Carnival Fascination 2/28 - 3/5

[ms1inmw]

The Good:

• Jaxport is really easy to get in and out of. Was able to park super close for 15 bucks/day. Easy walk with luggage to the boat.
  

• Getting on/off the boat moved along quickly
  

• Cost. 900 or so dollars for two of us to go on 5 day cruise. We normally go for balcony, but there were not any available midship, so we had an ocean view room. Great value for vacation dollar.
  

• Comedians on board were great. Loved both the adult and child-friendly shows.
  

• The boat seems to have a good deal of deck space and chairs. Even on the busiest of days at sea, we were able to find a place to lounge.
  

• The water slide. Good times.
  

• Room was very clean. Even though the boat is old, it is in pretty decent shape.
  

The bad:

• The food. Food in the main dining room was typical – not too good and not too bad. But the buffet selection seemed to leave a bit to be desired. Not all that much to select from. Not enough healthy alternatives, either.
  

• The smoking. It seemed that the boat was far too friendly for smoking. There seemed to be the stench of smoke everywhere.
  

• Nassau. It is sort of a dump. The boat did not leave port until 10 pm; the town is a ghost town after dark. It was hard to find a place to eat dinner.
  

• The entertainment. The carnival-employed musicians/dancers are pretty lame. My first cruise was Cayamo; so my baseline for on board entertainment is way off.
  

The ugly:

• The weather the last day and half of the trip. The boat was a rockin. Zofran is very good. Not sure if the Fascination, being an older boat, does not handle as well in the rough water.
  

2.The out of control weight of so many passengers on the boat. I am not looking to offend anyone, but I was really taken by how many folks are hugely overweight. I know that cruises can bring about hedonistic tendencies, but the lack of portion control was astounding. America has a great crisis that was all too clearly evident on the boat. Most tragic was the number of very big children on the boat.

All in all, a good vacation with some great friends. Will probably elect for a different cruise next time. I suppose you get what you pay for.

[Cruisegirl6]

We took the cruise few months ago and totally agree with you except we had no problems with the smoke, not even in the casino it was not bad minus that person sitting next to you smoking.

 

Buffet lunches horrible (fast food type foods and sandwiches plus a salad bar that did not have cool lettace and had soggy tomatoes each day)

Dinner- positives- chilled soups, desserts are good; negatives- beef/meat lower quality (flat iron not even a sirloin lol) and always tough and not tasty but not full of fat,typical usual, lukewarm salads, never got a soda refill the person serving this never came by more than once in the evening and forget about cocktails also! food after 10pm- again fast food, fries, burgers, pizza, hot dogs (they even took away the ceasar salad), again fast food type foods only....CARNIVAL GET YOUR ACT TOGETHER YOU HAVE CUT BACK THE WORSE OUT OF THE ENTIRE CRUISE INDUSTRY!

 

Comedian was good, shows were very lacking/lame, plenty outdoor deck space and higher priced drinks compared to royal caribbean ( go figure)

 

We also won't get off at Nassau, its not a dump really its just nothing special....your right no place decent to eat there and it is very boring and quiet and dark at night so true....the casino Atlantis is nice to see but when you do once or twice you seen it all been there done that....

we stay on the ship and have it to ourselves. :)