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Item: Carnival Splendor
Rating: 4
Author: jaredlane

Carnival Splendor Cruise Review to Caribbean - Eastern

jaredlane

Contributor Level: Purser

Cruises: 1 cruise (first)

Review: 1

Helpful Votes: 43

Overall rating:

4 out of 5

6 Night Eastern Caribbean (Ft. Lauderdale Roundtrip)

Sail date: May 21, 2017

Ship: Carnival Splendor

Cabin type: Inside

Cabin number: 7279

Traveled as: Couple

Reviewed: 7 years ago

Review summary

Great first cruise. Went with a couple that have been on several so they helped to make our time enjoyable. We thought food was good but we ate very little from the buffets. Usually ate breakfast in the dining rooms (or our room), lunch somewhere in port, and ate dinner in the dining hall every night. Wait staff was great, food was good, and we could eat as much as we could stand. Ship decor was unusual and looked dated to me but this is our first cruise. Regardless the ship was very clean, there was always someone wiping down walls, mopping, etc. We were disappointed in the size, or lack of, on-board pools. We thought there would be pretty large pools on a ship that can host over 3000 people but that isn't the case. Wasn't an issue on port days but wouldn't be fun if your trip has many "sea" days (we only had one). Cruise director was great, entertainment was pretty good too. Went to a show every night and the comedy club a couple times. Great first cruise.

Ship experiences

Food and Dining

5 out of 5

Onboard Activities

5 out of 5

Entertainment

5 out of 5

Children's Programs

3 out of 5

Didn't take kids but did see kid friendly programs available

Service and Staff

5 out of 5

Ship Quality

5 out of 5

Cabin / Stateroom

5 out of 5

Small but adequate. Room was always clean and cool. Felt good after a day in the sun. Pretty much exactly what I was expecting the an interior room.

Ports of call

Ft. Lauderdale (Port Everglades), Florida

3 out of 5

Nassau, Bahamas

2 out of 5

Half Moon Cay, Bahamas (Private Island)

3 out of 5

Ultimate beach day, absolutely beautiful! The downside is, there isn't a dock so you have to render from the ship to the island on small boats. Get up early and get on one of the first tender boats. Then plan on making your way back to the boat about 2 hours before you need too. We waited until 45 min before time to leave. Turned into an exodus. Spent over 1.5 hours standing in line, in the blazing sun, waiting on tender boat. Still worth it, beautiful beach.

Thumbs Up 13

Grand Turk Island

2 out of 5

Amber Cove (Puerto Plata), Dominican Republic

3 out of 5

The most beautiful island of the trip. Awesome mountainous backdrop. We did the VIP dolphin encounter at Ocean World (through Carnival). Is was awesome! Had done dolphin swim in Jamaica. This was WAY better. Just looking at the scenery would prob be an awesome place to do a waterfall excursion.

Thumbs Up 8