Just got back from the Splendour (11/12 to 11/26)

[Brahmama]

Transatlantic November 12

14 days Splendour of the Seas - RCCL

Barcelona to Galveston

 

This was the 2nd of our two Transatlantics in 05. If you want to read about the 1st one (Galxy on May 6) it is posted in the "Europe" section or contact me and I'll send you a copy. I really am comparing the two transatlantic cruises - Celebrity and RCL. But remember, it's just my opinion and it's long and detailed and may bore you to tears!

 

On 11/10

Pre-Cruise

We flew to Barcelona on AA from DFW to Gatwick. AA was an hour late leaving the gate - so we were rushed getting to London. We did make our connection on to Barcelona, but our bags didn't! There were several of us without bags, so we filled out the forms and went on to our hotel. We stayed at the Continental Hotel RIGHT ON Las Ramblas. We had been there before and will stay there again! More of a B&B with snacks out all day. We got TWO connected rooms so we could have a little space with a tiny patio and light. It was still only 100 Euro. Good beds and very very nice linens that didn't scratch my skin. (I'm picky about that - my skin is very sensitive) We met friends at La Sagrada Familia and then went with them for tapas and cava in a very nice typical place. Went to bed about 9:00 but I woke up with a start at 11:00 - realizing that we still didn't have our baggage! So I dressed and went to the front desk to inquire. No word. I went back to the room and Will was up and fully dressed, so we just moved our to the parlour next to the front desk and played rummy and had hot tea. I was making a list by that time of what we would have to BUY. But at midnight, our luggage appeared, so then we went back to bed and slept until 9:00 AM! So what a good night’s sleep.

 

We had a great breakfast with boiled eggs, lovely whole grain toasts, juices, cereals, apples, bananas, oranges, kiwis all out so you could have whatever you wanted. Cappachino, expresso, hot tea all freshly made. And pastries which looked good, but we passed on those. Then we walked a block to the most wonderful department store. El Cortez Ingles. A real department store - the way we had in the states, before Walmarts, and Penney's and all the discount stores. The doors opened at 10:00 and there were doormen in uniforms to welcome you. We took the escalator to the basement to find the FLOWERS! (They had everything in this store - like a Harrod's - - well kinda like a Harrod's!) But I put together a lovely bouquet of purple, lavender, rose and white flowers for the ship and carried it around the store like a bride! Then we found the housewares where I wanted my Spanish souvenirs and found their lovely pale green glass. So I got several little pitches and plates for oil and vinegar and nuts, etc. They bubble-wrapped everything and took such time and care and oh what pride in their work! The girl with the bouquet worked on it for 10 minutes.* Then we found the gourmet department and bought some liquor that is only available in Spain. We were almost out of it. It is called Quarento and Tres (43)* and I discovered it years ago in Madrid. We also bought a huge bottle of Sangria for the ship. And nuts and things. So after we enjoyed this store we walked back to our hotel.

 

We called for a cab about 11:00 and went right to our ship - RCCL’s Splendour of the Sea and got right ON the ship. We had a junior suite (comparable to a mini-suite on HAL and Princess and NCL ) It was very nice. It was TWICE as big as the CC we had on the Galaxy and HALF the price. It was so nice to have room again. We had a very comfortable sofa and 2 nice chairs with a table large enough for* a meal. And the balcony was very wide - just right. The number was 8044 - and there was noise over our cabin every day - as the Windjammer & ping pong table were overhead! Thank heavens no-one was playing after midnight! But there were lots of rumblings - probably carts moving.

 

We dropped off our carry-ons and went up to the buffet lunch that was waiting in the Windjammer. We nibbled a little and especially enjoyed the Honey Crunch Chicken, which we looked for but never were served again on the 14 days we were on the ship.

 

But anyway, we loved our room - newly decorated, with brand new headboard, drapes, furniture. A nice sized bathroom with a TUB thank heavens. There isn't a room on Celebrity that is equivalent. The CC's are too small and have no tub or sitting room - and the next step up is the Sky Suite - which is 4 times as big (but out of our budget - darn it)* Although I hear over and over “We just change clothes and sleep in our cabin” - we are different. We “do “spend time in our room - we read - had coffee in every morning - and ordered lunch up FROM THE LUNCH MENU!!! twice. We could have ordered up for the Evening menu, but never wanted to do that. We had people up for drinks before dinner 4 times and had plenty of room for 4. We sat on the balcony in the sun. Although it was the middle of November we had simply perfect weather. It was about 75 degrees all days but about 4.

 

And as usual there was a virus on the ship, so we stayed in our room and on the balcony a lot to get the nice fresh air and away from the crowds. I don’t belive that viruses “live” on the ships. I think they come from the people embarking. Anytime you get hundreds of people together, there will be some with germs - whether it’s in school, on a train, on a cruise or in a gymnasium or shopping mall. As usual the signs were out (very good signs that everyone should heed) Wash hands after each bathroom break and AGAIN before eating. (Eating ANYTHING - potato chips, putting a piece of gum in your mouth, chewing on a pencil - think of all the germs our hands transmit to our mouths! - Can you tell I was a teacher in my past life?)

 

The food? It was about the same as Celebrity - coming back on the crossing I felt as if the quality had gone down a bit and certainly there were not as many choices. But there was an alternative menu - with salmon, steaks, chicken and pasta every night.* We got really tired of cruise food after about a week, and just wanted some plain food. There were not a lot of fancy desserts like on Celebrity. - but I don't eat dessert a lot, so that was ok with me. They had baked Alaska one night (I don't care for that) and also Cherries Jubilee, but no flaming deserts like Banana Fosters, etc.

 

We did have lobster and shrimp two nights - but one was enough for me! I always found an appetizer and soup that I liked and sometimes nice salads, and just picked at my entree or skipped that course. But I’m not a typical eater. My husband had prime rib twice. Also he commented on the Chauteau Briand and a rib eye steak. Our waiter always suggested what to eat and what NOT to eat. I followed his lead most of the time. I never had a “bad” meal - never sent a thing back - I did get a piece of cod that was just warm - and I just didn’t eat it. I wasn’t that hungry anyway. Our waiter would have bought us anything we desired. And a couple of times we ordered an entree “for the table” - especially if there was a pasta.

 

Our wait staff was superb. We started out at a table for 2 (very small) and were treated very well. The 3rd night we changed to a table for 6 and another couple joined us. So they took away 2 servings and we had a lot of room and kept the same wait staff. The* Head waiter was at our table every night - they really worked as a team. I saw him pouring wine, removing dishes, even carrying food from the kitchen if needed. I liked the team work.*

 

We usually skip most of the entertainment, but for some reason, we went almost every night and enjoyed it. We had a lot of folk dancing, Flamenco from Spain (Ole,Ole) and then later on the Gauchos from Argentina - who danced with swords, whips and boleros. Very entertaining! I missed the classical music that we had on the Galaxy in May.* There was NONE. But there were lots of music spots - a good piano bar - good trio music in the Centrum for dancing anytime. Music with Big Band for dancing up one floor and of course the Disco - which we don't go to, but was nice for sitting during the day with a huge view from right to left and where we called you from. Hardly anyone up there during the day, but people reading and doing needle work! We did dance almost every night and went to a couple of dance classes.

 

A nice library but with not enough books. We went on the 3rd day and maybe people had already taken them all to their room! I did find 4 books that we read. The card room was too small and not organized/

 

The people were not as sedate as the typical Celebrity crowd and we witnessed several interesting things! Lots of rumours and wild things on the ship. Funny wild things - too long to type. But we enjoyed the people we ate with and visited with. People were - on the whole - friendly and interesting. Of course there are always some people who walk around with frowns all the time and always complain. I feel sorry for people like that and try to always give them one of my smiles, since they have misplaced theirs. Usually, they smile back (sometimes not.)

 

I absolutely hated the buffet (called the WIndjammer) - and the tea time which was held there also. It was crowded, the traffic lines were non-existant - it reminded me a a cheap buffet in a motel that I wouldn't go to if I were home.

But it was good to know on the two or three times we *were* there - the waiters had a spray bottle of disinfectant and cleaned each table after use - trying to keep the virus to a minimum. Also the “bottles” were out - but not until a few days into the cruise.

 

So almost our meals were taken in the dining room or our room. The solarium (covered pool/spa area) had hamburgers, pizza, hot dogs, chicken burgers, veggie burgers and nice tapas (white asparagus, hearts of palm, red peppers, etc) but how silly - you had to walk the whole length down to that Windjammer area to get tea or coffee! The only drinks there were alcoholic or water. There was no nice little corner for Spa food - no pasta area - except at lunch in the WINDJAMMER! It was open at night, so that was your alternative dining choice. Not for me.

 

We had lunch in the dining room several times. The most startling thing happened when one of the Head Waiters (very popular with many of the passengers) came to our table to pour the water. When he poured for the lady next to me, several pieces of ice had melted together and just sat on the top of her water glass. He took his pitcher and slammed the bottom of it down on the ice and it did break it up. It splintered and went everywhere - down her dress - on the floor, all over the tablecloth. He laughed and made a comment about “cooling us off” and left! I couldn’t help but wonder where that pitcher had been sitting with the worry about germs all over the ship!

 

I really don’t think that would have taken place on Celebrity - and thought he was a bit full of himself. I wonder who supervises the head waiters? !!?

 

I did think that the lunch menu was good and always had something tasty. It is important to know that at breakfast and lunch, the waiter has no assistant - so he/she *will* be slower - having to go for the food, clear the courses, etc. But it’s nice and relaxing - just expect slower service.

 

For tea - In our room, I could order up coffee/tea and a plate of cheese, fruit and cookies. We liked that much better than the mass scene. And the choc chip cookies were good. And yes, you should tip room service unless it is your room steward and then you tip him extra at the end (that happened to us on one trip). We tipped $2 for a small tray and $3 to $4 for a large tray.

 

The ports were ok - new to us were:

 

Alicante (very quaint and nice - I liked this one)

 

Malaga (to go to Grenada) (We didn't go - just took the shuttle into town)

 

Canary Islands - this was nice - got another bouquet here to take to my stateroom

 

Nassau - well same ole same ole.

 

This was our recovery cruise . Will had been in the hospital with heart procedures and his sister died just a week before we left.-so we needed some down time. We read - played rummy and slept a LOT. On the west crossing we had 7 25 hour days which we loved.

 

As Elite members of Celebrity, that transfered to Diamond Members on RCL. But not as many special perks. Here's a comparison.

Celebrity Elite* ** ** ** ** RCL Diamond

 

Cova choc* * ** ** ** ** ** * Choc covered strawberries

Carry on Bags * ** ** ** ** *Carry on cosmetic case

Wine tasting* * ** ** ** ** ** *Wine tasting

Wine MIXING

Drinks with the Staff* * ** Drinks with all the Plat/Diamond guests

Elegant tea

Coupon books Better coupon books! 2 free pictures - total of $30

 

So for a final comparison - I can’t choose one line over the other. I enjoyed things on each line. Both ships were very clean and very positive and helpful staff members.

 

EXCEPT for the front desk! Wow, Where do they get those people? They must have to fail public relation tests to get a job!

 

Examples:

 

There is no way to get messages on the Splendour. You never know if someone has phoned and you have no way to leave a message. I wasn’t aware of that. I was trying to reach another passenger and after several vain attempts, I called the front desk and asked them to deliver a short message. (about 2 sentences) The man wrote it out and told me they only delivered every few hours, and I said that would be fine. Guess what? In 14 days, it was not delivered. Why didn’t he just tell me that? Another time I called the Crown and Anchor and left a message asking them to call me. They never did. And 2 nights before disembarking, my husband, the calmest and kindest of men, took a letter to the desk (we had received THAT NIGHT as Diamond passengers about disembarking early). The man was surly and hateful. He read the letter, threw it back and said that he didn’t know anything about that. His attitude and tone of voice were insulting. We thought that was bad, until fellow passengers told us *their* experiences with the front desk! It’s enough to just say that they were worse than ours.

 

I liked the cruise director especially - he was friendly and really “all around” the ship - speaking to everyone. He didn’t repeat himself or love to hear himself talk all the time, as some do. I appreciated the smiles of the staff - and the friendly attitudes.

 

Disembarkation:

We received colored luggage tags to put on our baggage and were to leave the ship when our colors were called. We did go back down to the Purser’s Desk and request an early disembarkation (as per our letter). This time - after a long phone call- we were given the color that we asked for. The cruise news had suggested that we vacate our cabin by 7:15. We went upstairs to have a cup of coffee and toast about 7:00 and came back and picked up our carry-ons and were in the Diamond/Platinum Lounge by 7:15. There was a problem with immigration allowing the luggage off the ship. So we were running about an hour late. We did get off about 9:00, found our luggage and as luck would have it, our shuttle was right outside. We drove to Houston in the pouring rain, but we were on our SW flight by 11:00 and arrived in Dallas at 11:45. Our travel angels were on duty that morning!

 

I guess I’ve covered everything. I really would like to write a booklet to new passengers. I think many of them start their cruising with totally unrealistic expectations. So of course they are disappointed. It’s important to remember that simply NOTHING is perfect. There will be good and bad things. The important thing is to just accept that and move on. If you stress over something is will dampen your cruise. Just learn to laugh, shrug and forget about it.

 

One thing that we learned very early about cruising is not to be disappointed the last day - disembarkment day! You won't find your room steward waiting around to serve you with big smiles; you probably won't find any staff members that you knew. They are all very very busy getting the ship ready for the next bunch of passengers and your LAST and the new passengers' FIRST day are the very busiest for the crew. Some of them have the added duties of getting the luggage out to the pier and you can imagine how busy the room stewards are getting "your" stateroom ready for the next to board.

 

I do wish all of you the best of cruising weather and many laughs and beautiful quiet moments of celebrating your life - and your luck of being able to be cruising at this particularly time of your life. Aren’t we lucky!

 

Any questions? I’ll be glad to answer anything.

 

Carol / Brahmama on the boards

__________________

 

You can email me at: Brahmama@yahoo.com

 

Have we sailed together before???

 

Costa Riviera 6/91 Regent Sun 8/92 Neu Amsterdam 10/95 NCL Seaward 8/96 Royal Odyssey 10/96 & 4/97 NCL Crown 4/98 Commodore 9/00 NCL Wind 11/00 HAL Statendam 1/02 Rhapsody of the Sea 5/02 Princess Golden 8/30/02 Millennium 10/14/03 Constellation 8/26/04 Contstellation 9/7/04 Galaxy 5/7/05 Splendour of the Seas 11/12/05 Summit 1/15/06 Summit 9/16/06

[Brahmama]

This is for Capt Data - it was down about page 5 - no wonder it was hard to find.

[NancyIL]

Thank you for your very detailed review. I was on the Splendour in April 2005 for a 7-night western Caribbean cruise, and I hope to sail on the April 2006 Transatlantic cruise to Lisbon.

[sable1]

Really enjoyed your review. We are going Transatlantic on Oct. 29. Trying to get info. on Alicante.

How close to the town does the ship dock? Within walking distance? Suggestions on what to see?

You mentioned a shuttle in Malaga, was it complimentary?

Thank you for your help.

Joanne, the chocoholic

[Brahmama]

Hi Joanne,

 

Alicante was a very pretty town with beautiful marble streets that were unique to us - with wavy patterns that seemed 3 dimmensional. It was necessary to take a shuttle to get to town. We saw a few hardy souls walk from the ship, but I'd guess that it was about 3 to 4 miles. The shuttle was complimentary and ran continually to and from the town.

 

We found the little town square which was fascinating with little shops around it and one Chinese store on the corner where we stocked up with bottled water and other goodies for the ship. They had fans with pictures of Alicante - the "wavy" streets among other things. There was more to do - we were still jet-lagged and didn't do as much as we should have.

 

Malaga was the same siutation. You needed a shuttle to get to the centre and it was complimentary. This was the port for people to go to Granada (for the Alhambra) and that was a very popular ship's tour. Our tablemates went - took about 2 hours both ways but they enjoyed it very much. Had a nice meal too, but be warned - there is a lot of walking on this tour with steps/hills etc.

 

You will love this trip! I hope you have the same agreeable weather that we did.

 

Carol

 

Really enjoyed your review. We are going Transatlantic on Oct. 29. Trying to get info. on Alicante.

How close to the town does the ship dock? Within walking distance? Suggestions on what to see?

You mentioned a shuttle in Malaga, was it complimentary?

Thank you for your help.

Joanne, the chocoholic

[cod]

What a great review! Thanks.

We did the twelve day Panama trip on the Galaxy in Nov '04. We're doing the Splendour transatlantic next month. This will be our first trip on the Splendour but we loved the Rhapsody and I think they are similiar or sister ships.

I like both lines too. In fact, 'I never met a cruise ship I didn't like'!! One thing that stands out in my mind is the nice size shower in our Cat 9 inside cabin on the Galaxy.

 

I agree too about where it's best to eat. We try to eat lunch - and sometimes even breakfast - in the dining room and prefer to avoid the buffet hassle.

 

I really enjoyed your comments..thanks again!