Splendor 21st May to 2nd June - some observations

[TheRampantSnail]

Our recently completed cruise on Splendor from Southampton to Southampton was overall excellent. I am not doing a full review but offer some observations.

Embarkation at Southampton was speedy, orderly and efficient; we were on board and enjoying our first glass of champagne within 30 minutes of parking the car.

We had been a little concerned that the ship might be too glitzy for our taste, but we were very pleasantly surprised that the decor was very tasteful.

Our room was comfortable and well fitted out, except for the fact that there were no UK 3-pin electrical sockets and, inexcusable for such a new ship, no USB C outlets.

Staff, with a couple of minor exceptions, were superb. Service, again with a few minor exceptions, was excellent. Where there were exceptions it was mainly where there seemed to be fewer staff on duty.

We ate at all venues. Overall, our favourite was Prime 7. The layout of the restaurant was ideal, particularly with so many tables for two by the windows. The food was very good and service impeccable. Close behind was Chartreuse followed by Sette Marie (although we found that you had to get there close to 6:30pm or have to wait for quite a while. Compass Rose was a curate's egg - good in parts. Try to avoid being seated at the back near where the food is brought out - it does not make for a restful meal. Our least favourite by far was Pacific Rim. It looks to be a lovely restaurant but the seating arrangement is far from ideal. Our one meal there was very disappointing. Soft shell crab was excellent but dim sum were tasteless. Our main courses were brought out within seconds of our starters being cleared. This is totally unacceptable. I ordered duck, which was a total disaster - it was so overcooked as to be inedible. No excuse considering that meat in all other restaurants was perfectly cooked as ordered. 

Apart from in Pacific Rim, food in general was excellent - except for fish, which was invariably overcooked.

David Nevin, the Cruise Director was an excellent singer and entertainer but we have never come across a CD who was so unengaging. You might get a "good morning" from him sometimes but he only seemed to engage with a very small minority of passengers.

Entertainment in the main theatre was poor. That is not a criticism of the singers and dancers (who were good) but of the content; same old same old content.

Entertainment in the lounges was much better; the duo, the orchestra and the pianist were all excellent and played a wide range of music.

We were not aware of any Covid issues on board but were were informed that a crew member, who had left the ship before this cruise, had tested positive for monkey pox.

[1982CruzStart]

thank you for your comments. Glad that overall you had a wonderful time.  Scary that a crew member has monkey pox. Thank goodness he/she was gone before you boarded. i hope they are recovering well. 

[Pathfinder88]

We were on Splendor for the TA cruise in April.  My observations are right in line with yours:  beautiful, elegant ship, great service all around, good food, talented but unengaging cruise director and staff, ho-hum entertainment.  We especially felt the lack of interesting talks and creative activities to fill the stretch of sea days. 

Pacific Rim was our least favorite too.  It’s such an attractive venue, but the food we had on two occasions wasn’t well executed and we left disappointed each time.  I’d skip it all together next time. 
 

Overall, we had a very nice, relaxing two weeks, sounds like you did too.  But…we both surprisingly tested positive for Covid on disembarkation day and had to spend an unplanned week in isolation in Madrid. I’ve since learned via these boards that we weren’t the only ones.  Guess it comes with the territory these days.  Happy sailing! 

[LewiLewi]

Pacific Rim on Explorer was our favorite restaurant; dined there three times in a ten day period.

We also enjoyed Prime 7 and Setta Mari and loved having lunch at La Veranda at the back of the ship.

 

[cwn]

Food is so subjective. Meat and fish some like well done (D-in-L) others like it almost raw (DH). Main thing most agree that it needs to be served hot!

catching Covid is the main problem with traveling out of the country. That way we canceled our cruises that had us having to disembark in a foreign country. We are content with round trip US ports. We can drive home. But that is our choice.

[Gilly]

10 hours ago, cwn said:

Main thing most agree that it needs to be served hot!

One reason we always try to remember to request hot food is served on a hot plate.

[sassyw]

15 hours ago, cwn said:

Food is so subjective. Meat and fish some like well done (D-in-L) others like it almost raw (DH). Main thing most agree that it needs to be served hot!

catching Covid is the main problem with traveling out of the country. That way we canceled our cruises that had us having to disembark in a foreign country. We are content with round trip US ports. We can drive home. But that is our choice.

We feel that way too. Living in florida there are many options and we are booked on the Navigator from montreal back to Florida and then on the Splendor LA to miami and then the Grandeur 2024. Looking into an american cruise line river cruise from New Orleans to Minn. summer of 2023

[rcandkc]

On 6/4/2022 at 4:55 PM, Pathfinder88 said:

We were on Splendor for the TA cruise in April.  My observations are right in line with yours:  beautiful, elegant ship, great service all around, good food, talented but unengaging cruise director and staff, ho-hum entertainment.  We especially felt the lack of interesting talks and creative activities to fill the stretch of sea days. 

Pacific Rim was our least favorite too.  It’s such an attractive venue, but the food we had on two occasions wasn’t well executed and we left disappointed each time.  I’d skip it all together next time. 
 

Overall, we had a very nice, relaxing two weeks, sounds like you did too.  But…we both surprisingly tested positive for Covid on disembarkation day and had to spend an unplanned week in isolation in Madrid. I’ve since learned via these boards that we weren’t the only ones.  Guess it comes with the territory these days.  Happy sailing! 

Did Regent help orchestrate lodging, new flights, etc?  I don’t expect them to pay for lodging and food, but help to orchestrate.  If flights through Regent I would want help there too.  What is the reality?