Fascination Review: Feb 2006

This is a review of my cruise onboard the Fascination.

Date of Cruise: Feb 17 - 20, 2006

Prior Cruise Experience:

Carnival Celebration

Golden Princess

Celebrity Century

Celebrity Mercury

Celebrity Summit

RCI Rhapsody of the Seas

RCI Enchcantment of the Seas

My DD and I attended a conference onboard the Fascination. There were 1200 people in the Conference. The Group was Moms and Daughters, and it was a Getaway Retreat....with Brio Magazine, a product of Focus on the Family. The Conference was AWESOME ! Highly recommend it !

Pre Cruise: One day in Miami. We booked one night at the Courtyard by Marriott Downtown on Priceline. This is a 2.5 star hotel, by Priceline's standards. We got it for $55.00. At the time I booked it, Travelocity and Courtyard by Marriott were selling it for $189.00 per night. It was a great hotel. For the price we paid, I feel that we really got a good deal.

We arrived in Miami late at night and took a taxi to the hotel. The taxi fare was $24.00. The taxi driver was extremely rude.

The staff at the Courtyard were exceptional. Everyone.

The Courtyard serves a buffet breakfast...which was $10.98 per person. We did this...and it was very good.

However, there is a bakery about 2 minutes from the hotel, with tables and chairs, etc...

After I saw it, I wished that we had spent half the money and gone there.

There is also a Walgreens within walking distance.

Coming next: Embarking the Fascination !

Embarkation: We arrive at the pier at 11:15 am. The staff at the Pier were exceptional. And, everything was very organized. I am impressed, Carnival.

Because we had priority checkin... (Skipper Club?) (because we have booked a suite), they take us to a room (office) to process our paperwork. This was quite nice and I had not experienced it on any other line that I have sailed on. Within 5 minutes, we head out to get our cabin keys.

We are boarding the ship at 11:45 am, with the first group of 50 to board the ship.

The Cabin

Our Category 12 Suite is ready for us. (#U104) This is basically a large cabin, with a nice sized balcony. No other whistles and bells.

The tub/shower was very dark. The lights over the tub did not work. The tub reminded me of a handicapped tub/shower that I had experienced at a relatives house when I was a child. I am 5'6" and the ceiling in the tub was very close to my head. Showering was never a pleasant experience.

There was an odor coming from the toilet, when the lid was open.

Pretty significant wear and tear throughout the suite. The curtains were broke.

The linens appeared to be fairly new and they were very nice and comfortable. They were all white. The beds were comfortable to sleep in.

A large enough walk in closet.

Two nice robes, for our use during the cruise.

A TV, with VCR.

Coming up next.... The Ship !

The Ship:

We left the Port of Miami @ 4:30 pm.

The Fascination is small, dark and unimpressive. The pool area is very unattractive. The wood deck is in great need of treatment.

Not much to say in this area.

The dining room service/food: The staff was very nice, but lacking the training that I have experienced on other lines.

We were offered bread only one time during dinner each night.

Dirty plates sat in front of us for a very long time before being picked up.

Food was ok. Presentation was ok.

I did have Prime Rib one night...and the meat was completely covering the baked potato. I wasn't sure what that bump was. :confused:

I would categorize the food as what I might find in a diner. In fact, the dining room looked like a diner. Many of the "tables" were booths. Lots of blinking lights.

The Cabin Attendant

The cabin was always cleaned well.

However, please do not ask me if I would like to have my cabin cleaned. I do not think that was very professional.

The breakfast room service menu was never put in our cabin.

My friend sailing in another cabin, ordered breakfast with this form one evening...and the breakfast never showed up the following morning.

Twice, he came knocking on the door....and when my DD opened the door, he said "Oh"...and walked away.

Just evidence of lack of training.

Room Service A really nice selection !

We ordered several things throughout the weekend.

An excellent fajita wrap.

Also...a shrimp sandwich ! :)

Coming up Next...... Shows onboard

Shows:

We did watch one of the shows in the Theatre, with the Fascination Dancers.

We left halfway through the show...as the costumes, words to the music and dance gestures were very sexual in nature and it was not what we wanted to lay our eyes on.

I had experienced this very thing on one other Carnival cruise I had sailed on.

We saw many, many, many folks walking out of the theatre before we did.

Needless to say, we did not attend any more shows onboard.

The Laundry: On the Saturday of the cruise....they advertised a $15.00 fee to clean a bag of clothes. This was a special.

I did not do this....but I did send out a pair of pants to be laundered.

They were not returned to me.

Late in the night, before Disembarkation morning, I called the Information Desk and inquired about my pants.

They searched and found them....and brought them to my cabin.

The Port of Nassau: Only one port on this three night itinerary.

We had booked a room at the Comfort Suites, for the purpose of having access to the Atlantis facilities.

The room at CS was $200. plus fees & taxes. Came to $250.00.

With the room, you get access for FOUR people to the Atlantis.

The Atlantis is right across the street.

Paradise Island is beautiful !

The Atlantis is Grandiose !

My goodness.

Accomodations for thousands...on site.

The facility is very large and had large amounts of guests.

We stayed at the Beach for about an hour. We drank a banana drink prepared from the juice of a coconut...which was cracked open in our presence. So cool. So delicious.

The cost: $7.00 Includes a free refill.

We visited the aquarium, waterslide, lagoon (snorkeling), etc...

There is a great area where many stingrays & sharks reside. We watched an employee feeding them. Really cool.

It was a good day at the Atlantis.

The taxi ride from the ship to the Comfort Suite...was $4.00 per person, each way. There is a $1.00 bridge toll (over to paradise Island) that you pay only going over to the Island.

If you are planning on visiting the Atlantis, I would recommend contacting the hotel ahead of time...and requesting a map to the grounds. It's huge.

ALL of the local Bahamas folks that we encountered were very nice !! This was very nice to experience.

We head to find a taxi ..... to take us to the Straw market for some shopping before heading to the ship.

Great little bargains at the Straw Market.

Lots of fake purses.

Lots of straw items.

Lots of kids...begging you to buy their little products.

If you will be visiting this area, I would recommend you bring along a few child items in your purse. The children would have been delighted to receive such things.

Coming next: Final Comments

Final Comments:

Unfortunately, I am unable to recommend the Fascination or Carnival Cruiseline to anyone.

Everything about the ship and the service was mediocre.

This was the second experience I have had like this on Carnival.

Why settle for mediocre, when there are better choices out there.

Very Respectfully Posted,

I'm sorry you didn't have a good time on your trip. I've always wondered how the older ships with shorter itineraries would compare to the newer ships with week or long sailings.

I'm intrigued that you had a conference onboard. When I was a young girl I used to subscribe to Brio magazine and loved it (had clubhouse before that)! Was it a purity conference? Who spoke? Was the experience of the conference at least good for you and DD?

I have one daughter and another one on the way and I can't wait to share these kinds of things with them!

I'm sorry you didn't have a good time on your trip. I've always wondered how the older ships with shorter itineraries would compare to the newer ships with week or long sailings.

 

I'm intrigued that you had a conference onboard. When I was a young girl I used to subscribe to Brio magazine and loved it (had clubhouse before that)! Was it a purity conference? Who spoke? Was the experience of the conference at least good for you and DD?

 

I have one daughter and another one on the way and I can't wait to share these kinds of things with them!

Hi ilovethesun......

The Conference was great. I don't think they could have done a better job.

Susie Shellenberger (editor of Brio) (co-hosted Life on the Edge) was the key speaker/leader. She is incredible.

Natalie Grant wat there. She lead the worship one day and then did a concert on the last day. She has a very powerful testimony.

The 2006 Brio girl was there and only spoke briefly.

Evelyn Husband (wife of the deceased Columbia Commander) and her 15 yo DD spoke.

Jamie Jamgochian (worship leader/songwriter) lead the worship at the opening of every session.

Lisa Foiles (Hollywood actress) (Nickelodeon's All That) (Malcolm in the Middle) spoke about being a Christian in Hollywood. Her Mom spoke with her, about the challenges of raising a child to be a Hollywood star.

There were a few others.

This was Brio's first cruise. They are planning on doing more.

Eventually they want to charter the entire ship. For a three night cruise, in order to charter, the price would increase by $200. per person.....(that's about $400,000.) in order to shut down the casino and offer no alcohol.

Brio also is doing a Mission Trip every year. This summer they are going to Peru. They have 500 people going. Last year, they had 800. Parents can go too.

When Brio set out to do this cruise, they planned for a group of 200.

They ended up with 1200. :D

I would hope no-one would judge carnival on the basis of a 3 day cruise on its older ships! These are the low budget "quickie" trips. Expecations should correspond to that.

We loved our Fascination cruise - the food was OK to good, the service was excellent, the ship while older was just fine.

And what a great way to get away for a few days!