Fascination Ship Departing Puerto Rico

[Sagittarius traveler]

Will be my first time cruising departing from Puerto Rico I am use to the Florida ports because I live there but wanted to try different places to visit and I was wondering is the ship crowded I’ll be there July this year and I am trying to see what to expect I’m hoping not too crowded I am hoping it is still like the others Sensation and Miracle where chairs all day long are available to everyone and the pool isn’t crowded.

[purplephenom]

Just did this route in February. Never felt crowded and could always find a chair. I prefer 1 deck up from the pool deck, but I did see open chairs on the pool deck when I walked around. 

[May1cruiser]

Came from her this January. Did not feel crowded. The only place I ever saw lines were at the breakfast buffet. This is probably due to a lot of ports with a typical 8 am arrival. Great ship, great crew, a lot of ports.

[LittleYiaYia]

Just returned this Sunday from our Fascination cruise.  At many times during the cruise, some of us traveling together would look at each other and ask, where are all the people?  Never waited in a line, from embarkation, to MDR dining, to getting off at ports, to disembarkation.  We typically entered the theatre or comedy club five minutes before the shows and did not have any trouble finding seats.  We did not go to the Lido until Noon on the one sea day and had no problem finding chairs. 

 

Now this was in February, most kids are in school.  I don't think there will be a lot of families from the mainland because of the cost of airfare, but there might be a lot of families from Puerto Rico, which could make it seem more crowded.

 

I agree with the above cruiser, this is our favorite ship, itinerary, and crew.  Have a great time!!!

 

 

[coldweather]

I agree with the previous posters.  I was on the Fascination in January.  Not crowded.  There were lines for Guys burgers and Blue Iguana but they moved very quickly.  It is a great ship with a nice port intensive itinerary.  The crew was wonderful.  Enjoy!

[BUZZ2002]

We just did this cruise in feb 17th to 24th  there were 22 of us in our group and we all said at some point how much we loved the ports and especially not feeling crowded. have been on 6 carnival ships the was the smallest one and loved it

would do it just the same in a heart beat.

[robc1972]

Stay at the Sheraton in Old San Juan before the cruise.

Just walk across the street and get on the boat in the morning.

[TTUMatador]

We're also going in July! We're 7/21, you?

[Joebucks]

The Fascination had its pros and cons. Being crowded was never the con. It was really nice to walk into a Punchliner show right when it started, and still have tons of a seat choices.

[mkcurran]

I'm happy to hear this as I am eyeing this ship for my next cruise. 

[ontheweb]

3 hours ago, coldweather said:

I agree with the previous posters.  I was on the Fascination in January.  Not crowded.  There were lines for Guys burgers and Blue Iguana but they moved very quickly.  It is a great ship with a nice port intensive itinerary.  The crew was wonderful.  Enjoy!

Those restaurants replaced the Mongolian Wok after the drydock, right? The only time I was in long lines on the Fascination was for the Mongolian Wok.

[luv2cruise2thebeach]

I hate to hijack this topic, but we are booked on the Fascination in September because we wanted to see all of the ports.  With the ship leaving San Juan at 6 pm, what time does boarding begin?  Are you still able to have lunch on the Lido like you would with U.S. 4 pm departures?

[Tapi]

15 hours ago, Sagittarius traveler said:

 I am hoping it is still like the others Sensation

Sensation and Fascination are sister ships. I'm guessing that Fascination will feel less crowded because its a port intensive itinerary and people tend to take these itineraries more for what's ashore than whats aboard the ship. Have a great time!

[mkcurran]

To jump on this topic, does the Fascination have any "secret" decks? Im not seeing them on the floor plans.

 

[Crazy4Camping]

10 minutes ago, mkcurran said:

To jump on this topic, does the Fascination have any "secret" decks? Im not seeing them on the floor plans.

 

Wouldn't call it a "secret" but it was info I wish I figured out at the beginning of our cruise rather than almost the end-if you go all the way down Empress(7)on the odd side toward higher numbers, the hall ends at a set of stairs that go right up to the Serenity area.  If I go on this ship again I am going to get a room down there so I can conveniently go right up and down.

[Sagittarius traveler]

4 hours ago, TTUMatador said:

We're also going in July! We're 7/21, you?

July 7th is the departure for us.

 

I am so excited it’s my husband first cruise so I didn’t want it to be too crowded these reviews are awesome that it wouldn’t feel crowded.

[Sagittarius traveler]

2 hours ago, Tapi said:

Sensation and Fascination are sister ships. I'm guessing that Fascination will feel less crowded because its a port intensive itinerary and people tend to take these itineraries more for what's ashore than whats aboard the ship. Have a great time!

 

Thank you, I love the Sensation the pool not crowded much...lines for

breakfast especially the taco was always an easy grab and go except for the burritos that line is always long.

[TNMIMI6]

5 hours ago, luv2cruise2thebeach said:

I hate to hijack this topic, but we are booked on the Fascination in September because we wanted to see all of the ports.  With the ship leaving San Juan at 6 pm, what time does boarding begin?  Are you still able to have lunch on the Lido like you would with U.S. 4 pm departures?

We did the Fascination Southern Caribbean cruise last September. We boarded at 11 AM. We had FTTF and dropped off Our bags. We had lunch on Lido; met up with friends from our arrival in OSJ the day before. We got off the ship, went to CVS (just down the street from the cruise terminal) to purchase Cokes and wine. Back on for supper, had Muster and sailed away at 9 PM.

 

[soonernstlouis]

2 hours ago, TNMIMI6 said:

We did the Fascination Southern Caribbean cruise last September. We boarded at 11 AM. We had FTTF and dropped off Our bags. We had lunch on Lido; met up with friends from our arrival in OSJ the day before. We got off the ship, went to CVS (just down the street from the cruise terminal) to purchase Cokes and wine. Back on for supper, had Muster and sailed away at 9 PM.

 

We are going this September & will be the only ship in port at each stop.  All I ask is the weather to hold up & I’m certain we will have fun.

[MarcJ55]

I'm on the Fascination next week.  Based on me checking for lower prices, it seems that the cruise is at or near capacity.  I wonder if it will still feel less crowded than some of the other ships?  I do like the vibe of a crowded ship at times (lots of people and activity at the pool or bars).

[LittleYiaYia]

Our cruise on 2/24/19 was also at full capacity.  As I stated in my above post, at no time did we wait in line.  Although there were chair hogs on lido, we were able to find seats by the pool even when arriving at noon on the one sea day. All of the usual activities took place at the pool and there was a good turn-out.   We would typically see crowds when the shows let out, but we were always able to secure a seat at any of the bars. They would have after shows in the atrium and these always drew a good crowd.The Alchemy Bar seemed to be a hot spot, we didn't stop there but it always had a good crowd.   We don't eat at buffets and only went up there one morning to get some juice and I did see lines for the breakfast .  One afternoon at about 3 PM we had burgers at Guy's Burgers and by 4PM there was a line formed. 

 

This ship is deserted during the day, everyone is off at the numerous ports.  We had drinks at the atrium bar every afternoon before dinner and bar and seating in the atrium was usually full. 

 

Enjoy your cruise, this ships crew is the best we've ever had,  The ports are fantastic,  Have fun! 

[soonernstlouis]

14 minutes ago, LittleYiaYia said:

  We don't eat at buffets and only went up there one morning to get some juice and I did see lines for the breakfast .  One afternoon at about 3 PM we had burgers at Guy's Burgers and by 4PM there was a line formed. 

If you tried Blue Iguana for breakfast, how was their breakfast tacos?  I really love those.

[LittleYiaYia]

I did not try this year.  Did the same ship last year and did have a burrito and one day an arepa at breakfast.  My husband had a breakfast burrito this year and said it was tasty, he had gone up by himself so I did not see if there was a line.  On the sea day I saw the new cakes were out.  They are where the omelet station is between Guy's and Blue Iguana.  They looked really good, I was just too full to eat anymore after brunch.  The omelets in the MDR for breakfast are delicious.  Had one every morning but one and they never disappointed. 

[smurfm69]

 This is such a great itinerary!  It's a very busy cruise with only one sea day when we did it as Domenica had just recently been dropped at the time.  We didn't stay up late partying as we were getting up fairly early every day for a different port to see.  We will definitely do this again sometime in the future.

[TNMIMI6]

2 hours ago, smurfm69 said:

 This is such a great itinerary!  It's a very busy cruise with only one sea day when we did it as Domenica had just recently been dropped at the time.  We didn't stay up late partying as we were getting up fairly early every day for a different port to see.  We will definitely do this again sometime in the future.

We did this itinerary 9/2018 but included

Dominica. 7 ports/7 days, we loved it!!