Carnival Fascination - Bahamas

[mitaha]

Anyone cruised Carnival Fascination to the Bahamas, lately? We are cruising October 9, 2008. I would like to know what to to expect. I know this ship was recently refurbished. This will be MY first cruise, however my husband and his son sailed on two other cruises several years ago. (Not with Carnival). We are in our 40's with 4 kids, (ages 5-20). Please give me any tips for having a good time and what to look for. We don't drink many alcholic beverages but love music. If you have any public pics please share.

 

 

 

 

[TY31088]

Anyone cruised Carnival Fascination to the Bahamas, lately? We are cruising October 9, 2008. I would like to know what to to expect. I know this ship was recently refurbished. This will be MY first cruise, however my husband and his son sailed on two other cruises several years ago. (Not with Carnival). We are in our 40's with 4 kids, (ages 5-20). Please give me any tips for having a good time and what to look for. We don't drink many alcholic beverages but love music. If you have any public pics please share.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Hey!

We will be on the same cruise, myself, wife, son, and my mom.

I am not too fond of the Bahamas, I am not a beach person so I can't say much about that. This will be my first time on the Fascination, went on the Celebration earlier this year.

 

This time I think we might check out the Pirate museum in Nassau. We have been to Nassau twice, went to the casino at Atlantis, it was neat to see and gambled a bit with no luck while wife and son walked around the grounds some. We checked out the aquarium, the free part you can see near the hotel lobby, it was fun to see and if you go outside you can see the surface, I enjoyed that but won't make a trip over there to see it again. We took the water taxi it's was around $3 per person each way but the boat is pretty small holds maybe 30 folks and they really pack you in. The guy kept telling folks to move to the front, move to the front, and some French family acted like they didn't speak English, finally one of the French girls went and sat in the Captains seat and gave a big sh*t-eating grin. We had to wait 15-20 minutes it till the boat filled to the max. Then you get to hear some other guy tell you about Nassau during the trip and he will tell you he works only for tips and at the end he presents his hat to each person for a tip. It's not too bad just expect this kinda crap.

 

When you get to Nassau 50 million cab and horse guys will offer you a ride and you will here "hey pretty lady how bout I braid your hair" from the women .

 

To me Nassau is like a dirty downtown area in any large American city.

 

One the positive side it will make you thankfull to be American. I found this to be a GREAT time to go to the ships pool, not crowded at that time.

 

I saw some pretty good reviews for the Ardastra Gardens (sp?) perhaps someone will tell about it. I don't want to take a cab and I not sure if it's close enough to walk to.

 

Hopefully others will give us both some good ideas on things to do.

 

Enjoy the cruise.

[mitaha]

Thanks for the reply! We have been looking into Ardastra Gardens as well, so I do hope we can get some comments on this one too. It looks like a really cool place. We also thought about the Pirates Museum but the more I read on the posts, I have found that most people said it wasn't worth the money. I have a son that is 5 and he is really into Pirates so we may still go anyway.

[DqALEX]

I hope to take this cruise next August. Jax Port is not a bad drive for me from NJ

[travelntreats]

We will be on the Sept. 29th sailing and was aboard the Celebration on one of her last cruises. You will love sailing out of JAX.... for us a short 2 hr. drive and despite the less than interesting itinerary Nassau and Key West (better than Freeport but not as good as HMC), for the price.... I cant see how bad it could be ! The ship is getting rave reviews and when they complete the Exoultions refit I am sure the sailings will become even more popular. Personally I experienced the "WaterWorks" on the Inspiration and was less than impressed..... looked like a cheap state fair....I am glad it will not have been included yet on the Fascination when we board.

 

Nassau.... so much to see but yes... get ready to be hounded by the locals for sure. The Pirates Museum is great and I think your 5 year old will love it. Have a GREAT CRUISE !

[happycruiser201]

There is a tread on here that is probably 8 pages long with some pictures and all kinds of info. Look for the title all things Fascination.

[DanusLight]

I saw some pretty good reviews for the Ardastra Gardens (sp?) perhaps someone will tell about it. I don't want to take a cab and I not sure if it's close enough to walk to.

 

Thanks for the reply! We have been looking into Ardastra Gardens as well, so I do hope we can get some comments on this one too.

We had a good afternoon spent at Ardastra Gardens. I have a few pics here. My son's pics are here.

 

We took a taxi to the gardens. I think if you wanted to walk it would probably take about 30 mins. Upon leaving the ladies in the gift shop/exit area will be more than happy to call a taxi for you.

 

Enjoy with whatever you decide!

[cruiseawaits]

Anyone cruised Carnival Fascination to the Bahamas, lately? We are cruising October 9, 2008. I would like to know what to to expect. I know this ship was recently refurbished. This will be MY first cruise, however my husband and his son sailed on two other cruises several years ago. (Not with Carnival). We are in our 40's with 4 kids, (ages 5-20). Please give me any tips for having a good time and what to look for. We don't drink many alcholic beverages but love music. If you have any public pics please share.

 

 

 

 

Hi,

 

We'll also be joining you on this cruise. This will be our 8th Carnival cruise. First one alone with my DH. Have always had 3 sons, friends of theirs and other couples. Looking forward to a quick get away. We are doing the Atlantis via Comfort Suites reservation. I have wanted to get an upclose and personal visit to the Atlantis, and this cruise is allowing for that. Not too sure what we will do in Freeport. Have been there before. And not that it was a bad experience, just not particularly a memorable one. Went to the Westin/Sheraton beach in Port Lucaya and did the market across the street. We may just stay onboard and enjoy the ship(maybe the spa???). Whatever we decide to do, I am looking forward to it. 18 days(who's counting?)!!!!!

[cruiseapril]

Ardastra Gardens is a good excursion, but the walk can be hot and dusty! Best to take a taxi or bus.

[NCTribeFan]

Here's the All Things Fascination thread...

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=826275

 

Check out the Bahamas board in the Ports of Call section.

 

Personally, I like Nassau. I'll be there for the 4th time in December, when I sail the Fascination.

 

The vendors don't "hound" you if you simply say "no thank you" and keep walking.

 

And I have no problem with Freeport, either, even though the ships dock in <gasp> an industrial shipping port!

 

There's plenty to do in all ports of call. Just depends on what interests you.

 

Webshots is a good site to find pics. I was just browsing through some yesterday.

[mitaha]

Right... who's counting! Thank you all for your posts! I will try Webshots for some pics....