Carnival Splendor Reviews

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Lets start out with saying I have cruised Carnival 3 other times and the last time was going to be a last time with a photographer in Port of Miami baring me from coming on board ship before I would stop with my family and take a photo.At this point I had all but washed my hands of them. I believe Carnival is really wanting to lose the moniker of being the Walmart of cruise lines and still over a great cruise for a great price.I had originally wanted to do this route with the Disney Wonder on their last sailing because I love the ports. But at the last minute Disney jumped their price up over one thousand dollars for a balcony cabin. I got the Carnival cruise for half the price going spa balcony.We sailed with two first time cruisers my daughter in law and granddaughter who is 13. Carnival executive assistant Kay set us up with VIP embarkation which was very nice we were personally escorted with the other VIPs past the lines and were on the ship at 11:30 am.Very smooth and organized. Also had some goodies in the room champagne and a fruit basket as well as some chocolate covered strawberries. Thank you Kay. This was for my bad experience with Carnival. Let me go over the great stuff first. I have sailed only Fantasy class in my past cruises with Carnival and they were ok. This ship was big and beautiful. I am NOT a fan of Joe Farcus and glad to see he is going away from Carnival. Nothing against Joe personally I just think his designs are bad and gaudy. Not so with the Splendor. I have heard people call it the pink nightmare but its really not that. Its not hot pink but rather a subtle salmon. Every nook and space of this ship is really splendid. The retro floor to wall pictures between cabins is a very cool touch and we spent one day just looking at the pics and stuff on the wall. Very cool. Cant figure out the naked statues by the bar areas but a lot of people were taking pics of them. Photographers were great on this ship the cruise elegant night pictures we had taken were the best we have ever had on 10 cruises. To bad Carnival still does not enforce the dress code that even the Maitre D stated would be enforced in the dining room. O well Our cabin was great (I posted a video tour on U Tube). A little small for four people but still good. Balcony was small plus on the down side people that are on the Serenity deck can see right down on you if you are not flat against the wall. Amenities were great with lots of cool Elemis stuff and beige towels. Oriental decor is great as well. On the downside only two people get unlimited use of the Thasso pool and steam rooms not all people booked in rooms.Plus it is advertised you get two free fitness classes (only two people get this as well). You get two free yoga classes and it is only on Mon,Tues or Fri. The cabin is up high on 11 deck but the rocking was not bad except on the last day back when the whole ship was rocking pretty good (and such is the Pacific). Worst thing about the room though was that people tend to congregate over the edge of the Serenity deck and you can hear them down in your room. We were in 1103 and even though we were near the entrance to the spa and the elevator there was not an excess of noise here.Found butts on my balcony one morning which was bad from people flicking their butts so make sure you don't leave stuff drying out here.That really could cause a problem. Nan our room steward and Luis her assistant were the best we have had at sea. They remembered our names and used them every time. You always here this talked about but these folks (except for Disney) used them. Cruise director Todd Wittmer was great very good and congenial host. His staff however for the most part was rude and acted like they didn't want to be there most of all some blond lady from Atlanta.All this was odd to me because Todd was such a great guy but your staff always reflects a leaders leadership. So ??? Shows were great still some of the best at sea. Food choices were also very good from the sushi bar which also served tapas on some days, to Indian, burrito bar, grilled food, and many other choices. Plus Carnival bought back the Chocolate buffet which was laid out and looked great. No ice sculptures but still some great presentation. Food was good. There pumpkin soup is still the best at sea. Plate presentation was a zero here literally none at all. But the food still tasted very good and there were lots of choices. The opportunity here still is the staff. The buffet staff were just glorified busboys not bad people mind you they would say hi back if you said hi. But they just kind of hovered in the background waiting to clear the table. Not once was I offered by them to refresh my drink. We did Anytime dining which was a nightmare the first night. Got a waiter that actually acted like we were an inconvenience to him. I then went to guest services and pulled all our tips for dining staff for the entire week and requested envelopes. The second night was better and kudos to Lucio and Eduardo who were great. I found that even with anytime dining you can request the waiter every night which we did. The Matre D Larissa from Lithuania was the best and most engaged of any Maitre D we have seen in our 10 cruises and we have had good ones on Disney and Princess. She was fun and even stopped at our table to chat a bit and see how things were going. I really liked how Carnival seems to be taking guests complaint seriously now. Disappointed that the dress code was not kept on Elegant nights but O well. Our 13 year old daughter has a bit of a hard time the first day out getting her sea legs but after that we were fine. The ship was very easy to get around in and all the pools and water slide was great. Our 13 year old decided to to use Circle C because there really was not a lot going on for here age group and you could tell this by a almost zero lack of participation from this club. Punchliner Comedy club was great. Family shows were better than the adult shows. One comic almost seemed uncomfortable with his own gratuitous cussing. Didn't seem to fit him. Couple of things that stuck out that need improvement. Movie selection on the big screen on deck was awful. No current run movies. Now of course I don't cruise just to watch a movie but after a long day at shore its cool to sit back on deck and watch a movie. But "Field of Dreams"? Hey I like that movie but how about something current that you are charged 10.99 in your cabin for. Besides the shows and Comedy club the music was very good Jimmy's band on the main stage was great as well as the Latin band. Not a whole lot to do on the ship besides that and Skippy the shopping guru was not as engaged or nice as you would expect. The one big downer was coming on board and finding nothing-zero-to recognize you as a past guest. Not even a welcome back card written in your room. We had some goodies because of past problems but there was nothing to recognize us in our cabins for being past cruisers. Well let me correct that there was a free 45 minute party for past guests with free booze. But what happens if you don't drink? The captain here was probably the only one I have seen in past cruises that was not at all engaged with his guests. At the Captains party I could not even find the Captain plus no pictures were taken with him at all that I could find. And when I asked guest services they said no the captain would not take picture with the guests. That's the first Ive seen this on any ship including Carnival. And the captains lack of guest engagement will always reflect on the crew which he commands.Big disappointment. Plus a really rough ride back home on this ship. Last thing was the mattresses in our cabin. Not sure where they got these or if Carnival is cutting costs but there is no way these mattresses were the same as we have experienced on past Carnival cruises.Not even very comfortable at all. And this is a category where Carnival surpassed any cruise line I have ever sailed with from Disney,Princess,and RC. Whats up here? All in all though great cruise at a great price. I do believe Carnival is starting to really listen to guests complaints and doing something about it. I will cruise them at this point again. Most of all because of their price point. Happy Cruising.

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My husband and I sailed on Carnival Splendor April 29th thru May 6th to Mexican Riviera. I had been on this similar cruise 22 years ago with my family back when it went on the Jubilee to Cabo, Mazatlan and Puerto Vallarta and wanted to go with my husband this time on a newer style ship. We both had sailed with Carnival before. Embarkation went ok, but alot of lines. Ship - Nicely designed. I admit there is ALOT of pink dots everywhere like people said, but it didn't bother us. We weren't sure why they couldn't change them to blue or green dots on some levels to make it more interesting, but I guess that was what they wanted. Ship was a little confusing for me to navigate - even still toward the end of the cruise. The good thing was no matter where you were there were elevators or stairways nearby so you could get back to your cabin easily. This ship had 2 pools - one aft and one mid-ship. Both were hard to get a chair at times, so we would have to sit somewhere else. Not a big deal though since it was cold during most of the days at sea and I wanted to be inside anyway. On the last 2 days at sea they closed the atrium on the Lido main pool which made it nice and warm. Food - Everything in the dining room was great and first class. We ate at the buffet alot for breakfast and sometimes for dinner and I didn't care for that as much. I did like the dessert selections at the buffet though - lots of cakes and selections. Service was good at both locations. We originally had late dining in the Gold Pearl due to that was all that was available at time of booking. We asked the Matre D at the Black Pearl if we were able to move ours to anytime dining and she accommodated us. I thought the Black Pearl dining room was nicer than the Gold Pearl. State room - We had an interior cabin on Empress deck which was small but comfy. The room stewards that serviced our room did a great job and were very friendly and helpful. Walls were a little paper thin though as you can hear every sound people make while passing your stateroom. Not a big deal though as this isn't the first time I've encountered this anywhere. Entertainment - I was more impressed with the shows on this cruise than any other cruise I've taken and I've been on 5. They did a great job. I loved the second show VROOOM with the tribute to Rock-n-Roll over the years. Saw the comedy act one night and he was pretty funny. Ports - see individual reviews. Now the only BAD: The internet connection! Yes I know we are suppose to be on vacation and yes I knew some of the situation before I booked this cruise, but we are not the average couple who takes time off from a 9-5, 8 hour a week job. We have no employees to answer emails for us but own several home businesses that HEAVILY rely on internet and alot of long email answers to people. The internet on this ship was slow, stalled alot and you pay alot of money for minimal hours of internet. For a couple or even few days this is something we could probably live with, but for 7 days it becomes tedious and having to tell every customer you will need to answer or call them later can really wear thin on you. Especially knowing you will have to deal with all that when you return. Unfortunately if cruise ships do not improve the internet service or at the very least - give you 24 hour internet service for the $200.00 you paid on the trip it might be more worth it. But for our situation we definitely will not be taking any more 7 day cruises until this improves :( All in all we enjoyed this cruise very much except for the little thing I mentioned above. Would I cruise Carnival again? Absolutely. As long as the cruise isn't longer than 5 days due to the internet situation.

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This was my 14th cruise, and probably the best cruise we have been on. My DW and I are in our 50's (her 13th cruise), and we sailed with our 2 DD, 12 and 11 (their 4th cruise). We also sailed with my wife's service dog, Duncan (his 5th cruise - 2nd on the Splendor). And we had a small group of friends joining us (15 people total). Even though we had a few minor problems, we all had a fantastic time. We loved the ship. Service was fantastic from Guest Services, to Room Stewards, to Entertainment Staff. Never encountered a bad tempered crew member. Did we have any problems or complaints? A few minor ones but nothing that could ruin our vacation. Things were scheduled around the clock, always something to keep you busy (if you want). Surprised they no longer had the souvenir Fun Ship glasses. Drinks came in regular glasses. I'll be posting a day-by-day review on the Cruise Critic Splendor page, so feel free to ask lots of questions. Sorry the Splendor will be leaving Long Beach next year!

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Little background about us. Married couple in our late 20's early 30's. No kids, and love to vacation on the younger generation atmosphere. My wife and I went into this cruise with our guards up at all time. We were reading reviews for the last three months, and a big majority of reviews were not very great and left us almost not wanting to go. Plus those cruisers in Puerto Vallarta that got robbed got us very scared of not wanting to even get off the ship. We were actually very bad misinformed and I personally found out why a lot of bad reviews from prior cruisers (I will get into that ahead). It turned out to be the best experience ever. I'm gonna give you the only bad comment right now, so you can decide if you should even continue reading this review and not waste your time. The only bad thing we can say is that this cruise is very ROCKY!! Everywhere you go you feel this ship move very bad. If motion sickness bothers you, I personally recommend you to DON'T WASTE YOUR MONEY IN THIS CRUISE. Fly and vacation on land instead. Don't get me wrong, we hated it moving like that, but we used the patch and we were fine the whole trip. I'm sure you out there will be fine too, but we highly recommend you to either take stuff for sickness or the patch. After all, it's a cruise and they all move, right? Now, if this is not at all an issue for you, keep on reading because I got the bad comment out of the way. Embarkation: It was not bad at all. Like I said earlier, I was very prepared to expect the worst due to last reviews. Everyone agreed on a long waiting to get checked in and a big hold up. WRONG!!! We did not even take 20 minutes and we were on the bar at the Lido Deck drinking Foster Beers. Here is something you need to know. You have to prepare all you paper work before you come in. You can get you boarding passes online and luggage tags online. Trust me, that will save you the hassle and pain in the butt that everybody is talking about. If you prefer to get all your documents and tags in the port, trust me, all the bad reviews you read about embarkation will be true and you will be asked to move from area to area, then to get the room keys, then to get this and that. You can leave your luggage with the porters, and everything will arrive at your stateroom. Just tip him/her 1 dollar per bag. Nothing will be stolen. Those porters have tons of luggage to load for them to worry about robbing just yours. And believe me, we packed very valuable stuff in our luggage, and I would had been in a lot of trouble with my wife if anything was missing. Cabin Room: We got a Spa Ocean View Room at the very front of the ship. To be exact, our cabin was the 1003. Panorama Deck. If you are one of those people that demands a lot of space and storage, this is the room for you. When we came into the room, everything looked very clean. However, I'll give you a little tip. Even though the room was very clean, I would recommend you to bring some Wipes and a disinfection spray (1 dollar at Wal-mart) to do your own clean up at the beginning our your trip. Don't get me wrong, you don't have to do this, the room is spotless already. That's only if you are one of those people that rather make sure to kill germs your self. After all, that's going to be your house for 8 days. Our steward "Edwin" did a great job from the beginning to the end. He learned our names right away, made sure we were having a good time, if we were able to sleep well, etc. He was supposed to clean this room twice a day, but we only needed him to clean it in the AM, and he was so kind that he asked every night if we needed at least clean towels, fresh ice cubes and clean wine glasses. Plus he insisted one night to let him clean our room so he could make animals with the towels. That was very nice of him. I would recommend you that even though you already paid gratuity, give your steward like 15-20 bucks at the end of your cruise. Trust me, we are not rich people, but those guys go the extra mile if you treat them nice. However, make sure your steward is being nice to you the entire time and going the extra mile. It sucks that you don't have your own balcony, but the cool thing about it is that you can go around your room and you have a sun deck pretty much for yourself. It's not a private balcony, but nobody really walks around there. I couldn't sleep one night, and I went out there to look at the stars. It was like having a balcony for myself. The room has two HUGE windows, compared to other ocean view cabins. I even sat in the window a couple of times. Did I mention storage everywhere? Yes, yes, yes. This room has a very spacious closet with a lot of cabinets to put your stuff. The bathroom here is very comfortable too as far as space. It was well worth it investing in a spa room, since you have a different robe than everyone else, plus you get to use the Spa facilities every single day. I liked it too that they give you Spa products in your room everyday. I believe they charge like $35 a day just to use their facilities if you do it that way. It also has the typical mini bar, small safe, and more storage cabinets anywhere you look. It also has a Vanity very comfortable with bright lights for the misses' to get ready. My wife did appreciate that one. FOOD= For breakfast the first three days, we did room service continental breakfast. Since we are adults into fitness, we woke up early to get our workouts out of the way. We brought our pre and post workout supplements, so we calculated to have our pastries and coffee in our room by the time we were done with the gym, spa pool and sauna time. Anyways, we are talking about food. I'll get into gym and spa later. Prior reviews said the food wasn't good. I though the food in this cruise was very good. Not the greatest top of the list, but it will do for 8 days. The room service foods are mainly sandwiches and salads. They are not the greatest, but they are not bad either. If you go to the Lido Deck breakfast buffet, it's a hell to try to grab food. TOO MANY people at once trying to get food. We never went there since we decided to have breakfast at the Gold Pearl Restaurant and in our walk to the restaurant, we had to see how the buffet Chaos was. I'm pretty sure the food was good too. Now, on the Restaurant, the food was good. They let have as many bakery as you want, and even main dishes too. Many people complained in prior reviews about the waiters being jerks, but I personally saw why some of them can be very unpleasant. This Chinese group of old people were very demanding, talking to the waiter any way they wanted and pretty much telling him they were better than him. Off course the dude was a total jackass to them. The same dude was our waiter, and he was cool to us. Off course, we joked around with him, and we were not being a$$holes to him. He gave us very good service and was not feisty to us. So, I will recommend you out there to respect those workers. Don't be a Jack hole demanding Bitch. They are human beings too and have to do the same job over and over without a day off. I'm not gonna tell you here that I'm Jesus Christ and I never break the rules. Just have some consideration and treat those workers nice. Leave your grumpy attitude at home. And trust me, the way you treat them, they will treat you. Like I said, we saw it happen in front of me. Lunch at the MDR is good too. I got the Philly cheese steak sandwich and that thing was very good. Not the healthiest thing I'll be honest with you, but it was DELICIOUS!! I couldn't finish it, and I'm a big eater dude. Lunch at the buffet was good. We did go to the buffet for lunch twice, and they had a big variety of food. We mainly wanted french fries and hot dogs, so I can't deep comment here too much. It's cool to eat here if you don't feel like wearing your t-shirt. Moving on, we dined at the Gold Pearl Restaurant early dining (6:00pm). Man!! do I keep saying good food. Yes!!! food was great. You go there to EAT!!!. Three course meals every night. Plus the waiters and waitresses sing and dance for you at the end. Not the great thing, but it's just funny. We sat with 2 other couples celebrating their anniversaries and another couple on their honeymoon. We were glad they sat us with young couples and not with families with kids and grandparents. Nothing against them, it's just not for us. Elegant nights were on Monday and Friday. The restaurant looked very pleasant to be in. Jonathan was our waiter. I forgot the other guys names. They treated us great. By the second night, he knew what was our drinks, and he didn't even have to ask again. Like I said earlier, don't be a demanding A$$hole. Treat those guys with respect and put a smile to them and you will get it back. If you wanna have your shitty attitude, just go eat at the buffet. PINNACLE STEAKHOUSE= I forgot to mention. This cruise was for my wife and I 5th anniversary, so we decided to give it a try one of the nights to the famous Pinnacle Steakhouse. Previously I read the reviews and they all said it was worth it, and I thank all those people because they were not wrong. It's $30 per person, but it is the best. 5 course meal here people. I wanted to try the lobster, but I had lobster almost every night at the MDR and in Puerto Vallarta, so I tried to the Cowboy Steak. That thing was huge!! 18oz. My wife had the Ribeye steak also 18oz. I tried a little piece, and it had even more flavor than my steak. Both of them were delicious though. It was pretty cool also that the waitress comes and give a little live show of their entries uncooked (they are in plastics) in a rolling cart before you order. They make sure you are making you extra money worth it. The last waitress knew that it was our anniversary, so he brought us our dessert with candles, and demanded for my camera because she wanted us to take a bunch pictures home. I didn't get her name, but she scored a 10 with us, because it is very difficult to be bothering people to take the picture for you. And she was on top of that telling us how to pose for the photos. Anyways, YOU HAVE TO COME TO EAT AT THE PINNACLE STEAKHOUSE. I'll recommend you to make reservations before you get on the cruise. Just e-mail them, and they respond very fast. Public Rooms= On previous reviews, everyone concluded that this cruise is bathed in Pepto Bismol. Well, it is very true about the walls and almost everywhere you look is very Pink. Pink dots everywhere. We didn't get upset or bothered by it. We went to a cruise to have fun and do lots of activities, not to be in time-out like a bratty kid looking at the wall. Don't let this PINK SITUATION bother you. It's ok that you are an Art critic but whatever, four hours later you will ignore those pink dots. This cruise have lounges and bars for every occasion. If you want to smoke a cigar, there is a lounge for it. If you want to watch sports, there is a sports bar behind the casino. If you want to sing, there is the piano bar. I can't really comment too much on the other ones because we just didn't go there. But as far as cleanliness and pleasant to be there, you won't regret it. I will not comment on public places on the cruise if you have kids, because I did not bring kids with me. Red Carpet nightclub= This is the famous adults nightclub. We went there one night, and it was a lot of fun. We only stayed there for like 30 minutes because we wanted to have energy for Cabo San Lucas the next day. I have to tell you this: put your parents and kids to sleep and come out at 11pm. We saw a lot of single people here, men and women. The cruise director (Todd) comes here to mess and interview people. Don't get too excited about the Red Carpet being a huge night club Studio54 style. It's very small, but it will keep you drunk and having a good time with other cruisers. Casino= The layout is pretty cool. Not that big of a floor but it does its thing. Let me tell you this, we are gamblers and Vegas goers. Get this in your head, THIS IS NOT LAS VEGAS!!! and those tables and slot machines are loaded. Carnival regulates the Casino, so don't think you are going to come here to make money or encounter fair gambling. Don't get me wrong, we played here a couple of nights and it was fun. We just didn't play a lot of money, and we were willing to lose what we brought downstairs. They have this machine called the "CASINO VAULT", and it's like those arcade games you find outside of Denny's to get stuffed animals. With the difference that what you find here is straight cash, and an Ipad2. It's just funny because you play this thing, and everyone is watching you but don't dare to put their dollar in it. Ohh, I have to warn you about this: If you have kids (minors), leave them in the pool or in the room. You don't see it, but Carnival workers are watching every move and they will ask minors to get out of there. We had to see this dad playing the Casino Vault and his daughters got involved in the game, and next thing you see is a Carnival worker kicking them out. So my advise for minors trying to play with the adults is to still try it, but be willing to be embarrassed by a Carnival worker. And they won't ask you nice to leave, so I'll leave it up to you. =) Like I said, it's just a Casino. Don't be too excited about gambling here. I played craps and was broke even. Nothing special about the casino in this cruise. Spa= If you are not staying in a Spa Room and have to pay the 35 dollars it's not worth it. Just use the dry sauna in the gym. They are free for everyone. Like I said, we had a Spa room, so we were entitled to use their TalazoTherapy pool, relaxation rooms, and two private steaming rooms. They are nice. After a good workout session, it's a good idea to take a very cold shower and get in the TalazoTherapy pool. I used the steaming rooms every single day, then showered, then went into their hot tiled relaxation rooms. Man, what a way to cure hangovers also, lol. Ohh, as a cruiser staying in a Spa Room, you are entitled to a Yoga class and an ab conditioning class. We passed on this since we are not yoga people, but just so you know. If you are a spa person, I would recommend you to book a Spa room, that way you don't have to pay the extra $35 a day to use it, nor need to get a massage. Talking about massages, wait until the very last day at sea. If you decide to get them, they charge over 200 dollars normally. But the very last day at sea, they drop it to $129 for like a 110 massage. It's a full package, then they start dropping down the prices even more. I would recommend you not to book any massages prior to getting on the cruise. Just do it there. Gym= Go first thing in the AM or late at night. It gets packed!! Their gym is actually a good size gym. The ceiling is pretty low though, so be careful if your workouts included jump squats, jumping jacks or burpess. You will not hit your head, but you can easily hit the ceiling with your hands every time you jump high. Talks a guy that is 5"10". Imagine if you are taller. I can say it has easily 12-15 treadmills, 8 elliptical, and 10 stationary bikes. It also has a good variety of weight machines, I can easily say one for each main muscle group. Can't complain about that. On the weight area, their biggest dumbell goes up to 60 lbs only, so don't expect this gym to be World Gym or 24 hours Sports. No cable machines either. In the AM's of sea days, it's just like every other reviewer said; very hard to get on a treadmill. On Friday (Sea Day) we actually went at 2pm and it was pretty empty by then. But like I said, the gym has enough stuff to burn a good amount of calories and wear out muscles before the 3 course meals and all the junk food you will eat later, because you will, trust me on that one. Entertainment= Their shows are OK. I can't complain too much about this because they are just free shows to entertain people while cruising. Don't expect either a Las Vegas Cirque Du Soleil, or a Broadway show. Other reviewers were really deeply criticizing these shows but I don't understand why, they are free. When we ported in Puerto Vallarta, they brought Mariachis from there into the cruise, and folkloric dancers. That show was pretty good. We did enjoy that one. And the typical of Carnival, on every show the host and performers interact with the audience and make fun of them. We did take a bunch of professional pictures all over deck 5 on elegant nights. There is no obligation to buy them later, but I would like to make you aware of the price. It's 22 dollars per picture, and they will not go any cheaper either. If you bring a good camera and a good tripod, you can take your own pictures on the scenario. The photographer will NOT take the picture with you camera, just so you know. Or you can have somebody come around to take the picture for you (that's kinda harder). Ohh, and even at the last day if you want to purchase the photos, they are still $22. Now the Adult Comedy Show. To be honest, this show wasn't really that funny. We thought it was very funny when we were there because we were very drunk and having a good time with other cruisers. That old dude comedian is just vulgar and interacts with the audience a lot. So for you adults out there that get bother easily by the F word, don't go to the Morocco room at nights. I highly recommend you to have a few drinks before you come in here. Then it will be funny. Cabo 1st day= Pretty cool how you arrive to Cabo. For those of you who never been in a cruise to Cabo, there is no port for the cruise. Little boats (tenders) take you to the Marina. The cruise just stays out in the Ocean. Now let me tell you a little about excursions and budgeting. We did not book anything through Carnival and we are glad we didn't. Nothing wrong with Carnival sponsoring activities, but they charge more than double for the activities. I understand that they have to make money for the convenience and lunch provided, but that was just too much for us. We did para sailing, wave runners and off course drink beer the whole day (2x1). Carnival charges $90 for para sailing activity per person. I wanted to do it, but my wife didn't due to being afraid of heights. We went with Sky King on the Marina, and they charged me $35 and $10 for my wife just going for the ride. I figured I should share this info in the review since people want to know how much to expect to be charged. When you are done with the para sailing, you can tell those guys to drop you off at Medano beach, and they leave you there with no problem. When we were done with parasailing, we walked to a bar next to "the Office" and drink a bucket of 5 beers for 11 dollars. This bar is not roped off, so all the vendors come around here and try to sell you stuff. Tip: Just be firm and tell them NO GRACIAS. They'll leave you alone. From that bar we rented a jet ski for an hour. All those vendors try to ask you for $90 an hour. As you walk away they follow and follow until they drop the price to $60 an hour. Tip for wave runners: Make sure to take a little video of the jet ski with your camera and inspect it very well of any chips and defects already there before you take off. A you make the little video, record the guy that is inspecting it with you and make him confirm everything you say. Just for your protection. I heard that those guys try to pull a fast one often to people claiming about damages that you "supposedly did" and they even threat you with calling local authorities to make you pay. I was aware of that before I did this thanks to prior reviews on this website, so thanks to all of you. From the Jet Skis, we wanted to eat at the famous "The Office", but they were with wait list so we decided to leave. Instead, we went next door to Baja Cantina (restaurant bar owned by Cabo Villas). This bar is roped off (no vendors bothering). We ate here and drank 2x1 margaritas for the rest of the afternoon. Another thing to share: I know you are in Mexico, but you spend dollars just like if you were in the USA. Food is kinda pricey here, but it's very good. Moving on, some guy from the water activities at this hotel came over to offer a timeshare presentation. Let me tell you this, if you want freebies but can't handle selling pressure and being called names just don't do it. We went ahead and signed up for the next day to do it, and they offered us a lot of good stuff. If you do this, get as much stuff as you can from the guy. Example: Massages at the spa for two people 100 minutes for 80 bucks, 60 dollars credit for food and ALCOHOLICS DRINKS on Baja Cantina, and the future staying there. You can even ask for more stuff, like ask him to rent you jet skis for $45-50 an hour if you sign up. He'll ask you for a $20 deposit, but you DO get it back believe it or not. Cabo 2nd day= First thing we did was get that stupid timeshare presentation out of the way. It didn't go that bad at all. The seller called me names, got so frustrated that had to just let us go with our freebies. hahahaha. After that presentation, OFF COURSE we went back to Baja Cantina to drink and drink more with our credit at the bar. We did not spend a penny here. Only what we paid in tips for the waiter which was like 10 bucks, and that was actually too much, but whatever, he deserved it. We decided to do massages at the beach in this resort, so we paid 60 dollars a person for an hour. We actually paid a lot for this, but we just didn't feel like going to the Marina to Lolo's to pay $25 dollars an hour. Plus we were kinda scared that the seller from the timeshare had buddies outside waiting for us to harm us. lol. Let me tell you, I frustrated that man so much that I was kinda scared of our safety. Anyways, the massages we did here at Cabo Villas were THE BEST. I'm not a massage person and actually didn't want to do it, but my wife loves getting massages so I went ahead and did it too. I did it for her. What the heck, I'm on vacations and I didn't spend any money today by doing a timeshare presentation. lol. Let me tell you this, those massage ladies resuscitated us I would describe. Forget the Spa in the cruise. Just wait until you arrive in Cabo and do them on the beach. Nobody will be around watching you. They have their little cabana, and they close it down when they are massaging you. Expect to pay between 30-60 dollars per hour when you do massages on the beach. It all depends on where you go. Like I said we paid $60, but you can find on the Marina and even on the beach somewhere else for $30. From there, we went back to the Marina. We didn't want to take the long walk aroud the whole Marina again (because is a LONG WALK), so we took a water taxi and took us right in front of our tenders to go back to the ship. It was just 4 dollars per person. When we got to the MArina, we still had time to spend in Cabo, so we went to drink in sports bars close by, and found out is even cheaper than Medano Beach. They have little stores and vendors around here, and talk about BARGAIN!! If one vendor doesn't want to lower the price for you on hats or shirts, don't worry; the next one will work with you. Ohh before I forget. I know you want to go drink and get on CABO mode, but don't over do it. Remember that the only way to get back to the cruise is in Tenders, and they move awful. In our tender, this chick was so DRUNK that she was just throwing up and spitting on the Ocean. We were off course laughing and taking pictures of her but it was just disgusting. So keep that in mind, lol. I believe if you go even deeper in Cabo, you find even more cheaper restaurants and bars. But, I will find out about that one when we come back in our free stay. Puerto Vallarta= I'm going to be honest with you in this one. We were very afraid of doing anything in this city. After what happened to prior cruisers about getting robbed at gunpoint, We were very unmotivated to even get off the ship. We did anyways, we took a cab to El Malecon beach and messed around the beach. We were drinking beer for 20 pesos and doing shopping. We did not do any excursions due to what I just said, but everything seemed to be fine for other cruisers. I think security implemented after that horrible incident, that I'm pretty sure you will be ok doing any excursions here. A couple in our table did the tequila tasting, and gave us the best reviews about it. Like I said earlier, we did not do it but it looks like it's very worth it. They said they paid like us$60-70 a person with Carnival for like 3 or 4 hours, plus they give you lunch. Ohh wait, we did go eat to a Restaurant called RIO GRANDE, and ordered the Mariscada for two. That thing had a big lobster, Red snapper, other fish (I forgot the name), oysters, shrimp rice, vegetables, bread, tostada shells, and other stuff for 55 dollars. Let me tell you this. At dinner that night on the cruise, they had oysters, fish and lobster. CRAP!!! they were very good, and we were kickin ourselves for eating that much at lunch the same thing. Don't get me wrong, the food at this restaurant in PV was great, but we could of eat the same for dinner without having to spend that much money and avoid the food comma for diner. LOL. Lido Deck Bars= Drinks at these bars are expensive. 8-9 bucks per cocktail and 6-8 a beer. Not that fancy cocktails like 7 and 7 is 6.25 after gratuities. Many new cruisers wonder how much is liquor in the cruises, so there it is. (All other bars have the same prices). It's pretty cool to hang out here bc it's just bars outside by the pool. And when you get a chair to lay there (if you can get one), you have someone from Carnival already on you making sure you need any drink, or having a good time. I like to mention about the pool on this deck because the buffet and Pizza Pirate is next to it. So if you get hungry and want to grab a piece of pizza or some little snack, just take a few steps. No need to go dress up like going in the MDR. The Pizza Pirate is open 24 hours. The Calzones are delicious. You have to order those right there, but it's worth waiting the 15 minutes. Disembarkation= It wasn't bad either. We weren't in a rush to get out, so we went ahead and put our luggage outside of the room the very last night with our disembarkation tags numbered. It was just funny that a lot of people were doing self disembarkation, and they didn't even realize that the luggage are already waiting for you outside in your zone. When your zone is called, it moves quick. It's not that disorganized like everybody reviews it. I saw also that it gets a little more complicated if you are coming with handicapped family members, but that's just like everywhere else. So don't panic. Now, Like I said many times already, it was just two of us in this cruise. If you are coming in this cruise just with your girlfriend/boyfriend or spouse; it will be very weird if you find issues and problems. If you come with a family of 25-50 members, you will find a lot of issues. Don't get me wrong, it's not your family size's fault. It's just extremely hard to accommodate big groups and coordinate every single one to be happy. Don't blame it on Carnival. They actually DO their best. Enjoy the CARNIVAL SPLENDOR.

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Embarkation: was a breeze. My boyfriend and I met a friend for champagne brunch at 11 a.m. next door at the Queen Mary ($50 a person but the food was good and they were quick to refill the champagne.) We finished brunch and boarded at 1:30 p.m. and literally walked right through, no waiting. This was a birthday cruise for both me and my sweetie; the steward delivered a cake sent by a friend before I could even close the cabin door! I personally ordered several things through Bon Voyage and everything was accurate and showed up on time. Interior Spa Room: I would say YES to the spa cabins but NO to cabin 1051. It is the last of the interior rooms and closer to the middle of the ship so I chose thinking I'd feel less of the ship movement. However; this room is right next to the stewards galley for the deck and every morning at 6 a.m. I awoke to the banging of various carts being pulled out. The picture of the cabin on the Carnival website is it, I was wondering what the rest of the room looked like but the answer is there is no more, lol (besides a bathroom and closets.) There was TONS of closet space, and with our luggage stored under the bed we had plenty of storage room. Spa: We spent at least 30 if not 120 minutes using the spa daily. The steam/sauna rooms and the Thalossotherapy pool that come with the spa rooms are all wonderful. Bring your own spa shoes/flip flops though because there was none in the room (despite advertisements to the contrary). Also, the spa rooms were supposed to come with a yoga OR pilates class and we found out at embarkation this had changed to just a yoga class. We took advantage of the spa cabins getting first dibs at spa appointments and booked a 2 for 1 Rasul at embarkation ($95 for two). The Rasul was fantastic and I would highly recommend. It was a fun couples thing and my skin felt softer for days after. The hour flew by though so if you can afford to book 2 hours do it! We didn't do any other spa treatments. Cabo/Puerto Vallarta: We got off the ship at our own pace a little later in the morning to avoid the lines. We didn't do any excursions, just wandered the city. Met a couple later in the cruise who told us they "crashed" some local resorts. Although they paid the resort fee in Puerto Vallarta ($40 for two) they were able to use the resorts pools and services as well as score some free drinks; think I will try this myself next time! Food/Alcohol: The food, meh, I give it a 3 out of 5. Not bad but nothing spectacular. We paid the extra $30 a person, plus a $15 fee to drink our own bottle of wine in the steakhouse. Had the surf and turf, it was very good but not out of the park. I'd give it 4 out of 5. A fun experience though if you can afford it. I went to a lot of trouble to bring some extra "spirits" on board and I can tell you, don't waste your time! Days 1 and 2 they sell alcohol from the gift shop at excellent prices and it's just not necessary. Wish I had known this ahead of time. Plus it's just nice to order something right from the bar or from one of the roaming cocktail people. I'm a booze hound when I'm on vacation and I found the ship options affordable and adequate. Kids vs. Adults: Yes I saw kids but they didn't interfere with my vacation (I am 40 and kid-less). There are plenty of adults only areas (the one next to the spa has the spa music piped in) and Carnival does a great job of keeping the kids entertained with camp carnival, the waterslides and family pools. Seasick: YES I WAS, despite Bonine twice a day. I heard the crew complaining that 2/3 of the ship was sick all week. Not sure why it was so rough but I saw a lot of people with the little patches behind their ears and found out about the nausea wrist bands AFTER I got back. Illness ruined me for a good 2 days and I had sea legs for a solid week after returning. Not sure I'll be cruising again for this reason. Service: I have to make a special comment that the service was by far the best part of my vacation. Our cabin steward Edwin was wonderful, and everyone (except for one slightly grouchy bartender) was smiling, helpful and pleasant. They all seemed genuinely interested in giving us a great experience.

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