Back from the Fascination - Family Cruisers

I'm back after cruising last week on the Fascination. I enjoyed the cruise and had a wonderful time.

A bit about us: we are a family of five, with three active kids (currently 6, 4, and 2). We do one vacation out of the country a year and love adventures.

Our cabins: we traveled in a suite that was connected to an oceanview (u69 and u67). Loved the set up. Wish this existed outside of the fantasy class.

For the dry dock report: From what I could tell, the only major changes were the addition of the candy shop (pretty and delicious), the sushi place down the hall (looks like a fun pop-up, but didn't seem to be busy) and the additions around the pool (eg Guys burgers and the Blue Catina). The tacos and burritos are so yummy for breakfast and lunch! The ship is still very old and tacky, but that didn't ruin a thing (well except the awful heavy balcony door that nearly took off a thumb). Love the water works slides at the back of the ship.

NCL vs Carnival: I love NCL and it checks so many boxes better than Carnival (food, ship store, suite perks, etc). But the Carnivals kids program is amazing. Feeding dinner to our kids for free? Yes, please. In fact, we loved it so much we already booked our next cruise in 2019 with Carnival.

Port Reviews:

- San Juan: Sadly still not doing well. The rainforest excursions still can't operate and options are limited. Carnival cancelled its city tour also due to a city event. On our last day, we did a local tour of the old town booked upon disembarking. $30 per person, but littlest one was free.

- St. Thomas: Lots of open air taxis waiting at the port. They charge between $7 - $10 per person, each way. We went to the aquarium (lots of renos, but the kids enjoyed it) and then walked 1 min to Coki Beach. Got a beach chair and umbrella for $10. Great day, gorgeous beach.

- Barbados: Booked directly a catamaran that took us swimming in the ocean with turtles, to a shipreck, and to a beach. Lunch provided. Such a fantastic experience. They did a great job of keeping the kids happy. Also fun that we sailed past the cruise ship. Friends we cruised with went with their kids to the beach and on the submarine excursion. They said the ride to the sub was choppy, but sub itself was fun.

- St. Lucia: Did the cruise extreme rainforest excursion with the eldest two kids. The kids loved the ziplining. Because of their size, we brought their climbing harnesses from home. They worked great and were a bit fit than the kids harness available, however they weren't necessary. The guides were fantastic and our group had such a good time.

- St. Kitts: Beach day. Lots of taxis at the port. We paid $7 per person, with the littlest being free. At the beach we paid $20 for two chairs and an umbrella.

- St. Maarten: Just the adults went and did the flying dutchman. Lots of taxis at the port. It was $7 per person. An incredible and terrifying ride. Got a great video.

Cruise hack tips:

- Bring a non-surge protected power bar as there are still only one or two outlets in the cabin; and

- Bring Ziploc bags to bring room service sandwiches off ship.

Hope this review helps. Never done a review before.

Already counting down until the next cruise. Only 350ish days away!

Norwegian Jade - June 2017 - Norway (with a 5.5 yo, a 3.5 yo, and a 1 yo)

Norwegian Jewel - May 2014 - Alaska (with a 2.5 yo and an almost 1 yo)

Norwegian Jade - September 2009 - Mediterranean (pre-kids)

Carnival - April 2007 - Caribbean (pre-kids)

Terrific review.

Thank you for taking the time to write it.

Keith

I'm back after cruising last week on the Fascination. I enjoyed the cruise and had a wonderful time.

 

A bit about us: we are a family of five, with three active kids (currently 6, 4, and 2). We do one vacation out of the country a year and love adventures.

 

Our cabins: we traveled in a suite that was connected to an oceanview (u69 and u67). Loved the set up. Wish this existed outside of the fantasy class.

 

For the dry dock report: From what I could tell, the only major changes were the addition of the candy shop (pretty and delicious), the sushi place down the hall (looks like a fun pop-up, but didn't seem to be busy) and the additions around the pool (eg Guys burgers and the Blue Catina). The tacos and burritos are so yummy for breakfast and lunch! The ship is still very old and tacky, but that didn't ruin a thing (well except the awful heavy balcony door that nearly took off a thumb). Love the water works slides at the back of the ship.

 

NCL vs Carnival: I love NCL and it checks so many boxes better than Carnival (food, ship store, suite perks, etc). But the Carnivals kids program is amazing. Feeding dinner to our kids for free? Yes, please. In fact, we loved it so much we already booked our next cruise in 2019 with Carnival.

 

Port Reviews:

- San Juan: Sadly still not doing well. The rainforest excursions still can't operate and options are limited. Carnival cancelled its city tour also due to a city event. On our last day, we did a local tour of the old town booked upon disembarking. $30 per person, but littlest one was free.

- St. Thomas: Lots of open air taxis waiting at the port. They charge between $7 - $10 per person, each way. We went to the aquarium (lots of renos, but the kids enjoyed it) and then walked 1 min to Coki Beach. Got a beach chair and umbrella for $10. Great day, gorgeous beach.

- Barbados: Booked directly a catamaran that took us swimming in the ocean with turtles, to a shipreck, and to a beach. Lunch provided. Such a fantastic experience. They did a great job of keeping the kids happy. Also fun that we sailed past the cruise ship. Friends we cruised with went with their kids to the beach and on the submarine excursion. They said the ride to the sub was choppy, but sub itself was fun.

- St. Lucia: Did the cruise extreme rainforest excursion with the eldest two kids. The kids loved the ziplining. Because of their size, we brought their climbing harnesses from home. They worked great and were a bit fit than the kids harness available, however they weren't necessary. The guides were fantastic and our group had such a good time.

- St. Kitts: Beach day. Lots of taxis at the port. We paid $7 per person, with the littlest being free. At the beach we paid $20 for two chairs and an umbrella.

- St. Maarten: Just the adults went and did the flying dutchman. Lots of taxis at the port. It was $7 per person. An incredible and terrifying ride. Got a great video.

 

Cruise hack tips:

- Bring a non-surge protected power bar as there are still only one or two outlets in the cabin; and

- Bring Ziploc bags to bring room service sandwiches off ship.

 

 

Hope this review helps. Never done a review before.

 

Already counting down until the next cruise. Only 350ish days away!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Norwegian Jade - June 2017 - Norway (with a 5.5 yo, a 3.5 yo, and a 1 yo)

Norwegian Jewel - May 2014 - Alaska (with a 2.5 yo and an almost 1 yo)

Norwegian Jade - September 2009 - Mediterranean (pre-kids)

Carnival - April 2007 - Caribbean (pre-kids)

Hi. What beach did you go to on St. Kitts? What was it like? Thanks

For St. Kitts, we went to Frigate Bay South. Nice sand, but lots of shells and rocks for the first bit under water. If the kids were less tired (end of the cruise and all), we would have tried Pinney's beach, Nevis.

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Thanks for the review. Following.

Hi, Can you tell me when you boarded the ship and if your room was ready? Also when did you disembark on the last day? Thank you for your time.

We got on the ship at 3 pm. Our rooms were ready, but they connecting door needed to be unlocked. We had FTTF. Half of our luggage came within thirty minutes. The rest came an hour after we boarded.

Friends of our got on at 1 pm and their room was ready.

We got off the ship at 9:45 ish. We could have gotten off around 8:30 ish with our FTTF. The disembarking times were based on floor, with the highest floors going first. We were on for 6.

The ship has a terrible system of referring to floors by sometimes letters and sometimes numbers. The letters aren't in alphabetic order. Instead the letters stand for things like "Atlantis". Floor U is for 6.

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I'm back after cruising last week on the Fascination. I enjoyed the cruise and had a wonderful time.

 

A bit about us: we are a family of five, with three active kids (currently 6, 4, and 2). We do one vacation out of the country a year and love adventures.

 

Our cabins: we traveled in a suite that was connected to an oceanview (u69 and u67). Loved the set up. Wish this existed outside of the fantasy class.

 

Regarding the ship, I LOVED how the salad bar was its own circular station on Lido buffet. All ships should adopt this.

 

For the dry dock report: From what I could tell, the only major changes were the addition of the candy shop (pretty and delicious), the sushi place down the hall (looks like a fun pop-up, but didn't seem to be busy) and the additions around the pool (eg Guys burgers and the Blue Catina). The tacos and burritos are so yummy for breakfast and lunch! The ship is still very old and tacky, but that didn't ruin a thing (well except the awful heavy balcony door that nearly took off a thumb). Love the water works slides at the back of the ship.

 

NCL vs Carnival: I love NCL and it checks so many boxes better than Carnival (food, ship store, suite perks, etc). But the Carnivals kids program is amazing. Feeding dinner to our kids for free? Yes, please. In fact, we loved it so much we already booked our next cruise in 2019 with Carnival.

 

Port Reviews:

- San Juan: Sadly still not doing well. The rainforest excursions still can't operate and options are limited. Carnival cancelled its city tour also due to a city event. On our last day, we did a local tour of the old town booked upon disembarking. $30 per person, but littlest one was free.

 

Our experience in San Juan differs than yours. We flew in two days before the cruise and stayed in Isla Verde, about 20 minutes from Old San Juan. Most of the Isla Verde area was up and running. All the shops and restaurants in Old San Juan were open for business, as were the forts. The free trolley run also running. There was still a little evidence of hurricane damage, but overall we were pleasantly surprised at how good this part of the island looked.

Everyone we encountered was friendly and upbeat. We spoke with our taxi driver from the airport to the Airbnb, the server in a restaurant, another taxi driver, people in a supermarket. All said the hurricanes were terrifying, which I don't doubt a little bit. They also said that the tourist areas were restored first. Much of the island had power, but there were still about 100,000 inland in isolated areas without.

 

Funny you mention El Yunque. We booked this cruise specifically because we wanted to sail from SJ so we could spend a day at El Yunque. Mom Nature sure had other ideas.

 

- St. Thomas: Lots of open air taxis waiting at the port. They charge between $7 - $10 per person, each way. We went to the aquarium (lots of renos, but the kids enjoyed it) and then walked 1 min to Coki Beach. Got a beach chair and umbrella for $10. Great day, gorgeous beach.

 

We also took an open air taxi, but to Magen's Bay. It was gorgeous! The water was calm and warm.

St. Thomas also pleasantly surprised us with how much was restored.

- Barbados: Booked directly a catamaran that took us swimming in the ocean with turtles, to a shipreck, and to a beach. Lunch provided. Such a fantastic experience. They did a great job of keeping the kids happy. Also fun that we sailed past the cruise ship. Friends we cruised with went with their kids to the beach and on the submarine excursion. They said the ride to the sub was choppy, but sub itself was fun.

 

We did this too. We booked with Calabaza Tours. We rank it in our top five favorite excursions. I'd book this again in a heartbeat.

- St. Lucia: Did the cruise extreme rainforest excursion with the eldest two kids. The kids loved the ziplining. Because of their size, we brought their climbing harnesses from home. They worked great and were a bit fit than the kids harness available, however they weren't necessary. The guides were fantastic and our group had such a good time.

 

We booked an island tour with Cosol. We had so much fun.

- St. Kitts: Beach day. Lots of taxis at the port. We paid $7 per person, with the littlest being free. At the beach we paid $20 for two chairs and an umbrella.

 

We made this a "sea" day. Ship was mostly empty.

- St. Maarten: Just the adults went and did the flying dutchman. Lots of taxis at the port. It was $7 per person. An incredible and terrifying ride. Got a great video.

 

St. Maarten was not ready for cruise ships. We took a water taxi to the beach right near the port. Every building except Hard Rock Cafe was missing walls, windows, entire floors, roofs, or combinations of these. The devastation was staggering. Our hearts broke for the people who built "bars" out of 2 by 4s and plywood. The drinks were strong and refreshing. We tipped everyone very heavily, knowing they could use any and all money. We wish we had gone to a beach on St. Kitts and made St. Maarten our "sea" day.

 

Cruise hack tips:

- Bring a non-surge protected power bar as there are still only one or two outlets in the cabin; and

- Bring Ziploc bags to bring room service sandwiches off ship.

 

Hope this review helps. Never done a review before.

 

Already counting down until the next cruise. Only 350ish days away!

 

Norwegian Jade - June 2017 - Norway (with a 5.5 yo, a 3.5 yo, and a 1 yo)

Norwegian Jewel - May 2014 - Alaska (with a 2.5 yo and an almost 1 yo)

Norwegian Jade - September 2009 - Mediterranean (pre-kids)

Carnival - April 2007 - Caribbean (pre-kids)

What a great review!

We sailed Fascination the week of 2/25. We haven't sailed a Fantasy class ship since our first cruise, Paradise in 2000. I loved the size of the ship. I did not like that there was only one pool, though. Crew on board was fabulous!

Glad you had a great cruise. What ship did you book for 2019?

Thank you for the review! Much appreciated as we await our date with Fascination in August.

What a great review!

 

We sailed Fascination the week of 2/25. We haven't sailed a Fantasy class ship since our first cruise, Paradise in 2000. I loved the size of the ship. I did not like that there was only one pool, though. Crew on board was fabulous!

 

Glad you had a great cruise. What ship did you book for 2019?

Agreed re: the lame one pool. Unless we have the Haven on NCL, I assume swimming in the pool won't be an option. When the kids are all at least 12, then we can do Carnival's Havana. I like the looks of the aft and a few levels up Havana cabins on the next Carnival ship.

We booked the Horizon, which because I'm a sci-fi fan, makes me think of Event Horizon. We liked the itinerary and needed a March Break cruise. We got 2 balcony rooms that are connected inside. The room connected cabins were all sold out on our other choice cruise.

Not sure if I'll like a big ship. The kids, though, are excited for the expanded water park and the Imax (assuming they play age-appropriate movies). We'll see.

For now I remain of the view that the Fascination has the best Caribbean itinerary and the best overall price point.

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Agreed re: the lame one pool. Unless we have the Haven on NCL, I assume swimming in the pool won't be an option. When the kids are all at least 12, then we can do Carnival's Havana. I like the looks of the aft and a few levels up Havana cabins on the next Carnival ship.

 

We booked the Horizon, which because I'm a sci-fi fan, makes me think of Event Horizon. We liked the itinerary and needed a March Break cruise. We got 2 balcony rooms that are connected inside. The room connected cabins were all sold out on our other choice cruise.

 

Not sure if I'll like a big ship. The kids, though, are excited for the expanded water park and the Imax (assuming they play age-appropriate movies). We'll see.

 

For now I remain of the view that the Fascination has the best Caribbean itinerary and the best overall price point.

 

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Ah, Event Horizon. Good movie; parts scared the heebie jeebies out of me. I get the sci fi reference - we named our cats after sci fi characters. And, there's my CC name.

Ooh, connecting balcony cabins will be great.

We sailed Vista, which is sister to Horizon. Admittedly, the ship was a bit different but I LOVED our cruise. We sailed Transatlantic from Barcelona to NYC.

IMAX was fun. Tip...bring snacks from home. A small bag of popcorn, lunchbox sized bag, was $3.95.

We saw Deep Water Horizon one rainy sea day. It was weird...watching a movie about a disaster on an oil platform in the Atlantic while we sailed a ship in the Atlantic. :eek:

There were lots of things for kids, and adults, to do. Sky Ride was amazing!

Havana Balcony is definitely on our list for some day. (We're empty nesters, but one Havana Balcony was the same cost as three cruises on other Carnival ships.)

Spirit class (Pride, Legend, and Miracle) are my favorites due to their sizes and three pools, though there are fewer passengers.

So the fascination did not get the USB ports in the rooms after the renovations?

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WE are scheduled to board between 1:00 and 1:30 on April 8th, Does anyone kn ow if it is possible to board, put stuff in our cabin and then get off again? Also does anyone know if there are fridges in ocean view cabins?

Thanks

WE are scheduled to board between 1:00 and 1:30 on April 8th, Does anyone kn ow if it is possible to board, put stuff in our cabin and then get off again? Also does anyone know if there are fridges in ocean view cabins?

 

Thanks

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WE are scheduled to board between 1:00 and 1:30 on April 8th, Does anyone kn ow if it is possible to board, put stuff in our cabin and then get off again? Also does anyone know if there are fridges in ocean view cabins?

 

Thanks

You can definitely get back off. We’ve got the same boarding time and we’ll be grabbing some lunch and then heading out to see the forts.

What on Earth would you need to get back off for?? Lol

 

From my understanding, you can board with your allotted 1 bottle of wine and 12 pack of canned soda, then get off, reload, and re-board.

That and the port is an actual port of call for many ships, so you can enjoy the port just like any other stop on your cruise. The last call is 9PM local time, so it sits at dock a lot longer than ships do at other embarkation ports like Port Canveral or Miami, etc.

From my understanding, you can board with your allotted 1 bottle of wine and 12 pack of canned soda, then get off, reload, and re-board.

 

That and the port is an actual port of call for many ships, so you can enjoy the port just like any other stop on your cruise. The last call is 9PM local time, so it sits at dock a lot longer than ships do at other embarkation ports like Port Canveral or Miami, etc.

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What on Earth would you need to get back off for?? Lol

 

 

just to see a little of the area--maybe pick up pop (soda) at a Walgreen's I believe is nearby

You can definitely get back off. We’ve got the same boarding time and we’ll be grabbing some lunch and then heading out to see the forts.

Thanks, that is great to know!

Will the ship be on the same time as San Juan itself?

That makes sense, I didn't realize it was in port that long. Is that true about bringing more drinks on board??

I've read that from a number of posts here. I'll let you know this Sunday as we plan on boarding, debarking, walking to CVS or Walgreens and getting more Wine and Soda.

just to see a little of the area--maybe pick up pop (soda) at a Walgreen's I believe is nearby

According to Google Maps, there is a Walgreens and a CVS across the street and about 3-4 blocks East of the port.

We were on the 2/25 Fascination sailing. We brought on 2 bottles of wine and a 8 pack of soda (you won't find a twelve pack) at embarkation. After unpacking and lunch we debarked and went back across the street, bought two more bottles of wine and boarded without incident. We found the same wine to be cheaper at CVS rather than Walgreen's.

We were on the 2/25 Fascination sailing. We brought on 2 bottles of wine and a 8 pack of soda (you won't find a twelve pack) at embarkation. After unpacking and lunch we debarked and went back across the street, bought two more bottles of wine and boarded without incident. We found the same wine to be cheaper at CVS rather than Walgreen's.

Good to know about the soda. Are they the standard 12 oz? If so we'll get three 8 packs, since that's still 12 each for the 2 of us.

Good to know about the soda. Are they the standard 12 oz? If so we'll get three 8 packs, since that's still 12 each for the 2 of us.

I believe the soda policy now is to allow cans only. We used to bring the 12oz bottles of diet coke and could take a sip every now and then without it going flat.

I really like the multiple-boarding opportunity, and San Juan was (in the two past cruises I have done there) pretty lax about the alcohol.