Fantasy was a nice time

[Gabrielle R.]

This is the first time in 17 years since we did a Carnival cruise. We did the Fantasy out of Charleston.

Firstly we Loved Charleston! Great time & people there. Port was ok! Getting on the ship was fine getting off oh boy epic failure.

 

The Fantasy was a nice ship. We felt it was pretty and liked the layout of the ship.

 

Staff was very good. Not impressed with the CD couldn't tell you what he looked like. Never saw him.

 

Food was ok.

 

Freeport was nice and Nassau was fine.

 

I'll give more details soon just getting back from Charleston. Ask any questions until I get down to more details

Gabrielle

[kybluecruiser]

Who is the cd now? Dosent seem like it would be the same ole fantasy without Risa as cd lol

[PathfinderEss]

Glad you had a nice time, looking forward to a full report.

[KirkNC]

Thanks for the report!

[Keith1010]

Thanks and look forward to reading the additional details.

 

Keith

[SkyMaster]

According to the CD schedule, it was supposed to be Risa? Perhaps she took a week off, or something. Hope everything is O.K. with her!

 

"SKY"

[gebo0288]

We will be taking our first cruise in February on the Fantasy. Can't wait! How were your rooms?

 

We have E101 and E105...with the art gallery behind us. We're hoping it's not too noisy.

[Carnival_Brides]

According to the CD schedule, it was supposed to be Risa? Perhaps she took a week off, or something. Hope everything is O.K. with her!

 

"SKY"

 

I thought Risa left Carnival to head a non-profit near her home in South Carolina (seriously).

[etwright]

Thanks. I will be looking for full report as we sail on her in December. :cool:

[OCruisers]

Thanks ... looking forward to reading more. :)

LuLu

[jillpra]

Risa did retire

 

 

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Jill

[nc020594]

Just off on June 12th myself. Cruise director was Pete (can't recall his last name). I saw him a few times and heard him on the PA a time or two (wasn't too overbearing). Pretty engaging and interactive with the Motown show I think it was.

 

 

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[Terre]

I thought Risa left Carnival to head a non-profit near her home in South Carolina (seriously).

 

This is what I heard recently, too.

[SkyMaster]

I thought Risa left Carnival to head a non-profit near her home in South Carolina (seriously).

 

OH! Guess I'm behind the curve? ;) I don't remember reading that, but in any case I'm glad she's O.K. I always enjoyed cruising with her, and have no doubt that she'll excel in whatever she decides to do. :D

 

"SKY"

[dwightnwynonia]

We will be taking our first cruise in February on the Fantasy. Can't wait! How were your rooms?

 

We have E101 and E105...with the art gallery behind us. We're hoping it's not too noisy.

 

We have had the cabins on the Fantasy before with no issue's you will be fine

 

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[Pinkfloydfan]

This is the first time in 17 years since we did a Carnival cruise. We did the Fantasy out of Charleston.

Firstly we Loved Charleston! Great time & people there. Port was ok! Getting on the ship was fine getting off oh boy epic failure.

 

The Fantasy was a nice ship. We felt it was pretty and liked the layout of the ship.

 

Staff was very good. Not impressed with the CD couldn't tell you what he looked like. Never saw him.

 

Food was ok.

 

Freeport was nice and Nassau was fine.

 

I'll give more details soon just getting back from Charleston. Ask any questions until I get down to more details

Gabrielle

Gabrielle R, Glad you enjoyed the Fantasy. We use to sail her alot when they still had the cover bands Music Degree & Music Boardwalk. Do they have any "live" entertainment onboard now except passengers:eek:? Crew was always great and my wife loved the casino and I enjoyed the bands. I loved the Mongolian Wok everyday for lunch:cool: Pink

[Gabrielle R.]

We will be taking our first cruise in February on the Fantasy. Can't wait! How were your rooms?

 

We have E101 and E105...with the art gallery behind us. We're hoping it's not too noisy.

 

We were in R30 VERY quiet... I can't imagine it being noisy behind the art Gallery.

[Gabrielle R.]

Pete De Vill Was the CD.

 

I never saw him around the ship- except on elegant night and he was on the Promenade deck and greeted guests.... I didn't see/hear him other wise.

[Gabrielle R.]

My biggest concern was getting to the port. We had never been to Charleston and I had read about this port and well.. it wasn't very good... SO... I thought this is what many people who never went to this port before would want to know:

 

We took a taxi from the Holiday Inn Express (Ashley River area) Cost $20-$30 (I can't remember I didn't pay attention).

 

We got to the port about 1:30 This was VERY EASY!!! if taking a taxi the taxi brings you up to the luggage drop off- SO FAST!! our bags were gone onto a cart ad we didn't even get a chance to tip the man! We had one suitcase- so maybe he thought he didn't need anything? We stood looking but the man was gone- Yes, our suitcase made it just fine to our room.

 

We walked to a shuttle that took us to check in- This drop off to the shuttle took all of 3 minutes and the shuttle was off and moving!

 

Check in- we got in a rather long line- It took about 15-20 minutes before we went up to get our card. The line seemed long- but most were families and it moved rather quickly (We are red card holders and didn't have FTTF) I think a Platinum or FTTF would've beat us onto the ship by about 10-15 mins

 

We avoided the gangway pictures and started up to the Fantasy. We were walking on board and found out that all the rooms were ready. We were to our stateroom and up to the lido by 2:00.

 

We went up to the Lido and saw the Mongolian Grill had NO LINE! So we got in line and ate- EXCELLENT!! LOVED THE MONGOLIAN GRILL. My DH had Mongolian Grill almost every day.

 

We had My Time dining. We NEVER had to wait for a table! We always had a table for 2. We were more than willing to share- never had to. (On Princess we often do anytime dining- we never worry if we share or have a table for 2. It always worked.) This was a nice surprise on Carnival.

 

Food was fine. The Beef brisket was my choice- it was good. DH had the sweet & sour fish- it was OK. (I avoid sweet & sour since I can't eat pineapple- allergic to it)

 

We both had the warm melting chocolate cake. I like chocolate. I stash dark chocolate in my desk at work.... It was a bit too rich for both DH & I. IF I would order it again I would have to have at least 2 scoops of ice cream. I think the 1 scoop isn't enough. This was just my feelings towards it- I think it was just too much for me. So IF you've never had it before I'd ask for an extra scoop of ice cream.;)

 

The thing that surprised us the most was the safety/muster drill. We were seated in the lower part of the theater. The guests were the quietest nicest most polite group we have ever seen!!!!!!! We have done about 16 cruises... and most of the time people were rude didn't listen/follow directions.... there were few phone thumbers, drinkers and nobody spoke much above a whisper! People paid attention and things went very quickly. The passengers were polite no other way to describe the area we were seated. Up to the muster station and then boom! off we went.

 

We did do the show The Brits. It was fine for a production show. Singers were good. Dancers fine. Wasn't very crowded. The CD was to introduce the show... It wasn't him, but a her.... Pearl....??? We liked her- she did some kind of trivia before the Brits show- it was fun and we enjoyed her.

 

Didn't do the comedy club- too tired so we went to bed.

 

This was how our first day went. It was a nice surprise for us. I had read about poor behavior and a terrible port experience. none of this was the case for us.:D

 

Sea day 1 will be tomorrow.

[Gabrielle R.]

Gabrielle R, Glad you enjoyed the Fantasy. We use to sail her alot when they still had the cover bands Music Degree & Music Boardwalk. Do they have any "live" entertainment onboard now except passengers:eek:? Crew was always great and my wife loved the casino and I enjoyed the bands. I loved the Mongolian Wok everyday for lunch:cool: Pink

 

Pink, I agree with you about the Wok!

Crew was great! We liked the any time dining staff- very nice and they took good care of us- never sat in the same area twice- but we had a great waitstaff.

[Scrapenthusiast]

What a great review so far! I can't wait to read more. I'm so thrilled to see so many good things about the Fantasy, looking forward to sailing on her in December!:D

[Terre]

OH! Guess I'm behind the curve? ;) I don't remember reading that, but in any case I'm glad she's O.K. I always enjoyed cruising with her, and have no doubt that she'll excel in whatever she decides to do. :D

 

"SKY"

 

Ken, I think Corey told me that at our M&G.

[Jamman54]

Enjoying your review. Can't wait to read the rest!

[Gabrielle R.]

DH is an early riser..... So.. 6:30 AM DH came back to the room... nobody is up yet.... I felt like telling him the sun just GOT UP! What were expecting up on lido? I said... I'm just about ready I'll meet you upstairs.... He found some coffee and I got moving.

 

The Grill started making omelettes at 7:30- they are very good. I like scrambled eggs & salsa and I had that. What I liked best is the warm Croissants at the grill area. Fantasy had a nice breakfast.

 

We found a lounger up on the deck over looking the pool.. Not the best spot since the walkway between the lifeboats and the loungers are a bit narrow. I didn't notice many chair hogs. The chair hogs were there but only on 2 loungers at a time and most of the time they did have someone in them after about 40 minutes.....

 

The rains came in about 1:30- we luckily saw it coming and we got lunch & a table under cover. MANY were not as fast moving as us and they struggled to find a place to eat. When the rains came (Lasted for about 2-3 hours) there wasn't a lot to do. I sat and read DH snoozed as people wandered looking for something to do.

 

The kids club kept the little kids busy and there weren't packs of kids causing problems near us. a plus goes to Carnival for finding something for those groups to do.

 

This was Elegance night... DH wore a long sleeved shirt & a tie. he worried about being dressed up enough- He was. I did see a few suits but for the most part he looked like most everyone else. So long sleeves & a tie for men seemed to be just fine. I had on a dress which looks fancy with heels or causal with sandals- so I was comfortable.

 

I had lobster & shrimp. DH had the same BUT also asked for the prime rib. both were fine. we shared a bottle of wine. nice evening.

 

We didn't see the captain on the Promenade... But I'll be honest- I didn't look that hard. This is when I saw the CD.

 

We wandered around listened to Karaoke caught a bit of guess the Motown songs... went up on lido & enjoyed the night air. yes there were things going on- we just weren't in the mood for most of the entertainment. There was family friendly comedy- we went by too late.

 

We went in early since we had a busy day planned for Freeport.

[Gabrielle R.]

Pink, you asked about live music- Right?

Fantasy DID have some live music! Rob sang in the atrium every evening. I liked him a lot!!!! he played a wide array of music. nice to just sit & listen.

 

There was another band that we heard on the Promenade- BUT- it was so crowded that we didn't stay. MANY were up & dancing and the area was packed. would've been good to have them in a lounge so more could listen & dance- We would've stayed longer if we could have found space.

 

DJ on the lido deck it was fine... I did miss (and do miss) not having a live band... at least the live music we heard we liked.