It was departure time and we were excited!
Carnival asked us to arrive between 1:30 and 3:30 p.m. to begin our embarkation process. This process involves going through customs, providing passports, cruise documents; being issued a card that is used as a room key, credit card and boarding pass. There are so many variables involved that I have found it impossible to predict how long embarkation will last. On this trip it took an hour and fifteen minutes from the cab stand to being on-board. I would recommend that you pack light unless you want to practice being a Sherpa. Porters meet you at the entrance and will take your bags and deliver them to your cabin door. Hold on to a backpack/carry-on with your valuables and medications. Avril and I each carry a twenty one inch carry-on from
eBags and a backpack with cameras and computer gear. The use of
Space Bags has allowed use these small bags for up to eleven days. We met a young couple, with a small child, that had carried huge luggage on public transportation to arrive at the ship, skipped the bag check and had to haul everything by themselves - not my idea of a fun time. Once on the ship we hit the room, dropped our backpacks and headed for the food! There is a huge selection of food, we chose to keep it simple and grab a tasty, cooked to order cheeseburger.
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| Carnival Splendor Cheeseburger on Lido Deck |
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After lunch we explored the ship and attended the mandatory evacuation drill. It seems like an imposition to interrupt the fun but it could come in handy if, God forbid, something happened. They show you were to go in the event of an emergency (muster stations) and how to use the life jackets. It is best to be prepared.
Guess what? It was time to get ready to eat again! We choose the early dining time (6 p.m.) because it is similar to our regular schedule.The Splendor has a sushi bar open each night before dinner with little offerings of sushi most nights and tapas on others. I had a vodka martini and Avril had a Cosmo to go along with our sushi. A band played as we enjoyed our cocktails. In the past we had been seated at tables for six to ten and always enjoyed meeting new people at the table. On this trip we were seated with only one other couple at a table of four. We felt quite comfortable. I had flat-iron steak and Avril had the sweet and sour shrimp shrimp.A
Clifford Bay Sauvignon Blanc went well with both
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| Dinner Carnival Splendor Gold Pearl Dining Room |
For dessert we split a cheese plate and finished with coffee.
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| Cheese Plate Carnival Splendor Gold Pearl Dining Room |
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| Towel Animal Walrus Carnival Splendor |
We attended the welcome aboard show with a live band, dancers and comedians. It is hard to believe that it all (except for alcohol) is included in the price! Back at the room our walrus towel animal greets us.
4 comments:
I would come back from the cruise as big as a house. We have never been on a cruise unless you count the Red & White Fleet.
Chilebrown- You do have to pace your food intake. They have a incredible fitness center. We walk up and down stairs and hoof it in port.There are lots of healthy choices for food too. We hit the buffet for breakfast and lunch. A little dab of many items.
Sounds lovely! Was it a really big ship, or a smaller one?
Zoomie- It holds over three thousand people but the way it is set up it feels smaller. It is the biggest ship we have been on and if I had to choose I would pick a smaller ship. We cruise the west coast and choose by best price. Believe it or not Avril does spread sheets of all our expenses to make comparison easier and budget friendly.Like our hobby ;)
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