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From sickness to salvation... my SPLENDOR repo review

seannyice81

By seannyice81,
in Carnival Cruise Lines

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seannyice81

seannyice81

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Posted (edited)

I'm back from what was probably my most memorable cruise EVER on the Carnival Splendor. The people, the places, the drinks, the food, etc... Just about everything was incredible. I already really miss the friends I made.

 

A little background. I booked this cruise the day after Christmas in 2013 shortly after the repositioning announcement and release of itineraries. 4 of the islands being fairly rarely visited (if not just about never, by Carnival), I couldn't resist. Those ports being St. Croix, Martinique, Grenada, and Dominica. Grand Turk I had visited twice previously on Liberty and Victory.

 

All was not well going into my cruise, but I will get into that later this evening after work when I do the first entry.

 

Here are some cliff-notes:

-Solo 33-year old guy in my own balcony cabin

-Sick before/at start of cruise

-Massive roll calls and my Tuesday posts.

-Sun poisoning

-Old San Juan, Part 2

-Chef's Table

-Moonshine and jello shots

-Sunglasses

-Suess at Sea

-Quest success

-Adventures with new friends

-A rainy day in Miami

 

As said before, I'll be starting my review later this evening after work. It was an amazing trip that will take quite some time to cover.

 

In the meantime, I took hundreds of nice photos. Here is one to tide you over until later.

 

buckisland_zps8d3da816.jpg

 

STAY TUNED!

Edited by seannyice81
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NCTribeFan

NCTribeFan

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I don't think we met, either. I really didn't do a very good job of mingling (group was just too large, imho; I was seeing folks I'd sailed with before and catching up with them; I sailed with a friend this time instead of solo and just didn't get around to talking to as many people).

 

I haven't started my review and am beginning to wonder if I should bother since so many others are writing, but I will eventually. I do it partly just to memorialize it all before I forget the details (too late!), but think readers should get various viewpoints.

 

But I need to do my laundry first!

 

Looking forward to more. :D

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pghsteelerfan

pghsteelerfan

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I am so glad you are doing a review of this itinerary!!! :D I loved your Valor review and also your most recent review of Victory (the one where we flew down to Liberty on 4/5/14, the day you got off Victory). I remember you posting last year that you'd be doing the Splendor repositioning cruise with this itinerary. I would have loved to have gone on this cruise and think it would have been the ultimate, but we just couldn't even think about trying for it. I just hope that Carnival will do this itinerary again someday. I'd love to see some of these islands but in the meantime, I'll enjoy them through your review. Thanks so much for taking the time. I love the picture you posted...just beautiful.

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Jamman54 Great Review Rare

Jamman54

Posted
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I'm back from what was probably my most memorable cruise EVER on the Carnival Splendor. The people, the places, the drinks, the food, etc... Just about everything was incredible. I already really miss the friends I made.

 

A little background. I booked this cruise the day after Christmas in 2013 shortly after the repositioning announcement and release of itineraries. 4 of the islands being fairly rarely visited (if not just about never, by Carnival), I couldn't resist. Those ports being St. Croix, Martinique, Grenada, and Dominica. Grand Turk I had visited twice previously on Liberty and Victory.

 

All was not well going into my cruise, but I will get into that later this evening after work when I do the first entry.

 

Here are some cliff-notes:

-Solo 33-year old guy in my own balcony cabin

-Sick before/at start of cruise

-Massive roll calls and my Tuesday posts.

-Sun poisoning

-Old San Juan, Part 2

-Chef's Table

-Moonshine and jello shots

-Sunglasses

-Suess at Sea

-Quest success

-Adventures with new friends

-A rainy day in Miami

 

As said before, I'll be starting my review later this evening after work. It was an amazing trip that will take quite some time to cover.

 

 

STAY TUNED!

 

 

Looking forward to another GREAT Splendor review. Don't know how I'll find the time to work on mine!! :D

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picomullet

picomullet

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But I need to do my laundry first!

 

Looking forward to more. :D

 

Looking forward to your review also.

 

Normally I don't unpack for a couple of days but Hubby unpacks as soon as we hit the house. :o Since he told me his clothes were soaked from the Miami rain at the airport, I decided to check mine. Sure enough lots of soaked clothes. You think they would have a cover over those carts in Miami while waiting on aircraft to come in. Anyway, I got all the laundry completed on Monday!! That was a first!! Now for the ironing!!

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seannyice81

seannyice81

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PART 1 - JUST GETTING THERE

 

Ciprofloxacin. It's one hell of a drug.

 

Here I am, weeks away from my cruise and I'm riding high on my daydreams of vacation. It seemed forever ago that I had been on my last cruise on Carnival Victory. Then again, I had this cruise booked way back in late December. The day after Christmas as a matter of fact. Really, the only thing that could bring me back down to earth would be something that could put a damper on the trip itself. Then it happened.

 

A few weeks before the tip I started having symptoms of allergies. Initially I had thought not much of them as it was typical for me to get allergies around this time of year. The symptoms kept getting worse though and I started developing more. About two weeks prior to my cruise, I decided it was time to see a doctor and see about squashing the issue before it got worse. It was suggested that my allergies had developed into a minor sinus infection and that I would need antibiotics, decongestant, and occasional ibuprofen to get me through the remaining time. Doxycyclene was the antibiotic of choice and one I'm fairly familiar with (used before, know the side-effects). At the very end of my prescription though, I still felt the same and was taking the other medicines at the maximum recommended dosages. I went back to my doctor who thought "maybe its just the allergies themselves." I was told to take Allegra with all the other stuff, I was also told to take Ceftin as the newer antibiotic. Well, Ceftin seemed to work, until it absolutely destroyed my digestion. Any food I had enjoyed at one point went through me like Usian Bolt on a track. This prompted a call to my doctor to request another type of antibiotic the next day. This time I was prescribed Ciprofloxacin. While it didn't have quite the same devastating effect on my guts, it did make me feel a little unwell and kept me from eating/drinking certain things. I was also told to stay out of the sun and to try and take it easy the next few days. Well, this was well into the single digits! The pot came to a boil the Tuesday before the Thursday I was supposed to fly into San Juan, Puerto Rico. I was still very unwell and using seven different drugs to combat the illness. In a hail-mary effort, I admitted myself to an emergency room and crossed my fingers for the best. After telling the doctor my situation, he told me that more than anything, I needed Zofran and possibly Prednisone. I was given both that night, (and didn't sleep a wink that night due to the Prednisone, a corticosteroid), and told to relax. That Wednesday I took off work, I finished packing and hoped for the best. It eventually paid-off.

 

Thursday.

 

I slept all day Wednesday. When I woke at 4am Thursday morning, I felt much better and as ready as I could be, to get on the JetBlue flight to San Juan. I had been advised to take some Benadryl with me to take before my flight as my sinuses were still a slight issue. I was given a ride to the airport nice and early so that I could just chill before the 3.5 hour flight. As much as I love the smell of airport coffee, I couldn't really indulge. Some of the stuff I was still taking also meant no meals within the time frame. Booooo, on both counts because I had originally intended to treat the flight attendants with chocolate in trade for free mimosas or snacks. Alas, all I could do was take the Benadryl and try to get some sleep or rest. Mercifully I had booked my favorite seat which was 1A on the Airbus A320. An "Even More Space" seat right behind the front bulkhead. I could stretch out my legs without having to recline my seat into the lap of another. Even better was this particular plane had free wifi when flying over land so I could use my iPad before slipping into a nap once over the Atlantic.

 

oldseat1a1of1_zps916431ec.jpg

 

About 5 minutes after the wifi cut-out and I put away my iPad, I get sleepy and passed out. Sleep is, to me, a form of time travel. You close your eyes at one point in time, only to wake up in the "future." In this case, when I woke up, it was much later and on descent into San Juan.

 

Looking out my window, I could see Puerto Rico become bigger and bigger. The plane turned east, and we descended further. I could make out Old San Juan. Being Thursday, I knew at least one ship, especially a Carnival vessel, would be in port for the Eastern Caribbean itinerary. Sure enough, I was able to see a Conquest Class ship docked at the terminal. Out of the corner of my eye, I caught a glimpse of another ship approaching in the distance. I couldn't tell too well what it was, as we were descending more rapidly and eventually the tires met the runway.

 

sanjuanapproach1of1_zpsa9c67d10.jpg

 

After the relief of rubber meeting tarmac, the plane taxied to the gate, and we waited a short while for the agent to make the connection. Five minutes later, I was off the plane in Puerto Rico. I had made it! I removed my hoodie and felt refreshed by the heat in the gateway as I made my way along into the terminal. I stopped and waited as some friends, Yvette and Rick, were a few rows behind me on the same flight. I greeted them and made rather poor conversation on way to the baggage claim (I was still a little drowsy). After a few minutes, I had luggage in hand, was on a taxi, and on my way to my hotel in Old San Juan. I felt electric with anticipation of what was to come.

Edited by seannyice81
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