I am on this board every day and I am starting to get a bot concerned about so many bad reviews not only about the ship but also the unfriendlyness of the staff. I have cruised 2 times, both times on Mariner of the seas on RCCL. I have been nothing but perfectly happy with my entire experience on those cruises. I am going with several family members who have never cruised before and I am scared if its a bad experience i will never be able to  get them to come with me again. So really at this point id really really like to hear some good splendor stories.

 

Thanks

Aaron

ajbrickell:

I am on this board every day and I am starting to get a bot concerned about so many bad reviews not only about the ship but also the unfriendlyness of the staff. I have cruised 2 times, both times on Mariner of the seas on RCCL. I have been nothing but perfectly happy with my entire experience on those cruises. I am going with several family members who have never cruised before and I am scared if its a bad experience i will never be able to  get them to come with me again. So really at this point id really really like to hear some good splendor stories.

 

Thanks

Aaron

Aaron, if you have been on RCCL, then you no doubt had excellent service, particularly from the bartenders and waiters.  The bartenders remembered everyone's name, and they were so nice that we tipped them double what the cruise mandated.  Was I shocked and mortified when I got on the Carnival Valor the first day and the bartender on the deck just shoved my drink at me and my daugher and didn't say a thing!  The waiter in the dining room NEVER smiled.  On RCCL, the waiter, his assistant, and the head waiter were so funny and excellent that we all gave them big tips on top of what was mandated.  It makes such a difference when a waiter contributes to your having a good time.  I hope your experience will be better!  I'm booked on another Carnival Cruise, but this time I won't expect them to be friendly, so I won't have to be shocked or disappointed.  I tip big when I am treated decently.  We did not leave the waiter on the last Carnival any extra tip, and he probably figured we wouldn't so he was just snotty.  Little did he know that many of us at the table had been waitresses and would have given him a huge tip if he'd just been nice to us.  RCCL is hard to beat when it comes to customer service.  They are very well trained.

ajbrickell:

I am on this board every day and I am starting to get a bot concerned about so many bad reviews not only about the ship but also the unfriendlyness of the staff. I have cruised 2 times, both times on Mariner of the seas on RCCL. I have been nothing but perfectly happy with my entire experience on those cruises. I am going with several family members who have never cruised before and I am scared if its a bad experience i will never be able to  get them to come with me again. So really at this point id really really like to hear some good splendor stories.

 

Thanks

Aaron

Aaron, I neglected to add in my previous post that I have read some posts from past cruisers who were on my whip talking about how fun their waiter was.  So, maybe you will be lucky!  I just wanted to warn you, because RCCL sets a high standard.

We were on the Splendor in June. We had the BEST cabin steward that I have ever had and that was my 8th cruise.  He called us (my DH, son, and daughter) by name every time that he saw us.  We also had a wonderful waiter.  We didn't come across any rude waiters/bar tenders/cabin stewards. All were fantastic and we were on the  very first cruise to go to Mexico and the swine flu scare so you know the staff had been yelled at by unhappy passengers.  We were also on a very crowded cruise, we sailed on Fathers Day and there were over 1100 children on board.

Just go with an attitude that you will have a great cruise and i'm sure you will.

We have cruised on the Paradise and the Pride.  We had excellent service from all the staff on both ships.  We will be on the Splendor in 18 days and will let you know about the service from the staff when we return.

Mike & Joni

That's great news.  I'm hoping our experience was not the norm.  

We were on the Conquest a few years back and had a great time. Everyone was very friendly staff wise! Cabin stewarts AMAZING!!!! Worth tipping extra for sure!

Bar staff and wait staff were great...had some fantastic conversations with the store staff even met a fellow who knew some of the same people we did! He was from Canada and so are we! Small world for sure!

It's what you make of it with out a doubt. Treat people how you would like to be treated. Remember if someone is having an off time, if you treat them with kindness you will make their day. We saw some INCREDABLY rude people on board and we were only two people so I can only imagine how many other rude people there were. The staff have to put up with that all the time so put yourself in their shoes and try to be patient and kind, when someone has had enough...give them some respect and watch their world be blessed by it and in turn you too will reap the blessing!

Have a great cruise

The first thing we do when our cabin steward appears is ask him his name, where he is from.  We try to get to know him as a person not just our "servant" for the next 7 days.  We always try to call him by name and ask how his day is going etc. During the week we ask him questions about his country and his family and we find out the most interesting things about the ship etc.   We have NEVER been disapointed by the staff on our cruises.  We treat each of them with respect and in turn they are very friendly with us.  We need to remember they are people with family who miss them not just the person who makes our beds, pours our drinks, brings us food etc. 

 

We were on this ship in May and had a tremendous experience, so much so that we are going back already.  We have cruised several times and have never had more attentive and responsive cabin stewards and dining room staff before.  They each quickly ascertained our likes and dislikes and the steward was particularly attentive to our crazy schedule about being in and out of the cabin (we travelled with a teen-ager who had just finished his first year of college and wanted to sleep in until noon every day.)  We did not come into contact with the bartenders though, so I can't address that.  I agree with the other posters that if you make an attempt to be friendly, the workers are very responsive. 

 As to complaints about the ship, the decorative scheme was not my favorite, but it is well laid out and the spa, in particular, is fabulous.  Hope you can just relax and look forward to your trip and that it is a wonderful experience for you. 

We sail on the Splendor in November so I cannot speak about this ship.  I have found on our cruises that if we put forth the effort to be friendly we will get that in return from the crew.  There will always be a few crew members that find it more difficult to smile in return, but no one has ever been rude.  The crew puts in incredible hours so I'm always amazed when they can be friendly day after day.  Have a great cruise!

We have been on 3 Carnival Cruises and we are going on the Splendor Sept 26 and can't wait.  We always tip more to our wait staff and room steward.extra.....they were wonderful..They always knew our names and what we wanted for dessert!!  Maybe that was because I ordered Choc Melting Cake every night...lol  I needed a fan in our room on two of the cruises because I was having power surges......and he found one for me right away.  We never had anything be wonderful treatment from Carnival.  I hope yours is as wonderful as ours was!!!!

 Dont' be concerned about the bad reviews. We were on the Splendor the end of July and I cantellyou the crew was so friendly and everyone went out of their way to make sure we had the best time. The ship was beautiful in my opinion and the food was great. This was our first cruise so we have nothing to compare it to but we were blown away with how awesome everything and everyone was. Our room steward was amazing! He was always smiling and talking with ous. Our waiters were awesome. They really went out of their way to make sure we were having a great time. Our drink waiter in the dining room was the best. We were amazed at how everyone greeted us by name all week. How do they do that?! The ship was sparkly clean. I hope you enjoy it as much as we did!

Don't be!  Splendor was awesome! First time cruiser!  Had a blast!  Everyone was awesome on the ship from our cabin steward to our waiter to the guest service team!  Food was awesome! Spend the $30 to eat in pinnacle, just be prepared to spend at least 2 hrs there! Already working on the 2nd with splendor next year with the entire family!  Can't wait!

We also sailed on the Splendor in July with a group of 17 and everyone had a great time. I thought the ship was great - and if I hadn't heard about all the pink, I don't think I would have paid a bit of attention to it - but then again it didn't bother me at all.

ajbrickell:

I am on this board every day and I am starting to get a bot concerned about so many bad reviews not only about the ship but also the unfriendlyness of the staff. I have cruised 2 times, both times on Mariner of the seas on RCCL. I have been nothing but perfectly happy with my entire experience on those cruises. I am going with several family members who have never cruised before and I am scared if its a bad experience i will never be able to  get them to come with me again. So really at this point id really really like to hear some good splendor stories.

 

Thanks

Aaron

I was on the Splendor in April.  Had a great time.  Room steward wonderful.  Waitstaff and maitre d' in the Gold Pearl dining room wonderful and very attentive to my 87 year old mother (her second cruise, first time on Carnival).  The shows were fun, food was great.  Everyone in our group of five had a great time, and two of the five were first time cruisers.