Splendour Of The Seas

[twoatsea]

For me, I don't think the comments about the Brazillians are offensive. As everyone knows, there are so many cultures in our world & many are so different from others. I'm a middle American & I like personal space; have my own invisible cirlce around me! ;) I was surprised in Italy when my circle greatly reduced! However, I still love & still go to Italy.

 

Some years ago, Disney World had a problem with Brazillian visitors. Other customers & the employees were complaining about their rude behavior - cutting in line consistenly (not only one or two, but groups), walking down streets with 6 or 8 people abreast & refusing to move aside even a little to those coming their way, loud arguments, arguing with workers, etc. DH & I would just stop when our paths met with them, causing them to walk around us. DW finally sent letters to the Brazillian tour agencies advising them of "expected" behavior or the tours would no longer be accepted! The problem was resolved by the drastic drop in the Brazillian economy - no more mass groups to DW.

 

However, the worse behavior DH & I have ever experienced were the regular winter seniors from Miami on a Celebrity cruise out of Miami. We are seniors ourselves, but have never seen anything like that. They screamed & yelled at each other, yelled across rooms, hogged tables & chairs, berated & pushed the staff around; it was horrible - absolutely horrible! One time we even apologized to a horribly treated staff member for the injustice he received from one of them. He advised us that he is accustomed to it! That the staff knows the Miami route results in such behavior & many of the staff try to avoid that route - how horrible!

 

And of course, justly or injustly, we have all heard references that people from NYC, New Jersey, & Chicago are rude. Personally, I have not experienced that - but that's a common label!

 

DH & I will be on the Splendour in Nov. Hope it goes well; but I anticipate that it will.

 

Happy cruising everyone.

[JennJ99738]

Some years ago, Disney World had a problem with Brazillian visitors. Other customers & the employees were complaining about their rude behavior - cutting in line consistenly (not only one or two, but groups), walking down streets with 6 or 8 people abreast & refusing to move aside even a little to those coming their way, loud arguments, arguing with workers, etc. DH & I would just stop when our paths met with them, causing them to walk around us. DW finally sent letters to the Brazillian tour agencies advising them of "expected" behavior or the tours would no longer be accepted! The problem was resolved by the drastic drop in the Brazillian economy - no more mass groups to DW.

 

I visited DW July 2007 and had first hand experience with the masses of Brazilian tourists, more than any other group. I guess the economy was no trouble for these visitors. They were mostly young adults or high school students. Very nice individually, actually extremely nice. However, in groups it seemed like the World Cup soccer championships. They wore their matching jerseys, chanted Brasilia, etc., just trying to have fun. But if you didn't get ahead of them, you were never going to get on the rides.

 

HOWEVER, they paled in comparison to the ugly Americans who screamed at them to stop chanting, telling them that they were in America now, etc. Very embarrassing to me as an American. I guess I'm a sentimental fool but DW always seemed like the one place (it shouldn't happen anywhere) where this stuff just shouldn't happen. Everybody should be happy, it's the happiest place on earth!

 

In any event, I am cruising Splendour on October 11th and I'm hoping for the best in terms of food. This cruise is about the ports for me. Does anyone know when she is going in for drydock?

[cruisenfever]

Splendour is not scheduled for dry dock until March of 2011 according to this thread.....see posts #61

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=597273&page=4

[LazyDays]

We did a Mediterranean cruise on her April 26 to May 3rd. She is a fine ship. Staff were very nice. She is well kept and we enjoyed our cruise. We did find it a little difficult to always find a table for two for breakfast in the morning but other than that no complaints. Food was good. Our waiter and assistant, Hugo and Jo, were excellent. I would definitely sail her again.....

Thanks for the report Linda. The cruise sounds great. We are sailing the same itinerary in a few weeks and I have a couple of questions. Are tips automatically added to your shipboard account? What time did boarding actually begin? Were the cable car lines very long in Santorini? We are 7 passengers and do not have any tours reserved in Corfu. Are "larger" taxis available in Corfu? Did you use the Internet aboard ship and, if so, was the speed decent? Was the dress code on formal nights as formal as Caribbean cruising or was it more relaxed? And finally, is RCCL still serving lobster and/or caviar?

[LazyDays]

Thanks for the report Linda. The cruise sounds great. We are sailing the same itinerary in a few weeks and I have a couple of questions. Are tips automatically added to your shipboard account? What time did boarding actually begin? Were the cable car lines very long in Santorini? We are 7 passengers and do not have any tours reserved in Corfu. Are "larger" taxis available in Corfu? Did you use the Internet aboard ship and, if so, was the speed decent? Was the dress code on formal nights as formal as Caribbean cruising or was it more relaxed? And finally, is RCCL still serving lobster and/or caviar?

[jbond]

HOWEVER, they paled in comparison to the ugly Americans who screamed at them to stop chanting, telling them that they were in America now, etc.

I don't ever want to hear about ugly Americans again. After seeing how the Brazilians behaved on the Splendour, they gave a new meaning to UGLY. They also redefined obnoxious, rude, loud and inconsiderate. I forgot to add arrogant. The Americans you are complaining about may have felt incited to react. On Splendour these people were supposed to be relaxed and enjoying themselves. I would hate to have seen them if they were reacting to an unpleasant situation.

[MaeBec50]

Hi, I was so glad to read your review. Since you said the ports were great, can you tell me which excursions you would reccomend. Thanks.

[jbond]

And finally, is RCCL still serving lobster and/or caviar?

No lobster on either lleg of our cruise. Caviar was "almost" served

with some hors d'oeuvre. They had small pastry shells filled with "mashed" egg and a very, very small amount of caviar. There were no caviar appetizers at dinner. I would add that the appetizers were on the whole excellent. Probably the best we have experienced, but stay away from the bay scallops and shrimp in garlic sauce. Sounds great, but it was really bad. The carpaccios of beef and duck were first class.

[cruisenfever]

I don't ever want to hear about ugly Americans again. After seeing how the Brazilians behaved on the Splendour, they gave a new meaning to UGLY. They also redefined obnoxious, rude, loud and inconsiderate. I forgot to add arrogant. The Americans you are complaining about may have felt incited to react. On Splendour these people were supposed to be relaxed and enjoying themselves. I would hate to have seen them if they were reacting to an unpleasant situation.

I agree with jb on this. We are normally very relaxed, go with the flow and whatever will be will be kind of people. BUT, on this cruise..............our buttons were pushed to the limit.

 

Maybe the way these people acted on this cruise are the way they act in their everyday life and didn't really know any better.:( I'm sure glad that our parents taught us manners.

[JennJ99738]

I don't ever want to hear about ugly Americans again. After seeing how the Brazilians behaved on the Splendour, they gave a new meaning to UGLY. They also redefined obnoxious, rude, loud and inconsiderate. I forgot to add arrogant. The Americans you are complaining about may have felt incited to react.

 

Jbond- I can see you were very upset by your cruise. Do not, however, tell me what to post or not post. I was posting in response to a previous post, not yours, again complaining about Brazilians. There was absolutely no reason for the Americans at DW to react the way they were. Maybe I'll use one of your expressions. "You just had to be there."

 

If you think Americans can't act badly, you have blinders on. Everyone, regardless of nationality, can act rudely at one time or another.

 

Thank you to the other poster who advised regarding dry dock.

[jbond]

Do not, however, tell me what to post or not post.

No intention of doing that, I made a statement that I don't want to hear it. You can post away. I think you also missed the point of what I posted. Regardless of your feelings about the behaviour in DW, there was an underlying reason. If the Brazilians hadn't behaved like they did, the Americans would not have reacted that way. On our cruise, there was no catalyst, that's the way they were. Fortunately the minority English speaking people on the cruise looked the other way and behaved like well mannered people instead of arrogant slobs.

[JennJ99738]

No intention of doing that, I made a statement that I don't want to hear it. You can post away. I think you also missed the point of what I posted. Regardless of your feelings about the behaviour in DW, there was an underlying reason. If the Brazilians hadn't behaved like they did, the Americans would not have reacted that way. On our cruise, there was no catalyst, that's the way they were. Fortunately the minority English speaking people on the cruise looked the other way and behaved like well mannered people instead of arrogant slobs.

 

No, I didn't miss the point of your post at all. I will repeat, there was no reason for the Americans to act the way they did. I was there and you were not just like I was not on your cruise. I can't disagree that the Brazilians on your ship did not act appropriate because I wasn't there. The Americans I am talking about needed no reason other than the Brazilians had the gall to be at DW. We have a difference of opinion here. Your post suggests that you believe all Brazilians behave badly and all Americans behave properly. I disagree. As I stated before, I believe anyone can act rudely regardless of nationality.

 

This stuff really bothers me so I'm going to go back to learning about my cruise on Splendour which I'm nevertheless really looking forward to regardless of who is on board and the quality of the food, or lack of it and hope for the best!

[Mines]

I agree with jb on this. We are normally very relaxed, go with the flow and whatever will be will be kind of people. BUT, on this cruise..............our buttons were pushed to the limit.

 

Maybe the way these people acted on this cruise are the way they act in their everyday life and didn't really know any better.:( I'm sure glad that our parents taught us manners.

 

To Cruisenfever and jbond,

 

I really feel sorry for you on your experience. As I have posted before, we did the reverse itinerary last December, where there more than 800 Brazilians on board. We did not get the same problems of rudeness and bad behaviour - all of the guests were well behaved. I guess you just got a bad batch.

 

Part of the problem is the price - I think all of you will agree on this one. Both at Disney and on cruises, if you make the price too cheap the ruder Brazilian soccer supporters will turn up en-mass. RCL have a cheap-price line called Island Cruises that do the same route transatlantic as Splendour. What they should have done is make a price difference, so that all of the ruder crowd went on Island and only the better behaved were on the RCL ship.

 

I fear that things will be much worse on the short, cheap cruises planned for Brazil next winter. They are competing for the party crowd head-on here with Costa and MSC, as well as their own Island.

 

For those posters on this board that are asking questions about Splendour Mediterranean in the Summer, none of this argument has any relevance. The type of customer will be completely different and I would strongly advise in favour of the Venice cruise. The itinerary is great and the ship lives up to it.

[Renz]

Dear friends, as writing for me in English is quite tough (I am German, no Brasilian), I did not write a full fledged report yet. However I want to let you know that the TA with the Splendour was the worst cruise experience I have ever had (ok, not a veteran, but it was our 10th cruise in 4 years). Neither the food nor the staff were up to standards. Many of the waiters (including unfortunately the one, who "served" us) did not speak English properly. What was even worse is that they did not have any clue about their job and were not too eager to please (e.g. could not describe or explain the food. did not bring what you ordered etc). The food in the dining room was never hot and even not meidocre. Focus (selection of food, entertainjment etc) has been clearly put on Brasilian guests, which is ok if other guest would be informed before booking. I am a strong beleiver in multicultural events and thing that I have reached a reasonable level of cross-cultural awareness but if you feel like a part of a somewhat bothersome minority, this is not the feeling which let you relax.

Reception staff was friendly but also clueless. Asking the same question to 2-3 you would receive at least 2 different and contradictory answers.

Shape of the ship was more or less ok, but all pools were rusty and therefore not very inviting. Just for the protocoll I want to mention that the German translation of the daily agenda was a joke and full of mistakes (regarding the substance; e.g. wrong times etc.).

I will certainly not sail the Splendour again and I will place my future bookings through a different travel agency (as they did not prepare me for this cruise). and quite frankly: Yes, I would cancel or rebook....

[feistytigger]

We are 7 passengers and do not have any tours reserved in Corfu. Are "larger" taxis available in Corfu?

 

i'm not sure about the size of taxis, but, depending on what you intend to do, you may be better off renting a car (or, well, van in your case). driving around corfu is apparently pretty easy, and taxis seem to be kind of expensive (35 each way to paleo v. 30-50 for a car rental). we'll probably rent a car, drive to paleo to visit the beach and monastery, and then head back to corfu town for a bit. (we'll see if time allows for achillion palace.) for more info about corfu, you might check out the boards at agni.gr. they're pretty active and very friendly.

[dvg1027]

We just got back from Western Med on Splendour this past Sat. Look on RCCL Roll call for May 10 and you will find my review. Overall, everything thing went well.

[EmJakeBubbie]

I'm thinking that because dvg1027 had nice things to report about the SPLENDOUR, all the rotten stuff was isolated sailings w/rude pax. Sorry for all of you to have had such bad luck. -or-, here's an idea: maybe RCI is really reading Cruise Critic and getting the idea that things have gone south w/the SPLENDOUR? don't mind an older/smaller vessel. Do mind bad service, bad food, dirty/disrepaired ship! I'm going to hold onto what dvg1027 had to say:D Maybe others will pop in here to give other good reports????

[dvg1027]

I will be interested if others do chime in especially if they were on the cruise that I was on. It always amazes me that people can be on the same cruise and have such different experiences.

 

I had read about the bad food and rude employees and I was really worried about it.

 

Like I said on my review on RCCLs rollcall there were hits and misses with the food. One thing I did not mention if you like your steak cooked a certain way you might not be to successful. I did not order the steak so that did not bother me. Oh and if you like escargot definitely get it when you see it on the menu. Everyone really seemed to like the appetizers and the desserts. It was the main course that was not alway up to par. I have a tendency to order pasta, seafood or chicken dishes and they were always good or very good.

But the employees not only treated everyone well but went above and beyond. At first I thought maybe it was because we had a suite. But I spoke to quite a few other passengers that could not say enough about the staff. They really made the trip so much better. If anyone is going on Splendour and has any questions for me you can email me at dvg1027@aol.com.

[EmJakeBubbie]

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=779279

 

could explain "why" some sailings were disappointing...

[cruisenfever]

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=779279

 

could explain "why" some sailings were disappointing...

You're right about our TA being disappointing...........we had no idea when we booked what we were in for.

[EmJakeBubbie]

from the many postings on and near YourSailing, IMO, y'all were immersion-sailing. :confused:

Who dreamed up that idea??? phooey....if I want to be immersed in a particular culture, I'll do a land-holiday (as I posted somewhere..) A cruise experience should be about "cruising". We get off the ship, in port, to appreciate the local culture, but back on board, I want my reliable cruise experience from RCI:D

 

That's my story, and I'm stickin to it....

[greeneng]

I want to repeat: The Splendour TA was an Aberration!

It was not like any normal cruise.

 

There were absolutely NO inherently rude crew members! There was a number of rude passengers, and a small number of extremely rude passengers. They were all from the same ethnic group. The exact percentage could not be determined. If a crew member appeared to be rude it is because they were being run ragged by overly demanding passengers.

 

There was a technical problem on the last day which resulted in the shop being late into port. Disembarkation became chaos because the rude ran true to form by insisting on trying to get off before it was their turn by pushing and shoving and yelling at everyone in front of them. I was about to become the rudest of all when the guy behind my wife in the line going out continued to bump into her and yell at her. But, I turned around, gave him my upraised fist, and made the threat which turned the tables.

 

We have sailed on the Splendour before in the Med with absolutely no problems (probably with no B********s aboard). There is nothing to worry about. Keep the booking, and have a great time. After all, it is not going to get any cheaper for Americans to tour Europe. If this is your chance, go for it now!

 

Jim and Joan

[jbond]

I agree with you 100%, it was unlike any cruise we have been on. I finished our photo album and we had a great time. Loved the ports. Away from the "madding crowd" everything was OK, in fact great. The chaos getting off was unbelievable, inefficient, uncaring RCI and mobs of rude, arrogant people that behaved so badly. The RCI debacle in Santos has mellowed out and now I look at it and smile. Not too funny at the time though.

Would I have done the cruise if I'd known up front that the passenger mix would be so one sided? Probably, in fact, definitely. Would I do the cruise again, knowing what I know now? Never.

Would I hesitate to cruise Splendour in the Med again? Absolutely no hesitation.

[beachnative]

For those of you on the May 31st sailing, how was it? We who are eagerly awaiting our sailing date would like to know all that you can tell us.

[maniakman]

We went on the May 10 sailing out of Venice.

It was quite enjoyable but included a few disappointments, most of them already mentioned (mainly average service, average food).

Our experience was definitely not like the unfortunate TA experiences reported on prior posts.

The ship itself was in quite good shape and a lot more "personable" than the much larger Star Princess which we sailed previously.

 

Would I suggest that anyone cancel their future booking? Absolutely not.

 

For anyone interested, my somewhat long summary is posted in the Mediterranean forum:

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=790064