Fascination July 2018 - looking for input

[DallasKat67]

I am taking my mom who is turning 75 (very able bodied) and my sister on the Carnival cruise from San Juan. St. Thomas, Charlotte Amalie, Fun Day At Sea, Bridgetown, Barbados, Marigot Bay, Basseterre, St. Kitts, Philipsburg, St. Maarten

 

Looking for shore excursions for hire as well as self guided recommendations. Best snorkeling spots anyone can access. Where do you HAVE to go back? What was the best value? What do you recommend? What experience was forgettable?

 

Also, on the cruise we have a balcony cabin and thinking of upgrading to a Grand Suite. 3 of us.....one of us will have the couch. Has anyone slept on the couch? Does housekeeping have egg crates or mattress toppers to add softness to the couch? Spa access rooms? Are they worth it? Are there any traditional events on board like a White Party where we should plan ahead with costumes/accessories? Thanks

[SNJCruisers]

There is a ports of call section on cruise critic where you can get all sorts of detailed information about each of the ports of call you'll be visiting and details about different excursions provided by the cruise line as well as independently. Snorkel wise, I would recommend taking a trip to St John when you visit St Thomas. https://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?f=587

[stargate fan]

I am taking my mom who is turning 75 (very able bodied) and my sister on the Carnival cruise from San Juan. St. Thomas, Charlotte Amalie, Fun Day At Sea, Bridgetown, Barbados, Marigot Bay, Basseterre, St. Kitts, Philipsburg, St. Maarten

 

We sailed Fascination one month ago. (I can't believe a month has gone by so quickly!)

 

Looking for shore excursions for hire as well as self guided recommendations. Best snorkeling spots anyone can access. Where do you HAVE to go back? What was the best value? What do you recommend? What experience was forgettable?

 

St. Thomas - we took a taxi to Magen's Bay. It was so beautiful. The water was warm and calm. I hardly every got out. There were clean bathrooms, chairs and umbrellas were available to rent and food was available for sale.

 

Barbados - we booked a private snorkel/catamaran/lunch tour with Calabaza. I researched and researched. It is ranked #1 on TripAdvisor. Now I know why - it was amazing! There were only 12 passengers and three crew members. Food and drink were plentiful and delicious. We had our own snorkeling gear but used their life vests and noodles. Some people decided to just enjoy the catamaran for the day.

It's in our top five favorite excursions out of everything we've done in over 70 ports. We would book it again in a heartbeat.

St. Lucia - We booked an island/mud bath/waterfall/beach tour with Cosol. This company is also ranked #1 on TripAdvisor. We learned a lot about the area. We had a delicious brunch with food grown on the island. I stuffed myself on tropical fruit. The beach, Sugar Bay, lies between the Pitons. Excellent tour.

St. Kitt's - we made it a "sea" day.

St. Maarten - Sadly, much of the island was not ready for cruise ships/tourists. We took the water taxi to the beach near the pier. Every building was missing windows, roofs, walls, entire floors, or combos of these. Only Hard Rock Cafe was up and running and it was packed. There were a few little plywood bars on the beach. Drinks were good and pretty strong. We tipped heavily, knowing how helpful every dollar was.

We saw a lot of debris everywhere and more washed up as we were there. Our friend pulled a three-foot, bent piece of metal gutter that was stuck in the sand under water.

Also, on the cruise we have a balcony cabin and thinking of upgrading to a Grand Suite. 3 of us.....one of us will have the couch. Has anyone slept on the couch? Does housekeeping have egg crates or mattress toppers to add softness to the couch? Spa access rooms? Are they worth it? Are there any traditional events on board like a White Party where we should plan ahead with costumes/accessories? Thanks

I find the couch more comfy that the beds, which I find very hard. Ask your cabin steward to put a duvet, aka comforter/ under the fitted sheets on the couch if needed.

My opinion is that a suite is not necessary because it's such a port-intensive cruise. We were in port every day from 7:00 or 8:00 AM to 5:00 PM. It might be different if there were more sea days or shorter times in port.

I can't help with other questions, sorry. We had a great cruise. Crew was amazing! Everyone we met was so friendly.

Have a great cruise.

[WIFamily]

I've subbed this thread. My wife and I are sailing Fascination next Sunday, so I'll try to keep you in mind as we participate in excursions. We've booked all through Carnival.

 

St Thomas, we're Touring St John

Barbados, a Catamaran sail and snorkel

St Lucia, the Rainforest Zip Line adventure

St Kitts, another Catamaran sail and snorkel

St Martin, Top 10 of St Martin.

 

/edit We booked a Junior Suite and were upgraded to Grand Suites. I'll give you the review there, but I'd guess there's no egg crate / mattress toppers. Someone's idea above of using a duvet is brilliant! If I have time I'll take a nap on the couch for you, LOL!

[Morgeuse]

I am on the April 8th sailing, & I also plan to post a review. My plan right now is Coki Beach on St. Thomas, Pirate Cove on Barbados, Spencer Ambrose Tour on St. Lucia, just shopping & wandering around on St. Kitts, and top 10 excursion on St. Maarten. Will report!

[2PinaColadas]

Just got off of the Fascination this morning. We had an amazing time!!! The crew was great, especially the guys at the Casino Bar. They are a wonderful bunch and a lot of fun just to be around. The in house band, Cherry Burton, was awesome-- we listened to them every night. The ports were fantastic-- yes St. Thomas and St. Maarten were still messed up a bit, but not near as bad as we had anticipated. The water at both was just as beautiful as ever. Plan to write a review when I get time.

[MeganGC1983]

Just got off of the Fascination this morning. We had an amazing time!!! The crew was great, especially the guys at the Casino Bar. They are a wonderful bunch and a lot of fun just to be around. The in house band, Cherry Burton, was awesome-- we listened to them every night. The ports were fantastic-- yes St. Thomas and St. Maarten were still messed up a bit, but not near as bad as we had anticipated. The water at both was just as beautiful as ever. Plan to write a review when I get time.

 

 

 

I'll look forward to that. Thanks!

 

 

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[OceansOfTravels]

I have not yet done this cruise on Fascination (December, hurry up!), but I did do it on the Liberty, which the Fascination replaced in 2016. I can recommend some beaches for you though!

 

St.Thomas- Trunk Bay Beach in St.John is 100% worth it. You will love it. The boat ride over is very scenic, and the beach itself is so gorgeous. Definitely worth the trip.

 

I would recommend Carlisle Bay Beach in Barbados. One of the most beautiful stretches of sand I've ever seen, and it even has bits of red shards in it to make it look pink! Very easy to get to from the ship as well.

 

In St.Lucia, I've only been once, and I enjoyed the St.Lucia Top 10 that Carnival offers, I saw everything I would've wanted to on the island (sulfur springs, Pitons, Anse La Rae, etc), and had an amazing day.

 

St.Kitts- I enjoyed Frigate Bay. Shipwreck also has good reviews.

 

St.Maarten- My all time favorite island. My favorite beaches are on Pinel and Grand Case, but both are somewhat of a hike. I have done both on cruise excursions, and land vacations. Simpson and Baie Rouge are beautiful. Marigot is adorable to visit, but I know it has not fully recovered from its hurricane damage, and all of the restaurants I would recommend are gone. Baie Rouge and Simpson should make amazing options.

 

Have a great cruise! It's definitely one of the best itineraries Carnival offers!!

[WIFamily]

So I had no time to take a nap on the couch. We didn't pull it out either.

 

All our excursions were booked through Carnival, Tour of St John @ St Thomas, Catamaran @ Barbados, Ultimate Zip Line @ St Lucia, Catamaran @ St Kitts, and Top 10 @ St Maarten.

 

The Tiami Catamaran at Barbados was the better of the two. The crew were amazing, one of them snorkeled with us and fed the turtle while we watched. We had probably 20-25 passengers, and were on the smaller of their cats and there was plenty of room. Full lunch was delicious, a pan of chicken and a pan of fish, rice, cole slaw type salad, bread, and a type of rum cake for desert. Open bar after lunch and the rum punch was great. The crew was friendly and helpful giving us tourists plenty of notice of when the next stop was coming so we could get our gear ready. Would contact them if I'm ever in Barbados again.

 

The zip lining in St Lucia was our second favorite. We did the ultimate which included a guided ride through the rain forest. Our guide spoke perfect English and explained the flora and fauna of each region of the rain forest and some of the history of St Lucia and the rain forest park. The zip lining was extremely fun, we did a training line and then 9 zips and a tarzan swing. While taking short 1 minute hikes between the zips our guide got us up close with more of the rain forest.

 

The top 10 of St Maarten, our bus lost AC about 20 minutes in, and once we got back close to the Dutch side, we had a replacement waiting for us. Our driver spoke poor English so we struggled to understand him. But we did get up close and personal with the island. There is still a LOT of visible damage from the 2017 Hurricane season. We had a 45 minute stop at Maho beach, but there were no big planes coming or going while we were there. St Maarten had the most beautiful beaches we saw on our trip. The white sand and clear blue water were picturesque.

[blueshine]

"Looking for shore excursions for hire as well as self guided recommendations. Best snorkeling spots anyone can access. Where do you HAVE to go back? What was the best value? What do you recommend? What experience was forgettable?"

Hi. Here are some of the things we have done on these. Let me know if you would like more info. Thanks

 

St. Thomas - Megan's Bay: Calm, relaxing, and offers picnic tables in the shade and bathrooms. Coki Beach: A more local vibe with good snorkeling and lots of fish. You can rent chairs, etc. You can go to both these places on your own in a taxi.

 

St. Maarten: We went to Maho Beach when the large planes were still landing there. The beach was small back then, but heard smaller since the storms. There is a bar with food and you can rent chairs. The water is wavy and a drop-off. No snorkeling. Be cautious of time. 20 minutes to get there, over an hour to get back with traffic. You can take a taxi.

 

Barbados: Calabaza Tours. Worth every penny. Treated like royalty. Good food and drinks, and snorkeling with turtles of course.

St. Kitts: We did Greyford Tours. Got to see much of the island, but a long hot tour that ended up a Carambola Beach Club. Good to bob in the water. There is plenty of shopping in port. Next time we would take a taxi to the beach instead.

 

St. Lucia: Got a day pass for the Rendevous Resort. It was a couple miles from the ship. Nice beach, pools, food and beverages. We are going back in November.

Go with an open mind and a care-free attitude and you will have an amazing time! Enjoy!!

[attran99]

I think you should check out the Mitsugirly review of the Fascination. She's an avid snorkeler and aspiring diver. She's also got extensive reviews of various places throughout the Caribbean. She's a great resource in finding cool places to go to. She's one of my go-tos when developing a Caribbean itinerary.

We did the Fascination last year and had a great time snorkeling at Coki in St. Thomas, did a catamaran sailing with El Tigre Catamaran in Barbados (it was a great day and the food was amazing!), went to Carambola Beach Club in St. Kitts (the best beach of our trip!), did a tour of St. Lucia, and went to Orient Beach/String Beach Club in St. Martin.

The Port board will have more information for you to review and even more experts who can help you with options there.

[cammeg]

We did this cruise last year and can highly recommend cosol tours in St Lucia and twin island excursions in St Maarten. Magen’s Bay, St Thomas was amazing snorkelling.

 

If we would return to St kitts we probably wouldn’t go to the Carambola beach club, the beach was amazing but the snorkelling not so much so.

 

 

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[beshears]

Thinking about booking the Fascination for the end of March next year.

 

 

I believe a "live" band was mentioned, called Cherry Burton? What area on the ship can we see/hear them? I always love live band music, as I have played live band music for years myself.:)

[A&Jfamily]

I am taking my mom who is turning 75 (very able bodied) and my sister on the Carnival cruise from San Juan. St. Thomas, Charlotte Amalie, Fun Day At Sea, Bridgetown, Barbados, Marigot Bay, Basseterre, St. Kitts, Philipsburg, St. Maarten

 

Looking for shore excursions for hire as well as self guided recommendations. Best snorkeling spots anyone can access. Where do you HAVE to go back? What was the best value? What do you recommend? What experience was forgettable?

 

For us, both St. Thomas and St. Marteen were forgettable; rough seas made most beaches unusable in ST and in SM, there were so few guests staying on the island, they couldn't even find 4 others to join our 4 to warrant taking out the catamaran we had booked. We ended up doing an island tour and the devastation is certainly NOT forgettable.

Our favorite port was St. Lucia and we booked with a private company, Spencer Ambrose, that took us on an island tour and then via boat to sugar beach between the Pitons. It is not a soft boat ride so mom would need to be able to handle so jarring. But this was a great day. We also thought St. Kitts was lovely and did a private island tour with Javin and his monkey. Barbados was OK.

Also, on the cruise we have a balcony cabin and thinking of upgrading to a Grand Suite. 3 of us.....one of us will have the couch. Has anyone slept on the couch? Does housekeeping have egg crates or mattress toppers to add softness to the couch? Spa access rooms? Are they worth it? Are there any traditional events on board like a White Party where we should plan ahead with costumes/accessories? Thanks

 

Upgrades all depend on funds and if you can afford it, do it. The couch is a typical sofa bed and not comfortable IMHO. We made it back into a sofa each day. I would not pay for Spa access on a trip with so many ports of call; if you make a full day ashore in each of them, you have time for dinner and a show and a ready to call it a night if you are going to be up at 7 am the next morning!

[Morgeuse]

Thinking about booking the Fascination for the end of March next year.

 

 

I believe a "live" band was mentioned, called Cherry Burton? What area on the ship can we see/hear them? I always love live band music, as I have played live band music for years myself.:)

 

They were at the Stars Bar, aka the Casino Bar. I thought they were very talented.