Review of Carnival Fascination Nassau and HMC

[luv2cruz66]

Best Cruise ever!

I will be attempting to give this review through pics. I have over 80 I plan to upload...we'll see how that goes!

 

Basic background...8th cruise with Carnival

DH(47) and myself(45) along with DS(18) and his best friend (19) and DD (15) and her best friend (16).

 

Beginning our journey across the Chesapeake Bay Bridge!

 

 

Decided to break up the 13 hour drive to Jacksonville by stopping the first night in Florence, South Carolina.

First Stop..Spring Hill Suites $116 for a suite that held all 6 of us quite comfortably- Great hotel, free hot breakfast, make your own waffles, eggs, gourmet coffee etc. Indoor pool with outside patio for catching some rays! Free cookies in the afternoon and lollipops on the counter! It's the little things that count sometimes!

 

 

Great dinner across the street! Love those 2.99 Margaritas!

 

 

Second Stop...Hyatt Place Airport, Jacksonville- $99

I really loved this hotel. Didn't take enough pics to do it justice but the pics on their website are very accurate! They have a 24 hour restaurant and free breakfast with Starbucks coffee! In house bar, free internet and outside pool. The suite was huge and suited the 6 of us just fine!

 

 

Dinner a mile or so from the hotel. Very large shopping center here! Walmart...to buy wine! Lowes to buy ear plugs and zip ties...there was even a Bed Bath and Beyond! Ate dinner at Boston's. It was fantastic, even had gluten free pizza for DS and I !

[luv2cruz66]

Saturday 10 AM we arrive at port! Definitely not the first ones there but it was definitely not crowded yet.

 

 

Port of Jax is very organized! Checked in, was given a zone card, we were zone 6, we were escorted to our seats then escorted to the gangway in a very orderly fashion. No zone jumpers in Jax!

We were on board by 11:30.

 

We went immediately to Lido and snagged what I believe to be a prime piece of real estate! There are six chairs with an umbrella that overlook the Lido pool! I enjoyed it very much! Unfortunately the Lido pool was not open, it was being repainted that day!

After locating a deck chair I went immediately to shore excursions on Empress to choose our cabana. I was fifth in line I believe. Aprox. 4 cabanas had already been chosen and I was happy to get Cabana 10 my second choice!

 

Enjoyed my traditional get onboard drink of the day from my chair and enjoyed people watching for the next couple of hours!

[luv2cruz66]

The ship was pretty much deserted for most of the early afternoon, everyone seemed to be in the Lido restaurant having lunch! We enjoyed touring the ship! Boarding early definitely has its advantages, you can basically choose any chair on the ship!

 

 

Cabins were ready by 1:30 as promised. We booked two ocean view cabins. One for the boys and one for the girls! I chose E171 and E173 for several reasons. I love Empress deck on this class of ship, I think it is very convenient. I love Aft because it brings me straight up to the Lido restaurant and the Serenity lounge! I also chose these cabins because they had no cabins across the hall (no slamming cabin doors and voices outside your cabin). You will hear noise from the galley above though. Sometimes it sounded like WWIII up there! But, it did not keep me awake, I slept like a baby as I always do on the ship! But warning...if you are a light sleeper, you may want to avoid these cabins.

 

 

 

Sailaway was delayed due to stormy weather, we were actually on our way to dinner when we left port. First pic is going under the bridge...close call but we made it of course! Second pic is the view out of our window from our table at dinner. We had a table for 12 in the Imagination dining room, which we shared with another family of 6. We took turns having the window seats! Just FYI, the Sensation Dining room was used for anytime dining on this cruise. We had early seating and loved it!

 

[luv2cruz66]

Special treat!

There is a magician on board who comes to your table and does card tricks! He was very personable and we enjoyed him!

 

Menu for the first night! I had the Mahi Mahi and it was great! The girls had ribs and steak and the boys ate several entrees each so I couldn't possibly keep up with that!

[luv2cruz66]

DH and I watched the Welcome aboard show and then went straight to bed. The boys enjoyed the adult comedy and the girls went to Club 02. Just for the record the girls spent every night from there on out in Club02! They met some nice kids to hang out with and enjoyed the dancing, the karaoke and various other activities until 1:00 AM!

 

First Sea Day!

DH and I went straight to Serenity Lounge and stayed there all day! The teenagers spent their day around the Lido pool. A great time was had by all.

I was on deck by 9 and there were plenty of chairs to choose from.

 

 

Great shower to cool off with on Serenity deck!

 

My favorite spot, shaded and almost like having your own balcony!

 

Stairwell from Serenity directly to Lido restaurant! So convenient!

 

Stairwell down to Serenity bathroom and direct access to Empress deck aft! So very very convenient!

[lag2a1979]

Can't wait to read more! We booked this same cruise (our first cruise!) for our anniversary in October. Hubby shocked me by suggesting we get a cabana for the special occasion (I did not see that coming!) Love the review so far, can't wait to see more pics :)

[luv2cruz66]

Formal Night in the Dining Room!

DD and her friend were quite excited about getting dressed up for Formal Night which just happened to be DD's birthday! The boys...not so excited about dressing up but they were presentable I think! Food was amazing and the boys fell in love immediately with our dining room hostess "Anita". She came over each night to help DS and I choose gluten free options from the menu. DS's best friend says he's going to be Gluten free next time if it means Anita will come to the table and talk to him each night! The dining room staff was very hard working! Service was a bit slow as I have heard from other posters but all in all a great dining experience every night!

 

 

 

After dinner DS and friend enjoyed their first WIN at the casino. It was 50 dollars but it might as well have been 50,000 dollars as excited as they were!

 

DH and I enjoyed a glass of wine on the Serenity Deck watching the sunset each night after dinner! It was even more beautiful watching the moon come out after the sunset! Definitely my favorite place on the ship!

 

[luv2cruz66]

Taking a break to do some laundry since we just got home last night! Later today I will post pics from Nassau and HMC!

[luv2cruz66]

Can't wait to read more! We booked this same cruise (our first cruise!) for our anniversary in October. Hubby shocked me by suggesting we get a cabana for the special occasion (I did not see that coming!) Love the review so far, can't wait to see more pics :)

 

Thank you! This is a GREAT first cruise! You will love the ports! We really enjoyed the cabana, it was a fun splurge! We chose cabana 10 but would have been happy with anything 9 or above! If you are interested in "shade" I would pick 11 or 12 they seemed to have the most shade in the afternoon and it is definitely a lot less crowded on this end of the beach as you will see later! If you and hubby want to hear the band and be near the pirate ship bar then I would pick a cabana in the single digits.

[MRVEGAS711]

Great review, keep it coming!

[luv2cruz66]

DS and I were up for Sunrise and to watch the ship dock in Nassau. This is my favorite time of day on the ship. You basically have the ship to yourself, it is so peaceful and absolutely beautiful!

 

Docked beside Allure of the Seas....OMG it is a monster! Luckily we were the only two ships in port that day!

 

I had done a lot of research on CC about what to do in Nassau. I knew I could not afford to take all 6 of us to Atlantis at Carnival prices or at Comfort Suite for the day prices! So after much thought and research I decided on the $25 dollar per person day pass at the Sheraton on Cable Beach. But.......and this is a BIG but.....

 

Taxi Stand...pivotal to our day in Nassau!

Taxi Stand as you leave port of Nassau....

 

Our cabin steward told us to just catch a cab and "walk around" Atantis and go to the beach there...no charge.....that is what he likes to do....seemed a little to good to be true....until.... this wonderful lady named Francine who I met at the taxi stand informed me that she could do even better than that for us! She would take us to Cabbage Beach. It was a free beach, next door to Atlantis!

 

Wow, now we're talking! I asked her about chairs and umbrella's and she assured me we could get those there. She also told me there was a restaurant there where we could get food and drinks and it was the most beautiful beach on the island. She even offered to drive us to a liquor store on our way there so that we could take liquor on the beach because there are no laws against that in the Bahamas..as well as no drunk driving laws!? Just for the record DH said..."Do not stray from your plan honey...you did a lot of research we should stick with the plan"!

But did I listen? NO because I was getting into Atlantis for free! haha

 

OK CC'ers...sound too good to be true? Well let me tell you it was!!! When we arrived at Cabbage Beach we were immediately swarmed by 4 or 5 Bahamian gentlemen who were, let's say, very eager to see us! They soon informed me who I could buy umbrellas from, who I could buy jet skis from, chairs, liquor as well as be our own "personal security" for the day! You could say I had a bad feeling about the place at this point but "Francine" and our cab were already gone!

 

The energetic Bahamian men who stalked us and called me "Boss Lady"...I have to admit I did like that! Told me I needed to buy the drinks from them because it was much cheaper than the restaurant which, IMHO was not close by and didn't look overly welcoming! Atlantis was waaay down the beach as well!

 

Price for chairs? $10 a piece...price for umbrellas? $20 !

So at this point I'm looking at being into the nice Bahamian gentlemen for $100 bucks and I have no pool, no bathroom, no lunch and "they" are mixing my drinks? If I didn't know any better I would have sworn I was in the middle of Ocho Rios! All the while DH is mumbling obscenities under his breath and yet trying to be supportive of my "change in plans"......STOP!

 

I get my wits about me, I grow a pair, and I tell them to stop setting up chairs and umbrellas...I tell them I don't like this place, it is not what I expected and I'm leaving! I gather up my family and start walking off the beach. Obviously they were not pleased... They try desperately to talk me out of it...told me it would be 11 dollars a person to go to the Sheraton by taxi..told me there was construction and it would take too long to get there, no taxi driver would want to take us there because of all the traffic at this time of day...bla bla bla. Good news...there were five or six taxi's out on the street. Bad news..no one is in them! At this point..I am starting to get a little worried to say the least....BUT

 

Enter my Bahamian Angel !! Did you know Angels drive taxi cabs in Nassau? Well they do! I've met one!

 

We asked Mr. Bahamian Angel if he was interested in taking us to the Sheraton and he said sure! 6 dollars a piece! At that point I would have paid $60! We got a fantastic behind the scenes tour of the "real" Bahamas on the way too! Here is a fine example!

 

Just one example of the surroundings we saw leaving Cabbage Beach!

[luv2cruz66]

So the good news is we are now on our way to the Sheraton! And I am hoping and praying at this point that there really is a $25 dollar day pass or I am in big trouble!

 

This is a picture of the Sheraton as we were coming into port that morning. It is the hotel all the way to the right.

 

Bahamian Angel Cab driver drops us off and it is beautiful! I do not have a pic from the street but this is a pic looking at the hotel from the ocean.

 

We went straight to the front desk and purchased our wrist bands. For a total of $150 dollars for six people, I am in paradise! The hotel is beautiful, I could have stayed in the lobby all day!

 

Not crowded at all and plenty of chairs!

 

 

No need for umbrella....I had my own personal palm tree and there were plenty to go around!

[luv2cruz66]

The water was beautiful!

 

Allure leaving port around 2pm.

 

DS and his friend purchasing their first "legal" cocktail! Drinking age is 18 in Nassau so this was the highlight of the cruise for them! Drinks were about $10 dollars each but at that point they didn't care!

 

Outdoor grill. Everyone had chicken fingers and fries and enjoyed them very much!

 

My little slice of paradise.

[luv2cruz66]

 

Sheraton Pool Bar

 

Another pool..

[luv2cruz66]

Our Bahamian Angle Taxi driver was out front of the hotel at exactly 3:30 to pick us up and take us back to the ship! We stopped at Senor Frogs for one last hoorah! The view from Senor Frogs is beautiful! You are so close to the ship you can actually relax and not worry about missing the ship!

 

 

DS(15) thought this sign was funny....you have to be "this tall to drink" haha

She had a sweet tea!

 

The water in front of Senor Frogs

 

The view of the ship from Senor Frogs

 

DS and friend enjoying one more "legal" cocktail!! They were amazed that the drinks cost "half" what they did at the Sheraton! Welcome to resort prices young man!!

 

Just iced tea for me!

[luv2cruz66]

Walking back to the ship we meet up with one of our Cabin stewards! Gusti! He was so friendly and new us by name from the first day.

 

Well, we didn't get to Atlantis but we had a great in Nassau!

 

We were back on the ship by around 4:30. We left port at exactly 6:00 pm! I guess all the passengers were on time this cruise! No pier runners!

 

We ate in the dining room again this evening. Great meal as usual! I think this is the night DH and I went to the 80's show. It was GREAT! One of the best Carnival show's I've ever seen. DH and I went to bed early because we're officially old now, DS and friend had quite a day and went to bed around midnight, but the girls were out late with their Club 02 buddies again! So all in all a great day was had by all!

[jbanana1]

Loving your review, wish I pictures to go with my review. Is cable beach on Paradise Island or the main island of Nassau? We knew we were going to Atlantis so I haven't paid much attention to the other stuff in Nassau.

[gred1994]

I'm loving your review and pictures! Thanks!:) We go in September!

[JAXCRUISER]

Thanks for your review--looking forward to the rest!

[luv2cruz66]

Loving your review, wish I pictures to go with my review. Is cable beach on Paradise Island or the main island of Nassau? We knew we were going to Atlantis so I haven't paid much attention to the other stuff in Nassau.

 

Thank you very much! Cable beach is on the main island. If you are looking at the island with Atlantis to your left...then Cable beach is to your far right. It is not a long drive from port at all. I could actually see the Allure of the Seas in port from the Sheraton.

[alabamaprincess]

Great review. I love your photos. jbanana1 Cable Beach is on the main island of Nassau.

[luv2cruz66]

7:30 ish...first tenders are taking over supplies to Half Moon Cay!

 

Breakfast in the main dining room again. We really liked this for port days. No lines, great food! Nice place to meet and talk about our upcoming day!

 

Boarded a tender around 10ish. Whew! The line was long! Actually snaked around the corner and down the hallway of Riveria deck and then you went down the stairs to the gangway. It actually moved very fast and Island Girl kept things moving and organized...no cutting in line with Island Girl (assistant cruise director) in charge! Tender was very full and some had to stand.

 

I was absolutely amazed at the "hidden" cove that the tenders enter at HMC. It appears to be a man made inlet which allows the tenders to be tucked safely inside the island. You can not even see it from the ship!

 

 

[luv2cruz66]

Cabana Check in....

Upon entering HMC we had to check in to the excursion desk which is located in the far back of this picture. I turned in my cabana ticket and they called over a gentlemen to drive us to our cabana!

 

This was our HMC limo!

 

There are several stops along the way. This was our bus stop, directly behind cabana 10.

 

And this is our little slice of paradise for the day!

 

View from our cabana

[Brittasbay]

Great review! I am going on the Fascination next month, your pics and reivew are making me ready to go NOW!

 

I would love to get the details on the current entertainers on the the ship (ie comedians and musicians). Some of my best times last year on this boat were sitting listening to the musician JJ Paolino and also going to the comedy shows. :D

[bafinegan]

I am glad you liked the fascination. We are going this oct ( for the 3rd time!). She's a great little ship!

 

BTW, if you ever go to nassau again, the British Colonial Hilton is a 5-10 min walk from the pier. For $50 dollars pp you get the use of their pool, facilities and their private beeach. The $50 includes a $30 dollar voucher for drinks/food. By the time you factor in the cost of a taxi, it's really a better deal. We ALWAYS go there when in nassau, the beach is amazing and you can see the ship from the beach:)

 

And i agree, the best beach is at half moon cay::))

 

baf