Carnival Splendor Cruise Reviews - Reviews

Excellent experience ! Great food, nice people and Awesome salsa band ! ! ! Excellent experience ! Great food, nice people and Awesome salsa band ! ! ! Excellent experience ! Great food, nice people and Awesome salsa band ! ! !

Being our 6th time traveling on Carnival, we knew what to expect.  We unfortunately, were extremely let down by our expectations.  Ship was extremely dirty to me and service at dinner was less than you would expect.   They constantly messed up our orders and kept on coming back to table telling us 1 more minute-  25 minutes later, we got food and again it was wrong.  The buffet was terrible.  We weren't offered the usual spread - and surprise, they no longer serve lunch in the dining room - as they call it brunch.  Kids were allowed within the casino and sitting to sit at the bars - when I say kids, I am talking around 6-12 years old.   I don't know how the parents allowed their children to be around the smoking and the gambling, but Carnival should not have allowed it.  Never saw the cruise director until the last day of the cruise getting off of the ship.   Overall, would not cruise Carnival again as they are definately lacking what they used to offer.

Ship staff reused dirty glasses in the spa area and I got so sick with a virus

i have been sick for almost two weeks 

I know there was a man also in the spa area with aids I'm hoping I didn't catch that from the carelessness of the carnival staff member

My family and I had a nice time on the Splendor.  We live in PA so the NY port was very convenient and saved us on airfair (otherwise we'd have to fly to FL).  The service was great and the food was good.  It would have been better if my 2 year old took advantage of Camp Carnival but she didn't want to stay by herself. My husband enjoyed the gym and sauna as well.

WAS VERY CONVIENT TO START FROM NEW YORK .SHIP WAS EXCELLENT ,CLEAN AND FOOD IN DINING AREA WAS EXCELLENT.ENTERTAINTMENT SHOWS WERE NICE TOO.WE TOOK THE SAME SHIPOUT OF LA TO CRUISE IN MEXICO BACK IN 2009 . THE FURNISHING IS SHOWS WEAR AND TEAR.MAY BE DUE FOR REFURBISING. 

My cruise was very nice as I expected.  I was very disappointed to find out that Carnival will not be in New York in 2015.  Since I live in New York  and go on two cruises every year I unfortunately will have to go with a different cruse company that leaves from New York all year long.  The shows on carnival were outstanding. The food in the main dining room was excellent  but the food in the buffet was poor with very limited choices. It was even difficult to get bread at lunch in the buffet. The refrigerator in the room was not working for the entire cruise. I mentioned it to the cabin steward and still nothing was done about it. 

a large boat the retractable roof is a plus since it snowed on the first nught of the trip. staff was great food was great. ports nothing special but a nice trip

We had a great trip... cleaning and wait stafff was excellent. We had a few bumps with water pressure  and roomservice food was not as great as last time. But over all super time.

I maintained the Roll Call list for the Cruise Critic forum and noticed that MANY of my fellow cruisers were travelling solo, since Carnival had chosen to forgo the single supplement fee. I had been planning to travel solo, until the Sunday before the Tuesday cruise, when my dancing companion decided that she wanted to come!

This cruise was my first experience with FTTF (Faster to the Fun) option. From the moment I entered the doors at Pier 90 until I set foot inside my balcony cabin, only 28 minutes had elapsed! I was very impressed...and pleased! And one of the checked suitcases actually followed us to our cabin! Something wasn't tagged right on my larger checked bag, so I didn't receive it until after the Muster drill. That was mildly annoying, but I was just happy to be on-board, enjoying the lunch buffet and meeting some of the Cruise Critic friends who had been actively posting. I had organized a sail-away gathering and was host for ALL the Karaoke events onboard. The sailaway was attended by a dozen or so fellow CC members and it was a great start to the cruise. The New York weather was overcast, but a bearable 45 degrees. The temps dropped that night as we sailed into a winter blizzard which covered the aft deck with snow. Someone had built a crude three-ball snowman, which was fun to see!

Karaoke the first night was the best attended I have ever seen in my eight cruises, and it was a sign of the enthusiasm and participation of karaoke singers and attendees throughout the 8 days! I auditioned for the part of Frank Sinatra in the Carnival Legends show, and was excited to have won! All the other singers were great for the parts they ended up with as well! Auditions were held during the karaoke events, which were nightly, and sometimes in the afternoons on Sea Days. So attendees got to see their fellow passengers win the parts, and then perform in the show! It is one of the things I like most about Carnival...how it involves the passengers in it's entertainment, making memories for both those who participate, and those who watch (knowing that some the performers are not paid professionals, just average folks). One reason for holding back one rating-star is that Carnival is still on the old karaoke disk system, and has a very limited collection of songs. I've heard rumors of upgrading and going digital, and it is the best move that Carnival could make for it's karaoke passengers.

As I am an active cruiser, it is important to me that Carnival doesn't "roll up the sidewalks" at 11pm, and there are plenty of choices for late-night entertainment (after karaoke, of course!). Dancing, bars, movie, live-music events, casino, 24-hour pizza and ice cream.

The first MDR dinner offered a flat-iron steak, which was as tender and succulent as any which could be prepared in the specialty dining room. Personally, I do not feel the extra expense is worth it, but that's just me. I found the menus were nicely varied nightly, and our table wait-staff were attentive, accomodating, friendly, and entertaining at "Show Time". They greeted us by name by the third day, which was a nice touch. We chose early dining and sat with eight Cruise Critic friends. We had arranged the seating party ahead of time.

My room steward, Juan, met all my expectations for great service and I tipped him often for all the extras I requested, like removing all the "bar" ingredients from the fridge so I could use it for waters and juices and milk. He earned extra by keeping my ice buckets full, to chill the wine, and for the mixed drinks that I would make. Again, he greeted us by name, everytime we met in the hallway.

Breakfast and lunch buffets got a bit boring by the fourth day, when we chose to do the MDR brunch. THAT was a pleasant surprise and we enjoyed that a couple of times. We discovered that we could get fresh eggs "over easy" from the chefs behind the grill, instead of the omelets, which were cooked with a bit too much oil for my liking.

Formal night, on the first Sea Day was a big deal for us, as we both like to dress formally. We chose certain backgrounds for pictures, and were pleasantly surprised to find one of our poses on the "Free picture" board the next day! That made buying the other one's we liked, seem like a bargain!

By the time we reached Florida, the sun was shining brightly and felt SO warm and wonderful! We chose the Kennedy Space Center, as neither of us had toured it before. We were both impressed with the well-done exhibits and made it through as much as we could, skipping through some things to take in others. We'd need another day to see everything. I'd highly recommend it.

In Nassau, I went on a solo snorkel and cattamaran excursion. Found another solo member of Cruise Critic onboard as well. The rum punch was awesome, but needed a $1 tip to add a little more rum to the punch! Worth it! Another reduction in rating point (this was a Carnival excursion) is because the sea trip to the snorkeling site took longer than the actual time we had to snorkel...and only at ONE site. More snorkeling time, less travel is best. The sun co-operated, however, and we had perfect conditions, not too hot.

The great weather continued in Freeport, and we enjoyed the day at the Taino Beach resort. Spend the first part of the day on the ocean beach and in the water a bit, before curling up for a nap. After a great lunch, I grabbed a tube and floated around the lazy river three times, with drink in hand! Perfect day! Oh and the drinks were awesome!

Some of the formal pictures on the second elegant night were even better than the first, and we bought some to treasure. I missed the famous "watch sale" for the first time in 8 cruises, due to rehearsals for the Legends show. I'm tough on watches, so 2 for $40 is a bargain for me. The rehearsal went smooth, and I knew it was going to be a great show! I didn't like Frank's "costume" and opted to wear my own tux and had, borrowing only the untied bow-tie for the show.

My biggest point deduction was given for the really poor video and audio quality of the Legend show DVD which was given free to all the performers. It was awful, and I'm glad I didn't pay for it. It was much better watching backstage on the monitor and hearing the sound live. The DVD could have been great, but was just slapped sloppily together. With so many professional photographers onboard, it would be easy to produce a better quality video.

The most exciting moment of the cruise was when my dancing partner won the pre-show Bingo game for $1,000! It was a great last night onboard. We drank a toast to a great night, then danced until we were too tired to continue.

Debarking from the ship was even smoother than embarkation was, since we carried all of our luggage with us.

Overall, my cruise experience was greatly enhanced by meeting new friends through Cruise Critic, the attentive room steward, Juan, and MDR wait-staff, the karaoke host, Antoinette, and the enthusiastic crowd that showed up on karaoke nights, then greeted us warmly at the cast-gathering after the Legends show. It's friendly people that share and care, who make great memories!

Can't wait for my next cruise!

Rick

We had a wonderful cruise and the food was amazing. The weather could have been better but we just enjoyed being on the ocean. The boat is beautiful and we had the most wonderful servers in the dining room ever.Our servers were Imade, Marius, and Ikadex. If you get them you will have a great dining experience.  The shows were awesome.

The weather conditions weren't good. The ocean was choppy. Minimal sunshine until we reached Florida and Bahamas. Then return trip was overcast with rain. 

I love cruising on carnival so much so ive introduced cruising to my entire family,  we cruise once a year as a family the thirteen of us and I slip away once a year just because

I was always afraid of going on a cruise but I over came that I decided to go on this cruise with my family. It was more than what I imagined. Carnival Splendor is a lovely ship and the crew members are also lovely. My husband and I  had the balcony stateroom and our girls and their grandma had an inner stateroom. Both staterooms were clean and comfortable. We didn't even miss our beds at home, we slept like babies on this ship. Beside being comfortable in our rooms, we enjoy the breakfast and lunch buffets. There were all different types of food and desert. Dinner was like going to a five star restaurant every night.  My girls enjoyed going to camp carnival and my husband was preoccupied in the casino. I enjoy the comedy shows and the other live shows at the spectular theater. There was always something to do and no one was ever bored. We really enjoyed cruising with Carnival Splendor and now I can't wait to go on our next cruise.

First of all this was my first experience with Carnival on a cruise. From the minute I stepped on the ship I was treated like royalty, like a king. The staff was awesome, they always had a smile on their faces and were ready and willing to help me enjoy my vacation. We had a great captain, he kept us informed of everything. The food was excellent, I never ate so much in my life. There is a choice of menues which I found great. The rooms were great, clean roomy and checked every day by the cleaning crew. There was never a dull moment on the ship, there is always something to do, shopping, gamble, dancing, bingo, movies and much more. I will travel again with Carnival if I have the funds, I truly enjoyed it. It was hard to get off the ship at the end, time flies when you have fun.  Thank you Carnival, you made my vacation something great to remember.

Yours truly,

Peter Garcia

Booked this cruise spur of the moment in late December without knowing a thing about the ship; we had sailed on Carnival about 6 times prior so I knew what to expect.  As the sailing date drew closer I checked out some online reviews and I was SHOCKED to see so many negative ones!!  I was really starting to worry because I was so looking forward to this trip.....turns out you definitely CANNOT believe everything (in this case, ANYTHING) you read online.  Everything was wonderful!!  The ship is beautiful and well maintained, the crew is constantly cleaning and polishing everything in sight!  Our room was a nice size considering we had an inside cabin (due to the last minute booking) and our 10 year old daughter loved the retractable roof over the main pool; this meant she was able to swim as soon as we set sail!!  She also had a great time in Camp Carnival, made lots of new friends and attended every single "night owl" party (which BTW, is worth EVERY penny of the nominal fee!).

The food was really good at the buffet with a nice selection at lunchtime (which was open until 2:30-3pm every day!).  The Tandoor and deli by the adults only pool were incredible and I highly recommend checking both out for lunch.  The waitstaff in the dining room went above and beyond to provide exceptional service and the Pinnacle Restaurant (we ate there on my birthday) was outstanding.  Overall, the portion sizes were nice and big and the selection was also sizeable.  You will NOT go hungry on this ship!

I am really into fitness and signed up for the 4 session Boot Camp for $130; worth EVERY PENNY!  Cosmin (trainer) was awesome and put me through the wringer; I didn't feel as guilty eating all the bread and dessets after I took his class :o).

We are very experienced cruisers and have sailed on most of the bigger lines as well as some more exclusive ones and I have to say, for the price and the convienece of leaving from NY (we live in CT) Carnival does NOT disappoint.

This is me and my wife with our waiter Leslie. He made our trip an excellent one. We had the pleasure of meeting him on our first night and requested and was seated in his area every night afterward. He was one of the people we tipped extra to because of their service. The positives of the cruise were the many eating options, the almost around the clock activities (many times they played rock concerts on the Lido Deck large screen.) These concerts included U2, Journey, Bon Jovi. The adults only deck area on the rear of the ship (and yes when someone thought that didn't pertain to their kids Security responded), The Deli food station was excellent, The best bars on the ship I found to be The Cool Lounge (smoking lounge) and The Lobby Bar. The Red Carpet Lounge and Punch Liner Comedy Club provided great entertainment. The casino staff were friendly and I actually won over $1000 playing a variety of table games. The Acupuncturist at the Cloud 9 Spa was named SHirlet Seto, after 3 resonable priced sessions I no longer had neck, back leg and head pain I had been experiencing for years. JK a bartender at the lobby bar was also very excellent. The Bugarian Dou of singers were excellent as well as the band that played nightly in the Casino. The sunrises and sunsets were unmatched and I took hundreds of pictures and videos of each to watch in the future. The many jewelry sales were nice but often times confusing and the many, many photo oportunities (backgrounds) were nice but can be costly. Serenity is an adults only area on the 11th deck at the front of the ship, but unfortunately is located below the mini golf course on the 12th deck. And of course kids were unsupervised and acting up so it was not very "serene". The negatives were the "Cheers" drink program, it truly wasn't worth the value because the drinks are weak, unless you got to the few bars I listed. The Lido Deck Pool Bar is the worst I have found. Many nights I found myself bloated and barely having a "buzz". The many passenger participation events also sucked as preference in participating in them was reserved for higher tier passengers and the young and good looking ones. I did have the pleasure of discovering a great comedian named Sandy Beach at the open mike night. Another negative was the couples massage package at the Cloud 9 Spa. It was expensive enough but by the time they talk you into extra services and products the price almost doubled and quite frankly the massage wasn't that good. When our time was done it seemed they were in a hurry to rush us out even though they were not that busy. The Piano Bar singer basically catered to whatever girl he was trying to do that night and seemed to only know 8 or 9 songs, playing them over and over again, this grew old quick. It was his last tour we were told, so hopefully the next one will be better. The martini bar can only make a certain few martinis and I found this to be disappointing. The fact that the Pool bar and restrooms are the only ones that seem to be open late at night sucked as they are located on Deck 9 and all the clubs and casino are located on Deck 5 and the lack of a late night bar on Deck 10 (the smoking deck) was also a negative. It seemed the ship raced back to the cold north Atlantic only to set off the coast of New York, a slower return so more warm weather could be enjoyed would've been nice. there were other negatives and positives but I feel I have rambled on enough and hit the major points.

THe food plates at the buffet are king size and your passengers are loading up the plates to the limit and consuming about half, the waste is disguisting. You could cut your food bills in half by introducing smaller plates like the other cruise ships have.

Wonderful staff on board.    Absolutely no complaints from boarding to getting back off in New York.  All staff members that we had were remarkable from our first encounter to the last day of the cruise.  They remembered our names as if the had known us all our lives.  Very impressed!!!  Best cruise I ever was on.

As always Carnival was a good host. First time leaving from NY was a bit different than our cruises out of Miami. Dining room staff over the years are getting a little less attentive to each table and their needs. We were somehow first to arrive but ended up last to leave(and we don't linger after the meal), just small things overlooked. My guess would be like everywhere staff gets cut and those still in place have more put on them. However I do still enjoy cruising with Carnival and will continue to do so.

She's a beauty, the Splendor, and I had a wonderful time and good weather albeit Winter.

I especially enjoyed the entertainment and friendliness of the staff.  My only complaint

is that they allow smoking in The Cool Club when the band is performing and that was

disturbing.  Also, I mailed my postcards aboard and they were not sent out timely.

But, all-in-all, it was a great 8 days of fun and relaxation - ready to travel again on Splendor

anytime soon.