Hampered by engine problems.

Carnival Splendor Cruise Review to Caribbean - Eastern

Cruises: 7+ cruises
Reviews: 4
Helpful Votes: 274

Overall rating:

3 out of 5
Verified Review
Carnival Splendor

7 Night Eastern Caribbean (Miami Roundtrip)

Sail date: February 26, 2017

Ship: Carnival Splendor

Cabin type: Balcony

Cabin number: 9287

Traveled as: Couple

Reviewed: 7 years ago

Review summary

  The Splendor is a 2006 model ship that can hold about 3,000 passengers. The burst of personal technology in the past decade has already rendered the ship somewhat obsolete. We needed extensions on extensions to keep everything charged in our cabin. There is only 1 specialty dining plus you can pay $20 extra for a fancy fixings at a regular dining room. On board shopping is limited and the casino is smoky and somewhat unavoidable as you move about the ship. 

  The personnel, however, are great and the shows are entertaining.

   This ship developed an engine problem which resulted in 2 of the stops being cancelled. Because we booked tours through Carnival, the ones we would miss were immediately cancelled with the costs replaced in our on-board accounts. In addition we recovered some unused port fees and got $100 per person added to our accounts. We also will be reimbursed 50% of our cruise cost + a like amount deducted from a future cruise. I considered that fair under the conditions. 

Ship experiences

Food and Dining

5 out of 5

Onboard Activities

3 out of 5

Entertainment

5 out of 5

Service and Staff

5 out of 5

Ship Quality

3 out of 5

Cabin / Stateroom

3 out of 5
We could have received more attention. I suspect cost cutting on "hotel" staff. There is only one outlet in the cabin and one (overhead) in the bathroom. The balcony is tight.

Ports of call

Grand Turk Island

5 out of 5
The beach is right off the pier. Don't waste money on a tour.

San Juan, Puerto Rico

5 out of 5
There is a FREE bus ride around Old San Juan that you can get on near the cruise port. You can hop off and on as frequently as you like. We found a boat ride around the harbor on TripAdvisor for $40 pp.

Charlotte Amalie, St. Thomas

3 out of 5
We didn't get there this trip but our favorite in the past was the tour to Trunk Bay on St. John.

Amber Cove (Puerto Plata), Dominican Republic Did not visit port

Didn't get there but, again, there appears to be a lot to do right at the pier without spending extra on tours.
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6 Comments

Deniseg    7 years ago

I was on Splendor 3 times and all was good.

dlmccu    7 years ago

I was on splendor in Nay 2016 and did not find it obsolete ! The ship is colorful but other that that it's fine! The only issue I had was on embarkation day the lido buffet lines were extremely long ! There were no other issues.

pgoddard    7 years ago

Medicwife111    7 years ago

I keep reading problems about this ship. We'll be in it in July and I sure don't wanna miss any of our ports....Reading these reviews have gotten me a lil worried.

plchap    7 years ago

Sounds fair. Sorry about you missing some ports, I know the disappointment you must fear. I appreciate the non-condemning attitude you have. Any day on s ship is better than at work.

sabina123    7 years ago

thank you for this information. I appreciate you posting it!

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