Carnival Fascination

[canary1974]

I have never been on a cruise before. I have booked a suite on veranda deck on the Fascination. Has anyone been on this particular ship lately.

Also, we have VIP because we are in a suite, What exactly does that consist of once we get on the ship? Your answers are greatly appreciated.

[Bruuce80]

...my wife and I were on Fascination December of last year for a short 4 days 3 nights cruise and we had a BLAST!!! Our only port of call was Nassau. If memory serves me right I think that we were on the Atlantic Deck. The room was a nice size with a flat screen and nice sized bathroom/shower.

The ship was great. We did the comedy and music shows and spent a lot of time in the casinos. In addition, we partied hard (up until 2am) in the Diamonds are Forever Club. My wife and I thought that the ship staff was great. The people who were on the ship with us made it a lot of fun in that a lot of people participated in the shows and concerts/games on deck. Also, we did not have a lot of children on board because school was still in. I hope that you have as much fun as we did!!!!!

[Travel Angel]

I have never been on a cruise before. I have booked a suite on veranda deck on the Fascination. Has anyone been on this particular ship lately.

Also, we have VIP because we are in a suite, What exactly does that consist of once we get on the ship? Your answers are greatly appreciated.

 

Sounds like you have booked a Category 11 suite... be advised that some of them are partially obstructed views i.e. V23, 25, 27, 34, 38 & 42. And the views are ok, but not great at all. People below can look up to your balcony so the privacy is limited.

 

If the costs for a Cat. 12 suite are within your budget, I would urge you to consider one of those on the Upper Deck..... LARGER staterooms and great location ! :D

 

VIP... well you will get priority embarkation and debarkation and thats about it ! Carnival is not that great when it comes to their VIP status unless a Platinum member !

[southjerseycruiser]

We sailed on the fascination 4/25/08 to nassau in V26 and are going again 7/18/08 in V17 you will love it. VIP just gets you priority boarding which is nice. If your doing nassau youll love it you must see the atlantis, so much to do and see and it has a great casino.

[Travel Angel]

If visiting Nassau and want to get the full effect of all the Atlantis offers, rent a room at the Comfort Suites on Paradise Island and you will have full usage of the Atlantis at lower costs than what the cruiseline charges for a similiar shore excursion. Atlantis has so much to do within it's property than just a casino. The Aquarum is awesome, the pools and water slides, the DIG... it is just an awesome place !

[Curt Jerome Wild]

I have never been on a cruise before. I have booked a suite on veranda deck on the Fascination. Has anyone been on this particular ship lately.

Also, we have VIP because we are in a suite, What exactly does that consist of once we get on the ship? Your answers are greatly appreciated.

 

Click on this thread/link for info, pictures, and reviews of your suite:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=298868

 

Click on this one if you want to check out Category 12s:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?p=6392925

 

[mainer208]

We sailed the FAscination in March 2007 - had a wonderful time and our cabin was on Verandah deck V23. Be very careful about obstructed view cabins since the three cabins behind us were awful and wouldn't have been happy especially since it was pricey for the balcony cabin.

 

I would recommend either upgrade to cat 12 or downgrade to an outside cabin and save quite a bit of $. With a short cruise, I could even live without a balcony and I am a balcony snob.

 

The Fascination is very nice and we enjoyed the upgrades. Enjoy!

[Djptcp]

DH and I sailed on the Fascination on a 7-day S. Caribbean cruise in a Category 12 suite back in the '90's and loved it. We are booked again on the Fascination out of Jacksonville in a Category 11 in v19 and looking forward to it. Since it's only 5 days, we didn't want to go for the added expense of a Cat 12, but I'm sure we'll be happy with the Cat. 11.

 

Contrary to what others have said, if you really want to gamble avoid Atlantis because the table game minimums are quite high and there are very few penny, nickel or quarter slots. DH and I have been to Nassau quite a few times in the past three years and we now only go to Cable Beach's Crystal Palace Casino at the Wyndham Hotel. It's an easy taxi ride for $12 each way or you can take the #10 Jitney for $1 per person each way.

 

We loved Atlantis ten years ago when Paradise Island was still pretty undeveloped and you could use the Atlantis property without having to pay for access as you do now. The Island is so over commercialized now and crowded, it just isn't fun for us anymore. Cable Beach is much less crowded and the Crystal Palace Casino is very nice and has the lower table game minimuns and tons of penny slots.

 

Shopping on Bay Street is great and there is a huge selection of jewelry stores if that interests you. I would comparison shop, though, because I was specifically looking for a type of gold necklace and found it $1,000 cheaper after going into a number of stores!

 

DH and I love Nassau. Have a great cruise!

[canary1974]

We are actually V3 on the veranda deck on the Fascination. So no worries about obstructed views. However, does anyone else have any more pictures. Also, we are going to Cozumel, Mexico...

I have enjoyed everyone's comments. Thanks alot so far....:)

[avp1234]

We are crusing 1st time in Feb. on the Fascination also and trying to plan our Nassau day. We like the beach and like to gamble so I'm thinking about trying to see if Sandals has day passes and going on our own there, and then that evening going to the crystal Palace casino. Thought about Atlantis but I think we would like that better. Does this sound OK and is it safe to go out in Nassau on our own or does someone have a better suggestion. Thanks for any advice.

[KY Transplant]

The Fascination was the first cruise ship I ever sailed on and I was...well...fascinated!

I was completely spellbound the whole 3 days and immediately I became a cruise addict.

The ship was well appointed and well maintained. No complaints from me.

[KY Transplant]

We are crusing 1st time in Feb. on the Fascination also and trying to plan our Nassau day. We like the beach and like to gamble so I'm thinking about trying to see if Sandals has day passes and going on our own there, and then that evening going to the crystal Palace casino. Thought about Atlantis but I think we would like that better. Does this sound OK and is it safe to go out in Nassau on our own or does someone have a better suggestion. Thanks for any advice.

 

The natives will annoy the daylights out of you over putting you in a cab, braiding your hair or selling you some piece of junk but they do that in lots of cruise ports but they will accept no as an answer eventually.

 

Just stay on the main streets and don't let any of the natives talk you into going off the beaten path with them unless they are a licensed tour guide...All tour guides will have Govt. Issued photo ID if they are legit.

 

Atlantis will be a super tour should you decide.

[missdebi]

Is the Cafe On The Way a coffee type area or a Deli? Also if you purchase the Atlantis Beach Day as an excursion from Carnival does this include admission into the water park area?

Debi

[Tapi]

We are actually V3 on the veranda deck on the Fascination. So no worries about obstructed views. However, does anyone else have any more pictures. Also, we are going to Cozumel, Mexico...

I have enjoyed everyone's comments. Thanks alot so far....:)

 

Although you won't have an obstructed view, keep in mind that there are some stairs that lead to an observation deck just a few feet away from your stateroom. Guests walking to this observation deck will have a direct view of you sitting in your balcony, and if you leave the curtains open, a direct view of you inside your stateroom. Also, your suite is located where the ship's motion is most noticeable (higher up, all the way forward).

 

As someone mentioned, if the cost of upgrading to the next category up is not prohibitive, I would encourage you to spend the extra money for a category 12. You will get a stateroom and balcony that are twice as big, walk in closet and jacuzzi tub, complete privacy in your balcony, and a lower deck/midship location which is the best place for motion.

 

No matter what, you will have an awesome time!

[missdebi]

Canary1974 Hi we are also from Wilmington, we enjoy cruising out of Jax it is an easy drive. We are cruising Nov. 1 on the Fascination this will be our 9th.

Debi

[golf43]

Canary1974,

 

I will be on her in about 3 weeks. We decided to get a catagory 12 suite this time. :) There will be 4 of us traveling in a few weeks. Hopefully we will have alittle more room. On her sister ships we always got the Verandah deck catagory 11 suites. They are nice. There were 3 of us traveling when we had the catagory 11. The sleeper sofa our son slept on was small especially since he is almost 6 feet tall. It would be good for a child. We managed though. Our balcony was nice. However we could sit and watch people walk the deck below us. One night I went outside to find a group of teenagers sitting on the deck below us.

[canary1974]

Canary1974 Hi we are also from Wilmington, we enjoy cruising out of Jax it is an easy drive. We are cruising Nov. 1 on the Fascination this will be our 9th.

Debi

Hi Debi,

This is my first actual cruise besides the Little River casino cruises. I am so excited and I joined this site because I wanted to make sure I learned as much as possible."Things to know before you cruise" Very Helpful stuff.

Anyway,that's cool your from wilmington too. What are you close to the mall or one of the beaches? So, you have been on 8 cruises. WOW!!!

I hope I can say that one day. Anything I should know important.

Thanks

C-

[missdebi]

We live close to Monkey Junction, sorry I have been so long in replying but our daughter was married Saturday. We are counting down the days till we leave we absolutly love cruising! It is so relaxing but if you like to be active there is more in a day than you can do. Our daughter is going to Sandles in the Bahamas for 8 days I am anxious to see how she likes the all-inclusive because we do want to try that also.

Debi