Just back from surprise cruise!

[Crunchymom]

We did the 7 night out of Charleston on the Fantasy. I'll try to keep this as short at possible. ;) Embarking was easier than expected. After reading about the mess of the port, I was worried...but it wasn't that bad. We were able to leave our bags with the porters in the AM and came back around 11am to park and begin the boarding process. We had a GS, so we had VIP check-in, maybe that made the difference. It was honestly quick and easy. Once on board, we went for lunch, which was an absolute mess! Apparently everyone was hungry at the same time. :eek: LOL

 

Overall, food wasn't too bad....could be better, could be worse. Personally I think the food was better this time than on the Inspiration 5 years ago. Everything I had in the dining room was yummy too! Hubby who is picky, wasn't as impressed...oh well, can't please everyone. Chocolate melting cake...YUM!

 

GS was nice...very roomy. It was hubby and I plus our 3 young kids. It was really nice having our own balcony! My only complaint with the room is that there wasn't a divider curtain like the description of the room says. But no biggie.

 

Sea days: Always something to do for everybody! The crew doing the activities were always funny, trying to get everyone to have a good time. Unfortunately we didn't get to go to HMC due to the weather. Big disappointment because we have never been and had a sting ray excursion planned. However, the staff did a good job at making up for it. A new activity list was printed with added things to do onboard.

 

Camp Carnival is lovely, lol. Very nice to dump the kids off and have some mommy and daddy time! :D However....my kids didn't like going there! I read about other parents having that issue and didn't think we would have that problem. Our 2 year old cried! We have a 2 year old, a 7 and 10 year old so they're all in different groups. Whenever we went and picked them up though, they always reported having fun and there was that one time when our 10 year old didn't want to leave, lol. Anyway, plenty of activities to do for them. Our 10 year old loved the scavenger hunts!

 

Land: Grand Turk....typical poor island, abandoned homes and businesses. Beach wasn't spectacular. We just went to the one right by the port. We were approached by a guy on the beach for a tour and did that....that was nice. Took us (a whole group) the length of the island to see the light house and a couple other stops.

 

Nassau....hubby and I were here 12 years ago on a cruise and it's different. We remember the water being much more clear/blue. Last time we took a cab to a beach near Atlantis and rented a jet ski...it was beautiful! This time we booked a sting ray excursion due to missing HMC the day before. It was raining for a little bit that morning so we had to stand and walk in the rain to where the boat was to bring us to Balmoral island. The whole experience was nice...very cool for the kids. We brought our 2 year old with us and took turns between hubby and I with getting in the water. We didn't like that were were unable to bring any personal items to that part of the beach....they apparently didn't want you taking your own pics! So they took the pics in which you had to buy them back on the ship. :cool: I also didn't like that the water isn't all that clear in the stingray pen, so it's hard to see them until they're right up on you. Hubby and I did a stingray excursion in GC and it was awesome....water was nice and clear and you saw them very easily! The private island is very nice but as usual expensive! We spent $100 on lunch there. The boat brought us back to the main street which was disgusting! We must've missed that on our last visit. Very pushy sellers...we ended up leaving a couple shops before barely setting foot inside! Wish the boat brought us where they picked us up...right near the ship.

 

Ship: Nice, not big but I was still confused where everything was. My sense of direction isn't all that great on a cruiseship, lol. My only complaint about the ship itself...it needs another pool! The pool is just gross....most of the time when walking by it to go to the water slides with the kids was it was shoulder to shoulder packed! Just bad...

Another complaint...they take way too many pictures! They have 1 whole floor designated for picture taking with back drops and props and then another area displaying the pics! Just another way to get more money. This wasn't the same on previous cruises....however we don't have much to compare (cruise in 2002 and 2009) so maybe this picture taking is not the norm? I do remember pictures being taken for the formal nights and that was it. Anyway, the water slides were nice! Another thing it needs up there is a little wading area for toddlers. They have the water fountains which are fun but after a day or so, our 2 year old got bored fast up there. He had more fun when one of the drains were clogged and the water accumulated, lol.

 

This is really long....sorry. Any questions, just ask. :D

[rrraydon]

Thanks for the review!

 

I LOVE the Fantasy. We'll be sailing on her for the 5th time in November!

[Crunchymom]

Have fun! We really did have a good time despite some of my complaints, lol.

[rrraydon]

Glad to hear it! I've never had a bad cruise to speak of myself. Some better than others of course but hey, I was on a ship! :D

[cruzeluver]

Thanks for posting. We were on the ship with you and we had a great time! Will be posting my review tomorrow.

[Cruise-Crazy]

Thanks for posting! Hopefully I'll get on Fantasy one day :)