Fantasy 5 day Bahamas review

[iupalum]

My DH and I were on the Fantasy cruise August 8-12. This was my 3rd cruise (2nd with Carnival) and DH’s first. We were celebrating our 10th wedding anniversary. I’m basically going to write this review on a day-by-day basis. I took a small notepad and each evening would jot down notes about the day’s happenings. These are simply my opinions and feelings. There were some things I really didn’t care for…but the bottom line is a cruise is a cruise. I don’t have to clean, cook, drive all over for entertainment…DH and I had a wonderful time.

 

So here goes…Day 1: Embarkation

Charleston’s port did seem to be very chaotic and unorganized. You weave in and out, in a serpentine-like manner. After showing our paperwork and passports, you pay for parking ($75). Then you had to drop off your luggage…then it felt as if we did a u-turn to get to parking. The employees were not very helpful in directing us which way to go…but we figured it out. A short shuttle ride later and we were in the terminal. Once we were parked, everything went really quick. Security was fast, as well as getting our Set & Sail cards.

Our cabin (M128) was spacious enough. Being that it was an inside stateroom, it’s not enormous, but DH and I felt like we had plenty of room to store our items. The layout of the ship is very easy and simple. Even DH, being his 1st cruise, knew hi sway around by the end of the day.

After dropping our carry-ons off at the room, w e headed up to the buffet for lunch. All I can say is Blech! The food was very dry and not very tasty. (We discovered this was the case for the buffet most days…thank goodness for the burger/chix finger area!) Afterwards, we explored the ship a bit before sail away. Charleston is a beautiful city and sail away was fantastic.

We had the early seating for dinner (6:00 pm). We loved it. We could go eat, then chill out at the casino or 21st century bar before heading out for the night’s festivities. Carnival seated us at a round table with 4 other couples. 3 of the couples were honeymooners; while the other couple had been married for 6 years. They were all around our age and we easily made friends with all of them. Dinner the first night was okay. DH had the flat iron steak, which came with mac ‘n’ cheese. He said it was delicious. I selected some chicken and pasta dish. The chicken was raw and the pasta was tough. L I know I could have re-ordered something else, but it really was no big deal to me. The Caesar salad was yummy and the crème brulee made up for the meal. Plus I was already into my all-time fave drink…the Kiss on the Lips!!! J

Later that night we hung out at karaoke (which ended up being a nightly ritual). We also attended a casino lesson on playing craps. Very educational, but the game still went too fast for us to play.

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Day 2: at sea

Went up to the omelet station (right by pool). Absolutely delicious. Plenty of chairs (I think this was because weather was a bit overcast). Got front row seats to enjoy the mixologist and hairy chest contests. Lots of laughs and fun. Got lunch from the deli and pizza station (located in very back of windows on the sea). Food was pretty good. Then went to bingo. 3 cards on one strip of paper costs $20. Played 5 separate games on that one strip. Ended up winning one of the games!!! $100 extra dollars for me! J

This was elegant night. I got the prime rib and baked potato. Very yummy. DH got the lobster and shrimp. First time eating lobster; said it was okay, the shrimp was better. Both got caramelized apples…also very yummy.

Went to see show “Nightclub Express”. I had heard/read things about the costumes (more specifically the ladies’ thongs), but to actually witness it with my own eyes was still very shocking. The talking couch was very cheesy, but man, the female singer was WOW! Afterwards, went to see the adult version of comedian, Cee Jay Jones. He was hilarious!!! We got there late and it was standing room only. As funny as he was, I didn’t mind a bit. Ended the night by stopping by karaoke (I told you this became a ritual for us!) We met a very funny, entertaining and awesome family at karaoke. We became karaoke pals! LOL

[iupalum]

Day 3: Freeport

We ordered room service for breakfast since our shore excursion was supposed to leave early. It’s a limited continental menu, but it served its purpose. I got toast with butter and jelly and a hot cup of tea. DH ordered cereal (don’t forget to ask for the milk, as well), with toast and orange juice. It was right on time and the service was friendly.

For our excursion, we went on the jeep tour. We chose this because we did one on our honeymoon in Aruba so we decided to re-live the memories on our anniversary. The tour was very informative and fun. We made lots of stops for sightseeing and picture-taking. We had an unlikely thunderstorm pop up, which made for some interesting and laughable moments as we scrambled to get the tops up. Needless to say, I got drenched and right after we figured out how to get the tops up, it quit raining. LOL We stopped for lunch and sightseeing at the Garden of the Groves. Lunch consisted of a variety of choices of sandwiches, bag of chips, and tea/lemonade/water. The scenery was gorgeous. Then we traveled to the beach for some R&R. The jeep tour was very long (5 ½ hours) and tiring, but well worth the money. Driving didn’t seem too hard (we rode with another couple); just basically follow the leader.

Dinner this evening for DH was the salmon (which he said was okay) and the mahi mahi (which he liked). I had chicken, Sicilian-style. It was okay. We both got cheesecake for dessert; it was dry.

For after-dinner entertainment, we were really looking forward to the air guitar contest. There ended up being none because no one would sign up for it. However, Sasha (the fun crew member in charge) did not really go out of her way to get anyone involved. She mad e a couple lame announcements, but after that packed her gear up and left. Boo hiss…not really my idea of a crowd rouser. So we went to bingo again, instead. The guy who runs the bingo is very entertaining. We also stopped to listen to the band Music Boardwalk (although I think they now go by a different name). But it is the group of 4 Asian guys and they can really play! We loved them!! We ended the night by playing some roulette. DH did awesome…hmmm, I think we’ve found our new nightly stop! LOL

[iupalum]

Day 4: Nassau

We decided to do our own walking tour of the city. I printed out the walking tour off of Cruise Critic. It was all right. Very historical but also very long and tiring. We probably could have seen the same (and maybe more) had we taken a taxi tour. Some of the areas we walked through were a bit sketchy.

We really wanted to rent jet skis, but after our walk we just wanted to relax. So we headed over to Atlantis to hang out. Taxi ride over is $4/person. It was $40 to see the aquarium and sites. We could explore everything there except the water areas. It was awesome and so worth the money.

Later that night we went to the deck party. It was tons of fun. Lots of dancing, beads, and drinks. J

[iupalum]

more pictures from freeport.

[jus4fun]

Thanks for the review and pictures. We are going on the cruise 9/10/11. This will be our third time on the Fantasy, we just love her!

[iupalum]

more pictures from nassau

[iupalum]

Day 5: At Sea

Visited the pool. Was very packed today, but still managed to find some chairs on an upper deck. The disembarkation presentation was very informative and helped to understand the process. Went to a trivia/game show to pass some time. Ended up winning/tying with another woman. We ironically shared the same name (even spelled the same) and she was from Statesville, NC which is extremely close to my town of Concord, NC! J

The show “Ticket to Ride”, which is a tribute to the Beatles, was outstanding!! Once again, the girls wore thongs L but overall it was a wonderful performance.

Summary:

The Fantasy may not be the biggest and fanciest ship; but a cruise is a cruise. And I have fun no matter what size ship I’m on or how many bells and whistles it may have. And for DH’s first cruise…he said he had a blast and would gladly cruise again! J It is what you make it…and we made it fun!! We loved karaoke (although the host is as exciting as watching paint dry!) and the casino was fun. The Electricity nightclub was okay, too. The chocolate melting cake is divine (and I rarely eat chocolate). The silent disembarkation is wonderful and very smooth. All in all we had a great trip!!!

P.S. I know there had been talk/concern about using debit cards to pay for Set & Sail accounts. DH and I used ours and had no problems at all. In fact, I just received my bank statement and my charges were already applied to my checking account (and they were correct).

[MarylandCruiseCouple]

Thanks for the review. Taking this cruise in November with wife, son and brother (a cruise virgin).

[Cruise, J.D.]

Thanks for the review. Glad you had a good time.