And I Spent How Much to Do This?

Splendour of the Seas Cruise Review to South America

Cruises: 2-3 cruises
Review: 1
Helpful Votes: 20

Overall rating:

2.5 out of 5
Verified Review
Splendour of the Seas

8 Night South America Carnaval (Santos Roundtrip)

Sail date: February 02, 2008

Ship: Splendour of the Seas

Cabin type: Oceanview

Traveled as: Couple

Reviewed: 14 years ago

Review summary

When my husband suggested the trip, I was a bit hesitant. But it was time to plan a vacation, and we do like to travel abroad, so I agreed. The fact that the ship's itinerary put it in Rio for two days during Carnaval was the definite draw. In anticipation, we booked our shore excursions ahead of time, so as not to be disappointed by not being able to maximize our experience ashore. Unfortunately, we found the ship's Carnaval tour package price to be excessive for the description of the activities. Even worse, was the fact that no options or suggestions were offered in lieu of the big money tour, As well, it was never mentioned that if you did not purchase a ticket to view Carnaval in the Sambadromo, you essentially were not going to see it at all.

Ports of call

Salvador De Bahia, Brazil

1 out of 5
Salvador is, without question, the worst-smelling city of any size that I have ever encountered. It was filthy, and the incidence of petty crime was far too frequent for my comfort. And yes, I have travelled quite extensively.

Buzios, Brazil

3 out of 5
Because of the badly timed, badly planned excursion, we didn't actually get to see ANY of Buzios, either. Thank you, Royal Caribbean!
Don't Miss: Gosh, I would really like to have had the opportunity to have a suggestion for this one.

Rio De Janeiro, Brazil

3 out of 5
Corcovado was fine. Pao de Azucar was fine. The beaches were fine. Too bad what I was really there for was to experience Carnaval, or at least one of the lesser local celebrations - not fine.
Don't Miss: Corcovado

Ilheus, Brazil

3 out of 5
Because of the late docking of the ship, and the inaccurate timing of our excursion, we didn't get to see any of Ilheus.

Salvador De Bahia, Brazil

1 out of 5
Salvador is, without question, the worst-smelling city of any size that I have ever encountered. It was filthy, and the incidence of petty crime was far too frequent for my comfort. And yes, I have travelled quite extensively.

Rio De Janeiro, Brazil

3 out of 5
Corcovado was fine. Pao de Azucar was fine. The beaches were fine. Too bad what I was really there for was to experience Carnaval, or at least one of the lesser local celebrations - not fine.
Don't Miss: Corcovado

Ilheus, Brazil

3 out of 5
Because of the late docking of the ship, and the inaccurate timing of our excursion, we didn't get to see any of Ilheus.

Buzios, Brazil

3 out of 5
Because of the badly timed, badly planned excursion, we didn't actually get to see ANY of Buzios, either. Thank you, Royal Caribbean!
Don't Miss: Gosh, I would really like to have had the opportunity to have a suggestion for this one.

Pros: The frienliness of the staff in all areas of the ship.

Cons: The cruise line's lack of communicating with/informing passengers/no port assistance

Recommends Splendour of the Seas? No.

Was this review helpful? 20

1 Comment

GingyB    6 years ago

😎