On the Splendor BtoB Dec 3 -20

[MotuIslander]

On 12/4/2022 at 1:14 PM, Wendy The Wanderer said:

I was just going to mention that!  

 

We board on January 21st , so take good care of her, @cwm, and thanks for doing this!

Hi Wendy -

 

We will be on 12/20-1/5 and will make sure that they leave it in tip-top shape for you!

[Kristal Blade]

Thank you for asking about the kettle. We were never going to bring our own, it is U.K. plug and would take ages to boil with USA converter. 
 

We will ring for hot water in the morning, we like a cuppa in bed before we get up. One of us has to go downstairs to make it, so hot water delivery will be a treat. Once I’m up and dressed I can trot off to the cafe to get tea.

 

Going to sort out my tea bag supplies now! 😉 

[Techno123]

5 hours ago, Kristal Blade said:

Thank you for asking about the kettle. We were never going to bring our own, it is U.K. plug and would take ages to boil with USA converter. 
 

We will ring for hot water in the morning, we like a cuppa in bed before we get up. One of us has to go downstairs to make it, so hot water delivery will be a treat. Once I’m up and dressed I can trot off to the cafe to get tea.

 

Going to sort out my tea bag supplies now! 😉 

Make sure you ask them to boil it. You know what some nationalities are like making tea in the microwave 😂😁😜😂😁😜

[mrlevin]

Can someone onboard post a picture of the outside of door to cabin?   Don't remember Splendor design  for hanging a wreath.

 

thanks,

 

Marc

[Kristal Blade]

1 hour ago, mrlevin said:

Can someone onboard post a picture of the outside of door to cabin?   Don't remember Splendor design  for hanging a wreath.

 

thanks,

 

Marc

Good idea mrlevin,

I’m wondering if the door will take magnetic decor or will I need Blutack? 
Also, does anyone know if the inside walls are magnetic. I have Christmas and birthday decor to hang.

 

Thank you.

[cwn]

2 hours ago, mrlevin said:

Can someone onboard post a picture of the outside of door to cabin?   Don't remember Splendor design  for hanging a wreath.

 

thanks,

 

Marc

Here you goThe trim is around the whole door. Can’t really tell if it is metal, sounds kind of like plastic. There is a slots beside the door that I am going to hang a Santa face later. I forgot to bring my magnets. I read that the really strong ones work in places. There is a wall covering that evidently prevents the Smaller ones from working.

[cwn]

We rocked and rolled all night. But it made for good sleeping which I needed.

as for yesterday….we had great fun on the buggies and beach ride. With two to a buggy, Dick go to drive the whole couple of hours. We were buckled in like we were sitting in a baby car seat and had a helmet of course. There were only 4 of us on the ride but as we are all incased in the buggy Annabelle and another ship entertainer show up with the film crew. About 15 minutes later and three more buggies we are off. 
To be continued Dick wants lunch!

[Kristal Blade]

Thanks for the door info, cwn,

Enjoy your lunch.

I’m packing big magnets along with my tea bags now!

[Wendy The Wanderer]

So the Illy machines that I am looking at on their website do not seem to have a pod system, so I can understand that you can't just set it to produce boiling water by leaving the pod out, like a Keurig.  

 

As for tea, no one who actually drinks hot tea regular will settle for a carafe of hot water.  For black tea, especially, it needs to be boiling, and for green tea, just off the boil. I think I'll settle for coffee this trip.

[cwn]

We are having lunch in Prime7.

After everyone finally got buckled in and the buggies started we headed off to a dirt road the lead us to Mt behind town. There we stopped for a few minutes at someones “farm” for a drink and then headed back down to beach and the mud bath being……with stops for the film crew to set up as we plowed though the road turned river. There had been a heavy rain the day before. The beach was small but pretty, it wasn’t a swim stop though. It was a great great tour and the film crew made it even more fun. 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited December 6, 2022 by cwn

[cwn]

3 hours ago, Wendy The Wanderer said:

So the Illy machines that I am looking at on their website do not seem to have a pod system, so I can understand that you can't just set it to produce boiling water by leaving the pod out, like a Keurig.  

 

As for tea, no one who actually drinks hot tea regular will settle for a carafe of hot water.  For black tea, especially, it needs to be boiling, and for green tea, just off the boil. I think I'll settle for coffee this trip.

Wendy we order hot tea every night with dessert, herbal for me and either that or an English tea for Dick. They bring a pot of scalding water and the teas…..Same with Room service. Guess I am not s tea purist as I think it is fine and have to wait till the water/tea cools a bit before drinking.

[Huggsy]

13 hours ago, Kristal Blade said:

Thank you for asking about the kettle. We were never going to bring our own, it is U.K. plug and would take ages to boil with USA converter. 
 

We will ring for hot water in the morning, we like a cuppa in bed before we get up. One of us has to go downstairs to make it, so hot water delivery will be a treat. Once I’m up and dressed I can trot off to the cafe to get tea.

 

Going to sort out my tea bag supplies now! 😉 

In February, hubby & I went on Splendor, we had tea brought to our room every morning which was very nice but the water wasn't exactly boiling hot. Next April we'll be in a Penthouse and provided with an Illi machine which before I read this thread I assumed I could just swap for a kettle.  We've had kettles on other cruise lines so I don't see what is the difference. Anyway, I'll be packing my favourite Y teabags and politely ask for scalding hot water for my morning cuppa 🙂

[cwn]

Finally I think I can continue yesterday report. 

I hate to say this this early but after a day at sea which was really nice, the port day, yesterday, was a disappoint except for the tour.

So far food service  has been great, Chartuse was wonderful for both the lunch yesterday and the first dinner. We ate in Pacific Rim the second night and they adjusted the cooking process to avoid cross contaminating as I am allergic to soy bean products (travel in Asia is a real thrilling experience for me). The crab and lobster were great.

We went to Setti Mare last night arriving at 6:30 and they were turning people away by 7. It is a favorite of our and we have had many cruise dinners in that venue, it did no disappoint last either. Lunch today was in Prime 7 and the summer rolls were great. Like the way they do the dessert choice too. You can see what you are picking. I had the popcorn chocolate and the blueberry almond cobbler. Dick had the key lime pie and the banana tres leches, there were small serving so we didn’t feel too bad!

The suite is very nice but a little smaller than the regular Mariner suite. That is not a problem for us as we go camping doing weeks at a time in a 25 ft trailer smaller than our suite. We love the aft view especially at sail in and sail away!  And the balcony is good sized and has comfortable lounge chairs.
So what’s not to like……we can’t quite put our finger on it. There are a few staff training issues and it is pain the staff is young and many are new and have a bit of problem with English, but they are trying hard to please.

The main thing for us is the ship is too big and too shiny ….crystal, marble, gold and silver. Looks like Carnival’s decorator had a hand in it. (We sail on a smaller Carnival ship with our 7 grandchildren often, it is and easy port for us).There needs to be a third bank of elevators and the two banks the ship has need to go to every floor. But mainly there are not enough bars for the size of the ship. And they can’t all make all drinks…. No blender at one! When we came back from the tour yesterday at 4:15 we went to the pool deck for a drink. Stood in line for 10 min while the 2 guys served people sitting at the bar and one standing in line. Left, went to the room and called room service. By the time we were cleaned up, our drinks and a cheese plate arrived. We were muddy for our tour so we didn’t want to troop through the public rooms. Only pool bar is open before 4. 
I guess the kid in me was really disappointed when we left the ship they had the decorations up…. What there are of them. The ship is all silver and white and so are the few decorations …. There absolutely disappear into the background. Ugh…

one thing I do love is the two puzzle tables! 

[xrvlcruiser]

The Holiday decorations were to arrive in Barcelona but did not. They did come in Miami so the Staff has done a good job getting them up all around the ship in the past couple of days. Good work everyone!

[mrlevin]

38 minutes ago, cwn said:

 

The suite is very nice but a little smaller than the regular Mariner suite. That is not a problem for us as we go camping doing weeks at a time in a 25 ft trailer smaller than our suite. We love the aft view especially at sail in and sail away!  And the balcony is good sized and has comfortable lounge chairs.
So what’s not to like……we can’t quite put our finger on it. There are a few staff training issues and it is pain the staff is young and many are new and have a bit of problem with English, but they are trying hard to please.

The main thing for us is the ship is too big and too shiny ….crystal, marble, gold and silver. Looks like Carnival’s decorator had a hand in it. (We sail on a smaller Carnival ship with our 7 grandchildren often, it is and easy port for us).There needs to be a third bank of elevators and the two banks the ship has need to go to every floor. But mainly there are not enough bars for the size of the ship. And they can’t all make all drinks…. No blender at one! When we came back from the tour yesterday at 4:15 we went to the pool deck for a drink. Stood in line for 10 min while the 2 guys served people sitting at the bar and one standing in line. Left, went to the room and called room service. By the time we were cleaned up, our drinks and a cheese plate arrived. We were muddy for our tour so we didn’t want to troop through the public rooms. Only pool bar is open before 4. 

We spent 24 days in aft facing G2 on Explorer with three adults; definitely manageable.

 

I agree that the bars are the primary issue on Explorer and Splendor.  Meridian is no substitute for Horizon Lounge on Mariner and Voyager.  In addition, Mariner has one more with Stars.  As for hours, don't get me started on why on port days you have to go to Deck 11 for a drink before 4 on Explorer and Splendor.

 

We have sailed a combined 126 days on Splendor, Navigator, and Mariner in last year.  Regent has definitely had issues with staff and shipboard management knows it.  We have been told a number of reasons; Regent later to get restarted so many staff have gone elsewhere, visa issues, and the odd one that failed COVID test prior to joining the ship.  We have also seen a number of staff in multiple departments leave before their probationary period was over.   I should have known how bad the bar service would be on Mariner when F&B on the fist day commented on "young bar staff."  

 

We have 23 more days on Splendor starting next week; I sure hope bar, waiter, and destinations staff are up to snuff and that the supply issues have been overcome; after all, we are paying a pretty penny.  

 

See you soon!

[Kristal Blade]

1 hour ago, Huggsy said:

In February, hubby & I went on Splendor, we had tea brought to our room every morning which was very nice but the water wasn't exactly boiling hot. Next April we'll be in a Penthouse and provided with an Illi machine which before I read this thread I assumed I could just swap for a kettle.  We've had kettles on other cruise lines so I don't see what is the difference. Anyway, I'll be packing my favourite Y teabags and politely ask for scalding hot water for my morning cuppa 🙂

I agree Huggsy,

I was hoping to swap the coffee machine for a kettle. A kettle is as much a fire risk as a coffee pod machine so I don’t get why they are so anti them.

On an Azamara cruise we filled out the mid cruise feedback form explaining our desire for a kettle. We were celebrating my husband’s birthday on that cruise. On his birthday a kettle arrived in our room! So the cruise ships do stock them but don’t issue them as standard on some lines.

 

Sorry to hijack the thread with the “T files”. Bit like the X files but with tea leaves instead of aliens.

 

I loved the look of the jeep buggy drive, great action mud shots!

[RELS]

Our door is magnetic. I tested it with the 30 year pin they gave us a few days ago.

 

Our team won at trivia today (tied for 1st). The questions were so much easier than yesterday’s.

[ChucktownSteve]

19 hours ago, MotuIslander said:

Hi Wendy -

 

We will be on 12/20-1/5 and will make sure that they leave it in tip-top shape for you!

We'll be embarking on 1/5 so we appreciate you taking care of her for us.  We'll do the same paying it forward.

[CruiserFromMaine]

2 minutes ago, ChucktownSteve said:

We'll be embarking on 1/5 so we appreciate you taking care of her for us.  We'll do the same paying it forward.

 

We're on with Wendy, so we thank you too! 

[cwn]

2 hours ago, RELS said:

Our door is magnetic. I tested it with the 30 year pin they gave us a few days ago.

 

Our team won at trivia today (tied for 1st). The questions were so much easier than yesterday’s.

Dick loves trivia and he has missed it every time. I didn’t see it listed today. If it was this afternoon we were again sitting on our  balcony watching the huge Carnival ship back out sipping cocktails and a nice cheese tray…thank you service!

He will try again tomorrow.

l am a little slow these days in more ways than just mental. Hadn’t thought to check with the magnet…. But the bears are wearing the pins.

Edited December 7, 2022 by cwn

[cwn]

4 hours ago, xrvlcruiser said:

The Holiday decorations were to arrive in Barcelona but did not. They did come in Miami so the Staff has done a good job getting them up all around the ship in the past couple of days. Good work everyone!

I agree about the staff. I got down to deck 4 tonight. They have put out a lot more little things since yesterday afternoon and the lobby area looks more complete and very sparkly. But I still think I like the Explorers decorations better…just a matter of personal taste.

Edited December 7, 2022 by cwn

[cwn]

We were in San Juan today. We have been here before as a stop over on dive trips and on Panama Canal cruises. Had planned to go into old town but my legs were hurting so we just enjoyed the ship with lunch in Prime7 and dinner in Compass Rose. I had a good steak and Dick had Dover Sole.

We spent a good bit of time on the balcony just watching the world go by.

[lincslady]

The decorations look lovely - to me - but they are very 'tasteful', and therefore maybe not as jolly as the more usual reds and silvers and golds.  I for one would prefer these ones, but each to their own.

[vistaman]

5 hours ago, cwn said:

Dick loves trivia and he has missed it every time. I didn’t see it listed today. If it was this afternoon we were again sitting on our  balcony watching the huge Carnival ship back out sipping cocktails and a nice cheese tray…thank you service!

He will try again tomorrow.

l am a little slow these days in more ways than just mental. Hadn’t thought to check with the magnet…. But the bears are wearing the pins.

thank you for all the information ! 

maybe i will book a trip to Mexico in March with a low single sup 

also depending on the flights  

[kjbacon]

I’m really enjoying your report. We will be on Splendor in February so thank you for helping to build the excitement!

 

The buggy trip looked like fun. What port was that?