David Holman's Page

Just back from my second trip on the Carnival Splendor. I was on a two day Cruise to Nowhere in March. She is still beautiful. I have reviewed her before, and gave in-depth information on the ship itself, so this review is just going to be some random impressions of things I didn't get to on the previous trip. There will also be several other reviews of this sailing, which will probably give more detail on the itinerary. I finally had the chance to try all the buffet options, which was imposs… Continue

The Carnival Splendor is an absolutely beautiful ship. Much of the commentary has been about the "Pinkness" - personally, thought it was okay, mostly a soft pink, and with compementary colors that toned it down...and it is far from Joe Farcus' (Carnival's long-time Architect, responsible for some of the boldest and glitziest ships at sea) wildest interior. The layout of the Splendor would be familiar enough to anyone who has cruised the Conquest Class ships of Carnival - with some elements added… Continue

Wasted Potential I am just going to give an overview of my recent 10 day Caribbean sailing on the MSC Lirica. For those who might be interested in more day to day detail, I wrote a live daily review, and you can view it here: http://www.boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=941026 First to give credit where it is due, the ship is maintained beautifully, and there was no hint that she is six years old, although the basic design is older than that, and from the wheelchair accessibility angle,… Continue

I have written about me and my brothers first experience on a cruise ship with a wheelchair, and how vastly better cruise ships are today, in terms of wheelchair accessibility. The same is true of hotels. In our early wheelchair traveling days, hotels were generally a major hassle, with narrow doors, totally inaccessible bathrooms, etc. In the last few years, however, nearly every hotel we have stayed in has been relatively accomodating, with many barrier-free showers, larger rooms (or rooms wit… Continue

Amtrak - Riding the Rails An oft-overlooked vacation style, Amtrak. Although the Golden Age of Train Travel passed decades ago, there is still much to recommend using Amtrak for your next vacation. I have taken the Amtrak's Sunset Limited (Los Angeles to Orlando) round trip, the Southwest Chief (Chicago to Los Angeles) end to end and the Texas Eagle (San Antonio to Chicago) end to end.I have also ridden partial routes from LA to Oregon, St. Louis to Kansas City, and New York to D.C. One thing a… Continue