Some "up's and down's"

Carnival Splendor Cruise Review to Caribbean - Western

Cruises: 7+ cruises
Review: 1
Helpful Votes: 50

Overall rating:

4 out of 5
Verified Review
Carnival Splendor

7 Night Western Caribbean (Miami Roundtrip)

Sail date: January 22, 2017

Ship: Carnival Splendor

Cabin type: Inside

Cabin number: 2337

Traveled as: Couple

Reviewed: 7 years ago

Review summary

Overall, despite rough weather the first day at sea, the cruise was excellent. I liked the layout of the ship and the crew/staff were great! Now comes the negative...as part of the overall fee charged for a cruise, I'm assuming that a certain percentage goes to the food that we consume while on board. My wife and I are not big eaters so the cruise line is definately not losing money on us. But it would be interesting to see the reaction of the passengers as they lined up for their desserts (cakes, sweets, etc.) and instead of finding the variety they are accustomed to, instead there was one dried out, crumbling piece of pie/cake. That's it, no other choices. Each day brought a "new surprise" of just one selection, take it or leave it. I bring this up because like millions of other's in the world, I cannot eat foods containing sugar. On a ship the size of the Splendor, based on the statistics, I probaly represent one third of the passengers on that ship who cannot and/or should not consume sugar. But yet what I described above is exactly what I found each day while on the cruise. I'm basically subsidizing other's who get tremendous variety in food and dessert while I get the dried out crumbs of one selection. Overall I thought the food was very good, but it's hard to stand in line with fellow passengers who are holding a plate heaped high with 6-7 desserts (or more!) and not one decent offering for someone like myself. One more observation; all of the custard machines located throughout the ship dispensing chocolate, vanilla and strawberry custard and NOT ONE sugar free custard (I'd even settle for plain vanilla!). If others think my complaint is trivial, then I would ask the cruise lines to eliminate desserts and sweets entirely from the cruise menu. The negative feedback would be HUGE. I've brought this subject up on cruise line survey's in the past, the dessert chef's on the ship's themselves, with customer relations person's who asked for feedback. Nothing has ever been done about the subject; it falls on deaf ears. 

Ship experiences

Food and Dining

3 out of 5
See above comment

Onboard Activities

3 out of 5

Entertainment

5 out of 5

Service and Staff

5 out of 5

Ship Quality

5 out of 5

Cabin / Stateroom

5 out of 5

Ports of call

Miami, Florida

3 out of 5

Cozumel, Mexico

3 out of 5

Belize City, Belize

3 out of 5

Mahogany Bay, Roatan, Bay Islands, Honduras

1 out of 5

George Town, Grand Cayman

1 out of 5
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4 Comments

ctav    7 years ago

From the review it sounds like they were having their meals on the Lido deck. I have one meal on the Lido deck per cruise and that is on embarkation day. 

rachcate    7 years ago

It's been over a year since my last cruise but every time I've gone the MDR has offered a choice of sugar free desserts--did they stop that as well? I'm on a strict diet and was looking forward to those options. All 6 if my cruises had them and they were delicious!

willwork4cruz    7 years ago

I agree it would be nice to have more sugar free foods but in my experience there seems to be a selection of sugar free / no added sugar desserts. I sometimes get them because they look so good. Are you diabetic? Typically people with diabetes can have small portions of desserts within a healthy meal plan. But cruises wouldn't be as fun without sweets. Sorry about your condition.

itsmemss    7 years ago

I enjoy my selection of deserts but I totally agree that the should be a better selection of sugar free desserts... Lord knows me and alot of others need to eat less sugar... I do know that you can request on your cruise manager for special dietary needs, but I don't know how that would affect the regular choices think that is just for your dining choices.

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