Fascination 3/13 Review

[theluckiest]

Hey everyone, i recently got back from my first cruise on the Fascination, 4 night Western Caribbean. I had a GREAT time, and i'm ready for my next cruise! I will preface this by saying, i am a senior in college, and i went with my boyfriend. Therefore, the hundreds of college kids traveling this week were a plus for us, rather than a minus lol :) i know not every cruiser would appreciate hundreds of college students, but we did! Flew in a day early, stayed at Holiday Inn Port of Miami - very convenient location, decent hotel. $24 cab ride from airport to port.

 

Day 1 - got onboard around 12:00, very smooth, no wait at all. pleasantly surprised. had lunch (and my 1st drink of the day!) on lido. i thought the cheeseburgers were GREAT and i had at least 1 a day! the salad bar & fruit bar were also really great. we had dinner in the coconut grove the first night bc we were too tired to get dressed for dinner. had salad & pasta, very good. my bf liked the pizza, i thought the deli sandwiches were good as well. he played texas hold em for a few hours & i hit the casino. ( we both lost lol )

 

Day 2 - Key West - got off the ship around 9, did our own thing and wandered Duval St as i have been there before. had a few drinks, shopped a lil, then sat at a bar right on the water past the trolley stop. CVS was also right there which was awesome, we stocked up on soda & water, saved some $ for sure. i love Key West, only wish we were there for sunset! it was formal night, we had prime rib in the dining room. it was good, not great, and my potato was a little cold but fine. i was dissappointed by the desserts all week (had black forest cake this night). went to the midnight comedy show - hilarious.

 

Day 3 - Calica/Playa del Carmen - Calica is REALLY a rock quarry. kinda weird, but hey you're in mexico! waited in line for a cab, seemed like everyone was in line at the same time, prob a 30 min wait for a cab (around 1:30, right after lunch for most people). took a cab to downtown ($10), wandered around, and hit the beach. the beach was beautiful and the water was warm! had drinks & chips on the beach. that is the life :D then we went to carlos & charlie's, had a great nacho appetizer and AWESOME drinks. watched people get crazy, including families! lol. had a great time, got a taxi back to the ship, cab driver spoke NO english, but luckily i am a spanish minor, so it worked out lol. we had dinner again in the dining room, filet mignon. it was good, i've had better. our waiter Tich was fun & informative. we played powerball bingo - fun, and ohsoclose to winning lol.

 

Day 4 - At Sea - this is the day those dreaded chair hogs come out. luckily i was up early, got my chair, and was in it all day. every other day there were plenty of chairs available. watched the ice carving/hairy chest...funny. just laid out and enjoyed the sun. ate both meals in the coconut grove, i thought the variety was good, every day something different.

 

Final thoughts: I had a great time for my first cruise. I thought the ship was easy to navigate, and our cabin was bigger than i expected! also the bedding was amazingly comfortable. Although the ship is older, I didn't think it was in poor condition - a little gaudy, yes. lol. there was a bit of a strange smell when we first boarded, but other than that, nothing noticeable. I felt the service from our steward, the bar waiters, and our dining staff was very good. everyone was very friendly and helpful. I realize every cruise is different, and every cruiser has their opinions, but I honestly had a great time on this cruise! :)

[mosel]

I was just wondering who you had as a cruise director?

[theluckiest]

matt goodwin was our cruise director

[springbreakcruiser]

Thanks for the great review. We leave on the Fascination in 6 days for our first cruise. Can't wait to leave the snow and cold of Northern Michigan behind. Glad you had a good cruise.