My condensed review w/pics: The Fascination (Grand Suite) to HMC (Cabana) & Nassau

[esdoorn]

The anticipation of the HMC portion of your review is killing me!

 

Only 9 Days til we cruise their on the Sensation!!

 

 

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Edited March 18, 2016 by esdoorn

[Mommabear2Five]

We have a pug too, so I know what you mean by "basically a pig."

 

As for no show on HMC day, we've had this too - at least on night every cruise there's no comedy show. We had always wonder why. We chatted with one comedian (Jorge Soldano -HYSTERICAL) after his show and he said that they usually have one day off each cruise as part of the contract, unless they joined the cruise after it left the original port (pick up in Key West, Nassau, etc.)

 

Love the selfies and the posed photos - you guys are adorable!

 

Waiting to hear about HMC...

[Careyd6]

The anticipation of the HMC portion of your review is killing me!

 

 

 

Only 9 Days til we cruise their on the Sensation!!

 

 

 

 

 

.

 

 

Same here!!! And we are on the same cruise - and I guess both getting a cabana?

 

 

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[esdoorn]

Same here!!! And we are on the same cruise - and I guess both getting a cabana?

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums mobile app

 

 

Yes, we have booked a Cabana.......sounds like we will have a race to the excursion desk! :D

 

We got FTTF, so hoping it helps us at least get a Cabana #8 or higher.

 

 

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[Careyd6]

We have FTTF too lol. And yes I too want a high number lol. I think we will be fine though. You will probably beat us though. Our flight doesn't land until 10am at Fort Lauderdale and we then have to wait for transport. I'm still feeling pretty good that we will be able to get a higher number. If not no worries I'm sure we will still have fun!

 

 

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[josieallen]

More, more, more please. This is good stuff!

 

 

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[esdoorn]

We have FTTF too lol. And yes I too want a high number lol. I think we will be fine though. You will probably beat us though. Our flight doesn't land until 10am at Fort Lauderdale and we then have to wait for transport. I'm still feeling pretty good that we will be able to get a higher number. If not no worries I'm sure we will still have fun!

 

 

I'm sure we will have a blast!

 

Maybe we will get Cabana's right next to each other! :)

 

 

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[Careyd6]

I'm sure we will have a blast!

 

 

 

Maybe we will get Cabana's right next to each other! :)

 

 

 

 

 

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Yes!!! just don't trip me while I run to the excursion desk!!! Lol

 

 

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[ohitssunshine]

We were due to arrive in Nassau at 8am - so we had turned in pretty early so we could be up to watch the action from our balcony in the morning.

 

We scheduled breakfast to be delivered around 6 am - and I must say that we had no issues with ordering breakfast using the door hanger all week, and we always got what we requested.

 

It's always fun to watch as we come into a port - and while we were on the starboard side of the ship, we still had some good views as we ultimately ended up turning around and backing in. Once we were docked, our view changed to that of the other ships in port - but we weren't planning to be hanging out in the room anyways. We always enjoy Nassau for the one good thing it offers - bar hopping.

 

We had a great view of the pilot boat approaching, and watching the pilot come onboard to the Fascination. I was bored, so I put the video to the theme music of MacGyver, because, why not.

 

[YOUTUBE]

[/YOUTUBE]

 

[ohitssunshine]

Here are a couple of pics coming in to port - there were just 3 ships total in port for the day with one of them being the ginormous Allure of the Seas. If you want to see what ships will be joining you in port - you can find this on cruisett.

 

 

 

Not the greatest photos as, like I said - I was lazy and used my cell.

 

[ohitssunshine]

So our plans for today were to take the water taxi to Paradise Island to check out the new Margaritaville, and then to come back over and hit up Senor Frogs and Sharkeez. We planned to meet Terab85 and her family at about 10am at Margaritaville.

 

This was our first time taking the water taxi, but it was super easy. You can buy a ticket at a stand along the way or just pay once you reach the boat. If you are taking a round trip they will give you a small slip of paper to redeem on the way back. They will have someone either on a mic or straight up yelling to tell you a little bit about the homes and different landmarks you see along the way. Be prepared, they will want a tip - and we just gave them $2 each trip.

 

So huge bummer to be had when we get to Paradise Island and find that nothing is yet open. How do we have beers at 10am on vacation in these circumstances? We walked around the island and saw many others over and over again, so it made us feel better that we were not alone in our....Huh...what do we do now?

 

While we walked around aimlessly, we were able to check out a handful of yachts docked closer to Atlantis. How beautiful is this one? The Mary Jean II can be yours to charter for just $349,000 for the week.

 

 

We crossed paths with Terab85 and her family and we planned to meet them now at 11. We ended up walking into Margaritaville as they opened and grabbed a seat at the bar. For any vegetarians out there - you can get the "Cheeseburger in Paradise" with a veggie patty, and it's actually really good. We love Margaritaville - love Jimmy Buffet, love the atmosphere - everything. This particular location was pretty boring. It could be because it was so early in the day, but lets be real - I have had many a fun trip to the location in Key West regardless of the time of day. I think this location was just so new, it was so early, and overall it was not the Margaritaville experience we would have hoped for. We are heading back in September and...for the sake of any readers...I will do you a solid and force myself to check it out again.

 

So the funny thing is we are looking all around and never see Terab85 and her family - so we are getting ready to go and wala...there they are. So they had been sitting outside in an area that we didn't even know was there. Maybe that section was more hopping than the bar?

 

We made a trip to the gift shop - my husband and I both got some great shirts in Key West the year before and we were hoping for a couple more. The selection was quite sad. The gift shop itself is very small, and they do not carry a lot of the items you would find at other locations. My son loves when we surprise him with the "Lost shaker of salt" because at 17, he has been exposed to so much Jimmy Buffet that he might as well launch his own High School parrot head group.

 

[ohitssunshine]

Love the review and the included "pictures". :D

 

 

 

I've had a room steward do this to the things I leave on the glass shelf in the bathroom - my toothbrush in a glass, floss, toothpaste, etc. I always have to ask him not to do it. He is touching things I put in my mouth and I have no idea where his hands have been. :eek: And make up would be the same - things I handle and then touch my face. Completely grosses me out.

 

Interesting...I would have never thought of it that way, but you are so right!

[ohitssunshine]

The anticipation of the HMC portion of your review is killing me!

 

Only 9 Days til we cruise their on the Sensation!!

 

 

.

 

Woohoo, only 7 days for you now! Hope you have a great time!

[ohitssunshine]

We have a pug too, so I know what you mean by "basically a pig."

 

As for no show on HMC day, we've had this too - at least on night every cruise there's no comedy show. We had always wonder why. We chatted with one comedian (Jorge Soldano -HYSTERICAL) after his show and he said that they usually have one day off each cruise as part of the contract, unless they joined the cruise after it left the original port (pick up in Key West, Nassau, etc.)

 

Love the selfies and the posed photos - you guys are adorable!

 

Waiting to hear about HMC...

 

Oh my gosh, do you not just love your pug? Unfortunately, ours had a stroke last year and lost his sight and most of his hearing. He has been getting worse these past couple of months, so we just made the very very tough decision to schedule a time for him to be put to sleep. He was meant to be my husbands dog, but he adopted me instead. He follows me everywhere, and now that he can't see, he walks around and sniffs legs until he finds mine and then settles in. It is going to be the hardest thing I have ever done - and I am going to totally miss the meatball. :(

 

Blah - no sad stuff here...thank you for the comment on the comedy show. That makes sense - they totally deserve a night off. I am just selfish haha!

 

And thank you for the compliment!

[ohitssunshine]

More, more, more please. This is good stuff!

 

 

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You guys look so cute :D

 

I LOVE your reviews/comments, especially the eye candy. haha!1

 

More, more, more please. This is good stuff!

 

 

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Thank you! You guys are the best!

[ohitssunshine]

We decided after Margaritaville to head over to Senor Frogs with Terab85 and her family. The water taxi on the way back was just a single layer and they had us packed in like sardines. Poor Terab85 had the guide right by her and he had to yell quite loud to be heard over the sound of the old boat.

 

Here's a snap of the 3 ships in port - boy does our little Fascination look...little!

 

 

Once we get to Senor Frogs, we were able to find a table with a view of the stage and where most of the 'action' happens. (aka...a lot of drunk people dancing).

 

My husband and I each ordered a yard of Kalik - and for the first time ever, the waitress asked if we would rather buy a bucket of beers and the yards separately, as it would be cheaper. I cannot tell you how many of these yards we have bought and taken back to the ship and/or given to the kids to put change in. YES...change. So we went that route, which means we only have 2 very useless yards, and are paying less - win.

 

This sums up the next hour or so - and I hope the gif works for you the same it does for me...I've never posted one here before. At any rate, we were refilling our yards like champs. :p

 

[ohitssunshine]

I am flying to Richmond for work in 3 hours, and I really should be working on my homework assignment that is due tomorrow...or getting ready to go, but I am really trying to get this done! I love how I started with this being "Condensed" - now anyone clicking on this thread is going to be all what the...

 

Sorry people... I didn't think I had a lot to say!

 

So I have to share a pretty funny story - and I am going to skip around a couple of days to tell this all at one time. And now that I called out that it is a funny story, I am sure you will not find it as funny as we all did. It's not as funny as the coughing kid and I really don't have any clever photos to go with it. Shoot...now I feel like a failure.

 

Anyways...here we go.

 

My husband never buys himself anything but he found these shoes that he really liked while I was out doing my pre-cruise shopping. He refused to let me buy them for him at the time, so a day later I snuck out and grabbed them. While I was shopping I found some nice polo shirts for him also, as he is very picky about the type he wears and these fit the bill. I grabbed one blue and one white and they were the last ones in his size, and they were on sale! The bonus was that they were the Margaritaville brand and I knew he would think that was cool to wear it to Margaritaville. We are cheeseballs like that...

 

So my husband chooses to wear the white one to Nassau. We are hanging out with Terab85's family in the booth and on one side it was her daughter, her daughter's fiance and then my husband. It all happened really fast, but her daughter's yard, which was filled with something kind of fluorescent orange, just tipped over and splattered all over my husbands white shirt. I mean, lets be fair - I THINK it went all over her fiance too, and I had caught some side splatter, but neither of us were wearing a white shirt.

 

We were all kind of shocked at how it happened, and how fast - and everyone helped clean up and all that. We didn't take many pics after Senor Frogs, but I found one that doesn't do it justice haha!

 

 

Terab85 and her entire family were so apologetic - and we were totally ok with it. It was not going to ruin our day in any way - things happen!

 

They did say they would have to buy us some beers to make up for it - and we weren't going to turn those down.

 

Here is where we jump around - so the next day we are in HMC. Before going I had worried about getting service to the far end of the beach because we wanted to be more excluded, but also didn't want to make long trips for beers. My worries were valid because after grabbing one bucket of beer at the ship bar, we were out and needed to go back to get more. (I was even going to tip them $20 on their first trip to tell them to keep coming back) While my husband was ordering, a waiter happened to be filling their tray with a bucket of bud and I mentioned - hey...do y'all come down to #14? We haven't had anyone there all day? He said he would make sure to come see us. I let him know we were going to be ok for a bit as we are heading back with a bucket now.

 

So we get back to the cabana and a few moments later, the same waiter approaches. Now I feel bad, I thought I was clear that we would be OK and I felt bad that he might have rushed down there and we had nothing to order. So we say...no we are good, thanks! And quickly behind him is Terab85's husband saying...they are REALLY good because we have a bucket of beer for them! Haha, so they had come bearing apology gifts (which we did NOT need anything from them...we weren't mad or upset at all!). We shared a couple beers with them and chatted for a bit - it was really nice! So thank you Teresa and family! You really didn't have to do that!

 

Jumping around once more, when we got home we tried to get the stains out and they wouldn't budge. Knowing how much my husband liked that shirt, I went back to the store hoping they would have restocked. No such luck. They called the other store locations and they too were out. I finally went online and entered the code from the tag and found it on the Margaritaville website. Good news, it was also on sale there! I also went and bought a new stain removed and got to work on the other shirt, figuring he would now have 2. The stains finally lifted! He was so excited that he changed into it right away. Later that day we went and grabbed Taco Bell for lunch. My husband opens a mild sauce like he has a million times before, squeezes it and SPLAT....all down the front of his white shirt.

 

 

[esdoorn]

 

 

HMC day........hey...do y'all come down to #14?

 

 

 

 

 

 

Were you happy with your choice of Cabana #14.......would there be a lower number than you would have preferred over #14?

 

Thanks!

 

 

.

[cruiseapril]

Fun photo review. Interesting to read about Margaritaville in Nassau.

Our last Margaritaville was in Grand Turk. Fun!

 

We were on the Fascination a few years back, so good to read about it.

[Terab85]

We decided after Margaritaville to head over to Senor Frogs with Terab85 and her family. The water taxi on the way back was just a single layer and they had us packed in like sardines. Poor Terab85 had the guide right by her and he had to yell quite loud to be heard over the sound of the old boat.

 

Here's a snap of the 3 ships in port - boy does our little Fascination look...little!

 

 

Once we get to Senor Frogs, we were able to find a table with a view of the stage and where most of the 'action' happens. (aka...a lot of drunk people dancing).

 

My husband and I each ordered a yard of Kalik - and for the first time ever, the waitress asked if we would rather buy a bucket of beers and the yards separately, as it would be cheaper. I cannot tell you how many of these yards we have bought and taken back to the ship and/or given to the kids to put change in. YES...change. So we went that route, which means we only have 2 very useless yards, and are paying less - win.

 

This sums up the next hour or so - and I hope the gif works for you the same it does for me...I've never posted one here before. At any rate, we were refilling our yards like champs. :p

 

 

 

 

Love this and still laughing at the drunk people in the background:D

[happy cruzin]

Yes!!! just don't trip me while I run to the excursion desk!!! Lol

 

 

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We have a cabana booked for our Pride cruise in June - and do feel like it could be a bit of a free for all getting your place in line to pick the "perfect" cabana.

 

STILL not sure why they don't just let you choose the location when you book it...but oh well, it will be exhilarating - right??!?!??

[ohitssunshine]

Were you happy with your choice of Cabana #14.......would there be a lower number than you would have preferred over #14?

 

Thanks!

 

 

.

 

Hang tight - I will share my thoughts very soon!

[ohitssunshine]

Love this and still laughing at the drunk people in the background:D

 

Haha yes! I was trying to find the video I took of the one guy, but its probably best that I cannot find it lol!

[ohitssunshine]

We have a cabana booked for our Pride cruise in June - and do feel like it could be a bit of a free for all getting your place in line to pick the "perfect" cabana.

 

STILL not sure why they don't just let you choose the location when you book it...but oh well, it will be exhilarating - right??!?!??

 

Yes, I wish they would come up with some way to get it done ahead of time! No matter what, any cabana is better than no cabana! Hope you have a great trip!

[ohitssunshine]

Let me wrap up our day in Nassau quickly - and get to HMC!

 

After leaving Senor Frogs, we went over to the Straw Market and did a quick lap around. They have the same stuff time after time, but for some reason I still walk through there to see if there is anything I cannot live without. The strange thing to me is that by the time we went, one of the 3 ships in port had already left - but when I tried to barter on something, they would not have it.

 

From there, we went over to Sharkeez and got a couple souvenirs, and then headed upstairs to play a round of pool and grab a couple more beers. I don't know what it is about Sharkeez, almost every time we go - its dead. But I just love the cool breeze coming through the open walls and seeing the ship right there while we enjoy cold beers and pool.

 

We headed back to the ship right around 4 and ordered in room service and just relaxed the rest of the night. We wanted to be well rested for the day we had been waiting for!