All Things Fantasy

I have always considered that this thread has dissolved into basically an "all things Charleston" thread, the port issues, the parking, the really weird queue lines to get to the ship,

 

Alas, the Carnival Ecstacy will be repositioned here 'with balcony staterooms' when the Fantasy repositions to Miami. How cool is that!

 

So I am at least jumping ship and joining the Ecstasy thread TTFN :D

I agree..... I believe this has been the most active "all things" thread of any ship. Maybe once we can revive the ecstasy thread lol.

Fantasy will still be here (in Charleston) for months so don't go "jumping ship" just yet!

Hello we leave on the fantasy this coming Monday. This will be the third time for our family on this same cruise, bc we have had smaller children and wanted to avoid flying until they are a little older. What will be the earliest time we can get into the port? The last time I thought they opened around 9 am so I always want to be sure. Also, what is the latest price for the parking structure at the port for a 5 day cruise? Does anyone who has been on lately remember a bartender by the name of Prem or Prim? He was on our last two cruises and while unlikely, we are hoping to see him at least one more time. He was incredible and was a joy to talk to about his life experiences. Finally, can anyone throw out some under the radar fun things to do at either of our bahamas ports? We generally do Junkanoo beach and will walk around the straw market etc.. Atlantis never really did it for us. I personally love walking around the streets around the straw market however thats generally after my wife and kids have gone back on ship. I love taking in the culture, walking around drinking a bahamian beer and seeing what I can find. Any replies are welcomed!!!!!

We went to the John waitlings rum distillery. It was a short walk up a small hill but it was very nice. And great scenery. You were welcomed with a small taste of their piña colada then there was a small tour then you could get souvenirs and something to drink after. 3 different rums to taste which were generous since you have to walk back to the ship!

While I love the Fantasy and I have sailed her 4 times I am excited about a different choice out of Charleston!!!:D Can't wait to book the Ecstasy!!!

April which port was this rum distillery? And what was the pricing and duration of the trip? Mouche I was under the impression that the Elation was basically the same ship and am pretty sure its in the same class? Do you have any more info on that? Also I would like to get some of my prescriptions refilled for cheaper prices does anyone know of the pharmacies in the Bahamas? Also we will have a large group and would love to meet up w any and all to enjoy our trip! We will probably end up at Junkanoo beach as well since we had such a great time last time along with our kids. We have a 5 year old daughter and 9 year old son plus our group has quite a few other children as well who are all excited to try and meet some new friends and playmates for the week!!!

My daughter lives in Charleston and we have always wished for another ship there. We are not Fantasy fans, but have sailed her because it was so convenient. We are balcony people so we are happy there will be a ship there with balconies.

April which port was this rum distillery? And what was the pricing and duration of the trip? Mouche I was under the impression that the Elation was basically the same ship and am pretty sure its in the same class? Do you have any more info on that? Also I would like to get some of my prescriptions refilled for cheaper prices does anyone know of the pharmacies in the Bahamas? Also we will have a large group and would love to meet up w any and all to enjoy our trip! We will probably end up at Junkanoo beach as well since we had such a great time last time along with our kids. We have a 5 year old daughter and 9 year old son plus our group has quite a few other children as well who are all excited to try and meet some new friends and playmates for the week!!!

John Whatley Distillery is in Nassau. You can walk there from the pier, but I don't recommend it. Part of the walk is in "dicey" neighborhoods. You can take a taxi for a few dollars. You will only spend and hour or so there. We plan to go back on our next cruise.

Sounds good butter bean. Are there alpt of big differences on the elation? I have found so many inconsistencies as far as the 2.0 upgrades that I found myself having more fun on an older ship the the glory out of Norfolk a few years back bc it has almost all of the upgrades than I did on my second time on the mich nicer and newer carnival dream that did not have nearly the cool upgrades I was hoping for. Does anyone know if the fantasy will have the 100 oz beers? Having a large group we completely take advantage ofnthose.

I cannot remember the parking prices either for the port. The website said 17 dollars per day but im hoping and if I remember correctly they would give you a flat rate for cruises. Any ideas?

Hello we leave on the fantasy this coming Monday. This will be the third time for our family on this same cruise, bc we have had smaller children and wanted to avoid flying until they are a little older. What will be the earliest time we can get into the port? The last time I thought they opened around 9 am so I always want to be sure. Also, what is the latest price for the parking structure at the port for a 5 day cruise? Does anyone who has been on lately remember a bartender by the name of Prem or Prim? He was on our last two cruises and while unlikely, we are hoping to see him at least one more time. He was incredible and was a joy to talk to about his life experiences. Finally, can anyone throw out some under the radar fun things to do at either of our bahamas ports? We generally do Junkanoo beach and will walk around the straw market etc.. Atlantis never really did it for us. I personally love walking around the streets around the straw market however thats generally after my wife and kids have gone back on ship. I love taking in the culture, walking around drinking a bahamian beer and seeing what I can find. Any replies are welcomed!!!!!

Straight from the website:

The vehicle storage fee chart for standard size vehicles up to 20 feet length: $17.00 per day

• 4 day - $68.00
  
• 5 day - $85.00
  
• 6 day - $102.00
  
• 7 day - $119.00
  

http://www.port-of-charleston.com/cruises/passengers/vehicle_storage.asp

If parking at the port usually you can get in line around 10:30ish to 11am. You will be able to drop off checked luggage and then... WAIT... Sometimes parking starts around noon and sometimes later. Last May we took some "mixed" refreshments and once in line had a couple while waiting. People not parking seem to be able to enter the terminal a bit earlier and although we are Plat. the ship was "open" by the time we got thru check-in and we went right to our cabins.

I cannot say if Prim is still there, great guy though.

I find that now with so much at the pier in GBI that we just stay, enjoy some cold ones and have fun on an empty ship.

OH and GET some Flowers for Sunday!!!!

Have a wonderful cruise!

Awesome thank you so much for the details. I could only find a pdf that showed the 17 an day. I hope Prim is still there or maybe that I could find his social media contact just to tell him hello. The group of us guys like to walk around after the straw market and check enjoy the culture.

Bob will you be on this cruise? You seem familiar with the stops. Any other things you would recommend that are kinda odd the radar?

Bob will you be on this cruise? You seem familiar with the stops. Any other things you would recommend that are kinda odd the radar?

No, not on the cruise, just been on so many to Freeport and Nassau, plus I've vacationed on GBI(Freeport) several times.

Be careful outside of "tourist" areas on both islands, be very nice to all. In Nassau near the pier is a "grocery" store that also has a basic pharmacy for OTC stuff that may not be in the US. It also has 6 packs of cokes (drinks) for around $3-4... much better than onboard. All kinds of neat stuff in there.

The $3 "ferry" ride over to Atlantis can be a bit hairy but for 3 bucks you get a view of the area from the water and heck 3 bucks brings you back, you don't have to stay... I doubt they care if you bring a few brews for the ride. You can stay for a bit and there are shops to look thru at/near Atlantis and you can go into the casino.

As for Freeport - well going anywhere except the port is in a cab... as you know. There is a great little shack that serves fried lobster and conch fritters (wish I could remember the name!) - it's right across from the stage... gallon of water is 2 bucks (or was last year). The other bar, not Senor Frogs, behind the stage, has free wifi for the price of a drink... There is a restaurant inside the port area on the ocean that is noted for feeding sharks their leftovers, so don't wander over there and go swimming! You can see it as the ship comes in/leaves the port.

Hope this helps...

Awesome thanks a lot for the info

We didn't have any problem walking to the distillery in February. On every corner there were police. Just getting past the port area was crazy with people bombarding you to take the taxi tours or horse rides. We never felt scared that day.

I'm going to post this question on the port forum also but hope someone who's been to Freeport lately can give me some advice. In Freeport I want to go to a good swimming beach (no rocky or slimy bottom!!) and my husband wants good snorkeling (either from the beach or the beach offering a boat to reef or such). Any suggestion is greatly appreciated!

We didn't have any problem walking to the distillery in February. On every corner there were police. Just getting past the port area was crazy with people bombarding you to take the taxi tours or horse rides. We never felt scared that day.

Glad to hear it... Nassau goes thru periods when violent crime is up and then the police get a handle on it and are everywhere... then things are cool and fine... then the upswing begins anew. Sounds like a good time now. But as always remember that the Bahamas is not a Disney-world ride and that bad people can be right around the corner. It is another country and not the US.

On a note about the horse rides... WOW that can be an "odd" experience. We did it years ago and thought it was going to be our last trip anywhere. The ride was basically the horse galloping thru downtown, the driver SHOUTING here is this, and here is that site as we flew by... kids and old folks scattering as he jumped onto the sidewalk to bypass some stalled traffic... all the while asking us whether we wanted some "smoke". It took all of 10 minutes and as we did a 2 wheel turn (us almost falling out the other side) into the stable area with a 100' slide all the while the driver yelling STOPPA -STOPPA - STOPPA... We got out and would have kissed the ground but for the shall we say pungent aroma that caused the slide. He then wanted a "tip" to which I commented "find another job!"...

Fantasy will still be here (in Charleston) for months so don't go "jumping ship" just yet!

We booked a B2B on Fantasy in February 2016 for the five day and the following seven day to Amber Cove but we have to change ships :eek:

We're still waiting for information from the circus "Carnival" to see just how that will work.

My DW says "we'll just walk around the market for 'a while' until we're ready to board". I had to remind her that it was FEBRUARY the coldest month in SC of all of them.

I can't believe you booked a B2b and now have to change ships. How crazy! I also can't figure out the logistics of it. I guess they will unload Fantasy and then it will depart without passengers and they will have Ecstasy just lurking out in the harbor waiting to dock and take embarking passengers? It just doesn't seem like the Charleston facilities are equipped to handle that. Btw, it looks like Fantasy is headed straight to dry dock that day as it is a couple of weeks after that before it makes its first sailing from Miami. I am going to miss her...I sailed her in 1994 and 2013 and some in between!

Another thing I can't figure out is how will the Charleston facilities handle the Ecstasy and Sunshine both being departed at the same time? Where will they park all the cars? I thought for sure that the Fantasy and Ecstasy would be in dry dock or repositioning during those Sunshine sailings. But that is not the case. Granted, embarkation days are not the same, but they will still have cars for 5000 people instead of 2000 people. I know the maze area is actually parking, but if they use it for parking, then the car backup is going to be to Mt. Pleasant! As if the locals weren't unhappy enough! I am looking into one of those Sunshine sailings but can only envision a nightmare with the departure. It is also going to take 50% longer to get 3000 people off a ship instead of 2000 people. I can see embarkation being much later than normal.

Wow, I sound like a real Debbie Downer! Didn't mean to...they are just things I wonder about!

We booked a B2B on Fantasy in February 2016 for the five day and the following seven day to Amber Cove but we have to change ships :eek:

 

We're still waiting for information from the circus "Carnival" to see just how that will work.

 

My DW says "we'll just walk around the market for 'a while' until we're ready to board". I had to remind her that it was FEBRUARY the coldest month in SC of all of them.

It will still be in at least the 60's probably. Not too cold, unless you're used to Florida weather.

If I remember right when the swapped elation and fantasy in Mobile both ships where there at the same time. When the fantasy disembarked all her guest the elation pulled up and started boarding new guest. So maybe the same will happen this time.

It will still be in at least the 60's probably. Not too cold, unless you're used to Florida weather.

It CAN be in the 60's.. it can also be barely above freezing as it was much of this past winter. We have had several very cold winters recently, well cold for Charleston that is.

I've seen pictures posted with what looks like 3 bed layouts in interior Fantasy

cabins......

L- shape with one bed on "exterior" wall and the other against another wall. This layout looks like there is a dead space under the TV shelf??

As a King running parallel with deck hallway just past the desk.

As singles with bedside table between them.

Can you request a certain configuration? The only choice I saw when I booked was either together or apart.

Oh man, I had typed up a nice description of bed configurations and I guess I didn't hit submit and when I came back to it, my login had timed out! So here goes again. We just got off Fantasy in an inside cabin which is exactly the same size and setup as an oceanview. We always put our beds in an L shape to make the room more spacious and allow my husband to easily plug in his CPAP into the one outlet. There is some dead space under the shelf. We put our chair and a suitcase over there. We even had my daughter's trundle set up so that the 3 beds were in a U shape and it was still very spacious.

You can ask the steward to set them up however you want. When we arrived they had a king and the trundle and you could hardly step into the cabin. I asked him to split them into twins and put in a U shape . He split the beds but did not U them. So we moved them ourselves. No problem. If you don't mind sleeping separately, I highly recommend the L shape. When we cruised with a big family group a couple of years ago, every time someone would come in our cabin they would be like...look how great this cabin is! It is all in the way you configure it !