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All text and photographs (unless stated otherwise) ©  Paul Timmerman

Splendour of the Seas is the second of the Vision-class ships built from 1955 to 1998. This class consists of 6 vessels, Legend of the Seas (1995), Splendour of the Seas (1996), Grandeur of the Seas (1996), Enchantment of the Seas (1997), Rhapsody of the Seas (1997) and Vision of the Seas (1998). Of these ships Enchantment of the Seas and Grandeur of the Seas were built by Finnish Masa Yards and the other ships by Chantiers l'Atlantique at St Nazaire.

 A trademark of RCCL (see company history) is the so called Viking Crown Lounge, which used to be an integral part of the funnel on the lines earliest ships, Song of Norway, Nordic Prince and Sun Viking built in the early seventies. This was also the case on RCCL's first mega ships Sovereign of the Seas, Majesty of the Seas and Monarch of the Seas. As far as the Vision class is concerned, only Legend and Splendour of the Seas have their Viking Crown Lounge incorporated in the funnel. The other ships have a separate lounge, placed on the top deck midships. There is one definite advantage of the "new" Viking Crown Lounge over the older version, which is that in Splendour's case, it is situated right above the atrium. On the earliest RCCL vessels, one had to go outdoors, cross the deck and then climb a flight of stairs to reach the lounge. When we sailed on the Majesty of the Seas, we could stay indoors but had to make our way aft to get to the elevators that would take us to the Viking Crown Lounge. It often was almost empty. On the Splendour, we could take either of the two elevators in the atrium and simply reach it as it was placed on top of the atrium. It was obvious that passengers used it far more often than on the other ships.     

                                                                         View on Compass deck

Splendour of the Seas is a Vision-class ship, which simply refers to the more than two acres of glass used everywhere on the ship; the most stunning example of this being the glass walls on either side of the dining room The King and I, designed by Norwegian architect Njal Eide. Of course the use of glass has always been prominent on  RCCL's ships, the earlier mentioned Viking Crown panorama lounge and the glass walled atria with their glass elevators being fine examples here of. Even from the Windjammer Cafe, a buffet restaurant located above the bridge, one enjoys magnificent views as it is enclosed by glass on three sides.

Speaking of public spaces, let us descend to the lower level of the atrium. the Champagne Terrace is situated here, around the center part of the atrium, which features a piano placed on a raised marble floor. Looking up we admire a large golden disc with a diameter of over 5m hanging in the air! Apart from this great work of art there are almost another 2000 pieces of artwork to be found on the ship. Near the atrium we come across the rather small, intimate Champagne Bar followed by the Schooner Bar which is decorated in nautical themes like curtains that look like sails.

                                                      Impressive artwork on board.....

Click on thumbnail for larger image

           Optix Teen Center, Compass deck                                King  & I  dining room Promenade/ Main deck

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                                            Go to Splendour of the Seas page 2

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