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Fantasy Review 3/5 to 3/10/13

cantwait2cruise

By cantwait2cruise,
in Carnival Cruise Lines

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cantwait2cruise

cantwait2cruise

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Thought I would post a quick review.

 

We drove to the port of Charleston. Lots of lanes and cones to maneuver through. It's kind of pain to have to ride the shuttle but no biggie. We went through security fine and then a really nice Carnival lady put us in the VIP line and we probably bypassed a 20 to 30 minute wait. We had our 3 and 5 year old girls with us and our arms were full of stuff, so that was a nice gesture.

 

We got on the ship and it was late enough that our room was ready. We met our cabin steward, Pacquito, shortly thereafter. He was really sweet and awesome. He did a great job. We were in cabin E243, very far AFT on the Empress deck. We chose this location because we would be very close to Camp Carnival. We had an inside cabin with two uppers. I was concerned about my 3 year old trying to sleep on the upper, so we asked Pacquito about bringing her a trundle bed. He was happy to oblige and had it set up that night under the upper that the 5 year old slept on. That worked perfect. We also brought one of the "fatter" pool noodles to put on the upper bed to help my 5 year old from rolling out. That worked fine, although, I think the extra pillows Pacquito put there would have been sufficient.

 

We signed up for you time dining, but there was a long line the two times we went to the Celebration dining room the first night. We did eat there that night, but decided the next day to switch to the late seating in the Jubilee dining room that was located Aft just above where our cabin was.

 

I felt like the MDR food was kind of meh. I got the flank steak a couple of nights. Our servers were o.k. We just didn't have a big connection with them like we normally do on cruises. I had to ask for ice tea every night and wait 10 to 15 minutes to get it. My all time favorite thing in MDR is the warm chocolate melting cake and I had it several times. :)

 

We didn't go to any shows. Our main source of entertainment was the casino. We spent our free time in there while our girls were in Camp Carnival. We had a good time, but my hubby lost way too much money when he played late one night. Does anyone know if you can block your sail and sign card from being used in the casino??? :eek: (No really, I'm serious!!!) For the most part, everyone was friendly in the casino. They did send us strawberries and a bottle of wine and my hubby got free drinks the last couple of days. (Free, ha ha!!!)

 

Our girls had a great time in Camp Carnival. It felt very secure. We had a cell phone with us for the duration of the cruise. They called us once when my 3 year old was running and fell and got a little carpet burn. We utilized the "pay extra" a few nights and they stayed until 11:00 or so. Overall, we were thrilled that they liked it and we got an hour or so here and there to enjoy some time together.

 

Ports: Freeport, we just got off the ship and walked around a little bit and then enjoyed the much less crowded ship pool. In Nassau, we bought day passes to the British Colonial Hilton. It was $65 per adult. Kids under 6 were free. You received a food credit of $40 each, so we had lunch and a few drinks. It was nice, but I don't know if I would do again and have to pay even more for the kids. They do have nice chairs and cabanas and a nice pool. The beach area is not very big. It does have a great view of the ships in port. The hotel is within walking distance of the port. You keep going past Senor Frogs another block or so.

 

The sea days were nice, but it was very chilly and windy on our way down to the Bahamas and on the way back. You really could not just lay out in your bathing suit. The seas were pretty rough especially on the way back. You could feel a LOT of movement. My 5 year old got a little sick on the last day. I STILL feel like I'm moving some even as I sit here and type 5 days later. This is the longest I've ever felt this way after a cruise.

 

There were lots of spring breakers on the cruise and they were loud. Luckily there were none staying really close to our cabin. We didn't have any issues, but apparently some others did. Overall, I'd say it's a time to avoid...but we were celebrating our 10 year anniversary on March 8th.

 

We got off the ship very quickly, b/c we were literally one of the last people off. I don't know how in the world everyone got off so fast. They push self assist in Charleston b/c the terminal is small. There was no line to get off b/c we were a bit past our assigned 9:10 time. Our suitcases were sitting in the terminal. Customs was a breeze. We did have to wait in line to take the shuttle back to the parking lot. They have trailers hooked to them where they put your luggage. We had to have the assistance of several porters to get everything back to our where our vehicle was parked. We were on the road just shortly after 10 am and back home to NC by 3 pm.

 

Any questions, I'll try to help!

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Trish12345

Trish12345

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I love the Fantasy as I feel it is so easy to get around the ship. Sorry about your casino issue. I'm sure Carnival appreciated the extra you paid on the fuel bill :D. We were in the S Caribbean a few weeks ago and all the beaches had an undertow - must be this time of year. I can't wait to board the Fantasy again in the fall!!

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Bobblefrog

Bobblefrog

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We had a rough one back on ours too - it didn't seem that bad - only a few hours, only a few times my stomach rolled with it. But it took me over a week to recover from the rolly motion back on land! It will go away, promise!

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cantwait2cruise

cantwait2cruise

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Was it open on embarkation day? If not what was open for lunch. We are driving down from High Point on Sunday just because we love Charleston.

 

My husband said yes bc we walked my there and there was a long line. This was probably 2:30ish.

 

We live just off 311 off of Union Cross!

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