We struck gold on Fascination!

[APDMOM]

We have been to Nassau several times in the past. Our stop therefore consisted of a walk off the ship to grab a few pictures, then back to play minigolf and swim on the deserted ship.

 

 

 

We shared the port with Carnival Sensation, RCCL Majesty of the Seas! and Disney Dream.

 

 

I must say, that tube slide on Disney looked quite temtping, but it is just not in the budget!

 

 

 

[APDMOM]

A few more views of Nassau:

 

 

 

 

We enjoyed watching this helicopter (on the jetty in front of the house) take off and land several times during the day... They must have run to the grocery shop :D

 

 

 

[APDMOM]

Great review - looking forward to more photos!

 

Glad you are enjoying it. :)

[kr8z]

A friend cruises on Fascination in a week. i directed her over here. Not sure if she is a member or not, but at least she can read the review and see the photos. Same itinerary as you too.

[APDMOM]

Nassau day was also PAST GUEST PARTY DAY! It was the best past guest party I have ever experienced. Alex, the cruise director, knows how to get a crowd (small in this case) to liven up and enjoy themselves. Due to the new program, there were much fewer people at the party. It was held in the "Puttin' on the Ritz lounge". It started at 7:15 p.m., which made for a bit of a rushed dinner. The free drinks kept coming - smaller variety of choices than before, but they were in large drinking glasses. We could only manage one each. We did not try to ask for an alternative drink, because we both liked the rum punch and pineapple drinks they served.

 

We received the invitation in our cabin two nights before the party.

 

 

Dancing with the entertainment staff:

 

 

The captain and several other staff members joined the party, with some questions answered.

 

 

 

Here is the same lounge during the day...

 

 

It is also the lounge where you can attend the comedy shows:

 

[APDMOM]

A friend cruises on Fascination in a week. i directed her over here. Not sure if she is a member or not, but at least she can read the review and see the photos. Same itinerary as you too.

 

Great! I hope she finds this helpful. I will be scanning the Fun Times later - possibly tomorrow. I will post a link here when that is done.

[APDMOM]

The show lounge is not as impressive in design as others I have seen. However, I enjoyed one of the BEST shows I have ever seen on a cruise ship right here. "Hey, Mambo!" was excellent in so many ways! The songs fit the lead singers' voices and personalities perfectly. The songs were fun and energetic, as can only be in the latin american style! The costumes were out of this world beautiful! The choreography spoke of true talent, as opposed to the streamlined suggestive dancing that I have witnessed on many recent cruises. This show made me want to hop on a ship to Rio de Janeiro to buy a tacky, fruity hat...:D I loved it!

 

To me, the 80's show was not as impressive. Although still well done, my husband spoke truly that the show brought back pleasant memories of the 80's, but the music of the 80's is hardly worth a whole show (in our humble personal opinions, of course). Bring me a 70's show any day.

 

The show lounge/Palace Theater:

 

 

 

These 2-person seats were pretty neat. They swing around to make a circle for socializing (like in the second pic)... Then swing back around to watch the show (like in the first pic)

 

 

 

[APDMOM]

OOPS! Double post...

[APDMOM]

Here are some more random pictures of the ship for your enjoyment. I forgot to mention the 'safety briefing' (aka muster drill). We were in station C, which meant we got together in Passage to India on deck 9. It was a nice and comfy demonstration, where they did indeed count the passengers (as recently mentioned here on CC). We then moved as a group to our life boat area, where we only waited about 5 minutes before dismissal.

 

Passage to India was also our favorite place to wait during disembarkation. We were in zone 18 and were the only ones in the lounge. It was nice and quiet.

 

 

 

 

 

Beverly Hills Bar

 

 

[lucky13elec]

Thanks for the pics and review. We just booked for next May on the Fascination. Taking my mom for mothers day. I'm glad to hear the possitive review.

[APDMOM]

Arcade

 

 

Promenade (was very crowded at night - obviously this pic was taken in the morning)

 

 

Casino

 

 

Formalities

 

 

 

Bogart's coffee

 

[crusinpsychRN]

Great review and pictures! I've never seen such a nice review on this ship before! Love HMC.

[APDMOM]

Thanks for the pics and review. We just booked for next May on the Fascination. Taking my mom for mothers day. I'm glad to hear the possitive review.

 

You are welcome. Enjoy planning! :) If you come in a day early, consider a visit to St Augustine. It is beautiful with great history. It is about 40 minutes south of Jacksonville.

[APDMOM]

Great review and pictures! I've never seen such a nice review on this ship before! Love HMC.

 

Thank you! Wish we were in Tampa... Closer to many more ships!:D

[APDMOM]

The Atrium. I don't care how small a ship is - the atrium is always most impressive! Fascination is no exception...

 

 

 

Diamonds lounge

 

 

 

[APDMOM]

The library

 

 

 

 

The piano bar (always one of my favorite designs):

 

 

 

 

[javamom]

Found them...

 

Here is one that shows the cruise parking... The one we chose is on the corner of Heckscher and the entrance to the port. You cannot miss it, since you have to drive right past it to enter the port. I read here that cruise terminal parking is $15 per day. I did not confirm this, so take it from CC :D

 

 

 

I truly don't mean to hijack your post. But since I have parked at the terminal a few times (yes $15 is correct), I just want to insert that it is not a long walk AT ALL. Last time, a man with a golf cart picked us up and drove us to the port drop-off (we tipped him). But we usually walk with our carry-ons. We are middle age plus, overweight plus and still made the very short walk fine. :-)

[RuthlessBoss]

Great review and pictures! I've never seen such a nice review on this ship before! Love HMC.

I truly agree. It was well thought out. I had no idea what it looked like, just seen Sensation and Ecstasy. Guess I need to put it on my agenda.:)

[APDMOM]

So, you may be wondering by now... "Where are the pool photos?" Well, here they come! Even though this was a very full cruise, we were always able to find seats by the pool. Chair hogging was still present, but not nearly as bad as on other cruises!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The deck party on our cruise was a BIG hit. Between 1200 and 1300 people showed up - a record for Fascination. If you do not have young kids to put to bed, show up. Once again, Alex did an amazing job of getting everyone involved!

 

[APDMOM]

I truly don't mean to hijack your post. But since I have parked at the terminal a few times (yes $15 is correct), I just want to insert that it is not a long walk AT ALL. Last time, a man with a golf cart picked us up and drove us to the port drop-off (we tipped him). But we usually walk with our carry-ons. We are middle age plus, overweight plus and still made the very short walk fine. :-)

 

Thanks for the insert. It does give a different perspective. I read about the long walk on a different review. I guess it always comes down to attitude and maybe whether the first/closer lot was full. On our departure day, temps were in the 90's and very humid...

 

Being the penny pincher, I still prefer the cheaper lot. I do appreciate your input though - it is all helping others make an informed decision :)

[APDMOM]

I truly agree. It was well thought out. I had no idea what it looked like, just seen Sensation and Ecstasy. Guess I need to put it on my agenda.:)

 

Thank you! If your agenda looks like mine, it has about 200 more ships on it :D I really want to try them all.

[ladylikes2cruise]

The Fascination was our first cruise ever...

That where we got drugged.......

Now we are cruise addicts, lol

Cruisin, my drug of choice

 

She sure has changed, since we've been on her.

Hope to cruise on her again, but right now our plates are full:D

 

Thanks for bringing back some great memories

[Georgiagolfer]

Loved the review. DW and I sailed the Fascination in Feb. 2011, and May 2012. Liked it so much, we are booked again for Sep. 2012. We have stayed in OV each time and although smaller than newer ships, still OK for us and plenty of closet/drawer space.

 

We also did not care for most shows, and didn't like that on 2 nights the show was so late. Other than that we love the ship, never felt crowded lie on larger ships. Speaking of larger ships, we are looking at Freedom of the Seas for next January and Allure of the Seas for next May.

[APDMOM]

Minigolf was one of our favorite early morning activities... (not quite this ealy:D )

 

 

Our 7 year old wanted to know why there were so many "pretend" lions on the ship... That was when I first noticed all the doors had them.

 

 

The lifeboats with JEA in the background... (that reminds me, I have an electricity bill to pay)

 

 

[APDMOM]

The Fascination was our first cruise ever...

That where we got drugged.......

Now we are cruise addicts, lol

Cruisin, my drug of choice

 

She sure has changed, since we've been on her.

Hope to cruise on her again, but right now our plates are full:D

 

Thanks for bringing back some great memories

 

Our first cruise was also in 2004 on Fantasy! I know what you mean by the changes :) Enjoy planning all your upcoming cruises!