Carnival Splendor Review
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I have never been on a Carnival cruise before, but I have been on a several other cruise lines. This cruise was ok. Embarkation was fine and we got into our room quickly. Our luggage was delivered quickly as well which was nice. The ship was not pretty. It is very pink and very dated. I've been on other cruises which were much, much prettier, but the decor of this cruise was terrible.
The cabin was fine. Decorated similarly to the rest of the ship, but adequate for our needs. We had a 4 person balcony stateroom. The bathroom came with shampoo and body wash, which was nice. The cabin stewards were excellent. They make a point of memorizing every person's name in the cabin that they oversee which was a nice touch that I hadn't witnessed on other cruise lines. They made up the rooms promptly and my children loved the towel animals which were imaginative and thoughtful. They arranged my children's stuffed animals on their beds too which was a nice touch.
The food in the main dining rooms was mediocre and unimaginative. I've been on other cruises where the food was much, much better and we were excited to try what was on the menu. I didn't personally get the sense of excitement when going to dinner as the dinners were simply ok. The dinners took FOREVER. If you didn't plan your dinners strategically, then you would miss any other entertainment for the evening. I do not exaggerate when I say that it took TWO HOURS to get through every dinner. Another point of contention was that the cruise line charges a $15 corkage fee to open wine that you bring on board. That's completely insane. It used to be $10, but then they jacked up the price. I'm not sure how they can justify that exorbitant of a charge when it takes them a second to open the bottle and then it is generally left up to you to pour the wine after the initial round is served since the waiters and waitresses aren't around to fill up our glasses again. To make the dinners even LONGER, the waiters and waitresses do these ridiculous dances which further delay things. I would have preferred to not had the singing and dancing (which is hokey) and just had my dinner. The one thing that is nice is that the waiters and waitresses are fine with accommodating your order to your needs, should you want to get more of something or request multiple appetizers, etc.