Carnival Splendor Review

4.0 / 5.0
1,476 reviews

A great ship, an amazing crew and an unforgettable cruise

Review for the Eastern Caribbean Cruise on Carnival Splendor
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Southernfried4
2-5 Cruises • Age 60s

Rating by category

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Additional details

Sail Date: Jun 2017
Cabin: Ocean View

This was our fourth cruise on Carnival and to be honest, we were thinking about looking elsewhere after the experience of our 2016 cruise on the Fascination -- which was saved only by the amazing ports we visited. But after the experience we had on the Splendor this time, our loyalty to Carnival is back to being as strong as ever.

The ship was immaculate, the food and entertainment were top-notch and the ports were great. But what really stood out was the amazing crew. We especially appreciated the way the staff at the aft pool and hot tubs strictly enforced the "adults only" rules, making the area a quiet and relaxing place for a couple whose kids are grown. The customer service was also second-to-none. We had two potential issues, one in the Golden Pearl Dining room on the first night of our cruise and one involving the Spa on our final day at sea, but thanks to the efforts of maitre d's Yuri and Kostyshyn, and Alexandra at the guest services desk, both potentially bad situations were resolved in a quick and positive manner.

All-in-all, we had an amazing experience that could only have been improved by a more organized embarkation/debarkation process at Port Everglades.

Cabin Review

Ocean View

Cabin 6A

It was much roomier than we've had in the past. We loved having a couch to sit on, along with plenty of storage space. The bathroom also seemed roomier.

I'd have preferred to be a little farther back toward the middle of the ship, since we were right next to the elevators and it sometimes got noisy at night. But it wasn't a big deal, since it was the last cabin left that fit our needs because we booked kind of late.

Port Reviews

Fort Lauderdale (Port Everglades)

We’ve been to four different ports now and Port Everglades was by far the worst and most disorganized. Port Canaveral, Miami and even San Juan were far better. The check in area was too small and too few people were working at the desk. I also didn’t like the fact that we had to wait until we got on board to get our sail and sign cards. In other ports, we got them at the check in station.

As inconvenient as getting on the ship was, getting off was much more of a pain. Actually, the problems didn’t start until after we got off the boat and into the customs area, which was also way too small. As was the case at check in, there were too few stations open, making for an enormous line to get out.

What made things worse for us, in particular, is that we were told we could zip right through if we downloaded our passports using the online app. I downloaded mine, then asked one of the Carnival personnel if everyone in my party needed to download their own passport and she said yes. What she didn't tell me is that because I'd already finished the process with mine, the app wouldn't take my wife's passport. So I wasted 20 minutes trying to download hers with no success. They finally told us to get back in line ... at the same place we left, causing my uncle to spend an extra 20 minutes wasting gas circling the pickup area until we finally got through customs.

It would have been much better if the online passport app was explained BEFORE we got off the ship so we could have A, downloaded it without rushing and B. done it correctly.

Nassau

We'd been to Nassau before, so we didn't mess around with the touristy things we did on our first visit. We just hopped a cab and went to Paradise Island, where we spent most of the day at Cabbage Beach -- one of the best beaches we've every been to.

If you're a first-timer, we recommend that you skip Atlantis. There's simply too much to do there and you'll end up either being rushed to try to see it all or disappointed that you missed something. And the cost of a day excursion there is pretty pricey.

We recommend you take a horse drawn carriage ride around the downtown area, go see the Queen's Staircase and the fort then hop a cab at $4 per person and go to Cabbage Beach. ... When you get there, dicker with the guys trying to get you to rent beach chairs, because they started at $20 per person and we got the down to $5. Also, get one of the hollowed out coconuts from one of the vendors on the beach. They cost $20, but they come with free refills as long as you're at the beach ... and they don't scrimp on the alcohol!

Half Moon Cay

We especially love Half Moon Cay because of the great beach, the fun activities and the fact that we're not constantly accosted by locals trying to sell us stuff. The BBQ (especially the jerk chicken and the chili rice are always a highlight of the cruise).

Helpful hint ... don't set up near the welcome center as you get off the tender. It's more crowded there. It's better to take a little bit of a walk down the beach down near the pirate ship. Not only is it less crowded there, but there are trees that offer shade and you're closer to both the BBQ area and the pirate ship -- where the bar and bathrooms are located.

Amber Cove (Puerto Plata)

Amber Cove is a creation of Carnival and it's designed to make it difficult to do anything on your own outside of the port without purchasing an excursion through the cruise line.

We ended up getting the "Explore on your own -- downtown and beach" excursion" that was advertised by a brochure at the Excursions Desk and ended up very disappointed.

Before signing up, we asked if the tour included stops at the fort and the Poseidon statue and we were told yes. We were also told there would be time for shopping downtown. That's not how it turned out, though. They skipped the fort completely, drive quickly past the Poseidon statue, not even slowing down so we could take pictures and the "shopping" consisted of one stop at a jewelry store, where we were hounded to buy overpriced amber and larimar. We did stop at Independence Square, but only long enough to take a few pictures.

The beach they took us to at the Playa Dorada resort was nice (although the water was kind of choppy that day), but the time we were there was much too short. I would not have purchased this excursion had it been described accurately to us.

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