Just got off my 1st cruise...

[patterson3]

4 day Fascination cruise (Key West/Cozumel). My quick review- I LOVED cruising...the ship was very clean, the service was incredible, the food was amazing, the excursions were great, and I was extremely satisfied with my cabin (stayed in V9)- the bedding was extremely comfortable and the balcony, although small was more than adequate...I would definitely cruise Carnival again, although I would also like to try other lines too sometime in the future. I'd say the only things I wasn't crazy about were the fact that it was definitely a spring break cruise (the average age had to be somewhere between 20-25) and eventhough I enjoy parties (I'm only 30 years old), I was looking for more of a leisure cruise and will definitely avoid spring break time in the future. Also eventhough the food and service were above my wildest dreams, I was slightly disappointed in the fact that besides formal night people didn't dress up at all. The capers even stated that "recommended attire was resort casual; no shorts or cutoffs" but I'd say at least 75% of the men were wearing shorts in the dining room. Not a big deal, but if I had a choice I think I'd definitely choose a more formal attire type of dining. (I would love to try QM2 someday!) And lastly, I've had some people who have cruised tell me to not "waste my money on a balcony" since I wouldn't be spending much time in my cabin anyway, and I totally disagree. I don't think I'll ever cruise without a balcony. I definitely took advantage of a lot of the entertainment on the ship but I also spent time each day on my balcony just enjoying being at sea, and sitting out on the pool deck amongst the shoulder to shoulder sunbathers just wouldn't have been nearly as satisfying for me. So if anyone's on the fence- definitely spend a little more for a balcony if you can!

 

Anyway, overall I had a great time and would recommend Carnival to anyone who asked me. I would rank my Fascination cruise somewhere around an 8 out of 10!!!...I also put down a $100 deposit on a future Carnival cruise, so my next cruise will be on Carnival too. I'm just going to try to avoid spring break (which could be tough since we're looking for winter cruises to escape the new england winter)....Anyway, any advice/comments would be appreciated.

 

Thanks.

[terrib1964]

4 day Fascination cruise (Key West/Cozumel). My quick review- I LOVED cruising...the ship was very clean, the service was incredible, the food was amazing, the excursions were great, and I was extremely satisfied with my cabin (stayed in V9)- the bedding was extremely comfortable and the balcony, although small was more than adequate...I would definitely cruise Carnival again, although I would also like to try other lines too sometime in the future. I'd say the only things I wasn't crazy about were the fact that it was definitely a spring break cruise (the average age had to be somewhere between 20-25) and eventhough I enjoy parties (I'm only 30 years old), I was looking for more of a leisure cruise and will definitely avoid spring break time in the future. Also eventhough the food and service were above my wildest dreams, I was slightly disappointed in the fact that besides formal night people didn't dress up at all. The capers even stated that "recommended attire was resort casual; no shorts or cutoffs" but I'd say at least 75% of the men were wearing shorts in the dining room. Not a big deal, but if I had a choice I think I'd definitely choose a more formal attire type of dining. (I would love to try QM2 someday!) And lastly, I've had some people who have cruised tell me to not "waste my money on a balcony" since I wouldn't be spending much time in my cabin anyway, and I totally disagree. I don't think I'll ever cruise without a balcony. I definitely took advantage of a lot of the entertainment on the ship but I also spent time each day on my balcony just enjoying being at sea, and sitting out on the pool deck amongst the shoulder to shoulder sunbathers just wouldn't have been nearly as satisfying for me. So if anyone's on the fence- definitely spend a little more for a balcony if you can!

 

Anyway, overall I had a great time and would recommend Carnival to anyone who asked me. I would rank my Fascination cruise somewhere around an 8 out of 10!!!...I also put down a $100 deposit on a future Carnival cruise, so my next cruise will be on Carnival too. I'm just going to try to avoid spring break (which could be tough since we're looking for winter cruises to escape the new england winter)....Anyway, any advice/comments would be appreciated.

 

Thanks.

 

Glad you loved your first cruise!!! Carnival is a GREAT cruiseline!

See my signature if you're searching for one for later this year!

[patterson3]

Quick question- I've heard that Fascination (and short trips like the cruise I just got off) in particular are known for being packed with party animal types...which Carnival ships are more known for being a little more layed back?

[cruisnpat]

Glad that you loved you first cruise and that you are now hooked on cruising like tha rest of us.

[popsec]

Quick question- I've heard that Fascination (and short trips like the cruise I just got off) in particular are known for being packed with party animal types...which Carnival ships are more known for being a little more layed back?

 

It has more to do with the length of the cruise and time of the year. We were on the Fascination for 4 days Jan 14th and on the Miracle for 8 days on Jan. 18th....both of these cruises had the oldest passengers of any of the cruises we were on. I was thinking that it was probably because kids had just gotten back to school after Christmas vacation. Usually the 8 day cruises have a much older passener base.

 

We've really enjoyed cruising on the Spirit class ships...after labor day and early winter because it's not such a young crowd but still plenty of fun going on.

[S.S.Oceanlover]

4 day Fascination cruise (Key West/Cozumel). My quick review- I LOVED cruising...the ship was very clean, the service was incredible, the food was amazing, the excursions were great, and I was extremely satisfied with my cabin (stayed in V9)- the bedding was extremely comfortable and the balcony, although small was more than adequate...I would definitely cruise Carnival again, although I would also like to try other lines too sometime in the future. I'd say the only things I wasn't crazy about were the fact that it was definitely a spring break cruise (the average age had to be somewhere between 20-25) and eventhough I enjoy parties (I'm only 30 years old), I was looking for more of a leisure cruise and will definitely avoid spring break time in the future. Also eventhough the food and service were above my wildest dreams, I was slightly disappointed in the fact that besides formal night people didn't dress up at all. The capers even stated that "recommended attire was resort casual; no shorts or cutoffs" but I'd say at least 75% of the men were wearing shorts in the dining room. Not a big deal, but if I had a choice I think I'd definitely choose a more formal attire type of dining. (I would love to try QM2 someday!) And lastly, I've had some people who have cruised tell me to not "waste my money on a balcony" since I wouldn't be spending much time in my cabin anyway, and I totally disagree. I don't think I'll ever cruise without a balcony. I definitely took advantage of a lot of the entertainment on the ship but I also spent time each day on my balcony just enjoying being at sea, and sitting out on the pool deck amongst the shoulder to shoulder sunbathers just wouldn't have been nearly as satisfying for me. So if anyone's on the fence- definitely spend a little more for a balcony if you can!

 

Anyway, overall I had a great time and would recommend Carnival to anyone who asked me. I would rank my Fascination cruise somewhere around an 8 out of 10!!!...I also put down a $100 deposit on a future Carnival cruise, so my next cruise will be on Carnival too. I'm just going to try to avoid spring break (which could be tough since we're looking for winter cruises to escape the new england winter)....Anyway, any advice/comments would be appreciated.

 

Thanks.

Glad you had a great time.

 

Where did you do this at? On the ship, as soon as you got back, etc?

 

I never heard of being able to do it on the ship before, that's why I'm asking.

 

 

Bill

[popsec]

Glad you had a great time.

 

Where did you do this at? On the ship, as soon as you got back, etc?

 

I never heard of being able to do it on the ship before, that's why I'm asking.

 

 

Bill

 

The first time I've seen that $100 offer was on the Fascination last week. I went down and asked the purser about the "restrictions". It took awhile for them to figure them out but I finally learned that it can't be combined with the military discount :( so it was no good to us. Otherwise I would have plunked down $100 on a "future" cruise....

[patterson3]

Glad you had a great time.

 

Where did you do this at? On the ship, as soon as you got back, etc?

 

I never heard of being able to do it on the ship before, that's why I'm asking.

 

 

Bill

 

I did it on the ship. On our first night we received a paper with our caper stating if you pay a $100 deposit (to be used on a cruise anytime in the next 18 months) we would receive either a $50 or $100 obc on that cruise (depending on how long the future cruise is)....You just submit the form to the purser. However we couldn't actually make a reservation for a particular cruise- when I asked the purser about that he said I'd need to call (888)-Carnival....

[patterson3]

The first time I've seen that $100 offer was on the Fascination last week. I went down and asked the purser about the "restrictions". It took awhile for them to figure them out but I finally learned that it can't be combined with the military discount :( so it was no good to us. Otherwise I would have plunked down $100 on a "future" cruise....

 

So before this $100 deposit offer did Carnival offer any kind of incentive to book a future cruise while onboard at all?

[waitin4acruise]

Thanks for the review...Check out Crazies cruise on the Conquest would love to have you join us..:D

[LambKnuckles]

Good for you!!! I'm glad you had a great time and thank you for posting a review!!! I remember my first cruise... only a few years ago!! I was hooked...

[S.S.Oceanlover]

So before this $100 deposit offer did Carnival offer any kind of incentive to book a future cruise while onboard at all?

 

Thanks for the info. Before this CCL had nothing like this. No way to do anything onboard for future cruises.

 

We were just on Princess and they have the same kind of deal but you have 4 years to cruise.

 

Bill