Carnival Fascination Dry Dock and Bonsai Sushi Express

Apparently Carnival is expanding Bonsai Sushi across the fleet as ships get dry docked starting in 2018:

"Get rolling on the go in 2018 with Bonsai Sushi Express, your grab-and-go sushi source at sea. Featuring a mouthwatering array of sushi, sashimi, rolls and more — all made fresh and packed up for easy eating anywhere — you’ll find Bonsai Sushi Express first on Carnival Fascination and Carnival Victory in the spring."

News Release

Carnival Fascination To Undergo Multi-Million-Dollar Dry Dock Prior to Resuming Year-Round Service From San Juan In February 2018

MIAMI (December 14, 2017) – Carnival Fascination will undergo an extensive multi-million-dollar dry dock that will add a variety of popular food and beverage innovations, including Guy's Burger Joint developed by Food Network star Guy Fieri, the cocktail pharmacy-themed Alchemy Bar, BlueIguana Cantina Mexican eatery, Cherry on Top sweets shop, the poolside RedFrog Rum Bar and BlueIguana Tequila Bar, and a Bonsai Sushi Express venue.

The spaces will be added during a two-week dry dock taking place Feb. 4-17, 2018, in Freeport, The Bahamas, prior to the ship resuming its year-round schedule of seven-day southern Caribbean cruises from San Juan, Puerto Rico, beginning Feb. 18, 2018. Carnival Fascination is currently being chartered to FEMA to house relief workers in St. Croix.

"We can't wait for our guests to experience these exciting new features aboard Carnival Fascination when she returns to her year-round homeport of San Juan early next year," said Christine Duffy, president of Carnival Cruise Line, adding that other Carnival ships began visiting San Juan as a port of call Nov. 30.

The new F&B options aboard Carnival Fascination include:

· Guy's Burger Joint: a free-of-charge poolside venue developed in partnership with Food Network personality Guy Fieri serving hand-crafted burgers and fresh-cut fries enjoyed amidst a décor that celebrates the chef's California roots and love of car culture.

· RedFrog Rum Bar: a poolside watering hole offering the quintessential Caribbean vacation vibe with refreshing Caribbean rum-based frozen drinks and beers, including Carnival's own private label draught brew, ThirstyFrog Red.

· BlueIguana Cantina: a complimentary poolside Mexican eatery where guests can enjoy authentic freshly made burritos and tacos on homemade tortillas, as well as an elaborate toppings and salsa bar.

· BlueIguana Tequila Bar: a fun and festive outdoor bar offering a laid-back Mexican-themed atmosphere and tequila-based frozen drinks and beers, perfect for chillin' by the pool.

· Cherry on Top: The "sweetest spot on board," Cherry on Top is the gateway to the joys of simple indulgences with bins of bulk candy, fun-and-fanciful gifts, just-because novelties, colorful custom apparel and more.

· Alchemy Bar: a vintage-themed cocktail "pharmacy" that's the go-to spot for guests seeking a unique experience with mixologists who "prescribe" concoctions from different elixirs and ingredients or guests' own custom-created cocktails.

· Bonsai Sushi Express: the success of the full-service Bonsai Sushi restaurants has spawned this casual, convenient yet equally tasty offshoot featuring a mouth-watering array of sushi, sashimi, rolls and more.

These new options complement popular attractions like a WaterWorks aqua park featuring a 300-foot-long Twister slide, Seuss at Sea operated exclusively with Dr. Seuss Enterprises, and myriad entertainment choices including the Punchliner Comedy Club, Playlist Productions shows, and Hasbro, The Game Show, with larger-than-life adaptations of the company's iconic games.

Carnival Fascination's year-round schedule from San Juan encompasses week-long sailings to five Caribbean islands: St. Lucia, Barbados, St. Kitts, St. Thomas and St. Maarten.

http://www.carnivalcorp.com/phoenix.zhtml?c=140690&p=irol-newsArticle_print&ID=2322801

Apparently Carnival is expanding Bonsai Sushi across the fleet as ships get dry docked starting in 2018:

 

"Get rolling on the go in 2018 with Bonsai Sushi Express, your grab-and-go sushi source at sea. Featuring a mouthwatering array of sushi, sashimi, rolls and more — all made fresh and packed up for easy eating anywhere — you’ll find Bonsai Sushi Express first on Carnival Fascination and Carnival Victory in the spring."

 

News Release

 

Carnival Fascination To Undergo Multi-Million-Dollar Dry Dock Prior to Resuming Year-Round Service From San Juan In February 2018

 

New Spaces Include Guy's Burger Joint, Alchemy Bar, BlueIguana Cantina,

RedFrog Rum Bar, BlueIguana Tequila Bar, Cherry on Top and Bonsai Sushi Express

MIAMI (December 14, 2017) – Carnival Fascination will undergo an extensive multi-million-dollar dry dock that will add a variety of popular food and beverage innovations, including Guy's Burger Joint developed by Food Network star Guy Fieri, the cocktail pharmacy-themed Alchemy Bar, BlueIguana Cantina Mexican eatery, Cherry on Top sweets shop, the poolside RedFrog Rum Bar and BlueIguana Tequila Bar, and a Bonsai Sushi Express venue.

 

The spaces will be added during a two-week dry dock taking place Feb. 4-17, 2018, in Freeport, The Bahamas, prior to the ship resuming its year-round schedule of seven-day southern Caribbean cruises from San Juan, Puerto Rico, beginning Feb. 18, 2018. Carnival Fascination is currently being chartered to FEMA to house relief workers in St. Croix.

 

"We can't wait for our guests to experience these exciting new features aboard Carnival Fascination when she returns to her year-round homeport of San Juan early next year," said Christine Duffy, president of Carnival Cruise Line, adding that other Carnival ships began visiting San Juan as a port of call Nov. 30.

 

The new F&B options aboard Carnival Fascination include:

 

· Guy's Burger Joint: a free-of-charge poolside venue developed in partnership with Food Network personality Guy Fieri serving hand-crafted burgers and fresh-cut fries enjoyed amidst a décor that celebrates the chef's California roots and love of car culture.

· RedFrog Rum Bar: a poolside watering hole offering the quintessential Caribbean vacation vibe with refreshing Caribbean rum-based frozen drinks and beers, including Carnival's own private label draught brew, ThirstyFrog Red.

· BlueIguana Cantina: a complimentary poolside Mexican eatery where guests can enjoy authentic freshly made burritos and tacos on homemade tortillas, as well as an elaborate toppings and salsa bar.

· BlueIguana Tequila Bar: a fun and festive outdoor bar offering a laid-back Mexican-themed atmosphere and tequila-based frozen drinks and beers, perfect for chillin' by the pool.

· Cherry on Top: The "sweetest spot on board," Cherry on Top is the gateway to the joys of simple indulgences with bins of bulk candy, fun-and-fanciful gifts, just-because novelties, colorful custom apparel and more.

· Alchemy Bar: a vintage-themed cocktail "pharmacy" that's the go-to spot for guests seeking a unique experience with mixologists who "prescribe" concoctions from different elixirs and ingredients or guests' own custom-created cocktails.

· Bonsai Sushi Express: the success of the full-service Bonsai Sushi restaurants has spawned this casual, convenient yet equally tasty offshoot featuring a mouth-watering array of sushi, sashimi, rolls and more.

 

These new options complement popular attractions like a WaterWorks aqua park featuring a 300-foot-long Twister slide, Seuss at Sea operated exclusively with Dr. Seuss Enterprises, and myriad entertainment choices including the Punchliner Comedy Club, Playlist Productions shows, and Hasbro, The Game Show, with larger-than-life adaptations of the company's iconic games.

 

Carnival Fascination's year-round schedule from San Juan encompasses week-long sailings to five Caribbean islands: St. Lucia, Barbados, St. Kitts, St. Thomas and St. Maarten.

 

http://www.carnivalcorp.com/phoenix.zhtml?c=140690&p=irol-newsArticle_print&ID=2322801

Well, I'm dissapointed. The "popular food and beverage innovations" create terrible traffic flow issues as people wait in line for food, condiments, drinks at bars, etc. I love the old style grills that are still on some ships.

We're sailing Fascination Februrary 25, though my husband is doubtful. He fears that FEMA won't release the ship in time.

I love the old style grills that are still on some ships.

That's one thing I'm looking forward to on our next cruise in May on the Miracle is that it still has the old grill. We missed having the options that we remembered and enjoyed on previous cruises back before the Fun ship 2.0 upgrades when we were on the Ecstasy back in April. The Guy's burger was good, but it was just burgers and fries, no chicken options, no cheese sauce and chips, no chili dogs, no chili cheese fries. Blue Iguana was okay, just not what we are used to, we honestly prefer more simple Americanized Mexican food.

I remember when sushi was freely available along the promenade in the early evenings. A perfect bridge to tide me over from lunch to a late dinner. Now, free sushi is replaced by sushi for sale... but at least it's still available.

I remember when sushi was freely available along the promenade in the early evenings. A perfect bridge to tide me over from lunch to a late dinner. Now, free sushi is replaced by sushi for sale... but at least it's still available.

We discovered sushi when the sushi carts were open every night on our Carnival cruises in days back when. We stopped every night to try this new, wonderful delicacy.

Then, some ships were refurbished and dedicated sushi counters were added. Lines of people formed well before the 5:30 opening time and stayed until the last sushi roll was given away. Again, we stopped every night for a bite.

Progress, and I use the term loosely, prevailed and Carnival decided the Taste Bar was the way to go. Not!

In my observation, the Taste Bar doesn't appear to be anywhere nearly as popular as the sushi was, i.e. no lines.

In my opinion, the Taste Bar is no where nearly as good as sushi was.

The Freedom had the new Sushi window last May and we tried it. Awesome! Loved it and will do it again.