Thoughts on the Fascination

I’ve never been on a ship smaller than the Conquest class. I’m looking at a future cruise on the Fascination and am looking for personal reviews from those who’ve been on this ship. Also, does anyone know if it’s gotten the Fun 2.0 upgrades or is schedule for dry dock any time soon?

We just got off the fascination on Thursday. It does have a few of the 2.0 features but did not get the full package. It does have the water works and updated decor on the Lido deck, but none of the food venues. The cruise was great. You should enjoy it. Not sure what conquest class is but we have done the Valor and Glory. Those are our favorite ships.

We never had a issue trying to get seats at the pool or serenity deck on the fascination.

We love the Fascination. Smaller, easy to get around, very friendly crew.

You need to adjust your expectations, but if you go with the right attitude you should have a great time.

Tip: Early in the cruise few people discover the 2 outdoor dining decks in the very aft of the Lido, one on each side ...

I love the Fascination. The port is very easy to get to. Parking is easy. Also lots of hotels around with free parking and free shuttle. The one thing I didn't like is there are no sofa's in the ocean views or balconies, or at least none I have stayed in. I think only suites have sofa's. I still sail on her but just don't bother with ocean views or balconies. I do like sofa's. The staff is great. Debarkation was always good.

The fascination was my first cruise and it is my favorite ship out of the 2 I've sailed on! The decor is toned down for Joe Farcus, and everything, at least on mine, was perfect. When you are booking your stateroom, if you do so happen get a balcony, room E253 is amazing as it is the farthest aft side balcony and there is a little corridor to get to it so no noise outside of the room!

I don't know how big the Conquest is & I haven't been on the Fascination yet (can let you know when I get back on Dec 5) but I love small ships.

I can't imagine being on a mega-ship, some of them have more people than our hometown!!!

Our second cruise was on the Fantasy - which was great - and the Fascination is the same class, so I'm assuming it'll be pretty similar.

We're very much looking forward to our cruise in just a few weeks on the Fascination.

Next April we're hopping on the Ecstasy, which I think is a little older than the Fascination, but the same class again.

Carnival has never disappointed, so I'm sure this'll be a great cruise too!

Tip: Early in the cruise few people discover the 2 outdoor dining decks in the very aft of the Lido, one on each side ...

I agree... This is my favorite spot on Fascination. I often had an early morning tea or coffee here, with no one else around. It wad sort of like having my own super-sized aft balcony :D

We are leaving out on her tomorrow :) for what will be our third. No guys or Blue Iguana but it is still a great "little" ship - that's still the size of a floating resort.

We just got off the fascination on Thursday. We had a great cruise and Robin the cruise director was great. They bring some of the evening shows out into the main lobby at the end and party out there for a little bit. Easy to get on and off. We really enjoyed it. I have a review started under fascination semi live review. I will be doing day 5 today.

I love the Fascination. The port is very easy to get to. Parking is easy. Also lots of hotels around with free parking and free shuttle. The one thing I didn't like is there are no sofa's in the ocean views or balconies, or at least none I have stayed in. I think only suites have sofa's. I still sail on her but just don't bother with ocean views or balconies. I do like sofa's. The staff is great. Debarkation was always good.

Hmmm... I thought we had a sofa (that converted to a bed) in an OV cabin on the Fascination on the last few times we cruised on her?:confused:

I am pretty sure any cabins with connecting cabins, only had a chair. Since I have CRS I can't be sure about the sofa though in the other OV cabins....:D:D

I will search through my pics and see what I turn up for the Fascination's OV cabins.:)

Hmmm... I thought we had a sofa (that converted to a bed) in an OV cabin on the Fascination on the last few times we cruised on her?

 

I am pretty sure any cabins with connecting cabins, only had a chair. Since I have CRS I can't be sure about the sofa though in the other OV cabins...

 

I will search through my pics and see what I turn up for the Fascination's OV cabins.:)

At first, when I read your response, I thought we had a sofa bed too... I had to look it up on my review to discover we did not. We had a non-connecting oceanview on the main deck - no sofa. Here is a quote from my review with cabin pics.

We were able to go to our cabins at 1:30 p.m. They did not make an announcement at the time, but we were told upon boarding. We were in M147. I forgot how small the cabins are on the Fantasy class ships! It was cozy though. I noticed the hallways are MUCH wider than on the newer ships, thus sacrificing cabin space.

 

So, DH, DS and I shared this space:

 

 

 

 

The bathroom was also significantly smaller with much less shelf space for goodies. This is one time an over-the-door shoe hanger would come in handy...

 

 

 

Thank you so much for all your responses?

I too love the back deck for breakfast in the mornings! Our other favorite is to head out to the Serenity deck after dinner and relax in the hot tubs watching the view from the back of the ship until they close up the hot tubs for the night.

Fascination is a fabulous little ship. She does not have a lot of the bells and whistles but is the perfect size for the shorter cruises. I have been on the Fascination twice and the Fantasy once, and really enjoyed all of our cruises.

We were on her last month and had a great cruise. Loved the size, easy to get around. Would sail again...tomorrow if I could.

The back balcony dining areas are wonderful, great little getaway right in front of everybody.

We would go to the back balcony to have our late night snack. Pretty empty then too.

Sublarry

We love Fascination because it is closer to us (Indiana) and we can drive it in a day. We get the grand suite extended balcony and pretty much sit in the lounge chair the whole cruise. I'm not one to party, but I always have a good relaxing time. We have 3 little kids (were 7, 5, and 3 last cruise) and they find plenty to do.

The Serenity deck was always deserted in the evenings, which we loved.

Half Moon Cay is my favorite place on earth.