Carnival Fantasy 2/18 sailing review

[Sabalon]

Well...lets first start by saying this is the first time any of our family has gone on a cruise. I kept hearing from others "oh..you're on Carnival." as if it was a prison ship (or the B ark from Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy). Being on the Fantasy, the oldest ship out of the three big cruise lines, was also a sticking point for people on some of the other ships in Nassau. So, if I was indeed on the worst ship on the worst line, then I couldn't tell. We were all truly impressed.

 

We looked at the different options, and two things helped us choose the Fantasy. First was price. It was cheaper. The second was where it sailed from. Charleston is within driving distance of us. Our initial goal was to drive out Monday morning and go from home to the cruise. Can't do that with most of the Florida ports. So, that's where we started from.

 

We filled out a lot of the stuff online, but my wife had questions so we did the actual reservation over the phone. When we first did a pricing exercise, I did put my phone number in, which prompted lots of calls trying to get us to book then (oh...the best deals may not be listed online). We did the early saver package (no refund option) and paid a tiny bit extra for a mid-ship cabin. I get real bad motion sickness, which is why it took us so long to go on a cruise. Figured anything to help. So, we ended up on the Riviera deck, a little forward of midship.

 

We eventually decided to stay overnight in Charleston to make the next morning easier. The goal was to stay at a hotel that lets you leave your car and avoid paying for parking. Sleep Inn was nice, but we tried a number of taxi companies the next morning and got no response. We ended up just driving to the terminal and parking there. We could have stayed at the Radisson with a free shuttle, but didn't like the look of the area.

 

Parking was not as bad as I had heard online. We got to the terminal around 10:35 or so. We pulled in, were guided the right way to go by very nice people, dropped our luggage with the porter, had our documents checked, and waited for about 25 minutes before they started the process, paying during that time too. They guided us into a warehouse where the car waited for us. We took a shuttle from the parking warehouse to the terminal. Am not 100% sure why they do this here, but they do, so we did. Inside the terminal, they xrayed our bags, went through the detectors. They wanted to check the soda I had in my bag - didn't even look at my wine bottle. After that, we went to the Carnival desk, presented our travel documents, were given our cards and were on the way. Very easy check-in and everyone was very friendly. We were on board by about 11:45 with our room being ready around 1:30.

 

So, now that we're onboard, it became a blur for the next few days. We went ahead and hit the lido buffet. The hamburger was pretty good - especially with some of the toppings - sauteed mushrooms and onions and BBQ sauce. Works for me. We walked around the ship ,looking at the stores, getting a feel for things, found our room, and tried to find Camp Carnival. The Circle C and O2 parts are right off the main atrium. However, the area for the younger kids is in the rear of the ship and the entrance is via one of the bars back there. So that was a bit tricky to find.

 

After much wondering we were able to get into our room. It was small, but it was a place to sleep not live in. The upper beds weren't down yet, so the bathing suits came out and up to the pool. It was high 40's that day so the pool was a short lived journey. The hot tub was more favored. My wife took the kids down to the room to change and had the steward lower the uppers.

 

Dinner that night was just my wife and I. The kids had filled up on buffet and were at the Camp Carnival activities. We ended up sitting with a few other couples. Food was good (more on food items later). After that we wondered around for a while, caught the welcome to the ship show, and eventually tracked down our teenager.

 

Bedtime - I was tired from not sleeping well the night before, but the beds and pillows were great. VERY comfortable. Can't tell you more about all that because I was asleep. I heard some people complain about the rooms being cool because there is no heat, but I thought it felt good and the blankets were plenty warm.

 

Next day was a ship day. We found things to do, were disowned by our teenage daughter so she could go around with the Circle C kids. This group of 10-15 strangers really bonded during the cruise. Turns out one lives in the next town over from us, so that's not good :) Since it warmed up the pool and slides were given more attention. More looking in stores - the youngest got a stuffed Freddie Fun which went all over with her, until Friday at the "Build-a-Bear" work shop, where she made a stuffed Owl (Dr. Whoots) that was the new favorite. We went to one of the family comedy shows. I can't remember the ladies name, but she was pretty funny. We walked around a good bit, had dinner, played the penny slots, watched the live band, etc. This was the formal dinner night, so we did get family pictures done. There were a number of options setup. They came out good. A digital option would have been nice though. Kids abandoned us at that point.

 

Day 3 was Nassau. First part of the day was devoted to the wife doing jewelry shopping, and then to the Queens Staircase and Fort Fincastle and the straw market (I spent about 40 seconds in the straw market). The kids liked the haggling over prices and were amazed they could get someone to lower their price and put their name on the item so quickly. We did go in one jewelry shop where my wife was told a price, and when she went back in 10 minutes later to make a purchase, that person wasn't there and the price was a couple hundred higher. Lost sale to them. Ended up at Effy Jewelry where she found one she liked better. I bring this up because along the way my daughter had found a Bahamian penny and dropped it in the store. It rolled somewhere out of site, but they were all very concerned with helping her find it, which I though was sweet. After the shopping, back to the ship for lunch, and then off to Cabbage Beach. I reviewed that over on TripAdvisor

 

Day 4 was Freeport. We booked an excursion outside of Carnival with Paradise Cove - again reviewed on TripAdvisor We had a wonderful time with them. Back on the ship, it was my daughters birthday. So we forced her to eat in the dining room with us. Her concern was getting out of there to join her Circle C friends. In the dining room, they sang happy birthday to her, brought her cake with a candle, made a hat out of one of the napkins, and otherwise embarrassed her as a 14 year old should be. She then headed out and we saw her again later that night. The rest of us took in one of the shows - "Motor City", which was billed as a tribute to music through the decades. Our oldest told us "the story sucked but the singing was good". It ended up being a collection of Motown songs through the years. All it consisted of was singers and dancing...no story, so who knows what my daughter was talking about. It wasn't much, but the singing was good and an interesting selection of songs. However, we got there at about 8:15-8:20 for the 8:45 show and all the downstairs seating was pretty much gone. This is when we learned that the second floor of the Universe Lounge pretty much doesn't have a good seat in the house, other than perhaps the front row. The stage ends up being obscured by a combination of other seats, the support structure for the ship, or the bar running along top of the barricade at the front of the second level. In the end, we had to pick the best seat and made the most of it. Then again, it's not like I payed hundreds of bucks for a loge seat on broadway and had a pole in the way. Overall the show was good though.

 

Next day was a day at sea. More pool time, shopping around, avoidance by the 14 year old, etc. Later that night, packing, which we chose the relaxed zone debarkation. You could either carry your luggage off earlier in the morning, of leave it in the hall so it would be waiting in the terminal and then leave a bit later. We like sleeping in, so we chose that. We were all rather tired at this point, but I had been itching to play at the casino. Other than cheap slots, I have never played at a casino in my life, so this was something to try. Ended up playing at roulette. Was up a little, then down a lot, and end the end gave the house $15. So I basically payed $15 to teach myself that I don't care much for casino games and throwing money way. However all the casino workers were very nice and helpful for people that don't do this often.

 

Finally we found ourselves back in Charleston Saturday morning. We made our way out the gangway, which was not too bad of a line and it moved along at a decent pace. Our luggage was waiting in the terminal. We grabbed it, did the customs thing, which was quick and painless. Then we had to wait for the buses back to our car. Here's where things went sour. First off lots of tired people and it was raining. My wife had to use the restroom. The customs lady told us to wait in a certain spot while she was in there, so we did. Another guy from customs starts telling us to move along. I told him my wife and daughter are in the bathroom and we were told to wait here. He then reaches around the corner and pulls down a sign that says "No standing or waiting. keep moving" and points to it. I again told him my wife and daughter were in the bathroom and another agent told us to wait here. The third time, the lady that told us to wait went over and cleared it up. After that it was a slow moving line. Even though outside the line wasn't moving, inside they kept forcing people to go outside. In order to stay out of the rain, it was getting a bit chaotic. One person pretty much was complaining the whole time about the situation being all wrong, etc. We finally go on the bus to the warehouse where our car was. When we go there, we had to sit on the bus until they unloaded the luggage from the towed trailer (enclosed thankfully). At this point, people found that if they were in the second parking area, they could either walk to their car or take yet another bus. We found our car, which wasn't that bad. At this point we also found that someone left one of the inside lights on, so here we are in a mostly empty warehouse with a dead car. Thankfully someone else was just leaving and gave us a jump (am glad I keep those cables in the car for my wife!).

 

So, that's the whole story. I may have some of the events out of order here and there, but we were very impressed.

 

I did not meet anyone who worked for Carnival that gave any sort of attitude or anything. Everyone was so very friendly and helpful at all times. There are so many cases where I would have loved to sit down and talk with these people from around the world about their jobs, what they think, what they do in off time, etc. It is so neat to meet people from all over.

 

The ship itself was constantly being cleaned. It seemed you were always seeing someone wiping down some surface or another.

 

Since it was February, it wasn't full of spring breakers. In fact it was mostly families it seemed. There were a few people in their late teens/early 20s, but they didn't get too rowdy or obnoxious. On Friday, you could tell the people that had a lot to drink, but they were fun to watch.

 

The nightclub made me laugh. You had the typical pumping bass coming from it, and occasionally it looked pretty lively in there. But they had a small thing of ropes and a security person station outside the door. I understand why - don't want some 16 year old getting in there, but it just seemed like they were trying to hard to look like some hip NYC or LA club. As I didn't have my usual drinking buddies with me (the ones that don't judge me, just take pictures), I didn't go in.

 

The band was good as well. I caught them here and there. The typical classic rock with some country and other stuff thrown in. A good mix. The backing for the karaoke they did was great too. The guitarist that would setup here and there was also good and varied.

 

The music on Lido was a mix of all sorts of stuff, and never seemed to stop. The music I remember hearing in the Lido restaurant was a good mix. A lot of 80s mixed in there. Even heard Scissor Sisters which surprised me.

 

Sadly I missed some of the other shows and events like 80s Music Trivia. As I said at the top, I get motion sickness, so in addition to the bands on the wrists I also took Bonine. I'm a big guy, so I took two tablets daily. Less drowsiness than dramamine is true. However it still had an effect on me, so I had some early bedtimes. The drugs....er...medicine in addition to walking and swimming had me tired.

 

Camp Carnival: My 11 year old daughter went a couple times. At first she had some fun but wasn't to keen on staying there unless it was something she wanted to do. In Freeport she met a girl that was on the ship, and became fast friends, so she went a little more when her friend was there.

 

Our 13, now 14 year old went to the Circle C. I figured she'd bail and want to swim all the time. Nope....this girl lived to hang out with the friends at Circle C. I was really amazed at how much time she spend there (from open to close and then some) and how much she enjoyed it. My wife did not like the idea of her being out on her own on the ship. However, I saw that they traveled in a large pack, so we let her stay out later after it closed. It finished at 12:30a, and she was back in the room by 1:15 cause all the friends went to bed too. I felt she was pretty safe on the ship. We even let the 11 year old go from here to there by herself a little bit during the day. WalkieTalkies some what worked. The range came and went due to interference, but the other issue is there was always so much noise you couldn't always hear when someone was trying to get a hold of you.

 

The food was good. We hit the lido buffet for lunch. The inside varied in the offerings. The jerk chicken was very tasty. We also hit the lido buffet for breakfast, which was very good. I love the omelette bar, though it would be nice to have more options than ham, onions, bell peppers, and tomatoes. I did finally notice they had mushrooms. The scrambled eggs were good...they didn't taste too mass produced. The oatmeal didn't look that good - probably because it sat there untouched and formed a skin. The sausage with onions was great. And happily they had grits (perhaps because they are sailing from the Carolinas and formerly Mobile/New Orleans). This surprised but delighted me. As for the main dining room, I am trying to remember what I had. I do know I had the Chocolate Melting Cake for dessert every night.

 

Monday: Ceasar Salad, Linguine with Italian Sausage - Ceasar dressing was amazing, and the main course was spiced just right. Great way to start off

 

Tuesday: Alligator Fritters, Chili Rellanos - again, amazing

 

Wednesday: French Onion Soup , Jerk Pork Loin - Best French Onion soup I've had

 

Thurs: Roasted Duck, Lamb and Pork Chop (was advised the Lamb was a small portion so was suggested adding something else. Turns out the lamb portion was just fine). Wasn't wild about the lamb. It was good, but not my favorite.

 

Coffee - I work in IT and bleed caffeine. I would love to find what brand coffee they have, because it was very very good. If you want flavored creamers, you'd have to bring your own - they just have half-and-half and milk (and sweeteners).

 

While I haven't put pics inline here, I have them all out on Flickr if you care to look there. Admittedly, they are mostly shore or other ships. I didn't catch as many as I though of the Fantasy itself.

Day One

Day Two

Day Three

Day Four

Day Five

Debarkation

 

Well, I hope this helps others. Like I said - my first time so I was pretty awestruck and impressed. I just looked back at what I wrote and realized if I cut out a bit of it I could probably publish a small paperback series!

 

Cheers

[gelo7]

Welcome to Cruise Critic and thanks for sharing your thoughts on the Fantasy.

[LPGA Golfer Gal]

thanks for a great review. We are looking forward to our June sailing on her. Glad to hear that Circle C was a hit with your daughter.

[mommytotwins]

Thank you so much for the review. I am looking at your pictures now. We are first time cruisers on the Fantasy in April as well. I also am terrified of getting sea sick and plan to use Bonine religiously.

[LUVMYGSDOG]

Thank you very much for taking time to write your entertaining review! We will be sailing on the Fantasy in April for the second time! I am going to check your pics out when I have time.

 

 

Kim

[Sabalon]

Thank you so much for the review. I am looking at your pictures now. We are first time cruisers on the Fantasy in April as well. I also am terrified of getting sea sick and plan to use Bonine religiously.

 

I didn't try to read while on board, which would have probably pushed me over. Then again, it was about the level of an airplane which I can read fine on.

 

I hope that you have a great trip and are unaffected by the seas. I saw a lot of people that had scopolamine patches on (You need a prescription). It has some odd side effects so I didn't want to go that far. I think next time I'll halve the amount of Bonine I take to see. The wristbands may have been placebo effect, but I'll take that help.