Fantasy Review- 2/22/10- 2/26/10 with pics

[DemonPeeves]

I remember a few weeks ago several people were asking "Anyone been on the Fantasy lately? I havent seen any reviews." and such so I thought that I would do one upon my return and here I am. Plus I think it may be a fun way to wrap up a great vacation.

 

We drove 14 hours from NW Indiana to Mobile for this cruise. We decided to stay at a hotel and just park at the terminal. After quite the drive, we finally see it!

 

 

Now I know some have stated that they've had to wait hours to get into the parking garage and such, but we arrived at about 10:45am and pulled right in. They grabbed our bags, we paid and parked and went into the terminal. It took about 10 minutes. The line moved quickly and we were on the Fantasy by about 11:20am.

 

We went to our room, E83, right away to check it out. I have to say, it was the best location. Deck 7 where you board and about 7 rooms down the hall. It was quick to get to everything and even though they had piano players and people congregating in the Grand Spectrum, we couldnt hear anything once we were in our room.

Here are some pics of the room:

 

 

 

 

 

 

I think I can only include 6 pics in a post, so I'll put more on the next...

[conchead]

I am gonna start by saying....I Love the Fantasy!!

[h_blond2]

I'm so excited to read your review! I was on the Fantasy last summer and I loved it!

[DemonPeeves]

Some more random room pics. :-)

 

 

 

 

There isnt a hairdryer in the room, so you'll have to bring your own. I did and just kept it in the desk drawer since that was one of the only outlets. There is an outlet in the bathroom above the sink, but... I plugged it in, the cord fell out and crashed right onto a glass and broke it. Nice... At least it didnt break a mirror! Who wants bad luck?

 

After checking out our room, we went on upstairs to the Windows on the Sea buffet. I didnt take any pictures of the food. Sorry, but I just usually want to eat it and never think to take pics of it. :-) I am not sure what was truly offered that day because I went straight to the deli next to the pizzeria for a corned beef/ pastrami sandwich. Very good sandwiches, I think. The free drinks that are available are iced tea and lemonade. I didnt see any punch. Drinks werent really a big deal for us all cruise because we actually brought 2 cases of a soda and a case of water on the cruise and got it all in no problem. I know the website states an acceptable amount of non alcoholic drinks and perhaps I pushed the limit but it worked so whatever.

 

After lunch, it was time to explore the ship before it got too busy.

 

The Grand Spectrum:

 

 

[CMOTO]

I will be on her in 54 days, glad your writing this review, can't wait to read more!!!

Love the pic's!!!!

[DemonPeeves]

Sorry if I go overboard with the ship pictures, but its my favorite part!

 

The Promenade, which actually turned out to be quite the hangout on the last sea day because it was very windy and chilly. Lots of people pushed tables together and were playing cards and games there.

 

 

 

The Bistro on the Promenade. Very good iced white chocolate moccachinos!!!

 

 

The Casino, which was always hopping and we walked through it but never donated. It was kind of cool in there. I always wondered if they're pumping fresh oxygen in there or something to keep you in high spirits... :-)

 

 

Cleopatra's Piano Bar, which I only went into to take pictures. It was usually pretty busy though. The pianist, Richie, was pretty good when I heard him play on the Lido deck so that must have sucked everyone in.

 

 

[DemonPeeves]

Now if you like karaoke, this was the place to be. Cat's Lounge hosted karaoke three nights, I think. One day it was closed for a Camp Carnival party of some sorts and I thought it was cute when I walked by to look in and see a bunch of little kids all doing the Cha Cha Slide and having a blast. I guess Carnival does allow the kids some fun activities, which seems pretty good for them.

 

Anyway, here is the Cat's Lounge:

 

 

 

The Forum Lounge, past the Majestic Bar, is also a place they had karaoke and the art auctions.

 

 

One night they had a Carnival crew party in the Forum Lounge and it was closed to guests, but you could still hear them having a good time. I'm glad they had some fun activities because I tell you... they are all working so hard. Always cleaning, painting, sweeping, etc... and I found everyone to be incredibly friendly too.

 

Here is a pic of the cigar bar, Majestic Bar. Its at the end of the Promenade and you have to go through it to get to Camp Carnival. Hmmm... go through the cigar bar to get to the kid zone... seemed odd but I didnt design it. :-)

 

[DemonPeeves]

Ok, before we move on up to the outside, here are some more interior pics:

 

Decorations:

 

 

The Electricity Disco, which was a great late night hangout. The DJ played a great mix of new dance and old school dance songs as well. Our last night there was a Michael Jackson tribute hour.

 

Spa Carnival:

 

Internet cafe, which is right on deck 7 down the hall from our room:

 

And yes, there was a gym, but I'm allergic to the gym on vacation so I didnt even go up there! Our tablemates went there in the morning and mentioned weights and treadmills, so I know it had those things.

[CMOTO]

Keep'em coming, loving the review!!!!!

[DemonPeeves]

And yes, we havent even sailed away from Mobile yet and my husband wanted to throw me overboard with all of the picture taking so I had to kindly remind him that he bought me the super memory card so I had to try to fill it up! And I bought him a drink of the day and he got over it.

 

Here is the Lido deck:

 

And I have to say this was the first time I was ever on a boat where the pool wasnt filled up yet. I remember hopping on the Miracle and my neice was in the pool right away. I later saw that at night they emptied the pools and hot tubs and there was a guy in there with goggles and boots cleaning them out so perhaps they didnt fill it up since the weather in Mobile wasnt that great. I'm not sure but just a head's up in case the kids plan on jumping in when they get on the ship.

 

 

Carnival Water Works:

 

 

 

 

After all of this, we had to go down to our muster station for the drill. It was the most laid back drill I've ever had. No jackets. And we congregated down on the Promenade near the Bistro. We had to listen to an announcement about how to put on your jackets and where the whistle was... blah blah... and then we had to wait. They called stations one by one and we had to walk single file upstairs to the Lido deck and stand by the boats. We literally just stood there. Then the horn did its thing and we were done. Time to leave Mobile!!!

[DemonPeeves]

Leaving Mobile...

 

 

 

Now we just hung out on the Lido deck while we sailed away... we met a nice couple from Kentucky and ended up chatting away.

 

We eventually went down to our room and our luggage was already there. Wooohooo! This was the fasted I've ever received my luggage before. Now I should have dressed up a bit nicer for dinner since we had our luggage, but we thought we'd take advantage of the whole "oh, the luggage isnt here yet" and just wear our jeans and polos into the dining room. :-) I do like to take advantage and be casual on the first night.

 

We were in the early seating in the Jubilee dining room. Our waiters were Maximo and Mere. I found Maximo to be one of the most serious waiters I've ever had (dont get me wrong, he was friendly and efficient, just seemed very serious) and Mere was a pretty funny guy who always ended the night telling us a funny joke. The first night was "How did Captain Hook die?"... "He wiped with the wrong hand." It was just funny coming from a guy from Indonesia. Our bar waiter was Imyoman who kept reminding us "I'm your man" and always addressed us by our first names. He was great! Stan the Man was the Maitre D and kept trying to convince everyone he was from Mississippi... hmmm... at least he was present though. And yes, there was dining entertainment every night. The first night, they sang "That's Amore" and made us all get up and dance by our tables. The next two nights they danced and on the last they sang us a take on that song "I'm leaving on a jet plane" except they changed the words to be about cruising.

 

Now I was very worried about the whole dining experience. I've normally travelled with a group and on the last cruise it was my husband and I on our honeymoon so I emailed Royal and asked for a table for two by the window, which we got. I couldnt find any emails for Carnival so I figured we'd take our chances and see how it worked out. It worked out great! We were at a table for 10, 4 other married couples our age and we just had a blast. I cant believe how lucky we got. I hope everyone else had as much fun as we did with our dining group. It does pay to take a chance and now I have 8 new great Facebook friends as well.

 

Also about dining- I didnt take any food pics! I can tell you that yes, the warm chocolate melting cake does have crack in it or something because its soooo addicting and yummy! The jerk pork was a bit blah... The mahi mahi was a bit overcooked. Everything else we tried, was great! Our table all tried several things each night and there werent any complaints except the ones I mentioned above.

 

After dinner, we wandered and ended up going to the Game Show Mania in the Universe Lounge. Here is the main lounge:

 

 

If you are a pop culture fan, participate! It was a lot of fun and they played about 3 rounds so 9 different people got to play. Do it and get your ship on a stick!

[DemonPeeves]

First day at sea- yeah!!! What do you do your first day at sea? Pretty much nothing!!!

 

 

 

Blob on the deck, absorb the sun that you havent seen in months, thaw from the many inches of snow you've gotten and enjoy the drinks of the day!

 

Everyone else must have had the same idea because it was packed outside!!! We had to grab some stacked up chairs and lay them out on the deck in order to sit down. Every single chair was occupied. Were there chair hogs? I am sure but I wasnt about to fight over some chairs since I did take my time getting to the deck anyway.

 

Throughout the day they did have music on the deck as well as some activities. They had the Master Mixologist contest. They choose 5 people to make some cocktails and picked some judges. Its pretty cool if you get to participate because they give you some drink vouchers. The drink that won was some chocolate liquor and Mr. Pibb. I didnt try it but they did offer it after the contest for $1 less as a promotion.

Here are some pics:

 

 

They also had the hairiest chest competition which was pretty entertaining. I feel bad for the older woman judge as she had to close her eyes and rub her face in the chest hair and smell it.

Here are the lucky contestants:

 

[Pattyjo9951]

Great review!! We will be on the Fantasy on 30 days!!! We are very excited! We are driving from St. louis. We did you all stay for the night in Mobile? We want to just drive to the pier so have a shuttle from the hotel is not important to us!! Thanks for any tips you can give us! Look forward to more of your review!

[DemonPeeves]

The evening of the first sea day was formal night. I know there was a captains reception and I think drinks were $1 off but we did not go. I was too busy drowning in aloe for absorbing too much sun, I think. I should have known better! My NW Indiana skin is not used to that much sun at once. Oops!

 

I have to say that my husband surprised me this evening for our anniversary. He had some champagne, chocolate covered strawberries and a rose sent to the room. It was a nice surprise! Nice bucket... hehehehe...

 

 

And another great towel animal as well as my first invite to a past guest party. Woohooo!

 

This night we just checked our karaoke and the late night adult comedian, who was hilarious. If you are not easily offended, go check out the late night shows. Very good times!!

 

The next morning was Calica, which I learned is pronounced Ca-lee-ka. I was saying it wrong this whole time. Oh well. Now I had heard that it was a dump, it looks like a rock quarry...blah blah... and yeah, when you pull up, its a bit interesting for a port.

 

 

 

 

See... a bit interesting...

[DemonPeeves]

Great review!! We will be on the Fantasy on 30 days!!! We are very excited! We are driving from St. louis. We did you all stay for the night in Mobile? We want to just drive to the pier so have a shuttle from the hotel is not important to us!! Thanks for any tips you can give us! Look forward to more of your review!

 

 

Road trip!!

 

We stayed at a place called the Rodeway Inn and Suites, which was off of route 10. It was about 10 miles west of the port. I found it on Priceline for about $34.99. It is in an area where there are about 6 other hotels and there are restaurants nearby. I know its a bit cheap, but I thought I'd take my chances. It was fine. The staff was friendly, the room was clean and it was pretty quiet area. The ride to the port was less than 20 minutes away.

[DemonPeeves]

So we head on down off of the boat and there is a little mini strip of vendors and even a little make shift bar at the end, which became a great hang out when we returned later.

 

 

We didnt have any excursions planned for this port so we thought we'd wing it. We walked to the end of this little strip and there was a taxi stand where the locations you could go to and the price was listed. This definately helps you from getting ripped off. Two older ladies asked if we wanted to split the $13 cab ride to Playa del Carmen and we said sure. So about 7 minutes and $6.50 later we were dropped off in a shopping center near the beach in Playa del Carmen.

 

 

 

 

We did some shopping, grabbed some cervesas and walked the streets. You can carry your alcoholic beverages on the streets there. Yes, the some vendors were pretty pushy but you get used to just ignoring them or saying "no thanks". After wandering for a while we went to the center of the strip where there was another taxi stand and got our $13 cab ride back to Calica. I was happy because I got to practice my Spanish since our driver didnt speak much English. It was a nice drive though and he even took us past where people were ziplining.

 

Once we got back to Calica, we walked past the make shift shopping area and got back onto the boat. No problems at all.

 

That evening was the Battle of the Sexes game, which was pretty entertaining. Men kicked butt. And then they did this reverse scavenger hunt game where people brought bags of random items in them, then they were divided into teams. Each team had a "runner" who would grab an item the host asked for, then chase down another host hiding throughout the lounge and put the items on him. The poor host was wearing a bathing suit, hats, sunglasses, and shaving cream when they were done with him.

 

Coming up next is Cozumel.

[DemonPeeves]

Oh, before we go to Cozumel, I forgot that on this night was the past guest party. We did go to check it out since it was my first one. :0) We took a seat and were served free drinks (yum on the melon ball!) and appetizers, which were pretty good. They made people get up on the stage and dance with Funship Freddy and then showed a little film of how the company started and then all of the ships in the fleet. They asked you to clap for the ones you've been on. The Holiday got quite an applause. I think I was only one of two people who clapped for the Miracle. Get on that ship! Yeah the grapes in the dining room are kind of tacky but its a great ship!! Huge and only 2000 passengers- nice!! Anyway, here are some pics:

 

 

 

 

Oh, and before I forget, if you're wondering what the inflatable laser tag thing is, here:

 

We didnt play it but apparently you pay your $5 and go in this big air tube thing and shoot each other. Hubby gets all nervous in small dark spaces so we just peeked in to see what this was all about.

 

Ok, next is Cozumel!!

[DemonPeeves]

We didnt have any excursions planned for Cozumel. We just wanted to find a little place to relax and do some shopping. We got off the ship and went left and found this little bar, Vive Mexico, which is on the second floor of a shop. We heard the music from the street and went up to check it out. It was a blast. First, it had a great view:

 

The guys working were on top of getting you drinks, plus they kept coming by and giving you shots. One time they even brought it straight to me, put my head back, dumped it in my mouth and then shook my head around and then made me a balloon hat. It was one of the more interesting shots I've ever taken. Hmmm... but it was in good fun. We relaxed here for a bit while more people came in and had a great time. The chips and guacamole were excellent as well.

 

 

 

 

We picked up some goods and got back on the ship, no problems. The deck was pretty empty so it was a great time to swim and relax in the hot tubs!

[DemonPeeves]

This evening was the deck party and late night buffet. It was a smaller scale than what I've seen before but there was still a decent turn out and good food.

 

 

 

Fun Force showing off some moves:

 

 

 

This evening they also had comedians, which were great! But then again, I love comedians! Well funny ones, and these guys were great. The second one, Lewis Nixon, was awesome and we actually met up with him while he was having a cigar in the Majestic Bar and chatted with him for a bit. I wanted to know where he stayed while on the ship. Like if they reserved a room for him or if he had to stay with the crew. Doesnt everyone wonder this? :) He said he stayed with the rest of the entertainment crew in the dorm on deck 3 but sometimes, like 1 out of 4 cruises, he gets upgraded to a stateroom.

 

And another towel creation along with my collection of souvenier cups. I'm such a sucker for those collectable cups:

[mebecindi]

I love the review....and the pictures. Great Job!!!

 

I can't wait to go on our first cruise.

[DemonPeeves]

Our last day at sea... sniff sniff... the weather was a bit cool and very windy. We didnt spend much time outside except to watch the Survival of the Fittest, which was ok. May have been more fun if people were out to actually get involved. I did help contribute Chap Stick and a hair clip for the scavenger hunt portion though.

 

The highlight of the day was definately the Love and Marriage Game Show. I do have to say that I think they should put this on at night instead of in the afternoon so they didnt have to worry so much about keeping it family friendly. I mean anytime you're asking people about their "whoopie" experiences, its already too late for family friendly. It was hilarious and I am impressed there is a couple out there that has been married for 63 years. Oh my!!!

 

 

Those were pics from the end where the guys had to work it and show their wives how much they loved them. It was a great show!

 

This was also the only day we had trouble in the buffet. Since it was nasty out, everyone was in the buffet area. Some were just playing cards and games at tables or just watching tv, but it made getting a seat for lunch very difficult. We had to circle around like vultures for awhile before we got something.

 

We thought about going to the Serenity deck, which was pretty empty, but again it was just a bit too chilly to sit on the end of the boat. Here it is though:

 

We also saw the Ticket to Ride show, which was good. I saw it on the Miracle years ago. The only thing is that the female lead was a bit weak. I mean could I do what she does? Well yes, but only in my car when I'm alone, but I'm just saying!

 

All in all, I thought it was a great cruise! I cant believe the ship is 20 years old because I think its in great condition!! Its also such a great size so its very easy to navigate. I thought the staff was top notch! Even the guy folding towels on the Lido deck would make eye contact and say Hi when you walked by. Your service team would address you by your first name and it was very personal. Risa, the cruise director, is not as pepped up as some others I've experienced, but she is really funny! Like subtle funny. I actually enjoyed the debarkation talk, and who ever enjoys that?

 

I hope everyone else has as much fun as we did on this ship! My sister and I have already booked our spring break cruise for next year on the Triumph for our families. Hope that one is as enjoyable as the Miracle and the Fantasy were!!

 

If you have any questions, I'll do my best to answer them!

And I do have the capers. I'm going to try to scan them this week at work. :-)

[cruisewokids]

I am thinking about sailing on this ship in June from Charleston, SC. Thanks for all the pics and details.:D

[DemonPeeves]

I forgot to mention getting off of the ship and I know its a bit of a concern for some.

We only had 3 bags, were on deck 7 and parked in the garage so we decided to do self debarkation. We were allowed to leave around 7:30am, so we grabbed the bags, walked about 12 feet, and were off of the ship. We went down into a line for customs, walked through customs no problem which was great! I was super paranoid because I have a passport, but it still has my maiden name on it. I brought my birth certificate and marriage certificate and all of that fun stuff, but he looked at our passports, asked if we were carrying liquor or tobacco and then that was it. We were in our car by 8:03am.

It was quick and painless so my recommendation is that if you can do it yourself, do it. :-)

[tncruise]

Thanks for the great review! We had a blast last year on the Fantasy. If you choose to sail on the Fantasy again, I highly recommend going into Cleopatra's and listening to Richie sing and play. He was one of the highlights of our cruise. And ask him to play 'Piano Man'. It's his "favorite".:D:eek:;)

[maxxdout]

thanks for the review, headed out on fantasy this august from Charleston, cant wait!!