Fantasy Review November 22-27

[AmandaKaye79]

Just returned from a 5 night cruise on the Carnival Fantasy from Charleston, SC.

 

Pre-cruise- we stayed at the Best Western Patriots Point, got a park and cruise for $68.99. The hotel was small and clean. Nothing spectacular but for that price, we didn't expect much. Their shuttle was expensive so we took a taxi (yellow cab) for $13 for 2 people. (6.50 each)

 

If you have never been to Charleston, the port is a little strange. You drop your bags, then park, then take a shuttle bus to the ship. Check in process was smooth. We were on the ship within 30 minutes.

 

Ate lunch, then our room was ready. We unpacked and took a short nap while waiting for the drill. The muster drill was the most unorganized drill we have ever witnessed. It lasted so long and they claimed they were actually going around counting the people at the station? Wow- they need to come up with a better way to do this.

 

We went to dinner- we requested a table for 10, got a table for 2. Waiter and staff were great. We enjoyed dinner each night in the MDR.

 

We went to brunch on both sea days. We enjoyed these meals, I would suggest not missing it. On the first sea day, we went around 10:30 and there was no line, the second sea day, we waited about 15 minutes to get in.

 

Lines were always outrageous at The pool grill (hamburgers, FF, hotdogs). We didn't eat from the buffet that much. We stuck with the pizza, deli and pool grill for lunch items. Also used room service a couple of times. Food was overall good.

 

We went to comedy shows almost every night. We really enjoyed both of the comedians. We went to the love game show and it was kind of boring. The questions were the same old questions and we ended up leaving in the middle of the show. We also went to a magic show which was also a little boring. We didn't see any of the production shows.

 

We loved Dat Band. They were always playing around the ship and they played a different variety of music each night.

 

We played in the casino most every night. I wish they would count the Poker players in the promotions for the casino but they don't. The poker table was full every night and the casino was cutting $10-$15 per pot.

 

Excursions- we booked the Freeport Jeep and Beach Excursion through Carnival because the reviews were great. Big Mistake. We took a bus to the jeeps, got in and started driving around the woods. Seriously. Our CB radio thing wasn't working so we missed the first part of the tour. We made one random stop by a beach that you could only look at. Tony told us some history of the island. He worked on our radio and then moved us up front so we could be closer to him and hopefully get a better radio connection. Then we drove out again to another beach stop kind of in the middle of the ocean. Neat views. Next we drove through a pine tree forest. Really? Pine tree forest? We also visited the Garden of the Groves where we were given our free "lunch" which consisted of a sandwich with a small bag of chips. Finally we ended up at Taino Beach. That was the best part of the tour. We had a real lunch and soaked up some sun. Then we took the jeeps back and got back on the bus. The bus broke down on the way back to the ship. We had to wait on another bus which transferred us back to the ship. I don't recommend this excursion.

 

In Nassau, we booked Islandz Tours- a private excursion called Rum Runners tour. It was awesome! We enjoyed visiting all the interesting places. There were only 6 of us on the tour so it was very private. We visited the Pirates Pub where we had 3 shots of rum and then a rum punch, then we went to an art gallery where we had fried conch, then we went to the Graycliff which was beautiful and we enjoyed some rum infused chocolates. Finally, we ended up at the Distillery where we enjoyed 3 more shots and another punch drink. Our guide was so friendly and the history was wonderful. 5 star tour. Highly recommend.

 

Ok back to the ship. The seas were so rough the first night of this cruise. People were sick everywhere. You couldn't walk around without seeing where someone had been sick on the carpets in the public areas. Honestly, the guys with red buckets and masks were trying hard to keep it cleaned, but it was almost impossible with the amount of people sea sick.

 

Finally, our cabin... E157, interior room. We woke up on the first night to a loud banging noise around 4AM. We thought it was no big deal, the seas were rough, you know. This continued for hours and the noises were louder and a nuisance to our sleeping. Finally around 8AM (the noise was still going on), we called guest services and asked them to check on it. Within 30 minutes, they called back to say they were moving us.

 

We were moved to a new cabin and started unpacking when another guest services person comes in to say.... no no there has been a mistake, this cabin is supposed to go to a family that requested a connecting cabin. So we pack up again and are moved. We end up with E73, which was an upgrade to an oceanview cabin. We were able to sleep for the rest of the nights. I guess the guest services staff felt bad for our troubles, so on the 2nd night, they sent us chocolate covered strawberries and cheap champagne.

 

We enjoyed the cruise and had a great time. Pros- Food, service, upgraded room, comedians, Islandz Rum Runners Tour. Cons-Port of Charleston, all the sick people, noisy room, long lines for the pool grill, Freeport Jeep Excursion.

[AmandaKaye79]

Any questions, just ask. I will try to post some pictures soon

 

 

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[Scrapenthusiast]

Thanks for the concise but descriptive review!! We're heading out on the Fantasy in 6 days. Did you book the Islandz excursion beforehand or when you got there? And I was wondering about the chance of being seasick since I've never been on a ship quite this small. I guess I'll start Bonine in advance! lol Thanks for the tip.

[AmandaKaye79]

We booked the tour in advance through their website. They also have a FB page and were very prompt with answering my questions.

 

We have been on several cruises and never felt the ship move like that. In fact our waiter said he hadn't felt it that bad since April. I think we just had bad weather/winds that made the seas rocky.

 

 

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[Scrapenthusiast]

We booked the tour in advance through their website. They also have a FB page and were very prompt with answering my questions.

 

We have been on several cruises and never felt the ship move like that. In fact our waiter said he hadn't felt it that bad since April. I think we just had bad weather/winds that made the seas rocky.

 

 

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Thanks! I'll check their website/FB pages out!

 

I guess you just never know what the weather is going to do. I'd hate to take a chance though and be sick that first night.

[jkhurck]

Thanks for the review!! I'll be on the Fantasy two weeks from today.

 

I'm hoping for calm seas - I suffer terrible motion sickness and can usually deal with it wearing the patch. Hope it helps this time!

[ryanpatricksmom]

The last time we booked an excursion in Freeport our bus filled with smoke and the driver kept going, lol! They did take the vehicle out of service after they dropped us off at our destination (we saw it stranded on the side of the road), but it was a nightmare, especially for those in the back of the bus. It didn't leave us with a warm and fuzzy feeling for Freeport transportation companies, and your story just confirms that experience as a "one and done".