Carnival Fascination Review 2/10-2/17

[soonernstlouis]

Thanks for the thorough review purplephenom.  We are going in September & only our ship will be in port at each stop, so your confirmation of

wiggle room on the ship & onshore is nice.  

 

We will probably do less Carnival-based excursions & more independent travel/local-based.  Definitely interested in Coral World but Carnival charges more & takes you back right after.  I’d rather have an extra hour or two on Coki Beach before heading back closer to departure.  Trying to plan being near the ship each day by 3pm by saving port shopping or a nearby beach until last.  That works well In Havensight with Skyride and the shops right there.  Sorry I’m the planner of my two & hope I don’t overplan & just enjoy!

[soonernstlouis]

Forgot to mention about the airfare-another way to save money is definitely look early (6-8

months before travel) & be ready to book/pay quickly if a great fare opens up.  Southwest Airlines opens their booking approximately 6 months in advance.  Sign up for their emails (most flight matrix doesn’t include SWA).  I got RT from STL to SJU for $306pp. 2 weeks later those fares are $100 more.

[ABQrobin]

thanks for the great review!  DH and I are considering this one for fall.  

 

Also, I would recommend the scuba certification also... we did it 19 yrs ago and honestly it was one of the best decisions we ever made.  I have over a hundred videos on my vimeo website if you want to check it out.  Really, if you love snorkeling, it is waaaaaaay better!  

[soonernstlouis]

2 minutes ago, ABQrobin said:

thanks for the great review!  DH and I are considering this one for fall.   

You’ll see a lot of negative posts about this ship and Fantasy-class ships in general.  I haven’t sailed yet so I can’t review.  But obviously you

should keep an open mind about what is important in a cruise to you.  Ports & price

for me are a higher priority than amenities and luxury (can respect those who feel different).

[ABQrobin]

4 minutes ago, soonernstlouis said:

You’ll see a lot of negative posts about this ship and Fantasy-class ships in general.  I haven’t sailed yet so I can’t review.  But obviously you

should keep an open mind about what is important in a cruise to you.  Ports & price

for me are a higher priority than amenities and luxury (can respect those who feel different).

 

Thanks.  The ship is no big deal for us.  We sail for activities and ports only.  

We have actually done a few scuba liveaboards for 3-day weekends in Calif where we slept in a bunkroom with 30 strangers and had to share 2 toilets with everyone.  That was roughing it.  Give us a bed, privacy, and a bathroom add hot meals and we are happy.  

Edited February 20, 2019 by ABQrobin

[purplephenom]

11 hours ago, soonernstlouis said:

Forgot to mention about the airfare-another way to save money is definitely look early (6-8

months before travel) & be ready to book/pay quickly if a great fare opens up.  Southwest Airlines opens their booking approximately 6 months in advance.  Sign up for their emails (most flight matrix doesn’t include SWA).  I got RT from STL to SJU for $306pp. 2 weeks later those fares are $100 more.

We booked airfare the day it came out. I kept checking for awhile and it only went up. Flying in the day of the cruise was even more expensive 

[purplephenom]

11 hours ago, ABQrobin said:

thanks for the great review!  DH and I are considering this one for fall.  

 

Also, I would recommend the scuba certification also... we did it 19 yrs ago and honestly it was one of the best decisions we ever made.  I have over a hundred videos on my vimeo website if you want to check it out.  Really, if you love snorkeling, it is waaaaaaay better!  

It’s definitely on my mind. The problem is, around here, the water part of the certification is done in a quarry and dates are pretty limited. Classes and pool time would be no issue at all. Plus, I need to talk D into it 

[ABQrobin]

9 hours ago, purplephenom said:

It’s definitely on my mind. The problem is, around here, the water part of the certification is done in a quarry and dates are pretty limited. Classes and pool time would be no issue at all. Plus, I need to talk D into it 

 

Definitely do the class and pool work at home, but you can do the 4 certification dives while on a cruise if you pick the right one. (you need 2 ports, you can only do 2 training dives each).   We did our pool and classroom back in 2000, along with our 12 yr old son, in prep for a vacation to Cozumel for a week. 

You don't have to do a land vacation like we did to do the dives, doing it from a cruise ship works as long as you get all the referral paperwork and contact your port dive destinations to line up an instructor ahead of time.  

 

 

[purplephenom]

1 hour ago, ABQrobin said:

 

Definitely do the class and pool work at home, but you can do the 4 certification dives while on a cruise if you pick the right one. (you need 2 ports, you can only do 2 training dives each).   We did our pool and classroom back in 2000, along with our 12 yr old son, in prep for a vacation to Cozumel for a week. 

You don't have to do a land vacation like we did to do the dives, doing it from a cruise ship works as long as you get all the referral paperwork and contact your port dive destinations to line up an instructor ahead of time.  

 

 

 

 

thanks.  this makes it seem more possible for me.  We were thinking about doing the western route again in 2021...might be the perfect time, since we've done that route a few times. 

[JnK]

This itinerary is one my husband & I want to do.  It was a toss up between this itinerary & another.  We chose the other for 2020 , but I'm sure the next one we book will be out of San Juan, whether it's on the Fascination or if Carnival replaces it with another.  Thank you for your review!  You have shared a wealth of information!

[purplephenom]

21 minutes ago, JnK said:

This itinerary is one my husband & I want to do.  It was a toss up between this itinerary & another.  We chose the other for 2020 , but I'm sure the next one we book will be out of San Juan, whether it's on the Fascination or if Carnival replaces it with another.  Thank you for your review!  You have shared a wealth of information!

 

You'll enjoy it.  I've never done a review before- I only did this one because i started with "I'm going to hate this cruise, but it's what D wants so i guess i'm along for the ride on this stupid old/small ship and no sea days," to "Wow this was an awesome route, i see why everyone loves it and I want to do it again."  I figured i couldn't be the only one who was hesitant about a port intensive route on a small ship, and found out it didn't matter whatsoever. 

 

ETA:  We started with a short day in St Thomas, because we thought we could come back to the ship and enjoy amenities.   After that day, we realized it's just not that crowded and we can find a spot to chill near the pool at 4 or 5 pm, just as easily as 1 or 2 pm, and stayed in ports longer.  

Edited February 21, 2019 by purplephenom

[beshears]

So enjoyed your Fascination review.  I have cruised off/on for over 25 years, and have yet to do the Fascination ship.  I like to read peoples reviews (I write reviews as well), as "everyone" has their "own" opinion, but it is good to read the reviews anyway.  I have been blessed (that is the word I like to use, as many people never get to cruise (if they want to)) to be able to go back (3rd time) to St. Lucia (my "favorite" port) again. 🙂  The flight from Kansas City, MO is expensive to fly into San Juan, but that was the only way we could do it on SWA. The ship may be old, but I am going on this cruise thinking "positive", about everything, and I know everything will fall into place. 🙂

 

I see where you used Bernard's in St. Maarten, and that is who we plan to use, for the first time.  Normally I just hire a driver to take us around for a few hours, but thought i would go this direction.  I will be using Cosol Tours in St. Lucia, as I have used them before, and to me, they are so good, I would pay more, just to use them.  I'm thinking of Rose and Jim's tours in St. Kitts.

[kdawg954]

10 hours ago, beshears said:

So enjoyed your Fascination review.  I have cruised off/on for over 25 years, and have yet to do the Fascination ship.  I like to read peoples reviews (I write reviews as well), as "everyone" has their "own" opinion, but it is good to read the reviews anyway.  I have been blessed (that is the word I like to use, as many people never get to cruise (if they want to)) to be able to go back (3rd time) to St. Lucia (my "favorite" port) again. 🙂  The flight from Kansas City, MO is expensive to fly into San Juan, but that was the only way we could do it on SWA. The ship may be old, but I am going on this cruise thinking "positive", about everything, and I know everything will fall into place. 🙂

 

I see where you used Bernard's in St. Maarten, and that is who we plan to use, for the first time.  Normally I just hire a driver to take us around for a few hours, but thought i would go this direction.  I will be using Cosol Tours in St. Lucia, as I have used them before, and to me, they are so good, I would pay more, just to use them.  I'm thinking of Rose and Jim's tours in St. Kitts.

 

My day with Bernards was flawless in May.  Crazy about OP not getting in the water at Maho . . . .we had 45 minutes and it seemed like 90 minutes.  We took a break from the drinking at Maho and spent the entire time in the water except for 2 minutes when we knew a plane was coming and we took a selfie with it behind us.  DJ was our driver as well and he never said anything about not being wet.  That said by the time we got out the water and walked towards where he parked, we dried up . . . But we also brought beach towels.

 

A+ operation.  For me I rated it my #1 excursion that trip with Cosol a very close second . . . .that should let you know how highly I think of Bernards.

[kdawg954]

On 2/19/2019 at 9:39 PM, mpdog42 said:

Had the same choice of the Southern Route last year... after looking at the Fascination (which is a older ship)..I went with RC Freedom of the Seas...very glad I did...Carnival needs to get a better and newer ship out of the PR!

 

Question: Did Carnival not offer the Spanish Gallion cruise to the Pitons and mud baths??

 

Mike

 

I also had this choice and went with the Fascination.  Freedom was more than 3 years from the previous dry dock and Fascination was 3 months post full makeover.  Also Fascination visited an extra island and was about $500 cheaper.

 

i thought it was perfect for this itinerary.  If you go on this cruise just to stay on the ship . . . .then that would be a mistake.

 

I live in South FL so if the ship is going to the standard Cozumel or Nassau with 4 out of 7 sea days . . . .then having a fancy ship to be on can be real useful.  

 

But when you are off the ship every morning from 8:30 to 4:30 . . . It was real useful not having a massive ship to get around.  

 

My complaints would be:

 

1.  Needed a sea day late just to recover from all the action.  Did not get to try Sea Day Brunch because of this.

 

2.  We had an anniversary on this cruise and wish there was a speciality restaurant.  Thought about Chef’s Table but did not like the location of it (Near the YTD and was open so others could see in) It was all good because the MDR food was real good and our head waiter was the best we ever had.

 

3.  No fridge in room.  Cabin steward was great in ensuring we had ice when we came back from port every afternoon.

 

Thats about it from the negative side.

 

Liked it so much I am leaving in May this year on the Fascination again . . . .and this time there is a sea day the day before we come back.  Great ship!  Great itinerary!

[pghsteelerfan]

Thank you for taking the time to do a review!  We have done this itinerary twice fairly recently, on Valor in 2013 and again on Liberty in 2015.  We did a very similar itinerary out of San Juan for our honeymoon in 1992 (3 islands the same, but instead of St. Kitts and St. Lucia, we went to Dominica and Martinique), on Carnival's Festivale, which was even smaller than Fascination.  I'm one of those who will say this is my favorite itinerary.  Love the islands and their scenery and we also enjoy the views sailing in and back out.  I'm hoping to do it again and soon and would have no problem doing it on Fascination and the fact that she's an older, smaller ship doesn't deter me one bit.  If you ever do this one again, I definitely recommend getting to Jalousie/Sugar Beach (beach between the Pitons) somehow.  That is where we've had our best snorkeling so far.  We didn't get to snorkel when we were in Roatan several years ago since it was very windy and water was way too rough, but I've heard it's good.  I just don't know how the two compare and whether one is better than the other.  In St. Lucia, we've done tours with Spencer both times.  First time was the Jalousie/Sugar Beach break and the second was the land, sea, and beach adventure to see more of St. Lucia.  What we loved is that you go by speedboat and have the opportunity for great pictures of the Pitons from the water.  Again, thanks for your review, love seen Fascination reviews and always love getting new ideas for the "next time". 

Edited February 22, 2019 by pghsteelerfan

[beshears]

KDAWG954, thank you for your reply back to me about Bernard's Touring Agency. I believe that is who we will try to go through in April. 🙂

[Crazy4Camping]

On 2/19/2019 at 3:03 PM, fbe2228 said:

Thank you for doing this review.  We will be on Fascination this Sunday and your information will be very helpful.  I'm sure you'll get to it, but who was the band that played in the evenings and how were they if you had the opportunity to listen?  Thank you!

United played every night at the casino bar when we did this cruise the week before OP.  They were very good but many of us commented out of the duo the woman was always dressed up and the man not so much.  Didn't matter, they were very good at playing all the songs we know and love!

[Crazy4Camping]

On 2/20/2019 at 10:22 AM, soonernstlouis said:

Forgot to mention about the airfare-another way to save money is definitely look early (6-8

months before travel) & be ready to book/pay quickly if a great fare opens up.  Southwest Airlines opens their booking approximately 6 months in advance.  Sign up for their emails (most flight matrix doesn’t include SWA).  I got RT from STL to SJU for $306pp. 2 weeks later those fares are $100 more.

We booked our airfare last April for our cruise 2 weeks ago and it was almost $500 pp(ROC to SJU).  This was after watching for awhile and it just seemed to go up.. Main thing was the times we were leaving and getting home.  We picked this one and prob paid more but it was based on that and needed to get it while we could.  Then the airline just changed our flights a few months later(of course right after the checked bag increase so we had to pay $5 more per bag)to an earlier flight anyway so basically we paid more for nothing.  Then missed our connecting flight on the way home so didn't get home at the time we expected either.  Left a bad taste in our mouths all around.  

 

On 2/20/2019 at 10:01 PM, purplephenom said:

We booked airfare the day it came out. I kept checking for awhile and it only went up. Flying in the day of the cruise was even more expensive 

But then it's more to stay at a hotel for the night before so doesn't it even out?  We didn't even consider flying in the day before because we didn't see much difference in flight costs but would def have to shell out $$ for a hotel.

[purplephenom]

12 hours ago, beshears said:

So enjoyed your Fascination review.  I have cruised off/on for over 25 years, and have yet to do the Fascination ship.  I like to read peoples reviews (I write reviews as well), as "everyone" has their "own" opinion, but it is good to read the reviews anyway.  I have been blessed (that is the word I like to use, as many people never get to cruise (if they want to)) to be able to go back (3rd time) to St. Lucia (my "favorite" port) again. 🙂  The flight from Kansas City, MO is expensive to fly into San Juan, but that was the only way we could do it on SWA. The ship may be old, but I am going on this cruise thinking "positive", about everything, and I know everything will fall into place. 🙂

 

I see where you used Bernard's in St. Maarten, and that is who we plan to use, for the first time.  Normally I just hire a driver to take us around for a few hours, but thought i would go this direction.  I will be using Cosol Tours in St. Lucia, as I have used them before, and to me, they are so good, I would pay more, just to use them.  I'm thinking of Rose and Jim's tours in St. Kitts.

 

I like reading everyones reviews too. Even if I have no intention of doing that itinerary or ship; I just love to live vicariously. I would definitely use Bernard’s if you want to see everything. It’s a great tour. So many photo opportunities. I think having a driver that knew everything about the island and made it interesting. Otherwise it just seems like a beachy port. 

 

2 hours ago, kdawg954 said:

 

My day with Bernards was flawless in May.  Crazy about OP not getting in the water at Maho . . . .we had 45 minutes and it seemed like 90 minutes.  We took a break from the drinking at Maho and spent the entire time in the water except for 2 minutes when we knew a plane was coming and we took a selfie with it behind us.  DJ was our driver as well and he never said anything about not being wet.  That said by the time we got out the water and walked towards where he parked, we dried up . . . But we also brought beach towels.

 

A+ operation.  For me I rated it my #1 excursion that trip with Cosol a very close second . . . .that should let you know how highly I think of Bernards.

 

We had beach towels as well, and I don’t think not being soaking wet is unreasonable at all honestly. We also had some people on our bus who had to be back an hour earlier than everyone else, so that complicated things as well. 

 

Ill have have to try Cosol or Spenser Ambrose next time I get to St Lucia.  Didn’t work out this time but hopefully I’ll be back. 

[purplephenom]

1 hour ago, kdawg954 said:

 

I also had this choice and went with the Fascination.  Freedom was more than 3 years from the previous dry dock and Fascination was 3 months post full makeover.  Also Fascination visited an extra island and was about $500 cheaper.

 

i thought it was perfect for this itinerary.  If you go on this cruise just to stay on the ship . . . .then that would be a mistake.

 

I live in South FL so if the ship is going to the standard Cozumel or Nassau with 4 out of 7 sea days . . . .then having a fancy ship to be on can be real useful.  

 

But when you are off the ship every morning from 8:30 to 4:30 . . . It was real useful not having a massive ship to get around.  

 

My complaints would be:

 

1.  Needed a sea day late just to recover from all the action.  Did not get to try Sea Day Brunch because of this.

 

2.  We had an anniversary on this cruise and wish there was a speciality restaurant.  Thought about Chef’s Table but did not like the location of it (Near the YTD and was open so others could see in) It was all good because the MDR food was real good and our head waiter was the best we ever had.

 

3.  No fridge in room.  Cabin steward was great in ensuring we had ice when we came back from port every afternoon.

 

Thats about it from the negative side.

 

Liked it so much I am leaving in May this year on the Fascination again . . . .and this time there is a sea day the day before we come back.  Great ship!  Great itinerary!

 

In February 2021, the sea day is on last day. The ports are shuffled a bit so Barbados is the last port followed by the sea day. D was telling me he’d want to redo this with Dominica in place of a seaday. I’m not quite so opposed to that anymore. Still wouldn’t be my first choice, but would just need a shorter excursion in there somewhere 

[Out of Iowa]

Purplephenom wrote, " Food. We loved getting out of the dining room in about an hour. "

 

This is my dream come true!  So delighted that dining service time is moving in what I consider the right direction!!  It used to be this way, then slowness overtook the Main Dining Rooms....this is delightful news!!     We prefer Early Seating and having to choose between enjoying dessert and going to the show in the Main Theatre isn't my idea of a fun time.

 

 

[Fitzemt]

Thanks for the review......

We did this cruise 20 years ago for my 50th birthday with 5 other couples and had a blast.  This time we are taking our grown kids ,spouses, and grand kids.  ( 12 in all).  Looking forward  to reliving the great time we had before and making new memories.  

[useyourwords]

Thanks for your review! I'm boarding in about 10 days from Barbados! I'm super excited!

[soonernstlouis]

4 hours ago, Crazy4Camping said:

But then it's more to stay at a hotel for the night before so doesn't it even out?  We didn't even consider flying in the day before because we didn't see much difference in flight costs but would def have to shell out $$ for a hotel.

It was basically an even-trade to fly in a day early for us $50/pp savings x 2 people = $100 & only spending $140/night all-in for Holiday Inn Express-Candado.  We did decide to fly home same day since airfare was same for Sunday/Monday when we booked.  It can pay to play with arrival/departure dates a little if your not looking to stay at the Ritz (lol).

[purplephenom]

5 hours ago, pghsteelerfan said:

Thank you for taking the time to do a review!  We have done this itinerary twice fairly recently, on Valor in 2013 and again on Liberty in 2015.  We did a very similar itinerary out of San Juan for our honeymoon in 1992 (3 islands the same, but instead of St. Kitts and St. Lucia, we went to Dominica and Martinique), on Carnival's Festivale, which was even smaller than Fascination.  I'm one of those who will say this is my favorite itinerary.  Love the islands and their scenery and we also enjoy the views sailing in and back out.  I'm hoping to do it again and soon and would have no problem doing it on Fascination and the fact that she's an older, smaller ship doesn't deter me one bit.  If you ever do this one again, I definitely recommend getting to Jalousie/Sugar Beach (beach between the Pitons) somehow.  That is where we've had our best snorkeling so far.  We didn't get to snorkel when we were in Roatan several years ago since it was very windy and water was way too rough, but I've heard it's good.  I just don't know how the two compare and whether one is better than the other.  In St. Lucia, we've done tours with Spencer both times.  First time was the Jalousie/Sugar Beach break and the second was the land, sea, and beach adventure to see more of St. Lucia.  What we loved is that you go by speedboat and have the opportunity for great pictures of the Pitons from the water.  Again, thanks for your review, love seen Fascination reviews and always love getting new ideas for the "next time". 

 

 

We had a sugar beach excursion cancelled. Then we wanted to book Spencer’s snorkel adventure and there weren’t enough people for a tour. D didn’t want the beach break because it was all day, and I didn’t want the land and sea part; I always fall asleep on road trips here and vans in the Caribbean make me fall asleep even faster. But I think next time, we’ll hope for the snorkel adventure, and if not, do the beach break. I also read the same Snuba company that does Pigeon Island has tours to Sugar Beach so I’d consider that too