The Ship: Although new, the Splendor has a lot to desire with the decor. You may have nightmares of the pink donuts shapes on the elevators, on the walls, just about everywhere you go. The place is very pink. Our room was on the Riviera Deck (floor 1) and we were very pleased with out accommodations. The room was quite big with a king size bed, three closets and a couch and chair. We had a window that was quite big, and we could sit on the sill and watch out our window. Seyberth kept our room incredibly clean and we were very pleased with how well he took care of us. We only went to the adult pool in the back of the ship which had a bar, a sandwich station, another food station which I never tried and two "hot tubs" which were not very hot. There were always plenty of lounge chairs. We knew there was a waterslide in the front of the ship, but there were a lot of children, and we didn't want that kind of experience.

We went to the late dinner in the white pearl. Primrose from south africa was our waiter and she was delightful. She catered to our every desire and allowed us to order whatever we wanted. Dinner was always good, and I ate several times from the spa menu and was quite pleased. Only gained 2 pounds on vacation, and for a cruise, that is pretty good. I would recommend eating in the dining rooms whenever possible. The buffet on the lido deck was not very good. The food was often cold. Take the time to go to the dining room. Breakfast depends on what you eat. The buffet was great for fruit and cereal, otherwise go to the dining room. For my avid sushi eaters, don't get too excited about the california roll. They are open two hours- and their idea of sushi is not that great. The first night there was tuna and some sort of salmon roll. They give you two pieces. You can ask for more, but they give you the evil eye. They are not open on days at sea. Two nights they had sushi that i couldn't even identify. The eel had none of the brown sauce that sushi lovers are use to - pretty gross. The 24 hours pizza is OK. Never tried the grill, but when it was open, it was usually busy.

SHOPPING: If you are going for something specific and you know how much it should cost in the states then go for it. Otherwise, don't waste your time on jewelry. Kathrine gave some talks and I wasted my time going to them. The prices were not great, considering I live close to NYC. St thomas was suppose to be great, and I was very disappointed. Wasted too much time shopping, or trying to shop. Kathrine said to get off the boat as soon as it docked. That was 8am, shops don't open until 9am. Also, skip the tanzanite talk if you want free earrings as they are the biggest pieces of crap, you would get better out of a 25cent gumball machine. No if you want cigarettes, st thomas is the place to go. Each person can bring 5 cartons of cigs back to the states, and you can find them downtown for 20-23 dollars a carton. Read more