My son talked me into booking a cruise on the Carnival Splendor this past February 14, 2010 to accompany some of his friends from another school for a Senior Trip. I had only cruised twice before, once on American Cruises on the East Coast (a miserable experience), and also on a Royal Caribbean Cruise in the Eastern Caribbean. I had seen a Carnival ship in a port in the Caribbean, and (I don't mean to sound like a snob, but...) the customers boarding the ship seemed like a bunch of drunk yahoos. I was not looking forward to the experience.
Boy was I wrong. The Carnival Splendor is a great ship. It is only 18 months old. It is the top rated in their fleet for friendliness, and it has received the most 100% ratings from the Federal Inspectors. The ship is immaculate. Our cabins, 1st deck, ocean view, were larger and nicer than our comparable cabins on Royal Caribbean. It was a very good value. My sons, 14 and 18 had plenty to do. Out of 3,500 passengers, about 1,000 were under 18......but we didn't feel over run by kids. The service was excellent and very friendly. The food was good on the Lido deck, and very good in the Black Pearl restaurant. My only complaint was that occasionally some of our side orders arrived cold.
Our ports of call were Puerto Vallarta (very nice, decent amount of time in port), Mazatlan (nothing too spectacular), and Cabo San Lucas (excellent destination, but only 7 hours in port).
We had 1441/1445 connecting rooms. They were sized well for a non-suite. Even though it was the lowest level, there was not that much engine noise. My only complaint was that the shower stall overflowed somewhat frequently.