Fascination Review Dec 24/07

[shipty2]

I should preface this review by telling you that just the week prior to this cruise we sailed on the Carnival Liberty. While on the Liberty we were exclaiming how we would never sail on an older/smaller ship again. However after cruising on the Fascination now we are unsure of which ship to try next.

 

There are many advantages to sailing on a Fantasy class ship but they all boil down to one thing-less people=more pleasant cruise all around.

 

We dined in the Imagination dining room every night but one. We had no complaints about the food and our waitstaff were perhaps the best we have ever experienced-anticipating our every need.

 

We were advised by the Maitre D' that starting in the new year all Maitre D's will be enforcing the dress code on all Carnival ships in the dining room( no we were not breaking the rules). He told us that many people on the shorter cruises just bring shorts with them so he is expecting some unhappy cruisers until word gets out but said he has no choice int he matter.

 

We ate at the Lido buffet for breakfast where we enjoyed not lining up for food and always being able to find a table where we wanted. DS ate at the deli and pizzeria too and there was no lie to speak of either . Room service was speedy-we would call and clear off the desk area for the tray then the knock would come at the door.

 

DS had a milkshake everyday from Bogarts on the Promenade for $3.95 every night.

 

Our cabin was R131 which was centrally located but did miss our balcony form the week before. Our room steward, Michael, was awesome.

We had laundry done on the ship-the $15 for one bag full deal. We also used the launderette to press out formal night clothes.

 

The ports

Key West-we rented an electric car and went to Higgs beach to walk around and take some pictures. Being Christmas Day we went to a local church which held a beautiful mass. The we just drove around. We liked Key West much better than last time being able to travel around more with the car than on foot.

 

Cozumel-we took the El Cid snorkel resort adventure. It is basically a hotel where they give you the snorkel equipment(we brought our own). They have an open bar and a lunch buffet. DH and DS snorkeled for hours while I read a book lying in a hammock. A good time was had by all and I would go back here. Then we shopped a little at the plaza near where the ship's tenders are. We ate at Carlos and Charlie's where we found the whistle blowing by the waitress to by annoying.

 

Debarkation was a nightmare. We were just raving about how the new numbering system was so great the week before. Our number was called and we went down to the new luggage area where there we no people in line for the customs check.

It is more like an airport now with the luggage going around on carousels. The carousels are not connected though so if someone puts your luggage on the wrong one you will stand as we did waiting for an eternity for yours to come out. All in all we waited 2 hours!!Yes that is correct 2 hours waiting while we asked several carnival staff to help and got the response "oh it will show up". And us running back and forth from carousel to carousel. Finally we gathered our luggage and stood in line with 900 people going through customs .When we got home we realized someone had opened our luggage since we put it outside the cabin the night before. Maybe that contributed to the delay too.

 

All in all we loved this cruise. However next time I would choose self debarkation.

[marcia014]

Thanks for the mini-review - I am going to be on Fascination in 2 weeks and there is little current information out there!

 

Who is the current cruise director? I heard Danny Blake left a month ago or so.

 

Who is in the piano bar? Did you go? Is he/she any good?

 

Any feedback about any other entertainment options? Is the 80s Review still a main show? Did you go and if so was it as good as the old reviews stated?

 

Marcia

[*Mach*]

How great that you enjoyed your sailing on the Fascination!

 

I'm a big fan of Fantasy Class ships, myself. They have a bit more intimate feel... more cozy.

 

The debark does sound like a nightmare. Glad you finally sorted everything out.

[shipty2]

The cruise director was Trevor Block.

[shipty2]

Oh also the muster drill took 43 minutes. By the time it was over I wanted to hop into a life boat and escape.

 

We ordered lobster one night expecting the delicious crustacean we had the week prior on the Carnival Liberty but what we got was two animals that looked more like shrimp with a hard shell so small they were.

[shipty2]

I forgot to mention this in my mini review but I do want others to know.

The muster drill for this sailing took 43 minutes. We were taken to our stations in our case on Promenade deck then to Lido deck then onto our life boats. This was by far the longest muster drill I have ever experienced.

[marcia014]

You actually got on the lifeboats?!? That's odd!

[patrice1]

Thanks for the review! Last cruise was Liberty & I was happy to see your post-Liberty response!:D I'm sure we'll miss our balcony too, but we love the small ships. Thanks again.:)

[ShineOn]

Thanks for the great information. The "smallest and oldest" ship we have been on is the Triumph. I've heard great things about the new renovations. Do they have a adults only serenity deck on this ship?

[shebring02lx]

I was recently on this cruise - I loved it .... can not agree more with what you said in your review about he service.

 

The new luggage thing is a joke - I had priority debarkation [[thanks to one of our fellow CC's]] and I waited almost 45 mins for my dress bag to show up on the belt. Walked right up to customs though - I was not the only one that had problems finding their luggage.

 

I too thought that the muster drill took longer than avg.

[MIZZ_K]

I forgot to mention this in my mini review but I do want others to know.

The muster drill for this sailing took 43 minutes. We were taken to our stations in our case on Promenade deck then to Lido deck then onto our life boats. This was by far the longest muster drill I have ever experienced.

 

I sailed her twice last year and the 1st time we went to one of the lounges for the muster drill and the 2nd time we were seated on the lido deck, must be something new, I am sailing her again in June taking my grandaughter on her 1st cruise.

[ShineOn]

They had the muster drill in the dining room on the Spirit (San Diego) too. I thought it was just because of the rainy weather and wet decks.

[shipty2]

Just for the record no we didn't get into the lifeboats.LOL We were taken to them though to show us where they are. Funny though I thought that was why we have muster stations to then be directed to the lifeboats.

[JerseyHorseLover]

The Fascination is a great ship. Been on her twice. most recently was this past July. The bedding is comfy! And the flat screen TV is nice. I have no complaints and would cruise on the Fascination again. BTW - my muster drill in July on her was only 15 minutes............

[JerseyHorseLover]

Oops.....just realized I was on the Fascination 3 times! See I definately know this ship!

[mjmiller]

I just got off the Fascination - 12/24-12/29/07. For the most part, loved the cruise. After all - any cruise is great!

 

Yes, the muster drill took FOREVER. I think it is ridiculous to goto muster stations, sit and listen to the info, then walk to where the lifeboats are. They didn't even have all groups walk at once; one had to wait until the others are done. Absolutely horrible.

 

The other horrible thing was tendering at Cozumel. It was at least 1.5-2 hrs before everyone was tendered who wanted to be. That is ludicrous. There were 6 ships in port, only 2 docked, so the limited tenders had to be split between the other 4 ships.

 

On the bright side - the shows were excellent, food was good (I've had better on Carnival), our waiter and cabin steward were great, there were tons of activities, etc. Since it was only a 4 day cruise, we took only carry on luggage, so we were able to self-disembark at will - awesome.

 

Yes, I saw a lot of folks in shorts in the dining room, particularly on the first and last nights. Formal night was actually more formal than I expected, probably because it was Christmas night. I did have cappuccino every night in the dining room - it isn't real - it's the kind of stuff you'd get at a gas station - but still better than the coffee. Since we had been on the Fascination years ago, it was interesting to me to see the changes, particularly the addition of the pizzeria and deli and a bar in the lido restaurant - those are good choices early in the cruise when other folks don't realize they're there.

 

My personal fave music was the classical piano player in the atrium - very good. We also listened to the classic rock band in the Passage to India bar - they played good tunes, they weren't great, but ok. We only heard two songs in the piano bar before the player took a break, so I can't really say if it was good or bad. The lido deck band was definitely not the best I've heard, but it was mostly bearable.

 

As I said - shows were good. The 80s show was the great, esp. if you grew up with that music. The Latin show was also very good, if I knew more of that music, I might have been inclined to say it was actually better than the 80s show. The comedian we had really sucked (in our opinion). Two nights there was only one show - by the time late diners made it to the showroom, early diners already had taken all the good seats, as well as most of the not-so-good seats!

 

There is an adults only sunbathing deck - top deck by the funnel - but there is no privacy banner around the banisters like on other Carnival ships we've been on - therefore being topless wasn't really an option.

 

Yes, the bedding is definitely more comfortable with the new mattresses. And the shower was quite large for a cruiseship. The cabin itself seemed a little smaller than on the newer ships, but well configured for space maximization and plenty of closet/storage space.

 

any other questions? :-)

[grandmato4]

Going on the Fascination in Oct so I enjoyed reading both your reviews ! Thanks for posting them.

[popsec]

When we were on the Fascination in May the muster drill took forever! We had to go to the lounge first and sat there for ages before going on to the lifeboat stations. Never been to such a long drawn out muster drill in all the cruises we've been on.