by the aft pool with about 10 other folks from the group. Lots of laughs and fun back there.

 

I ordered a twilight zone to drink. Just a coincidence it happened to match my dress. haha Make sure you watch the bartenders when they're making your drink. This one had midori, blue curacao, and rum. He left out the rum and I had to show him the menu and insist it's supposed to have rum in it.

 

 

The taste bar on deck 5, midship.

 

 

The chicken tortilla soup was really good.

 

 

My whale tail funnel pic.

 

 

[gapearl]

More pictures from around the ship, all deck 5 aft.

 

The Red Carpet Club.

 

 

 

 

Grand Piano Bar.

 

 

 

El Morocco Lounge, where the comedy shows were held.

 

[gapearl]

We headed to dinner around 7:30 pm. When you sail from San Juan, dinner is always open seating the first night, regardless of your dining room or dining time. Some people didn't realize this but I saw it was printed in the Fun Times, so be sure to read those! There was still a huge mob of people coming in the main dining room at 8:30 pm, even though the muster drill was in just over an hour. I was beyond thrilled to see two things- the old menu and tablecloths! I'm glad this ship never transitioned to that new American table dining or whatever. We were at a large table with two ladies from St. Maarten, a couple from my neck of the woods, and an engaged couple from New York that booked only a week prior. They said they lived so close to the cruise port they could see the Splendor from their window every week and were happy to finally get to sail her.

 

 

 

 

Gazpacho andalouse.

 

 

Chicken a la grecque.

 

 

The GAPearl way to eat warm chocolate melting cake is ALWAYS with TWO ice creams!

 

 

Dinner was delicious tonight.