Newbie's review of Carnival Fascination sailing July 24-29

[future1sttimecruiser]

I am a self-confessed “super” planner, who needs to know every possible bit of information. My sister, my 8 year old son and I went on the cruise, a first for all of us!

 

Overall, we had a really great cruise and only one negative/slight aggravation.

 

We stayed at the Holiday Inn Blount Island (the closest hotel to JAX Port) for a cost of $150. That price included one night hotel, breakfast, roundtrip pick-up to/from the airport and roundtrip shuttle service to the port. We did not have a car, so we relied on cab service. There was a Wendy’s next door. I am not a fan of Wendy’s, but we had an ok lunch there. A gas station was across a very busy street, but it was way too hot to walk over there. I initially was going to go the Jacksonville Zoo because I was told that the shuttle could/would take us; but, upon check-in was told that they were way too busy to take us. Since it was really hot we decided that we would just skip the zoo this trip. We ended up going to the Sand Dollar for dinner, it was an expensive taxi ride ($20 each way) by the Gator City (aka Yellow) taxi, and dinner was pretty good. The waitress told us that the hotel shuttle did take guests out to the location, but…they were again too busy on “cruise ship” day to do that. So, the moral of this story is, do not rely on the hotel shuttle to take you anywhere in Jacksonville.

 

The hotel looked relatively new and was very clean. Even though the rooms were non-smoking, many, many people did not observe that and the smoke smell was pretty thick in the hallway. There was a small outdoor concrete pool, but we didn’t use it.

 

Breakfast was standard fare for a free “enhanced” continental breakfast- yogurt, cereal, cinnamon rolls, bagels, some sort of egg thing, bananas, sausage…hard boiled egg, etc.

 

You could not sign up for the shuttle to the port until after check-in at the hotel. At the time that I booked, I was told that the first shuttle left the hotel at 11:00 am; but when I arrived, I was told 11:30 am. We actually left around 11:15 am. Of course, we were all anxious to board so that part was somewhat annoying, but we still made it to the pier relatively early on Saturday.

 

There is more to come and some photos.

 

Please feel free to ask any questions. I still have my capers, but I haven't had a chance to scan them yet.

 

:)

[truchattycathy]

good review so far.

[LuvCruising01]

Thanks for the post, can't wait to see more.

 

that stinks about their "transportation" issues.

 

Going under the Dames Point was impressive and is a real shock when you are both riding the boat under and when driving over the bridge and seeing it go under. ITS CLOSE!!!:eek:

[Cheerose]

6 weeks to go for us on the Fascination (newbies as well)

 

Can't wait to read more... :D

[laumicmah]

Great review thus far. We'll be checking in at the HI Blount Island on Friday and boarding the Fascination for a 5 day cruise on Saturday. I can't wait!!! If you did the 5 day, what night is elegant night (I think I remember reading it is the first sea day-day 2) and when is the chocolate buffet? Did they have bitter n blanc dessert bon the menu(I'm dying to try it)? If you got soda cards, can you use them on Half Moon Cay? Thanks for any help!!

[tef43]

Jax is not a cheap taxi town, and it is exacerbated by the fact that the city simply sprawls (875 sq mi or thereabouts), so the $150 package from the HI isn't too bad of a deal. The downside is there simply aren't a lot of options in the port area, so if you want to go somewhere and the shuttle isn't available, then you will pay.

[alexney]

We were on this cruise with you! We stayed at a Super 8 in Jacksonville, just 10 minutes south of the port. Had our own car and paid to park at the port.

 

Elegant night was the second day. Soda cards work in HMC. The red Carnival mugs were only $4.95 when purchased along with the soda card. DH and I both got mugs, but didn't buy them for the kids.

[future1sttimecruiser]

Hi alexney - perhaps we ran into each other! We didn't discover those red mugs until almost the last day. My sister bought one. We actually ended up with a collection of "mugs".

Laumicmah - The chocolate buffet was on the 2nd sea day, which was on Wednesday. Do not get too excited though, it was just "ok". It was really a small display in Coconut Grove on the Lido deck. Overall, I didn't really care for Carnival's desserts (I have a really bad sweet tooth). The only thing that I liked on the chocolate buffet was the chocolate pistachio cake.

Bitter and Blanc was on the dessert menu on Elegant night (Sunday night) and it was really good.

More to come later today and pictures!

[laumicmah]

We were on this cruise with you! We stayed at a Super 8 in Jacksonville, just 10 minutes south of the port. Had our own car and paid to park at the port.

 

Elegant night was the second day. Soda cards work in HMC. The red Carnival mugs were only $4.95 when purchased along with the soda card. DH and I both got mugs, but didn't buy them for the kids.

 

Hi alexney - perhaps we ran into each other! We didn't discover those red mugs until almost the last day. My sister bought one. We actually ended up with a collection of "mugs".

 

Laumicmah - The chocolate buffet was on the 2nd sea day, which was on Wednesday. Do not get too excited though, it was just "ok". It was really a small display in Coconut Grove on the Lido deck. Overall, I didn't really care for Carnival's desserts (I have a really bad sweet tooth). The only thing that I liked on the chocolate buffet was the chocolate pistachio cake.

 

Bitter and Blanc was on the dessert menu on Elegant night (Sunday night) and it was really good.

 

More to come later today and pictures!

Thanks for the info. I'm set to go now, just have to finish packing, clean the house, drop off dogs and drive down to JAXPORT. I'm soooo excited!!! Look forward to seeing the rest of your review.

[hard_eight]

T-minus 2 weeks and counting...

[Cristallo]

Looking forward to the rest of your review. Less then 4 months left until our first cruise on the Fascination.

[Princess:)]

Great review so far. Please post lots of picks. This will only be my second cruise and both were on the fascination. I don't think I will make it 12 more days. Can't wait to read more. :)

[creeblee]

I'm on this ship in just 18 days! Great start to the review and can't wait to hear more. Please post as many pics as you can. I need something to hold me over for these next 18 grueling days:)

 

Also, is there a deck party on this cruise? Those have always been a highlight on my previous cruises.

[creeblee]

I'm dying for a new review! I've put requests out on the boards for fascination reviews/pics and haven't had much luck. This one seems so promising so please hurry back!! I keep checking my computer to see if you've added more and I'm starting to get nervous LOL.

[Princess:)]

I know what you mean. All the reviews I have seen are before the refurb. I know I have refreshed my page 5 times.

[ashxoxo89]

sailing on the Fascination this Saturday!!!! Can't wait :) Pictures please!!

[tiggerman101]

It was nice to meet you guys on the cruise. I hope you had a good time overall. I saw you on the last sea day out by the water slides and you looked like you were having fun.

[cruz.n.carebear]

We were also on this cruise. Hate that we missed the M&G, but we crashed after the first day at sea for a quick nap and woke up 3 hours later! :eek:

 

Overall, I thought this was a very fun cruise. Our kids had a BLAST. Camp Carnival's late night babysitting check in/out process needs to be blown up and started from scratch. Waiting in line for an hour and a half is just not acceptable.

 

I enjoyed the refurbishments, and just really liked completely relaxing.

[future1sttimecruiser]

Hi Tiggerman! It was great meeting you guys too!

 

Cruz.n.carebear - We were probably in line for our kids at the same time that night...grrrr :mad:

[future1sttimecruiser]

Saturday, July 24 - Embarkation Day

 

After hopping on the shuttle, we made our way to Jax Port, it wasn’t more than 5 minutes, if that from the Holiday Inn. Funpass and id are checked before you even get into the terminal parking lot. We were dropped off near the front of the building and I tipped the porter so that he would take our bags for us. My son has autism, so I’d contacted Carnival special needs department in advance for expedited boarding. Of course, no one knew of our requirements at the terminal as we were assured, but I did have my e-mail and they were very helpful! My son had already started to get antsy so I’m glad that the process went smoothly.

 

Once onboard, we stopped by the Excursion Desk (Level 7) and booked Cabana #7 - yellow on Half Moon Cay. It was funny, everyone was in line for the same thing, but no one said anything, like a “code of silence” LOL. We then went to lunch up on the Lido deck and tried the Mongolian Grill. I immediately ordered a Miami Vice and was ready for vacation. The Mongolian Grill was pretty good and the first day was the only time that we ate there. I then stopped by Guest Services for our Muster Drill instructions. My son and I would stay in the room while my sister “represented” our party.

 

I would recommend completing your paperwork for Camp Carnival in advance if you can; it does save time. And we picked up a pager, which Camp Carnival will provide you if you request it for a child with special needs over the age of 5.

 

We then went to our room, E51. I really liked the Empress deck; it was convenient to everything and we could take the stairs when needed - we’d upgraded from a room on the Riviera deck.

 

After we were able to go to our rooms, we introduced ourselves to our cabin steward, Kevin. It was bigger than I thought. I was expecting a tiny closet. There was actually quite a bit of hanging space too. My son and I stayed in the cabin during the muster drill which didn’t appear to last too long. After the muster drill, we went to the Waterworks area for sail-a-way.

 

We had Anytime Dining and ate dinner in the Sensation Dining Room which was configured half for anytime and half traditional dining. And yes, food is subjective, BUT…the duck appetizer and the ribs were excellent (tender and well seasoned). Ok…the infamous Chocolate Melting Cake was….a big letdown. It’s only cooked a little on the top and it’s like thick soup…I liked the cooked part and the rest, not so much. Our server was Elena…love, love, loved her! During dinner, a random pirate stopped by and we took pictures…that was the beginning of the end. That must be the biggest hustle - the photography, but since we never take photos, I bought a ton of them J. I think that they turned out well. The one with the “Pirate” was around $10.

By the way, the photos are expensive, around $22 for a 8 x 10 photo.

 

Tip: You can go by the dining room each morning to see what is on the menu for lunch and dinner for that day.

 

After dinner, we dropped my son off at Camp Carnival and then went to the Welcome Aboard Show. I strongly recommend that you go to the Palace Theater, a minimum of 30 minutes early. There are many seats that have what I would consider obstructed views due to poles and the rail on the second floor. Just as the show began, my pager went off and yes, it was Camp Carnival calling to tell me that my son wanted me to pick him up. This is what I was dreading…sigh. Another CC member e-mailed the Camp Carnival Capers to me in advance so I really went through and found activities that he would like, but it wasn’t starting off well and we went back to the room. My sister remained in the show. Let me tell you….those beds are really comfortable and we slept well.

 

I should probably save this for overall thoughts, but….

 

The ship was extremely clean. Someone was always mopping, cleaning, wiping, etc.

I didn’t see any dirty bathrooms in the common areas.

I didn’t smell any unpleasant “smells”.

 

Some photos appear below

 

 

 

 

[future1sttimecruiser]

More photos from around the ship...

 

Two more days to come later tonight!

 

 

[oceanbluegazer]

Thanks for the review and pictures. Just a couple more months then... Bahamas here we come:D

[future1sttimecruiser]

Sunday, July 25 - Sea Day

We ate breakfast this morning at Coconut Groove. This is one of the main places where I could really “feel” the ship's motion so I took a couple of ginger capsules. After breakfast, we changed and went up to the Waterworks area. I got smarter later in the week and dressed for the the Waterworks for breakfast. We spent a good part of the morning at the waterpark. While we did find chairs around 10 am, it was starting to fill up. I am happy to report that I didn’t really notice a lot of “chair hogs.” The twister and racer slides were both fun!

 

We ate lunch again in Coconut Groove and my son had pizza at the pizzeria at the back. He liked it; I thought that it was just ok. There was both soft serve yogurt and ice-cream. One machine was broken and the other was pretty soft. The deli seemed to be popular and always had a line.

 

After lunch, it was nap time. I did manage to make it to meet and greet today on the Lido deck and met some great Cruise Critic members J.

We took my son back to Camp Carnival. I decided to give it another try. There were activities going on in the Disco today and he liked them much better. I checked on him and he told me that he wanted to stay.

While he was there, we had tea in the Piano Bar. I liked the scene too, but it never seemed to get going at night, or maybe it did after I went to bed.

 

Tonight was Elegant Night in the dining room and I wanted to take some formal poses before dinner. As luck would have it, we had to take them afterwards because the lines were really long, but they still came out great. We had the standard lobster tail (2). I wouldn’t worry about ordering multiples, it’s definitely expected and I thought that the portions were small (i.e. the shrimp cocktail had 4 small shrimp). Dessert tonight was Bitter and Blanc - the best dessert hands down.

 

*Side note: I wouldn’t stress about dining room attire. I saw some of everything in the dining room and no one seemed to care.

 

In order to avoid the incident from the previous night and having to leave the show early because my son wanted to be picked up, I took him with us to the Far From Over 80’s Show with Bree and Ben. They were pretty good. There were also two break dancers that were very entertaining! My son couldn’t help but to appreciate it as he has been forced to listen to all my old 80’s music from birth.

 

Afterwards, we took him to Camp Carnival for their Mardi Gras Party so that we could go to the R rated comedian show by Marvin Todd who was funny. We didn’t get a seat because it was held in Puttin’ on the Ritz where Karaoke with Melvin was also held beforehand. Melvin’s got “mad skills” because the place was packed and it was definitely a party crowd in there.

 

And now begins my only major negative…the unorganized mess that is Camp Carnival. Long story short - we went to pick up my son after the comedy show. There was a long line which perplexed me because I just wanted to pick up my son; well, so did many, many, many other parents. We ended up waiting for 40 minutes to pick him up. They did send one person out to write down the time that we’d arrived so that we wouldn’t be charged for the time we actually got to the pick-up desk. I was not happy - the staff was inefficient and one was rude. There was no reason for the process to take that long and I made my comments known on the comment card and online survey. After finally retrieving him, it was off to bed for the next day - Half Moon Cay!

 

 

Tea in the Piano Bar

 

 

[tburtz]

I'm really enjoying your review so far. I'm heading out on the Fascination with my DH & 2 DS's on 9/18, just curious though... What time did you get in line for the cabanas? How long did you wait in line? Were there still plenty left to choose from? This is my biggest concern as I really really want to rent one.:)

 

Can't wait to see more!

[alexney]

I hope you don't mind if I jump in with random comments...:o

Just thought I would mention for those folks driving in on their own, we didn't have the option of driving up to the building and dropping our luggage. We had to park and wait for a golf cart to pick us up and drive us to the building.

We also ate at the Lido buffet as soon as we boarded, but on the outside. And of course, had a yummy drink! The food outside was pretty much just burgers, hot dogs, fries... but it was tasty. My husband's favorite was the Mongolian Grill. He loved loved loved it! We made the mistake of sitting right in front of it one day, holy smokey!

As far as completing Camp Carnival paperwork ahead of time, I agree 100%... much faster this way!

We were on Riviera in room R118. Tight squeeze, but completely do-able for us.

I also agree that the ribs the first night were delicious! We also each had two lobster tails. I wasn't thrilled with dinner the last night, but everyone else at our table was. I have to say that I absolutely loved the chocolate melting cake dessert! My daughter ate it each night :) We bought the pirate pictures too!

I really wish they would put the menu on the TV. Just saying.

I also have to agree that the ship was clean... everywhere we went. People cleaning all the time. My kids thought it was great that they didn't have to clean up after themselves. LOL