Review - Carnival Splendor Southern Caribbean June 10 - 18, 2017- Lots of Pics

[willdra]

Wonderful review and pictures!!! ❤️❤️

 

 

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[cojuqui]

Our next stop was to visit the Ayo Rock Formations and ancient pictographs. It was a very interesting spot to climb the rocks and reflect of the beauty of the island. We learned about the burial practices of burying members of a family together by moving/stacking the remains in a crypt below to make room up top for more recently deceased.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Officially our tour ended , but we were all having a fabulous time together and drove around to see various neighborhoods. We ended up in our tour guide’s family neighborhood and stopped by and saw her childhood home and met her mom. It really brought a personal touch to our tour.

 

[navybaby1113]

Enjoying your review so far!

[cojuqui]

Wonderful review and pictures!!! ❤️❤️

 

 

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Enjoying your review so far!

 

Glad you are enjoying it. I love taking photos.

 

Connie

[kbklcamp]

Your review is so good. Love your pictures of Aruba. They're gorgeous. What a great tour y'all had.

 

 

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[cojuqui]

From here we decided to all go out to dinner together since we didn't have to be back on the ship until 11 pm and it was only about 7:30. We headed to The Old Cunucu House in Noord for dinner. We tried some Cashew Fruit Liquor and Iguana Soup.

 

 

 

 

After dinner we signed Madi’s jeep with a magic marker as countless other visitors have done, letting her know how much we enjoyed the day with her. From the restaurant we headed back to the port. I will note here, with drinks flowing at the restaurant, it’s a good idea, since heading to a secure port area, to keep an eye on the number of drinks being had.

 

 

What a fabulous day in Aruba. Heading back thru the port area shops, we bought a few souvenirs and snapped one final photo to remember the day.

 

 

 

 

I realized I didn't post what we did before we docked in Aruba. Guess I'll do that now before I end our day in Aruba

 

Before we docked we had breakfast on Lido and then just lazed around. I found a quiet spot and read a book on my Kindle for a while and then attended the One Hit Wonder trivia in the Cool Lounge. I joined a Mother Daughter team and even though “we” knew more than we thought, we didn't win. Way come up with the artist of Spirit in the Sky team!!!!!!

 

Hubby and I checked out the Inside Scoop on Watches talk with our shopping expert Brandon in El Morocco. The slideshow presentation he put together was so interesting. So much to learn and know about watches. Some people went just for the raffle, but I was glad to have gone for the info. From there we grabbed some lunch while we waiting to arrive in Aruba.

 

 

Next up is our last port, Curacao.

[cojuqui]

Your review is so good. Love your pictures of Aruba. They're gorgeous. What a great tour y'all had.

 

 

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Thanks for joining me on my review. Glad to have you along.

 

Connie

[Jiminy1955]

Enjoying your review and pictures! Your pictures are so clear and colors come through beautifully! What camera are you using?

[Kfoot]

We are doing this itinerary next month. Haven't even look at excursions yet. It seems like it may be best to book an excursion with Carnival for La Romana. Base on your review it doesn't seem like there's much to see or do there.

[cojuqui]

Enjoying your review and pictures! Your pictures are so clear and colors come through beautifully! What camera are you using?

 

Thanks so much for the compliment. Usually I bring my Canon T1i with me , but after much back and forth for this trip I only brought along my cell phone. I had upgraded to the Samsung S8 a week or so before my trip. I am very happy with the quality of photos I got.

 

Connie

[cojuqui]

We are doing this itinerary next month. Haven't even look at excursions yet. It seems like it may be best to book an excursion with Carnival for La Romana. Base on your review it doesn't seem like there's much to see or do there.

 

We had also looked at a great tour with Seavis Tours for $75 to Saona Island. We had communicated with Ingrid , but then found the Scuba Doo tour we went with, but it didn't pan out. Check out the tour with Seavis as that was originally our fist choice. Definitely book something in advance.

 

Have a great time. I hope other information I have included has helped or gotten you even more excited for your upcoming trip.

 

Connie

[cojuqui]

I woke up the morning ready for a new adventure in Curacao. We had booked a catamaran/lunch/snorkel tour with Bounty Adventures. We had received confirmation to meet them outside of the port gate, just past the security booth at 8:55 am. I got up and took a morning walk and found the sky gray and it was VERY windy. I worried about being out on the catamaran in that weather since I’ve never been on one before. It was so neat to see the colorful buildings and the floating bridge from the ship's’ deck.

 

 

 

We had breakfast again at the buffet on Lido. I was waiting for the dish of little smokies w/ground beef thing I’ve had before, but didn't see it yet on this cruise. They have had eggs benedict of some kind just about every day so I’ve been happy with that.

 

We got off the ship in plenty of time just in case we couldn’t find the meeting spot but found it easily. We waited patiently for our tour/driver but no arrived by 9:15. We had paid for round trip transportation to the restaurant where the tour would leave from. There were several taxi drivers offering tours there but we waited just in case. Eventually we asked one of the taxi drivers if we could call the tour folks to see what was going on as I didn't have international calling on my phone or Wi-Fi ( I found out later that there is free Wifi at the Mega Pier). We called Bounty Adventures and found out that they had emailed me to inform me that the excursion had been cancelled due to weather. We were very disappointed as we had nothing else booked. Hubby gave the taxi driver a few bucks for letting us use his phone. The taxi driver then offered us a tour that would have totalled over $200 for the 3 of us. No thanks. We had seen tours offered back inside the port for less. We ended up going with Irie Tours. 4 hours, which was 2 hours tour and up to 2 hours at Mambo beach for $20. This price included all we wanted to drink of beer, soda and water on the bus, a stop at the Curacao distillery and entrance fee to the beach. Deal, we got on the bus and before we knew it had a new day planned.

 

The weather ended up clearing up but we have to figure the catamaran folks know what is safe and what isn’t. We went with the flow and found something else to do and know we have a reason to come back to Curacao and try again.

 

 

[cojuqui]

The tour portion of the day took us past several interesting neighborhoods, past historic homes and over the Queen Juliana bridge. We got a lot of history and cool facts about Curacao, such as the bridges are named for Queens and there are more major league baseball players per capital that come from Curacao than any other Caribbean Island. There are more than 800 monuments and historical and archaeological sites. All the buildings here were white until 1817, when the governor ordered them painted to combat glare from the sun. It was said later that he was partial owner in a paint company. We also got to see the floating market where vendors/growers come from Venezuela by boat to set up shop and sell fresh fruits and vegetables.

 

 

 

 

 

[cojuqui]

We had a stop at the Curacao Distillery and got to try samples of 3 flavors. Blue Curacao, Tamarind and Chocolate.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Back on the bus we were able to take in more scenery. We got to see Table Mountain. Originally mined for phosphate, eventually that stopped and they only mined for Limestone which is used for building materials on Curacao.

 

 

[cojuqui]

Our only disappointment about this tour came from ourselves. We had a snorkel planned and figured we would use their masks and snorkels so we left our own in our cabin back on the Splendor. We had time, we could have easily gone back on board and got them had we known the water at Mambo beach was going to be so beautiful. Lesson learned, if you have it, bring it with you. We had a great time at the beach and found a lounge in the shade, some folks let us use it as they were just leaving for the afternoon.

 

 

 

 

[cojuqui]

Back on the bus we headed back to Willemstad and were dropped off near the Queen Emma Bridge. The bridge connects the Punda and Otrabanda sides of Wilemstad. Originally it was built in the 1880’s as a toll bridge. Persons crossing barefoot did not have to pay the toll. Now there is no toll to cross the bridge that is opened regularly to let boats to out to the ocean from the bay.

 

 

 

 

 

We headed back to the Splendor thru Rif Fort,, which was an easy 5-10 minute walk. We hit a few shops and climbed up to the top of the fort and were rewarded with a great view of our ship.

 

 

[Lydia B.]

Great review and what a lovely family you have. Will be on the Splendor in 235 days not like I am counting or anything.

By chance do you remember the cost of the weekly couples pass to the Spa? Thanks!:D

[cojuqui]

Great review and what a lovely family you have. Will be on the Splendor in 235 days not like I am counting or anything.

By chance do you remember the cost of the weekly couples pass to the Spa? Thanks!:D

 

Thank you, much appreciated. Yeah, I can't tell you're looking forward to it at all. Ha ha.

 

No, we aren't really spa people and even though they left all the info about the packages and such in the cabin, I had our room steward keep it since I would just throw it away. I didn't keep any of it. Maybe someone else reading along will have some info for you.

 

Connie

 

 

 

 

PAST CRUISES:

 

Discovery Sun 2003 Freeport Bahamas Day Cruise

Celebrity Solstice 6/26/09 Eastern Mediterranean http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2251655

Carnival Conquest 08/10/10 Eastern Caribbean

Carnival Victory 06/10/12 Southern Caribbean http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1659913

Carnival Miracle 07/30/13 Alaska http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showt...8#post39476968

Diamond Princess 12/23/13 New Zealand/Australia http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2112413

Carnival Pride 11/23/14 Exotic Western Caribbean http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2135404

Carnival Splendor 6/10/18 (Review in progress) http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2517375

[cojuqui]

Back on board, we got cleaned up and some went to nap and I went check out what was going on around the ship. A grabbed a snack and went up on deck to read a while.

 

Pretty soon the sun started to set and luckily I hung around for that before I headed back inside to see what the rest of my family were doing.

 

Got a couple of great sunset photos before going to check out HASBRO: The Game Show.

 

 

 

I didn't end up taking photos of the Hasbro Show, but I should have. It was great fun, Red vs. Blue team with Giant Bowling and other games. Definitely check it out if you have a chance.

 

Tonight was the 80’s Rock and Glow party and I came prepared since I heard sometimes there are 80’s nights on board. I ended up getting chosen to participate in the dance contest on the Lido Deck. I had a great time with Cruise Director Steve and the Fun Squad including a group Thriller Dance. I even scored a fabulous t-shirt.

 

 

 

[teknoge3k]

Loving your review and pics! I sailed the Splendor 5/21 and 5/27 and I needed a "fix" to bring back my B2B cruise memories!

Thanks :)

 

I was on the 5.27 sailing with you (did we meet?!) and that's why I am reading this review. We had so much fun on the Splendor. Our roll call was fabulous!

 

Great review, love the pics. :)

[Kfoot]

Great review. Really enjoying it. Now I'm getting excited for our trip. I will check out Seavis as you recommend. We'll be in Curaçao 1-11pm looking forward to the night activities there. Do you remember seeing and restaurants close by we could probably have dinner?

Or anyone reading this review who already been to Curaçao can recommend a good restaurant. Thx. Appreciate it.

[cojuqui]

Great review. Really enjoying it. Now I'm getting excited for our trip. I will check out Seavis as you recommend. We'll be in Curaçao 1-11pm looking forward to the night activities there. Do you remember seeing and restaurants close by we could probably have dinner?

Or anyone reading this review who already been to Curaçao can recommend a good restaurant. Thx. Appreciate it.

 

So glad you're getting geared up for your trip. How exciting!!! I don't remember names of places but there were a few places near Rif Fort in the Otrabanda. Hopefully someone else will chime in with some suggestions.

 

 

Connie

[teknoge3k]

Be sure to eat at the BBQ restaurant on the Splendor. I was so surprised to see how many people didn't even know it existed and they couldn't find it. Boy did they miss out!

[cojuqui]

It was fun after the glow party to continue dancing a bit with my drink of day Mai Tai in hand. Nothing like nights on Carnival. Called it a later night, but the day was a blast!!!!

 

Morning came along and it was the first our two final sea days. The fellas slept in and I went and walked around the ship a bit. Later, we had breakfast and went a quiet spot to play some cards.

 

One of the times we played cards, the couple from our Aruba outing came by and we taught them the card game we were playing, Golf and they taught us a new one too, Spoons. It’s fun to reconnect with people on board, glad we met them.

 

 

We headed off to the Cool Lounge mid morning to play some Seinfeld Trivia, yada yada. It was fun. Our downfall was not knowing the years the show ran. We were off by a few years. Still fun of course.

 

From there hubby went off to nap and I headed up topside to read a while. Later on I played 50’s and 60’s name that tune with Jeff the Fun Dude and tanked. Ha ha. No surprise there. The little blurbs they play on the Time Life commercials was NOT enough to score me a win. I stuck around for the paper airplane competition but had told Hubby I’d meet him at 1 for lunch. I didn't get to participate. The kids had their competition first and I ran out of time. They young crowd had a blast.

 

 

 

 

I headed up to cabin and came across this scene. Good thing I left the Paper Airplane competition. I got them up and we at lunch.

 

 

[cojuqui]

After lunch, our son headed on his way to his group and hubby and I chose to go check out the Actor’s Trash Trivia in the Cool Lounge. It was a fun game made up by Fun Squad member Ryan. Our Oklahoma friends were there too, but we didn’t play as a team this time. It was a fun game where based on 3 items in the “trash” we had to figure out what actor/actress it is. We have since compiled our own lists and have played with friends. It’s a fun game and really tests your celebrity knowledge.

 

From there we headed up top to play a round of mini golf. It was breezy, but we had a great time.

 

 

 

 

Tonight was the last formal night and back to the Gold Pearl dining room we went. We figured that our table mates must have just opted for other dining locations as we were alone again at our big table.

 

 

 

After dinner we headed to the Spectacular for the 88 Keys Pre Show Fun and then Showtime: 88 keys.

 

I was so glad we went to the Pre Show. If you have spent anytime in the Piano Bar with Skip, you’ll be happy to see him in a different venue but still putting on a great show. He got the crowd ready for the show and interacted as usual.

 

The show was entertaining, but I was disappointed at the lack of live piano music in a show based on hits with heavy piano. It would have been such a better show to have even Skip or someone from the show off to the side actually playing the background music.