I boarded the Carnival Splendor with my husband looking forward to their Exotic Southern Caribbean Cruise even though I have visited all these ports before. I have traveled on Carnival several times, but have also traveled on Royal Caribbean, Celebrity, Norwegian and Holland America. The ship itself is clean and well maintained. We had an oceanview cabin and I was surprised to find that the cabin was more spacious than I expected. Our room steward was nice, but it was very difficult to find a room steward if you needed anything. In our cabin, I had to ask for basics such as soap, an ice bucket and a robe. For the most part the wait staff works hard to accommodate you but the food I would only rate as average. In the dining room at night, one of the things that is distinctly "Carnival" is that the servers get up on tables and dance for you. The best menu they had was on one of their formal nights "the american feast." Since they do not have "Guy's Burgers" on this ship, I did not sample anything from the grill. I enjoyed the shows and several of the activities such as the zumba class. I also enjoyed an "adults only" area on the 12th deck called "Serenity", as well as, the movies on the lido deck.

The ship has a good gym and the spa has the usual "spa services" although they try to upsell you on everything. I made the mistake of purchasing a spa package that would allow my husband and I to have VIP access to the use of a thalasotherapy whirlpool, heated ceramic chairs and lounges, as well as, what they called an oriental steam room and an aromatherapy room. The thalasotherapy whirlpool was supposed to have sea minerals and other beneficial ingredients, but the only thing I detected was a high level of chlorine which left my skin itching on more than one occasion. The oriental steam room was just an ordinary steam room and the alleged aromatherapy room had no aroma at all. They were charging $160. per person or $250 per couple for use of these facilities which I found to be over priced for what they were offering. To add insult to injury, some people who bought this package a day after I did only paid $60.00 per person. It is disappointing that they are now charging for everything, whereas on other ships like the Conquest for example, the use of the steam room and sauna is free.