Review: Sailing Solo on Fascination's Repositioning Cruise April 18-24

[jpm1973]

Approaching the bridge.

 



 



 



 



 





 

 

We made it!

Edited May 17, 2016 by jpm1973

[jpm1973]

A few more shots from our sail down the St. Johns River.

 



 



 

Edited May 17, 2016 by jpm1973

[jpm1973]

Once we had made some good distance I went back to my cabin to see if my bag had arrived (it had) and figured it would be a good time to unpack. I think it was at this point that I met my room steward, Susilo. We introduced ourselves quickly and I headed in to unpack. Now I know there’s been some (okay, A LOT) of discussion about the once- vs. twice-per-day room servicing and if you really get a choice, blah blah blah. I’m guessing that it’s still being tested as there was no form and Susilo never asked my preference. Throughout the cruise I had the daily service as well as the evening turn-down service. I was tempted to tell him he could just do the evening service since I was traveling solo and wouldn’t be too messy, but I never did get around to that. Regardless Susilo was awesome. Always smiling when I saw him in the hall and did a great job keeping my cabin clean and the towels fresh. While I was in the cabin I also signed up for the Value Internet package so I could keep in touch with Will and upload a few pictures here and there. For the six days it was $60 total - not bad at all, and for the most part the service was fine for what I needed to use it for.

 

When I finished unpacking I wanted to head back up and outside to watch as we left the river and made our way into the Atlantic. It probably took an hour and 20 minutes or so from when we started to pull away from the pier to when we were nearly at the end of the river.

 



 



 



 

 

Edited May 17, 2016 by jpm1973

[jpm1973]

After I captured a few final pictures, I headed back to my cabin to relax as I had a bit of time before my 8:15 p.m. dinner. On all my past cruises I’ve chosen your time or my time or anytime dining, whatever it is called on the cruise line I’m on. While I much prefer the flexibility of eating whenever, as it allows me to plan around other activities, I thought that a set time and table would be better as a solo cruiser.

 

In fact, the only aspect of cruising solo that made me nervous was everything about dinner. Would I get along with my table mates? Would my table mates actually show up? Would I be the lone diner at a table for 12? I mean I wasn’t preoccupied completely with this, but all these thoughts crossed my mind at some point during the months leading up to the cruise.

 

As it turns out, of course, all my worries and fears were completely unfounded and I ended up with a great group of people to dine with. Tonight I was the first to arrive at a table, oddly enough, for 11. But not long after two younger ladies from joined me followed soon after by a couple, and then another single lady, who was traveling with two other ladies who opted to skip dinner tonight. Finally a family of three joined us. The two younger ladies and couple were from around the D.C. area, the single lady and her friends were from New York also (coincidentally enough when I lived in Queens we were two blocks from each other), and the family was from Florida.

 

While quite a diverse group, we got along very well and conversation flowed easily tonight and every night after. For my meal I ordered the Gazpacho to start, followed by the tilapia, and rounded off with an order of the Warm Chocolate Melting Cake for dessert. Not sure if this is normal but they served this with two dishes of vanilla ice cream every time on this cruise without having to ask. The food was good and service, while a bit slow, was perfectly fine.

 

At the end we all said our goodbyes and I headed upstairs to grab a drink and check out the casino. I usually play craps and sometimes slots, and tonight I thought I’d try my luck on the machines to test my theory that they loosen them up the first night to suck us all in. My theory, at least in my case tonight, was way off as none of the machines I tried were very loose. With lady luck clearly not on my side and feeling a bit worn out from the day of travel, I decided to head back to my cabin and call it a night. I took a quick walk around the outside decks and snapped a few pictures.

 

 

This guy was waiting for me in the cabin.

 

 

End Day 1

Next up: Our first day at sea

Edited May 17, 2016 by jpm1973

[jpm1973]

Too funny looking at your pictures. I just got off her yesterday and I know I did not see half of the ship so looking at your pictures showed me what I missed. I had a cabin so far in the aft that everything I needed was pretty much by the aft elevators ...thanks for showing me the places I never made it to.

 

 

Taking these pictures is really the only reason I saw a lot of these places myself! Hope you had a great cruise.

[riclop]

Thanks for the review.

[jpm1973]

Day 2: Sea Day #1

 

 

After a fairly restless night I woke up a little before 8 a.m. and took a quick look out one of my cabin’s portholes. Looked like it was a bit cloudy, but I could see some blue sky here and there.

 

 

The waters were a bit rough however, which would definitely explain the good amount of rocking I felt all night that actually started during dinner the night before. I’m sure having a room almost all the way forward exacerbated the movement as well. I never felt seasick, but this was definitely one of the rockiest cruises I’ve taken.

 

Although I was still tired I knew trying for more sleep was fruitless so I headed upstairs to Lido for some breakfast. Not too many people out and about yet, so I grabbed my food and a table outside and took my time eating. I decided to stop back in my cabin quick to change into my swimsuit and then headed out to Serenity to lounge and read. Although the sun was in and out it was still a bit chilly in the shade, so I kept my sweatshirt on. Not a bad view.

 

 

The first day of slot tournament qualifying rounds started at 12:30 and I wanted to try my luck so a bit before that I headed back to my cabin for a shower. I was in the second round of qualifiers and while my score was good enough to make the top 6, I had a pretty good feeling it would not hold up and sure enough when I checked back later that day, I had been bumped out. Oh well.

 

I ran into a couple from the roll call along the Promenade near the Stars Bar. They had just finished some trivia and were waiting for the Hairy Chest Competition at 1:45. He was planning to participate so after ordering some drinks and chatting a bit we headed upstairs to get a good spot for viewing.

 

The contest generated a good amount of interest and participation. I’ve never really watched one of these in depth but it was pretty entertaining, if not occasionally cringe worthy. Our roll call member gave it his all and made it to the final round, but unfortunately when it came time for audience participation to help dress him in some women’s attire and accessories, our side of the pool deck was not too interested in helping. He had to settle for second place and no ship on a stick.

 

After a quick lunch from the deli, I spent a little more time wandering the ship taking pictures. By now the sun was out in full force and the outside decks were packed. It turned into a really nice day.

 

 

 

 



 

Edited May 17, 2016 by jpm1973

[jpm1973]

Later in the afternoon I made a visit to the gym to work off some of the extra calories I know I had consumed. That seemed to be a good time as there were only a few other people there. We were still rocking a bit so it was interesting trying to keep balanced on the elliptical machine. After my workout I enjoyed the steam room and sauna for a bit then headed back to my room for my camera and back upstairs to try to catch some sunset pictures. Turned out to be a nice one, and the best of the entire cruise.

 

 

 

 

Tonight was the first elegant night for dinner so I cleaned up and dressed up and joined my table mates at 8:15. We had a full table tonight as the two ladies who skipped dinner on Monday joined us. I ordered the Greek salad, Lobster and Shrimp, and for dessert the caramelized apples on puff pastry. Service tonight was noticeably slower; not sure if it was our waitstaff or the kitchen, but several people at our table were hoping to make the 10:15 pm Divas show and were cutting it really close by the time we finished. The food was good tonight with the exception of dessert - not bad, just not anything I’d order again. I seem to have this problem with desserts on cruises. High hopes and expectations that aren’t usually realized. I definitely did not go hungry, though. I let my table mates know I wouldn’t be at dinner the next night since I had reserved the Chef’s Table.

 

After dinner I just sort of wandered a bit. Not feeling the casino, I stopped in the piano bar and listened to Tony Ward, who was awesome. I was wanting a drink but the one server in there seemed a bit overwhelmed with orders, so I ducked out and headed up to the casino bar. The band was playing and were pretty good so I just hung out at the bar enjoying the music and my drink. The band wrapped up a little after 11:30 and I figured that was a good time to call it a night myself. Having not slept well the night before I was hoping for some good sleep to recharge me for our second sea day.

 

Tonight’s towel animal:

 

 

Susilo had also left me a $50 spa gift card, which was awesome. Unfortunately I never did get a chance to use it.

End Day 2

Next up: Second sea day

Edited May 17, 2016 by jpm1973

[OceansOfTravels]

Thoroughly enjoying the review! :D

[jpm1973]

Day 3: Sea Day #2

 

 

Another fairly restless night for me. The ship was still moving quite a bit, and while I thought that might help me sleep better, it apparently had the opposite effect. I can for sure say having a room so far forward definitely makes the movement more pronounced. I finally pulled myself out of bed a bit after 8 and made my way upstairs to get some coffee and food.

 

Today looked much like yesterday started - blue sky in spots but some clouds here and there. Was hopeful it would clear up again and turn into another beautiful day, which it eventually did.

 

 

After eating I ran into a few members of our roll call by the pool and stopped to talk with them a bit. They were planning on lounging there for the day and by that point it was already starting to clear up so I figured I’d change into my swimsuit and join them.

 

 

And the rest of today pretty much involved lounging by the pool, lounging on the side of the pool to cool off, and having a few drinks. They did the ice carving demo on Lido at some point - here’s the end result:

 

 

At some point they made an announcement that our arrival into St. Thomas, originally scheduled for 9 a.m., would be delayed until 11 a.m. due to the high winds causing a somewhat slower speed. We'd still have the same amount of time there, however, as they were pushing back our departure from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m.

 

Since tonight was the Chef’s Table, I had planned on skipping lunch so I could be hungry enough to enjoy all the food I knew I’d be having. While it seemed like a good plan, after my fifth rum and ginger beer I discovered that perhaps I hadn’t thought it through completely. I was feeling fine all day but when I stood up after that last drink I realized I might need to go lay down for a bit. So back to my cabin I went about 3:45 and took a nice nap until 5:45. Just enough time to shower and get ready for the set meeting time in the Atrium bar at 6:15.

Edited May 18, 2016 by jpm1973

[jpm1973]

 

I was the last to arrive and they handed me a glass of champagne right away. After my drinks at the pool I made this glass last a long time. The chef escorted our group to the galley where we were served four different small appetizers while he discussed the ins and outs of cooking life on board. Since it was prime time for dinner the kitchen was hopping. After we finished our last appetizer they did a brief demo of how to make the Warm Chocolate Melting Cake and then we were taken to the library where the rest of our meal would be served. Some pictures from the galley:

 

 



 



 



 

Edited May 18, 2016 by jpm1973

[jpm1973]

They offered us both red and white wine and proceeded with the rest of the meal. Seven courses in all, with an explanation of each as it was being served. I was diligent about getting pictures of everything until courses 5 and 6, which I missed. Everything was excellent, and all very different from anything I’d ever had on board any cruise.

 

 

Beet Blanket, Spiced Grape Tea

 

Crab Stack

 

Duck Textures

 

Bisque Our Way

 

Dessert

 

Our wine glasses never went dry and all said the entire experience was nearly four hours. Completely worth the price without a doubt. If you have any interest in food or enjoy trying new and different things, I’d highly recommend trying this.

Edited May 18, 2016 by jpm1973

[jpm1973]

After we finished I decided to call it a night, stuffed full of great food and wine and still feeling a bit worn out from the sun earlier and my lack of sleep the past two nights. I had to sleep better tonight, right? Here’s hoping. Tonight’s towel animal:

 

 

End Day 3

Next up: St. Thomas

Edited May 18, 2016 by jpm1973

[iheartmarshall]

Thoroughly enjoying your review! Can't wait to read more.

[marcia014]

Oh, no, what happened to the review! :)

[tawaik]

Great review. Will book the Chef's Table on my next Carnival Cruise!! We usually do the the Steak House on the first day. Heck, we might do them both :D

 

When I return from my NCL cruise in October, I'm booking Carnival again :)

Edited August 21, 2016 by tawaik
edit

[Tattstar]

Hello, I was wondering if you could help me ? I would like to take a solo cruise in June 2017 to either Mexico (One way so I can explore Mexico, then fly back) or The Bahamas, which cruise lines cater to solo cruisers? My email is bella1_2008@live.com.au any suggestions would be appreciated. Thanks