Carnival Fascination April 2017 - Family Cruise

We picked up and took our entire family on Carnival Fascination's 7-Day adventure through the southern Caribbean. Our 3 boys (14, 12, and 11) joined my in-laws and my Dad with us for a port-intensive ship. The older folks tried to keep up to our active level, but it was rough for them so they didn't always join us at each port stop. At times, the kids had so much fun with their new friends from Circle C (12-14...our 11-year-old was accepted into the fold with his older brothers...he was offended at the thought of being stuck in Camp Carnival with the "little kids") that they either skipped dining room dinners with us or skipped port days because midnight pizza and ice cream from the night before had taken a toll on them. This was our second cruise (previously tried the 3 day Carnival jaunt out of Long Beach to see if we liked the idea of cruising), but most of our family, it was their first time.

OVERALL - We LOVED it. We all had a fantastic time. While people may complain that the ship is small and lack the amenities of the other ships, I will say that the port-intensive itinerary will make you forget about the extra bells and whistles. We were usually pretty tired after a port day filled with beaches, touring, or excursions so all we wanted was a shower, a couple of stops at the bar, and a quick bite on Lido or room service before taking a pre-dinner nap. Most of our meals occurred in the dining room where service was on point and dishes were well-executed. The bars were fantastic, as were our Cheers program, but I will admit that 7 days of drinking cocktails can wear a person down. My husband and my in-laws spent time in the casino, but it was too smokey for me, so I skipped it. Being it was end of April, the Spring Break rush was over so there was pretty even mix of people on the ship (families, couples, seniors, singles, etc.)...our extended family found plenty of people to mingle with. The kids really enjoyed the pool and WaterWorks facilities. I think we received very good service while we were onboard.

Embarking/Disembarking - We had purchased FTTF because we wanted to be able to drop off luggage and start using the ship amenities as soon as possible. It made it easier for the old folks to rest a bit before exploring the ship. Our rooms were ready as soon as we boarded at 12PM (noon). Getting onto the ship was a breeze because our documents were ready and organized...and I had done as much as I could at home online. Disembarking was also the same except my in-laws ended up getting tags for 23 instead of 3 like the rest of our party. We got to cut part of the line to disembark, and it worked of for the best anyway because our flight was departing at 1:30PM. For the most part, pretty happy with the embarking/disembarking process.

Staterooms/Cabins - We got at AFT-balcony (U228) on Upper Deck 6, and the rest of our family got Ocean Views on Main Deck 5. Our cabin was always well-maintained by our cabin steward, Desra. She made sure we always had ice, our cabin was magically cleaned each morning while we were at breakfast (once a day cleanings are good enough for us), and was more than happy to get us anything we needed. She got to know our kids, and offered to let them into our cabin if we weren't around. Having Desra for 7 days was like a dream. The Aft-balcony cabin was our first balcony ever and while we did feel the motion of the ship and hear the engines and wake of the ship moving, it was immaterial to us. The view was spectacular as we could see the ship pull away from the dock every evening and enjoyed nights of cocktails and late night snacks. Loved the cabin, loved the balcony, and loved our steward.

Imagination Dining Room (Late Seating) - Our entire clan was housed for the late seating (8:15PM) in the Imagination Dining Room at table 350 every night except for the first night. Our dining team was Vlad and Jan led by Clara. They were truly exceptional. The first night was a bit rocky as they tried to learn our likes/dislikes and manage to get to know all of their other guests, but they made up for it the rest of the cruise because they were spectacular. Dishes arrived at the perfect temperature and well-executed. I will say that the first formal night had amazingly cooked lobster...so good that I had two. When they learned that our kids wanted to get to kids' club for the night or if we wanted to see a show, they always made their best efforts to get us out of the dining room by 10PM...and they were successful every night. Drinks were refilled. Service was great...we got to know them over the course of the cruise, and since they were on Lido at night they actually reported sighting of our kids' nighttime activities to us when the two older ones stopped coming to dinner. They gave our youngest special treatment by offering different ice cream desserts when he was the only kid to come to dinner every night. They made every family evening meal a joy.

Sensation Dining Room (First Night Dinner, Breakfast and Sea Day Brunch) - Joachim was fantastic on the first night's open seating dinner. I wanted to have dinner in Sensation because we were assigned to Imagination the rest of the trip. Joachim treated our family well and started us off with great service. Everything was brought out accurately and with such enthusiasm. For breakfasts and Sea Day Brunch, we were usually taken care of by Lucien and Sennet...two very kind gentlemen who were efficient and careful to make sure we had everything we needed. I'm a huge fan of smoked salmon and cream cheese with no bagel...and every morning, the bagel was always omitted from my plate. Mimosas and bellinis were free-flowing each day...thanks Cheers package!

Lido Deck Dining - I didn't hit the Lido deck buffet much, but the rest of my family did. They seemed to enjoy the offerings. I had a pretty good lunch the first day where I tried a bit of all the offerings. I will say that the ship's Pizza Pirate makes a pretty decent pizza. I'm a fan of the Proscuitto and Arugula pie and the Caesar salad (the dressing is housemade). The deli made a good turkey wrap and had pretty good pastrami. The burgers were pretty good the one time I tried it, but the hot dogs were miss for me because I like snappy hot dogs. I will say it was fun to make chili cheese fries and chili cheese nachos on occasion. The kids enjoyed 24 hour pizza and ice cream the most. The bars on the Lido Deck were all very good...good solid drinks and consistent service.

Room Service - Room service made it so easy to eat after an excursion or port day. You come back tired and dirty...and all you want is a shower, some food, and the comfort of your air conditioned cabin...after a stop at the bar for easy in-room drinks. I loved ordering the Caesar salad because of the housemade dressing. We tried a couple of the sandwiches (PB&J and BLT), and both were good. The only confusing thing was the Market Vegetable Platter...I tried ordering it every day, and every day, it was a house salad and not a vegetable crudite platter that I had received the other ship I had been on. But it was never that big of a deal so I never complained about it. If you substitute pretzels instead of chips with your sandwich, you will still get chips...again, not a big deal but odd since it's an option on the menu.

Empress Atrium Bar - We stopped here for a drink or two at least 2-3 times a day...thanks Cheers package! Myint was our usual bartender and always took great care of us. I'm usually a wine drinker, but find the wines available by the glass on the ship to be subpar so I always have a cocktail instead.

Lido Pool and WaterWorks - We only went out a couple of times to spend time at the pool and WaterWorks because of the port-intensive trip, but we did enjoy that there was a nice mix of people and the pool and WaterWorks was never too crowded it. There was always enough room to enjoy some time with our kids. The areas were always clean and well-kept. We didn't have any problems getting chaise lounge chairs in an area away from the smokers.

St. Thomas - Hopped on a taxi for Coki Point Beach. Got 3 chairs and 2 unbrellas for the day, and spent 4+ hours on the beach. There was rain in the forecast, but the skies cleared mid-morning and off we went. When we arrived at about 10:30am, we still had our pick of the beach and we wanted to be close to the water. The staff set everything up for us and only checked in on us occasionally. We never felt overrun by vendors hawking their wares. The snorkeling at Coki was AMAZING! My husband, my kids, and my Dad had a great time exploring the sea life close to the rocks. I had the waterproof sleeves for our iPhones and just took pictures of the scenery and my family. I will say that 4+ hours was a bit much on the first day because we all forgot to reapply sunscreen enough times...everyone except our middle son received a little sunburn for the day. The breeze kept it cool so it was easy to forget to reapply sunscreen. I didn't follow Mitsugirly's instructions to the T, so ended up with taxi fare for 8 people at $160 for the day and beach rentals at about $80 for the day. Next time, really leave the port terminal to get a better fare.

Barbados - I booked our catamaran excursion independently through El Tigre Catamaran for $85 per adult and $65 per child...way cheaper than the $130 the ship excursion desk was charging and the $115 other places were charging. Ryan from El Tigre was at the port terminal at Gate 1 to pick us up and take us to the catamaran for a 5 hour turtle and shipwreck snorkeling adventure. We went to the office to pay off the balance of the trip and hopped on the catamaran leaving our flip-flops/shoes in a bucket...so make sure you have distinctive flip-flops...someone had my exact same Havianas. The crew gave us a safety briefing and then kept us hydrated with AYCDrink rum punch, punch, water, sodas, easy cocktails for the rest of the trip. There was some great coconut bread as a morning snack, too. We sailed out to the first place where we had great close encounters with sea turtles. The guys on the ship guided us to the turtles and gave us lots of tips on how to engage with them safely. We sailed to our next stop where we got to check out a shipwreck before sailing to a resort bay for a terrific Barbadian buffet lunch of chicken, flying fish, mac & cheese, rice, and assorted salads. Banana bread was a great dessert. There was plenty of food for seconds for those who were really hungry. We then slowly made our way back to the dock and enjoyed the view, before Ryan took us back to the ship with plenty of time to shop at the port terminal.

St. Lucia - I had planned a Spencer Ambrose Jalousie Beach adventure, but we were tired and needed a rest day so I lost my $60 deposit. No big deal...and our dining staff had said that St. Lucia wasn't really a must-get-off-the-ship island, so we went along with it. My family did some shopping, but I wanted to go on a tour of the island so my youngest went with me. We went on a 2-3 hour tour of the island for $25 a person that I found in the terminal. It was nice to see the sights of the island and learn about the British and French history. Daniel, our driver, had a great and comfortable van we shared with a few other cruisers. My son loved the stop at the Natural Smoothies shop for fresh smoothies made with fruit from the island. I agree with him...likely the best smoothie we've ever had. Sometimes an impromptu change can lead to cool things.

St. Kitts - We had reservations for Carambola Beach Club in Frigate Bay. The taxi station led us to Cecil (operator of Champ Taxi) who had a large and new van that transported us in comfort. He gave us a tour of the island on our way to Carambola, which was great and I noticed how much more developed the infrastructure of St. Kitts was to our previous stops. The roads were all new and paved. Real estate was kept way more tidy in St. Kitts, He stopped at lookout points for us to take some photos of the vistas. He dropped us off and made arrangements to pick us up later in the day...and the service was $8 per person payable later in the day. I had made rental reservations before we left for 6 chairs and 3 umbrellas ($90 for the rental). Carambola is a beautiful and posh beach club. Wonderfully padded beach loungers. The white sand on this beach was way hotter than any of our other stops because we were told that the volcanic rocks underneath are still active...not sure if this is true, but the sand was HOT. I got a great walk down the beack to Shipwreck bar to see the black sand. We rented jet skis with our kids and had a fun ride about the ocean ($60 for 2-20 minute rides). My husband and I also had time for a massage with LaVerne (just past the jet ski rental area), who worked us with fresh aloe vera to help calm our St. Thomas burns. She charged $25 for 25 minutes of great bliss. Carambola has their own massage staff charging $1 per minute, but my husband got a better feeling from LaVerne. It was an idyllic day on one of the most beautiful beaches I've ever been to. Do try the Ginger Lemon Tea from the Carambola Beach Club bar...I had it after my massage and it was AMAZING ($5 per glass). The shopping wasn't too bad at the port, either...lots of knock off items if you're interested.

St. Maarten/St. Martin - It was just going to be a beach trip to the family-friendly part Orient Bay, that turned into a tour of the island. Joseph, our taxi driver (St. Maarten Cab #353), took us to Le String Beach bar after a sharing some information of the island on the way to Orient Bay. He warned us where the nude beach was, and arranged to pick us up later. Max at Le String Beach took care of us by setting up 4 beach loungers and 2 umbrellas ($40 including free WiFi and 4 cocktails). The cocktails were great...try his rum punch and the guavaberry colada. The beach was lovely even though it was an overcast and slightly windy day. We enjoyed 3 hours at the beach and then asked if Joseph would take us to Marigot for a tour and a stop a Sarafinas for croissants and pastries. It was great to be able to see more of the island. Marigot was a very nice area with shops. The stop at Sarafinas was nice, but it can't revival the croissants I can get in L.A. at Chaumont...I think the humidity of the island kills the croissants just a tad. Taxi fare was $24 per person for the extra stops and the tour...very worthwhile to see more of lovely St. Maarten/St. Martin.

In closing, I would love to do this cruise all over, again. So many options at each port. And there were so many things we loved. We all had a fantastic time! Thanks to Mitsugirlys and stingerPR who's reviews helped me plan our trip...and thanks the tips of blue_water and the countless others who offered their great advice for each port. We are extremely grateful!

Thanks for your review! We go in June for our 25th wedding anniversary! Taking 2 of our daughters and my parents. So excited! I appreciate that you can enjoy an "older, smaller ship." Our honeymoon was on a sister ship, so we are actually very happy this ship is there!

Thank you for the review. I'm taking my son on this cruise next month. It will be our first B2B. We can't wait!! It's great to read about other's experiences and makes us even more excited!

Enjoyed your review. I will be on the ship in December and can't wait to go to same of my favorite islands.

Thanks for your review! We go in June for our 25th wedding anniversary! Taking 2 of our daughters and my parents. So excited! I appreciate that you can enjoy an "older, smaller ship." Our honeymoon was on a sister ship, so we are actually very happy this ship is there!

We had a great time. I've only been on ship of the same class before, so I didn't know what I was missing but it didn't matter to me. We were focused on trying to enjoy as much of the ports as we could. The basic amenities of the Fascination were just fine for us. Happy Anniversary!

Thank you for the review. I'm taking my son on this cruise next month. It will be our first B2B. We can't wait!! It's great to read about other's experiences and makes us even more excited!

My pleasure. I hope you have an amazing time just like we did.

Enjoyed your review. I will be on the ship in December and can't wait to go to same of my favorite islands.

Thanks so much for your kind words. Hope you have a fantastic time just like we did.

Thanks for the detailed and informative revew.

Thank you for the review. We on her in September...can't wait!!!

Thanks for the review. We go in October...taking our 14yr old son...cant wait.

We've done this itinerary, twice, fairly recently (Valor in May 2013; Liberty in Sept. 2015) and I want to do it again. So much to see and do. This also happens to be my favorite itinerary. We LOVED Spencer's Jalousie Beach break. Great excuse for you to book again. ;)

Thanks for your extensive review. Glad you had such a great time.

thanks for the review, going next month, so amassing all the information i can :) .

Also going to look into the Carambola Beach Club as it sounds ace!

thanks for the review, going next month, so amassing all the information i can :) .

 

Also going to look into the Carambola Beach Club as it sounds ace!

What date are you leaving? we are on the June 18th. Father's day...And my oldest daughter just got booked on it on Friday, so entire family will be there, including my parents.

Thanks for your review on the Fascination and the islands. Me and my sister are going on the same cruise Dec 3-10, 2017.

Do you know if they have the Text app on the hub? My daughters' room will be on another deck, and I am trying to figure out how to make sure they get to their room okay...was hoping texting might work.

Do you know if they have the Text app on the hub? My daughters' room will be on another deck, and I am trying to figure out how to make sure they get to their room okay...was hoping texting might work.

@cruisemom67, the HUB app does have the text function and works quite well. Download the HUB app before you leave, and then open it up when you're on the ship after you've set it to airplain mode. It will appear like you will have to purchase the ship's WiFi, but you really don't. Just by-pass all of that and then you'll be asked to accept the $5 fee. Each device will be charged $5, but it's well worth it. We easily found our kids while we were on the ship...and each other.

We actually walked each group of family members to their room as soon as we got on the ship with our FTTF to ensure that they settled in before having lunch and traversing the ship together.

@cruisemom67, the HUB app does have the text function and works quite well. Download the HUB app before you leave, and then open it up when you're on the ship after you've set it to airplain mode. It will appear like you will have to purchase the ship's WiFi, but you really don't. Just by-pass all of that and then you'll be asked to accept the $5 fee. Each device will be charged $5, but it's well worth it. We easily found our kids while we were on the ship...and each other.

We actually walked each group of family members to their room as soon as we got on the ship with our FTTF to ensure that they settled in before having lunch and traversing the ship together.

Thank you! I read somewhere it wasn't on Fascination yet, but that was probably old information. The texting will help a lot!

Sounds like you guys had a great time!! Loved your short and to the point review. Oh, and thanks for the shout out. I'm glad you could find some useful info in my review. That's exactly why I do them. I read some great ones before my trips that helped so much and I just had to pay it forward.

What date are you leaving? we are on the June 18th. Father's day...And my oldest daughter just got booked on it on Friday, so entire family will be there, including my parents.

We board in Bardbados on 14th June :)

Great review! We enjoyed our Fascination trip and loved the itinerary, even if we did feel like we needed another vacation to recover from it.:)

We're sailing Fascination next February. Nice review. Thanks for all the info.

Great review! We enjoyed our Fascination trip and loved the itinerary, even if we did feel like we needed another vacation to recover from it.:)

I'm glad we're not the only ones that felt this way! We jumped back into our routine as soon as we returned home, and it was no joke...I sorely missed my pre-dinner naps.

Question for

attran99

Was your 11 year old allowed into Circle C? We will be going on the Fascination soon and my 11 year old hates Camp and would love to be with his brother in Circle C.

Thanks

Thank you so much for the ship and port review. We're on the Fascination on 10/22 - although some of our ports have been changed. I'll have to check out some of those excursions!! Thanks again!!

This review was just what we needed , our first ever cruise is booked for May 18 , not sure if there will be a revised itinerary following the damaged by the hurricanes, sad for all the people on the islands who we can only help by visiting these islands and spend some money. I'm a bit obsessed with reviews forums etc so keep them coming

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