Carnival has gone downhill. Final boarding at 3:00 pm, arrived at 2:20, no porters to carry bags

Item: Carnival Splendor
Rating: 3.1
Author: jacqui99

Carnival Splendor Cruise Review to Mexico

jacqui99

Contributor Level: Purser

Cruises: 7+ cruises

Reviews: 2

Helpful Votes: 70

Overall rating:

3.1 out of 5

Verified Review

7 Night Mexican Riviera (Los Angeles Roundtrip)

Sail date: September 28, 2019

Ship: Carnival Splendor

Cabin type: Oceanview

Cabin number: 1291

Traveled as: Singles/Friends

Reviewed: 5 years ago

Review summary

We did not know it, but this ship was going to dry dock so they were not well stocked. They ran out of so many things we needed. In addition, they did not have porters available at 2:20 to take our bags aboard and it was a long, long walk with bags for four older women. I don't know if I'll cruise with Carnival again.

Embarkation

1 out of 5

Final boarding was at 3:00 pm, arrived at 2:30 pm and had to carry our bags on board!

Ship experiences

Food and Dining

2 out of 5

Buffett food was cold most of the time. Dining room food was good.

Onboard Activities

4 out of 5

Cruise director was awesome.

Entertainment

4 out of 5

shows were good. Deck parties way too loud!

Children's Programs

Service and Staff

3 out of 5

Waiters in casino were horrible! Room steward and dining room waiters were good.

Ship Quality

3 out of 5

Tables not bussed, they were painting ship while we were on it and the smell almost made us sick.

Cabin / Stateroom

2 out of 5

Clean, but one of two big draws under couch was broken and the other was blocked by table and chair. Had to move them and they were always in our way. Pillows were big and hard and very uncomfortable. Couldn't use them, had to bunch up towels.

Ports of call

Cabo San Lucas, Mexico

4 out of 5

A lot of choices, but excursions have become way too expensive!!!

Thumbs Up 2

Mazatlan, Mexico

2 out of 5

Not very many choices of excursions. We just shopped.

Thumbs Up 2

Puerto Vallarta, Mexico

5 out of 5

We did the Sea Lion excursion. It was great! The park had a lot to do except we had to pay for our own transportation and it was over $60.

Thumbs Up 3

Disembarkation

3 out of 5

They made us leave our rooms at 8:00 am and we waited over two hours to disembark

6 Comments

GerryBCruisin 3 years ago

Thank you for taking the time to share your review of the Carnival Splendor.

Thumbs Up 0

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cruiseplayer 5 years ago

Well if you read your contract , you have to be on board 60 minutes before sailing . You are lucky they let you on at all !

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robbie1947 5 years ago

I am 72 years old. my last cruise I was in the middle of chemotherapy for cancer. I had no problem packing my Two Bags myself my largest piece of luggage I did send with a porter. We arrive early so we can have lunch and by that time the Cabins are open. To disembark ..We leave our room at 8 AM and go have breakfast. By the time we’re finished with breakfast we walk right off of the ship with no wait at all

Thumbs Up 1

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willwork4cruz 5 years ago

What things did they run out of? It's a good thing they were painting while you were on board or else someone would have complained that things needed painting.

Thumbs Up 4

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TheDust 5 years ago

Who shows up thirty minutes before the last call to sail time. Sounds more like poor planning on your part. But just like the other poster said. You have to make sure you do your due diligence, do your research.

Thumbs Up 2

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CruzeFan 5 years ago

Sorry you didn’t have a good experience. It’s always a good idea to research the status of a ship when booking. The last few sailings before and the first few sailings after a dry dock are usually not recommended due to some of the issues you experienced. It’s also a good idea to arrive at least 2 hours prior to final boarding to ensure all services are available. All cruise lines are cutting costs and it appears they made a business decision not to not use porters for the last hour when only a few passengers arrive.

Thumbs Up 1

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