Splendor review Ocho Rios, Grand Cayman, Cozumel May 15, 2016

[valentinebaby1]

Sorry for the delay...been busy the last couple of days, had to take one of our dogs, Nigel, a 9 year old Corgi, to the vet because we discovered a growth on his side. We wanted to have that checked out. It appears the growth is outside his rib cage, but they did xrays before taking a sample, because they wanted to be sure that his organs weren't included in the growth. Well the vet couldn't make that determination after the xrays, she thought perhaps the liver was part of the mass, but she sent the xrays out to a specialist to review. We heard back from her last night that the specialist doesn't believe any organs are part of the mass, that it's likely just a fatty lipoma, a benign type of tumor/growth. So now I'll have to take him back to have a sample taken so they can confirm that's all it is. So hopefully we'll get good news on that in the next few days.

 

So I've been a bit distracted the last few days, but hopefully will get this wrapped up tonight.

 

So when I left off, we had just checked into the hotel for a couple of post-cruise days.

 

Hubby wanted to walk to the end of the beach, where the ships leave out of Port Everglades, so that he could watch them leave. DD and I didn't feel like walking that far, so we hung out at the pool. Here's a few photos of the beach:

 

 

 

 

There were a few turtle nests roped off, and apparently the last few days the turtles had been coming in to make their nests and lay their eggs. We did go out one evening to the beach at night, hoping for a chance to see a turtle coming in, but no such luck.

 

 

By this point hubby had walked quite a ways down the beach. Here you can see our hotel way off in the distance

 

 

And finally he made it to the end of the beach, and there was one ship getting ready to leave:

 

 

[valentinebaby1]

 

Why the grumpy face, hubby? Is it because you (once again) let yourself get so sunburned that you have scabs on your forehead? Or is it that you got down to the end of the beach a little early and now had to wait to watch the ship leave? Or is it the ominous looking clouds starting to loom?

 

 

 

 

Looks like kind of a gloomy start to this cruise...

 

 

Oh hey, it's Gargantuan-of-the-Seas!

 

[valentinebaby1]

I'm not sure I'd really want to cruise on a ship that big. I'm sure it's a lot of fun and a really nice ship, but I really like the Conquest class size. Maybe some day when the prices on Vista and Horizon lower we might check one of them out, but for now we've been happy with the mid-size ships, so we'll stick to what we know and love!

 

Bye bye Oasis of the Seas:

 

 

Well, for their gloomy start, they had a rainbow to see them out to sea:

 

 

 

 

Hubby made his way back to the hotel and took some pictures of the pool area:

 

 

 

 

[valentinebaby1]

We were starting to get hungry for dinner, and wanted to check out Las Olas Blvd so we got dressed and ordered an Uber to take us to a restaurant called Coconuts that we had read about. The Uber was fast, and the restaurant was a very short distance.

 

The restaurant was very busy, but it was a Saturday night. We had to wait a few minutes for a table. Dinner was very good, we had conch fritters and another appetizer that I swear they called Scooby crab, both were amazing. I don't remember what I ordered for dinner, might have been fish tacos. I believe hubby had Jambalaya. Everything was fantastic. Hubby tried to take a few pictures inside but it was very dark.

 

After we finished our meal, we walked down Las Olas Blvd and looked in a few shops, and made our way to the beach. Oh, look another rainbow!

 

 

 

 

 

We ordered an Uber to take us back to the hotel. We were ready for bed pretty early after such a busy and fun filled week!

 

Sorry this one is a bit blurry, but our view from our balcony:

 

 

[bettyboop16]

If you ever get back to Fort Lauderdale & if you like ice cream, check out Kilwins 809 E. Las Olas Blvd. It's the best ice cream we have ever had the pleasure of tasting. :)

[valentinebaby1]

If you ever get back to Fort Lauderdale & if you like ice cream, check out Kilwins 809 E. Las Olas Blvd. It's the best ice cream we have ever had the pleasure of tasting. :)

 

We actually went to Kilwins during our stay in Ft Lauderdale! I'll post about that soon!

[valentinebaby1]

May 22, 2016 Ft Lauderdale

 

We had no significant plans for the day other to spend time at the pool and beach, and we did just that. The weather was perfect, and the pool and beach were busy but not at all crowded. We had just a leisurely morning, in fact skipped breakfast altogether and meandered our way to the pool just before lunch time.

 

Our view from the hotel balcony:

 

 

 

The resort grounds and pool area:

 

 

 

 

 

[valentinebaby1]

 

 

 

 

 

[valentinebaby1]

 

 

 

 

 

[valentinebaby1]

We split our time between the beach and pool, ordered a couple of sandwiches for lunch, had a couple drinks and just enjoyed the beautiful day.

 

 

 

 

 

Finally after getting our fill of the sun, we showered and got dressed for dinner. We went to Rocco's Tacos on Las Olas Blvd. Dinner was delicious and the watermelon drinks were super yummy!

 

 

After dinner we wandered around for a bit and Ubered back to the hotel. This might have been the night we went out to the beach in hopes to see nesting turtles, and one of the nights we enjoyed the hot tub for a bit. All in all it was a wonderful relaxing day!

[valentinebaby1]

May 23, 2016 our last full day of vacation

 

Part of the resort fee covers a snorkel trip, but only for 2 people. I decided to sleep in and let hubby and DD go. When we first got to the hotel, we tried to call the number given to make the snorkel reservation, but they were already closed for the day, apparently only open in the mornings. So the following morning we called to see about taking the snorkel trip that day, but they said you had to make reservations the day before...lol. But luckily we were able to make reservations for our last day and that was today.

 

The snorkel "trip" wasn't anything more than a guide taking you out to the reef, which they walked from the beach and swam to, no boat involved. We could have done this on our own, if we knew where the good snorkeling was.

 

After snorkeling all over the Caribbean, the snorkeling here wasn't great in comparison, but they still enjoyed it, and it was quiet and peaceful.

 

 

 

 

Here you can see how far out they swam:

 

 

[valentinebaby1]

The day was a little overcast, and we had plenty of sun the day before, so after the 2 returned from their morning adventure, we decided to head back out to Las Olas Blvd for lunch and ice cream.

 

We decided on Luigi's Coal Oven Pizza for lunch and boy did we make the right decision! The food was amazing...so delicious! We shared a pizza and appetizer.

 

 

We decided to walk off our lunch...on our way to Kilwins for dessert!

 

 

Kilwins is a great little ice cream and homemade candy shop and everything was incredible!

 

 

We did a little last minute shopping and found a jewelry shop that had a really fun display in the window that caught our attention. There were little figurines by a local artist named Romero Britto that we fell in love with and purchased one for each of us.

 

When we had our fill of delicious food and shopping, we ordered an Uber to take us back to the hotel. We spent the afternoon swimming at the pool and made a few new friends:

 

 

 

 

[valentinebaby1]

A storm started to roll in and they had to close the pool for safety, so we headed back to our room and changed for dinner. We decided to eat at the hotel for dinner, at the beach side restaurant. Dinner was a bit on the pricey side, but that was expected at a hotel location just for the convenience factor. Dinner was good and we watched the storm over the ocean but stayed dry inside.

 

The rain gave us good reason to just go back to our room and pack, since we had a little bit of organization to do to be sure that our bags weren't over 50 pounds and that all of the bottles of alcohol were packed well for the flight.

 

 

TUESDAY May 24, 2016, time to head home :(

 

Our flight was around 11am, and we checked out of the hotel and ordered an Uber to take us to the airport. We were on the road for the short ride by 8:45 am.

 

Everything was smooth in getting checked in and boarding, but this was a little different that we boarded outside instead of through a tunnel.

 

 

Good bye Miami/Ft Lauderdale. We will see you again someday!

 

 

 

So that's it! We made it back home and immediately began looking at cruises so we could figure out what we wanted to book next. Our trip was fantastic! Of our 3 cruises (Valor, Liberty and Splendor) we would have to say that Splendor was our favorite ship of the 3, based on the crew and CD, shows, service and of course our amazing room. We really thought it was going to be tough to go from a ship with Guys and the 2.0 upgrades to one that didn't, but we realized that wasn't as important as we once thought. It's all what you make of it! We loved traveling with our middle child and having a special trip with only her. With her narcolepsy diagnosis and knowing how much that is going to impact the rest of her life, it was nice to be able to do something for her to take her away from her stress even if it was just for 10 days.

 

After we returned home, we figured out why we had such special treatment with the Captain's lounge at check in and all the goodies from the Hotel Manager. Hubby had "met" someone through various forums and FB prior to leaving, and they had a connection with someone on the ship and set it all up as a surprise for us! It was such a fun experience and made everything even that much more wonderful! And after it was all over, hubby was chatting with them again and had mentioned that he was sad we hadn't managed to snag a SOAS, but as it happened they were boarding the ship that week and got one for us and shipped it to us!

 

So that's it, if you have any questions or comments, let me know! Thanks for reading!

[valentinebaby1]

Thank you for sharing! Can't wait to be on Splendor in June. If you're not able to share the fun times could you please tell me or take a pic of the dining options & times on embarkation day?

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums

 

I couldn't get the scanner to cooperate, but here's a couple photos of the dining times the first day, and activities the first day. Hope that helps!

 

 

 

 

 

[qzyksw]

What is "a SOAS"?

 

Again..Thank you for your review. I had a good time living through your eyes. I can not wait until ours in March on the Splendor.

 

 

Thanks again

[valentinebaby1]

What is "a SOAS"?

 

Again..Thank you for your review. I had a good time living through your eyes. I can not wait until ours in March on the Splendor.

 

 

Thanks again

 

SOAS is a ship on a stick...the plastic ship shaped trophy :) and thanks for reading! Enjoy your March cruise!

[sjn911]

Wonderful review and sold...have mosquito attraction worries due to a chronic pain issue..I am on vitamin B and they say it really helps..with your repellent were you good?? Was happy to hear about the wrist things they had. Did you see any anywhere?? Did you put it on often..I just can't imagine long shirts there etc. Thanks..I ask a few people to get several reports and decide about it..I really want to see more in Caribbean as have only been once and to WDW twice. Thanks..have you ever known any issues to come up with any you have gone with?

 

Thanks so much,,,have always loved the look of the Splendor and set up.

[pghsteelerfan]

I am SO glad you decided to to a review of your Splendor cruise, even if there was a little "arm twisting" on my part. I am definitely going through "cruise withdrawals", so I really, really, really enjoyed your review. And I love the pictures! I know you guys sent me a link for the pictures, but I enjoyed them so much more with the review and stories behind them.

 

Oh, boarding the plane in FFL...we were just the opposite. In 2010 for our Glory cruise, we had to use the steps from the plane to get off and didn't use the tunnel, but on the return flight home, we used the tunnel.

 

Thank you so much for doing a review and sharing with us...and so happy you have more cruises booked! :)

[DebbieMo]

I couldn't get the scanner to cooperate, but here's a couple photos of the dining times the first day, and activities the first day. Hope that helps!

 

 

 

It really does! Thank you so much, I appreciate it!

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums

[216Cruiser]

Thanks for this review. We're doing the same itinerary but on a different ship (Dream) in less than a week. We're also doing the bar hop in Cozumel. We only drove by the east side of the island last time there and I loved the way it looked.

 

I also loved the part with your husband and the girl - I had to laugh. On our last cruise there was a particular barmaid that was very friendly towards me and the lady still lets me hear about it from time to time, all in fun. Celia....

lol, thanks and good job.

[watermelonqueen99]

I've heard many good things about him. Unfortunately Magic is not on our agenda at least for the next 2.5 years...and that's how we feel about Chloe too :) I won't let a "bad" CD ruin a cruise, but a great CD sure makes things more fun!

 

Oh, girl, Chloe pales in comparison to Dr. E, just do it. Lol

[valentinebaby1]

Wonderful review and sold...have mosquito attraction worries due to a chronic pain issue..I am on vitamin B and they say it really helps..with your repellent were you good?? Was happy to hear about the wrist things they had. Did you see any anywhere?? Did you put it on often..I just can't imagine long shirts there etc. Thanks..I ask a few people to get several reports and decide about it..I really want to see more in Caribbean as have only been once and to WDW twice. Thanks..have you ever known any issues to come up with any you have gone with?

 

Thanks so much,,,have always loved the look of the Splendor and set up.

 

I know I've had a couple mosquito bites on the various cruises, and quite honest up until getting to Jamaica hubby and I had never worried much about it. I do recall while staying in Puerto Rico pre or post cruise a couple of years ago getting a few bites while out in a hammock on the beach one night, but that was before the Zika virus was a concern. This time knowing about Zika we were more concerned for our daughter, since she is of child-bearing age, than I was for us since we're not having more kids. But we still all purchased the bracelet. After the Jamaica stop we gave our bracelets to our daughter and she wore them on her ankles. She also wore some type of spray. I think I may have gotten a bite on one of my ankles at some point, but I don't recall it lasting very long or being bothersome.

[valentinebaby1]

I am SO glad you decided to to a review of your Splendor cruise, even if there was a little "arm twisting" on my part. I am definitely going through "cruise withdrawals", so I really, really, really enjoyed your review. And I love the pictures! I know you guys sent me a link for the pictures, but I enjoyed them so much more with the review and stories behind them.

 

Oh, boarding the plane in FFL...we were just the opposite. In 2010 for our Glory cruise, we had to use the steps from the plane to get off and didn't use the tunnel, but on the return flight home, we used the tunnel.

 

Thank you so much for doing a review and sharing with us...and so happy you have more cruises booked! :)

 

I'm glad you enjoyed it and glad you talked me into doing it! I'm still keeping my fingers crossed that things will work out for you and D to join us on one of these or some other cruise in the next few years!

[valentinebaby1]

It really does! Thank you so much, I appreciate it!

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums

 

You're welcome! Sorry it took so long!

[valentinebaby1]

Thanks for this review. We're doing the same itinerary but on a different ship (Dream) in less than a week. We're also doing the bar hop in Cozumel. We only drove by the east side of the island last time there and I loved the way it looked.

 

I also loved the part with your husband and the girl - I had to laugh. On our last cruise there was a particular barmaid that was very friendly towards me and the lady still lets me hear about it from time to time, all in fun. Celia....

lol, thanks and good job.

 

Well say hello to Colleen if she's your guide on the hop! My sister did the same itinerary on Dream a couple of months ago, although for her the Jamaica stop was Montego Bay I think. They had a great time!

 

In all honesty, it seems every trip we take my hubby has something like that happen...all innocent fun of course! Hubby and I will celebrate our 29th anniversary on the Glory this fall, and we've been together since we were teenagers. He's very outgoing, makes friends with EVERYONE. I'm the complete opposite. But we balance each other out. And he comes home with me and that's the important thing!