This was my fourth cruise on Carnival, but I have also been on Norwegian, Royal Caribbean and Holland America in the past. People talk about how Carnival kind of has the "party" ships, and that maybe the clientele is a little more blue collar. That's perfect for me! Yes the decor on the Splendor is gaudy and seriously pink, and probably is due for an upgrade. But I kind of expect that sort of craziness from Carnival. Makes you feel like you're on vacation! The beds were different on this cruise in a good way. When I sat down it felt kind of like an air mattress, and I thought oh no. But somehow they were some of the most comfortable we've ever experienced. Yes the food is not as good as a 5 star restaurant. But for Pete's sake, they're cooking for literally thousands of people. It's pretty amazing to me that they do as well as they do. To me, it's great and there's tons of variety from burgers and pizza to steak and lobster. The lunch options are especially great because they add several specialty places. The BBQ was wonderful! People complain about the shows. Are they broadway quality? No! But for the price you're paying per day and getting a show included, c'mon it's pretty dang good. The dedication and enthusiasm of the performers was amazing! I'm really into live music, and have even complained about the quality of that in the past myself. This is one area where they have pleasantly improved. Stumbled across the "Make it a Double with a Twist" variety band early on, and made a point to catch them every chance we had after. Wow! Fantastic! Not to mention the Calypso music with a REAL steel drum player, a string trio and acoustic guitarist that also hit it out of the park and were easy on the eyes for both of us. The comedy is hit or miss. For me, this time it was a miss. Definitely got a few good belly laughs, but didn't need to go back to catch the second show from anyone on this particular cruise. There is always lots going on and my choices were always slanted by my own personal point of view, but I will say that it's shocking how great the movies are. They have first run movies that are literally still in the theater in some cases.I use the gym often and found it well very well equipped with a good variety and quantity of stations/treadmills/ellipticals, etc. Other highlights were the hairy chest and booty shaking contests! Carnival staff was wonderful as always. Don't know how they get a whole ship full of good people, but they do. This may be TMI, but there are a ton of restrooms easily available everywhere on the ship and they are kept impeccably clean! Ports of call were great. Have been to Cabo and Puerto Vallarta before, so knew what to expect and had a plan. We absolutely love the beautiful beaches, food and CHEAP drinks in these ports! They are wonderful places and the reason we knew them is we have chosen them both for stand alone vacations in the past. First time in Mazatlan. Explored the "Golden Zone", the malecon and the old town. All of it was beautiful and interesting. We found the people to be extremely friendly and helpful. Obvious that they really apprectiate the tourist dollars. We particularly had fun in the VW Thing open air taxis. The only disclaimer if you haven't been to Mexico, brace yourself to be completely assaulted by vendors if you're on a public beach. A polite "no gracias" will send them on their way, and maybe you want that Juan Deere t-shirt with a donkey on it without having to leave your beer and beach chair anyway. Embarkation and debarkation was pretty much as usual. Lots of standing in line and being patient. However on and off the ship at the ports was very fast and efficient. Oh and still no affordable wifi. *sigh* Carnival Hub app is a good start. I would recommend downloading it because you can access it for FREE to see all of the current happenings on the ship. However, we paid the extra $5 to allow chat which I thought would function like texting. Fail. My android wouldn't talk to her iPhone in different parts of the ship unless I messaged her first, and left the app open. Keep after it Carnival. You're close. Bottom line. Go on this cruise! Carnival Splendor delivers!