Itinerary Change - Fascination

[Cruising89143]

Whoa. That last post made this thread unreadable on a IPad.

 

Ref the lease issue, I have a friend living on the island. He is employed by RCI and just took another 3 month contract on the island.

 

Edit...thanks or fixing that javamom.

 

Royal has something like a 99 year lease on the island. I'm sure that RCI was more than happy to lease it out to Carnival for a nice chunk of change. ;)

[MrPete]

Hmm think you have the wrong place. That is the NCL private Island

 

That's Great Stirrup Cay.

[MrPete]

I used to live in Ft. Lauderdale and went to Key West few times, there really is nothing to do there. The port is only junk store shopping, there is tiny little bit of history hemingways house whatever boring as heck. Some local bars well they located on any island, and the fact we would get there around 7am and leave early at 2:30 pm to me its more of a waste to go there, I so happy this happened actually was hoping it would. :D

 

For you all who wanted Key West trust me there isn't much there, ok you say the island we going to isn't much there to do either true, but its beautiful!! There are beautiful nature walks, the beach is very long and nicely wide. Your not crammed all together there its a large area. If you have kids going there are playgrounds for them to. You can rent wave runners and kayaks and other water sports. The sand is pure white and lots of beautiful foilage on the island. Carnival owns this island it is NOT Coco Cay. They have the bbq area that is nicely under canapys and they have so many tables with canapys for shade to eat in and sit at. You will not feel crowded on this island as you would on other islands other cruise lines own. The water is gorgeous, no rocks nice smooth sand.

 

For the person who mentioned that you didn't want beach with your mother/law if you get off the ship and walk down the path you will find like a restaurant there where they serve food and drinks. It is an open air restaurant, there are chairs and tables there also and it overlooks right on the beach. They have a band or a guy playing the steel drums to. You also can rent but they limited a cabana there also!

 

My visits to Key West was always the drive there, and never the destination, although early on we did stay there from one to three nights.

 

Kinda like the Road to Hana on Maui. It was the trip itself that was the fun part.

 

As a side note, I was always curious about the old road and railroad tracks and tressles, completely abandoned. A stop at Bahia Honda always included a walk along that stretch, as well as jumps off the tressles, until they removed a portion. Google eventually became my friend in getting all the history of that/those roads.

 

But getting back to the issue at hand, I would prefer a stop at a Cay instead of a Key myself.

[MrPete]

 

RCCL has done a great job putting things in the water -- old planes, cannons, etc. -- to encourage coral reef growth, and the snorkeling there was absolutely amazing! From the beach, go to the right near the floating snorkeling docks, and you'll see hundreds of yellowtail and other fish. I felt like I was swimming through entire clouds of them! Hint: they feed the fish near one of the lifeguard stations out there, and that's where you'll find 'em. :)

 

I'm not sure if the snorkeling at HMC is as good, but CocoCay would be hard to beat.

 

Maybe it's part of a plan to put the Concordia there. That would make a great underwater reef.

[Aquahound]

Don't believe you have Carnival to thank for this. Seems like Key West is in negotiations with the Navy who is closing the pier except for government traffic.

 

in reading some of the local blogs it seems a lot of the long time locals could care less if another cruise ship ever docks there.

 

Will be interesting to see how much they will miss the cruise ships once they are no longer there.

 

Cruise ships will never totally leave Key West. In fact, bigger and bigger ships are coming here and the city commission is fighting over whether or not to widen the channel. Carnival Magic is the largest ship to ever port here, and now, I have some inside info that says RCI will start bringing a Voyager Class ship here.

 

That said, don't kid yourself. Cruise ships don't lend as much to our economy as some might think.

 

Only one pier is owned by the city...Mallory Square. And that pier can only dock small ships....ships around the 50,000 GT range, so it's the least used pier.

[RuthlessBoss]

well , my group of 4 was looking forward to Key West.

Carnival has lost us as that is why we booked this cruise.

We will be getting our refund.

I live 90 miles from the Alabama beaches and 90 miles from Florida beaches.

If I want to do the beach thing, I can drive there cheaper.

 

My wife and I went to KeyWest about 5 years ago and I hurt my leg so we did not get a good go at it, plus my father inlaw and sister inlaw were looking forward to this trip.

 

My brother and his wife were going a week later, they will change or cancel

You can't blame Carnival, the choice to pull out "wasn't their choice". I too book certain cruises just for Key West,. If you get a refund, that's likely why. Each time I was there, we docked at Outer Mole, and if I pieced the story together right, that is the dock involved.

[howielovescruisin]

What is Carnival thinking? After you all see the RCCL private island, you will want to book your next cruise on RCCL. IMO it's my favorite private island of all I've been to. Enjoy it lucky cruisers!

[MrPete]

Yeah. Agreed. Freeport is AWFUL!!!!!! What's up With carnival pulling out of Key West?????

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

Yeah, this looks awful, eh?

 

 

 

 

[ready2cruzagain]

This news makes me want to book another cruise on the Fascination! Love the change in itinerary. Hated Key West on a cruise ship. We docked there at 7am and nothing opened until 11am:eek:. I much prefer going there after a cruise out of Miami and staying for a couple of days in a motel. It is a totally different aspect than seeing it on a cruise.

[RuthlessBoss]

This news makes me want to book another cruise on the Fascination! Love the change in itinerary. Hated Key West on a cruise ship. We docked there at 7am and nothing opened until 11am:eek:. I much prefer going there after a cruise out of Miami and staying for a couple of days in a motel. It is a totally different aspect than seeing it on a cruise.

I'm a Key West lover, but from Ecstasy. Their hours are/or were noon to 8 P.M. Each time we were at OM for docking. Has this ship been affected?

[Cruisegirl6]

Im sorry for all that really wanted Key West but Carnivals out island is beautiful.

 

I like to see them take Nassau out and put something else in there those photos are beautiful thats in Freeport where exactly? Lets go there instead of that Nassau.

[ItsAllAboutTheSass]

Im sorry for all that really wanted Key West but Carnivals out island is beautiful.

 

I like to see them take Nassau out and put something else in there those photos are beautiful thats in Freeport where exactly? Lets go there instead of that Nassau.

 

HMC is gorgeous. Little Stirrup Cay (CocoCay) is a step above.

[ibcnusoon]

Oh boy, what a welcomed change from Key West to a private island.

 

I love Key West but it is B-O-R-I-N-G when going there by cruise ship because you get there at 7am, nothing is open, in fact Key West is most enjoyed at sunset and the evening. Unfortunately, Carnival leaves by 2pm, no time to go to the beach (by taxi) or do anything except walk around cheesy souvenir shops!

 

If you want to enjoy Key West, make it a land vacation, that's what we ended up doing after we visited there for the day by cruise ship.

 

The only reason I'd get off the boat at Key West at this point is to walk over to Kino Shoes for a new pair of sandals.

[steve4031]

June 29th

Depart Jackonville

 

June 30th

Day at sea

 

July 1

HMC

 

July 2

Coco Cay (or whatever the name of that new island is)

 

July 3rd

day at sea

 

July 4

Arrive Jacksonville

 

This eliminates Nassau. LOL

[FlaParrotHead]

There is lots to do in Key West! Hemmingway House, Harry Truman's Little White House, the art museum, the southern most point. Not to mention all the fun that is Duval St. Key West also has one of the best Hard Rock Cafes in the world!

 

@jwalk. Well said. We have lived in Florida for 30+ years and find Key West, and all of the Keys, anything BUT boring. In 20 years of cruising we have never seen a boring port, only boring cruisers.

[ibcnusoon]

@jwalk. Well said. We have lived in Florida for 30+ years and find Key West, and all of the Keys, anything BUT boring. In 20 years of cruising we have never seen a boring port, only boring cruisers.

 

Like I said before, Key West and the Keys are wonderful for a land vacation. But when a cruise ship pulls up to Key West at 7am and tells us to be back by 1pm for a 2pm sailing, the only thing available to cruisers are a few museums, tacky souvenir shops, and bars.

 

Key West is a boring port to cruises, if you do a land vacation, there is so much more to see and do. I mean, they pull out of port well before the Sunset Celebration, which is the highlight of any Key West trip.

[tree.critter]

I would enjoy the cay but really had my heart set on a visit to Key West. I was born in KW in 1954 and was planning a sentimental visit to my first home. Thought that taking a ship there would have been a lot more fun than driving 9 hours one way for a short simple visit.

I haven't got letter yet on change though. We can drive to KW instead and I'd rather change cruise to another week long Caribean instead of Bahamas.

[meluvtogocruise]

well , my group of 4 was looking forward to Key West.

Carnival has lost us as that is why we booked this cruise.

We will be getting our refund.

 

 

I can certainly understand your disappointment. The cruise I went there on was Destiny. I was so excited about it. My sisters didn't want to get off the ship so I went it alone. Saw the Hemmingway House and walked the entire length in the very hot sun. I'm glad I did it but once was plenty for me.

 

I hope you find a cruise with KW for your port and I hope you have an enjoyable time. :)

 

Mel

[maggieworkman]

When I went to Coco Cay with RCCL, we went snorkeling. There was really great snorkeling on the right kind of far out by the floating dock. There was a plane or boat sunk there with LOTS of fish going through.

 

 

I wonder. Since RCCL is moving towards the bigger ships, are they stopping as often at Coco Cay? I don't think the big ships can stop there, can they? Maybe they have lots of extra "slots" at Coco Cay now and are wanting to lease it out so it doesn't go to waste? I know when we stopped there we were on the Sovereign or Majesty (can't remember exactly).

 

Maggie

[Aquahound]

I wonder. Since RCCL is moving towards the bigger ships, are they stopping as often at Coco Cay? I don't think the big ships can stop there, can they? Maybe they have lots of extra "slots" at Coco Cay now and are wanting to lease it out so it doesn't go to waste? I know when we stopped there we were on the Sovereign or Majesty (can't remember exactly).

 

Sure they do. Freedom of the Seas goes to Coco Cay. Plus, Majesty and Monarch go there every week.

[Cruisegirl6]

Key West for land/weekened vacations is very nice but to go there and be so limited in time its boring.

 

I love love love the Freedom of the Seas been on her a number of times and her sister ship Liberty of the Seas

[jwalk03]

This news makes me want to book another cruise on the Fascination! Love the change in itinerary. Hated Key West on a cruise ship. We docked there at 7am and nothing opened until 11am:eek:. I much prefer going there after a cruise out of Miami and staying for a couple of days in a motel. It is a totally different aspect than seeing it on a cruise.

 

Not all itineraries do the half day there, I was just there on Carnival Freedom last year 8-5, it was great, and trust me things open before 11AM! I was at Fat Tuesday’s drinking a “slushie” by like 9. I have not been to any of the private islands yet, so I really can’t compare, but I have loved Key West both times I have been there, and once was on the Imagination so 7-2, but it was still fun! I also forgot to mention the Original Jimmy Buffet’s Margaritaville in my first post of fun things to see in KW.

That said I dont think there is a single port that is universally loved or universally hated (ok, maybe Freeport, lol) So I am always an advocate of more variety, so each cruiser can chose the ports that work best for them.

[Naomi John]

Why only some of the itenerarys change in March, April and May? The March 11 changed, but the March 25 has not, ditto for April. It appears from June on it permanant.

 

Wonder if they are looking for ports for those that have not changed as of this date.

[maggieworkman]

Sure they do. Freedom of the Seas goes to Coco Cay. Plus, Majesty and Monarch go there every week.

 

But isn't the Monarch getting retired soon?

 

Maggie

[jwalk03]

Why only some of the itenerarys change in March, April and May? The March 11 changed, but the March 25 has not, ditto for April. It appears from June on it permanant.

 

Wonder if they are looking for ports for those that have not changed as of this date.

 

It looks like the changes are based on the port schedule. Since the outer mole pier wont be available they cant dock if the other piers are in use, but if its a day where there is an opening on one of the other piers they can still dock.