frayedend

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

When you know all the tricia answers because you've been on a different cruise it's a problem. I'm guilty and I have my ship on a stick proudly displayed in my souvenirs. LOL

 

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Now they have iPads with thousands of questions so they shouldn't have the problems of the same old trivia questions anymore. It was nice to hear a lot of new stuff. But they do need to maybe have Americans working on the categories and questions. There was a lot of stuff that just didn't fit the category correctly.

If you paid with a credit card it will come back to your credit card. It takes about a week.

 

I am an 80s fan as are my children (ages 11-24) , so we would hate to see those go away. My kids appreciate just being on a cruise and create their own great time, no matter what. I dont need to "sell" them on it.

 

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The 80s is very popular now. My teens like 80s music. The 80s Trivia was held in the main theater rather than next to the coffee shop and it was packed. I think a huge portion of the cruisers are in their 40s with their kids now so it makes sense. My personal issue with Motown is that it was old when I was a kid. I didn't really care of it then either. The funny thing is that they call the show Motor City. We were hoping maybe they had Kid Rock and Eminem. :)

Speaking of condescending..... the question stands and is legit, is it one cabin? Two? Four people or ten?

 

Now that said, does that make you feel better? How much do you make being poster advocate, the responsibility must be daunting.

 

 

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I understand what you are saying. But so many threads devolve into bickering because of the attitude it's bothersome. Why not just disagree with someone without the attitude?

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.

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.

The entire ship? That's amazing, when did you vote on it?

 

 

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Another one of these stupid condescending posts. Obviously they meant everyone in their party. But I think you knew that.

Lol! Carnival probably gets more money out of the young cruisers than the old ones... there's a reason for the "stingy old fart" sterotype.

My thought on the young cruisers was simply that my kids aren't really interested in cruising anymore. If they don't have any current entertainment they may lose potential future revenue. It's good marketing to get brand loyalty at an early age. Carnival isn't even trying.

Maybe it's the ships you're going on. We've seen new shows and there will be 3 other new ones when we go on the Vista next month. Idk what the end of your sentence says but every cruise I've been on the Love & Marriage show has been packed.

Glad to hear their are other options on some ships. We couldn't do love and marriage this time as it was listed as 18 and over. I was alone with my teens so we opted for comedy club. I just know the love and marriage thing has been around forever. Overall I think cruising is losing its luster a bit because evening entertainment hasn't changed much. At least on Carnival. We had a great cruise. Would just like some new stuff. Newer music would certainly help.

There was nothing new on my cruise. Divas is dated also. Love and marriage, old. Game show? Can me on really.

I've been on 4 carnival cruises over the past 8 years or so. I've seen the Motown show, umm, 4 times. My teens didn't know the songs and thought the show was good for "wasting some time". I can't imagine the singer/dancers still enjoy all this old stuff. Why doesn't Carnival update shows ever? Is it just certain ships. Heck even the background music before and after shows and throughout the ship is old Motown stuff. This music is like 40 years old. They aren't winning over young cruisers this way.

Just off the ship. They are very lenient in dress code. Black jeans will likely be fine. But I will say it is a very well dressed crowd on this ship. I had decent shorts and polos on casual night and always felt underdressed. But there were a few breaking rules that got in no problem. We skipped elegant night but black jeans aren't noticeable like blue.

I'm just off Fascination (in San Juan airport right now). Had me and my 2 boys. We didn't have a rollaway but had a trundle. It was horrible. I let my kids take the beds so they wouldn't complain all week. It was inches from the ground. The mattress was so old it was crushed to about 2" thick. They put the pillows on the end close to the other bed. But you can't lay down and see the tv that way. If you put your head at the other end you bang it on the counter because it's under the counter. I won't do that again.

Cool. Thanks for all the replies. Not that it would be a huge deal anyhow but I like to have all my ducks in a row. Then I like all my drinks in a row. :)

I completed check in online months ago. I have an "arrival appointment" on my boarding pass. But the last 3 days (cruise on Sunday) I keep getting emails from Carnival that I need to choose my check in time.

Is this just automated stuff or am I missing something?

I work in accounting and that statement made by Carnival is absolutely true. The customer's financial institution is quick to take the money but tell us it can take as long as 14 business days to refund it. I've never had to wait long to receive my refund, usually within a couple days. I don't know how it works, however, with a gift card.

I guess I don't understand how every other refund I've ever gotten has been in my account immediately. If I go to a store to return something I can see the refund online before I even leave the store. It seems strange that Carnival would be the exception.

When I was 13 I worked cooking burgers all summer at the beach. Then I worked in a mail room after school in high school. I also unloaded tractor-trailers of watermelons at the produce center from 3 AM to 8 AM in summers during high school. I worked full time me entire time in college.

My son, 16 has worked as a teacher's assistant at a daycare center for the last year and his brother will likely do the same when he turns 15.

I'm still perplexed though how this will affect how much they spend on our cruise next week. :D

I don't know about an Allstate gift card. I used a credit card. You can cancel the excursion online easy enough. They say it takes 7-10 business days for it to show up on your statement (they claimed the delay is due to financial institution processing, which is total bull. They take that long so they can make a few more bucks interest on your money).

But if it was a Carnival gift card they supposedly give you a gift card back. Not sure what an Allstate gift card is or how it relates to Carnival.

LOL wow.

No, there is no USPS station at SJU. There's one at Old San Juan, two blocks from the pier but if you're arriving on a Saunday, it'll be of no use for you. The closest one to the airport is in Isla Verde on the second floor of Pueblo supermarket, which is on the road that goes parallel to the west side of the airport. Again, if you plan to visit it on a Sunday, you'll find it closed. There's another station, a bit out of the way on the cargo access road of the airport (Antonio Santana Ave.). While I think it's open on Sundays, I can't guarantee it.

Thanks! Oh wow, I'm an idiot. I wasn't even thinking that I'm arriving on Sunday. Plus my flight leaves at noon so no time to go anywhere else. I'll just hope they sell it somewhere in the airport after security.