Photo Review of Fascination 8/25 to 8/29 – with food porn!

[Brittasbay]

Just got back from my cruise and I am totally going through withdrawal! I am hoping that doing a good, detailed review will help me with the readjustment to the real world!

 

Some background on us, my DH and I are in are late 30s with no kids and we work WAY TOO much. We really needed a longer vacation but DH’s boss would only let him take 3 workdays off so we had to go with a 4 day cruise instead of the 7 day I wanted to take. I really feel like a 4 day is not long enough as you can’t do all the activities or see the shows and still just relax and chill out! We live in the Atlanta area so going out of Jacksonville is cheap, fast, and easy for us.

 

We decided to drive half way down on Wednesday night and stay at a hotel overnight. I did a ton of research on places to stay that were cost effective and nice and decided on Best Western in Hazlehurst, GA. TripAdvisor and other sites rated this hotel as a 4 out of 5, I would have given it a 1.5 out of 5 at best. The Best Western site used a picture of a different hotel obviously because when we drove up I almost freaked out! The place was old, smelly, and not nice at all. At this point it was midnight and we were exhausted so I agreed grudgingly with DH to just make the most of it. I was so angry at the whole fiasco I refused to even take pictures!

 

Day 1:

 

Next morning we were up early and on our way! Got to the port at 12pm and were on the ship within an hour. It was slower than last year when we went on the Fascination, but not bad at all. I think part of the reason it was slower than the time we were there before is because of the itinerary changes due to Hurricane Irene. We were given a sheet that told us the first day would be a sea day, then we would go to Nassau or Key West, and the last day would be a sea day. People were all mad and irritable, but what can you do? Plus we were told in the letter that we couldn’t sail out at 4pm as the tide was too high for the ship to get under the bridge so we were not sailing out until 10:30pm.

 

DH and I made it to the room and it was ready for us. We stayed in E222, which was our first balcony room. We loved it! Since we had been on the ship before, we didn’t take as many pictures of the ship as I meant to. I apologize in advance for this. Within 5 minutes of getting to the room, we met our room steward, Ishara. Last year we NEVER saw our room steward one time (although our room was always clean with towel animals) so this time it was great to meet him right away. He already knew our names and that I was a special needs cruiser (type 1 diabetes for 24.5 years). He was awesome and earned a good tip from us at the end of the cruise. I swear we saw him at least 3 times a day or more, LOL!

 

 

 

We headed up to the Lido for lunch and our first DOD. You can see we are happy campers here!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

After this we hung out on our balcony and waited for the muster drill. It was uneventful muster and after it we just relaxed, read, drank some adult beverages (I had wine, DH had vodka with lemonade and OJ).

 

 

[Brittasbay]

We had Your Time Dining so we planned on going to dinner around 7pm, plenty of time to hang out and take pictures.

 

Our first night with Your Time Dining felt very rushed, although the food was great! We picked a requested a different section for the next 3 night which made a HUGE difference in the service and the experience for us.

 

 

Duck Comfit-this was sooooo good!

 

 

 

Shrimps :D-DH loves any version of shrimp!

 

Flat Iron Steak-we both got this, it was OK :rolleyes:

[Brittasbay]

We usually ordered double desserts each night to share and to take leftovers to our room. Since I contacted Carnival ahead of time needing a fridge for my insulin, I had plenty of room for left in it for desserts and the cheese plate for a late night snack! Trust me, I took alot of insulin on this cruise but it was soooo worth it and my doctor agreed I needed to enjoy myself in a responsible manner :rolleyes:

 

Cheese and deserts pics:

WMC! My DH loves this, it is too sweet for me!

Black Forrest Cake, my favorite!

Cheesecake for DH:

[TakeMeAway1001]

Great start, looking forward to reading more :)

[Brittasbay]

Late sail away – We sailed out of the port at about 10:40pm. My camera began to give problems so these pictures are not great but I thought I would share…

 

 

 

 

 

Trippy picture! I totally need to get a good SLR camera for my January 2012 cruise :D

 

 

 

 

The casino opened a little after 11pm so we went by for a few pulls then headed to bed. The waters were starting to get choppy and I was soooo tired from the Bonine pills I took to avoid seasickness (never been tired from them before until this trip).

 

 

[richstowe]

Great review so far Brittasbay. We will be on the Fascination in January so we are very interested in

your impressions of the ship. Also interested in seeing the pix of you last cruise.

Did you post them somewhere? Anyway ,keep posting.:)

[mousey]

Thanks for sharing. We were on the 5-day Key West/Bahamas cruise out of Jacksonville on the Fascination exactly one month ago today. Seems like it was forever ago. I agree with you that cruises shorter than 7-days don't cut the mustard but I would rather go on a short cruise than no cruise at all. I have to say that the Fascination was the least favorite of all the ships I have cruised on. I actually found it a little boring which is very unusual for me. The staff and the crew were very nice and I did come back to some of the most intricate, adorable, towel animals I have ever seen. I also liked the two comedians and their x-rated shows but for me, other than that, the ship was just not very exciting. I think it was too small and too old for me and I didn't like that there were no specialty restaurants, which is something I never thought I would say. They didn't have any exciting shops and I got bored of the food in the MDR really quick. Having said all that, I still enjoyed my cruise with my family. I hope our next cruise can be longer and on one of the newer big ships. I can't put my finger on it, because I sailed on the NCL Dream which was an older and smaller ship and I liked her very much. Oh well, like I said, any cruise is better than no cruise.:D

[ATL2LAS]

I can't wait...:eek: I have 22 days to go until I am on the Fascination. Keep up the great review:D

[Brittasbay]

Great review so far Brittasbay. We will be on the Fascination in January so we are very interested in

your impressions of the ship. Also interested in seeing the pix of you last cruise.

Did you post them somewhere? Anyway ,keep posting.:)

 

Thanks for the feedback! Here is a link to pictures of my last Fascination cruise - http://s240.photobucket.com/albums/ff60/brittasbay/Carnival%20Fascination%20July%202010/

[gred1994]

I'm anxiously awaiting the rest of your review! We go on her in 2 weeks from today!!!:D

[Brittasbay]

Day 2

 

Day 2 actually started for us around 3am! I woke up suddenly, feeling thrown from my side to my stomach and I sat up in the bed as I heard a loud slam and groan from my DH. He got thrown off the bed and hit the floor due to the pitching of the boat! We had obviously hit the rough seas courtesy of Hurricane Irene! DH could not go back to sleep so he sat on the balcony and watched the sea, comparing it to the TV show, The Deadliest Catch right before they hit a big storm. He said the waves hit at least 12 feet! None of his pictures turned out, too dark and the ship moved too much to get any good pics. He headed back to bed around 5am (I was passed out asleep, I can sleep through anything!) and we got up around 9am.

 

First picture of the day, courtesy of the rough seas!

 

 

 

 

 

Since we had a sea day, I didn’t feel rushed to do anything all day! I know lots of folks try to pack in as much as possible on a cruise but this time around we chose to just took the day as it came and did what we wanted to do. The only the thing we knew we would do was to go to Elegant night in the MDR. Everything else was a bonus!

 

We hit the Lido for breakfast even though it was our first sea day. I was not impressed with breakfast in the MDR on the last cruise and I like to pig out at the Lido buffet, LOL! Breakfast bounty!

 

 

 

[Brittasbay]

So the boat is still rocking and the sky is gray for the first half of the day. Went to the MDR for lunch for the first time ever. I have to say we enjoyed it. This cruise we wanted to try the biggest variety of foods possible, just for fun.

 

Caribbean Pepper Pot soup, so surprisingly yummy!

Spaghetti and meatballs:

 

Shrimp Sandwich - it looked better than it tasted

 

Creme Carmel - tasted like flan and was yummy!

 

 

[navybaby1113]

Loving the review. Keep it up!

[Brittasbay]

Headed to the Art auction and placed some bids, then on to tea time. I never miss tea time! They have the nicest little sandwiches and sweets and it makes me feel spoiled to go.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

DH was supposed to meet me for tea time and did not show up. The waiters were nice and let me make up a plate of treats for DH since he didn't show. Turns out DH was sleepy and decided to nap instead :D Gotta love a vacation that way!

 

 

At this point the sun was out and the boat had stopped rocking. The cruise director, Jenn, had said we would be in Key West the next day and Sunday was still up in the air for Freeport or Nassau.

 

 

[Brittasbay]

We took time to hang out on the Lido deck and people watch before we headed down to get ready for elegant night.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Back at the room to get ready and on the balcony we see the prettiest thing, a double rainbow! DH tried hard to get good pictures of it.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[cakewoman]

I would like to know if you saw anybody that brought fans through security??? I need a fan or I won't sleep. Also what is one thing you forgot to bring and wished you did. You could send to my email at denbstephb@hotmail.com Thanks Stephanie

[Brittasbay]

I would like to know if you saw anybody that brought fans through security??? I need a fan or I won't sleep. Also what is one thing you forgot to bring and wished you did. You could send to my email at denbstephb@hotmail.com Thanks Stephanie

 

Stephanie,

 

If anyone did bring a fan, they must have been packed in their checked in luggage and I didn't see it. A friend of mine brings a battery operated noise machine that has wind sounds on it when she cruises as she usually needs a fan to sleep too. The cabins are cold enough that all she needs is the sound of a fan and she is OK :D

 

One thing I forgot to bring this year that I wished I had was a power strip. I brought one last year and didn't use it so I left it out. This year with so many camera issues, a smart phone, a kindle, and a continuous glucose monitor for my diabetes, I really, really needed one! It was a hassle! I would also say for people who say don't over pack, you can NEVER have too many extra pairs of underwear and tshirts and you do need a sweater or hoodie. I tried to packed light this year and totally regretted it! I almost ran out of undies and I ended up having to buy a hoodie at the gift shop on day 2 because I was freezing in the room, in the MDR and at the casino.

[mousey]

Yep, I cant' not take a power strip! The DS (16) has a computer, iPod, iphone, etc., etc., etc. :D The DH has all of the above except for the iPod, but instead he has the video camera. Me, my iphone is all I need!:D

[richstowe]

Thanx so much for posting pix from your first Fascination cruise. It was Nassau and Freeport instead of Key West and Nassau.

I am glad our cruise, like your current cruise goes to Key West.

 

Your food shots are great. Looking at the pool shots I understand the comments from others on CC that the pool and the pool area

on the Fantasy class ships are just too small for this size of ships (on a nice day). Oh well.

[Name Of The Game]

Great review so far!

 

We love spaghetti & meatballs and were thinking of going to the dining room for lunch. Did the meatballs have a beefy homemade flavor or do you think it was some kind of filler? Did the pepper pot soup contain green peppers or was it named because it was peppery (spicy)? Was it a cheesy base?

 

Looking forward to more!

[Brittasbay]

Great review so far!

 

We love spaghetti & meatballs and were thinking of going to the dining room for lunch. Did the meatballs have a beefy homemade flavor or do you think it was some kind of filler? Did the pepper pot soup contain green peppers or was it named because it was peppery (spicy)? Was it a cheesy base?

 

Looking forward to more!

 

The meatballs were pretty beefy in flavor and I felt they were good quality but the did have some filler. Kind of like the type you pay premium prices for in the grocery store. I don't recall seeing green pepper in the soup but it did have okra in it. It was spicy but in a mild way, not hot at all. The base was more of a cream base than a cheesy one. It looks like a heavy soup but it was really light and refreshing.

 

Thanks for the positive feedback on the post. I will be doing more of the review today :)

[Name Of The Game]

Thanks for the response. We just may order those. ;)

[Brittasbay]

Off to elegant night….Stopped to get pictures taken, just in case we wanted to buy one later and then off to the MDR! Let the food fun begin!

 

 

 

 

Strawberry Bisque-not my favorite but hubby loved it!

 

 

Pumpkin Soup-this was my favorite soup of the cruise. I tried it because posters here talked about it being good and it was!

 

 

DH is going to miss this appetizer

 

 

 

 

DH looking happy!

[Brittasbay]

I was so excited to find that the Bitter and Blanc was on the dessert menu this evening! I had been wanting to try it last year but they did not serve it on my last cruise. This was one of the best desserts I have ever had! I loved the sauce as it reminds me of Bird's Eye custard that I grew up having. If I had realized how good this was going to be, I would have eaten less at the beginning of the meal to leave room for 2 servings!

 

 

We were so full after this meal, we could barely move!

 

After dinner we thought about catching a show or going to an activity but we were tired from all the R&R and decided to take a little nap. After the nap we mixed up some cocktails with our Bon Voyage booze and we headed up to the casino for some slots. I also played the machine you put quarters in that you hope will dump more quarters out to you and I won a Carnival Player’s Club hat! This was my biggest win of the whole cruise ;)

 

 

 

 

A quick review of the entertainment we did see on the ship….I preferred the music on the ship last year with JJ Paolino to this year (I think he is on one of the bigger ships this year and is so worth hanging out and listening to). Don’t get me wrong, Jay, the solo guitar guy was super talented but he played a lot of music that just wasn’t my thing, like John Cougar Mellencamp cheesy type of stuff. I am more of a Jack Johnson, Jason Mraz kinda girl so I didn’t enjoy Jay as much. The band that was always playing in the evenings next to the casino, True Identity was good but once again, not really my style of music. They played lots of Journey and 80s southern rock and they were really loud! People were singing along and enjoyed them, just not my thing.

[Brittasbay]

Day 3: Key West baby!

 

Since we hadn’t planned on being in Key West on this cruise itinerary, I had done no research or planning for this port :( We considered doing a Carnival excursion but I just could not justify the cost of what they charged. Since the ship was going to be in port a long time for a Key West stop, we decided to get up whenever we woke up, get breakfast and just head into port to explore.

 

View from our balcony, great thing to see when you wake up!

 

A butterfly landed on this guy's arm near his watch. It was a rush to see if we could get the picture before it flew away :)