Thread: Josh's long overdue Splendor review

Originally Posted by Char

Are you going to tell us about disembarkation?......or is it too painful?

Your jumping the gun, Char!! He still needs to tell us about their last sea day.

Originally Posted by stanford's girl

Your jumping the gun, Char!! He still needs to tell us about their last sea day.

I know! Just preparing him for the inevitable!

Originally Posted by Char

Terrific review, Josh!

Are you going to tell us about disembarkation?......or is it too painful?

I'm fighting back the tears just thinking about it... but yes...

And now the thrilling conclusion....

It's finally upon us, our last leisurely morning at sea. As we had before our port-day breakfasts in our cabin, we returned to the Lido for breakfast to kick back on a deck chair, take in some sun and a little morning breeze, and watch Headline News on the big screen.

Armed with our Capers to help maximize our final day, we remain on the Lido after breakfast for what may be my only remaining chance to win a Ship-on-a-Stick, cartoon theme song trivia! Michele’s got 2 ships, I HAVE to win something!

I can’t begin to tell you how satisfying it is to finally prove wrong all the people who thought I should be going to class instead of watching cartoons. There were 30 theme songs played and 3 bonus questions for a total of 33 possible points. I won with 32! It was a convincing and dominating victory that made me both proud for getting my victory, yet sad that I was able to win at the same time. Nevertheless, the Carnival medal was mine! (And really, they’re much easier to pack than plastic ships.)

With the competitive juices still flowing, we headed back to the mini golf course for a rematch. While I managed to eek out another win, I was more impressed playing the course a second time. When you stop to think that this thing is atop a giant ship in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, it’s that much more impressive.

It was sad that Saturday came so quick, but we tried our best to make the most of it. We played more games (unsuccessfully), and got to watch a film in the Morocco Lounge for signing up for the art auction. It was a 50 year old collaboration of Henri Matisse and Walt Disney, that was a short animated film that was remarkable. I will hunt down the name of it, but it was very cool, had a very Disney feel at times, but had a decidedly surreal feel throughout. Definitely worth sitting through the auction talk!

We followed that with a little shopping, a little lunch, a stroll around the ship just admiring our home for the last week. The afternoon could not be complete however, without one more dip in the upper spa, followed by some time in Serenity. I love me some Serenity, it really is a great addition. More than anything, I enjoyed the music being piped in softly, just enough to drown out the kids on the decks above, and let you just melt away into the afternoon.

That last sea day is always a bummer, but it was about as nice a day as one could ask for, despite the winds that got pretty hefty as the afternoon went on. We actually ended up wrapping up our time in Serenity because of the wind. They have a portion of the Serenity area with much higher walls, which shielded us, but as the wind grow stronger, it eventually made the area like a wind tunnel. Not so much fun for laying out.

Before we could brace ourselves, the day had faded off into the distance, and our final sunset and dinner were upon us. Perhaps because of our brief stay at dinner the night before, we opted to linger tonight. Start to finish, the week had been just incredible. Having our anniversary mid-cruise certainly made it special, but the whole experience was just perfect. One more fabulous dinner only helped seal it.

The Legends show was even surprisingly good. Everyone that made it into the show was actually quite talented, and it was possibly the week’s best show. Well, the only glaring exception was the tool who played Ricky Martin. Now I’m not bitter, just because I landed the part on the Spirit didn’t mean I expected to get it again, but when only 2 of us tried out and the other guy was horrible, but happened to bring a HUGE posse into the karaoke lounge to vote for him, I was a little annoyed I’d be watching this one from the crowd. I was very pleased though that his was the only performance in the entire show that was lousy, and I mean he couldn’t keep with the band, it was painful. Wait, should I have enjoyed that? How could I not, it was hilarious.

Now as someone who’s not a morning person, I was actually happy to wake up earlier than usual Sunday because it meant a little extra time with the Splendor before we had to get lost. One last nice breakfast, and we just parked on the Lido to people watch for a bit. We ended up inside near the casino to wait as they began to call numbers to disembark. We drew a lucky group 10 on the Spirit, but ended up with 24 this time. As luck would have it, one of the girls from the entertainment staff happened by after they had reached about group 8, and because it was just the two of us, she let us go early, so our wait wasn’t bad at all. I must say, both the embarkation and debarkation processes in Long Beach were smooth as can be. I was impressed, very nice. And our hotel sent the shuttle back out to pick us up, so the whole process was a piece of cake, I'd totally do it again.


So that was all she wrote…. Wow, I feel very fortunate to have been able to sail such a great ship, making us 2-for-2. They eliminated the program by which you get specials for booking future cruises on board, instead, they have a deal where you can put down a $100 deposit for any future cruise, and get a $100 onboard credit. We have 5 years to book the cruise, and it’s fully refundable, so no risk, just a nice incentive to book another.

Michele sees the ogbyn 7/9, so if we don’t end up getting pregnant this summer, that $100 may be the start of a Caribbean cruise on the Dream next April!

I hated for it to end, Josh! What a great cruise!

I hope the summer brings you what you desire!

I am going to copy your review over to Trip Reports for those who missed it on the Carnival Forum.

Thank you, Josh for writing such an excellent trip report.
I really enjoyed reading about your cruise.

What a fabulous review! Thank you for taking the time to write it

I love your writing style! I was giggling during your whole report, but these two portions, in addition to the synchonized barfing team had me laughing so hard that I'm glad no one is in the office to hear my outbursts of laughter!

Originally Posted by CaliTraveler77

So a couple Limon and Diet Cokes in the shade, and our stomachs began to give us that little nudge to encourage us to maybe head out to explore lunch. And this begins our affair with the burrito bar. As we approached, it was if the lights somehow dimmed, everything began moving in slow motion, and cheesy porno-style music began to play in the background. Aw yeah baby, it's time to get down!

Originally Posted by CaliTraveler77

Only shortly after, the cocktails began to catch up with Michele, who became a bit wobbly. It was kind of like watching a baby giraffe take its first couple of steps. So we took the shuttle back to the Splendor and made our way back to the cabin to relax. The tricky part was the walk down the long hallway from the front portion of the ship where we got on/off. A crippling case of the giggles struck in, and while she denies it, I'm quite certain Michele may have peed herself at some point.