Sunday, March 29, 2009

Carnival's newest ship? It's Spectacular, Spectacular!

In the 2001 movie, "Moulin Rouge", the name of the groundbreaking show for the famous Parisian nightclub was "Spectacular! Spectacular!" That's also the name given to the three-deck-high main showroom of the new Carnival Splendor, and they're the best words we (Mr. Makarma) can use to help describe this beautiful cruise ship.

Last week, we had the opportunity to spend two nights onboard this incredible "Fun Ship" which will be sailing year-round seven-night cruises to the Mexican Riviera. If the last part of that sentence sounds vaguely familiar, it's because the Carnival Splendor is the second of two mega-ships to enter that market this year.

Ya see......the newest and largest ships usually ply Caribbean waters, as that region typically allows for the most varied itineraries and, as such, the greatest overall number of customers to a cruise line. Plans for the Carnival Splendor were that she was going to be based out of Fort Lauderdale for the foreseeable future. A sudden burst of competitiveness among the industry's two biggest players, however, meant that the Splendor's stay in Fort Lauderdale would be cut short, and she'd be sent "the long way" (around South America) to her new home port of Long Beach. Florida's loss is most definitely California's gain. (Lest you Floridians get upset with us, please let us remind you that the still-under-construction Carnival Dream will be calling Port Canaveral home starting later this year.)

The Carnival Splendor is a unique addition to the company's fleet. That's because she wasn't originally planned to be a Carnival ship but, rather, a sister ship to the Costa Concordia and Costa Serena. (Both Costa Cruise Lines and Carnival Cruise Lines operate under the same corporate umbrella.) Though Splendor will be very familiar (and comfortable) to those who have already sailed one of Carnival's Conquest-class ships, it also benefits by the larger spa and children's facilities presently found on its almost-sisters. You've likely seen the Carnival Splendor if you've had the opportunity to catch any of Carnival's current series of television ads starring improvisational comedian and "Fun Director" Matt Fisher.

We were very impressed by our short stay onboard. We found the food, entertainment, accommodations and service to be as good as, if not better then, that found on other members of the Carnival fleet, and superior to that of the company's mainstream competition. Most impressive to us was the ship's "Lido" dining options which, beyond the typical fare, included rotisserie, tandoori and deli stations, along with the ever-popular 24-hour pizzeria. Quantity is nothing without quality, however, but even here, Carnival more than excelled.

We experienced several examples of "above-and-beyond" customer service, but one really stood out. Shortly after we checked-in and found our cabin, we had a minor request for our cabin steward. The crew member we stopped in the hallway turned out to not be the one assigned to our particular cabin block. In situations such as this on other cruise lines, we'd either be politely reminded that our cabin steward would be in the area shortly, or we'd instead be asked to contact him or her via a telephone call to the front desk or to a paging system. Well, none of this was the case with the particular employee we had the pleasure of finding; not only did he ask us what assistance we needed, he said he'd relay the message to the cabin steward. We didn't even have the opportunity to think about our request again as, a very short time later, it was honored. That, our friends, is what customer service is all about.

Spectacular, Spectacular indeed.


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