Great Cruise to Alaska

Item: Carnival Splendor
Rating: 4.3
Author: CruzeFan

Carnival Splendor Cruise Review

CruzeFan

Contributor Level: Captain

129 Days Till Next Cruise

Cruises: 7+ cruises

Reviews: 10

Helpful Votes: 169

Overall rating:

4.3 out of 5

8 Night Alaska (Seattle Roundtrip)

Sail date: May 02, 2022

Ship: Carnival Splendor

Cabin type: Inside

Cabin number: 1076

Traveled as: Singles/Friends

Reviewed: 2 years ago

Review summary

This was my 3rd cruise to Alaska and first from Seattle. I prefer a one-way itinerary between Vancouver and Alaska since the first and last days from Seattle have little scenery and the potential for rougher seas. There were a few small issues, but Alaska never fails to impress. The app did not give me a chance to review the ports, but I had great excursions. Seattle - Snoqualmie Falls & City Tour with Show Me Seattle. Tracy Arm Fjord - Small Boat Tour through Carnival. Skagway - Yukon Bus Tour with Chilkoot Charters. Juneau - Whale Watching & Mendenhall Glacier combo tour with Juneau Tours. Icy Strait Point - Whale watching with Hoonah Adventures. Ketchikan - Self-guided walking tour using map from the Visitors Center. Victoria - Did not get off the ship since it arrived after 8:00 PM.

Embarkation

3 out of 5

There were several late updates regarding Covid testing and ArriveCAN requirements prior to the cruise. Many did not have ArriveCAN completed and they finally let them board and told them to complete it onboard. The website had issues while I was competing the health questionnaire online and I had to answer the questions again for 4 different levels of personnel at the pier, but eventually made it onboard.

Ship experiences

Food and Dining

4 out of 5

I did not eat in the main dining room since I went solo. The buffet, deli, pizzeria and Guy’s Burgers were all good.

Deli

4 out of 5

I are here several times and the food was always good. The service was a little slow at prime times with only one person working much of the time.

Grand Buffet

4 out of 5

Being by myself, I ate most of my meals at the buffet. always found a good selection and reasonable quality at the buffet. It’s not 5 star cuisine, but nothing was bad either.

Pizzeria

5 out of 5

I had pizza twice and it was very good both times.

Mongolian Wok

5 out of 5

Excellent, but always a long line.

Onboard Activities

4 out of 5

I did not participate in many of the scheduled activities, but there was always something to do for those that were interested.

Entertainment

3 out of 5

I went to several of the comedy shows and two of the shows in the main theater. All seemed to be a little below the level I have experienced on Carnival in the past.

Service and Staff

5 out of 5

I had good service from the room steward and restaurant personnel. There was an issue one evening with my key card not working to open my cabin door. Maintenance came within 10 minutes and replaced the lock and I had no issues after that.

Ship Quality

4 out of 5

The ship is older, but still in good shape. If you are looking for issues, you can probably find some rust or worn carpets, but it’s nothing that affected my enjoyment.

Cabin / Stateroom

5 out of 5

The cabin was the perfect size for a solo cruise and a great location with quick access to outside decks for viewing scenery / wildlife and the lido buffet just one floor down.

Ship tip

A mid-ship cabin on a lower deck may be better for those who have issues with motion sickness.

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Disembarkation

4 out of 5

Much faster than embarkation. The only issue was I had signed up with Port Valet to have my luggage sent straight to the airport, but Carnival chose not to participate in the program, so I had to alter my plans while waiting for a late afternoon flight.

5 Comments

willwork4cruz 2 years ago

Excellent review. Thank you for sharing. I'm sure people would love for you to oun their table in the MDR. We have enjoyed meeting solo travelers at dinner.

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Gwbigdog 2 years ago

Thanks for sharing your cruise with us.

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JustCruz 2 years ago

Thanks for your review, so looking forward to the Alaskan adventure.

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javawoody 2 years ago

Appreciate the review

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Shh813 2 years ago

We were on our Alaskan cruise in 2015 on Celebrity Solstice. We also left from Seattle and returned to Seattle. We loved it. We were in Seattle for 4 nights and 3 days before our cruise so we got to see a lot of Seattle. Loved it. Loved being in Alaska, our itinerary was wonderful. One of our highlights was the time we had in Victoria. We arrived around 6 pm I think and took a tour the Solstice offered to Butchart Gardens. It was fantastic.

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Other reviews of this sailing

Overall I really enjoyed the cruise. I was a solo traveler and met some really awesome new friends. Loved all the ports there was so much to do. Wish I could spend more time in each city. Definitely check out the lifts in hoonah and get some crab legs!

Alaska Cruise on the Splendor