NEW YEAR'S ABOARD THE SPLENDOR

By Gymbrat333

• April 29, 2018

I had always wanted to sail on New Year's, but always found the cruises to be too expensive at this time.  Instead for the past two years, I have sailed the week before Christmas which is a lot less expensive than when I usually sail in the summer.  This year I decided that I was going to do a New Year's cruise just to try it out.  I kept checking the prices for the Vista which is their newest ship, and I have sailed on it twice, but it was too expensive.  When I finally decided to book it two weeks before sailing, everything was sold out.  I found the last cabin available aboard the Splendor which was an ocean view, and being older than the Vista, it was a lot less expensive.

Having sailed the week before Christmas the past two years, I was hoping that the ship was still beautifully decorated, and to my surprise it was.  They took down all of the Christmas decorations the last day at sea.

I usually sail with my nephew and mom, but they couldn't make it so I went by myself. 

I drove to The Port of Miami since I live 30 minutes away.  Embarkation was a breeze. The ocean view cabin was beautiful and so spacious.

I then went to lido to have lunch, and they were giving out free champagne and there was a big champagne float in the pool.  Check out the pictures in the album.

The first night, I ate on lido.  I have been falling asleep before 10pm lately on all of my cruises so at 9:30 pm, I took a nap until 11pm so that I could be awake for the New Year's party.  It was unbelievable, so crowded, and so much fun.  This was the first night aboard the ship and also happened to be formal night.

The next day was a day at Princess Cays. It was a very relaxing day by the beach.

Our next Port of Call was Grand Turk.  It was nice and breezy and not too much sun.  I always go to the Margarita Ville pool, but decided to lay out by the beach this time.  The water was too cold for me, but I enjoyed the amazing weather.

Then it was off to San Juan Puerto Rico the next day.  This port is always absolutely beautiful.  There wasn't visible damage at the tourist area from Hurricane Irma.

The last port of call was Amber Cove.  I was so excited because I had never been to this port.  It poured all day, and the weather got worse as the day went by.  Many people stayed on the ship, but I got off for two hours around the port area and shops.  Carnival was selling ponchos for $3 because the rain was super heavy.  Most tours were cancelled.  My coworker was aboard the Vista, and they went the day after.  The weather was perfect for them.

The entertainment, service, and food were top notch.  This was my second time aboard this ship.