Cruise Ship Reviews : Carnival Cruise Lines Reviews
Warner Athey saw things this way:
Cruise with Tidewater Leisure Travel Lovers on the Splendor out of Norfolk, Va., December 15, 2015
Reviewer: Warner Athey
Pros: The best thing was that the ship left from Norfolk. A once a year chance.
Cons: Nothing much to do at night.
Date of cruise: October 23, 2015
Departure port: Norfolk
Region visited: Bermuda
Cabin category: Balcony
Good for teenagers: Yes
We have a travel club, The Tidewater Leisure Travel Lovers. It is much more fun to take a cruise with a group of people that you know than to take a cruise by yourself. The Splendor is a beautiful ship. Carnival does not give Virginia much respect. Although we are the closesr port to Bermuda, they only give us one cruise to Bermuda all year. Naturally when we got the chance to cruise to Bermuda we all jumped at the chance. We had about 32 people in our group. We love to cruise and we had a good time. The Splendor is a little slow. It took us 3 nights to get to Bermuda. The Celebrity Horizon made it in only 2 nights. We had a very good time on the Splendor. It is a great ship. I have been on it twice and would go again. Rather than just rating things good or poor, I think a better approach would be to ask what need to be improved. Or how can they make it better. Some people like to stay up late and some people ay wake up early so rather than just lay in bed they get up. Nothing much is going on at night. If you are up very early or up very late there is nothing much to do. It would be nice to go up on deck and look out at the ocean. You can't really do that. Everywhere you go they have bright white lights shining in your eyes. You can't really see anything. There should be some place on the ship where you can look out at the ocean. Now maybe it would be nice to take a dip in the hot tub. No, you can't do that as they have it roped off. They shut it down at night. Maybe a little snack would be good. Sorry you can't get that. Everything is closed down. They should open up something at 5 a.m. for the early risers.
Laraine saw things this way:
Fun, clean and memorable., August 25, 2015
Reviewer: Laraine
Pros: Excellent crew and staff
Cons: Safety presentation
Date of cruise: August 20, 2015
Departure port: New york
Region visited: Canada/New England
Cabin category: Balcony
Cabin number: 8448
Good for children: Yes
Good for teenagers: Yes
First cruise for both my husband and myself. We loved the service -- all was quick, efficient, professional. The comedians were hysterical (an absolute must see)! An extremely attentive staff were all thorough and impressive. Large comfy movie area, clean hot tubs and pools and immaculate decks. I feel there needed to be a better safety review. We were all packed into a hot group(s) of clustered people. I couldn't observe the presentation due to people taller in front of me -- therefore that experience of "safety preparation" felt unsafe. I would cruise Carnival again and I recommend Splendor.
JCA saw things this way:
Excellent New Year's vacation!, January 5, 2015
Reviewer: JCA
Pros: Cabin and ship design were spacious. Excellent entertainment!
Cons: Main dining room staff and cabin service were fair to poor
Date of cruise: December 28, 2014
Departure port: Miami
Region visited: Caribbean - Eastern
Cabin category: Outside
Good for children: Yes
Good for teenagers: Yes
For this cruise to be a New Year's cruise the cruise ship never felt overcrowded. The design of the room (Oceanview Cabin) was spacious compared to other ships. I would recommend this cruise ship for the spacious rooms, ship layout, shore excursion staff and entertainment shows (very good nightly shows). I do however believe the Main Dining Room staff and cabin service personal to be poor to fair at best (maybe I was unlucky with the staff that was assigned to me). I would rate this area to be at the bottom from all the cruises we have taken.
cschut saw things this way:
Had a great time. Would Recommend., September 24, 2014
Reviewer: cschut
Pros: Food.
Cons: Nothing
Date of cruise: September 6, 2014
Departure port: New York
Region visited: Canada/New England
Cabin category: Balcony
Cabin number: 74......
Having never done a Carnival cruise before, I expected it to be sub-par to the Celebrity, Holland Americaand RC cruises we had done. It exceeded these others to my surprise. The food, cabin, service was top-notch. Compliments to Carnival, they provide a comparable experience at a lesser cost.
Cookie saw things this way:
It was amazing. I truly had a very splendid blast and so did my family!, August 10, 2014
Reviewer: Cookie
Pros: They were amazing, basically everything is awesome. Loving it!
Cons: Nothing at all
Departure port: Unkown
Region visited: Bahamas
Cabin category: Suite
Cabin number: 6446
Good for children: Yes
Good for teenagers: Yes
Beautiful! I loved it so much.
tlsheesley saw things this way:
AnyTimeDining extremely slow. Sometimes almost two hours for dinner, November 27, 2013
Reviewer: tlsheesley
Pros: Price
Cons: Slow service in dining area
Date of cruise: November 17, 2013
Departure port: New York
Region visited: Bahamas
Cabin category: Inside
Cabin number: 8275
Slowest service ever in the Any Time Dining. Tried to eat early to catch the different shows, but often didn't finish dinner until 7:45. (Always in at first opening, 5:45). Entertainment was not very good. Had singers and dancer the first half of cruise and the second half entertainment failed to make the flight to the Bahamas. Singers and dancers second half of cruise: They are good, but main female singer sings well until she starts screaming into the mike (did that a lot). Comedians were so-so.
lisdiva saw things this way:
Horrible, horrible, horrible, November 11, 2013
Reviewer: lisdiva
Pros: Nothing good to say whatsoever!
Cons: The worst was that you don't go where you were promised to go!
Date of cruise: November 1, 2013
Departure port: prier 90
Region visited: Caribbean - Eastern
Cabin category: Inside
Cabin number: 2285
Good for children: Yes
Good for teenagers: Yes
If you are looking for a great vacation, trust me, do not take Carnival Splendor. The food was horrible, the entertainment was horrible, the club was no better. We basically had to make our own entertainment. This is no lie. The staff was very rude, had major issues! I stayed in my cabin a lot because I was so bored. We didn't even get to go to Nassau -- because of the weather, so they say! The crew didn't even seem to care. I was stressed on the vacation more so then I was before I left. I paid for a vacation to be miserable! I feel that Carnival should have offered some sort of refund.
fitterjim1 saw things this way:
I am very disappointed in both Carnival and the staff of the Carnival Splendor, February 10, 2013
Reviewer: fitterjim1
Pros: The dancers and singers were wonderful and very professional
Cons: The food & the staff were lacking in many ways, more training necessary
Date of cruise: January 19, 2013
Departure port: Long Beach
Region visited: Hawaii
Cabin category: Balcony
Cabin number: 9288
This was the worst cruise we have ever taken and this was our 10th cruise on multiple lines. the nightmare started upon arriving at the terminal. We were moved into multiple lines before we arrive at check-in counter where there were five people checking in 3,000 people. It took a total of 2-1/2 hours before we actually boarded the ship. Of course, Carnival had more people taking pictures of people boarding than they had checking people in. Our luggage actually made it to our cabin before we did. Those who have cruised before would know that this doesn't happen very often. If I thought boarding took too long it was only outdone when we left the ship at the end of the cruise. We were in Zone 3 which one of the first zones to leave the ship. Once we finally were told we could leave the ship we were then made to wait almost one hour once we were inside the terminal before we were allowed to search for our luggage. The problem was they let all the people in Zone 3 in at the same time. It seemed like there were a couple of hundred people. When we got into the area where the luggage was held we could see that most of the zones were already put out which is not what we were being told on the ship. We were told not to leave the ship until your zone is called because your luggage won't be there until your zone is called. When people started looking at zone 3 area you could see that there was no room for people to move and even if they found there luggage they would have to pick it up and carry it out one piece at a time. Of course, that is if you were able to find the right row that your luggage was in and if you were able to get down it. It was like a three-ring circus in the and Carnival was the ring master. At this point Carnival had your money and they could care less about you. We were told at boarding that it had been delayed because it took so long to get the passengers off the previous cruise, but I believe the people they were blaming had experienced what we did when leaving the ship. If you have a chance to avoid leaving from Long Beach and traveling on Carnival you should at all cost. Most ships or cruise lines have a welcome aboard party, but not the Splendor. Everyone that boarded went to the Lido deck to have lunch, but even if you got your food you had no place to sit because no one seemed to be cleaning off the tables of dirty dishes. This was not just the first day, but a problem that continue throughout the cruise. Breakfast the next day took over a hour to get through the buffet line only to be served food that was cold. This continued through the whole trip in the buffet area and in the main dining area. They had trouble keeping the coffee machine filled half the time. The staff either didn't care or were never trained properly. We decided that on our second morning we would go to the Comedy Brunch and once again it took over a hour to get our food and again it was cold. We could have reordered, but we wanted to get on with our day and not spend our time arguing. If you are starting to see a theme here you are right. No matter where you eat including the main dining room the food was never served hot or even warm. I would say that the menu in the main dining room was very disappointing on a regular bases, but it did have its moments but they were fleeting. The entertainment on the ship was average the first seven days, but got much better the last seven days because that is when the dancers and singers started performing for the first time on this cruise. The lounge acts were the same pretty much every night and day. They just moved around to the different sites on the ship. They were good acts but when you see them every day for 14 days they get old. There is nothing original as far as things to do during the day. The movies were very old and not very good plus they were repeated over and over. When I asked the crew about this I was told that they had asked for more resources, but was told that Carnival didn't want to spend the money on things like this. Of course when you have the same trival questions asked three days in a row you get the feeling the crew really doesn't care or they think the passengers are stupid. I also heard waiters telling passengers that the only money they make are tips that the passengers give them. Even if this was true (which I know is not) shouldn't that be a problem the crew should take up with Carnival and not with the passengers? Why is it that with every cruise that we take the tipping requested seems to increase and the services decreases? Is it because the crew knows that they will receive this amount most of the time and so they believe that they shouldn't have to perform their duties up to the quality that the passengers are paying for? Maybe Carnival should be paying better wages and not putting the burden on the passengers to pay a decent wage. They sure are getting a good price for their cruises and are giving less. The drinks are smaller and seem to me to be watered down. You can buy a glass of wine at dinner for $7.25 and then go to the casino and pay $9.50 for a glass of house wine. Why is it that I paid $800 more for a balcony than a inside cabin and Carnival cleans the balcony twice on this cruise and we are told to stay off the balcony for three hours and then when I do go out it is so wet it wasn't worth staying out until it air dries. It wasn't any cleaner than it was before they power washed it. Do it before we leave port at the beginning of the cruise or when we are dock at our scheduled ports or not at all. As far as I was concerned the day was shot as far as using the balcony when they clean them. I would like to have what I paid for for every day I paid for it. The cabin was the usual and the service was fine. The only thing I would say on the subject is that it was advertised that there would be lotion, razors and bar soap in the cabins and the only thing that was in the bathroom was the bar soap. When we asked on the second day about the lotion and shavers we were told they were out of them and when the bar soap needed to be renewed we had to ask. Not a big thing but something that should be automatic. The cabin was in a great location if you like to use the pool which we do. However, the main pool was closed more than it was open on this cruise. This ship also had a moveable roof over the pool so it didn't matter what the weather was it would be comfortable by the pool. We asked why the pool was closed so much and we were told because the ocean was too rough, yet when we were in port it was still closed and no one by the pool could tell us why. When my wife called the desk to ask why they said they would call right back to her and two days later they called to say they had lost our number. If it sounds like I am a complainer, I'm not, but people should know what kind of trip they are really going to have and what they are going to get for their money. I could have sent this review to Carnival, but I know they they would just ignore it. Did I go to the front desk and complain about the service? No, I never made one trip down to the desk and my wife made two calls and never got any answers to her questions. Some would ask why are you complaining now and not when you were on board which would have been better. I disagree because if I can convince one couple from booking with Carnival that would be more satisfaction than any thing that would of happen on the ship. A example of this is when I had a 20-minute discussion with Cruise Director (who, by the way, I liked,) but I believe his hands were tied by Carnival. After our talk he sent six chocolate-covered strawberries to our room and my impression of this gesture was that this was the Carnival set policy on handling complaints: just give them something for nothing and they will go away. I won't go away except from Carnival forever. There are better cruise lines than Carnival and who care about your comfort. I urge you who are thinking of cruising to choose anyone but Carnival
kwalker2000 saw things this way:
Great ship, dining staff top notch, entertainment great, cabin steward problem, August 20, 2010
Reviewer: kwalker2000
Pros: Great, clean ship with great staff and quality entertainment.
Cons: Youth programs and cabin steward service
Date of cruise: August 8, 2010
Departure port: Long Beach
Region visited: Mexico
Cabin category: Inside
Cabin number: 9515
Good for teenagers: Yes
My wife and I sailed out of Long Beach with my two daughters, 10 and 16 years old, a couple of weeks ago. The ship was beautiful, very clean (as evident by how many staff were cleaning at all hours of the day), the entertainment was fantastic, the food was overwhelming at times and overall had a fantastic time. But there were a few things that could be improved: 1. Parking before the departure was not identified as having a cost or the amount per day, so I was stuck with a big bill when I returned. 2. Youth programs lacked interesting activities for the kids and most of the time our children didn't engage with them until late evening. 3. The arcade for the kids was old and most the machines were jammed. There was no staff in the arcade, so children were expected to go into a smokey casino and track down the manager to resolve issues (we eventually told our kids they couldn't use this amenity because it was causing too much frustration). 4. The cabin was fantastic, but our cabin steward did the minimum necessary. Many nights didn't consistently provide the same amenities and our shower drain kept backing up onto the floor in front of the wash basin even after we asked it to be fixed. 5. The waterslide was the most appealing feature of the ship for my 10-year-old, but since it was only open 2-1/2 hours a day (and only days without high winds) the lines were too long to use this amenity. 6. The pools were too small and were utilized more as a hot tub than a swimming pool. 7. Cruise director spoke with an accent and made no effort to pronounce Spanish locations/words correctly on a Mexican cruise. 8. Not enough reference to Mexican entertainment, decor or meals on our Mexican cruise. Here are some of the positives: 1. Every inch of the ship was cleaned regularly and sparkled. 2. Entertainment (two shows in particular) was top notch. Those created by the cruise director were very funny. 3. Steakhouse provided a great meal and departure from the noise in other areas of the ship. 4. Stateroom was spacious, including the bathroom, and very functional. 5. Meals were delicious (although the breakfast buffet tended to get cold), including the main dining. 6. Wait service was fantastic, including dancing and singing. 7. Serenity deck was a fabulous way to escape and just enjoy the ocean and sunset. 8. Free-flowing pizza and soft serve ice cream were a hit with the kids. Overall, I would highly recommend a cruise, this cruise line and this ship.
roc246810 saw things this way:
Enjoyable cruise, August 6, 2010
Reviewer: roc246810
Pros: Dinner is a trip
Cons: shoSld have more on-ship activites
Date of cruise: July 25, 2010
Departure port: Long Beach
Region visited: Mexico
Cabin category: Balcony
Cabin number: 1060
Great dinner experience. Maitre d' Miguel promptly took care of a minor seating problem. The sight of the wait staff and Maitre d' singing and dancing on the table was quite a sight. Cruise was enjoyable and relaxing. Shows were great. Choices of on-board sea day activities could have been better.
beach saw things this way:
We had a wonderful time on the Splendor, Wwould highly recommend it to anyone., August 4, 2010
Reviewer: beach
Pros: The aft pool deck was adults only, and enforced! Excellent food on Lido deck.
Cons: Our dinner in the Pinnacle was not very good, the meat was not aged properly.
Date of cruise: February 28, 2010
Departure port: Long Beach CA
Region visited: Mexico
Cabin category: Balcony
Cabin number: 8231 ?
Good for children: Yes
Good for teenagers: Yes
My husband and I cruised out of Long Beach CA, on Carnival Splendor on 2/28/2010. We are both experienced cruisers, in our late 30s. We didn?t take any children on this cruise; it was just the two of us. This was my husband?s sixth cruise with Carnival and my 10th. I have only cruised on one other cruise line, and that was the Disney Cruise line out of Port Canaveral. Pre-Cruise: We flew into LAX and used the ?Red Van? shuttle. We had a very bad experience with the shuttle service both pre and post cruise, and then they ended up charging us double by mistake. My husband had to call the credit card company and have the charges disputed. We stayed at the Queen Mary Hotel for one night prior to the cruise. This was a wonderful experience. If you are looking for a 4-star hotel, don?t stay here. However, it has great tours and historical value. We loved it. We booked the ?Dining with the Spirits? tour and it was a little spendy..but worth every penny. Dinner was really good, and the tour guides did a great job. There is also a free bus that goes downtown Long Beach and then drops you back off right in front of the Queen Mary Hotel. Very nice. Embarkation: This was my 10th cruise on Carnival, so we were VIP platinum. Check-in was a breeze. We were one of the first on board, so overall, embarkation was fantastic. Food: Oh my?. So many choices. I loved the Tandoori Indian food, tried something new everyday there. Pizza and Deli were the normal ? very good. We tried the burrito bar, it was just ok, nothing great, and in our opinion not worth standing in line for. They didn?t steam the tortillas, so they were cold and a little hard. Dining room food and service were fantastic, of course. And our favorite Chocolate Melting cake was enjoyed several times during the week. We did try the supper club, Pinnacle. Unfortunately we weren?t very impressed. We both had the filet mignon, and it was a charred piece of meat that wasn?t aged properly and was pretty tough. I hope others have a better experience. The soup was good ? lobster bisque, and the dessert was good, we had the chocolate trio dish. We actually had better filet mignon in the main dining room the very next night?we chuckled over that! The chocolate buffet on the last sea day was fun, the chocolate won-tons were fantastic! Overall the buffet food was excellent, with a huge variety ?much better than all the previous cruises. Ports: Puerto Vallarta ? we went whale-watching. We booked the excursion through the ship. Approx $100 each. It was worth every penny. It was a 4-hour tour, and we saw so many whales and calves it was crazy. After the tour finished, we strolled around the area near the ship. But there weren?t any taxis left around to go downtown, unfortunately. We shopped around a little bit and then got back on the ship. Mazatlan ? We decided to play it by ear. We got off the ship and took the tram to the port entrance. We shopped a little bit and then purchased the trolley tour $25 each. This was a fun tour, and the guide was funny, and very informative. It toured the entire city and made several stops, including the cathedral, cliff divers, the golden zone etc. We had lunch and shopped ? hopped back on the trolley and then back on the ship. Overall it was a fun and interesting day. Cabo San Lucas ? Our least favorite port on this trip, the beach was nice, except we couldn?t see much of it through the hoards of vendors trying to sell everything. On the way to the beach (we walked ? takes about 20 minutes) we were hounded by tour operators, one of them insulted us when we didn?t purchase one of his tours, extremely rude. We did purchase a water taxi tour to go to Lovers Beach and see Lands End. That tour operator was very nice and the tour was worth the price $12 each. We saw some dolphins just off the side of the ship. Very cool. Ship: We really enjoyed this ship, and didn?t feel the pink was over-whelming. The CD ?Goose? was a lot of fun. We enjoyed the past guest party and the farewell party?.both of those had free drinks. The captain?s party and the Carnival legends party both had $1 off all drinks. The aft deck pool was adults only, and, amazingly?.there were no kids in that pool or in the aft hot-tubs all week! We enjoyed that area of the ship several times throughout the week. The shows were awesome as usual ? no complaints about any of the entertainment. Room service ? we took advantage of room service several times and one sea day spent the entire afternoon on our balcony enjoying bottles of beer and sandwiches from room service. Debarkation: Debarkation was extremely smooth until it bottle-necked in the luggage area?there were four lines trying to get out one door with twp people checking passports and taking forms. They eventually opened up a second door with additional people to check documents. After that it was smooth sailing. Post cruise: We again took the red van shuttle ? I think it is called ?primetime? (Not sure of the name?), but it was horrible. We stayed in Anaheim, CA, for two nights post cruise and visited Disneyland. We had a great time there. Someone told us it was impossible to cover all of Disneyland and California Adventure parks in one day? HA, we proved them wrong. We rode on almost every ride, including the Winnie the Pooh ride. We stayed at the Marriott which was a few blocks from Disneyland and we used the ART ? Anaheim Resort Transit bus system while we were there. It was only a few dollars per person to allow us to ride all day both days. The hotel was clean, inexpensive, and convenient, very nice pool and hot tubs, and they had a Starbucks on-site. Overall this was a great trip; I would recommend the Carnival Splendor to anyone. It is fitting for all ages, families, couples and groups.
kcook saw things this way:
The ship was clean and the staff was very customer-focused., August 2, 2010
Reviewer: kcook
Pros: Price was remarkable (we booked early) and our cabin steward was attentive.
Cons: Ship's decor was flashy.
Date of cruise: July 18, 2010
Departure port: Long Beach, California
Region visited: Mexico
Cabin category: Balcony
Cabin number: 7444
Good for children: Yes
Good for teenagers: Yes
We sailed on the Splendor July 18-25, 2010, and did a Mexican Riveria itinerary. The ship was clean and the bar staff and housekeeping staff very friendly and attentive. Our cabin stewart was stupendous. He was very visible throughout the cruise and kept our room immaculate. Dining staff was great. After the second night knew what beverage I would drink with dinner and automatically would bring it to the table. Our waiters were quick, friendly, and funny. We really enjoyed the dining experience. Overall, an excellent experience onboard the Splendor.
littlechief saw things this way:
4th Cruise - First w/Carnival. Excellent!I will book Carnival for next cruise!, August 2, 2010
Reviewer: littlechief
Pros: First Carnival Cruise -- MUCH better than NCL and just as good as RC
Cons: Reserved wine package before cruise and staff didn't know much about the pkg
Date of cruise: October 11, 2009
Departure port: Long Beach
Region visited: Mexico
Cabin category: Balcony
Cabin number: 8448
Dining staff and entertainers were excellent. We had the aft wrap cabin -- beautiful balcony!!! Cabin had a lot of space. I found the food to be really good -- great selection and no lines for buffet -- we don't usually eat at buffet, but ate our lunch there each day -- THAT good! Ate once at specialty dining. It was a great meal, but not necessary. I thought the dinner in the main dining was excellent! Didn't use the fitness center, but did have a spa day. She did a great job, but be prepared for the hard sell to purchase their spa products -- kind of ruined the experience. New and beautiful ship -- never had to wait in line. I recommend going to the art auction -- many discounts for the spa! I also recommend trying the slide! Lots of laughs!
ocsportsmom saw things this way:
Good value, nothing to do, July 9, 2010
Reviewer: ocsportsmom
Pros: Great food, clean, well maintained ship
Cons: Nothing to do during the daytime, especially if there is bad weather
Date of cruise: June 27, 2010
Departure port: Long Beach
Region visited: Mexico
Cabin category: Inside
Cabin number: 7387
Good for teenagers: Yes
The Splendor is a nice clean ship. The food was good, although at certain times of the day, you were limited to a burger or pizza. The solarium pool area was nice, especially the outdoor TV screen. The ship is somewhat difficult to get around in as they have placed the restaurants in odd places, making you do the two floors up and one floor down thing to get from one end of the ship to the other. There were very few activities during the daytime if you are not able to lay about in the sun. We had very ugly weather and there was little to do aside from an occasional trivia, towel folding or art auction. The TV in the solarium played iccessant photos of beach scenes and surfing, rather than movies or sports. The World Cup soccer semi-final games were being played at that time and they only had them on in the sports bar which was packed! The activities staff needs to be flexible in their planning of activities to adapt to the circumstances of each cruise. Pool service was very slow, drinks came after you were done eating. My husband once waited and then went to the bar himself and beat the server back to our chairs. The muster drill was quick and efficient. Be sure to check your bill, they made mistakes on ours and could not figure out how the error happened. They did correct it, however. The embarkation was a little chaotic. Cruise documents indicated to come to the port no earlier than 1:30. We then received a call asking us to not come before 2:00. Well, they must have told the entire ship to come at 2:00, because the place was packed and what should have taken 10 minutes turned into 45, with a lot of confusion and grumpy port staff. Disembarkation was fine, we chose the do-it-yourself method and were off the ship in about 20 minutes. All in all it was an OK cruise, the food was good and the ship was clean. A great getaway with time to unwind.
Carnival Splendor reviews
Average customer rating:
3.97 / 5
3.97 / 5Average Rating based on 14 Reviews:
Value For Money
Cabin Design
Entertainment
Fitness Center
Food Quality
Ship Maintenance
Spa
Specialty Restaurant
Staff and Service
Cabin Design
Entertainment
Fitness Center
Food Quality
Ship Maintenance
Spa
Specialty Restaurant
Staff and Service
3.79
4.43
3.43
3.89
3.93
4.64
3.88
3.88
3.79
4.43
3.43
3.89
3.93
4.64
3.88
3.88
3.79
Warner Athey saw things this way:
Value For Money
Cabin Design
Entertainment
Fitness Center
Food Quality
Ship Maintenance
Spa
Staff and Service
Cabin Design
Entertainment
Fitness Center
Food Quality
Ship Maintenance
Spa
Staff and Service
3
4
1
3
4
5
4
5
4
1
3
4
5
4
5
Cruise with Tidewater Leisure Travel Lovers on the Splendor out of Norfolk, Va., December 15, 2015
Reviewer: Warner Athey
Pros: The best thing was that the ship left from Norfolk. A once a year chance.
Cons: Nothing much to do at night.
Date of cruise: October 23, 2015
Departure port: Norfolk
Region visited: Bermuda
Cabin category: Balcony
Good for teenagers: Yes
We have a travel club, The Tidewater Leisure Travel Lovers. It is much more fun to take a cruise with a group of people that you know than to take a cruise by yourself. The Splendor is a beautiful ship. Carnival does not give Virginia much respect. Although we are the closesr port to Bermuda, they only give us one cruise to Bermuda all year. Naturally when we got the chance to cruise to Bermuda we all jumped at the chance. We had about 32 people in our group. We love to cruise and we had a good time. The Splendor is a little slow. It took us 3 nights to get to Bermuda. The Celebrity Horizon made it in only 2 nights. We had a very good time on the Splendor. It is a great ship. I have been on it twice and would go again. Rather than just rating things good or poor, I think a better approach would be to ask what need to be improved. Or how can they make it better. Some people like to stay up late and some people ay wake up early so rather than just lay in bed they get up. Nothing much is going on at night. If you are up very early or up very late there is nothing much to do. It would be nice to go up on deck and look out at the ocean. You can't really do that. Everywhere you go they have bright white lights shining in your eyes. You can't really see anything. There should be some place on the ship where you can look out at the ocean. Now maybe it would be nice to take a dip in the hot tub. No, you can't do that as they have it roped off. They shut it down at night. Maybe a little snack would be good. Sorry you can't get that. Everything is closed down. They should open up something at 5 a.m. for the early risers.
Laraine saw things this way:
Value For Money
Cabin Design
Entertainment
Fitness Center
Food Quality
Ship Maintenance
Specialty Restaurant
Staff and Service
Cabin Design
Entertainment
Fitness Center
Food Quality
Ship Maintenance
Specialty Restaurant
Staff and Service
3
4
4
4
4
5
5
5
4
4
4
4
5
5
5
Fun, clean and memorable., August 25, 2015
Reviewer: Laraine
Pros: Excellent crew and staff
Cons: Safety presentation
Date of cruise: August 20, 2015
Departure port: New york
Region visited: Canada/New England
Cabin category: Balcony
Cabin number: 8448
Good for children: Yes
Good for teenagers: Yes
First cruise for both my husband and myself. We loved the service -- all was quick, efficient, professional. The comedians were hysterical (an absolute must see)! An extremely attentive staff were all thorough and impressive. Large comfy movie area, clean hot tubs and pools and immaculate decks. I feel there needed to be a better safety review. We were all packed into a hot group(s) of clustered people. I couldn't observe the presentation due to people taller in front of me -- therefore that experience of "safety preparation" felt unsafe. I would cruise Carnival again and I recommend Splendor.
JCA saw things this way:
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Excellent New Year's vacation!, January 5, 2015
Reviewer: JCA
Pros: Cabin and ship design were spacious. Excellent entertainment!
Cons: Main dining room staff and cabin service were fair to poor
Date of cruise: December 28, 2014
Departure port: Miami
Region visited: Caribbean - Eastern
Cabin category: Outside
Good for children: Yes
Good for teenagers: Yes
For this cruise to be a New Year's cruise the cruise ship never felt overcrowded. The design of the room (Oceanview Cabin) was spacious compared to other ships. I would recommend this cruise ship for the spacious rooms, ship layout, shore excursion staff and entertainment shows (very good nightly shows). I do however believe the Main Dining Room staff and cabin service personal to be poor to fair at best (maybe I was unlucky with the staff that was assigned to me). I would rate this area to be at the bottom from all the cruises we have taken.
cschut saw things this way:
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Had a great time. Would Recommend., September 24, 2014
Reviewer: cschut
Pros: Food.
Cons: Nothing
Date of cruise: September 6, 2014
Departure port: New York
Region visited: Canada/New England
Cabin category: Balcony
Cabin number: 74......
Having never done a Carnival cruise before, I expected it to be sub-par to the Celebrity, Holland Americaand RC cruises we had done. It exceeded these others to my surprise. The food, cabin, service was top-notch. Compliments to Carnival, they provide a comparable experience at a lesser cost.
Cookie saw things this way:
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It was amazing. I truly had a very splendid blast and so did my family!, August 10, 2014
Reviewer: Cookie
Pros: They were amazing, basically everything is awesome. Loving it!
Cons: Nothing at all
Departure port: Unkown
Region visited: Bahamas
Cabin category: Suite
Cabin number: 6446
Good for children: Yes
Good for teenagers: Yes
Beautiful! I loved it so much.
tlsheesley saw things this way:
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AnyTimeDining extremely slow. Sometimes almost two hours for dinner, November 27, 2013
Reviewer: tlsheesley
Pros: Price
Cons: Slow service in dining area
Date of cruise: November 17, 2013
Departure port: New York
Region visited: Bahamas
Cabin category: Inside
Cabin number: 8275
Slowest service ever in the Any Time Dining. Tried to eat early to catch the different shows, but often didn't finish dinner until 7:45. (Always in at first opening, 5:45). Entertainment was not very good. Had singers and dancer the first half of cruise and the second half entertainment failed to make the flight to the Bahamas. Singers and dancers second half of cruise: They are good, but main female singer sings well until she starts screaming into the mike (did that a lot). Comedians were so-so.
lisdiva saw things this way:
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Horrible, horrible, horrible, November 11, 2013
Reviewer: lisdiva
Pros: Nothing good to say whatsoever!
Cons: The worst was that you don't go where you were promised to go!
Date of cruise: November 1, 2013
Departure port: prier 90
Region visited: Caribbean - Eastern
Cabin category: Inside
Cabin number: 2285
Good for children: Yes
Good for teenagers: Yes
If you are looking for a great vacation, trust me, do not take Carnival Splendor. The food was horrible, the entertainment was horrible, the club was no better. We basically had to make our own entertainment. This is no lie. The staff was very rude, had major issues! I stayed in my cabin a lot because I was so bored. We didn't even get to go to Nassau -- because of the weather, so they say! The crew didn't even seem to care. I was stressed on the vacation more so then I was before I left. I paid for a vacation to be miserable! I feel that Carnival should have offered some sort of refund.
fitterjim1 saw things this way:
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I am very disappointed in both Carnival and the staff of the Carnival Splendor, February 10, 2013
Reviewer: fitterjim1
Pros: The dancers and singers were wonderful and very professional
Cons: The food & the staff were lacking in many ways, more training necessary
Date of cruise: January 19, 2013
Departure port: Long Beach
Region visited: Hawaii
Cabin category: Balcony
Cabin number: 9288
This was the worst cruise we have ever taken and this was our 10th cruise on multiple lines. the nightmare started upon arriving at the terminal. We were moved into multiple lines before we arrive at check-in counter where there were five people checking in 3,000 people. It took a total of 2-1/2 hours before we actually boarded the ship. Of course, Carnival had more people taking pictures of people boarding than they had checking people in. Our luggage actually made it to our cabin before we did. Those who have cruised before would know that this doesn't happen very often. If I thought boarding took too long it was only outdone when we left the ship at the end of the cruise. We were in Zone 3 which one of the first zones to leave the ship. Once we finally were told we could leave the ship we were then made to wait almost one hour once we were inside the terminal before we were allowed to search for our luggage. The problem was they let all the people in Zone 3 in at the same time. It seemed like there were a couple of hundred people. When we got into the area where the luggage was held we could see that most of the zones were already put out which is not what we were being told on the ship. We were told not to leave the ship until your zone is called because your luggage won't be there until your zone is called. When people started looking at zone 3 area you could see that there was no room for people to move and even if they found there luggage they would have to pick it up and carry it out one piece at a time. Of course, that is if you were able to find the right row that your luggage was in and if you were able to get down it. It was like a three-ring circus in the and Carnival was the ring master. At this point Carnival had your money and they could care less about you. We were told at boarding that it had been delayed because it took so long to get the passengers off the previous cruise, but I believe the people they were blaming had experienced what we did when leaving the ship. If you have a chance to avoid leaving from Long Beach and traveling on Carnival you should at all cost. Most ships or cruise lines have a welcome aboard party, but not the Splendor. Everyone that boarded went to the Lido deck to have lunch, but even if you got your food you had no place to sit because no one seemed to be cleaning off the tables of dirty dishes. This was not just the first day, but a problem that continue throughout the cruise. Breakfast the next day took over a hour to get through the buffet line only to be served food that was cold. This continued through the whole trip in the buffet area and in the main dining area. They had trouble keeping the coffee machine filled half the time. The staff either didn't care or were never trained properly. We decided that on our second morning we would go to the Comedy Brunch and once again it took over a hour to get our food and again it was cold. We could have reordered, but we wanted to get on with our day and not spend our time arguing. If you are starting to see a theme here you are right. No matter where you eat including the main dining room the food was never served hot or even warm. I would say that the menu in the main dining room was very disappointing on a regular bases, but it did have its moments but they were fleeting. The entertainment on the ship was average the first seven days, but got much better the last seven days because that is when the dancers and singers started performing for the first time on this cruise. The lounge acts were the same pretty much every night and day. They just moved around to the different sites on the ship. They were good acts but when you see them every day for 14 days they get old. There is nothing original as far as things to do during the day. The movies were very old and not very good plus they were repeated over and over. When I asked the crew about this I was told that they had asked for more resources, but was told that Carnival didn't want to spend the money on things like this. Of course when you have the same trival questions asked three days in a row you get the feeling the crew really doesn't care or they think the passengers are stupid. I also heard waiters telling passengers that the only money they make are tips that the passengers give them. Even if this was true (which I know is not) shouldn't that be a problem the crew should take up with Carnival and not with the passengers? Why is it that with every cruise that we take the tipping requested seems to increase and the services decreases? Is it because the crew knows that they will receive this amount most of the time and so they believe that they shouldn't have to perform their duties up to the quality that the passengers are paying for? Maybe Carnival should be paying better wages and not putting the burden on the passengers to pay a decent wage. They sure are getting a good price for their cruises and are giving less. The drinks are smaller and seem to me to be watered down. You can buy a glass of wine at dinner for $7.25 and then go to the casino and pay $9.50 for a glass of house wine. Why is it that I paid $800 more for a balcony than a inside cabin and Carnival cleans the balcony twice on this cruise and we are told to stay off the balcony for three hours and then when I do go out it is so wet it wasn't worth staying out until it air dries. It wasn't any cleaner than it was before they power washed it. Do it before we leave port at the beginning of the cruise or when we are dock at our scheduled ports or not at all. As far as I was concerned the day was shot as far as using the balcony when they clean them. I would like to have what I paid for for every day I paid for it. The cabin was the usual and the service was fine. The only thing I would say on the subject is that it was advertised that there would be lotion, razors and bar soap in the cabins and the only thing that was in the bathroom was the bar soap. When we asked on the second day about the lotion and shavers we were told they were out of them and when the bar soap needed to be renewed we had to ask. Not a big thing but something that should be automatic. The cabin was in a great location if you like to use the pool which we do. However, the main pool was closed more than it was open on this cruise. This ship also had a moveable roof over the pool so it didn't matter what the weather was it would be comfortable by the pool. We asked why the pool was closed so much and we were told because the ocean was too rough, yet when we were in port it was still closed and no one by the pool could tell us why. When my wife called the desk to ask why they said they would call right back to her and two days later they called to say they had lost our number. If it sounds like I am a complainer, I'm not, but people should know what kind of trip they are really going to have and what they are going to get for their money. I could have sent this review to Carnival, but I know they they would just ignore it. Did I go to the front desk and complain about the service? No, I never made one trip down to the desk and my wife made two calls and never got any answers to her questions. Some would ask why are you complaining now and not when you were on board which would have been better. I disagree because if I can convince one couple from booking with Carnival that would be more satisfaction than any thing that would of happen on the ship. A example of this is when I had a 20-minute discussion with Cruise Director (who, by the way, I liked,) but I believe his hands were tied by Carnival. After our talk he sent six chocolate-covered strawberries to our room and my impression of this gesture was that this was the Carnival set policy on handling complaints: just give them something for nothing and they will go away. I won't go away except from Carnival forever. There are better cruise lines than Carnival and who care about your comfort. I urge you who are thinking of cruising to choose anyone but Carnival
kwalker2000 saw things this way:
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Great ship, dining staff top notch, entertainment great, cabin steward problem, August 20, 2010
Reviewer: kwalker2000
Pros: Great, clean ship with great staff and quality entertainment.
Cons: Youth programs and cabin steward service
Date of cruise: August 8, 2010
Departure port: Long Beach
Region visited: Mexico
Cabin category: Inside
Cabin number: 9515
Good for teenagers: Yes
My wife and I sailed out of Long Beach with my two daughters, 10 and 16 years old, a couple of weeks ago. The ship was beautiful, very clean (as evident by how many staff were cleaning at all hours of the day), the entertainment was fantastic, the food was overwhelming at times and overall had a fantastic time. But there were a few things that could be improved: 1. Parking before the departure was not identified as having a cost or the amount per day, so I was stuck with a big bill when I returned. 2. Youth programs lacked interesting activities for the kids and most of the time our children didn't engage with them until late evening. 3. The arcade for the kids was old and most the machines were jammed. There was no staff in the arcade, so children were expected to go into a smokey casino and track down the manager to resolve issues (we eventually told our kids they couldn't use this amenity because it was causing too much frustration). 4. The cabin was fantastic, but our cabin steward did the minimum necessary. Many nights didn't consistently provide the same amenities and our shower drain kept backing up onto the floor in front of the wash basin even after we asked it to be fixed. 5. The waterslide was the most appealing feature of the ship for my 10-year-old, but since it was only open 2-1/2 hours a day (and only days without high winds) the lines were too long to use this amenity. 6. The pools were too small and were utilized more as a hot tub than a swimming pool. 7. Cruise director spoke with an accent and made no effort to pronounce Spanish locations/words correctly on a Mexican cruise. 8. Not enough reference to Mexican entertainment, decor or meals on our Mexican cruise. Here are some of the positives: 1. Every inch of the ship was cleaned regularly and sparkled. 2. Entertainment (two shows in particular) was top notch. Those created by the cruise director were very funny. 3. Steakhouse provided a great meal and departure from the noise in other areas of the ship. 4. Stateroom was spacious, including the bathroom, and very functional. 5. Meals were delicious (although the breakfast buffet tended to get cold), including the main dining. 6. Wait service was fantastic, including dancing and singing. 7. Serenity deck was a fabulous way to escape and just enjoy the ocean and sunset. 8. Free-flowing pizza and soft serve ice cream were a hit with the kids. Overall, I would highly recommend a cruise, this cruise line and this ship.
roc246810 saw things this way:
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Enjoyable cruise, August 6, 2010
Reviewer: roc246810
Pros: Dinner is a trip
Cons: shoSld have more on-ship activites
Date of cruise: July 25, 2010
Departure port: Long Beach
Region visited: Mexico
Cabin category: Balcony
Cabin number: 1060
Great dinner experience. Maitre d' Miguel promptly took care of a minor seating problem. The sight of the wait staff and Maitre d' singing and dancing on the table was quite a sight. Cruise was enjoyable and relaxing. Shows were great. Choices of on-board sea day activities could have been better.
beach saw things this way:
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We had a wonderful time on the Splendor, Wwould highly recommend it to anyone., August 4, 2010
Reviewer: beach
Pros: The aft pool deck was adults only, and enforced! Excellent food on Lido deck.
Cons: Our dinner in the Pinnacle was not very good, the meat was not aged properly.
Date of cruise: February 28, 2010
Departure port: Long Beach CA
Region visited: Mexico
Cabin category: Balcony
Cabin number: 8231 ?
Good for children: Yes
Good for teenagers: Yes
My husband and I cruised out of Long Beach CA, on Carnival Splendor on 2/28/2010. We are both experienced cruisers, in our late 30s. We didn?t take any children on this cruise; it was just the two of us. This was my husband?s sixth cruise with Carnival and my 10th. I have only cruised on one other cruise line, and that was the Disney Cruise line out of Port Canaveral. Pre-Cruise: We flew into LAX and used the ?Red Van? shuttle. We had a very bad experience with the shuttle service both pre and post cruise, and then they ended up charging us double by mistake. My husband had to call the credit card company and have the charges disputed. We stayed at the Queen Mary Hotel for one night prior to the cruise. This was a wonderful experience. If you are looking for a 4-star hotel, don?t stay here. However, it has great tours and historical value. We loved it. We booked the ?Dining with the Spirits? tour and it was a little spendy..but worth every penny. Dinner was really good, and the tour guides did a great job. There is also a free bus that goes downtown Long Beach and then drops you back off right in front of the Queen Mary Hotel. Very nice. Embarkation: This was my 10th cruise on Carnival, so we were VIP platinum. Check-in was a breeze. We were one of the first on board, so overall, embarkation was fantastic. Food: Oh my?. So many choices. I loved the Tandoori Indian food, tried something new everyday there. Pizza and Deli were the normal ? very good. We tried the burrito bar, it was just ok, nothing great, and in our opinion not worth standing in line for. They didn?t steam the tortillas, so they were cold and a little hard. Dining room food and service were fantastic, of course. And our favorite Chocolate Melting cake was enjoyed several times during the week. We did try the supper club, Pinnacle. Unfortunately we weren?t very impressed. We both had the filet mignon, and it was a charred piece of meat that wasn?t aged properly and was pretty tough. I hope others have a better experience. The soup was good ? lobster bisque, and the dessert was good, we had the chocolate trio dish. We actually had better filet mignon in the main dining room the very next night?we chuckled over that! The chocolate buffet on the last sea day was fun, the chocolate won-tons were fantastic! Overall the buffet food was excellent, with a huge variety ?much better than all the previous cruises. Ports: Puerto Vallarta ? we went whale-watching. We booked the excursion through the ship. Approx $100 each. It was worth every penny. It was a 4-hour tour, and we saw so many whales and calves it was crazy. After the tour finished, we strolled around the area near the ship. But there weren?t any taxis left around to go downtown, unfortunately. We shopped around a little bit and then got back on the ship. Mazatlan ? We decided to play it by ear. We got off the ship and took the tram to the port entrance. We shopped a little bit and then purchased the trolley tour $25 each. This was a fun tour, and the guide was funny, and very informative. It toured the entire city and made several stops, including the cathedral, cliff divers, the golden zone etc. We had lunch and shopped ? hopped back on the trolley and then back on the ship. Overall it was a fun and interesting day. Cabo San Lucas ? Our least favorite port on this trip, the beach was nice, except we couldn?t see much of it through the hoards of vendors trying to sell everything. On the way to the beach (we walked ? takes about 20 minutes) we were hounded by tour operators, one of them insulted us when we didn?t purchase one of his tours, extremely rude. We did purchase a water taxi tour to go to Lovers Beach and see Lands End. That tour operator was very nice and the tour was worth the price $12 each. We saw some dolphins just off the side of the ship. Very cool. Ship: We really enjoyed this ship, and didn?t feel the pink was over-whelming. The CD ?Goose? was a lot of fun. We enjoyed the past guest party and the farewell party?.both of those had free drinks. The captain?s party and the Carnival legends party both had $1 off all drinks. The aft deck pool was adults only, and, amazingly?.there were no kids in that pool or in the aft hot-tubs all week! We enjoyed that area of the ship several times throughout the week. The shows were awesome as usual ? no complaints about any of the entertainment. Room service ? we took advantage of room service several times and one sea day spent the entire afternoon on our balcony enjoying bottles of beer and sandwiches from room service. Debarkation: Debarkation was extremely smooth until it bottle-necked in the luggage area?there were four lines trying to get out one door with twp people checking passports and taking forms. They eventually opened up a second door with additional people to check documents. After that it was smooth sailing. Post cruise: We again took the red van shuttle ? I think it is called ?primetime? (Not sure of the name?), but it was horrible. We stayed in Anaheim, CA, for two nights post cruise and visited Disneyland. We had a great time there. Someone told us it was impossible to cover all of Disneyland and California Adventure parks in one day? HA, we proved them wrong. We rode on almost every ride, including the Winnie the Pooh ride. We stayed at the Marriott which was a few blocks from Disneyland and we used the ART ? Anaheim Resort Transit bus system while we were there. It was only a few dollars per person to allow us to ride all day both days. The hotel was clean, inexpensive, and convenient, very nice pool and hot tubs, and they had a Starbucks on-site. Overall this was a great trip; I would recommend the Carnival Splendor to anyone. It is fitting for all ages, families, couples and groups.
kcook saw things this way:
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The ship was clean and the staff was very customer-focused., August 2, 2010
Reviewer: kcook
Pros: Price was remarkable (we booked early) and our cabin steward was attentive.
Cons: Ship's decor was flashy.
Date of cruise: July 18, 2010
Departure port: Long Beach, California
Region visited: Mexico
Cabin category: Balcony
Cabin number: 7444
Good for children: Yes
Good for teenagers: Yes
We sailed on the Splendor July 18-25, 2010, and did a Mexican Riveria itinerary. The ship was clean and the bar staff and housekeeping staff very friendly and attentive. Our cabin stewart was stupendous. He was very visible throughout the cruise and kept our room immaculate. Dining staff was great. After the second night knew what beverage I would drink with dinner and automatically would bring it to the table. Our waiters were quick, friendly, and funny. We really enjoyed the dining experience. Overall, an excellent experience onboard the Splendor.
littlechief saw things this way:
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4th Cruise - First w/Carnival. Excellent!I will book Carnival for next cruise!, August 2, 2010
Reviewer: littlechief
Pros: First Carnival Cruise -- MUCH better than NCL and just as good as RC
Cons: Reserved wine package before cruise and staff didn't know much about the pkg
Date of cruise: October 11, 2009
Departure port: Long Beach
Region visited: Mexico
Cabin category: Balcony
Cabin number: 8448
Dining staff and entertainers were excellent. We had the aft wrap cabin -- beautiful balcony!!! Cabin had a lot of space. I found the food to be really good -- great selection and no lines for buffet -- we don't usually eat at buffet, but ate our lunch there each day -- THAT good! Ate once at specialty dining. It was a great meal, but not necessary. I thought the dinner in the main dining was excellent! Didn't use the fitness center, but did have a spa day. She did a great job, but be prepared for the hard sell to purchase their spa products -- kind of ruined the experience. New and beautiful ship -- never had to wait in line. I recommend going to the art auction -- many discounts for the spa! I also recommend trying the slide! Lots of laughs!
ocsportsmom saw things this way:
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Good value, nothing to do, July 9, 2010
Reviewer: ocsportsmom
Pros: Great food, clean, well maintained ship
Cons: Nothing to do during the daytime, especially if there is bad weather
Date of cruise: June 27, 2010
Departure port: Long Beach
Region visited: Mexico
Cabin category: Inside
Cabin number: 7387
Good for teenagers: Yes
The Splendor is a nice clean ship. The food was good, although at certain times of the day, you were limited to a burger or pizza. The solarium pool area was nice, especially the outdoor TV screen. The ship is somewhat difficult to get around in as they have placed the restaurants in odd places, making you do the two floors up and one floor down thing to get from one end of the ship to the other. There were very few activities during the daytime if you are not able to lay about in the sun. We had very ugly weather and there was little to do aside from an occasional trivia, towel folding or art auction. The TV in the solarium played iccessant photos of beach scenes and surfing, rather than movies or sports. The World Cup soccer semi-final games were being played at that time and they only had them on in the sports bar which was packed! The activities staff needs to be flexible in their planning of activities to adapt to the circumstances of each cruise. Pool service was very slow, drinks came after you were done eating. My husband once waited and then went to the bar himself and beat the server back to our chairs. The muster drill was quick and efficient. Be sure to check your bill, they made mistakes on ours and could not figure out how the error happened. They did correct it, however. The embarkation was a little chaotic. Cruise documents indicated to come to the port no earlier than 1:30. We then received a call asking us to not come before 2:00. Well, they must have told the entire ship to come at 2:00, because the place was packed and what should have taken 10 minutes turned into 45, with a lot of confusion and grumpy port staff. Disembarkation was fine, we chose the do-it-yourself method and were off the ship in about 20 minutes. All in all it was an OK cruise, the food was good and the ship was clean. A great getaway with time to unwind.
