I'm just off the Carnival Inspiration and thought I'd share! Our intinerary was supposed to be Long Beach - Catalina - Ensenada - Long Beach. What it turned out to be was Catalina - San Diego - Ensenada - San Diego - Long Beach. There were two medical emergencies, one on the way, one on the way back, so that's why the unscheduled stops. We got to Catalina on Tuesday morning after kind of a rough night at sea. People started disembarking and then they shut down the tenders due to high winds and rough water. I hadn't left yet so didn't get to see the island at all. We then traveled to Ensenada, arriving the next morning. I did the Taste of Mexico/Tequila Tasting excursion which was fun. Naturally we had the obligatory shopping stop. That night was the formal dining. There were a lot of seasick people on this ship. It was cold and windy the entire time. People were still in the pool though! I would not recommend this itinerary for people prone to seasickness or who mind the ship rocking and rolling. I'm not sure if it's the same during the summer, though. The food was okay. Obviously preparing food for this many people is not going to be gourmet, but there was always something tasty to eat even if you didn't really care for the dining room selections. Typical buffet food. I wish Carnival would have better coffee. It's really kind of terrible. The Guy's Burger was good. The service on board was top-notch. All the ship's personnel were friendly, and boy do they work hard. Special shout-out to our waiter Manuel - he was great. I was in cabin M216 (aft) and was very comfortable. My first time in an inside cabin and I didn't mind it at all. This ship is old but in very good shape. Everything was clean. I didn't notice any of the foul odors that others have posted about. I'll be taking Carnival in the future, but not this itinerary. It was a reasonably priced week getaway and the good far outweighed the bad. Want to try one of the new ships next time. Read Less

WE just returned from our Carnival Splendor cruise and really had a nice time! The ship is well worn and needs refurbishment, but after a day I didn't even notice! Our balcony room on the 8th deck was very nice and we loved having the outdoor space. It was our first balcony. The food was good, but not fabulous. The best meal I had was the filet mignon. The lobster was good but not wonderful. The ports were nicer than I thought they would be. We signed up for shopping tours with Fernando (which I would highly recommend) and he provided free transportation into all 3 towns and margaritas at Diamonds Intl. After the tour, we were free go to on our own. In Cabo we walked back on the boardwalk thru town back to the ship, stopping for drinks with chips and guac on the way. In Mazalatan, we got taken downtown, which was quite a ways, (free) and after a couple shops we were given a choice of going on a tour of the city for just $20 each--which is a deal! Or going across the street to a hotel where we could sit by the pool or beach for just a drink! We did that and it was better than paying for a beach excursion! In Puerta Vallarta, he took us to the Malecon and after a short trip visiting Diamonds Intl, and a free margarita we went out to explore and have lunch. Fernando was great so I would recommend going with him for free! The entertainment team was fabulous!!! We thoroughly enjoyed the shows, which were Rock type shows. The pianist, Patrick, who played requests from 9-1 was very good so we also enjoyed that. The casino was smokey so we didn't enjoy walking thru it! The service was very good as everyone works hard to please, both the room attendants as well as food service workers. We were just 2 older adults who traveled and we had a great time-better than we thought we would. I would do this cruise again, but I tend to like to see new places. I would definitely want a balcony room , if it was affordable! Nancy Read Less

I've sailed many different Carnival ships, both new and old. I was pretty shocked at the condition of the ship, which is less than 10 years old. Whatever happened to ongoing maintenance? Our cabin had lots of dents and scratches. A couple of the lamps sticking out of the wall were loose. Our fiberglass shower had a huge crack in it. There were hundreds of tiles missing at the main pool. On to the good: The itinerary was great. We didn't miss Mazatlan and really enjoyed our overnight in Puerto Vallarta. Food is always good on Carnival and this cruise did not disappoint. Service in the dining room was not good. Very inconsistent spacing with our courses. It seemed like the servers were far too preoccupied with getting our kids food out early. On at least 4 nights, we had to leave the dining room because the next seating was about to happen. We had to rush through dessert and coffee was ordered but forgotten on multiple occasions. We are accustomed to fantastic, efficient service on Carnival and were very disappointed. Entertainment was great. We really enjoyed the main shows as well as the comedians. The cruise director, Lee, was great. Very visible and personable. Read Less

We were looking for a family friendly 4 day cruise and we found it! First time on Carnival Crew was very very nice My cabin was clean all the time Orlando our cruise director was a delite! Loved the dining was pretty good always a vegetarian selection Our kids enjoyed the kid activities such town animals, arcade, kids club - (although this was disorganized and s small fight broke out with several 10 years old in the kids club) yikes! Guys burger bar and taco bar by the pool was great! The winner for us was Alchemy Bar which mixed delicious martinis! Don’t miss this bar! Photo ops were everywhere so that was also a plus! Perfect amount of time on the cruise- Tiny bit sea sick due to boat going so slow- The Stufio VIP show on the last night was hysterical! Go to the comedy shows too If you a party this is your cruise! Read Less

We appreciate Carnival Inspiration Crew for making our first family cruise a wonderful and memorable experience. Our steward Bernard was friendly and we appreciate his hardwork. We dined every night and it was a great experience for my two boys (8 years and 6 years-old) to try and enjoy a variety of foods. We thank the people who served us and we appreciate their hard work. We also enjoyed the dining entertainment- your crew can definitely dance! My boys also enjoyed the breakfast with Dr. Seuss and the family comedy shows. We will for sure cruise with Carnival again. Our excursion in Ensenada- La Bufadora was really great. Belen was our tour guide and was very knowledgeable and welcoming. I am glad that I booked our excursion through Carnival. Our day at Catalina Island was also fantastic. We enjoyed riding around with the golf cart. We appreciate that your price is fair and deliver and provide us a priceless experience!!! With gratitude, The Mendoza Family Read Less

We expected magnificent decor but ended up on a Pink ship. The adult Serenity area was quiet but shabby. Deck chairs were splattered with paint. Cushions were worn, threadbare. Windows were hard to see through. There were worn rusted areas on the decks. Food on Lido deck was usually lukewarm or cold. Golden Pearl restaurant Creme brûlée’s was like my own egg custard, not real creme brûlée. Food was nice, but not at the level we expected. Strange decor looked like fried eggs overhead. The restaurant was a frustration just to get to as you have to go either down or up several decks to get to the back of the ship and then go back down... took us a while to find dinner. Kids took over main pool area. Extremely noisy. Impossible to use that pool. We will cruise with another cruise line. (Previously cruised on the Pride. It was a very different experience.) Read Less

I've been meaning to cruise on the Splendor for some time, finally got around to it and was so looking forward to it. This was my birthday cruise so we booked a cloud 9 spa balcony cabin with hopes of spending time in the spa. Plus we were looking forward to visiting new ports. The best part of our cruise was hands down our cabin steward Sharlene. She was wonderful. The next highlight was the Steakhouse, by far the best meal we had onboard, and highly recommended. MDR and entertainment were just okay, I was a bit disappointed in both. The worst part of my cruise was the spa, after finally deciding to spend the extra money on the spa cabin, I was very disappointed when the rooms and pool we're having temperature issues. I'm sure I will try it again on another ship, but was very disappointed that I could not enjoy these amenities while on the ship. Myself and several other guest did speak to management regarding it and received a $40 OBC and the standard we are sorry. Over all my sister and I had fun entertaining ourselves and already booked our next adventure. I'm very happy I got a chance to sail on the beautiful, funky pink ship, before she arrives in her new home in Australia. Read Less

Food was just okay. Dining room staff was FANTASTIC. Too young and too loud Cruise Director. Wonderful Captain. We couldn't have been happier with the overall experience. A cruise is what you make it. We made it FUN! Embarkation was incredibly smooth. You just walk on and your keys are waiting at the room. Mongolian Wok is the best. Be there EARLY! Music was all over the ship. We even played some Bingo. Our server Meyhela was awesome for dinner. We had Rika's table for sea day brunch. So great. The unique thing about Splendor is that it rarely felt crowded. 1000 kids on-board but plenty of room. Speaking of rooms, our steward Carter took excellent care of both of our rooms. He always had a smile, was rarely seen but our room was always PERFECT. Piano bar with Patrick was some of the most fun. Signing all night was hilarious. Read Less

We took this cruise to celebrate a friend's birthday. The cost was right and it seemed like a good time was awaiting us on the ocean. Let me start with, THE GOOD: Good friends Funny times at Karaoke The Tequila part of the Ensenada tour THE BAD: The food was awful. Dinner was not served on time nor at a temperature, you would consider "warm". On one evening, a friend paid for the upcharged "surf and turf", watched all of us eat our "lukewarm" meal, and still hadn't eaten his (after an hour and 25 minutes). Not until we got up to walk around and look for the food service manager did his food arrive. The service was forgettable. How do you include a gratuity on a final bill when the service you received was terrible. Water started with ice then, you'd receive a warm second glass. I'd ask for a coca cola and by the time we were ready to leave the table, the drink would arrive. The excursion is dangerous, in a sense. You take 20 people out to drink beer and tequila, then you entrust them to walk back to the boat on their own?!?! I get it, it's a tasting, but the sensible thing to do would be to make sure "EVERYONE" is transported back to the boat at the same time, the same way we left the boat... TOGETHER... Our bed felt like to twin mattresses pushed together and didn't offer a great rest. Read Less

For our first cruise my wife and I were a little scared to do a long cruise. What if one of us gets sea sick easily, or can't stand being cramped in a cabin, or we get bored. So to play it safe we chose one of the shortest cruises we can find. Being in SoCal we are also lucky that Long Beach is a short drive away. In any case we chose one of the 3 Day Baja Mexico cruises - known for college kids wanting to get drunk in Mexico. I guess if we had a choice between a ship full of college kids or a ship full of retirees we'd rather have the college kids anyways. Turns out the ship had a good mix of people with families, college kids, older people, etc. Probably on the younger side I would say judging from some videos I saw of the recent cruise in Norway that got disabled and passengers had to be rescued with helicopters off the ship. In any case I didn't want to get a cabin with an ocean view or a balcony on this first cruise. We had to make it the worst possible cabin to see if we could survive. And definitely no problems having an interior. We didn't miss not having a window to the outside world at all. We basically used the room for sleeping in and getting changed for the day, that was it. We hung out on the ship most of the day, either watching shows, playing games, doing auctions, sitting on the decks outside, etc. We had plenty of activities to do on our short 3 night cruise. Our cabin was on Main Deck, which is Deck 5, two decks below the boarding deck Empress. We were mid / aft which was good because the dining areas were right above us two floors. Easy to get to and without any noise. A lot of activities on Imagination are more Forward so we would have a small walk forward to get to the activities but not too bad. I think we would probably try to get Mid Ship if we sailed in the future. Our Steward was great and recognized my wife and I every morning. Room was always cleaned and cute little towel animals left every day. We left all of our electronics out with no problems - didn't feel a need to put anything in the safe. Dining was hit or miss. For the price we paid we can't complain and we enjoyed the food. But picky people beware, the buffet is probably more of an average buffet rather than a higher priced buffet. In addition the food during the evening dinners was good but not something that will blow your socks off. The wait staff at dinner was excellent and we enjoyed the food but it was a little hit or miss. Some dishes were excellent and others were okay, nothing spectacular. Either way - a great first time cruise option to see how well you can handle being on a ship for several days. Read Less