Live 'n Loose - Carnival Splendor, 26th Dec 2026

[arxcards]

3 hours ago, Tripmode33 said:

The buffalo chicken roll from the Deli is certainly worth trying one lunch.

And we found if we asked for included juice at brunch, even though it wasn't listed, they usually obliged. 

Thanks for the juice.

 

I quite enjoyed a Rueben for lunch. The queues were expensive at most "buffet" locations today. Crazy as!

[arxcards]

MDR Dinner. Quite good. Ms Barb says her barra was about as good as it gets.

 

[arxcards]

Just now, arxcards said:

MDR Dinner. Quite good. Ms Barb says her barra was about as good as it gets.

 

 

[arxcards]

And the Alchemy bar to prop-up the night:

The best Old Fashioned variant ever

[arxcards]

2 hours ago, arxcards said:

Thanks for the juice.

 

I quite enjoyed a Rueben for lunch. The queues were expensive at most "buffet" locations today. Crazy as!

That should read extensive. It looked like a CCCP bread queue.

[lyndarra]

12 hours ago, arxcards said:

Only in the Alchemy bar (I wish). Starting to find the vibe of this ship young Phil. 

https://www.google.com/search?client=firefox-b-d&q=it's+the+vibe#fpstate=ive&vld=cid:9fcb6de0,vid:yGhSuILWyZI,st:0

[arxcards]

A nice day at sea today. Disembark info has us needing our bag out by 11pm, so that is a plus.

 

The cabin is more prone to noise from the corridor than I can recall any other cabin having. The TV is smaller than my PC monitor. No, we don't sit around to watch TV, but when watching morning news I would prefer not to need my special to read the headline tickers. They have around 20 recent movies on demand, but these are all $10 to watch. No Aussie sport chanel on the TV, but the bar near the casino has got the cricket. Princess has around 100 on demand movies N/C, local sport and 2 x modern big screen TVs in suites & minis. 

 

Overall though, we are pretty happy with the cabin layout and comfort. Even for a suite, the steward is just once per day. Without chocolate, there isn't much point in having turndown anyway.

 

Friends of ours commented that they were served dog food last year. All I can say is woof - the food varies between nice and sensational. We have made an effort to try a little bit of everything, and apart from the food queues upstairs, it has trumped our expectations. We are back to 555 tonight, as night 1 there was a definitely a highlight.

[arxcards]

There is a dressing area between the main area of the cabin and the bathroom. In the shadows there this afternoon, I noticed an extra US and an extra AU power point.

[Chiliburn]

48 minutes ago, arxcards said:

There is a dressing area between the main area of the cabin and the bathroom. In the shadows there this afternoon, I noticed an extra US and an extra AU power point.

Did you do a cougar report for me and @NSWP Geoff? 
 

Edited December 28, 2023 by Chiliburn

[Hunter69]

You, Have to go to The Punchliner Comedy club. Easily the best entertainment at night on-board. Some of the comedians have played in main showrooms on other ships. Also drop by Piano bar very nice way to end night with a cocktail from Alchemy next door to it.

 

 

[arxcards]

22 minutes ago, Chiliburn said:

Did you do a cougar report for me and @NSWP Geoff? 
 

Should be good for you, especially the ones with moustaches.

[arxcards]

12 minutes ago, Hunter69 said:

You, Have to go to The Punchliner Comedy club. Easily the best entertainment at night on-board. Some of the comedians have played in main showrooms on other ships. Also drop by Piano bar very nice way to end night with a cocktail from Alchemy next door to it.

 

 

Indeed. Similar to Sit Down comedy club on P&O. 

 

Piano Bar entertainment on this cruise is akin to watching Glee. Cassidy Rae disembarked just before Christmas, so we lucked out there.

[Chiliburn]

5 minutes ago, arxcards said:

Should be good for you, especially the ones with moustaches.

I was trying to catch up with a blogger on Brilliance ,last cruise,I haven’t met.

We agreed to meet in a bar called Vintages and ask at the bar.

I asked at the bar,is there a Carl at the bar .

A gay gentleman with a feminist voice replied, I can be anything you want sweetheart.

 

[arxcards]

Another awesome meal in 555 (it was a NYstrip, and the proof is in the eating.

[yes!yes!yes!]

is this the carnival ship with the revolting colour scheme ? 

how are their brulees

[arxcards]

On 12/26/2023 at 9:02 PM, Chiliburn said:

I was told it’s good and has a bit of a younger clientele .

I think Geoff was going on it but decided on Carnival instead. LOL

Mostly timing Phil. This one had heaps of OBC from covid cancellations, so was rarely in doubt. We cancelled one on Splendor this past July, and it was Coral Princess or Celeb Edge to decide. We had flights booked for Coral, and a non-refundable deposit. Edge deposit was fully refundable, so we will look forward to another opportunity.

 

I will wrap this cruise up later. 2 months to wait for Coral, then a clean slate for a year while we take care of some things at home.

[Aussieflyer]

Your MDR dishes look much better than what we had in July. It was one ship where the buffet was better than the MDR. Agree that Alchemy is by far the best bar on the ship. Interestingly the Piano Bar was basically dead every time we went past (even quite late). 

[Mareblu]

21 hours ago, arxcards said:

Another awesome meal in 555 (it was a NYstrip, and the proof is in the eating.

Is Rick Stein aboard?

[arxcards]

7 hours ago, yes!yes!yes! said:

is this the carnival ship with the revolting colour scheme ? 

how are their brulees

All Carnival ships have revolting colour schemes. Splendor is no exception, but it wasn't as in your face as I was expecting. The cabin decor was fine, as were the passenger corridors. The carpets around the lift foyers are absolutely shot - threadbare in places.

 

No Brule's. Not on the muni on the night we were in the MDR, and not past of the steakhouse menu.

[arxcards]

1 hour ago, Mareblu said:

Is Rick Stein aboard?

No, unless he is a passenger.

Is there a food connection with Carnival?

[arxcards]

3 hours ago, Aussieflyer said:

Your MDR dishes look much better than what we had in July. It was one ship where the buffet was better than the MDR. Agree that Alchemy is by far the best bar on the ship. Interestingly the Piano Bar was basically dead every time we went past (even quite late). 

The piano bar is pumping while Cassidy Rae is aboard, but she isn't your average cruise ship entertainer. Yes, it was lame for us.

 

Alchemy is expensive, but that keeps away the cheap drunks 🤣

There were a few mixologist variants that went down nicely.

 

The MDR was OK for us with food. We did 2 x brunches, one dinner and breakfast this morning. Service this morning was very slow, but overall it was decent and the food was nice by MDR standard. We had good seats on the rail for the dancing below, but there is something less than magical about others reaching up over your table to get a look. I scrapped my dessert after someone had their hand on my plate. Not Carnival's doing, but yuk.

 

We would have tried the buffet a bit more, but the conga lines were a bit much for us.

[Mareblu]

1 hour ago, arxcards said:

No, unless he is a passenger.

Is there a food connection with Carnival?

No, that pic of the empty plate with used utensils is his signature shot 😂

[arxcards]

1 hour ago, Mareblu said:

No, that pic of the empty plate with used utensils is his signature shot 😂

Ahh, cool. It is also what I prefer to do. Some years ago, friends started goading me for food pics and that was how I responded - the proof of great food is all in the taste. If I don't like something, I will also take a pic of the part eaten meal.

 

I see lots of artistic food pics on social media, and you would swear they don't eat much of their food.