Epic Carnival Fantasy Review & PICS/March 23rd, 2012 Sailing

[atreehuggingirl]

Here is the menu for 5 day sailing. It is in line with the nights that we dined in the MDR and is accurate. Credit to Sergeant Schultz for this information.

 

http://www.zydecocruiser.net/menus/new/5Day.htm

 

Great review...where exactly can you find the menu's for the ship you will be sailing on?

 

Bobbi

[All4fun&fun4all]

Great review...where exactly can you find the menu's for the ship you will be sailing on?

 

Bobbi

 

From what I have read on these boards, the menus should be the same for each ship. The number of days for your cruise is what makes each one different. So if you go to that link for zydecocruiser and look up the number of days of your sailing, then it should be accurate for the ship you will be on.

[Cruise Envy]

Nancy, thanks for the great review! I read your first one prior to my first Fantasy cruise, and now I am booked on the 5 day for September. This has to be a cheap one, so I am highly encouraged that you made it through on $200!! We booked an aft oceanview, but now I know to pack ear plugs. I'm not normally a late sleeper, so this should be ok. Thanks for the pictures, and the heads up.

 

You will LOVE HMC and Grand Turk! We did that cruise last summer and LOVED it.

Edited August 13, 2012 by Cruise Envy

[PathfinderEss]

Great review, thanks for posting it.

[All4fun&fun4all]

Nancy, thanks for the great review! I read your first one prior to my first Fantasy cruise, and now I am booked on the 5 day for September. This has to be a cheap one, so I am highly encouraged that you made it through on $200!! We booked an aft oceanview, but now I know to pack ear plugs. I'm not normally a late sleeper, so this should be ok. Thanks for the pictures, and the heads up.

 

You will LOVE HMC and Grand Turk! We did that cruise last summer and LOVED it.

 

I am the QUEEN of cruising on a budget. Actually, I am the queen of doing EVERYTHING on a budget. I am curious how we are going to get by on this 7 day cruise. We spent $1000.00 on our last 7 day cruise but our budget was vastly different back in 2007.

 

We went to HMC and GT on our 2007 cruise out of Miami on Triumph. I absolutely fell in love with HMC and when we go in December, we are having a pretend wedding there. Sounds silly doesnt it? Good! :p I really didnt enjoy GT back then but that was before I was really heavy on these boards and learned so much. Now I know exactly what to do!

 

Happy cruising and thanks for reading my review!

[bobsfamily]

I am the QUEEN of cruising on a budget. Actually, I am the queen of doing EVERYTHING on a budget. I am curious how we are going to get by on this 7 day cruise. We spent $1000.00 on our last 7 day cruise but our budget was vastly different back in 2007.

 

We went to HMC and GT on our 2007 cruise out of Miami on Triumph. I absolutely fell in love with HMC and when we go in December, we are having a pretend wedding there. Sounds silly doesnt it? Good! :p I really didnt enjoy GT back then but that was before I was really heavy on these boards and learned so much. Now I know exactly what to do!

 

Happy cruising and thanks for reading my review!

I WOULD be jealous but I cruise before you!!! - but when I get back I will be envious!

[karinvt]

I have been reading your review and it is great, seems like you guys has so much fun. We are going to be on the Fantasy on 10/27/12. We are so excited. This will be our first cruise with the kids and grandparents so this should be really interesting.

 

I too love Half Moon and it is the main reason we booked this cruise. I want the kids to see such a beautiful place!

[bobsfamily]

I have been reading your review and it is great, seems like you guys has so much fun. We are going to be on the Fantasy on 10/27/12. We are so excited. This will be our first cruise with the kids and grandparents so this should be really interesting.

 

I too love Half Moon and it is the main reason we booked this cruise. I want the kids to see such a beautiful place!

Kids AND grandparents! Wow, good luck, although I guess one set will keep the other set busy...:D

[nitroustanker82]

We are the masters of smuggling booze on board! All you have to do is buy a large bottle of mouth wash that in Opaque. Empty out bleach it make sure minty smell is out and fill with what ever you want. Also Shampoo bottles have worked. I take me bathroom bag as carry on so I just walk in there with a bag of booze like a boss. No one has ever even open that bathroom bag!!

[Virginia21]

Nancy,

I love reading your reviews, you need to cruise more often so I can read more of them :-)

Cant wait to read your next one.

 

trish

[bobsfamily]

We are the masters of smuggling booze on board! All you have to do is buy a large bottle of mouth wash that in Opaque. Empty out bleach it make sure minty smell is out and fill with what ever you want. Also Shampoo bottles have worked. I take me bathroom bag as carry on so I just walk in there with a bag of booze like a boss. No one has ever even open that bathroom bag!!

Well, you just told Carnival what you do, plus at the Charleston port they will check your mouthwash and shampoo, even more likely with a BIG bottle.

[All4fun&fun4all]

I have been reading your review and it is great, seems like you guys has so much fun. We are going to be on the Fantasy on 10/27/12. We are so excited. This will be our first cruise with the kids and grandparents so this should be really interesting.

 

I too love Half Moon and it is the main reason we booked this cruise. I want the kids to see such a beautiful place!

 

Thanks for reading! We love cruising so much. We are thinking about finally taking my oldest in March of next year. He will be 20 years old by then. :o

 

Nancy,

I love reading your reviews, you need to cruise more often so I can read more of them :-)

Cant wait to read your next one.

 

trish

 

Thanks Trish! I wish I had more money so that I could cruise several times a year. I am still hoping for a sugar daddy to pay for my cruises. The Andrew wont mind as long as I take him cruising. :p (total joke)

 

We are the masters of smuggling booze on board! All you have to do is buy a large bottle of mouth wash that in Opaque. Empty out bleach it make sure minty smell is out and fill with what ever you want. Also Shampoo bottles have worked. I take me bathroom bag as carry on so I just walk in there with a bag of booze like a boss. No one has ever even open that bathroom bag!!

 

The port of Charleston used to be pretty lax about their security screening which is why we were able to get through back in 2010. I think time of year may have had something to do with it though for the March cruise. Seems like I have heard that they are more diligent around Spring Break times. They already know about the mouthwash thing though but I hear things like that in checked luggage have a better time making it through. We had a large Febreeze in our carry on and they opened the lid and smelled it to make sure it wasnt booze.

[Justmediana]

I greatly appreciate all of the pictures and information you have posted. We are booked to take the same cruise on 1/9/2013, I am hoping to meet people here prior to sailing. I have done one cruise before, this will be my boyfriend's first as well as his mom and some other family members. Having the pictures to show them will be AWESOME!! Thank you so much. :)

[All4fun&fun4all]

I greatly appreciate all of the pictures and information you have posted. We are booked to take the same cruise on 1/9/2013, I am hoping to meet people here prior to sailing. I have done one cruise before, this will be my boyfriend's first as well as his mom and some other family members. Having the pictures to show them will be AWESOME!! Thank you so much. :)

 

You are welcome! I am glad it was helpful for you and yours. :)

[tandemcruzr]

Loved your review and pics. We will be on the Fantasy 7-day in Jan 2013.

 

Looking for a hotel that will let us park for the week and provide transportation to and from the port. We will probably come in a couple of days before sailing.

 

Never been to Charleston. Can you believe it? We are in middle GA, and it is an easy drive for us. :D

[thecruisers723]

Oh, before we boarded the ship...this happened

 

 

Bahamas Celebration was in port with us. Not a pretty ship

 

 

Folks getting back onboard

 

 

Hot dog love

 

 

Before sailaway, I ran back down to the room for a moment and as I was walking out of the room....power outage. Um, whoa! Back to the room for my flashlight. This was around 4:20pm but those hallways sure do get dark without power. Tonight was to be the Past Guest Party at 5:00pm. We certainly cant miss that! What is gonna happen with that?

 

We went down to where the PGP was to occur and the doors were shut. We opened them and there were members of crew sitting in there. Okaaaaay. Um, let's see what Guest Services knows. They had no clue what was going to take place. We found an officer who said that the party will be at the lower level.

 

Finally, we made our way inside the Universe Lounge for the party. Now, at this point my camera TOTALLY refused to work so unfortunately there arent any pictures. Keep in mind we had absolutely no power so there was no music or the cool film where you yell for your ship. Carnival really pulled it together though. They still had hors d'ouvres and free drinks. They offered raspberry sours, rum punch and yellowbirds. The hors d'ouvres were tomato mozzerella on thin crispy bread, crab dip of some sort on crispy bread and a jam pinwheel. A member of our roll call, patthecma, won the raffle. YAY! They extended the hours of the party and everyone was cheering and happy. They did an acoustic version of "Stuck in the Middle With You". Funneh.

 

In the middle of the past guest party the power came back on and we ended up back on lido to hang out with Ann. We finally departed around 6:30pm which was a little late but no worries. We were having FUN! I made a few room rum cocktails with Monster energy drink.

 

 

I met this guy and thanked him for his service and listened to his stories

 

 

We did not make it to dinner this night. It seems that anytime the PGP is involved we end up missing dinner. I excused myself from the table on lido to run down to my room. I was sneaky and ordered room service for myself

 

Loving your review. Can't wait to read the rest. I found this post interesting. We sailed on Fantasy in 2005 out of Port Canaveral. About an hr. after we sailed, we went to our inside cabin and I was just about to take a shower and the electricity went out. The cabin was pitch dark, so hubby and I went out and waited in the atrium area and had some beers (yep, they were still serving) and after about an hour of just sitting in the open sea, the electricity came back on and there were no issues for the rest of the cruise. I think that one was just a 3 or 4 day cruise. Interesting to know that 7 yrs. later you had a power outage too. I wonder how common it is on the Fantasy. It was just a little extra excitement for us and no real inconvenience.

[All4fun&fun4all]

Loved your review and pics. We will be on the Fantasy 7-day in Jan 2013.

 

Looking for a hotel that will let us park for the week and provide transportation to and from the port. We will probably come in a couple of days before sailing.

 

Never been to Charleston. Can you believe it? We are in middle GA, and it is an easy drive for us. :D

 

I am glad you enjoyed our review.

 

Let me know if you find any hotels you would like for me to check on. I dont mind stopping by if it is a hotel that is on my way home from work.

 

Never been to Charleston??:eek: WOW! :p You will love it here. Feel free to ask questions.

[All4fun&fun4all]

Loving your review. Can't wait to read the rest. I found this post interesting. We sailed on Fantasy in 2005 out of Port Canaveral. About an hr. after we sailed, we went to our inside cabin and I was just about to take a shower and the electricity went out. The cabin was pitch dark, so hubby and I went out and waited in the atrium area and had some beers (yep, they were still serving) and after about an hour of just sitting in the open sea, the electricity came back on and there were no issues for the rest of the cruise. I think that one was just a 3 or 4 day cruise. Interesting to know that 7 yrs. later you had a power outage too. I wonder how common it is on the Fantasy. It was just a little extra excitement for us and no real inconvenience.

 

In the three times we have sailed on Fantasy, this was the first outage we had experienced. I am not sure how I would have reacted if this had happened at sea though. :eek:

[reebeekee]

great review:)

Edited September 4, 2012 by reebeekee

[reebeekee]

Great review, I found 2012 first, so when im done I'll have to go back and read your 2010 reveiw. It felt like I was on the cruise with you, not helping make the days go faster for me. I'm going to freeport and naussu in January, So glad you get to go in December, and hope to see your review before I go. Detail on the weather/ temp. I'm wondering about being able to do water excursions in Jan. Have you done any excursion or do you just make it a beach/shopping day? :)

[All4fun&fun4all]

Great review, I found 2012 first, so when im done I'll have to go back and read your 2010 reveiw. It felt like I was on the cruise with you, not helping make the days go faster for me. I'm going to freeport and naussu in January, So glad you get to go in December, and hope to see your review before I go. Detail on the weather/ temp. I'm wondering about being able to do water excursions in Jan. Have you done any excursion or do you just make it a beach/shopping day? :)

 

Thanks for reading! I was going for the feeling of having my reader walking along side us or seeing from our eyes. Glad that came across. :)

 

I will be more than happy to give a weather update within my next review in December. We sailed on Fantasy (our first cruise) in February of 2004 and although we only went to Nassau, I remember the water being pretty chilly. I have heard from folks up north that the temperature does not bother them so I guess that comes from living in different climates as to how our bodies acclimate.

 

We havent booked any excursions for our next cruise simply because of budget but now that I think about it, I am not sure I would enjoy snorkeling in December, even if it is in the Bahamas. :)

[New2cruising2011]

Planned to pm you but... I just want to say thank you so much for your reviews. Reading it helped us have a great time and to seek out some fun. Angela in the piano bar was awesome! Turned our bed which opened up the room, especially with the pull down open for dd. Your reviews are fun to read and share with the kids, thank you! :D

[All4fun&fun4all]

Planned to pm you but... I just want to say thank you so much for your reviews. Reading it helped us have a great time and to seek out some fun. Angela in the piano bar was awesome! Turned our bed which opened up the room, especially with the pull down open for dd. Your reviews are fun to read and share with the kids, thank you! :D

 

What a wonderful compliment. Thanks! I am thrilled that you enjoyed our voyage so much. I will be writing another one for our December sailing. I can hardly contain my excitement!

[New2cruising2011]

I will try to get together a short review this weekend. Dh has the pictures on his computer. The crew on the Fantasy is fantastic!

[poohtig11]

Thank you so much for posting info and pics you did a great job!!:D

Poohtig11