Our Family Fascination Fall Break Cruise review with pics Oct 5 - 10, 2015

[LuCruise]

They had snorkel gear, masks and fins, kayaks, paddle boards and boogie boards that I saw. They may have other things but those are what my kids used when we were there.

 

Thanks for the quick reply.

 

Looking forward to hearing more about your cruise.

[JMHAM1]

My youngest DD wants to have her hair braided when we are there. Was it expensive?

 

 

They had pricing for full head, half head and by the braid. I think she paid $4 per braid. They also did hair wrapping. She didn't see that until after they had already braided hers. She thought about it all that night and then decided to get one wrap too the next day in Freeport. I think the pricing is set at the regulated place we went to but I'm sure if you stop anywhere else you can cut a deal for the braiding. It really takes them no time at all to do it. In fact, hubby was like......I'll quit my engineering job, move down here and learn to braid hair!

[JMHAM1]

My intention was to take a good, clear pic of all the menus but I seriously struggled getting good shots. My DSLR just couldn't get the close up with the lens I brought and I had to use a flash due to the lighting in the MDR so the glare was horrible. My point and shoot added a bunch of red. Oh well, excuses I know! Below are the menus for the Nassau port day. They are the best I could do!

 

 

My kids always wanted to know what was on the kids menu. I had never seen a pic of one so I got one this trip. They were really good about bringing whatever we wanted for him though. He likes a hot dog but no bun so they would bring him two hot dogs cut up without the buns or whatever. I could not be more pleased with the attention the wait staff showed all our kids but the 5 year old picky eater especially.

 

 

This is a pic of the "didja" item of the menu for this night.

 

 

I also had no idea you could get whatever pasta on the menu in an appetizer size until one of the boys asked for it. Maybe in the fine print on the menu that my old eyes cannot see in such low lighting it mentions that you can. :cool:

 

 

 

I also have all the Fun Times but I will post those at the end for those who want to look at them.

 

Next up: Freeport!

 

 

 

 

[Sugar Skull]

Hi! I'm really enjoying your review! We've booked a 5 day cruise out of JAX on the Fascination for the end of January, and we have also booked the day passes at British Colonial Hilton so I was super happy to see your review! Thank you so much for putting in the time to do it! Quick question... Do you happen to know if chicken tenders was on the kids menu at BCH? Thanks for posting the menu for the adults!

[JMHAM1]

Hi! I'm really enjoying your review! We've booked a 5 day cruise out of JAX on the Fascination for the end of January, and we have also booked the day passes at British Colonial Hilton so I was super happy to see your review! Thank you so much for putting in the time to do it! Quick question... Do you happen to know if chicken tenders was on the kids menu at BCH? Thanks for posting the menu for the adults!

 

 

YAY! Someone is reading! The BCH only had the one menu which I posted. I took a look at it and thought there was nothing on there that my picky 5 year old would eat. I just asked the lady what was available and she was able to get him something which I think was chicken tenders and FF if I recall. I figured it never hurts to ask.

[Sugar Skull]

Excellent! Thank you! Yep I'm reading and waiting for more! :)

[mpdog42]

The Kids menu looks better that the adults:D...Wish they would put Cheeseburgers on the Room Service menu....Love your review!!!

Mike

[cruise47]

Thanks for sharing your family cruise. It look liked all enjoyed the cruise experience. Wonderful photos.

[Jonathan_Rhodes]

Enjoyed reading the review. We leave on Monday for our first Cruise. So I am following closely

 

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[jasonlee416905]

Thank you for the reviews thus far! They were well-written and pictures are fantastic. Looking forward to your future posts =D

[JMHAM1]

Thanks for sharing your family cruise. It look liked all enjoyed the cruise experience. Wonderful photos.

 

Thank you for following along!!

 

Thank you for the reviews thus far! They were well-written and pictures are fantastic. Looking forward to your future posts =D

 

Welcome to CC Jasonlee! Thank you for your kind words.

[JMHAM1]

The Kids menu looks better that the adults:D...Wish they would put Cheeseburgers on the Room Service menu....Love your review!!!

Mike

 

 

I would like to see them expand the room service menu but I will say, they are super fast!! I think they are planning to or have already rolled out more choices on some of the ships but for a fee. Not sure how I feel about that!

[JMHAM1]

Enjoyed reading the review. We leave on Monday for our first Cruise. So I am following closely

 

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Awww you will be hooked!! I wished I had found cruise critic before my first cruise. I felt like I missed so much after getting all the good scoop here. I will do my best to have it done before you leave. Are you sailing on the Fascination?

[Cruisegirl6]

appreciate the review and menus!

[ronrick1943]

Looks like your ready for a great time, enjoy.

[JMHAM1]

Thanks for being patient all. I had a couple of unexpected business trips. Just got back last night from NYC. Let me continue on this journey and wrap this thing up.

 

Next stop: Freeport!

 

It took me forever to decide what to do in Freeport. Last time I was here, there was not alot at the port and we needed something economical and safe for the kids. After much research, we decided on the Freeport Grand Lucayan Beach Resort. We booked it on our own through Shore Excursioneer. For the day passes, Kids 3-10 were $9.99 and adults (11 and up) were $19.99. You had to pay a deposit and then bring the rest in cash the day of the visit.

 

The passes were inexpensive but did not include transportation to and from and did not include any food or beverages. Those prices were just for access to their beach and use of the pools. There were plenty of other things to do for a fee like jet skis, parasailing, etc.

 

A couple of us got really burned the day before. As in one of the knuckleheads sprayed sunscreen on another knucklehead in a Z for Zorro pattern on their back which turned into a painful burn and a big white Z on his back. Not cool! Really dude! Anyoo! Hubby and I had quite the debate about whether or not we should go, a few of us go or hang on the boat or what. After much debate, we decided to go and just have the burned one wear a Tshirt and stay as much in the shade as possible. We could always come back.

 

Transportation to the resort is like this....Flat rate $5 per person each way...you must pay the roundtrip cost up front. They will give you a ticket for the ride back. No dickering....no discounts (at least that we could find). Here are the posted prices for the taxis for the various places you could go.

 

 

As I had mentioned, there was not much at the pier when I was in Freeport years ago. Now there are a few things and the pier area is nice if you want a quick trip to Fat Tuesdays, Senior Frogs, or some souvineers from that area. There were even local folks in booths set up selling their items.

 

 

 

The trip to the resort took about 25 minutes or so. Once we got there, it was not really clear where we were to go. The taxi driver dropped us off at this market and said it was through there. From my research, I knew there was a market across the street and the resort was next to a casino. I did not see either a resort or a casino. The kids wanted to walk around and look in the shops so I figured we would get that part out of the way off the top. Finally after walking aimlessly around, we went through a little alleyway between shops and I saw the sign for the casino which was across the street. Looking back, I think the taxi driver could have dropped us right there but probably drops everyone at the shops on the other side so you will be more likely to spend money there.

 

 

 

Hey Mom, is that a tardis? I think actual phone booths or public phones in general are something that my generation is the last to really know about. <sigh!> I have a "generation" now! When did I turn into my Mom?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Mistyhon]

Too funny. We just planned out our fascination excursions earlier this week and chose the same as you. I'm really looking forward to reading more about your Freeport experience.

 

 

 

Ps did the bc Hilton have any stand up paddle boards or was it just kayaks and snorkel stuff?

 

 

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[JMHAM1]

Too funny. We just planned out our fascination excursions earlier this week and chose the same as you. I'm really looking forward to reading more about your Freeport experience.

 

 

 

Ps did the bc Hilton have any stand up paddle boards or was it just kayaks and snorkel stuff?

 

 

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My hubby and my son said they did. You will have a blast. Don't get burned in Nassau because the water in Freeport was amazing!! I wished we had gone earlier and stayed longer there!

 

[JMHAM1]

I forgot to mention that the taxis run back on a set schedule. The all aboard was 3:30 and the last taxi back left at 2:00! Since we didn't get there at the resort itself until noon, it didn't give us much time. I wished we had used better sunscreen the first day because WOW! This was a beautiful place and the water was NICE!

 

Below is the walkway from where you pay down to the beach area. Lovely!!

 

 

The ladies at the gate didn't really give us much direction other than follow the path. Beach is straight ahead and the pool is to the left. Well when we got to the beach we saw all these chairs and this is where everyone else was parked. We picked a free chair, plunked down our stuff and hit the water.

 

 

This next pic is for informational purposes and show the chairs/beach area that is at the end of the path....note the orange towels (they do not provide towels and you must bring your own).

 

 

We were all in the water except one who decided to stay in the shade and read. About 15 minutes after we were in the water he comes running over saying we are getting kicked out! :eek: We had arm bands and we had just paid so what the heck? Hubby went to investigate and I stayed in the water with our youngest chasing a school of fish. Sure enough, I guess the day passers had to use another section of the beach. I'm not 100% that is true because I asked if he showed them our arm bands but our son said they came up to him because he had a cruise ship towel and not the orange towel for the hotel. Security asked if we were guests. UGH! So they packed up our stuff. I decided to stay in the water with Cole and we swam down the beach around the rocks and followed the HUGE schools of pretty fish. The fish were really big and would swim up and around your legs. The kids were delighted! The water was clear, clean and full of fish. It was warm and pretty shallow out a good ways. We all agreed that we liked the water in Freeport better than Nassau.

 

This is the beach area we ended up on....Less crowded but not as "plush". There was a big drop off in the sand getting down to the water so it was hard to get back out of the water.

 

 

You can sort of see from this picture how clear the water is and that it is pretty shallow in this area. Nice for the kiddos! You could sit there and feel ok about them playing safely in this area.

 

 

 

 

 

[JMHAM1]

The kids took turns burying each other in the sand. Our daughter who did not get her hair braided in Nassau got hers done at the little hut here. The other daughter decided to get a hair wrap done. I'm not sure what happened, whether someone took it, it was dropped when we moved our stuff or what but my daughter's wallet went missing and was never found. She had all her money that she saved for the trip in there. We never found it. Thank GOD! I had all the sail and sign cards with me.

 

 

 

Since we got there so late, there was not time to enjoy the amazing pool. I guess that leaves us something for next time.

 

 

 

 

There is a casino right there at the resort. We did not go inside but I did snap a picture of the entrance.

 

 

 

 

 

Also wanted to mention that there were folks walking along the beach selling stuff. I thought this was a private beach that did not have vendors but I was mistaken. They were not obnoxious like they are elsewhere and with a polite no thank you they went on their way.

 

We did not eat or drink anything at the resort because there was not time and I didn't get a pic of their menu. So sorry! If you want to pick up something outside of the resort, there are plenty of selections including an ice cream shop and this Subway! We ended up eating a late breakfast onboard before we left and then ate a late lunch when we got back.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We had to walk out of the resort and through the shops back to the taxi stand. When we got there, we saw several buses and lots of people. We went to the taxi and they used our pass to put us on the bus to go back to the ship. Word of warning, there was another Carnival ship in port that day. The bus picked up people for both ships. They really didn't announce that they were dropping off in two places. We actually got out at the place for the other ship and had to walk around. Not a big deal for us but if you have mobility issues, you might want to ask and make sure. Are you seeing a trend with the information aspect of the trip in Freeport?

 

 

[Dpondex]

Are you able to email me a copy of the fun times? My email is deshaundra.pondexter@gmail.com. I'm boarding the fascination on the 30th.

[homeofthedogs]

Thank you for the information on Freeport. That will be one of the ports that we sail to. Haven't been there in years and had no idea what to do there. Will book the same excursion that you did. Thanks!

 

Great review and very informative.

[dvond]

A hint for Freeport, my 12 year old and I also did the Day pass 3 weeks ago, the taxi dropped off us at the casino and then you walk through and pay at the gate $15 for adult and $7.50 for my son. We went the wrong way and ended up at memories for an hour or so till they told us to move and it was pretty easy to walk 50 yards to the left. It was a week day so taxi's ran all day, we got one around 2:45 and made it easily on to the ship

[JMHAM1]

Thank you for the information on Freeport. That will be one of the ports that we sail to. Haven't been there in years and had no idea what to do there. Will book the same excursion that you did. Thanks!

 

Great review and very informative.

 

You will have a great time! I'm trying to pay it forward since I have gotten so much helpful information on this site.

 

 

 

A hint for Freeport, my 12 year old and I also did the Day pass 3 weeks ago, the taxi dropped off us at the casino and then you walk through and pay at the gate $15 for adult and $7.50 for my son. We went the wrong way and ended up at memories for an hour or so till they told us to move and it was pretty easy to walk 50 yards to the left. It was a week day so taxi's ran all day, we got one around 2:45 and made it easily on to the ship

 

Yeah, I didn't think they were very forthcoming anywhere on the information. I was insisting that we were supposed to be able to pick up a taxi at any time since we didn't take an excursion but they would not let us get into a cab. They forced us pretty much on the bus with the others who were on a ship excursion.

[KiwiFunCruiser]

Such a nice clean and tidy resort, sorry to hear about the wallet.