Halloween Cruise: Carnival Fascination Review & Pics-10/28/13 Sailing to LSC & Nassau

[All4fun&fun4all]

This is, as always, a great review, Nancy.

 

I didn't know anything about the distillery. Next time I'm in Nassau (and not solo), I'll hike up there. Maybe you can be my tour guide. I promise I won't lag behind. :p

 

Thanks. I cant wait til I get to the LSC part! I am waiting for my MiFi hotspot to charge and then I will continue.

 

I would be glad to be your tour guide but be aware that my friends were calling me Drill Sergeant before it was all over. I am looking at a May cruise possibly. May 6th is LSC and Nassau...you should come with!

[DavyJoneses]

Enjoyed the photos...thanks.

[MerMade]

So want to cruise with you. You are much fun. I would join you in all your activities. Would you consider the May 3, 2014 Fascination 7 day cruise:)? Loving the review :cool:

[All4fun&fun4all]

So want to cruise with you. You are much fun. I would join you in all your activities. Would you consider the May 3, 2014 Fascination 7 day cruise:)? Loving the review :cool:

 

Cool! Someone who would play along. I would love to go on a 7 day but I think I will be going on Fantasy on May 6th. Maybe some other time. :)

 

And now for more review!!!!!

[All4fun&fun4all]

The walk back to Senor Frogs was relatively painless and we found a spot overlooking all the ships and looked over the menu. I just wanted to order one drink since I was drinking on the beach and I knew I didnt want to be one of those that got hammered and missed the ship.

I have always wanted to take a picture in this chair. It's really difficult to climb up there. Well, it was for me.

So expensive. Which one to choose?

 

I stopped off into the ladies room after I ordered my cocktail and as I was washing my hands, I noticed this in the mirror.

 

What....the....

 

 

Sufficiently creeped out

 

I told Nikki about it and she said that if you lift his loin cloth then an alarm should go off somewhere. Good to know.

Then I took this picture because I havent done this yet

 

[All4fun&fun4all]

And I of course located the pole and the sign was accurate! (TMI?)

 

So, I see all of these folks with their balloon hats and I know I want one since I got one last time we were here but...but....but, I am terrified of balloons.

Check out this sequence of balloon pic fun and laugh at me all you want.

You want a balloon hat?

 

It's on my head! Oh god it's on my head!!!

 

Pushing it down

 

And then a big hug and a kiss

 

Voila! Balloon hat!

 

[All4fun&fun4all]

Then we watched Fantasy turn around and leave. There was a little bit of a horn war between Fantasy and Fascination that I got on video. I will throw a link in here somewhere at the end with some other video that I took.

 

It's so weird to watch the ships leave. It feels like I should run back to the ship but we have plenty of time.

 

Now things start to get a bit hazy. Nikki ordered nachos

 

 

Someone ordered shots

 

[All4fun&fun4all]

Then I noticed an extra shot on the table. This floored me. I couldnt figure it out so I suggested that we each take a sip. As I went to reach for it, I knocked it over. (Y'all noticing a pattern of clumsiness here yet?)

 

I didnt want the alcohol to go to waste so I thought to myself, WWAD? (What would Andrew do?)

This is what he would do

 

Right off the table I sipped it with a straw.

 

Then the Disney ship left

 

Neato shot

 

The sun is setting now

 

I wanna stay!

[All4fun&fun4all]

I can feel myself getting nervous about this time (6ish I think) so I decide that I am ready to head back to the ship. Tanya and Tony had already left at this point so it was just me, Nikki and Glenda.

Nikki and Glenda had something they wanted to stop for so I continued on my way. I bought a beautiful seashell angel ornament for my Xmas tree inside Festival Center.

I headed towards my final destination. Still a ways to go yet.

 

Atlantis

 

I have never gotten a picture in front of this so I tried my best to do it on my own

Getting there

 

I kept hearing someone yelling something every few seconds and I was starting to get nervous. I couldnt make out what they were saying so I started walking a little faster but then I figured out what was happening. This navy ship was doing some sort of flag lowering ceremony. I am such a dork for getting so freaked out.

Flag lowering ceremony

Edited November 12, 2013 by All4fun&fun4all
time

[All4fun&fun4all]

Then this guy almost ran me over

 

Almost there!

 

You see the ship pulling in? That's the Norweigan Breakaway. It is HUGE! They were doing an overnight in Nassau

 

I made it!

 

I went back to my cabin to drop off all of my stuff and change clothes and go in search of dinner.

I found my steward Arthur!

 

I packed some glow in the dark horns for this trip so I put them on and a Halloween shirt and went up to the buffet to see if anything looked delicious.

Horns

[All4fun&fun4all]

I ended up with a few shrimp, some breaded green beans and a pasta dish. Not very exciting but I saw a few friends and they were going to the grille to get a sandwich. SMH why didnt I think of this??? So, I got a rueben and I went outside to look at the big ship next to us and watch for pier runners.

I took some pictures of the sites around me with the lights and this camera *shakes fist at camera* this camera is not a low light camera or this operator does not know how to work it.

Example...here is Atlantis

 

Here is Norweigan Breakaway. It looks like it's alllll balcony!

Pulling away

 

A few of us waved and yelled things like "you look fantastic" or "you should be ashamed of yourselves" at passengers from the other ship. They played along. It was great fun.

 

The best of the worst attempt at getting a picture of the lighthouse while it was lit up in my direction. Yeah, it sucks.

 

I stopped by the Palace Theater to watch part of the Game of Love

[All4fun&fun4all]

After a trip to the internet cafe to leave the Andrew a message it appears that, after looking at my folio, I had a couple of drinks at the Atrium bar. Hmm. Interesting. I dont remember this. Yipes.

I went back home to my cabin after 11pm so that I could get ready for big beach day at LSC. I wanted to get off the ship as early as I possibly could

Turn down

 

What is this?

 

Here is my little picture of Andrew and my flashlight. AWWWW!!!!

 

While we are exploring the cabin, here is "the bar"

And where we kept our ice

 

And the porthole is now littered with tu tus and towel animals

 

UP NEXT....LSC!!!!

[All4fun&fun4all]

I woke up fairly early and had a peek outside

 

I start getting myself together so I can get breakfast at the buffet and then get my tender ticket

Here are some buffet selections for your viewing pleasure

 

 

I ran into Robin and Ann as Melissa and I were snagging a table overlooking the island.

They were already loading the tenders with food for the island barbeque

Breakfast with friends.

I had buffet eggs benedict (not bad honestly), some bacon, some little sausage with onions and some sliced potatoes.

[All4fun&fun4all]

It is a tiny little island. For a moment I was thinking maybe our island was on the other side of the ship, until I started seeing the tenders enter the little cove.

 

Everyone else said they were tending over later in the day but I made up my mind that I would go grab a tender ticket and go all by myself. Not sure why i was nervous to do so but I was.

I went up to the lido deck stage and approached the two guys who were handing out tender tickets. There was no line to speak of really. I saw they were handing out tender #14. So when I approached he asked me how many and I said "just me". He said "Just you??". Um, yep. He handed me tender ticket #12. I already had my things with me so shortly after I got my ticket they called my number. I found my way down to where the tenders were leaving from and there was no line. The two employees that were standing there didnt ask for my ticket and they said they were pretty much letting anyone on because no one was boarding the tenders at that time.

I stepped on the tender and found myself a seat.

 

This buoy makes a loud noise as it holds the tender away from the ship. It was creepy

 

This is what time the tender started heading towards the island

 

Pulling away

 

Bye bye

[All4fun&fun4all]

WEEEE TENDERING!

 

There was another cruise ship at GREAT Stirrup Cay

 

It was a less than 5 minute ride to the island

 

Morning rays

 

A little bit of a bumpy ride right before you hit the mouth of the cove

 

Pulling in

[All4fun&fun4all]

LITTLE STIRRUP CAY!

Disclaimer: I took an UNGODLY amount of pictures here. Everything was just so beautiful. Mind you, it is nothing like being at Half Moon Cay but I can tell you that I am considering this exact itinerary again for a May cruise out of Charleston. I will let the pictures do most of the talking here. I also took a video that I will link later.

Get ready to get overwhelmed by post after post of PICTURES!

Looking towards where we just came in

 

Ship looks like its sitting on land and is tiny

 

We made it!

 

Everyone get off the tender and head that way!

 

In the months of pre planning for this cruise I did a little research on this cute little island. I found that Barefoot Beach was set apart from all the hustle and bustle and had powdery sand and you could walk out quite a ways and it is only around knee deep. I knew that this is what I wanted to experience from my day at LSC.

So I studied the map a few times before I cruised and in my directionally challenged head, I needed to walk away from the tenders and go to the right. Dont do this. Just follow the signs for the Aquapark and keep going. Keep the beach on your left and just walk on the path. You will end up at Barefoot Beach.

Here are a few pics I took while wandering around lost on the tiniest island ever.

Straw Market. All of the items say Coco Cay since this island is leased to Carnival by RCL.

 

Signs telling you what is where. Dont look for signs to Barefoot Beach. I couldnt find any

[All4fun&fun4all]

The path's were easy to navigate. Oh, and as a side note, they rented the wheelchairs with big offroad tires right as you get off the tenders. Not sure if they were free but I would assume so

 

Lagoon area

 

Bridge

 

More directional arrows

 

OOOOO a MAP! I stared at it for a moment and was still lost. Off to wander some more

 

OOO it's starting to get really pretty!

 

I hate to leave you guys hanging like this but I have to head to dance class and then go home for the evening. I promise to get through Little Stirrup Cay tomorrow. Hang in there.

[agc291]

Love this review. I have been waiting on it since I recently read your last review and then I saw you were going to be boarding this one soon! We are going to LSC in February :)

[willow028]

Thanks. I cant wait til I get to the LSC part! I am waiting for my MiFi hotspot to charge and then I will continue.

 

I would be glad to be your tour guide but be aware that my friends were calling me Drill Sergeant before it was all over. I am looking at a May cruise possibly. May 6th is LSC and Nassau...you should come with!

 

Drill Sergeant was one of the nicer things we were calling her!

 



 

This was actually us who wimped out leaving the beach as Nancy marched her crew from the distillery... wait... where's the crew?!

 

And before that she wiped my husband out completely - he was going to steal this boat and float back to the ship to be able to stop walking!

 



 

Another obligatory picture of you taking a picture!

 



 

LOL can't wait to do it all over again in May Penguin - and the photos of you trying to haul Kyle around in a papoose are going to be amazing!

 

Oh here's my LSC contribution - still trying to figure out what exactly one would use this outlet for!

 



 

 

Okay... so what happens next?!

 

[nicole2380]

Love it. Thank you for taking us on the ride with you. Can't wait to hear more tomorrow.

[All4fun&fun4all]

Thank you so much for contributing Jennifer! Please continue to do so. Anyone else that was on this sailing as well, please post pics.

I need to get started making Kyle's papoose. I wonder if Sunshine knows how to make one. Hmmm

[NCTribeFan]

Thanks. I cant wait til I get to the LSC part! I am waiting for my MiFi hotspot to charge and then I will continue.

 

I would be glad to be your tour guide but be aware that my friends were calling me Drill Sergeant before it was all over. I am looking at a May cruise possibly. May 6th is LSC and Nassau...you should come with!

 

Bob already knows I'm looking at that one. And the Cruise Virgin that came with me in September is seriously thinking about joining me. Guess that means you liked LSC.

 

Hurry up and finish this thing! I'm flying out tomorrow afternoon!

 

Stupid me was in such a hurry last night to change and go get my mani/pedi that I tripped up the stairs and now I can barely walk thanks to horrible, burning sciatic nerve irritation. At least I won't be wearing shoes that will break! :p

 

Oh, and as for being a drill sergeant, I'm sure that those who've sailed with me think the same thing. I'm always up and ready to go and have everything planned and know what time I want to be where and for how long and where and when my next meal would be and people better MOVE IT!!

Edited November 13, 2013 by NCTribeFan

[All4fun&fun4all]

Bob already knows I'm looking at that one. And the Cruise Virgin that came with me in September is seriously thinking about joining me. Guess that means you liked LSC.

 

 

 

I loved LSC. Although not as stunningly beautiful as HMC. I really liked Barefoot Beach and when I was ready for hustle and bustle I went to the cove area. I am not sure if they are really called coves but that's what I have been calling the little scooped out areas.

"Hurry up and finish this thing! I'm flying out tomorrow afternoon!"

You are a good drill sergeant! LMAO! I am hoping to have it completed by tomorrow but I am about to get back into LSC today. My goal is to have LSC and the Halloween Party all finished by 5pm today.

Edited November 13, 2013 by All4fun&fun4all
cove

[marshhawk]

Enjoying your review! Yup, after Catmando's tumble in Nassau we never would have been able to keep up with you. That's a long walk! Can't wait for your LSC pics, since once we got to the snorkeling area we stayed put.:)

[NCTribeFan]

Guess I'd better go read your review, Marshhawk, since Nancy's being so slack! :p