My Solo Splendor repo cruise (with pics) 10/24/14

Innova007

New Member
Thanks for posting such a detailed review. Have you ever been on a carnival pride cruise? I am going to the Bahamas in April 2015 and the ship was recently renovated.
 

Lurline63

Staff Captain
Wonderful photos!

I met Nickos during my tour last month. What a lovely gentleman.

Thank you for putting these together, Jeff. I can't imagine the amount of time it takes.
 

Jamman

Carnival Specialist
Community Sponsor
I'll pass on the mushrooms, but I'll have some of the Lobster tails. :biggrin: Jeff, do you get free minuntes on the internet?

No we don't. That was one of the things brought up when we met with the senior officers.
 

Jamman

Carnival Specialist
Community Sponsor
Thanks for posting such a detailed review. Have you ever been on a carnival pride cruise? I am going to the Bahamas in April 2015 and the ship was recently renovated.

Thanks for reading! We have been on the Pride twice, but that was before I started doing these reviews. We had a great time both times. Would love to cruise on her again, now that she was given some of the 2,0 upgrades..
 

Jamman

Carnival Specialist
Community Sponsor
Wonderful photos!

I met Nickos during my tour last month. What a lovely gentleman.

Thank you for putting these together, Jeff. I can't imagine the amount of time it takes.

Thanks Lisa! Much more to come. I got to chat with Nickos three different times on my cruise, and yes he was a lovely gentleman, and fun!
 

Jamman

Carnival Specialist
Community Sponsor
Hello again everybody! Time to tell you all about my 2nd day at sea…..

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I was up around 7am, hoping to get today’s sunrise, but alas, it was cloudy out…..

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It was warm outside, and judging from what lies ahead of us, I’d say the seas are even smoother than yesterday…..

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It was time to head upstairs and get some breakfast, and the first thing I noticed as I walked through the Splendido Pool area, was that the roof was open. Yippie!!

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I made my way to the aft omelet line, but instead of ordering an omelet, I chose to have two eggs over easy. Here’s my second sea day breakfast…..

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To be continued…..
 

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Jamman

Carnival Specialist
Community Sponsor
As I ate breakfast, I looked up through the window, and saw the sun peeking from behind the clouds. They really need to clean those windows!

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After breakfast, I made a quick stop at The Web to check emails, and then made my way back to the cabin to hang out on the balcony until it was time for the slot pull. I took the following shots on the way. The Future Cruise Desk, Deck 5 mid ship.....

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Once at the Atrium, looking down at the Lobby Bar.....

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Then looking up through the skylight.....

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The roll call slot pull was scheduled for 10:30am, and of the over 40 people who had expressed interest, only 15 showed up. We played a $1 Wheel of Fortune machine with a $3 max bet, so everyone put in $15 and would get 5 pulls. Here is our lovely slot pull organizer.....

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Some of the slot pull participants.....

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To be continued.....
 
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Jamman

Carnival Specialist
Community Sponsor
After everyone had pulled, as a group, we were up $7.50 a piece. A vote was taken as to whether we took that money and run, or to go around once again and try and hit big. It was almost unanimous to go another round, which we did. Sadly, we lost a bit the second time around, so after all was said and done, we each walked away $5 winners. But win or lose, a great time was had by all. Here are a couple more shots of the slot pull.....

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After the slot pull I was feeling thirsty, so I went to visit my friend Gusti at the Liner Bar, and have a few beers. Feeling refreshed, I took a stroll on the open decks, where today, the sun worshipers were out in force. Here's the Liner Pool and hot tubs.....

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Looking towards the Liner Pool Bar.....

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The Spray Park is spraying!!

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Looking aft down Deck 10, starboard side.....

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To be continued.....
 
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Jamman

Carnival Specialist
Community Sponsor
Looking forward on Deck 11, starboard side.....

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Looking down on the Splendido Pool.....

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A view of the fully retracted sliding dome roof.....

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Looking aft from Deck 12.....

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A view of the Thunderball Pool.....

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The waterslide is open!!

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To be continued.....
 
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Jamman

Carnival Specialist
Community Sponsor
The Serenity area is a lot busier today.....

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This is the covered area of Serenity where the bar is located. Love those yellow towels.....

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Today, they were having the first blackjack tournament of the cruise, so I went to the casino cashier to get my BOGO entries. I tried twice, but couldn't qualify for the final table.

Afterwards, I spent the entire afternoon in the casino playing blackjack, pausing only for an hour or so, to join my fellow roll call members with a round of LCR at the Piano Bar. To our surprise, Carnival even provided coffee, tea, and snacks.

Around 4pm I went back to the cabin and found this invitation for the Diamond cocktail party, which would be held tomorrow.....

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I ordered a couple of room service BLT's, and watched the football games on TV, until around 6pm, when I decided to hit the hot tubs at the Liner Pool. This is my favorite time of the day to go, because the pools and hot tubs empty out as most people head back to their cabins to get ready for dinner. I figured I had a good hour and a half before I would need to get ready. It was already dark outside when I got there. Here's one of the Liner Pool hot tubs at night.....

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I have the pool all to myself.....

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Looking up at the moon. Those yellow umbrellas are also part of the smoking section on Deck 10 aft, starboard side.....

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To be continued.....
 
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Jamman

Carnival Specialist
Community Sponsor
I was so relaxed that I decided to skip dinner tonight. Eventually, I made my way back to the cabin to get changed for the evening. The Lido Restaurant was serving dinner.....

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At the Seaside Theatre, a Dive in Movie was being shown.....

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Tonight's show in the Spectacular Theatre was the Master of Hypnosis. After getting changed, I made my way to the Sports Bar for a few Thirsty Frog's, before spending the rest of the evening at the blackjack tables. I wound up several hundred ahead for the day.

After stopping at The Web to check emails, I made my way back to the cabin, to find tonight's turn down service.....

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Tonight's towel animal.....

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Feeling a little hungry, I called room service and ordered the shrimp salad, and a fruit plate.....

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That sure hit the spot! Time to call it a night.

Coming up next: The last sea day, and a HUGE Diamond Party!
 
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connie seabee

Staff Captain
Community Sponsor
Once again you did not disappoint with your review. I enjoy reading your daily cruise journal and viewing the fabulous photos that you take.

Thank you Jeff!
 

Funnel

Food and Beverage Manager- Special Contributor
Great review Jeff! :doubleup:
It really feels like we are all cruising with you.
That lobster looks yummy. Now you've made me hungry... :biggrin:

I'm really looking forward to the rest of the review and photos!

/Erik
 

Jamman

Carnival Specialist
Community Sponsor
Hello again everyone! It's time to tell you about our 3rd and last sea day. Seems strange to say, since the cruise is not even half over, but here goes.....

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I was up at 6:30 hoping to catch another sunrise, but it's a cloudy day.....

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You could even see rain showers off in the distance.....

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Looking forward towards the bridge, I could see that the seas were once again smooth and very calm.....

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I decided to sleep in a little longer, so about 9am I made my way up to the Lido deck to grab some breakfast. I couldn't believe how crowded the Splendido Pool area was, with towel animals of all sizes.....

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To be continued.....
 
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Jamman

Carnival Specialist
Community Sponsor
Looking down on the Continental Breakfast station from Deck 10.....

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Here is the beverage station up on Deck 10.....

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I decided to do a public service for my faithful readers, and try those so called scrambled eggs from the Breakfast Grill. I had read that they had been improved, and I'm happy to say that they were a heck of a lot better than last year on the Splendor. However, you can't go wrong with the made to order eggs and omelets, or the Sea Day Brunch. Here is my 3rd sea day breakfast.....

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After breakfast, I made my way to The Web to check emails, and then headed to the Fun Shops to do a little shopping.....

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To be continued.....
 
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Jamman

Carnival Specialist
Community Sponsor
I needed to pick up my embarkation photo, so I made a quick stop at the Pixels Gallery.....

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After I dropped the goods off at my cabin, I spent about 3 or 4 hours playing blackjack in the casino, interrupted only briefly by an attempt to qualify for a seat in the finals of the first slot tournament of the cruise. I won a few hundred this afternoon.

Around 3pm, I made my way down to the Board Room for our roll calls final game of LCR. We had a lot of fun, and someone walks away with a little bit of cash.....

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Today's pot is starting to grow.....

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Nothing better than a GREAT group of people playing LCR.....

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To be continued.....
 
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Jamman

Carnival Specialist
Community Sponsor
The guy in the green walked away with the cash today.....

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At 5pm I made my way to the El Morroco Lounge for the Diamond cocktail party with the Captain. Why such a large lounge? Because there were 101 Diamonds on this cruise, almost double the previous record for Diamonds on the Splendor which was set on her South America cruises. Here is our table picture.....

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Here I am with Ty, an amazingly talented singer who performs Motown and Beyond with the Splendor Show Band several times during the cruise. Don't miss her if she is on your sailing.....

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Here is the Splendor Show Band.....

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CD Malcolm Burn addresses the gathering.....

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Captain Candeloro Donato speaks to the Diamond members.....

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To be continued.....
 
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Jamman

Carnival Specialist
Community Sponsor
Hotel Director Nickos D. Batistatos says a few words.....

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The party lasted about an hour, with plenty to drink and eat. The ship's photographers were busy taking pictures, which they gave to us for free.....

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After the party, I went back to the casino to play more blackjack, but gave back about half of what I had won previously. Oh well, can't win them all. Soon it was time to head to dinner. Tonight, I started off with the fried shrimp.....

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Followed by an order of pot stickers.....

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And for my main, I had the Seafood Newburg.....

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I finished with two scoops of chocolate ice cream.

Tonight's show in the Spectacular Lounge was "The Beat", which was pretty good. I love that they are still using the live orchestra for the shows on the Splendor.

Afterwards, I made my way to the casino once again to play some blackjack. I should have stayed out of there, as I lost a couple hundred pretty quickly, so now I'm back to even for the cruise.

Went next door to the Our House Sports Bar, for a few Thirsty Frog's, before calling it a night. Tonight's turn down service.....

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Coming up next: Land Ho!!! St. Thomas, the first of four port calls!!
 
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