FASCINATION PICTURE REVIEW, extended family, handicap, HALF MOON & ATLANTIS waterpark

[JennN]

Enjoying your review!

[JWGrayson]

Ruth, We will be on the Fascination Dec 1st. I really enjoyed your review and have put a link to it on my Roll Call Webpage. I think it is a great read for someone who has never visited Nassau and has never been on the Fascination. Thanks, John

[mpcaruth]

Thanks everyone! I am glad that my review can be helpful to others in planning their next cruise vacation. My husband and I took our first cruise in 2006 to celebrate our 10-year anniversary and we fell in love with cruising. Not knowing anything about Carnival or the Bahamas, we basically just got off the ship in Freeport and Nassau and just "winged" it. Although it was fun, I knew the next time I would definitely plan out our port days. Shortly thereafter, I joined Cruise Critic forums and began planning some amazing family vacations.

 

I am about to scan in the Funtimes, and am playing around with a different document web hosting site. I hope it works. Can someone try the link out and let me know if it works, please?

 

Here is a map of Atlantis that I printed out before we cruised. I had intended on making it to Dolphin, but I don’t think we ever got close. https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B_oyujRZr-k4b3h5VkJBSTgyOVE/edit?pli=1

[mpcaruth]

The FUNTIMES have bee uploaded.

 

I know how hard these are to find sometimes, so enjoy!

 

Day 1 - Welcome Aboard:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B_oyujRZr-k4QnU5cE15NTlEYnc/edit?usp=sharing

 

Day 2 - Sea Day

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B_oyujRZr-k4VWV6VDlfOVdSWkk/edit?usp=sharing

 

Day 3 - Nassau

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B_oyujRZr-k4aFBhVlRTM2x2T00/edit?usp=sharing

 

Day 4 - Half Moon Cay

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B_oyujRZr-k4UFk1b0E5eGNYRmM/edit?usp=sharing

 

Day 5 - Sea Day

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B_oyujRZr-k4bE9YRGNsTWZFeWs/edit?usp=sharing

 

Day 6 - Are you kidding me??? Get the heck off our ship!

[Cupcrazy]

Thanks for the review. Great pictures!

[mishka422]

Awesome!!!! Thank you!

[celyvabeach]

Enjoying your awesome review. Will be sailing to the Bahamas in May 2015 out of Norfolk. Waiting for the rest of your review . Been to HMC twice on HAL, love that private island!

[mpcaruth]

CABINS

I booked Mom and Dad’s cabin directly through Carnival, as I didn’t want to have to go through a third party dealing with mom’s medical specifics. The Carnival PVP was wonderful and knowledgeable. This was the first time I have ever used a PVP. A few days after booking the cruise, a Special Needs team member with Carnival called me to inquire about her specific need. I was emailed a form for my mom to complete and return. The special needs team followed up with my mom directly at least twice. I was impressed. Mom had three special needs: 1) wheel chair accessible cabin, 2) refrigeration for insulin, and 3) clearance to bring her 40 pound oxygen concentrator. Not a problem!

 

I also purchased trip insurance for my parents, not because I was afraid they might have to cancel the trip for some reason, but purely for the medevac helicopter, should the need arise. Mom also has heart disease and often develops congestive heart failure and is placed in ICU nearly annually. My mom sleeps with oxygen at night. Dad said she had been doing so well, that she could probably get by without it for a few days and just use a medical air pump. WHAT??? I told him, “You are NOT getting on that ship without the oxygen concentrator or the trip insurance, end of discussion”. He obliged.

 

Mom and Dad had an Ocean View accessible cabin (E71) on the Empress deck directly behind the Shore Excursion desk. There are a few other accessible cabins located here as well. I did not get a picture of the interior of the cabin, but the interior appeared to be the standard 185 s.f., as typical on Fantasy class ships. The bathroom was modified and mom could roll her chair through the door. The shower had a fold down seat. The location on the Empress deck was awesome. Mom was afraid she would feel too enclosed on the ship, but directly outside her cabin was the open atrium. The Empress deck is the bottom deck of the atrium.

 

There was no refrigerator in the cabin, so we went to the Guest Services desk and requested one. Since she needed it for her insulin, they brought it right up. There was plenty of space for the concentrator beside the bed.

 

Cabin E71 is the second door on the left down the hall in the photo below (note the internet cafe is to the left):

 

[mpcaruth]

CABINS - continued:

 

Because this was an extra cruise for 2014, I justified it by trying to keep the costs to a minimum. So, I did what I said I would never do again: booked all four of us in a single 185 square foot cabin. The last time was on the Sensation and my daughter bumped her head, hard, on the pull down bed at least 5 times. The kids were always on our king bed and it felt like we were always on top of each other. Well... I saw a post on CC that suggested using the twin bed set up as opposed to the king bed. It would basically look like two sets of bunk beds with a walkway between them. So, I requested the twin bed setup online. When we first open the cabin door, we saw a king bed. Do they ever look at the request??? We had our cabin steward switch the layout that evening.

 

The two twin bed set up was actually fine. We could definitely go this route again, if we needed to save some money. During the day, our steward put the bunks up and it was like having two day beds in the cabin with plenty of walking room.

 

Here is our cabin with the bunks up:

 

 

Here is my brother's cabin with a king setup and the bunks down and you can see that there is zero walking space:

 

Please note: The OV cabins on Fantasy class ships are also 185 s.f, while other class ships (Spirit, Conquest, and Dream at least the ones we have been on) have 220 s.f. OV cabins. We love the 220 s.f. OV quad cabins, as the 3rd and 4th beds are the couch and a pull down over the couch. This givens everyone more personal space.

 

Sadly, I have never had a balcony. I just cannot justify spending $500-600 more for a quad cabin to have a balcony. That money could buy a whole lot of excursion fun! Maybe if Carnival ever gave me a free cruise like I see so many post about, I would pay the upgrade cost to a Balcony.

[Chris64]

Thanks for the review, sailing on her in three days!

[mpcaruth]

HALF MOON CAY 8:00-4:00

 

 

Half Moon Cay is a tender port, so if you want to get off the ship before 10:00, you are advised to get a tender ticket. I was up early walking and saw a line around 7:30 at the tender ticket location (lido deck stage). I stopped to get a ticket, and was informed that my entire party had to come up to the lido area before I could get a ticket. What?!?!? I told the crew member how very inconvenient this would be for our whole family, especially mom. No luck. I really didn’t need a ticket yet, but just thought the process was overkill. I went and got my three and we ate breakfast and got our tickets on the return. My brother and his family had received their tickets about 10 minutes earlier and they were 6 and we were 8. We went back to the cabin, packed our bags, and heard 6-8 on the intercom. So we followed the instructions and headed towards the Palace theater, and immediately saw the crew who said, “follow us” to the tender. Easy peasy, we were on the tender around 8:30, did not have to wait, and did not have to get in line super early to get a ticket.

 

Mom decided not to venture to Half Moon Cay. She saw the tender boats (from a top deck) roughly bobbing in the water, and decided she would stay on the ship and relax. Plus, she was concerned the heat on the island may be too much for her. I can attest, it would be almost unbearable on the island if you did not get in the water to cool off. I hated that she missed the island, but she didn't seem to mind. I will tell you that the Carnival special needs member said that she may or may not be able to board the tender, depending on how much wave action there is. There is a narrow steep ramp that goes up from the ship and then steeply down to the tender. It was rocking. However; it was doable the day we were there, as I saw Mom’s cabin neighbor on the island in his wheelchair.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Beach wheel chairs are provide on the island:

 

 

 

We get off the tender and head toward the left to select our lounge chairs in the shade of the trees. By 10:00 there were no more loungers in the shade.

 

 

 

[mpcaruth]

HALF MOON CAY - continued:

 

View from our chairs under the trees:

 

 

 

My SIL and I rented blue floating mats for $15 each. If you want one of these, you had better get one early as they ran out shortly after we got ours, and you rent them for the entire day.

 

I had brought our own snorkeling gear to save some money. I knew from researching before the cruise that the snorkeling experience would not be good, but that you could see some fish over by the rocks where the tender boats come through. So, I grab my gear and begun one of my favorite activities. After about 5 minutes I ventured out beyond the white buoy rope, but shortly thereafter, a life guard called me back. I asked him later if there was any place with good snorkeling and he said, "only on the other side of the island, and you are on your own there". He only confirmed what I had read on CC in the following post: http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1680590

The best snorkeling is at the far end of the cay past the horse riding excursion. This area was a long walk away, and I decided to save it for my next trip to Half Moon Cay.

 

Here is the far end of the rock area beyond the roped buoy:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[mpcaruth]

HALF MOON CAY - continued:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[mpcaruth]

HALF MOON CAY - continued:

 

 

 

 

These are the stairs that lead to the building on the rocks with the attached water slide:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

An artificial reef:

 

 

 

[mpcaruth]

HALF MOON CAY - continued:

 

 

See the purple coral? If you touch it, it retracts super quickly. My kids got a big kick out of touching them (gently, of course)

 

 

 

 

Here are the stairs from a previous underwater photo:

 

 

 

 

Kiss me!

 

[mpcaruth]

HALF MOON CAY - continued:

 

 

 

That's some big hair!!!

 

 

 

 

 

[mpcaruth]

HALF MOON CAY - continued:

 

 

 

There was a free barbecue on Half Moon Cay. Food was available from 11:30 - 1:30. We were hot and beyond thirsty and walked the long walk to get water and found out they had begun serving food. I must complain about the size of the cups for water and lemonade. Way too small, probably only 6 ounces. I wish I had brought a bottle to fill up so I could take it back to the beach. I guess they want you to buy drinks on the beach.

 

The food was okay, my husband said the burgers were close to hockey pucks. I had the chicken and it was spicy; good to me, but too much for my daughter.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[mpcaruth]

HALF MOON CAY - continued:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

There are a few of these mist stations along the path leading to the barbeque:

 

[mpcaruth]

HALF MOON CAY - continued:

 

 

 

 

 

 

We had brought a box of cereal off the ship and the kids feed the fish. They were literally jumping out of the water feeding all around us.

 

 

 

Me, finally relaxing on my float:

 

 

 

My fair skinned daughter was getting overheated and sunburned from too much of the intense sun, and so I gave her an umbrella and a strawberry daiquiri (alcohol free, of course). Advice: always pack a super small umbrella in your beach bag. It can serve to keep the rain off or protect you from the Caribbean/Bahamanian sun.

 

[mpcaruth]

HALF MOON CAY - continued:

 

The final tender back to the ship was scheduled for 3:00, and I think we took a tender back around 2:00. I usually do not leave a port early, but the sun and heat were INTENSE. The trees near our lounge chairs were no longer shading the chairs. So, we packed up early.

 

Although I have lots of pictures of fish and coral, the snorkeling here was definitely now\t very good. For a first time experience for my brother and his family, it was fun, but for us it was "eehhh". I rate it a 2 out of 10. Keep in mind, we snorkeled in Roatan and Costa Maya in January and the snorkeling there was amazing. Check out my Norwegian Jewel review linked in my signature.

 

 

My final views of beautiful Half Moon Cay:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Good Bye paradise!

[kybluecruiser]

If your mom had gone on HMC. Do you think it would had been acessible in a wheelchair? I know the beach is one thing. Just interested what your opinions of the paths and public areas. I cant make my mind up about it. Been wresteling with wether or not to book HMC for my mother for two years now. We normally do ports with a nice cruise center at the end of the pier. So she can get off the ship and the fact that she loves those souvenir shops.

[hn7609]

If your mom had gone on HMC. Do you think it would had been acessible in a wheelchair? I know the beach is one thing. Just interested what your opinions of the paths and public areas.

 

I would classify HMC as semi accessible. There is a good sized concrete area when you first get onto the island housing a few shops and a bar. A 1/4 mile paved path leads over to the picnic area. The picnic area is nice and shaded.......unfortunately that is about the only shade that you will find for a wheelchair user. The place does get hot in the sun. The beach chairs will get you down to the water but you will need a strong pusher to get the job done. I did HMC in a large power chair and it was a challenge. My favorite part was the tender ride to the island and back, it was nice and shady in the tender with a good breeze blowing. When I could walk HMC was great.......in a chair the options are very limited

[mpcaruth]

 

I would classify HMC as semi accessible. There is a good sized concrete area when you first get onto the island housing a few shops and a bar. A 1/4 mile paved path leads over to the picnic area. The picnic area is nice and shaded.......unfortunately that is about the only shade that you will find for a wheelchair user. The place does get hot in the sun. The beach chairs will get you down to the water but you will need a strong pusher to get the job done. I did HMC in a large power chair and it was a challenge. My favorite part was the tender ride to the island and back, it was nice and shady in the tender with a good breeze blowing. When I could walk HMC was great.......in a chair the options are very limited

Thank you for your info! I would agree, access was very limited. I think Mom made a wise choice for HER, by staying on the ship. The tender boat would have made her nervous (in her words, "my blood pressure would skyrocketed"). It was extremely hot and she is known for retaining fluid and congestive heart failure. I am pretty sure my father would not have been able to push her on the beach, but my husband and brother could have. Please note, the shopping area there is small and not noteworthy, in my opinion

 

I don't mean to discourage anyone, just be prepared for challenges. As I noted earlier, I saw mom's cabin neighbor there and he did well and seemed to be enjoying the island. However; he was young and strong.

[mpcaruth]

KIDS PROGRAMS:

 

The first night I signed up my kids for Circle C (12-14 year olds). My daughter had just turned 12 three days before the cruise and was excited to have moved up. Since they had their cousins to hang out with, they both decided not to attend Circle C the first night… and every night thereafter. It really was nice cruising with family. On the last Sea Day, my niece wanted to try Camp Carnival (she is 10 ½) but then changed her mind, since she wouldn't know anyone. Well, my daughter asked if she could move down an age group so she could go with her cousin. We headed up to Camp Carnival, asked, and waited while the counselor called his supervisor. Yep, she was approved to be switched! While we were up there we also overheard a conversation in which an 11 year & 2 month old girl was allowed to move up to Circle C with her 2 cousins. I LOVE the fact that Carnival tries to be accommodating when they can. Norwegian was extremely rigid and made my son be in the 10-12 y.o. group when he was actually turning 13 while on the cruise. To make matters worse, the first and only night he went, Norwegian put the 6-9 year olds in his group. Apparently it was okay for tall, nearly 13 year year old with a mustache, to be in a group with 6 year olds.

 

Camp Carnival Schedule (ages 9-11): https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B_oyujRZr-k4dWoxeW9PYThXVTQ/edit?usp=sharing

 

Circle C Schedule (ages 12-14): https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B_oyujRZr-k4eHlpMjFwSmhmXzg/edit?usp=sharing

 

The girls attended an afternoon game event which was actually held at Circle C. They also attended the Farewell party in the Disco Lounge that evening.

 

 

 

 

 

Club O2 was empty on embarkation day, and I went in and took a few photos. The schedule from the previous week was on the wall:

 

 

 

 

 

 

[mpcaruth]

KIDS PROGRAMS/ACTIVITIES - continued:

 

This was our first cruise with the Hasbro Game Show. It was held one evening and another sea day afternoon (each show with different games). It really was a neat family show. We always sat on the second level of the Palace Theater, mainly because the wheel chair reserved spots here were more convenient. Mom wanted to attend the show both times with all of us. To be in the show, you had to be sitting in the lower level. The director would ask a trivia type question and the first to answer correctly was awarded a spot on the stage. Children and adults could participate. We all enjoyed it, but I seriously do not want to see it on every cruise ship, ESPECIALLY as the main evening theater event. I'll get to that more and my review of the ship's entertainment later.

 

I loved the seating arrangements on the upper level. (There is a blocked off spot for wheelchairs directly beside the two couch areas).

 

 

 

 

The "Family Scavenger Hunt" was scheduled to begin before the Hasbro show was over (WHAT??? it stinks that two family programs were scheduled at competing times). We decide to leave early and hit the scavenger hunt. We had done this before on the Freedom, and had a blast. The hunt consists of a list of silly things your family has to do, and various items on the ship to find. The teams have to take a digital photo of everything on the list. The first team back with all items wins a ship on a stick and medals. We had barely come in second the last time, so we vowed to win this time. Let me just say, we laughed, giggled, panted and sweated...

 

Conga line:

 

 

 

Ice cream smeared on face:

 

 

 

Bathing suits OVER our clothes:

 

 

 

 

And the winner is... US! We won our first ship on a stick after 7 Carnival cruises!!!

 

 

 

After the scavenger hunt it was time to go celebrate at the Past Guest Party...

 

 

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