Carnival Splendor Review

Ticked off a few bucket list items

Review for Australia & New Zealand Cruise on Carnival Splendor
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SDWretiredandtravelling
2-5 Cruises • Age 60s

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Additional details

Sail Date: May 2023
Pool
Sunset
Airlie Beach
Cairns
Splendor docked in Sydney
View arriving back in Sydney early in the morning
Great Barrier Reef
Pool
Fahrenheit 555 steak
sunset
Splendor docked in Cairns
Fahrenheit 555 dessert
Splendor docked in Cairns

We booked Great Barrier Reef From Sydney leaving in early May 2023, including a 3 night stay in Sydney with Cruise1st in the UK. It was a great price for the basic cabin and flights and would allow us to see Singapore (as a stopover) Sydney & the Great Barrier Reef. This is the fifth cruise we have been on and our first with Carnival.

Carnival Splendor is the second largest ship we have been on and was in good working order. It is geared up for families, with lots of kids facilities. I found the decor of the main areas (lobby and Pearl dining areas) to be a bit tacky. In general I don’t think there were enough quiet areas to relax on a lounger. Anything near the main pool was noisy with the music and announcements being too loud for you to listen to your own music, even on the floor above. The Serenity pool was nice, but tough to get into. There were a couple of other areas along the sides of the ship where you could relax, but we had a few windy days and some of these were closed.

We were attracted to this cruise as it would allow us to see the Great Barrier Reef and some other parts of Eastern Australia. The ports of call were OK. We tendered for all but Cairns and Sydney and the process was a shambles on the first port, but slightly improved on the remainder of the stops, however it still chewed into our time in the destinations. We only bought one excursion, The Great Barrier Reef tour from Port Douglas for AUD $600. It was a great experience, but with all the tendering to port, then the boat ride to Agincourt Reef and back, we only had around 3 hours at the reef. Lunch was finished about 1 ½ hours after we arrived, forcing you to either snorkel early and then have lunch or skip lunch. More details in advance would have helped me plan a bit better, like getting an underwater camera which I believe they rented.

Cabin Review

We had booked a balcony and it was assigned (62**) once we checked in (I think). At first this was OK. We even had a great view of the Opera House. The cabin had a sofa bed that we weren’t going to use, so it was reasonably large. The bathroom was adequate, as was the balcony which we barely used. The decor was a little tired, with dark wooden cabinets. Only two power sockets makes charging phones, headphones, Fitbits etc a bit of a logistical headache. The location of the cabin was OK air first, but on day 3 we realised we we next to the anchor and get woken up at around 6am. Added to this, being so close to the front of the ship, we felt and heard the crashing waves on the rough days and the return to Sydney was very rough at times. Maybe this relates to the time of year, I am not sure. Other than that the weather was great 20 degrees in Sydney and nearly 30 in Cairns.

Port Reviews

Airlie Beach

Lovely town and we arrived on a Sunday when a market was on. Pity we had to tender in.

Cairns

This was a great city to stroll around and you dock really close to the city centre

Moreton Island

Pretty island with a resort. There were quite a few aquatic options, but not a great deal else here, although you can see the shipwrecks from the beach and the resort has a cafe, bar and gift shop. Pity you had to tender in and out.

Sydney (Australia)

What a fabulous city. We had two full days here before we boarded the ship and got to see lots of sights. The Opera House tour was our favourite.

Port Douglas, Australia

This is where we opted to see the Great Barrier Reef from a Pontoon at Agincourt Reefs. It was a great experience, but with all the tendering to port, then the boat ride to Agincourt Reef and back, we only had around 3 hours at the reef. Lunch was finished about 1 ½ hours after we arrived, forcing you to either snorkel early and then have lunch or skip lunch. More details in advance would have helped me plan a bit better, like getting an underwater camera which I believe they rented.

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