Love The Fascination – September 20-24, 2012 - 4 Day Cruise with pictures!

[Brittasbay]

We needed to be in Rawson Square no later than 8:45am for our pick up for the excursion. So we make it to Rawson Square with 10 minutes to spare and wait for our bus. 8:45am comes and goes and no bus! I started to panic! I had the email printout for this excursion with me but there was no phone number on the email and I didn’t have my cell phone anyways! We didn’t prepay for this excursion but I was worried that if they didn’t show that we would not have anything to do for the day after getting up at the crack of dawn. Finally at about 9:10am the bus shows up. Luckily this was the only snag of the day.

 

 

Rawson Square

 

 

 

 

I don’t know if I am allowed to put the name of the company in this post so I encourage you to check out the pictures as the name of the boat “may” just be the name of the company. This excursion cost $70 and included a snack, rum punch and soda plus lots of time in the water, snorkeling around Rose Island. You can see we had a great time and it was very relaxing.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[tomsuelaw]

Based on the 3 times I have been to Freeport I can tell you that you will be able to get off the ship usually within 15 minutes of the stated arrival time. The issue is that depending on when you dock there, especially if it is not at 8am but at noon, is that everyone who is doing an excursion is getting off ASAP too. This makes for crowds and possibly waiting a bit for a taxi. I think the first time we went we got off when the doors opened and ended up waiting about 30 minutes for a cab. If the time the ship is leaving is 7pm then you would want to be back no later than 6:30pm. Just remember that folks on the island live by "island time" and don't rush like we Americans do. Don't cut it too close or you will be running to the ship, freaking out :rolleyes:

So, just to clarify, is it busier at 12n or 8am? We are scheduled for a 12n arrival.

[Brittasbay]

So, just to clarify, is it busier at 12n or 8am? We are scheduled for a 12n arrival.

 

Good question! I think that it is probably a bit busier at noon versus 8am just because some people don't want to get up that early if they are just going into port without an excursion. Hopefully someone else will comment with their experiences to help you out.

[Brittasbay]

More pictures.....

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Georgia Peach 4]

Keep it coming -- we leave Sunday for Jacksonville!

[Brittasbay]

Keep it coming -- we leave Sunday for Jacksonville!

 

You will have the best time! Wish I could go with you! I miss my ship :D;)

[Brittasbay]

The bus brought us back to Rawson Square at almost 2pm so I figured we could do some shopping before getting back on the ship. What I didn’t take into consideration was that I would be so darn tired after all that fun! Plus we were hungry and didn’t feel like overpaying for food on shore. We did a half hearted attempt at shopping and headed back to the port area. We stopped for a quick snack of conch fritters and headed back to the boat.

 

 

There were tons of ships in port now so I took pictures. The Allure was crazy big sitting next to the Fascination!

 

 

 

 

 

 

[CaliCruisers635]

LOVE your review, can't wait to read more of it and see more pictures! Especially of the food...lol:rolleyes:

[Brittasbay]

Back on the ship DH and I took showers and decided we both needed a nap. Now I am not a big napper but I was so tired after getting up so early. We slept until about 5:30 and then got up to get ready for dinner. We had YTD which works best for us. Through out the trip we never sat in the same waiter’s section twice but all of the servers on this ship were top notch! We never had to wait to be seated or wait too long for the next course. Dinner was good as usual. We headed back to the room to make a cocktail or two, sit on the balcony to let our food digest, talk and hang out, and smoke a couple of cigarettes.

 

A chicken and mushroom dish that DH loved...

 

 

 

Tom Turkey, always tasty.

Chile Reneno which was so good!

 

Tiramasu which was tasty. DH got apple pie which he did not like as it had too much cinnamon for his taste.

 

 

[Brittasbay]

At 9:30 we decided we would go to the comedy show. The comedian was OK, his material a bit flat. What was funny about the show was that people started to heckle him and that’s when you got to see his comedy talent. He did a great job turning the heckles around on the audience. DH decided he wanted a margarita and I decided to try a mojito. As a type 1 diabetic I avoid the super sugary fruity drinks and try to get something that won’t make my blood sugars high. Don’t get me wrong, I love those fruity, frozen concoctions but it’s too hard to manage my blood sugar after one of those. I asked the bartender to use half of the usual amount of sugar syrup in the mojito in hopes that it would make the drink more low carb while still tasting good. It worked like a charm, the drink tasted good without being too sweet and my blood sugars were happy.

 

When I was given the receipt for the drink there was a stamp on it saying that the receipt was good for a $5 match in the casino as the drinks were “classic cocktails.” I showed DH and he got excited as we had other receipts for his margaritas that he got here and there throughout the cruise. We decided to search our receipts when we got back up to the room so DH could have some matched money for playing black jack the next night. We headed back to the casino for more slot action. I broke even tonight but DH lost on slots. We decided to check out the Mexican buffet that was being held that evening. This was the only food experience of the whole trip that was just bleh. The lines were long and the food was bland. After a few nibbles we headed to bed.

 

 

 

 

 

Day 4-Sea Day finally!

 

This was the first cruise where the sea day was at the end of the cruise and not at the beginning. I love the slow, relaxing feel of a sea day to start a vacation! DH and I got up and headed to the Lido. We don’t like breakfast in the MDR and prefer to get a yummy omelet at the Lido. We sat on the Lido and DH got a fruity drink. This was a drink that I wanted my DH to try as I wanted a taste and it looked cool! This was called a twilight zone frozen cocktail. OMG it was so good! DH said he liked it better than a Miami Vice or Kiss on the Lips.

 

 

 

 

[rnvattes]

At this point it was about 11:30am and the terminal was not crowded. I tend to be a bit of a rebel and tried to take some pics of me and DH while in the terminal even though that is against the rules. All of a sudden I hear “ma’am, ma’am, you can’t take pictures in here! We need you to delete those pictures!” I tried to play dumb but I knew I was busted, LOL! Security made me delete the pictures. I got away with taking pictures of my friends while in the terminal in Miami so I wanted to see if I could get away with it here.

 

Anyone know WHY you can't take pics in the terminal??? I mean, there's nothing super secret going on there.... I have always been :confused: and :rolleyes: by this...

[rnvattes]

Glad that folks are enjoying the review so far, thanks for your feedback!

 

Our CD was Carl who was nice. I am assuming that he was not “Karl with a K” as he never identified himself that way. He didn’t over do the announcements and was pleasant to run into on deck. Once lunch was done, we headed down to our room to see if it was ready. We headed to E206 and the room was ready. We got to meet our steward, Anton. He was friendly as well as great at his job. He took good care of us!

 

As you can see, we make sure we don’t spend a ton on drinks on the ship by taking advantage of Bon Voyage for vodka and a fruit and wine basket and the allowance of 1 bottle of wine per adult. In retrospect we ended up with too much booze and ended up not finishing half the vodka and some of the wine.

 

 

 

We got DH a DOD and then he decided to hang out in the room and enjoy the balcony and I went up to the spa to do a tour as I had never visited the spa on any of my past cruises.

The spa on this ship is a bit older and dated compared to the newer ships but was still really nice. I did not win the raffle for free spa dollars. I decided to book a “manager’s special” for the next day which included a message, a facial, and a collagen eye treatment. It was a bit pricey, $149.95 but I thought, what the heck? I am on vacation. The down side was that you had to do the special either on day 1 or by noon on day 2. Since we were porting in Freeport at noon and had plans, I didn’t think I would be able to take advantage of the special unless I got up earlier than I like to. I just called the spa and they worked with me, allowing me to book at 4pm on day 2 and still get the special price. I am glad they worked with me as I know I would not have paid the $300 that the individual treatments added up would have cost.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I used the shower in the spa x2 on our last trip (which was on Fascination) - they are enormous and fantastic. I was very impressed by the cleanliness of the shower area - someone was there the whole time I was both times, tidying, stocking... it was impressive.

[MattandMarksMom]

Great review, we sail on the Fasination in February. Your review makes me more excited for our trip, can't wait to read more.

[Brittasbay]

Great review, we sail on the Fasination in February. Your review makes me more excited for our trip, can't wait to read more.

 

This is a great ship with great staff, you will have an awesome time!

[Brittasbay]

I used the shower in the spa x2 on our last trip (which was on Fascination) - they are enormous and fantastic. I was very impressed by the cleanliness of the shower area - someone was there the whole time I was both times, tidying, stocking... it was impressive.

 

I didn't use the shower in the spa on this ship but I can vouch for the size and cleanliness from using the spa shower on Liberty this past January. The staff keep the spa showers spotless and the showers are great. I sailed with 2 female friends in a cabin on Liberty and used the showers in the spa quite a few times for convenience sake.

[tef43]

Anyone know WHY you can't take pics in the terminal??? I mean, there's nothing super secret going on there.... I have always been :confused: and :rolleyes: by this...

Similar to airports, you may not photograph any security areas/checkkpoints or security/law enforcement/TSA personnel.

 

You are on private property and therfore not afforded protection under the First Amendment.

[Brittasbay]

We knew we had to go to the MDR for lunch as we had our free drink coupons for being VIFP. The line for the lunch room opening was long but they got us in really quickly. We don’t do the MDR for lunch often so I knew I wanted to try the Mongolian steak salad. We got our drinks with lunch and didn’t over do it with food.

Pepper Pot Soup

 

 

DH got sushi

 

Free Mojito

 

Classic Margarita

 

Mongolian steak salad.

 

DH always gets spaghetti and meatballs at lunch in the MDR

 

As we headed back to the room to plan the rest of the day and we ran into Chris, the assistant CD, trying to get a “adult musical chairs.” I didn’t feel like participating at first but ended up getting roped in trying to help one of the contestants. Chris gave the group a thing to find and then they had to get back to their chair as quick as possible. If you were last to get back to the seats then you lost that round. Chris had them looking for a digital camera, get a fun times, and get 8 pairs of shoes! The girl we helped won and everyone was laughing because she was obsessed with winning. At the end of the game I tried to talk Chris into giving me a ship on a stick since I helped the winner win the game. Chris wouldn’t give me a ship on a stick even though I asked nicely. He was sweet about it though.

[Brittasbay]

At 3pm I headed to tea time, which I love. I just sat and relaxed and watched the ocean out the window.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

DH went to play in a ping pong tournament but he got beaten by a young teen with some massive skills in ping pong. After tea time we headed up to play putt putt as the past two times we were on the ship we never made it up there to play. Wear sunscreen if you are going to play putt put, it is hot and bright up there on the top deck.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Brittasbay]

Random pictures taken on this beautiful afternoon....

 

 

 

 

 

 

[junibug68]

Thanks for sharing and posting your review. 4 weeks from today we'll be on fascination having a great time!

[winddawn]

I just got off Fascination yesterday, and I asked about the Awesome Bar Package and the guy looked at me like I was crazy. They are not offering the package on Fascination.

[MsTee]

Thanks for sharing your trip with us. Hubby and I have only sailed on the Fascination so far and loved her!

[Brittasbay]

I just got off Fascination yesterday, and I asked about the Awesome Bar Package and the guy looked at me like I was crazy. They are not offering the package on Fascination.

 

It appears that the folks who had cards on my cruise must have done the group program. Here is hoping they roll the program out fleet wide soon!

[Brittasbay]

We headed up to dinner for our final night in the MDR. Dinner was great but I do have a complaint. I totally do not get why everyone gets so excited to have baked Alaska on the menu. It is bland and gross! I notice that whatever day of the cruise that they have baked Alaska that there are usually no other options I like either.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I made DH go up to the Lido buffet after dinner to get dessert. I was starting to get sad as my cruise was almost over! I talked to DH about the idea of us figuring out a way to do a 7 day next time and he was in agreement. We decided to buy a FCC as I knew this would be my last chance to do this before the program was shut down. I also broke down and applied for the Carnival credit card while onboard. DH and I spoke about it at length before going on the cruise. We use a credit card to pay all of our utilities and groceries every month and then pay it off. The card we are using now does have cash back rewards and the option to pick gift cards or prizes with points we accrue. Usually we get a Whole Foods card from the points and blow it on fancy wine and cheese rather than getting cash back. So if we are going to spoil ourselves with a reward, why not get some OBC for our next cruise and spoil ourselves there? Also with sign up we got 5,000 free points plus double points on our S&S bill for this trip. So we end up with a ton of points right away. I have seen the threads about the credit cards and how it is not a good deal but here is what it comes down to, you should never carry a balance on a credit card ever if you can help it. It just gets you into debt and trouble. So if you are using a card and then paying it right off, it gives you options and some OBC for your next cruise!

[Daisywalker]

Thanks for the great review and pictures! We're heading out on Fascination on Saturday and we can't wait. Checking out your review made me even more excited (if that's possible!) Thanks again:)