We flew to California two days before our cruise. I booked SuperShuttle to take our family of 5 from LAX to Long Beach. We stayed at the Best Western Plus Convention Center in Long Beach which was in a great location. It was a very nice and clean hotel with reasonable rates and very good free breakfast. The day before our cruise, we spent the day in Disneyland. We really enjoyed our day there. Of our 16 cruises, this was our 2nd favorite with Alaska being 1st. These were the best Mexican ports we have been to. The water wasn't as pretty as other cruises in the Caribbean but the ports were the best! It's easy to get up early being from the east coast. We finally adjusted to west coast time the last night of our cruise. Some people complain about all the pink but it did not bother us at all. Our family had a great time both times on the Splendor. As many have said before, Lee is the best cruise director. We highly recommend the Splendor and the Mexican Riviera! We are platinum on Carnival and will always cruise with them! We had a great family vacation!!!
Embarkation
5 out of 5
Long Beach port had the fastest embarkation we have ever experienced!
Ship experiences
Food and Dining
5 out of 5
After 16 Carnival cruises, this ship had the best service of any cruise. Our wait team of Tutut, Pratama and Iryna did a great job. On our two previous cruises, we had to wait a very long time to be served but this cruise was the best ever in getting us our food! I am a vegetarian except for eating fish and the grilled salmon was offered most every night and was delicious. My husband said that the meat was cooked perfectly every time. He loved the flat iron steak. We found the Lido to be about the same as most Carnival ships. We always found something good to eat. Unlike other people, I never had to wait in a long line. I was first in line and 3rd in line 2 of the times getting the Mongolian food. I usually got there right before 12:00. We were pleased with all the food.
Onboard Activities
5 out of 5
We had spa balcony rooms and didn't spend much time doing onboard activities except the gym.
Entertainment
5 out of 5
My husband went to part of one show and said the entertainers were very talented. The band that played in the Atrium area was also very good! So glad that Carnival is using live entertainment throughout the ship now. We all prefer to have live band in the theater
Service and Staff
5 out of 5
Adi our room steward did a very good job keeping our room clean and getting us everything we needed. He was very nice and a very hard worker! Tutut, Pratama and Iryna were our servers. Of our past 16 cruises, they were the best. They were so nice and had great personalities! We always got served very quickly, unlike our past few cruises. Tutut was also very helpful with getting our daughter's wheelchair out. She slipped on ice the day before we flew to California and broke her ankle in 2 places. Many staff members were helpful with her!
Ship Quality
5 out of 5
We like the layout of the ship. We were used to it from previous cruises!
Cabin / Stateroom
5 out of 5
The beds were the most comfortable of any cruise. They felt like new mattresses! The sofa bed is not very comfortable. Aldi did a great job keeping our room clean! It was a little crowded with a wheelchair and a walker. The room was not large enough to move around in a wheelchair, so our daughter had to use a walker to get to the bathroom. Carnival found out about her breaking her ankle 2 days before the cruise. Our sweet Carnival PVP made sure there was a shower chair for her.
Ship tip
Go to lunch a few minutes before 12:00 to avoid long lines on the Lido. Deli opens at 11:00 and pizza 24 hours.
I stayed with our daughter on the ship since this is tender port. The other 5 in our family loved Cabo. They took a water taxi to a beach. I got great pictures from our balcony.
Again, I stayed on the ship with our daughter because of her foot being swollen. The others walked the blue line and walked to a beach. They really enjoyed it. They said it was beautiful.
They drew our daughter in wheelchair name during excursion presentation in theater. She won 2 tickets for excursion in Puerto Vallarta. I can't remember the name of the excursion but something to do with history. It was a 7 and a half hour Carnival excursion but was not for people with mobility problems, so she gave the tickets to her brother and sister. She was happy to give it to them. She just wanted them to buy her a t-shirt in port.
We really liked the splendor also. We also usually just go out of the east coast, but the Long Beach terminal was the best. Ours was a journeys cruise so no FTTF available. But it didn’t matter we were on the ship is less than 30 mins. Also Lee is the best cruise director of any cruise I have been on, and I have been cruising since I was a kid.
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