Fantasy 10.18 review, thoughts, & observations.

[PurpleDog]

I was on the Fantasy that departed Charleston on 10.18.13 and wanted to relate some of my thoughts regarding the experience. My wife I have have sailed on RCCL once [Adventure of the Seas] and on Carnival 4 times now: Victory, Elation [twice] and now the Fantasy. These random thoughts are, of course, my personal opinion.

 

EMBARKATION / CHARLESTON

We stayed the night before the cruise at the Holiday Inn Historic Downtown. I’m an IHG Platinum member and stayed for free using IHG points. I would not recommend this location to others. The area around the hotel is a bit sketchy and my wife and I did not feel 100% safe walking around the area after dark. If I cruise from Charleston again, I would stay further away from downtown at one of the hotels that offers free parking at the hotel and then a shuttle to the port, and therefore avoid the $85 it costs to park at the port. We were originally going to stay one more night after getting off the ship in Charleston, but decided to drive up to Charlotte and spend the night there. I’m sure Charleston is a wonderful and historic city, but my wife and I were not wowed by it at all. We will, at some point in the future, give it another try.

 

The port parking was $85 for the 5 day cruise and well staffed by friendly and helpful folks. It was perhaps 45 minutes from the time we entered the port and then parked in the covered parking garage until we reached our room on the ship. We boarded the ship at around 2 pm.

 

FANTASY

Ive been on the Elation [another Fantasy class ship that is laid out exactly like the Fantasy] and preferred the Elation to the Fantasy. The Fantasy seemed to be a bit more “worn” and not as nicely decorated or maintained.

 

I have mentioned this before on other reviews I’ve done on CC and will mention it again here. I would take 3,4, maybe even 5 cruises a year on Carnival IF THEY HAD WI-FI THAT WORKED !! I am a small business owner and need to be able to check my email several times each workday. I first purchased a 280 minute plan, but then realized that the [promotional products] industry site I use to check my email was blocked for some reason by Carnival. I went to the front desk and explained that I had only used 7 minutes and they refunded my entire plan cost. I then decided to purchase the 120 minute plan so I could get to my email thru another site. It took me literally 52 minutes to open and reply to 3 emails.

 

The internet on a ship is not as fast as land – I get that. The ship has no problems receiving TV signals however. Everyone I talked to at the internet café was complaining about the internet. I know some of us go on cruise to escape, but I need the internet to run my business so I can make money to go on vacations ! =)

 

I complained on the last sea day about the internet and they admitted that they had been “having some internet problems” and gave me ½ of my money back. I will make sure to compile a list of internet cafes for each port on my next cruise.

 

ROOM

Our room [E151] on the Empress deck was very nice. We prefer the Empress deck because its only one flight of stairs up to the library and the dining room. We did notice that there was some loud banging above us each night, but it was nothing that bothered us. We just noticed it. We also noticed that this ship seemed to roll and pitch more than the other cruises we have been on. We were more aware of the movement on the ship and did take some Bonine one day.

 

The room steward was OK; he did keep our cooler bag filled with ice as we requested. He bought me some extra hangers and there was plenty of storage space. This was also the first OceanView room that I’ve been in that had AC that really worked well. I like to sleep in a cool environment and with a fan. This room temperature was able to be regulated very well.

 

One comment I would suggest to improve the experience is to perhaps have a system where you can have your room cleaned when you’d like? Or is that perhaps asking too much of the crew? Our bed was turned down each night and a towel animal was left, but there seems to be no rhyme or reason to the room “straightening” during the day. One or 2 days it was done, and the other days it was not. I will have to ask about this next cruise.

 

FOOD / DINING

The food was exactly as I expected it to be – presented well but for the most part very average. We certainly don’t go hungry on the Carnival cruises we take, but the food is [in my opinion] not as good as say a Chili’s, LoneStar, Ruby Tuesdays, and other restaurants in that category. The pizza has improved, and the old pastrami ruben on rye standby at the deli is always good, but the Mongolian Work was not as tasty as I remembered it. I did remember to order a banana split off the children’s desert menu in the MDR one night, and it was great.

 

ENTERTAINMENT

We saw the Welcome show and it was so stupid it was laughable. I’ve seen some production numbers on RCCL that I would pay $50 to see in Vegas. I have yet to see a show on CCL that I'd pay $5 bucks to see again. The Welcome show on Fantasy was a talk by the cruise director Risa, and then a game of tie the string to a spoon and pass it thru some passengers clothing. It was a waste of time and not worth seeing again if other ships have the same show. The Motown music show was about the same as you'd expect to see presented by a high school and also not worth seeing.

 

I will mention that the “assistant” CD, a guy named TJ, was really great at running the bingo and the trivia games. I did manage to snag another ship on a stick for winning Nascar trivia. We did try to go to the Punchliner Club twice to see the comics, but each time we arrived - about 15-20 minutes before showtime - it was full to capacity. I guess to see the comics you have to get there VERY early. My wife and I like to read, play games on our iPads, and gamble in the casino at night, so the lack of quality entertainment in the evenings was not the end of the world for us.

 

The female guitar player in the atrium was technically a great musican, but had little or no interaction with the crowd. She could of been a robot. We did not get to the piano bar to check it out.

 

I did have a chance to meet PinkFloydFan in the casino at the craps table and that was cool. He's a nice guy with great taste in music.

PORTS

Nassau and Freeport: my 2 least favorite ports. Enough said.

 

DEBARKATION

This is the first time we did not do the self assist; we had too much stuff to carry. But the process was easy, and we were in our vehicle & headed home on a freeway within 45 minutes of departing the ship.

 

OVERALL

The ship is just OK; as I mentioned it seems worn, a bit dirty, and drab when compared to the Elation and the Victory. Even though we can drive to Charleston from our home, I think we’d have to get a pretty amazing rate to justify sailing on the Fantasy again to Nassau and Freeport.

[Pinkfloydfan]

I was on the Fantasy that departed Charleston on 10.18.13 and wanted to relate some of my thoughts regarding the experience. My wife I have have sailed on RCCL once [Adventure of the Seas] and on Carnival 4 times now: Victory, Elation [twice] and now the Fantasy. These random thoughts are, of course, my personal opinion.

 

EMBARKATION / CHARLESTON

We stayed the night before the cruise at the Holiday Inn Historic Downtown. I’m an IHG Platinum member and stayed for free using IHG points. I would not recommend this location to others. The area around the hotel is a bit sketchy and my wife and I did not feel 100% safe walking around the area after dark. If I cruise from Charleston again, I would stay further away from downtown at one of the hotels that offers free parking at the hotel and then a shuttle to the port, and therefore avoid the $85 it costs to park at the port. We were originally going to stay one more night after getting off the ship in Charleston, but decided to drive up to Charlotte and spend the night there. I’m sure Charleston is a wonderful and historic city, but my wife and I were not wowed by it at all. We will, at some point in the future, give it another try.

 

The port parking was $85 for the 5 day cruise and well staffed by friendly and helpful folks. It was perhaps 45 minutes from the time we entered the port and then parked in the covered parking garage until we reached our room on the ship. We boarded the ship at around 2 pm.

 

FANTASY

Ive been on the Elation [another Fantasy class ship that is laid out exactly like the Fantasy] and preferred the Elation to the Fantasy. The Fantasy seemed to be a bit more “worn” and not as nicely decorated or maintained.

 

I have mentioned this before on other reviews I’ve done on CC and will mention it again here. I would take 3,4, maybe even 5 cruises a year on Carnival IF THEY HAD WI-FI THAT WORKED !! I am a small business owner and need to be able to check my email several times each workday. I first purchased a 280 minute plan, but then realized that the [promotional products] industry site I use to check my email was blocked for some reason by Carnival. I went to the front desk and explained that I had only used 7 minutes and they refunded my entire plan cost. I then decided to purchase the 120 minute plan so I could get to my email thru another site. It took me literally 52 minutes to open and reply to 3 emails.

 

The internet on a ship is not as fast as land – I get that. The ship has no problems receiving TV signals however. Everyone I talked to at the internet café was complaining about the internet. I know some of us go on cruise to escape, but I need the internet to run my business so I can make money to go on vacations ! =)

 

I complained on the last sea day about the internet and they admitted that they had been “having some internet problems” and gave me ½ of my money back. I will make sure to compile a list of internet cafes for each port on my next cruise.

 

ROOM

Our room [E151] on the Empress deck was very nice. We prefer the Empress deck because its only one flight of stairs up to the library and the dining room. We did notice that there was some loud banging above us each night, but it was nothing that bothered us. We just noticed it. We also noticed that this ship seemed to roll and pitch more than the other cruises we have been on. We were more aware of the movement on the ship and did take some Bonine one day.

 

The room steward was OK; he did keep our cooler bag filled with ice as we requested. He bought me some extra hangers and there was plenty of storage space. This was also the first OceanView room that I’ve been in that had AC that really worked well. I like to sleep in a cool environment and with a fan. This room temperature was able to be regulated very well.

 

One comment I would suggest to improve the experience is to perhaps have a system where you can have your room cleaned when you’d like? Or is that perhaps asking too much of the crew? Our bed was turned down each night and a towel animal was left, but there seems to be no rhyme or reason to the room “straightening” during the day. One or 2 days it was done, and the other days it was not. I will have to ask about this next cruise.

 

FOOD / DINING

The food was exactly as I expected it to be – presented well but for the most part very average. We certainly don’t go hungry on the Carnival cruises we take, but the food is [in my opinion] not as good as say a Chili’s, LoneStar, Ruby Tuesdays, and other restaurants in that category. The pizza has improved, and the old pastrami ruben on rye standby at the deli is always good, but the Mongolian Work was not as tasty as I remembered it. I did remember to order a banana split off the children’s desert menu in the MDR one night, and it was great.

 

ENTERTAINMENT

We saw the Welcome show and it was so stupid it was laughable. I’ve seen some production numbers on RCCL that I would pay $50 to see in Vegas. I have yet to see a show on CCL that I'd pay $5 bucks to see again. The Welcome show on Fantasy was a talk by the cruise director Risa, and then a game of tie the string to a spoon and pass it thru some passengers clothing. It was a waste of time and not worth seeing again if other ships have the same show. The Motown music show was about the same as you'd expect to see presented by a high school and also not worth seeing.

 

I will mention that the “assistant” CD, a guy named TJ, was really great at running the bingo and the trivia games. I did manage to snag another ship on a stick for winning Nascar trivia. We did try to go to the Punchliner Club twice to see the comics, but each time we arrived - about 15-20 minutes before showtime - it was full to capacity. I guess to see the comics you have to get there VERY early. My wife and I like to read, play games on our iPads, and gamble in the casino at night, so the lack of quality entertainment in the evenings was not the end of the world for us.

 

The female guitar player in the atrium was technically a great musican, but had little or no interaction with the crowd. She could of been a robot. We did not get to the piano bar to check it out.

 

I did have a chance to meet PinkFloydFan in the casino at the craps table and that was cool. He's a nice guy with great taste in music.

 

PORTS

Nassau and Freeport: my 2 least favorite ports. Enough said.

 

DEBARKATION

This is the first time we did not do the self assist; we had too much stuff to carry. But the process was easy, and we were in our vehicle & headed home on a freeway within 45 minutes of departing the ship.

 

OVERALL

The ship is just OK; as I mentioned it seems worn, a bit dirty, and drab when compared to the Elation and the Victory. Even though we can drive to Charleston from our home, I think we’d have to get a pretty amazing rate to justify sailing on the Fantasy again to Nassau and Freeport.

Purpledog, It was nice meeting you. My PF cover band Music Degree is on the Freedom so I plan to cruise with them in Jan.:D:):cool: Pink

[rrraydon]

Thanks for the review.

[dulcimergirl]

I agree on all counts. We did a B2B on Fantasy in September, and we were lucky enough to get a different CD the first leg, then Risa came back the second. I don't like Risa, she just grates on my nerves. I agree wholeheartedly on the Blonde guitar singer. We saw her a few times about the ship and always looked hung over. She did sing and play guitar, but personality? Had none. No connection with the audience at all. A robot. Frankly a juke box has more personality.

This being said, I'm going on Fantasy again in a couple of weeks, and will enjoy relaxing, reading, resting, and the usual eating, and playing in the casino, irregardless of these minor annoyances. Fantasy is always a pleasure to cruise on.

[kybluecruiser]

I love Risa. She is such a sweetheart and genuinely cares about her passengers. No she does not have the stage presence such as Butch, Jamie D, or a Jen Baxter. But if you meet her out and about the ship she is a good southern woman. The ship itself I like because she isn't like her sisters. She dosent have the Joe Farcus look like the others do. However that is what is great about America we are all entitled to our own opinion lol. And pinkfloyd i agree. Miss music degree on the fantasy. Would love to here Free Bird again. Lol

[1dennis3]

This is our 12th cruise with Carnival but our first time sailing out of Charleston.

Any advice on where to stay the night before?

[Pinkfloydfan]

I love Risa. She is such a sweetheart and genuinely cares about her passengers. No she does not have the stage presence such as Butch, Jamie D, or a Jen Baxter. But if you meet her out and about the ship she is a good southern woman. The ship itself I like because she isn't like her sisters. She dosent have the Joe Farcus look like the others do. However that is what is great about America we are all entitled to our own opinion lol. And pinkfloyd i agree. Miss music degree on the fantasy. Would love to here Free Bird again. Lol

kybluecruiser,We also love Risa. She is very friendly and will always stop and talk to us while out and about the ship. The Fantasy is nice size and well maintained but the staff and crew are great. As for Music Degree and Free Bird everytime I watch them perform it I have to think Lynard Skynard would be impressed:DPink

[grandsix]

Appreciate knowing port parking cost for 7 day cruise. Also any recommendation for hotel that will allow to park car and provide ride back and forth to the to Fantasy. Thanks

[twentyknots]

appreciate knowing port parking cost for 7 day cruise. Also any recommendation for hotel that will allow to park car and provide ride back and forth to the to fantasy. Thanks

 

$119 on Oct 6th cruise. Never tried hotel parking.

[1dennis3]

Many of the local hotels offer free cruise parking. We are staying at The Hyatt Place by the airport and a few of my group are driving to Charleston. The Hyatt Place has free parking for cruise customers. We are driving from St Louis to Charleston in late January. Never tried this drive before.