We chose the Carnival Splendor because of the great Southern Caribbean itinerary. It was over $1000 less than the exact same itinerary on the Vista, and we were willing to give it a try. We're big fans of Carnival, this is our 6th cruise, so we're now Gold level. We've sailed Norwegian, Disney, Royal Caribbean, Holland America and Princess. But we keep coming back to Carnival because it makes us happy! The Splendor is known as the "Pink Ship" and everywhere you look, you can see why. It's a crazy art deco anything goes decor, like as if they threw everything against a wall to see what would stick. It wasn't as gaudy as we expected, and it really didn't bother us at all, although some described it as "Pepto-Bismal pink". This time, we lucked out and scored a spa balcony on Deck 11 within two months of sailing, and it was one of the best cabins we've ever had. There are only 8 of these balcony cabins on each side of the spa on Deck 11. Since all the doors are on wide side of the hallway, it's not very busy at all since you don't have people across the hall from you. There are also spa cabins on 10, but the best access to the spa is on Deck 11. There were families with small children on this floor, so it's not adults only which we were glad to see. We had fantastic service from our stateroom steward Dewa. There were fluffy spa robes, cushy slippers and special Elemis spa bath products waiting for us. You now get your Sail & Sign card in an envelope in your mailbox at the door, instead of as you board. This doesn't seem to be as secure as the old system since anyone could take it from your mailbox in the hall, so I'm not really sure why Carnival changed this. There were 3 of us in Cabin 1114 (my 6'5 husband, myself and my 6'5 17-year old son). It never felt crowded, except for the balcony which is best for two, not three at a time. We had so much room for storage and clothing. There are two full closets for hanging clothes with shelving, and a third closet with shelves. There's a refrigerator which was really handy, plus drawers and cabinets. There was plenty of room under the beds to store our suitcases once we unpacked. The bathroom is roomier than most with six shelves on either side of the sink. You'll find a blow dryer in the drawer, plus lots of mirrors and good lighting. We had our king bed, plus two other beds. One was the couch, the other was a pull-down berth that we ended up using to store our backpacks, beach bags, straw hats, etc. Plus we had full anytime access to the spa, so we showered there every day in luxury! The spa showers were huge, with jets streaming at you from several sides, so much better than a cramped cruise shower! I would go to the spa in my swimsuit and robe, enjoy the thalossotherapy pool, steam rooms and take a nap on the heated loungers every day, then take my shower. Heaven!

The Splendor Cloud 9 Spa is one of the biggest and best at sea. 3 levels, several steam rooms, 2 rooms with heated loungers facing the ocean, a relaxation room offering cold water and hot drinks, and a friendly staff. You get at least 20% off services with a spa cabin. I only did the Keratin Express, which I've had before on board. This was a little disappointing because after I washed my hair in the spa a few days later, the effects seemed to disappear. I went back and asked my stylist about this, he told me he had told me not to use the spa shampoo, but I didn't listen to him when he was trying to sell me some expensive special shampoo. Maybe it's because he was constantly trying to sell me other services the entire time, such as teeth whitening or facial products. He was whispering about the special prices he would give me and it was a real turnoff. Why do they put this shampoo in the spa if it's so damaging to your hair? He was nice enough to put a little more on my hair and pulled out his blow dryer and straightener again and made it look better. The thalossotherapy pool was my favorite place, just like a giant hot tub with mineral water for about 10 people at a time, with bubbling jets and two hot water streaming fountains for your shoulders and back. There's also a huge gym my son used regularly. The location of the spa cabins is terrific, you have a door that goes right out to the pool by the water slide (it wasn't too noisy) and the adult Serenity area is right upstairs.

The only negative was the Serenity area on the Splendor doesn't have any hot tubs, only loungers (lots of them), great views and a bar. Great place to watch our entry into the ports. We always do Anytime DIning, this time we were in the Black Pearl Dining Room, and we were lucky to find a great wait team the first night. Edwin from Guatemala and Omar from Mexico were fun, friendly, and fantastic servers. They danced pretty well during "Showtime" too! Later we found out they are the most requested team, so I suggest you do the same. We really liked table 150 in the center of their section, it was nice dim lighting in a location where you can see everything around you and look outside as well. The second night the maitre d' suggested we try the Gold Pearl fixed seating because we had talked to him on embarkation day about his suggestions for a great wait team. We went to the 8:15 seating and it was a nightmare. We felt like cattle waiting to get in, they finally opened the doors (late) after the early seating, and everyone rushed to their tables like kids going into a school lunch room. We thought the service might be better since everyone is getting the same thing at the same time (appetizers, entrees, etc) at the same time. But it was terrible! We never got our drinks, my husband didn't get all his food, and the wait teams seemed like they were fumbling and stumbling all over each other. One lady was handling out rolls like an assembly line, our server had too many tables, it really felt like we were at a cafeteria or buffet. The other thing we noticed in the Gold Pearl during breakfast is a lot more movement and engine noise. We couldn't wait to go back to Anytime Dining for a more relaxed and professional dining experience. Read more