No time for Wi-Fi on the Splendida

“This is bigger than the Titanic,” said five-year-old Cuba Kaiser when he first laid eyes on the MSC Splendida at Durban harbour.

And being a 21st-century child, his very next question was whether there would be Wi-Fi on the ship, or not.

His four-year-old brother, Jett, piped up and told him he’d seen people on cruises, on YouTube, holding up cell phones and taking pictures, so there must be internet.

It was the beginning of a great adventure for two preschoolers who’d never been on a ship.

From cabin deck passages through to the pool, restaurants and the kids’ area, everything was a potential adventure and needed to be explored. Especially the jacuzzis, jetting hot water that saw the two youngsters jump in an ice-cold pool, head out to warm up in the hot tub, and race back into the cold water.

It was a game that lasted for all five days. They never tired of it. Nor did the pair find boredom in endless rounds of mini 10-pin bowling in the sports bar area.

“We want to go balling,” the peanut gallery blurted out in between wanting pizza and pancakes for breakfast, lunch and dinner.

“It’s an absolutely mindblowing adventure for kids,” said mom Kylie. “The kids’ club offers great edutainment fun for children but there’s so much else to do for families to be together,” she said, adding a date night for mom and dad was the only reason to really let the kids play under supervision.

“And there’s so much latitude for romance, even just enjoying the spectacular sunsets together.”

“The kids’ club was super cool,” said Jett. “We made folded paper boats and masks,” he added.

“And we played with lots and lots of Lego,” Cuba said.

“And then we went to dream island,” Jett said. “It was more beautiful than Mauritius island.”

Jett loved disembarking onto a tender for a short cruise to the beach.

“The water is pretty big,” he said, remembering the swells that saw ocean spray passengers before hitting the beach.

“There wasn’t a moment of boredom,” said Kylie. “Not once, and on disembarkation both boys were upset that it was home time.”