Carnival Fascination review. No pics, just thoughts on the ship.

Disclaimer: These are my opinions based on our experience. Your mileage may vary.

I just got off the Fascination on Sunday. It was myself and my two teen boys, 14 and 16. This was our first cruise together without Mom (divorced).

The ship is small but we loved it. There were plenty of food places and they made good use of space. For example the omelet station becomes the Mongolian Wok in the afternoon. The kids had just been on Norwegian Breakaway to Bermuda and commented that it was big but crowded. We did not have any problems with crowds. There was lots of space, lots of chairs etc. You can tell the ship is old by some of the mechanical/metal stuff you see. But from the decor everything was clean and as good as the Dream (the only other newer ship I've been on). Kids thought the theater looked dated. But I thought it was the same as others.

The food was great. I love the options Carnival offers. We had the buffet a couple times. We did the deli and the pizza, the Wok and the grill. Not a complaint about any of them. The MDR we had a table for 11. We sat with a nice Mom and her son and a Filipino family of 6 that were super nice people. We did not do elegant night as we didn't pack for it. We did notice that people on this ship were dressed very well even on casual night. I felt underdressed in cargo shorts and a polo. I recall Stinger's review that mentioned slow service. We got to MDR at 6 each evening and we were done with dessert by 7:15. We had baked potatoes and they always brought around the sour cream with bacon and we never had to ask. Our waiters (team of 3) seemed really happy and their smiles seemed genuine. They didn't seem as overworked as the waiter we had on Valor a few years ago (same itinerary).

I did not see a decline in the food quality. The portion sizes may be a bit smaller but I'm not sure. We had so many meals it didn't really matter if they were smaller. The Prime Rib could have been better quality. But it was served on a casual night, which surprised me. The ribs also served on casual night. So that made us happy. They are very good BBQ ribs.

The ports are great and you will be tired by the end of the cruise.

The comedy club was good. It's obviously hit or miss with the comedians. The first half of the week they were just okay. The second half guys were really good. We only did family comedy. I saw one adult comedy by myself (Joey Vega). His family show was actually a bit better.

Piano bar had a guy named Craig. He was pretty good. My only complaint for him was that his humor was done more by making fun of songs and singing them in silly ways. I've had much funnier pianists on other ships that did a really good job singing and playing and kept the humor separate from the songs (obviously with some exceptions. Craig did impress me by playing Mr. Crowley by Ozzy when I jokingly requested Black Sabbath. The biggest issue in the piano bar is that it isn't a bar. There is no bartender and no booze. There will be a waiter hanging out in a room in back. He won't come around often and you may have to go around and call him out while he is washing dishes or some other task. It kind of stinks when you can't get a drink at the piano bar.

Drinks are a bit pricey. Even the fruity drinks that are mostly juice are like $12 once tip is added in. Beer prices are reasonable considering they are mostly 16 oz so on par with what I pay at home. I didn't do Cheers. My kids had bottomless bubbles. One kid used it enough but the other has apparently stopped drinking so much soda and I lost money on him. LOL Since this ship is in port so much Cheers and Soda card are something to decide for yourself. I did see people at the bar in the comedy club that hit their 15.

I got my kids the chat plan on the Hub App. We hardly used it as we were together most of the time. I also saw later that the Social Media plan was only $35 for the cruise so I got them that. I don't know if the chat would have been included in that but they didn't refund that to me. But the kids were really happy with the plan they got.

We did not care for the theater shows (I've got another thread on that). We went to most of them for something to do. But Motown is so old we've seen it 4 times and the songs are way too old to still have as a main show. Divas, same opinion. The singers for our cruise had voices better suited for Motown than Divas. My kids said they were horrible singers. I didn't think they were that bad. The gender showdown game had like 12 people show up. Time to retire that. Love and Marriage show is 18+ so we didn't go but that's a dated show as well. Hasbro game show was boring to us. Overall opinion is you can kill time at the shows but they aren't really gonna impress you. Just something to do. There was one comedian that had his show in the theater and he was really good. But he could have been in the comedy club no problem. We missed the juggler act as we were in the comedy club when that was on.

One complaint we had about the ship was they disregarded a broken chair that we showed them multiple times. My son hurt his tailbone when he went to sit on a padded chair at a booth in the buffet area near the deli. The chair pad was not attached and it slipped out from under him and he fell into the metal structure under it. He is fine, just a few days of pain and a bruise. My concern is that it took us 3 days and telling 5 different crew members about it before it was fixed. We went to guest services and they said someone would look at it. We showed crew members near the chair the problem and they said it would be fixed. They even called someone and stayed there until we left. But the next day, it was still not attached. It wasn't until we found a guy in an officer type uniform at the head of the buffet that it was actually fixed. He mentioned that there were "a few of them like that". Anyhow if they know this is a problem they should be checking them all and fixing them. We did come across 2 more during the cruise with the same issue. The larger chairs won't slip off easily, but the small end cushions do. A normal teen or adult won't get hurt badly but I can imagine a senior or smaller child getting a good bump or scratch or possibly worse.

Trivia games near the coffee shop were the usual. Entertaining to waste some time between meals. :) We won a ship on a stick in a tie with another group for Rock Trivia. We didn't do so well in other categories. LOL

Any questions I'd be glad to answer if I know.

Oh, one other really interesting meal thing. On the last night the waiter came to our table with a big bowl of small pork ribs. He was asking the woman next to us if she would like to try. That was when our Filipino friends explained to me that they requested a special Filipino dish that night. It was Pork in Adobo. We all tried some and it was really good. Later they served the family this dish over rice. I found it very interesting that they were able to order a dish not on any menu and it was made for them. They were such an awesome family and I'm very glad we sat with them.

Glad you had a good time. And I'm surprised it took Carnival so long to address the seat issue.

Interesting they made a special dish on request.

Happy sailing!

Enjoyed your review and sounds like you enjoyed the sailing.

Keith

Yeah the seat issue was weird. It became like an activity for us to go see if it was fixed.

A few other notes that I just thought of. The ship being small does have more motion than I am used to on a Caribbean cruise. We were on Deck 11, all the way forward so we had quite a bit of rocking. My older son got seasick one night. None of us has ever been seasick before. But luckily I brought pills for this just in case and they resolved the issue and worked for the rest of the cruise. Something was always loud at about 8 AM above us. Banging and moving stuff. It was either deck chairs on Serenity being placed or maybe the gym was up there. I was always awake by then anyhow and the kids could sleep through a nuclear blast so it wasn't an issue for us.

My birthday was on Monday. About Wednesday they left me a gift card for the Spa for $50. Completely useless for me and I couldn't find anyone to give it to. I checked out the products they sold just to see if maybe something the kids could give to Mom or something. The cheapest thing they had was a bottle of lotion that literally looks and smells like Johnson's baby lotion for $75. LOL, no thanks.

Also as 3 males we were very happy to skip pictures, much to the chagrin of the photographers trying to get us to pose all over the place (we did get one 8X10 of the boys for their mom). We also did not go into any gift shops on board or on shore (except to cool off for a few minutes). It was really a wonderful experience not waiting around for the women to shop or trying to get the perfect pictures. I also came home with cash in my pocket. :D

Thanks for the review!

That is a great review! We are sailing on this ship October 1, 2017. Cant wait!!

Can you tell me what time you were able to check in and what time you were able to board? Our hotel has an eleven o'clock check out and it would be great if we could just go straight to the ship. We have FTTF, and I realize that we can arrive before our assigned time.

Thanks for the review. Sailing on her next year after dry dock. Do the still have the liquor store in the terminal available after check in.

Cruisin 07,when is your cruise ? We cruise 2/25/18.

Little Yia Yia Sep 2018. Long wait.

Thanks for the very honest review. I have to give credit to the staff members who continue to do the same game shows over and over. I only have to watch them 1x per year, but they have to run them every week. yikes. With CD's on each ship, can't they pool their ideas and come up with something new? Good for Mom, she gets a nice portrait of the boys and you come out ahead $$!

Great short but sweet review!! I love reading people's experiences and comparing to the ones that I had. Lucky you that dinner service was quick on your sailing. I have since laid blame on our week being the first one with the American Table menu. It took them a while to get in sync with new dishes, timing, etc. But like you said, the food was spot on! Thanks for sharing your experience and if you remember anything else, please post!

Can you tell me what time you were able to check in and what time you were able to board? Our hotel has an eleven o'clock check out and it would be great if we could just go straight to the ship. We have FTTF, and I realize that we can arrive before our assigned time.

We left our hotel and got to the ship at 11:00ish. Our time to check in was 1 PM so we made the mistake of having a gross meal at Señor Frogs. It was a huge waste of money. Anyhow we got to the check in a few minutes before noon. It literally took 5 minutes. No line at all. We were able to go right on board. Our room was not ready until 1:30 but getting on early was not a problem and was super fast.

Thanks for the review. Sailing on her next year after dry dock. Do the still have the liquor store in the terminal available after check in.

They were selling liquor as we walked to security. I don't recall an actual store. But we were through the terminal so fast I may not have even noticed.

One other thing I remembered just now. I would not recommend sailing with 3 in a cabin if it has a trundle bed. We had this tiny bed that actually had to be put a bit under the counter. It was like 3 inches from the floor and the mattress was about 3 inches thick (it was certainly thicker when new but it was very old and crushed). I took this bed since I wanted my teens to be comfortable. I didn't really sleep very well. Not sure I can blame sleep on the bed alone, or having a few cocktails, or just not being home. But it was definitely not a way I'd sail again.

I keep remembering things. Seems like I have a lot of complaints. But really they are all small issues that didn't ruin the cruise. I had a great and friendly cabin steward. When I boarded he asked me if I wanted morning or evening service. He did not give me a card to fill out. He did not offer both. I asked for morning and that towels be checked in the evening. He gave me his card and suggested I call him if I needed anything. He never checked towels at night. I am not a person that is going to call for things, especially since we could have used towels almost every night (lots of excursions to beaches). We just made sure to hang our towels to use again if needed. But I do think this is a lower level of service for the same gratuities.

Thanks for the review and your quick response to my question. This is our favorite itinerary and we love Puerto Rico.

Nice review. I love the older ships. They are a great value usually if you don't have to have the bells and whistles of the ropes course, etc. About the same cabin, food, and nightly entertainment as the newer ones.

Yes, as others have mentioned, thank you for your thoughts on Fascination. We've done this itinerary twice fairly recently (Valor in 2013, and Liberty in 2015) and it is, hands down, our favorite Caribbean itinerary offered by Carnival. I have to admit it, but I was one of the ones who was initially disappointed when Carnival decided to replace Liberty in San Juan with Fascination, since Fascination was an older, smaller ships. But thanks to reviews like yours I have changed my mind. I've seen more comments about Fascination not feeling as crowded and the lines don't seem as long as on the newer/larger ships. That, right there, is a big draw for me. I am wanting to do this itinerary again, and am actually twisting DH's arm to do this one again, on Fascination, in 2018. The arm twisting worked for our Liberty cruise. :) Thank you for taking the time to share your thoughts.

thanks for the review.glad you and the boys enjoyed the cruise.

Yes, as others have mentioned, thank you for your thoughts on Fascination. We've done this itinerary twice fairly recently (Valor in 2013, and Liberty in 2015) and it is, hands down, our favorite Caribbean itinerary offered by Carnival. I have to admit it, but I was one of the ones who was initially disappointed when Carnival decided to replace Liberty in San Juan with Fascination, since Fascination was an older, smaller ships. But thanks to reviews like yours I have changed my mind. I've seen more comments about Fascination not feeling as crowded and the lines don't seem as long as on the newer/larger ships. That, right there, is a big draw for me. I am wanting to do this itinerary again, and am actually twisting DH's arm to do this one again, on Fascination, in 2018. The arm twisting worked for our Liberty cruise. :) Thank you for taking the time to share your thoughts.

You are very welcome. I did Valor on this itinerary a while back also. Didn't even realize Liberty did it between Valor and Fascination. I specifically wanted to go on the Calabaza Catamaran again in Barbados so that was a big reason for picking this cruise. I would do this size ship again no problem. It really was nice and while a bit smaller, they had almost all the same food places and shows. I think it's also going to dry dock next year and may get a few updates.

Great review and on point with the important things! One question about the rooms you mentioned they offered morning or evening but not both this was the first time I had read that both was not an option. I enjoy an afternoon nap and a shower before dinner so clean towels are a must for me. Does anyone have anything to add to the room cleaning choices? I would be willing to tip extra to get my "turn down" service.

You are very welcome. I did Valor on this itinerary a while back also. Didn't even realize Liberty did it between Valor and Fascination. I specifically wanted to go on the Calabaza Catamaran again in Barbados so that was a big reason for picking this cruise. I would do this size ship again no problem. It really was nice and while a bit smaller, they had almost all the same food places and shows. I think it's also going to dry dock next year and may get a few updates.

Care to tell us about Calabaza Catamaran? I looked them up and they look interesting. A bit pricey. What makes them worth it? I assume quality of service, but I'd like your opinion.

I see a promo/discount code when you check out. Do you know where to get one?

thanks!

Good review. Fascination always holds a special place for me it was our first cruise. Despite all the newer and bigger ships my wife and I both think this was still our favorite, not sure if its the boat or nostalgia but we love it.

Care to tell us about Calabaza Catamaran? I looked them up and they look interesting. A bit pricey. What makes them worth it? I assume quality of service, but I'd like your opinion.

I see a promo/discount code when you check out. Do you know where to get one?

 

thanks!

The biggest thing for me on Calabaza is the service. They have an open bar and are very great about making sure you have a drink when you need one. They only have 12 people on the Catamaran and 3 staff. Service is exceptional. They serve a few items/snacks at breakfast including fresh fruit, banana bread and fried fish dough things. They take you snorkeling over a reef and then with sea turtles (if the turtles happen to be around). The serve a great lunch. They also take lots of pictures and put them on a website for download for free. They didn't even mention a tip or have a tip bucket when getting off the boat. Although I still tip them ~20% because they were so good. I've honestly never felt so good about an excursion. Most others just seem to be all about separating you from your money. This one you just pay up front and they give you everything you could ask.

I've never seen a promo or discount so not sure on that.