Fascination and Half Moon Cay Review! (4/30/11-5/7/11)

[Kristi Williamson]

We just returned from a two week vacation that included a week on the Carnival Fascination and can I just say that two weeks away from all the stresses of daily life are SOOO much better than one?! :D

 

We actually spent the first week at the NCFCA region VIII debate tournament for my oldest son. We're homeschoolers and this is a huge deal, plus it really helps to have a payoff when your kid works hard for something...not to mention the wonders it's gonna do for his transcripts. WOO-HOO!

 

Anyway, we had a great first week and Jacksonville had plenty of things to do in our free time. We visited the Museum of Science and History that was just across from our hotel and we hit the Jacksonville Zoo, as well. If you're ever in Jacksonville for more than one night, the Crowne Plaza downtown is a neat place to stay. There's a Ruth's Chris on site, and the landing is just across the river. There's a water taxi that picks up just behind the hotel along the riverwalk. The Maritime Museum is also there, but we didn't have time for that.

 

I'm going to try and upload a few photos of Jacksonville and the things we did there and then I'll get right to the cruise and Half Moon Cay. It is absolutely our new favorite place to be for a beach day!!! Room U70 and Cabana #9 up soon... :)

[alabamaprincess]

I'm looking forward to hearing about your cruise. We will be going on the Fascination to HMC in 19 days.

[Kristi Williamson]

The Museum of Science and History located across the street from the Crowne Plaza!

 

 

 

 

 

Me and the kids on the Riverwalk behind the hotel.

 

 

 

The landing across the river and our beautiful view of downtown Jacksonville! It was spectacular at night!

 

 

 

The zoo.

 

[Kristi Williamson]

Cool AND awkward!

 

 

 

Look who we found hiding in the bushes!

 

 

 

And we're almost there... :D

 

[Kristi Williamson]

We had outstanding weather for the entire cruise and waking up Saturday morning was no different. I don't lose sleep the night before boarding but I always wake up excited. I literally wake up with butterflies. It's like my sub-conscience has decided to let me sleep but works overtime once I wake up. I LOVE that feeling! And waking up to sunny skies and gorgeous temps just added to that yummy feeling every single day of this cruise.

 

We were at the terminal by 10:30 and onboard by 11:10. We are VIP, so that may have sped up our time a little. I'd also like to applaud Jacksonville for getting much better as an embarkation terminal. The last time we boarded there, you'd have thought the whole stinkin' place had something terminal! This time...well, everyone seemed to have gotten over it. They were friendly and polite. YAY for that!

 

The ship has also had a "re-do" since we were last on her, and it was nice. It still doesn't resemble the new ships, but we knew that going in and weren't disappointed. If you're looking for a new girl, this isn't the ship for you. However, the crew is great, the ship is a lovely size, and the fun is there to be had. Are there some rough spots? Sure. But, we simply refuse to let a little worn carpet ruin a great time!

 

On the first night during dinner the captain announced we were turning around and bringing a sick passenger back to Jacksonville. We hadn't been gone an hour and were turning around. I felt so bad for that passenger!!! Can you even imagine? Looking forward to a lovely week at sea and having a medical emergency within the first hour must be one of the yuckiest things to ever happen. We prayed for them a couple of times during the week, too. I'm sure Carnival doesn't refund anyone their money for that, but I sure hope they were willing to do something. What a bummer...

 

Our first night was lovely, though. Our waiter, Mugni, and his asst., Antonios, were great!! Our cabin steward, Johe, was awesome, as well. We were in cabin U70, which is a suite, but it's nothing like the newer ships. We also had connecting cabin U68. These are more than adequate for us....even with 6 of us! We LOVED our location, too. Easy access to pretty much everything. I've got one pic of the cabin, but it's early morning and not all nice and neat. Sorry! ;)

 

 

The messy cabin:

 

 

 

The new waterworks area where we spent our 1st day at sea:

 

 

 

 

[gemsm]

Great start. More please :)

[wildwanderer]

Can I just say yeah for your homechooling and your son in debate. That is awesome - keep going with the review it's great as well.

[Kristi Williamson]

Our first day was a sea day and we mostly just hung out around the waterworks area, played trivia and read on the balcony. The Camp Carnival counselors were some of the best we've had. The kids LOVED them. We only allow them to go from around 8-10pm most days, but this time we allowed them to attend the late night party and they thought it was the best thing since sliced bread! The had pizza and ice cream at midnight. Is there a kid alive who doesn't like this?! We hadn't let them stay for it on other cruises because they were so young. The two who were allowed to stay are now 10 1/2 and 12, so we finally gave in! (we've now heard about it for almost a week! LOL)

 

Oh...they let the 12 year old move to the 9-11 year olds because he turned 12 about 4 weeks before the cruise. There's no way in Hades I'm lettin' my 12 year old sign in and out of Camp Carnival. Not happenin'... Frankly, I probably won't let him sign out until he reaches the Club O2 stage. I can't imagine letting my child wander around a strange place at their whim with 3000 strangers at the ripe old age of 12. Sorry, I digress....

 

Back to the cruise! Our first port was Nassau. We've been here many times, so we basically grabbed my man a pack of clove smokes, hit the straw market and grabbed a few trinkets as gifts and headed back to the ship for another day by the pool. A MUCH quieter day by the pool... :D:)

 

The Allure was in port when we first got there. I missed getting her picture, but she is HUGE!!!!! REALLY HUGE!!!! I was a little in awe. She left at 2, I think, and I didn't feel like running down to get the camera at the time.

 

Here's the Disney Dream docked next to us in Nassau:

 

 

 

 

The 1st sea day's sunrise:

 

 

 

 

 

[Kristi Williamson]

And now, for my new favorite beach day EVER! Half Moon Cay... People, it's every thing you've heard and more. White, powdery sand. Blue, blue water! It's perfect.

 

We were in cabana #9 and I picked it intentionally. I was SO happy that I did. We hit the shore excursion desk as soon as it opened. Only 4 and 7 had already been picked. I think 9 was perfect for us because it was just far enough away that the music from the "sunken ship" bar could just barely be heard enough to give that islandy feel, the restrooms are right behind you, but no one uses them because they're so far away from everything else, however, you only need to take about 100 steps to get there from 9, and it's not so far away that you can't get to whatever you want to get to in relatively good time. I think the buffet was maybe a five minute walk.

 

There were 8 sodas, four waters, snacks, and very comfy loungers waiting when we got there. They even came by and checked to make sure we were OK and didn't need anything else. We had four floating mats, and four bags of snorkel equipment, as well. We used all of it. I basically floated on a mat, or sat in a lounger reading my Kindle for almost 7.5 hours. Pure heaven!!!

 

It doesn't look like much, but looks are deceiving... :p

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Kristi Williamson]

Can I just say yeah for your homechooling and your son in debate. That is awesome - keep going with the review it's great as well.

 

 

Thanks! We really love it and it works for our family. Here's a quick pic from a proud momma... :)

 

 

 

 

These are only the kids who qualified for regionals. There's probably 2000 kids in our region alone. This is our morning meeting before the kids headed out across campus to debate. The NCFCA is an awesome organization! (and now back to our cruise fix! lol)

[Kristi Williamson]

More Half Moon Cay:

 

My husbands wacky style:

 

 

 

The sea serpent:

 

 

 

 

 

This picture doesn't even do the water justice, but this is my fav pic from that day I think:

 

[Kristi Williamson]

And the last few:

 

 

 

 

 

[Kristi Williamson]

More to come later...it's time to wash some clothes. Six people wear a lot of stuff in two weeks! :eek:;)

[texasnana]

Great review..... looking forward to the rest...

[Roe95695]

Congrats to your son and kudos to you and your husband.

 

We don't go on the Facination till November and I am sooo looking forward to it. I am loving the review - thanks

[Panelope Barnabus]

Enjoying your review! :) We will be back on the Fascination this week!!!

[Etchdreams]

We will be there in Oct. Thanks for the review, makes us wish it was sooner, but gives us something to look foward to:(

[pacarolinagirl]

Great review! I can't wait to be at HMC. It looks so beautiful!

[marshhawk]

Thanks so much for the review-we love the Fascination and will be back on her in November for Nassau and Half Moon Cay. Can't wait!

I noticed in your pics that one area of the beach is roped off...is that the only swiming area? And I loved your dragon! Or is that Cecil the sea monster?

[JAXCRUISER]

Good review--looking forward to the rest! Thanks!

[cdpeffer]

Great review... looking forward to more:)

[ae2009]

We will be on her in June and I am so excited. We are not going to HMC but KW instead. Your pictures are great. Thanks for the review.

[Kristi Williamson]

We loved Half Moon Cay so much, but Grand Turk was still to come! I have to say that the water in GT is really the star here. There's not much to do other than snorkel, swim or hang at Margaritaville. We hung out in the water for about 2 hours and then headed back. We'd gotten a lot of sun at HMC and didn't want to push it. Jack's shack, on the far left side of the beach, is a great place to hang out if you don't have a snorkeling excursion.

 

The entrance to Margaritaville:

 

 

 

 

 

 

Next up...2 more sea days and a final analysis of the Fascination!

[Kristi Williamson]

The last two days were sea days and we really enjoy those. We find them to be days to just relax and hang out together, which is awesome!! We read on the balcony, ate, drank a bunch of Kiss on the Lips, and made nightly deposits into the casino.

 

I will say that the casino on this ship is probably the worst I've ever been in. Not one single person hit anything to be announced as a "big win" and we've never had that happen before. The most we won was 200.00 bucks on one machine and we deposited that back in by the end of the cruise.

 

The Ocean Players Club did send us chocolate covered strawberries 2 nights, plus 2 photo coupons were waiting on us when we boarded. We used those and I think they were good for 30 dollars off. (15 dollars a piece)

 

Here are a few more photos and then I'll do a wrap up of our over all thoughts of the food, ship, crew, etc...

 

 

The towel animals:

 

 

 

The towel animals with our Build a Bears that the kids made on the first sea day. (that was MUCH more fun that I anticipated!!) :)

 

 

 

Freddie at the Camp Carnival talent show:

 

 

Our youngest son "holding" the sun up because he wasn't ready for the day to end:

 

[framerman]

Great review........keep it coming!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!