Carnival Splendor Review
Rating by category
Additional details
Pre- Cruise: I was traveling with my DBF and DS (age 8). This was my DBF first cruise and my son and I's fourth cruise. Our previous cruises were on Celebrity Zenith, Golden Princess, and Carnival Miracle. We originally booked this cruise over a year ago and were expecting Mexico. However, when the Swine Flu came about and changed the itinerary, we decided since we never did this itinerary, we would go anyway. We drove from Peoria, AZ the day before the cruise. It was the first time that I had ever driven to California. For the most part the drive was uneventful; we did not hit any traffic until we hit LA. Unfortunately, we hit a road closure and since our GPS did not have it in its memory we were a little turned around. It added almost an hour to drive. The ride back was much nicer.
We had booked the Crowne Plaza from Priceline for $65 a night. We added parking for $10 a day when we got to the hotel. It included free shuttle service to and from the pier. When we checked in we asked when they shuttled to the pier. They told us that we were to meet at 10:30 am in the lobby and that the shuttle would run every 30 minutes after that. Although, we stated we were sailing out of Long Beach, it turned out the last shuttle to Long Beach leaves at 12:00. We had gotten the name of the lady (Tara) the day before so even though we were running late, they did give us the free shuttle to the pier. We had an ocean view room at the Crowne Plaza. We were able to see the Mariner of the Seas sail into port. The room was nice, unfortunately we got a smoking room, if we were staying more than a night I would have changed rooms. It was my mistake not requesting. We walked around the area of the hotel and found this great Greek Restaurant - Papadakis Tavern. It is a family run restaurant. When we got there it was empty but quickly filled up. The food was excellent. The owners were present and made it a very enjoyable experience.
Embarkation: We left the hotel around 12:30 and were onboard and in our room by 1:45. I would have to say that contrary to previous reviews our embarkation was painless and very organized. We did get a phone call from Carnival on Friday stating not to get to the pier until 2:00. However, since check out was at 12:00, we did not want to wander around until 2:00 with all our luggage. Muster drill was painless. It was relatively quick. I know it is something that we don't like doing but to me it is a sign that the vacation can begin.
Cabin Review
Balcony
Room and service: We had a category 8C room 7334. I found it very conveniently located, it was by the elevator but we never heard any noise. We did not use the balcony as often as we used to due to the coolness of the weather. However, it was nice to have the extra space. We had plenty of storage for all our stuff. We had run out of hangers but our room steward gladly gave us additional ones. If I would leave a request on a post-if then it was completed. However, there were three days that are room was not made up in the day. Now prior to the cruise, my DBF worked a lot of OT and slept until 9:30 so I am not sure if after a certain time, they don't make up the rooms. However, it is the first cruise that I was on that the room was not made up. Normally, it seems that they had radar and knew when we left the room and when we returned from breakfast it was made up. This was also the first time that we did not receive a comment card the last day.