First, let me say that this is my 2nd cruise on the Splendor, we did the Mexican Riviera in April 2009 as part of a large group (20+), and I so enjoyed that cruise that I thought it would be a good one to take a first time cruiser on. We originally booked on Feb 6th, but because of the fire, had to rebook, was able to get the same cabin at the same price even though that week it would have cost more if we had booked it originally. Our representative at Carnival tried to up sell us to a corner aft balcony, and after seeing it, I wish we would have spent the extra $200 or so to get it...the balcony is HUGE. Groups need to seriously consider getting one of these, and adjoining cabins to open up the deck for them.

Embarkation: Due to a customs snafu, didn't start on time, or even close to on time, it was about 2 hours late. The "Pre-Checkin" line was at least 40 yards long, and never got any shorter even though we boarded a couple hours late. Once the boarding process began, it did move quickly, though I think the last time I did this it moved faster. I was in the 8th group to be called, so my wait wasn't bad, however, there was other groups as far as the eye could see, I wouldn't doubt that there was 30+ groups, I wasn't leaving my area to find out. With the delay that we had, it would have been nice if Carnival could have provided at least water for their guests. The line for the ladies room was out the door and down the building. Mens room, as usual - no waiting.

We had stayed on the Queen Mary the night before, so all we had to finally do is walk across the parking lot. However, there was some misinformation on the Queen Mary, as we were told that we could do our Pre-Checkin in the engine room of the Queen Mary between 9:30 and 11:00. They didn't tell us we had to do it 2 days in advance...otherwise we would have made our way over earlier and would have been able to get ours done and then go to the Champaign Brunch on the Queen Mary and would have scheduled it a little better. Read more