Carnival Splendor Review
Carnival Splendor Cruise to Canada; Our First On Carnival
Rating by category
Additional details
Our Cruise
Below is my review of our 5 night cruise to Canada (Halifax and Saint John) leaving from New York in late August. I try to highlight what I enjoyed and did not enjoy about this ship and cruise. I travelled with my DW, DD10 and DD15. We travelled with our friends and their kids DD10, DS10, and DS12. Additionally, my MIL, SIL and her two daughters DD 6 and DD 8 were also onboard with us. I have tried to remain objective in my opinions, but this is my view of the cruise, and should only be read as a reference point. Everyone views things differently and have their own particular likes and dislikes. The only way you will really know, is if you try it yourself. Because CC does not tell you what the ratings mean for 1 thru 5, I am using them based on the following scale, so that each rating means the following:
Rating Scale:
Cabin Review
Ocean View
This was one of the strong points of the Splendor. The rooms are large for a cruise ship, including our Oceanview stateroom. There was plenty of space in the room for the four of us: two adults, and a DD15 and DD10 to survive the week without getting in each other’s way. There was ample space to store our things out and stow our empty baggage away. Our stateroom was located on Deck 1, which did not really affect us getting to any of the venues besides the Gold Pearl – although you have to realize that most of the venues are a few decks away, and you are eight decks below the Lido. We were also towards the front of the ship (room 1247), and did not feel any movement of the ship. We had no problems with sleeping, and did not hear any strange noises from the ship, although note that this is an adjoined room, and the baby crying at 3 AM, did awaken me on two occasions. Not that I am complaining (we went right back to sleep fairly quickly), because that’s what babies do, but if you are a light sleeper, an adjoined room would not be the best thing for you on this ship – but on the other hand, it would have been nicer not to have been awoken at 3 AM.
Port Reviews
Saint John (New Brunswick)
Saint John is an economically depressed city. The major sights of this port can easily be seen in a day (if it is not raining and if not with kids). We did it on our own, including a walk to the Reversing Falls (there is not really much to see) because everything is really not very far away from each other. The zip lining looked like fun, but I can do it when not on a cruise. Some of the kyaking tours did look interesting as well, but since we were with kids, for that price, we passed on it. The highlight of the port to us is its people. Everywhere we went, with one exception, the people were exceptionally nice and enjoyable to talk to. To appreciate a country or culture you have to talk to the people that live there.
Halifax
Halifax is the sister-stop to Saint John. Whereas Saint John is economically depressed, Halifax has spent a lot of money on its tourist infrastructure, especially near the port (which we visited). We explored the port on our own. The walk along the boardwalk is very pleasant and we went to the Maritime Museum as well as made our way up the hill to the Citadel. It was a very enjoyable day.