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Impressed with how the employees stood out to be of service with their guests. Room service were all excellent, good job to James and all who service our family rooms ( 23/04 - 2430, 2038, 2392). Restaurant was at its finest bec of Alit, Wayan and Gelyn! Kudos everyone! Show details
Please don’t waste your money on a holiday that is terrible and disappointing. The food was terrible unless you paid a lot extra. Everything needs a booking with long queues and wait times despite paying for the cruise with the assumption you would not need a physical credit card or you would be cut off. I’ve been on holidays all over Australia and the works this is the worst and has put me off cruises forever . Show details
Reviews with attachments
Thank you Min Aung, stateroom attendant. The BEST The Cruise was as planned, a relaxed time away from my busy business Hunter Valley Tours www.hvtours.com.au ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Show details
- +7
Went on the 0ctober NZ 2025 from Sydney cruise for 10 days was wonderful especially due to great weather.Although boat was full it didn’t seem that busy everywhere.Would thoroughly recommend seeing New Zealand ports and the magical Fiordland park.Looking forward to next cruise on the adventure.Ocean view cabin was spacious and service as always excellent. Show details
Not a cruise person, but my observations, The Splendor decor is at first hilariously tacky, but after a few days it feels like you’re inside an overcrowded 90s RSL club. The outside is better at least. Staff are all good, but it’s clear they aren’t paid well. I actually had one of them ask me for a tip because he said they get so little, and… Read more
others complained about their conditions…… So we pay Australian prices, but Carnival pays them a much lower wage…. It seems unfair.
Despite Carnival paying no tax on alcohol, the bar prices are high and actually the same as the inflight menu in Virgin.
So a beer or wine is $11-$12, spirit with mixer is $14. Bottle of wine is about $42. The type of wine they have is cheaper, “Willowglen” and “De Bortoli” which cost under $9 in a bottle shop.
Wifi is $30 a day, but at least works well and I needed it to get some stuff done and to fill in the time whilst stuck onboard during 3 boring sea days on the way back from Vanuatu.
Food was OK, it reminded me of when I was in a hospital for a few months. It was a very decent private hospital, but it struck me the menu was precisely the same. Boring, safe food.
The staff is amazing, they are friendly happy even though they work bloody hard with the demand. Food was great only had one not so great meal, the decor was interesting, but it was great experience and again with great hard working staff. Show details
Another great cruise especially as weather was perfect and the seas.Not too busy for Easter holidays and as usual great service and food.Easy early boarding and saw Hobart and Port Arthur which we enjoyed.Everything went smoothly and looking forward to NZ cruise in October.Simon the cruise director is always fabulous. Show details
Latest follow-ups
In August 2025 i called carnival cruise to ask how much refund I would receive if I cancelled due to illness . The cruise ship going to New Zealand was to sail out 1st February 2026 for 11days. They said no refund due to the cruise special I… Read more
picked, which was not shown on my invoice and i was not aware. Refund policy was very misleading. Carnival cruise as kept my 800.00 deposit. Please be careful and check the policy and the cruise refund policy because they have so MANY different policies to mislead you. Also they have a penalty if you dont pay the final payment on time. See in photos below.
Follow-up · Never took out insurance, was too soon. I never paid the final payment. I booked the cruise online, direct with carnival and no special fare type was stipulated Cancelled my cruise with Carnival Splender, no confirmation and no refund of 800.00. No answers from Carnival to my questions by email, no follow-up phone calls. My friend said she went on a Carnival cruise and it was extreamly over crowded and decor was shocking.
Positive reviews
The Guest Services team, especially Subhankar Bera, was very kind and helpful. I really appreciate their support and the gesture they made. Thank you for making my cruise enjoyable
Absolutely loved our South Pacific cruise on carnival splendor. Cruising makes a great family holiday as you don’t need to cook or clean for a whole week , it’s heaven! Food was delicious and abundant, the menu changed every night so a great variety of food, entries and desserts. Kids loved the "larva" chocolate cake. All the food / real coffee… Read more
(machine with fresh ground beans) / juice is included in the price, except for high end restaurants and alcohol. We didn’t have to spend a cent more.
I found the coffee very weak. I worked out that the shot size is too small, so just press the "espresso" button 2 or 3 times, then press the capaccino button. Problem fixed!
There are endless entertainment options from shows/dances/comedy so you'll never get bored. I ended up doing a 30 minute gym session every day. Felt great and energised the whole trip.
Booking is so easy, just a few clicks and you’re off. All the research is done for you, no need to find hotels/tours/flights etc.
Staff were beautiful and friendly and looked after us like family (Gus and Pan we love you, thanks for taking care of us).
There are internet packages which are expensive, we ended up buying a 1 day, 24 hour pass , every 3 days to catch up. $30 per 24 hours (1 day). You can share the internet on different phones, but only 1 at a time over the 24 hours. Just download the carnival app, and you can purchase the internet from there. So over an 8 day cruise the internet only cost $60, pretty happy
The great thing about cruising is that it’s so easy to invite friends and family, they can just book another room. There are different room options for different budgets so everyone can come.
Pricing was very economic, paid $4,500 for 4 people 8 night, 3 countries. Bet that !!
Amazing experience! We went on the carnival Splendor from Sydney to Morton Island(Round Trip) and had the time of our lives!The waterslides were fun, the kids club were also fun, My child went to Circle C and said it was amazing with even PS5s!The staff were amazing!Some shout outs! I Gusti:Amazing attendant, fun and made out bed really well… Read more
Fredrick:One of the waiters at the Gold Pearl restaurant, and was every nice and friendly Arsa:Another attendant, very good Salman:Friendly waiter at the Gold pearl restaurant Ken:Only met him for A bit, but was a nice waiter too!
Negative reviews
Our cruise was paid for by my daughter as a gift. A few days before we were due to sail I had a fall and fractured the neck of my femur. I called Carnival to postpone our cruise and was told that I could not and in fact I would have to pay a hefty penalty to cancel.
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We took our two grandchildren on a 4 day cruise out of Sydney. It is fair to say that a cruise spent mostly at sea with another 3800 passengers is not one we would normally select, but our grandchildren wanted teen clubs and waterslides so we headed from Sydney to Moreton Island and back. We had balcony suites on deck 10 which were relatively… Read more
spacious although the decor was tired and worn and there was considerable noise from our neighbours and from the corridors. Priority boarding and disembarkation was a real godsend and the meals in the dining room were good but not great. The staff were efficient and very accommodating. The focus for many in board was drinking and gambling but that had little impact on us. One incident however really spoiled the cruise for us. Whilst my wife was in the Spa she handed in her cabin folio card at Reception was is required and it was then used by someone to purchase a $535 Seiko watch. It took nearly an hour to settle the dispute ant disembarkation even though the ships cameras could have proven it was not my wife who made the purchase. No apology was received and it took four days for the charge to be reversed.
ZERO STARS HONESTLY My daughter just got back from NZ 10day tour-FIRSTLY-hardly ANY VEGAN FOOD-even though the cruiseline was informed SEVERAL TIMES leading up to her holiday-THEN her wildlife tour was cancelled and they werent told-until the day -and THIS was her main reason for going- they ALSO arrived at most cítíes at 6am- THEN they made them… Read more
pay for a shuttle -to the CBD- where ABSOLUTELY NOTHING is open for 3-4hours! ALSO be warned you may NOT even get to SEE the fjordlands at all-OR even be informed by the cruiseline if they have decided NOT to go there -AS this happened to my kid too-which sadly was her other reason for going -NATURE AND WILDLIFE-she got neither
Recent reviews
I enjoyed the professionalism of the staff and my children liked the children's programs. We had a great time wondering around the ship, including the shows and spas. It was a great family holiday and I would do it again. Life is cruising. Leave the negative attitudes behind on the dock. You will love life. Show details
Very disappointing. The food was appalling and the ship is so over populated you can’t get a seat anywhere and feel like you’re in stampede whenever you go anywhere.
HORRIBLE. We will never take another carnival cruise! Negatives: Our cruise had to be rerouted due to "adverse weather", yet they sent us the wrong itinerary leaving us in Brisbane instead of bringing us back to Sydney. We never got a corrected itinerary. The interior decor is desperately outdated and not very well-kept, although the ship did… Read more
seem clean, just raggedy. The spa staff used pressure tactics to try to get us buy their crappy spa products when we had spa services. We had Elemis products in our spa suite, and the shampoo was disgusting- dried my hair out and felt very cheap, so no way did we want to purchase more of their products. The thermal pool was luke-warm at best and closed a lot of the time. The deck pools are tiny- maybe 20 people can fit standing up, but forget swimming ever. There were only a few hot tubs, and kids were in two of them all the time, and the other two were in the adult only section. There was only ONE variety show the entire cruise because they got a new cast. Guest services said the cast had to practice for the next cruise- so the rest of the so-called nightly entertainment was really minimal and pretty bad at that, but the next cruise will get what they paid for in terms of nightly entertainment. The comedians were vulgar, crude and not at all funny. The food was horribly cheap and tasteless except for a few meals. Don't be fooled that you will get freshly prepared Wok dishes because you can watch them prepare the food, but you are served from a tub of noodles/rice that was already prepared well before you walked up to the buffet. Most every thing costs extra money, and we felt Carnival is all about upcharging at every turn. Positives: The food and service in the specialty restaurant was excellent. The people who work on the cruise ship were mostly very kind and nice. Our massages were really great. But the negatives outweigh the positives, so 1 star is all this cruise ship deserves.
If I could give a 0 star I would. I booked my cruise, left a $400 deposit and due to medical reasons my doctor advised I couldn’t go. I contacted the Cruise Line 2 days after leaving my deposit, as well as my medical report. They said because I was outside of their 24 hour cooling off period, they wouldn’t be refunding me. My friend was going on… Read more
the same cruise, same dates, different booking. I asked if my deposit could be transferred onto their booking since they hadn’t yet payed the balance. The answer was no. No leeway. All this cruise line are, are money hoarders. I do not recommend.
Our last cruise with Carnival was awful and unfortunately the cruise we embarked on 4/12/25 was no better. I am relieved we have no more pre-booked cruises with this company. I could address all the usuals - cold food of poor quality, ship cleanliness or lack of, extremely intoxicated patrons etc. These complaints have been expressed by others. My… Read more
complaints are about add ons that are so not worth the money. 1. High Tea. For 3 people, $117. What you receive is: A dried out scone and a dry pastries. A teapot with one, yes one, teabag. During breakfast, two bags are supplied. Explain that one. Also, the advertised glass of bubbles was non existing. Do not purchase this promotion. 2. Premium cruise the vineyard 5 bottle package. $260 Oh my, this one is to be avoided. Premium wine? Not even close. Two wines were ghastly, one passable, one undrinkable and we gave up on the last one. And waiters don't appear to enjoy receiving the coupon to redeem the wine. Rico in the BLACK Pearl especially. Show time is tired, really tired. Either reinvent or lose it. Carnival has gone from affordable cruising to dog turd presentation. Oh well, so it goes.
I traveled from Sydney to New Zealand. The cabin was good in size and clean but we were very disappointed in the food. We didn’t have a hot meal in the buffet over the whole ten days. The food was put out 30 minutes before the buffet was open and just placed on top of the buffet. Just before opening time they placed the food in the Bain Marie but… Read more
by this time it was stone cold. Coffee machine often didn’t work and when it did the cappuccino was cold. I am planing another cruise to the Queensland coast but will be looking for another cruise liner. This was my 5th cruise but definitely the worst
I wrote a review 18months ago saying how wonderful carnival cruises were.well they still are . especially the crew.however we have done a further 3 cruises and had booked 4more .we came off 3 cruises with rhino virus spent 6 nights in hospital seriously ill and an account from the ship's medical centre for almost $3000 for less than 5hours in the… Read more
medical centre.we strongly recommend that when traveling with this company that you take Glen 20 and spray your cabin often as the virus could be on that ship.we have now cancelled all cruises with carnival our health is paramount.
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Avoid like the plague! This was to be our 6th cruise with Carnival, but no loyalty or trust given to us. We paid a deposit, have a receipt. We paid the balance, have a receipt and email stating paid in full. We then get an email saying we owed $1000, but if you've paid this disregard the email. We disregarded the email as we had all confirmed… Read more
emails and receipts stating, paid in full. We then find out cruise was cancelled as we didn't contact them in time to fix the problem. Remember we had paid in full. We called carnival customer service who treated us like we were st>pid, it was all our fault and we needed to sort it out with the bank. We then find out the link from the website was a scam and we paid a dodgy on seller who no one knows about. Carnival still treating us like id*ots. Absolute joke.
Tired old ship with tired old amenities. No wonder Carnival flogged it off to the less than discerning Australian cruise public. If you like stodgy, tasteless and unappetising food, shore excursions to boring nondescript islands that even olden day pirates wouldn't leave their prisoners on, then cruise with Carnival Splendor. A cruise line… Read more
designed to separate money from their Guests. The only upside is that the long suffering staff are wonderful but have to endure serving on this crappy old tub.
The produce they choose are certainly the cheapest they can find. But instead putting some effort in to create something tasty they don't care and serve absolute disgusting dishes with no flavour. They even recycle old chips on next days buffet. They smear some batter and sauce on top and give it a name. You are forced to use their app. When… Read more
trying to book a restaurant seat on the phone we were rudely told only booking by app is accepted but after doing so it didn't work anyway. No menus for guests in restaurants. I didn't use the app in our group and was the only one who had constant 4g reception and didn't have to purchase Internet!!!
The Ship is extremely tacky, colour and decoration very confusing. Lido buffet, stay away at all cost, had long lines. Traying to get a table was hard to get, lucky to get one, food lacked variety and dry. … Read more
The Dining room had set menus, much better than the buffet. the staff were very nice. Nahang,Alex,Serg,Min and Jose WE give 10/10. This was the worse cruise, very poor food selection. Entertainment was very limited we were disappointed. The cabin was comfy and clean, the cabin lady Win we give her 10/10. The disembarkation was smooth, only needed collect yours luggage and walk yours way out. Moreton Bay was amazing we like 10/10. Angel, Margaret.
Cruise was great soured by handling on of owed funds! Everybody needs to know, first time sailing with carnival, trip was great, but settling funds was and still is Stressful & extremely frustrating. There payment systems are sitting on old payment technology! Carnival owe's me $111.00 AUD. the plan was guest services were supposed to take it off… Read more
the bill. Upon Disembarkment they advised this couldn’t be done??? As the bill had already been settled. Just apply it to my credit card please?? I was told this can’t be done!! They will have to send a cheque? Yes that’s right a Cheque!! Why? they just cant. Happy to take your money via an app, but they can’t reimburse you via the same app or give you a credit because we were at port. Even worse they hadn’t settled my bill until 4 days later. BTW i work in payments i know how the system works. They still haven’t sent my cheque for $111.00. These guys are happy to take your money but when they owe you, they avoid it. These guys are rude. They still have my money and its now, leaveing a bad taste in my mouth! Won’t be cruising with Carnival ever again after 23 emails and 6 phone calls, still they have my money!! Here is the latest transcript: Hi there, Thank you for following up with us. We placed your request on 8/14/2025 for Accounting to review. At this time, we are still waiting on our Accounting team to get back to us. We do not have a specified time that this check will be processed; however, please be assured that your request is in queue and will be processed in the order it was received. Due to the volume of our requests and backlog, there are delays in processing outstanding balance requests. We appreciate your continued patience. Please know, we follow up with Accounting regularly to ensure we receive the latest updates, which we will do our best to provide you once your check has been processed. Again, we appreciate your continued patience and apologize for the delay. Kind Regards, Michael Global Gaming Services | Carnival Corporation & PLC. www.oceanplayersclub.com Consult CDC's website for the latest CDC cruise travel advice, warnings, and recommendations.
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Extremely disappointed with Carnival Spendor. Totally not worth the money - poor service, bad communication, the food is terrible. The staff are careless. If you do make the poor decision to choose Carnival splendor, don’t pay for any extras. It’s not worth it and they don’t deliver. We paid for Faster to the Fun and nothing was delivered on… Read more
time. Check-in was disorganised. The Carnival booking rep had entered the birthdate of a relative incorrectly so we had to wait to get it sorted. The ground staff were good, however, as were the restaurant teams. Anything outside that was a disaster. Bathroom had a dirty/mouldy sink hole. The carpet left stains on our socks. We had asked for a shower chair - this wasn’t delivered. The credit card wasn’t attached to my account even though I had completed this during check in. More time spent at Guest Services!! The air circulation in the room was so poor, we woke up with bad headaches. Guest service team members were sullen and not helpful. Bar staff refused repeatedly to provide straws. We asked for a spare one for a large drink, and the staff member refused. During a show, the staff member brought a can of soft drink without a glass or a straw, and refused to bring one for our elderly relative. Incidentally, this was her first cruise and she couldn’t understand why we had chosen to go on this cruise. We were mortified by her bad experience, and by the waste of good money. Power is slow so it took hours to charge the phone. There was only one electrical outlet.
This ship has been an absolute monkeys paw of an experience. You get what you wished for but its not as you expected. Unique styling? Yes but its extremely dated and tacky, with odd colour choices and confusing decoration. Round the clock food and drinks? Yes but you'd be lucky to keep any of it down. I had never spat a dish out before trying… Read more
the eggs benidict. Stay away from the buffet at all costs and keep dining to the hit-or-miss black/gold pearl dining areas.
Drinks aren't much better with most bars just throwing an excessive amount of alcohol in a glass and somehow calling it a mojito. However that cannot be said for the compotent staff at the alchemy bar who serve up some truly amazing cocktails.
A round the clock activity and entertainment roster? The entertainment I genuinely have nothing but praise for. The Playlist cast and various bands who played at the Red Frog pub were an absolute delight and brought an energy to their performances that kept us coming back night after night.
The same cannot be said for the activity staff who awkwardly dragged on every trivia or karaoke session. On one occasion, the song-guessing game host decided to google what deadly sin every character of Gilligans Island represented. This was a 5 minute long tangent of googling and muttering to himself over a piece of obscure trivia that he fished out of his memory. I kept my composure but have never felt like heckling anyone in my life until that point.
Comfortable rooms? The rooms were as dated as the rest of the ship's styling. Deli-ham pink trimming and purely decorative power plugs line the roach motel rooms that you will be staying in for the duration of your cruise. The beds are actually quite comfortable, and sadly that's the only positive for the accommodation.
Internet and their dreadful Hub app are unreliable and poorly made.
Coming from a 10 times repeat cruiser, I really wouldn't recommend this ship to anyone who has sailed on one before. To anyone who is looking for a first time cruise. Your money could be better spent elsewhere, but its not the worst ship you could sail on as someone without a benchmark.
This ship is in desperate need of a refresh and I sincerely hope carnival is proactive enough to give it one.
Food - disgusting. The only food worth eating are the 'extra' options Room - threadbare carpet and old mattress. Service - usually good, the few who were not were stand out nasty. Some guy peddling $8 'fresh' juice with an annoying "yoo hoo, juicy, juicy" during breakfast. Really annoying. Super drunk people being verbally and physically… Read more
aggressive. Responsible service of alcohol does not apply. Carnival - cheap, nasty, dirty and depressing. Now they have swallowed P and O, I will cancel two future cruises on the Adventure. There's three days of my life I will never get back.
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update stillno payment from these guys.. owed since July.