We flew into Tampa two days early and spent some time at the Aquarium, on the American Victory and general sightseeing. We recommend a visit to Clearwater Beach; it is well kept and beautiful. When in Tampa, we would also like to recommend Sam Seltzers Steakhouse on Dale Mabry Blvd. The food was only outclassed by the service and the price was surprisingly low for the quality, about $50 for two of us.

After dropping off our rental car at the airport, we caught a cab to the port; the cost was a flat $20. We arrived at Cruise Terminal Three about 11:30 just as they were starting to board. Porters were at the curb, relieved us of our luggage and made sure our tags were properly attached. They were friendly, quick and efficient. We were pointed upstairs and there were people all along the way making sure we were headed the right way. We had filled out all of our boarding documents on line, so all we had to do was arrange for payment of bill, were assigned our Seapass cards, had security photos taken (more on these later) and were on board in less than 10 minutes. Only the gentlemen taking the security photos were less than 100% smiles, but not rude either.

Once onboard we went straight to the Schooner Bar and purchased soft drink cards, then proceeded to try to get to our cabin. They had these locked out and a sign posted saying that they would not be available until 1 p.m. Therefore, we proceeded to explore a bit and then went to the Windjammer for lunch. They had sanitation stations at the entrance that I was disappointed to see disappear after the first day. Lunch was good and wait staff was everywhere, either selling drinks (you could keep the glass), getting you whatever you needed and making sure you were taken care of, something that I soon realized was the norm on the Splendour. Read more