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Fascination review - 10/29-11/4

RuthieandTony

By RuthieandTony,
in Carnival Cruise Lines

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RuthieandTony

RuthieandTony

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Sorry for the delay everyone! Mom has been sick and in the hospital since Monday night. She has an icky case of bronchitis, so she sounds like a combination of a three pack a day smoker and an obscene phone caller! But she is on the mend and hopefully will be home on Friday. But, back to where I left off!

 

We had booked cabins E119 and E127. E119 was mom and Joyce. As previously stated, we needed a fully accessible cabin for mom and Joyce since the scooter was with them. Since the Fascination is a relatively older ship, the amount of handicapped cabins are limited. The amount of inside handicapped cabins are even more limited. While I didn't get any pics of their cabin, let me just say it was small. There was just enough room to turn around and get the scooter in the bathroom. But we don't spend much time in the cabin, so it did it's job. Tony and I were two doors down in E127. I was a bit hesitant about this cabin. First off, it was behind the elevator and just below the galley. So I was significantly worried about noise. And then, in looking at the deck layout, the room was longer in width than in length. I was puzzled, but we pressed on anyway. Here is what we found:

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Do you see the white stripper pole to the right of the picture? I'm not sure what it held up, but it was there, and pretty much always in the way. I just knew that I would get up in the middle of the night and bonk my head. But it didn't happen!!! To the right of the pole is the desk and mirror. We had a flat screen TV at the end of the bed. The bathroom was tiny but efficient. We had the normal goodie bag of toiletries. Yes, I brought them home! Our cabin stewart told us that if we separated the beds there would be a lot more room for us to get around. But since Tony is such a great snuggler (honey, I love you!), we decided to keep the beds together. As for the noise, only one night was there some clanging and banging. Otherwise, it was nice a peaceful.

 

Our big suitcases hadn't arrived yet, so we unpacked what we had with us, including my door decorations. This is another idea I stole from Cruise Critic. I went to the Dollar Store and got some Halloween decor for the door. A little scotch tape, and we were able to find out cabins without having to remember the number! Other people had also decorated for Halloween. Lots of festiveness!

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After the mini-unpacking, we decided to explore the ship. Before we took off, we met Marvin, our cabin steward. He was fabulous!!! Mom and Joyce had a couple of special requests, so they gave him the information and an extra tip (in addition to the already on the sail and sign tip money). He was very nice and helpful to them. We went to the safety briefing, which was painless. Mom put her name on a list of people who were unable to climb stairs in the event of an emergency, and we were done with that chore.

 

We had decided that we wanted to go to the Serenity Deck to watch sailaway. Okay, I decided and basically said come or not, that's where I'll be! Everyone else decided to tag along. While it wasn't the best view of going under the bridge, it was still neat to see and just a beatiful view. This was, unfortunately, the only time I made it to the Serenity Deck. It was so crowded during the day, even when it was raining.

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We went back to the cabin to freshen up before dinner. All of our luggage was there so we unpacked. We had early seating in the Imagination dining room at table 340. This was a four top table. I honestly didn't care whether or not we were seated with other people. I've done that before and had both good and bad results. So it was just us four. Our head waiter was Boris from Croatia and the assistant was Dorian, also from Croatia. Can we say cutie?!?!?! And such a flirt - the both of them. They were excellent. That night for dinner, I remember having flat iron steak. Sorry, no food porn! Everything was delicious. This was also the end of Tony's 44th birthday. We didn't order a special cake, but Boris and Dorian put a candle in an extra dessert and sang to him. He was sufficiently embarassed. That was fun.

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After dinner, we were pooped. None of us thought we could stay awake for the "Welcome Aboard" show. So we said out good-night's and went to bed. A pretty decent first day.

 

Up next - rain, rain, go away!

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RuthieandTony

RuthieandTony

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My husband and I will be getting on the Fascination on Saturday. Could you tell me if the Afternoon Tea is held on both sea days or just the second ? I am enjoying your review!:)

 

I'm pretty sure it was on both sea days, but I didn't attend. And I didn't save any of the fun times. Sorry!

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skye02

skye02

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Great review. We were on the Fascination last year and loved it! I'd love to sail on her again, I just wish Carnival would vary the itenerary. The Bahamas weren't my favorite destination. I can't wait to read your impression!

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NCTribeFan

NCTribeFan

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Hope your mother is recovering quickly!

 

What a strange cabin! We had U99 when we sailed her. I'd had insides on various ships, but never one of the sideways ones, so I thought I'd book it just to see what it was like. The layout was fine (I thought there was less closet space), but there was some sort of whump-whump-whump throbbing in the air the entire cruise. I imagine there was some sort of machinery in that "white space" down the center of the ship on that deck. It was very unpleasant - like driving down the highway with one window parially down - it actually made my ears hurt.

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CruizCuz

CruizCuz

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Hope your mother is recovering quickly!

 

What a strange cabin! We had U99 when we sailed her. I'd had insides on various ships, but never one of the sideways ones, so I thought I'd book it just to see what it was like. The layout was fine (I thought there was less closet space), but there was some sort of whump-whump-whump throbbing in the air the entire cruise. I imagine there was some sort of machinery in that "white space" down the center of the ship on that deck. It was very unpleasant - like driving down the highway with one window parially down - it actually made my ears hurt.

Uh on, that is one of our cabins during the week of Thanksgiving. I am worried that my family members in that room won't be able to sleep or tolerate that noise :(. What does one do when something like that happens? We chose that room, because it is across the hall from our Grand Suite and the other two OV cabins are close by as well. We have 4 total rooms booked. It is an almost full cruise, so what to do? Any suggestions?

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VA_Sailor

VA_Sailor

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Ruthie....thanks for the detailed review....my wife and I sailed on Fascination last January and aboslutely loved the ship.

 

I do have an unusual question about your cruise. I was watching the ship's AIS on October 30th, and that night it showed Fascination steam into Miami Harbor at a fairly fast rate, go straight into the dock at the Miami cruise terminal port-side to, stay there about 30 minutes, then make a normal speed spin in the turning basin and go back to sea at a much more normal speed. Any idea what that was about? MEDEVAC maybe, or something else?

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durangokid

durangokid

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I am not Ruthie but I was on the same cruise - yes we had to divert to Miami to get treatment for a "seriously ill passenger". Never heard any more about it afterward - did anyone else? My DIL's cabin was right about where they debarked the pax and she said it looked like someone fairly young (30s-40s).

 

At any rate, Ruthie, I am enjoying your review--and we debarked right next to your mom and friend....I got the impression she was not comfortable with the ramp coming off the ship! I was with the little girl and boy we had to keep "shooing" along to move as they were saying goodbye to the ship :D

 

Mary in NC

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missdebi

missdebi

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Ruthie~ we were on the cruise with you and remember your crew!!! Didn't you guys do the slot tournament? Sorry your Mom is sick we had 6 people come home with bronchitis/sinus infections!

 

NCTribeFan~we are platinum and the perks start once you get through security,there is a separate door but you are funneled into the same security line you will then be directed to the VIP check-in room.

 

We also used the shuttle service,much cheaper, very quick and we had a group of 30! But they have merged their business with another shuttle service and they are now located on Airport Road which is not as close to the port but probably not bad. I know there is also a park and ride at the entrance to the port. Actually the port parking lot looked deserted.

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RuthieandTony

RuthieandTony

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I am not Ruthie but I was on the same cruise - yes we had to divert to Miami to get treatment for a "seriously ill passenger". Never heard any more about it afterward - did anyone else? My DIL's cabin was right about where they debarked the pax and she said it looked like someone fairly young (30s-40s).

 

At any rate, Ruthie, I am enjoying your review--and we debarked right next to your mom and friend....I got the impression she was not comfortable with the ramp coming off the ship! I was with the little girl and boy we had to keep "shooing" along to move as they were saying goodbye to the ship :D

 

Mary in NC

 

Hi Mary - I do remember you and the super cute kiddos you were with. Yes, mom does not like ramps. At one point she said that she wasn't looking, so I asked her to stop driving the scooter!!!

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RuthieandTony

RuthieandTony

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Sorry for the delay in posting everyone. Unfortunately, mom is still in the hospital, but making very, very slow progress. I'm hoping she will get discharged this weekend. For some reason, my computer won't pick up WIFI, so I cannot do anything at the hospital while I keep her company. But I'm home for the evening, so here is an update!

 

Since we had an inside cabin, and I didn't want to hit the stripper pole in the night, we left the TV on the Lido Cam channel during the night. I had hoped to wake up on the morning of our first sea day, see the sun shining brightly on the Lido Deck and get ready to get my tan on. Well, Mother Nature had other plans for us. Cloudy, overcast, gloomy, drizzly rain, blah - that's how to describe the weather. It was at least warm!!! So I woke up Tony, gathered up my book and we met mom and Joyce up on Lido for breakfast. Because of the weather, there were very few people lounging by the pool. That did not deter us! We spent much of the morning and early afternoon dodging the raindrops. We participated in TV theme trivia - which we only missed two, but still lost. Someday I will have my 24 carat gold plastic stick on a ship. We had a lite lunch and wandered around the ship before getting ready for formal night/elegant night/bring on the lobster night.

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While we were back in the cabin getting ready, an all-page came over by Jen the cruise director. She informed us that one of our fellow passengers was very ill, and the decision was made that we needed to stop at the port of Miami to drop her off so that her medical needs were attended to. Jen said that we were going to speed up to get her to Miami and then head onto Key West. No information was given about what happened or if she was/is okay. If anyone knows, please feel free to comment. I sent up a little prayer for her and her family, hoped they had travel insurance and continued to get ready for dinner.

 

Now I absolutely, positively do not care what other folks wear to the dining room. Yes, there is a dress code, and yes, I abide by it. That's my choice. There were folks there in all types of clothes from tuxedos and formal dresses to more casual, but nice clothes. I did see one person wearing shorts, and he was very nicely reminded of the dress code and asked to come back wearing long pants. He was fine with the request, and I hope he came back and had dinner. We did, in my opinion, look fabulous!

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Again, no food porn, but I had the wonderful yumminess of both lobster and prime rib. Tony had 2 1/2 lobsters and had to waive the flag of defeat (he had a pre-cruise goal of 5 lobsters :eek:). Everything was just so delicious and we were incredibly stuffed. After dinner we got a few formal pics made and went to that evenings show "Hey Mambo". I usually don't like the "Vegas style shows" but I do like this type of music, so we decided to take a chance. And I'm glad that we did. The singers and dancers were excellent and the musicians were very talented. We had a good time. After the show, mom and Joyce called it a night and Tony and I went and listened to kareoke for a little while. So even though the weather didn't cooperate and there was a quick detour to Miami, it wasn't a bad day.

 

Which is a good thing, because up next . . . . will I cry and scream while at Key West??

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RuthieandTony

RuthieandTony

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I was so very looking forward to Key West. I had been there twice previously and knew how I wanted to spend the day. In my never ending pre-planning process, I looked for and booked and electric car/golf cart for the four of us. I had found a place called Adventure Rentals. I called them, explaining that we needed a car that had two things - some type of rear hatch for the manual wheelchair (we would be bringing bungee cords for securing the chair) and help-me handles so that mom could get into the car. They were very nice, and we booked four hours for $89. We were assurred that we would have the car we needed, and all we had to do was call them when we got to Mallory Square and they would deliver the car to us. It sounds like a great plan, right? Anyone want to raise their hand if they think this plan actually happened??!!?!?

The night before, we set out the door hanger for room service breakfast. Because of the detour into Miami the night before for the sick passenger, we would be arriving into Key West later than planned, but we made up the time at the end of the day. We planned to meet mom and Joyce in the Atrium Lobby at 9:30 so that we could get off the ship together. As we were planning to head towards the elevators to disembark, Jen came on the over page and informed us that the gangway was currently clear, but the elevators were down. Ummm, what?? They were working on the problem and would keep up posted. Ummm, what??? So we sat. And waited. And waited. While we waited, we called Adventure Rentals and let them know that we would be there eventually and would call them when we got off the ship. After approximately 45 minutes, Jen came back on and said the elevators were working. Joyce was in the bathroom. By the time she got back, the elevators were down again. Umm, seriously - what?!?!? It was about another 20 minutes and Jen announced that the elevators were working again. We ran to the the nearest elevator and headed down to deck three. Down the gangway we went and we were finally in the bright sunshine of Key West. We took the shuttle down the pier and arrived in Mallory Square!

It took a few minutes to get mom off the shuttle (using the accessible one with a lift). While they were getting her off the shuttle, I called Adventure Rentals. The line was busy. For 15 minutes. After it was done being busy, it just rang and rang and rang and rang and rang. I'm not entirely sure how long I attempted to call this place, but it seemed like forever. After I was completely frustrated, I got directions to the place and Tony and I walked there. So that took about 15 minutes. Just to recap - we lost an hour getting off the ship and another hour to get to our fun for the day. It was about 11:30 or so at the point. My vacation happiness was quickly fading and my "come apart" was coming on. Upon arriving at Adventure Rentals, I told them who I was and that we had been trying to call for quite some time. My response from random dude behind the counter "oh, sorry". Fine, whatever, give me the car and send me on my way. I signed my life away, paid the money owed and headed back to Mallory Square. The car did have the requirements I had initially requested. At this point, I was actually hoping that we would be able to get some fun out of the day. We got back to where mom and Joyce were patiently waiting for us. As mom began getting into the car, it was then we noticed that one of the tires were flat on the car. AAAAKKKKKK!!!! I called Adventure Rentals (they amazingly answered on the first attempt) and told them of the problem. They promised to send over another car quickly. After 20 minutes, the next car still had not shown up. It's a five minute drive for heaven's sake - where were they?? So I called and random dude informed me that the person couldn't find us. Okay, we are four people, one in a wheel chair and another having a meltdown - LOOK HARDER!!! The guy finally showed up with our replacement car. But guess what? The new car didn't have any of the things I needed to accomodate the wheelchair or mom.

It was then that I began to cry. I just couldn't help it. It was a beautiful day. I wanted to have fun. And I couldn't get this ridiculous company to work with me. I thanked the replacement car guy and told him we would be taking care of the issue. Tony and I drove back to Adventure Rentals and told them we wanted a full refund. Random dude looked at me and said "Why?". OMG!!! So I explained why I wanted my money back. He said that he had to call his manager to get permission. I didn't hear the entire conversation, but what I did hear got my blood boiling! Random dude asked why I was returning the car when I had it for an hour already. At this point, the volume of my voice raised way too high when I explained that I've only driven to Mallory Square - check the damned odometer! More chit-chat and I finally received my refund. They drove us back to Mallory Square. By now, it was about 12:30. The entire morning was gone. We had no transportation, no plans and a lot of frustration.

Up next . . . what will we do in Key West?

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durangokid

durangokid

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Oh, so sorry Key West was so stressful for you! Also sending healing thoughts for your mom and everyone else with the post-cruise crud. So far, and I know I am jinxing myself!, we have not had it this time!

 

Keep the review coming; enjoying your point of view.

 

Mary in NC

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Shar179

Shar179

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Thanks for the good review. I'm sorry about your issues in Key West. It's so disappointing when your plans fall through. I sailed the Fascination in September. That was my very first cruise, so I had nothing to compare it to. I absolutely loved it! Now I'm trying to figure out when I can cruise again.

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RuthieandTony

RuthieandTony

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Thanks for all the get well wishes for mom. She should be released from the hospital tomorrow (barring any overnight silliness). But back to Key West!

 

At this point, so much time has been wasted and I was really, really close to just scrapping the day and going back to the ship. But that was most certainly not fair to everyone else. So Tony and I went and talked to the folks at Old Time Trolley. They had a tour of Key West that was 90 minutes long and would show us all the hot spots. It had the option of hopping on/hopping off, but with the wheelchair and our limited time, we just stayed on the entire time.

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This was, in all reality, a good little tour. We saw all the typical landmarks and just some beautiful scenery. And although you readers don't know me, you should know that I was still fuming about how the day had gone and I just didn't have a good time. And because we didn't have time to hop off and explore the different stops (there were about 12 of them) that just irritated me more. But I put a fake smile on my face, and we went through the tour.

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The tour ended back at Mallory Square. Before we boarded the shuttle back to the ship, I insisted we do the one thing I absolutely wanted to do. I got a chocolate covered key lime pie on a stick. After a truly icky day, this was a slice of heaven. Ahhhhh!!! We got back on the shuttle and went back to the ship. We were hot, tired and sweaty. But, it was Halloween and there were costumes to wear and fun to have!

 

Up next . . . . do I mind when men flirt with me in front of my husband?!?!?

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