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My Very First Cruise ( My Photo Review aboard the Carnival Fantasy) Oct 1-6, 2013


Shyhova
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Hi there. I contemplated doing this photo review hard because I really enjoyed reading every ones reviews on CruiseCritic while preparing for my first cruise. I took a million pictures and my GF said "Oh yea, youre gonna do one" when I first mentioned it. I was like..."ehhh Idk..We will see" LoL....Lo and behold here I go. My apologies for anyone who stumbled upon the beginning of my first post where I was "testing" the procedure lol. (oooops:rolleyes:) I tried to delete that post once I started this one but can't figure it out so ooooh welllll. You made it here and I'm here and I think I got it figured out so Lets Gooo!!!!

 

First off my name is "B" and I am 33 from NC born and raised. This was supposed to be like my 55th cruise by now from the way my lovely GF has always been trying to get me on one lol. It just never seemed to work out for me but I finally got it together and let me tell you....I Am Hooked!!!

 

Actually I was already hooked WELL before I even sailed from reading all of you guys's reviews..from GAPearl to SargentSchulz and ALLForOne....You guys had me hook, line and sinker before I even stepped on!!. I hope that as a first timer someone can look at mines an be inspired to cruise because there really is nothing like it. It is a very unique experience and I can see why folks can become "addicted" to it.

 

I went on the Oct 1-6 sailing out of Charleston,SC to the usual suspect ports of Freeport and Nassau with two sea days on the 2nd and the 5th. We stopped in Freeport on day 3 and Nassau on day 4.

 

Along with me was my lovely GF( NOT 33:p), who was enjoying her 4th or 5th cruise...I forget( she gonna kill me), and my Best friend and his wife. Their anniversary was on the 7th, so it was kind of a anniversary cruise for them(more on that and them later)

 

My intention was to get a whole bunch of pictures leading up to and embarkation(any that I could sneak), pictures of Charleston( beautiful, beautiful city!) etc....but that part just didn't work out. For One, we were running late leaving NC the morning of embark and for two I was the driver...ugh. So no pre-cruise/ Charleston pics sry. We finally got on the road to Charleston(about a 3 hour drive from my home# at about 9 am the morning of embark. Keep in mind, Mr. CruiseCritic#me) was determined to be on the ship having a DOD by 1130...sooo...strike one already. But I'm on vacation right so no worries;). I still don't know how we got 4 adults and luggage into a Honda coupe but we managed. We stopped a few times on the way for water and breakfast and by the time we got to Charleston it was after 1230....Whaaaaaaa!??!:mad: Anywhooo the city of Charleston is nice from what I did get to see, but your boy was trying to get on that boat son!!! If you have been to Charleston to cruise before you know it is nothing like coming down Interstate 17, getting up on that bridge and seeing that whale tail for the first time...You be ready to leave the car on the damn bridge, jump off and swim to the boat!!

 

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Me!!!!!!

 

So embarkation is pretty intimidating at Charleston no matter how many pictures you've seen on CC. When you first roll up, there is like a mazeof cones and officers and concrete medians you have to drive through( KEEP ALL OF YOUR DOCUMENTS IN HAND, YOU WILL NEED THEM AT SEVERAL CHECKPOINTS). I say that to say this....It's really not as bad as it looks at ALL. Once you get to the last station your documents are checked again and you pay for parking and get hand-waved around a few more Indy 500 turns and next this you know you are in a Airport Hangar looking building where you park. A shuttle takes you over to the terminal and your cruise is minutes away!!!

 

I'd say the whole process from start to finish takes about 45 minutes...but keep in mind that we were "late" so I can imagine if you get there right you can be on the ship in 20 mins or so...Not Bad!!

 

So, through security.....( Why does MY BAG ALWAYS get checked everywhere I go?? Do I look like trouble??? I swear TSA has a Love Jones for me and security at Charleston terminal followed suit..UgH!!)....anyway, mini rant over..........where was I? Oh yea...AFTER getting all my stuff sifted through while rest of my party stood off to the side and waited....Up the stairs and up through the zig zag of the gangway and.....

 

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Ding!!!

 

That was my first time ever hearing it and yall are right...it IS a sweet sound!!

 

Next Up...More First ship impression pics...Dinner( yay food porn!!) and....What Did He just Say!?!?

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View Walking in on Empress Deck(7) looking up at atrium

 

Being that this is the oldest and smallest ship in the fleet the Fantasy really is a beautiful ship. I know that I have nothing to compare it to personally but I was very pleased. We were on Main Deck(5) in room M157(Oceanview) and the BeF and Wife were a few doors down in an interior M167. The rooms were almost identical except for us having a window. You know, I really do prefer the window I think because I found myself looking out of it a lot. I have got to try a balcony next though if the price is right.

 

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View from door

 

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Cool mirror shot showing bed and other side of room

 

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Looking back towards door

 

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Charleston terminal

 

The port of Charleston pretty much looks like this...very industrial. I hear a lot of the residents back an initiative to make it more visitor friendly for the cruise ships etc, but a select few seem hell bent on that not happening which is unfortunate.

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View from cabin

 

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Little storage area under the TV. If you from NC you know about Duplin wine. I love it, some people don't though. I don't think wine aficianados(sp) particularly care for it, but we love it.

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Our bags were not there yet so we put our carry-ons down and headed up to the lido deck. It was around 1:30 at this time and of course it was jumping.

 

We stopped at the Mongolian Grill which you would have thought they were slipping little gold pebbles in the bowl or something cause the line was bananas. After 20 minutes or so I did manage to get this...

 

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And finally...THIS

 

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Let me just get this out the way before the trolls come out. I know I am a 6'3" black dude and everything but I just don't like beer. I can fruity drink with the best of them though...don't judge me!!! LoLoL

 

Besides...them Carnival drinks got a knockout blow that you just don't see coming till its too late. One minute you sucking them down and chasing them with wine from the room and next thing you know you doing the cupid shuffle with a group of grandmas from Boise....*shrug*

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I can already tell i am going to love your review!!!

 

And SO WEIRD my husband and i are both born and raised and still living in Wilmington, NC as well!!! That's crazy!!!!!!

Edited by bmcole760
oopsy
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I can already tell i am going to love your review!!!

 

And SO WEIRD my husband and i are both born and raised and still living in Wilmington, NC as well!!! That's crazy!!!!!!

 

Awesome!!!! Port city in the house!!!!!

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After people watching for a little while and having lunch on lido it was almost time for muster. We went back to the rooms to check on the bags and we had all of ours except for one but the BeF and wife did not have ANY of theirs:(. Also, to make matters worse someone had broken BOTH side zippers on DGF's FAVORITE bag, her Delta Sigma Theta travel duffel. Why they unzipped both sides so violently to break both zippers is beyond me, so now the side compartments of the bag are useless since you can not close them. Not a good start to things but I give her credit...she got over it very quickly and did not let her day be ruined because of it.

 

After muster we went back to the rooms where BeF's bags were all there and DGF's othr bag had showed up as well. We all got ready for dinner early because we had anytime dining and we did not know what the wait would be like. Also, there were some things we wanted to hit up after dinner.

 

Before that we headed up to Promenade deck(9) right by the entrance to Casino21 and atrium where they had the Taste bar set up. On this day it was the Blue Cantina I think...my mind is slipping at the moment, maybe someone can help me with that.

 

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Yea I got another one...judger!! lol

 

Actually this drink was like $5 over by the taste bar becauseeveryday they have a drink special at the taste bar to pair with the hor d'oevueres. So basically, the drink is around $9 bucks on lido and everywhere else, but over by the taste bar its $5.

 

After that, we headed over to the free liquor tasting...and if you thought the Mongolian grill was bad...check this out...

 

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There was more behind us..Thankfully, that guy in the middle of the pic was walking the line pouring shots of something that tasted like spiked hot chocolate...not bad but I forget the name.

 

While standing there..the guy in front of me with the hat on is already LIT..talking about how he left his girlfriend at home and he cant wait to sell somebody on the ship some of his....lets say.."services". I told my GF what he said and she looked at him with the stink eye and goes " Eww...anyone who gets PAID to touch him surely has a problem" LoL

 

Next Up...First Dinner...

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My GF loves some damn fruit. You will see during this review she had fruit every way they could serve it...upside down..sideways...in a dish..out of a dish...on a bed of more fruit....on a bed of cottage cheese...fruit with a SIDE of fruit...she was getting it in. LoL..love the bae...

 

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Spring Rolls

 

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I started with this...Don't be mad at me yall...your boy can't remember these names...lol...but it was good.

 

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I do remember that this was the braised beef or something. It was...ehh..ok...but the mashed potatoes were so good. Everyone was picking on me though because the portion was child size lol.

 

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So the GF says.." None of this dessert looks good to me because you know I cant eat ice cream and I'm not feeling this other stuff.....unless I get MORE FRUIT"

 

So she looks at me and goes is there anything you want to try and I'll get that? I said well I've never had crème brule so order that...

 

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Oh boy....that tasted like a lukewarm plate of HELL TO THE NO.

 

But alas, the moment I had been waiting for...the reason why I got on the boat...the reason why NOT choosing Carnival for a first cruise was NOT an option.... the moment that GaPearl would say to me..."if you order that with less than 2 ice creams it's gonna be ME...and YOU. LoL

 

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You know...normally in life people can build something up to the point where it will never live up to the hype...THIS...was not that moment. Lets have a moment of silence in honor of my first WCMC.....

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I would go on the have one every night, and she never disappointed. I honestly had to stop typing my review cause the tears yall...they just started falling....

 

After getting chastised from my GF because I tried to sneak the cake crumbs out the Celebration dining room for later, I gave in and she rolled my over full @zz out into the atrium on Promenade where I was still kicking and screaming for her to let me back in so I can have another...I took these..

 

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I dont how how the heck I made it all the way aft on deck 9 to the Punchliner Comedy club, but I did. There we sat and watched the worst karaoke I had ever seen.

 

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And finally got back to the room after 1 for my first...

 

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It was then I excitedly said " Bae!! The people on CC you know what they call this towel animal right?? right??...it looks like a...."...

 

I got the "Seriously dude?, grow up" Look....so I left that alone lol.

 

Next up....Day 2...A great sea day..FUnTimes pics...Elegant Night!!!...and....WtH did I just eat???

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We got up and went to the dining room for brunch because the food is supposedly better than what they have on lido. Let me tell you though...maybe it was just this ship or they just had a bad series of days...but the food LOOKED better, but bfast on lido was waaaaay better. Highly disappointed. Well let me not say highly...Hey, I'm on cruise...Don't have time for frowns!!!:)

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