Trip report- Fantasy out of Charleston in February

[erin313]

My daughter and I sailed out of Charleston Feb. 23 for the five nite Bahamas cruise. We had a good time and I felt we got a good value. Total cost was about $525 each with tax and tips for an ocean view. I booked about 2 months ahead.

We were on the Upper deck #6 U42. We like this location a lot. We used the stairs the entire trip, just took the elevator twice for the view.

 

We had late seating 8:15 in Jubilee dining room. We like our waiters very much, Marvin was our head waiter. The food was good to very good. We were at a table for 10 and there were 8 of us. Two other mother daughter combos at our table , close to our ages, which was nice. I don't know if that was random or not, my daughter and I don't have the same last name and one of the other parties didn't as well. Not sure how Carnival figured out we were mother daughter vacations.:)

 

The entertainment on the ship was OK. Nothing great. One of the comedians, I can't remember her name, from the mid-west, was pretty funny. We went to the Super Star Karaoke several times and that was good. My daughter sang every night and loved having a live band. She went to the clubs most nights and enjoyed that as well. I thought the small acts in the lounges were good and the DJ's were as well.

 

The ages passengers was a pretty good mix. There were not very many children at least we didn't see many.

 

We had breakfast in the Celebration dining room twice. The wait staff was just OK in the mornings. We had lunch at the buffet on the lido deck a couple of times. Had A sandwich from the deli that was very good. Ordered from room service for snack a couple of times and they were fast.

 

We boarded in a heavy downpour. Got to the ship at 11 and were on by 11:30. The security was tight with some people and not with others. Random as far as confiscating extra alcohol. We each brought a bottle of wine in our carry ones and a box of wine and some vodka in out checked bag. No issues. We always had plenty of ice from our steward.

 

Our room was comfortable and I slept great. Not a lot of motion, just right. I paid $29 for the Internet for the trip. It was fine for email and Facebook, I am glad I didn't pay the $99. For the faster.

 

Day 1 at sea was sunny and we hung out on the lido deck. Lots going on, we didn't have a problem with getting chairs. We were in an elevated area just above the stage on the sun deck and it was a great place to watch all the games etc. from.

We enjoyed the Serenity area hot tubs most nights. The one closest to the towel station was the warmest. On our last sea day it was cold so those hot tubs were very popular. I don't know why the ship rushes back up north when it leaves Freeport. It would have been great to stay south so we could enjoy warmer weather on that last sea day.

 

In Nassau we walked to Junkaroo Beach and hung out for about 6 hours. We swam and got some sun. We had one drink from the beach stand and it was strong. We went to Senor Frogs for chips, guacamole and a drink on Our way back to the ship. That was fun as well.

We had booked a day trip for snorkeling catamaran trip thru an online website before we sailed. It ended up getting cancelled because it was too rough to snorkel. The guy met us when we got off the ship, waited to pick up other passengers and then told us it was cancelled.( I did get reimbursed) We were disappointed about that but not much we could do. He gave us a ride for $10 each round trip to Port Lucaya Beach and hung out for the day. We had a good time there and enjoyed the waves and the ocean. Went over to the marketplace for some cheap Coronas and then got picked up at a prearranged time and brought back to ship. Our driver didn't collect our fare until he dropped us back at the ship which was pretty cool. We checked out the Señor Frogs there as well.

 

We saw some gorgeous sunsets and a beautiful full moon rising over the sea.

We met a lot of nice people and had a relaxing time. We did dress up for formal night which was the 2nd night on the ship. The night we sailed from Freeport , night 4 they had A beach/ dance party on the Lido deck from 9- whenever with a midnight buffet.

Overall, I thought it was a good value and it was great to sail from Charleston. Might try the 7 nit cruise from there. I really liked the size of the ship. Easy to learn the layout and get around. Very good staff.

[neon706]

Thanks for posting! My wife and I are booked for the seven night next month, it will be our first cruise.

 

Sent from my SGH-S959G using Tapatalk 2

[LindaLou48]

Thanks for posting! My wife and I are booked for the seven night next month, it will be our first cruise.

 

Sent from my SGH-S959G using Tapatalk 2

 

I did the 7 day in January (right before dry dock) and had a blast. We missed Half Moon Cay due to rough seas, but Grand Turk was unbelievably beautiful. I LOVE Fantasy class ships! The food and service was awesome! Would love to sail again on the Fantasy to see the new cosmetic upgrades and new shows.

[LUVMYGSDOG]

Thank you for the review. We will be sailing on Fantasy for the second time next month. Good to hear you had a great time!

 

 

Kim

[Seago2]

Thanks, I have a friend sailing next week, just fwded this to him.

 

Welcome home.

[All4fun&fun4all]

Two days in a row with positive Fantasy reviews. Excellent! I love to hear that. We have done the 6 day, 5 day and 7 day all on Fantasy and had a fantastic time as well.

[fla2nc]

Have sailed on the Fantasy twice & love her as well as the Charleston port :D Hoping to sail on the 7 day intinerary this summer :rolleyes:

[chipq]

Thanks for sharing your cruise with us.

 

http://luv2cruise.blogspot.com

[rodeo mom]

Going on Fantasy April 11 with my daughter and grand daughters out of Charleston. This will be their first cruise. I went to those ports in January on the Conquest and really had great time and I am hoping we can find some fun stuff for the girls this trip (ages 6 and 9). It is really nice to hear the port is visitor friendly. Really don't want a hassle getting on the ship.;);) Thanks for the great info.

[cantwait2cruise]

We were on her a week ago and had a great time--ready to book another one!

[LNNLNNLNN]

We are doing a mother/daughter with my sister and my niece on the May 13th sailing. Very excited. Love Charleston and love to cruise!!!!

[neon706]

How do you sign up for super star karaoke ?

My daughter and I sailed out of Charleston Feb. 23 for the five nite Bahamas cruise. We had a good time and I felt we got a good value. Total cost was about $525 each with tax and tips for an ocean view. I booked about 2 months ahead.

We were on the Upper deck #6 U42. We like this location a lot. We used the stairs the entire trip, just took the elevator twice for the view.

 

We had late seating 8:15 in Jubilee dining room. We like our waiters very much, Marvin was our head waiter. The food was good to very good. We were at a table for 10 and there were 8 of us. Two other mother daughter combos at our table , close to our ages, which was nice. I don't know if that was random or not, my daughter and I don't have the same last name and one of the other parties didn't as well. Not sure how Carnival figured out we were mother daughter vacations.:)

 

The entertainment on the ship was OK. Nothing great. One of the comedians, I can't remember her name, from the mid-west, was pretty funny. We went to the Super Star Karaoke several times and that was good. My daughter sang every night and loved having a live band. She went to the clubs most nights and enjoyed that as well. I thought the small acts in the lounges were good and the DJ's were as well.

 

The ages passengers was a pretty good mix. There were not very many children at least we didn't see many.

 

We had breakfast in the Celebration dining room twice. The wait staff was just OK in the mornings. We had lunch at the buffet on the lido deck a couple of times. Had A sandwich from the deli that was very good. Ordered from room service for snack a couple of times and they were fast.

 

We boarded in a heavy downpour. Got to the ship at 11 and were on by 11:30. The security was tight with some people and not with others. Random as far as confiscating extra alcohol. We each brought a bottle of wine in our carry ones and a box of wine and some vodka in out checked bag. No issues. We always had plenty of ice from our steward.

 

Our room was comfortable and I slept great. Not a lot of motion, just right. I paid $29 for the Internet for the trip. It was fine for email and Facebook, I am glad I didn't pay the $99. For the faster.

 

Day 1 at sea was sunny and we hung out on the lido deck. Lots going on, we didn't have a problem with getting chairs. We were in an elevated area just above the stage on the sun deck and it was a great place to watch all the games etc. from.

We enjoyed the Serenity area hot tubs most nights. The one closest to the towel station was the warmest. On our last sea day it was cold so those hot tubs were very popular. I don't know why the ship rushes back up north when it leaves Freeport. It would have been great to stay south so we could enjoy warmer weather on that last sea day.

 

In Nassau we walked to Junkaroo Beach and hung out for about 6 hours. We swam and got some sun. We had one drink from the beach stand and it was strong. We went to Senor Frogs for chips, guacamole and a drink on Our way back to the ship. That was fun as well.

We had booked a day trip for snorkeling catamaran trip thru an online website before we sailed. It ended up getting cancelled because it was too rough to snorkel. The guy met us when we got off the ship, waited to pick up other passengers and then told us it was cancelled.( I did get reimbursed) We were disappointed about that but not much we could do. He gave us a ride for $10 each round trip to Port Lucaya Beach and hung out for the day. We had a good time there and enjoyed the waves and the ocean. Went over to the marketplace for some cheap Coronas and then got picked up at a prearranged time and brought back to ship. Our driver didn't collect our fare until he dropped us back at the ship which was pretty cool. We checked out the Señor Frogs there as well.

 

We saw some gorgeous sunsets and a beautiful full moon rising over the sea.

We met a lot of nice people and had a relaxing time. We did dress up for formal night which was the 2nd night on the ship. The night we sailed from Freeport , night 4 they had A beach/ dance party on the Lido deck from 9- whenever with a midnight buffet.

Overall, I thought it was a good value and it was great to sail from Charleston. Might try the 7 nit cruise from there. I really liked the size of the ship. Easy to learn the layout and get around. Very good staff.

 

 

 

Sent from my SGH-S959G using Tapatalk 2

[rainbowflag]

Thanks for the report!

[lauraezzell]

Thanks for the great review of the Fantasy. I absolutely LOVE her. We have sailed her twice and plan to again in December.

[erin313]

Superstar Karaoke will be in the lounge usually toward the back of I think deck 9. The times are posted in the daily news. Just go there at the time and sign up , usually about 20-25 people will sing during a show.

[CB42]

We were also on the Feb 23rd cruise, As Erin stated the weather when we left and the sea day before we arrived back at Charleston was not very good, But the weather in the Bahamas was nice and warm. This was the 1st time we cruised on the Fantasy and really enjoyed the ship. We have cruised on the Inspiration a couple times and found the Fantasy to be much nicer. We would cruise on the Fantasy again we found the crew very friendly and helpful.

[The4Cruisers]

Glad to see you had a good time and good cruise. We really enjoy the Fantasy class ships too.

 

I wish that the Fantasy 5 day would drop one of the current ports and call on HMC in its place. Then I would book the the ship. Until then, we drive past Charleston and sail from Jax or Pt Canaveral.