Splendor Apr 26 sailing Eastern Med review

[John Cuttino]

Back for a great trip.

 

Getting there: flew via JFK from Boston, arrived in Venice and went directly to ship (we did a RCCL cruise tour at the end, wanted jet lag on ship not in Venice). Flights on Delta were ok (JFK-VCE 2 hrs late but made up 1 hr). Got to ship seamlessly at noon. We booked our own air and did transfers.

 

Sailaway was amazing. After Muster, ditched our life jackets and went up on 11th deck (panorama both sides). Views of St Marks Square, etc.

 

The Ship: We had balcony port side (best views in and out of ports) deck 7 (Category D1). Had breakfast when we could in cabin via room service. A bit chilly when moving to sit on balcony.

The ship was good, not crowded. About 1/3 US, rest UK, foreign. Over half of ships staff were Brazilian. Service was good. We were a bit disappointed by Dining room. Not "over the top" like on prior cruises. (I would grade B+/A-). Windjammer fare was good. Crowded. Hard to find seats. Lack of trays was a bit of a pain (multiple trips for drinks, etc.).

All over the ship were hand washing stations on entrance to DR, Windjammer, lounges. No one to my knowledge got sick (GI type).

Standard recreation , lounge, shows, etc. CD was Jill Tasker. She was OK. Singers and Dancers were good. Did Bingo couple of times. We noted the casino was less crowded and wondered if because of economy.

 

Ports and Excursions: We had booked and prepaid for all our excursions ahead and did ships excursions in all ports.

 

Dubrovnik: Walled city, lunch at Knavle Dori Restaurant and Cavtat. Old walled city was fantastic. Had guided tour. Time for shopping but not time to climb to top of wall. Lunch was nice. Cavtat is a seaside villare, very scenic and nice.

 

Kusadasi: Ephesus, Melitus, and Dydima tour. Great tour of Ephesus. Do not miss this place. More impressive than Pompei (because of what went on there). Melitus actually had a better theatre and Didyma the Temple of Apollo (very impressive). Lunch herded thru a restaurant with lote of Mediterranean foods. Back to Kusadasi and ended in a shop with carpet demonstration. We actually had no intention of buying one but did anyway. Also got some great leather jackets.

 

On sailing out of Kusadasi, about 2 hrs out captain annouced we were turning around and going back "for a medical emergency". (Subsequently learned heart attacks). 2 people were off loaded with their families about 11.30pm. We made up time and got to Santorini on time.

 

Santorini: Tender port. "Hear in lies the rub." We did the Oia, Fira, and wine tasting excusion which I highly recommend. The major advantage is you are first off the ship. The tender port for excusions is different than for Fira. All the excursions went first. We heard people wanting to "do it on their own" Did not get off ship before noon and had long waits to get up (funicular).

Oia is amazing. "Oh Wow" views everywhere. Great shops and restaurants (did not have time to eat, unfortunately). Breif stop at winery. Great views and wine was actually good. Ended tour in Fira and got back to ship on our own (gave us Funicular ticket). There are only 3 ways to get back: Donkey, walk, or funicular.Wait for funicular was 1 hr. Walking down takes about 30 min. Great shopping.

All in all an outstanding day. We want to go back......

 

Corfu: You don't dock til about noon so excursions are after lunch. We did Achillion Palace and Old Town. Palace was neat but views great. Old town reminded me of Venice (narrow streets, pedestrian only). Great olive products and (of all things) Kumquat liquors (it is grown there).

 

At Sea: 2 at sea days, first after Dubrovnik and last after Corfu. Nice but too chilly for pool deck for us.

 

Back into Venice, sailin is a dawn, if you are up, similarly pretty.

 

We booked 2 days in Venice at end of trip and were transfered to our Hotel. Hotel Monaco and Grand Canal. Fantastic hotel, right at St Marks Square. Convenient. We did a private tour, arranged by our TA of St Marks and Doges palace on Sat and just wandered around on our own on Sunday. Ate at 2 amazing restaurants: Alle Tiestiere (small fantastic food, wine) and Au Pescatore (great fish). Great shopping. Murano glass products (yes we got glass cherries (3 Euros each), among other stuff. Good thing we left when we did we would have gotten more.

 

Trip home (VCE-JFK) long (showed 3 movies). Got into JFK on time. What a zoo the Delta terminal is. Too small for the number of people going thru. Took a good 1.5 hrs to do the immigration/customs/recheckbags/security thing.

 

Got home tired but on "a high" from a wonderful trip.

[JennJ99738]

Thanks for posting this, John. I will be going on same itinerary on October 11th. The reviews of Splendour have me a bit concerned but the ports more than make up whatever is lacking on board. Did you happen to notice if RCI runs a shuttle from Piazzale Roma to the cruise terminal?

[Krazy4Kruisin']

Thanks for the great review. We leave on the same cruise May 24, so I really enjoyed your perception of the cruise. We are booked on the same excursions as you did in Corfu and Santorini. However, after reading so many posts on this board, we decided to do Dubrovnik on our own and we booked with a private tour guide in Ephesus.

 

We are arriving in Venice on Thursday morning and staying an extra night after the cruise. How did you get from the ship to your hotel with your luggage? Did you have to take the shuttle to the water taxi? We are staying at Locanda Orseolo prior to the cruise, but at a hotel very near the airport post cruise. We have a 6:50 AM flight on Sunday morning and didn't want to get up any earlier than forced to.

[John Cuttino]

I agree, doing Dubrovnik on your own is probably the way to go. Plenty to see and do. Nice restaurants outside gates on the water.

 

If you booked post cruise hotel with RCCL, they will get you there.

After you get off the ship, just outside the terminal is a RCCL representative who directs you to transportation. For us a van picked us up right there and took us to the water taxi dock. Our bags were transfered by porters (have tip money handy). There are carts in the pier terminal to put bags on.

If going to airport, etc. You walk a couple of hundred yards to a parking lot with buses, taxis.

It is a long walk over ramps to Plazza Romana but many people walked.

[KillaFee]

Thanks for posting your review. I am curious what the weather was like. Sunny and warm or still a bit cool? I will be doing the mediterranean in 2009 either in May or September, whichever is the warmest and I'm always looking for info about the weather!! Thanks!

Laura

[John Cuttino]

Laura

Weather was sunny but on the cool side. We wore light jackets everywhere and took them off when warm. Jeans are good.

Temp was in the 60s. A bit warmer in Turkey and Greek Isles.

It was too cool to sit out on balcony when ship was in motion. In ports was fine.

Not many people were lounging by pools and no one was on the upper (11th) deck, except to jog.

[KillaFee]

Laura

Weather was sunny but on the cool side. We wore light jackets everywhere and took them off when warm. Jeans are good.

Temp was in the 60s. A bit warmer in Turkey and Greek Isles.

It was too cool to sit out on balcony when ship was in motion. In ports was fine.

Not many people were lounging by pools and no one was on the upper (11th) deck, except to jog.

 

Thank you for your prompt reply! I might wait until the end of summer when it's nice and hot (although crowded) or September.

Thanks again,

Laura

[NCMtnBoys]

Thanks for the review. Doing this same itinerary, same ship in April '09. Just booked it today and can't wait!

[Imani68]

Thanks for the review! Lots of negative reviews on the food aboard the Splendour but one person's Denny's is another person's haute cuisine... I'll judge for myself!:D

[John Cuttino]

Some of the food was very good and certainly plentiful. They had "special" dishes on a bulletin board outside dining room we only discovered on next to last day. These were usually appetizers and were great. One night late buffet at poolside.

I think we compared to prior cruises (when they had lobster and daily midnight meals and possibly expectedtoo much.