The Splendor Hawaiian cruise was awesome. It was great to get away and cruises are the best way to do that. We were able to cruise and visit Hawaii at the same time.
Our stateroom team of Wayan and Pan Pan were amazing! Our dining room wait staff was very friendly, but seemed more concerned with cleaning and closing than anticipating our dining needs. I guess this is because we were assigned late dining. We will have to book earlier next time in order to secure early dining. We also missed out on the 9:00 comedy shows because we were still in the dining room at 9:00. Luckily, some of the comedy shows were offered at 10 instead of 9. The shows should be at 10:00 every night, so everyone can get to see each of the adult comedy acts each night.
Embarkation
5 out of 5
Embarkation was simple. The Long Beach Terminal has made the process better than ever.
Ship experiences
Food and Dining
4 out of 5
The main dining rooms were as good as other cruises. With 14 days, it seems the menu could have had more options. I had several repeat meals.
The specialty restaurants could have had more variety, as well. It seems they were overwhelmed at breakfast and possibly understaffed through busy times. For the most part, the deli, grill, Tandor and Pizza Pirate offered good food and variety from the buffet.
Our House Sports Bar
2 out of 5
For about 4/5 of our cruise, the Our House Sports Bar's televisions were offline. I wanted to keep up with my teams, but couldn't watch a working TV. Also, the sports bar is right next to the casino, so it was far too smoky in there. They should keep the door closed that connects to the casino.
Onboard Activities
5 out of 5
Surprisingly the pools were not too crowded. With 3,000 passengers, I expected everyone to hog the pools. Bingo was always fun and the trivia was pretty cool. I loved the Military Appreciation event.
Entertainment
5 out of 5
Entertainment was great. We hit the shows we wanted to and they were as expected. The comedy was very good, as well. We went almost every night. My only complaint was the timing. We had late dining, so we could only go to shows at 10 and 11. The nights when shows were at 9 instead of 10 was a major bummer!
Carnival Seaside Theater
4 out of 5
The Carnival Seaside Theater was really nice. My only complaint was that sitting on a lounge chair for 2 hours was a bit painful on the butt.
Children's Programs
We did not travel with children.
Service and Staff
5 out of 5
Our stateroom team of Wayan and Pan Pan were amazing. They worked with our schedule and were super friendly.
Our dining room wait staff was a friendly team, but, with late dining, were more concerned with cleaning and closing than providing excellent service. This was the first cruise we refilled our water numerous times each night. Instead of them anticipating our needs, we did it ourselves or had to ask several times. Not the service we are used to from Carnival.
Staff throughout the ship was very friendly and helpful, as usual.
Ship Quality
5 out of 5
Most Carnival ships have similar layouts, so it was easy to get a hang of moving about the ship. There was always someone there to keep things clean.
Cabin / Stateroom
5 out of 5
The cabin was just the right size. It was cleaned regularly and larger than others we were able to view.
Ship tip
My tip would be to make sure you order everything you need for sea day brunch up front. Waiting to order juice, milk, or butter after you receive your food will take you forever and you may choke on your food or eat a cold meal.
We didn't do enough investigation on transportation options prior to visiting Maui. The cruise lecture said there was a shuttle to the other side of the island, but there wasn't. We got stuck walking to a drug store after our excursion.
We had nothing planned for Hilo but we were able to find an affordable tour when we got to the terminal. We saw a Japanese garden, waterfall, black sand beach and a chocolate factory.
Someone asked about this cruise in another post so wanted to share this here too. We did this cruise in December 2018 we did a bunch of research before we left. If you are looking for shopping near the ports you will be sadly disappointed. It is an American port and they don’t let the hawkers near there due to security. When you go to Maui there is a shopping area near the port you just have to walk a little bit down a walkway that is clearly marked. Honolulu there is nothing close for walking distance you will need a cab or uber. Kona is a tender port and they have shopping right in the port area. Kona Brewing Company is within walking distance and is fabulous. Hilo you will either need to take a uber, taxi, or the hop on hop off bus. Eat at moes fish and chips in Hilo best fish and chips I have ever had. Only catch of the day.
We done this cruise in Jan 2019 we also had late dining making it hard to catch early shows ...... We loved our C.D. Lee Mason can't wait to sail with him again
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