Splendour of the Seas Entertainment
Splendour 's 42nd Street Theater with 802-seats is one of the most functional and intelligently designed we've experienced. Sightlines from either the main floor or balcony are excellent. Seating is on fixed banquettes, which guarantees adequate space to enter and exit rows, and space is maximized by eliminating tables in favor of drink holders on armrests.
On a one-week cruise expect one show featuring a name entertainer, two production shows, three evenings of variety acts, and a farewell show. The casino has slots, dice and all the requisite card tables. We found the casino staff unusually friendly and helpful. I've never had so much fun losing money. The intra-ship television channel features numerous channels of professionally produced promotional videos and a rather scrawny selection of movies.
Splendour of the Seas Public Rooms
Splendour lives up to her name with gorgeous colors, rich woods, and shiny marble gracing her public rooms in muted soft tones. Not to mention the floor to ceiling glass panels that highlight the Centrum with spectacular views of the sea on sunny days.
The most recognizable public room on Splendour of the Seas is the signature Viking Crown Lounge, which sits atop the ship and is popular with the late night crowd and a great place to watch the ship come in to port.
At the foot of the seven-deck Centrum, is the surprisingly warm and inviting Champagne Bar. I am not usually fond of atrium bars, finding them too open and overly trafficked. Here, though, the largeness of the lounge is carved up by the insertion of curving partitions, the separation accentuated by ample placement of plants. Boutiques of Centrum, the onboard shopping center offers an array of merchandise ranging from perfume and jewelry to liquor and cruise wear.
The art-deco Top Hat Lounge, located at the stern, is the ship's secondary performance venue offering up live music and dancing most nights of the cruise. Another favorite public space is RCI's "Royal Caribbean Online" Internet lounge, which offers real-time access to the Web 24/7 for fifty cents a minute. It's easy to email; computers are outfitted with software from the best known ISPs, from AOL to Hotmail to Yahoo, among others. The room is beautifully designed with three "stations" of four terminals a piece and bordered by floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking the ocean and the top-most part of the Centrum (which means you can hear the pianist playing below).
There are no self-serve laundry rooms.
Splendour of the Seas Spa & Fitness
The main open central outdoor area has a large pool surrounded by four hot tubs. Toward the stern is the Solarium with the secondary pool and another two hot tubs. This area is covered by a retractable glass dome. There is an additional small sunning area in the bow. Splendour has a perfectly adequate gym for a ship this size, with eight treadmills and exercise bikes, step machines, etc. A second room offers aerobics and free weights. Steiner's of London has the usual spa installation aboard. Besides fitness pursuits, the cruise staff conducts a large number of games, competitions and other activities both on sea days and in port. As on other RCI ships, this cruise staff seemed to truly enjoy the activities they supervised and participated in. Splendour of the Greens, an 18-hole miniature golf course has the look and feel of a real course with all the benefits of being on a ship, including a retractable roof for rainy days and lights for after-dinner games.
