Fascination - January 12, 2007 review

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This was our second sailing on the Fascination. I was considering the Majesty of the Seas for this weekend getaway but chose the Fascination since she had recently been in dry dock. A little background on the cruisers: I’m 37. This was my fifth cruise on Carnival. I’ve also sailed on Royal Caribbean twice. My husband is 41 and this was his third cruise on Carnival and he cruised once on Royal Caribbean.

 

We live in Fort Lauderdale, so we drove to the port. My husband dropped me off by the curb with the luggage and he parked in the lot. It was $45.00, payable in advance, for the three days. The porter took my bag right away. We got there early (11:00AM) and walked right up to the check-in counter. We waited about 45 minutes before we were allowed onboard. Embarkation is on the Empress deck (and we were in E143 – outside cabin). They added a piano and bar in the Atrium . We dropped a small bag off in the room and headed up to the lido deck for lunch. I am not a big fan of buffets. Like last time, the food was mediocre. I had a burger and some fries and it was fine. My husband had a little of a few things and said he wasn’t impressed. However, like a lot of others, I don’t cruise for the food (but I do enjoy good food!!). That said, I think the food on Royal Caribbean is much better. I did not see any hand sanitizing stations near the entrances, but do carry my own. I am not aware that anyone got sick on this sailing.

 

As far as the room goes, I had pre-ordered birthday decorations for my husband and they were up and I was pleased with them. Our room steward was friendly and did a great job. There was a new flat panel TV. In the bathroom, I noticed that the sink area had been redone. It looked like the doors on the closet had been redone since last time. Gone was the bright orange trim in the room. The desk area was also redone in a marble type of top.

 

We chose the 6:15 seating and were assigned to the Sensation dining room. We love to play craps and our rule is, we only gamble after dinner, so we chose this seating. The waiter was okay and the busboy left a lot to be desired. He rarely came back to refill our drinks and oftentimes we had to ask for our waiter for the refills. He didn’t seem to be happy with his busboy. The food in the dining room was served cold/lukewarm side and there is nothing (with the exception of the molten chocolate cake and the birthday cake I ordered for my husband) that I would recommend or rave about. I had pre-ordered a chocolate cake for my husband’s birthday and it arrived with our dessert. The chocolate cake was delicious.

 

After dinner on Friday night, we headed to the casino. As I stated earlier, we enjoy playing craps. The dealers were wonderful! Pleasant and fun, they really made the trip. They remembered our bets and cheered us on. I don’t understand why the casino doesn’t rate you on the tables, only with the Ocean Players Club for the slots. I mentioned this to the casino manger and he didn’t seem to understand what I was talking about. When we returned to the room, we were hungry and ordered room service about 11:30PM. It arrived within 10 minutes. The BLT’s were cold and dry.

 

Saturday was Nassau. We had breakfast on the Lido deck. I had an omelet made and enjoyed it. The only sliced cheese I saw was Swiss. I was surprised they didn’t have at American or cheddar with it. The rest of the food was cold and had no flavor. My husband said the eggs tasted powdered. I don’t think the coffee machine was working right, because the coffee came out lukewarm. I mentioned it to one of the servers, but he didn’t seem to understand what I was saying. I’m not a huge coffee drinker, so it wasn’t that big a deal, but I do enjoy a cup in the morning.

 

We headed over to the Atlantis just to look around and do some shopping. I cannot stand how pushy and rude they are to you when you get through that Festival shopping area. They treat you like cattle. They will not let a cab go until it’s full and you’re crammed in like sardines. We were waiting for about 15 minutes with two other couples before we were finally allowed to follow the cab driver to his cab. We spent a few hours there and then headed to the straw market. I hadn’t been there in years and now I remember why. I have no desire to go back. The stalls are cramped and if you have claustrophobia (I don’t, but I was getting panic attacks in there) I suggest that you stay out of there. My only goal there was to find some purses, which I did. We got back to the boat around 2PM and had lunch on the Lido. Lunch was the same as on Friday. We relaxed on deck and then got ready for dinner, which was formal.

 

Formal night was a joke and I am not trying to start a debate as to how one should dress, as I can understand both sides. My husband and I are both professionals and get dressed for work every day. We also have formal affairs several times a year where we get dressed. My husband owns his own tuxedo. Did I want to get dressed for formal night on such a short cruise? Not really. But I didn’t want to eat dinner in the buffet or order room service either. My husband wore a dark suit and I dressed appropriately for dinner. I was amazed at how many men considered a collared Polo-type of shirt with jeans and flip flops formal. Some of the women looked gorgeous, but most looked like they couldn’t be bothered and dressed the part. To each his own. I did see one man in a tuxedo. I think that on a three day cruise, formal night should be done away with. We decided to check out the show that night for a bit. The juggler/comedian was very funny, as was the stand up comic.

 

Sunday was a sea day. We had breakfast about 9AM in the dining room and it was much better than the buffet. I met up with one of our table mates and we headed over to the casino for a bit. My husband headed upstairs to relax in the sun. We met for lunch in the dining room at 2PM. My table mate and I played in the slots tournament and I came in second. We had our last dinner in the dining room, which was a repeat of the prior two evenings. The servers did their song (which you can tell was lip synched and pre-recorded) and that was it.

 

We chose to carry our luggage off ourselves and were off the boat at 8AM and home by 9AM. I would definitely suggest this option. I think it also helped that we were on the Empress deck.

 

From what I understand, this ship was sold out. The ship handled it well and you would have never known that the ship was sailing at full capacity. I believe there was a Motley Crue convention or get together or something because there were a lot of people wearing tags that said “Crue” and I heard there was a concert of some sort (but it wasn’t listed in the Capers.) I noticed that there was some “chogging” going on on Sunday, but my husband said that he had no problem getting a lounge chair on the deck above the pool deck.

 

When I cruised this ship in May I wrote in my review that for a three day cruise, I would choose another ship before the Fascination. I only chose the Fascination over the Majesty of the Seas (they are the only two going out of Miami on three day cruises right now) because she had recently been in dry dock. Our next three day cruise will most likely be on the Majesty as I understand she is headed into drydock. I was not overly impressed with the refurbishment and the food left much to be desired. I did like the fact that the ship was small and easy to navigate, however, if I were on this ship for seven days, I would be bored out of my mind. We are planning on Royal Carribean’s Freedom of the Seas seven day eastern Caribbean cruise in December. I think that for a first time cruiser, or a cruiser looking just to get away for a few days (as we often are), this ship serves its purpose. If you are looking for a huge ship with all the bells and whistles, this is not the ship for you.

 

I think that covers it. I’ll be happy to answer whatever questions you may have. I do have the Capers for Friday and Sunday (don’t know what happened to Saturday) so if you want a copy, let me know and I will scan and email it to you if you ask.

 

Happy cruising!

 

Stacey