Just off fascination. My review. Please let me know if any questions

[shdixon]

Hello,

I just got off the fascination. Below are my thoughts. They may be all over the place but I just wanted to get stuff down before I forgot.

 

Please pardon any grammatical errors in advance

 

About Us. We cruise every January. Mostly do 7 day. We will cruise with whichever major airline has a new ship or is going someplace we have never been. NYC couple, late 30s. I’m a foody, every day so I’ll probably speak more about food than anything else

Pre our flight arrived at 445am and we were not to check into our cruise till 2pm. Some on CC advised to kill time seeing forts, go to breakfast, etc. I was not trying to do that at 5 in the morning. I have been to San Juan many times so none of that was appealing. I decided to get an air bnb not far from the ship. 10 minute taxi. We told the guy the situation. Of course we still had to pay the nightly rate. No problem. Best $70 total we could have spent for 8 hours. We would have spent more trying to kill time. And how do you kill time at 5am. What’s open? I didn’t get much sleep on the plane so by the time we got there we were knocked out. While the place was clean and modern we ended up sleeping on the loungers in the living room. I never did an air bnb and was nervous about sleeping on someone else sheets. Yes you do that in hotels but this is someone's apartment. Nice, modern, but still someone apartment. They had excellent reviews but since it was only for 8 hours we were fine on the loungers. Should have brought a sheet to throw over the bed to ease my fears. The outside was surrounded by security cameras and you could see all of that on a screen inside. There was also a TV with Roku

The location is a little scary at 5am and I told the taxi driver not to leave until we were inside because it was dark but once the sun came up, I saw that we were near some form of civilization. If I ever find myself with an early arrival, I’d do it again. 

Ship

 I like smaller ships now. I like being able to maneuver and take stairs when I can. I was on deck 7. Walk up 3 decks for lido, 1 up for dinner, 2 up for casino, down the hall from guest services. If the Horizon has good ports ill check it out, but I find the small boats have the destinations I’ve never been and are easier. I did Allure on royal a few years ago and only stayed in one section because the thing was too damn big. 

Food

I must say the food on this cruise is much better than previously carnival ships.

Sunday- I ate on lido for lunch and dinner because I didn’t want to be bothered with ship wide open seating. While I didn’t eat everything they had on the lido, what I got was good.

Monday- I had a breakfast burrito from iguana, good but not hot. Good Caribbean lunch on the lido again (beef stew with rice and peas) and dinner in main dining room. I stuck to grilled salmon, basmati pilaf, ceviche, seared tuna, cheese plate, and praline cake. All good, not amazing but good. Rice wasn’t hot. I like my food hot. Sit down dinner not hot. Buffet hot

Tuesday sea day. Went to blue iguana for breakfast. There is a shorter omelet line back there. Room temp burrito but still good. Even though I wasn’t hungry when I passed by for lunch I decided to get some fried chicken. Not as good as mine but good lol. I had a food obsession on this trip. 

For a late snack I tried out bonsai. Good, not as good as my time on the dream but good. California roll made with real crab. Can’t go wrong with that.

- Wednesday. Formal night. Hour wait for any time dining. Had to report hostess Tumar. She gave me a buzzer and told me to stay close we will be called soon. Half hour later I asked what approximate wait is. She said the wait for all is 30 minutes or more. I go 25 mins later (now almost an hour wait) for an update and feedback

I nicely suggest that she may not want to tell someone to stay close because they will be called shortly if she knows the wait is long.

She: "I told you 30 minutes

Me: not initially. You said shortly. I came back after 30 minutes and then you told me the average wait was 30 or more. Please try to be more transparent because I could have gone to handle some other things

Her: I also told you that you can take the buzzer anywhere but the casino

Me: no you did not.

Her: I well I thought I told you I can’t give everyone the same speech

Me: wrong answer.  Why not, we all paid our money, we can’t all get the same information? You don’t seem to like feedback. I’m being polite and you are becoming rude

When the manager came to my table he apologized and offered me a prompt seat for the rest of the cruise. I declined. I told him I wanted nothing in return just for him to hear my feedback for better training. I told him I only became angry when she made excuses and said she can’t be expected to give everyone the same info.

Food was very good. I ordered the grilled pork chop and lobster tail. I was surprised at how well everything was cooked. No complaints 

Thursday, Mahi Mahi, cooked well. I’ve found it to be a hard fish to cook. Pork chop was better the night before. I asked the server to make sure my rice was hot and he did just that. The desert was amazing. Can’t remember the name but just remember they had it Barbados night and it mentions something about pecans and pralines. Before I got it, I asked the server about it and he didn’t know anything. When I received it, it tasted like cake in a mug with some chunks of touted pound cake on top. There was chocolate on bottom and some on top. Just enough pecans. I asked the server the next night for the name and she said bitter emblem with croutons on top.

Friday, 2nd formal night. 

Friday- started the day with Blue Iguana breakfast burrito. Didn’t eat again until dinner in MDR. Orders beef patties, soft flaky cocktail patties filled with flavored shredded beef. Ordered se bass for entre. Very good. Tasted like it had some sort of Indian seasoning. Came with some sort of corn salsa. I gobbled it up. Skipped desert because I felt like I was coming down with a cold and wanted to lay down and medicate. 

 

Dinner service was so slow in MDR. Then the staff stopped to dance even though it was an hour later and we still didn’t receive entre. Ordered jumbo shrimp and pork chop. Pork chop better than last night, not as good as night #2. Hmm what is missing? Jumbo shrimp flavorful. The potato mixture that came with it just ok.

Btw when I got back to port there was a small desert tray waiting for us in the room from MDR staff thanking us our patience. Very nice. Wasn’t expecting it. I thanked the front staff as soon as I went to dinner. 

I decided to be a fatty mcbutter pants and order sushi after dinner before it close, in case I wanted a midnight snack. Only one thing ruined my experience. Today, the guy decided to put a bunch of plain mayo on top of my California rolls. Not spicy, plain white mayo. Had to wipe it off. Sushi is very filling and good portion size. 

 

Saturday- Blue iguana breakfast again. Once back on ship Guy Fieri for late lunch. The line was short so I gave it a go. Pretty good. Couldn’t eat all the time. Could taste clogged arteries. 

Dinner in main dining room was meh. Nothing I wanted so settled on mussels, some chicken in wine sauce and carnival melted cake. The cake was mostly raw but it was what it was. 

 

My favorite drinks. Cosmo, kiss on the lips. I tried alchemy bar with a real mixologist. Cool vibe but just ok

Oh yea. Late night snacks each day at 1130p.m. Hot dogs, cookies, brownies, buffalo chicken sandwich, chili for hot dogs.

 

Formal photos.

First Formal Night

So many large families on line. Group then singles then kids than parents, etc. So a line that seemed short still took forever. Didn’t get to take many pics. 

Beware. There is a guy there. She has a black background. He has a carnival badge but does not have on the same shirt. He does not work for carnival. He is a private photographer. We did not know this. No signs. So we wait in line 20 minutes for him. We were next. Get to front to learn her is not with carnival. I’m livid. I offer my precious feedback.

Me: sir, this would have been good information prior to waiting on line. A sign or something 

Him: I am private. I am a professional who offers private sessions. You waited because you see how much attention I give. 

Me: no I waited because I like your background. Not because I saw you take a lot of pictures. How much is it?

The session is $99 plus cost of pics

Me: no thanks. I wish I’d known that 20 minutes ago. 

 

2nf formal night. Lines so much shorter for photos too bad I had on a more simple dress and my hair was not as nice. I was able to take all 

Other observations- I’m going to choose my words carefully not to offend because it’s not the intent. We left from Puerto rice, 80% of the boat was from Puerto rice. Many Spanish being either their first or only language. Carnival definitely made sure that they were included and had a good time. 

Every night was   Latin music night in some area. 

 There was even a special "quest" game in complete Spanish which was packed compared to the one the night before which was practically empty. I never left out of PR so this all just caught me by surprise. Carnival has guests from all over the world so I never seen them cater to one culture. Maybe the ship has never been 80% one culture, I don’t know. Even in the main dining room the Maître D would say something in Spanish every night specifically using the word "Boricua”. They all responded cheerfully as a group in Spanish while I just laughed when they did :-). I guess that’s how people who don’t speak English feel a lot of the time everywhere else so I get it. The comedy shows theater shows all are in English so it’s cool that they tweaked some things for those on board who may not speak English.

I noticed a lot of events that would be traditionally packed were not and I think it was the language barrier

Room

No fidget so ask your cabin steward for ice twice a day. I couldn’t find the hair dryer. The safe requires a credit card. The temp control is on the ceiling. Simple. Down or up. No buttons, works immediately. Clean, not too many signs of wear and tear except in the bathroom but nothing major. There was a laundry room on the floor which was great for ironing.

Service

 Some of the lido staff behind the counter acted like they didn’t want to be there but most were always nice. Unless you are blatantly rude, I don’t have a problem. I am sure some of my patients feel the same about me some days at work so I get it. 

Steward was great. Nothing but positives about him. They still ask if you want morning evening or both. I always say both and if for some reason we are too zonked we will let him know in advance to skip us. Someone filled in for him one day and offered to have us wait on a balcony while he cleaned. We told him it’s not that serious and that we can go. 

We were generally treated well as always. 

Barbados

We chose to go to the Boatyard beach club. Maybe a 10- 15 minute ride from port. When you leave the cruise terminals there are a bunch of men trying to fill up their taxi vans to take you places. I asked do they have private cars and they said they don’t know what that is. OK. I asked for private cars because I really like to do my own thing and not wait for people I don’t know. Luckily it wasn’t needed. Ride was too quick. 

At the boatyard for $25 you get one free drink either rum punch or a couple other choices. You also get a chair, umbrella and transportation back to the boat. The beach is clean and beautiful. Bathroom clean. There is a shower to clean off. I didn’t order food because there was plenty on board and I can get wings and fries there. For a small extra fee you can go see turtles. I can’t swim so that was a no for me. The property tells you not to Jet Ski because they are not ensured but there are still men on beach offering. Again, I am afraid of water taller than my waist so that doesn’t work for me. Must learn to swim. 

St. Thomas- Only got off to find White Hennessy because I’ve been a million times. Meghan's Bay is a great beach though.

St. Lucia-We booked a day pass to Bay Gardens Beach Resort through resort for a day. 

We were picked up around 9:30am and taken to the resort. Clean, friendly people, nice clear water. You get 4 drinks, lunch, and either a 20 minute massage or entry to water obstacle course or non-motor sports. We chose the massage. We were treated like royalty. The staff is very friendly. I probably would not stay there because I like a little more luxury but it is an excellent day trip. Only down side is a lot of ants on the beach. Didn’t know what was attracting them because I didn’t see food lying around. People trying to sell you stuff. Creepy guy in plain clothes walking around offering foot massages lol.

Excellent wifi. Was able to download some shows to watch on board.

 

St. Kitts. We decided to walk around port for a bit. Saw man selling photos with cute monkeys so I did that. There were many guys selling 1 hour tours. Since war had nothing else to do I gave in. We did 1 hour for $40. He drove us around in AC van, just the two of us. Gave us history lesson, showed us different sights. Beautiful Island. Normally all I do is lounge on a beach but it was about time I learned something :-)

There is a casino in port with free Wifi Most crew stand outside of it for the wifi. Many stood outside for wifi.

 

St. Maartin. I’ve been many times, most often just roam around the port. Today we did a beach tour through cruise excursioneer site courtesy of our travel agent. It was called rum and beach break. We were picked up, taken to a nearby beach. I guess our deal was with some spot at the beach called the Dive Shop. Once you pay or give them your prepaid voucher, they take you to their section of the beach. Chair, umbrella, free non motorize sports, two rum punches or beer, and transport back for $25. The shuttle back runs every 30 minutes. Some parts of the sand were rougher than others but overall nice very clean beach. There will be a lot of women offering you massages, or trying to sell you bags.

 

I had $150 in OBC from booking and my sis gave me a $150 gift card. I won 80 in the casino and put that on my bill. At the end of the cruise we only were charged $13 to our credit card. Pretty good. This was for about 3-4 drinks total per day, occasional sushi, and 4 8×10s we purchased. We didn’t spend much. Most $was spent on the islands and even that wasn’t a ridiculous amount after 7 days. 

[Crazy4Camping]

I am amazed that they have Bonsai sushi on the Fascination as I am sure I read that they no longer had that.  I'm very excited!

[Aplmac]

6 hours ago, shdixon said:

Beware. There is a guy there. She has a black background. He has a carnival badge but does not have on the same shirt. He does not work for carnival. He is a private photographer. We did not know this. No signs. So we wait in line 20 minutes for him. We were next. Get to front to learn her is not with carnival. I’m livid. I offer my precious feedback.

Me: sir, this would have been good information prior to waiting on line.

A sign or something 

Him: I am private. I am a professional who offers private sessions.

You waited because you see how much attention I give. 

Me: no I waited because I like your background. Not because I saw you take a lot of pictures. How much is it?

The session is $99 plus cost of pics

Me: no thanks. I wish I’d known that 20 minutes ago.

.

Thanks for the warning about this ^

[Aplmac]

Nice realistic review, by the way.

 

This is the first review I've read in quite some time.

In the past I've found most reviews to be either too plus or too minus.

Yours is about right. Well done!

[helensobol]

Silly Question but was there a hair dryer in your room? 

 

 

[LittleYiaYia]

1 hour ago, helensobol said:

Silly Question but was there a hair dryer in your room? 

 

 

 

I am not the OP but we were in an ocean view on Empress and had to ask the room steward to bring us a hair dryer.  Also, not a lot of shelving in the bathroom, so plan ahead.  Our magnetic hooks did not work on the walls of the cabin, only the inside of the bathroom door. 

[BUZZ2002]

THANKS FOR the review

we will be on her in 12 days !!!!!!

[LittleYiaYia]

2 hours ago, BUZZ2002 said:

THANKS FOR the review

we will be on her in 12 days !!!!!!

 

We will be boarding when you disembark.  Take care of our favorite ship.  Have a great cruise..

 

[helensobol]

On 2/5/2019 at 12:24 PM, LittleYiaYia said:

 

I am not the OP but we were in an ocean view on Empress and had to ask the room steward to bring us a hair dryer.  Also, not a lot of shelving in the bathroom, so plan ahead.  Our magnetic hooks did not work on the walls of the cabin, only the inside of the bathroom door. 

 

Did you have to ask them to bring it every time you wanted the dryer?  or did they just leave it for the whole time? 

[LittleYiaYia]

Helen, I asked him when we first met him at embarkation.  It was left the whole time. I also asked for robes and for our cooler to be filled with ice when needed.  All requests were met with a smile.  That was probably the most interaction we had the whole cruise.  He did come by to say goodbye the last morning (Maybe he was looking for an extra tip, who knows)  I did tell him I left

6 or so soft drinks and bottle of wine for him to enjoy. 

[beshears]

First, thank you for your Fascination review.  We are planning on doing it the 31st of March.  I like to write reviews, and write them as well.  I know everyone has their own opinion, so I just take it ALL in!

 

I know this is a much smaller ship then what I normally cruise on, and older, but for the itinerary, that was why we planned to do the Fascination.  Thanks for your input on the man with "black" shirt.  As I love to take those pictures, I'll try to keep him in mind, of NOT going to his area.

 

You mentioned (I have not booked anything as yet) that you had a Taxi take you around for 1 hour in St. Kitts for $40.  That seems pretty steep to me for one hour, but was that what he said on price, or did you try to get him to come down on price?

[Crazy4Camping]

On 2/5/2019 at 12:24 PM, LittleYiaYia said:

 

I am not the OP but we were in an ocean view on Empress and had to ask the room steward to bring us a hair dryer.  Also, not a lot of shelving in the bathroom, so plan ahead.  Our magnetic hooks did not work on the walls of the cabin, only the inside of the bathroom door. 

Damn I didn't try there!  They didn't work on the cabin walls so I packed them back in my suitcase.  Really would've come in handy as there's very few places to hand things up!