Medtech2 Posted May 15, 2013 #1 Share Posted May 15, 2013 I hope to post my review with pictures so bear with me. This will be a learning curve for sure! First, a little background on my cruise history: 1st cruise, high school graduation aboard the Carnivale. 17 years old, plenty of classmates, very few chaperones. Aren't we all glad that doesn't happen anymore? The officers "dated" passengers, my girlfriend got us free drinks all week from a bartender, etc. (now I know what you are thinking but I did come home in the same condition I left) It was fun for a teen unsupervised, lol. 2nd cruise, newly married, on NCL Starward. I remember being docked next to a "Fun Ship" and wishing I was there--outside of being with DH it was soooo boring! 3rd cruise, fast forward to daughter's high school graduation. They don't take graduates on senior trips anymore so we took her with my parents on the Triumph out of Charleston. Opa (grandpa) was totally in charge. I don't think I ever saw the dailies and had not discovered this wonderful site called Cruise Critic. Not knowing what, if anything, was going on I was again totally bored. 4th cruise, gee, we had timeshare points to use before they expired. The timeshare person suggested a cruise and BANG! we did not 1 but 2 weeks on NCL Epic. A month before our cruise I discovered Cruise Critic and those things called Roll Calls. WOOT! WOOT! Best 2 weeks of my life! I came back to work and co-workers kept commenting because I was grinning ear to ear for 2 weeks after. 5th cruise, now wondering if it was the ship or the line I loved, we book NCL Sun, about as opposite from Epic as you can get in NCL. And now, we come to the 6th cruise, booked last minute to celebrate my daughter's graduation from Vet School. I chose the Fantasy because we are literally 10 minutes from the ship. And so it begins... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Medtech2 Posted May 16, 2013 Author #2 Share Posted May 16, 2013 We drove to a park on James Island where we live to take some pictures of the Fantasy from across the harbor. It was less then 10 minutes to drive to the port. There was no waiting as you joined a convoluted line of cars first to a checkpoint where they compare your ticket and ID. I wondered what would happen if you did not preprint your ticket? The next stop is the luggage drop off tent, if you are so inclined. We only had carry-ons so we continued to the parking warehouse. There you board a bus for the short ride to the terminal. we went through a security scanner and since we had already tied my credit card to the account we just needed to pick up our boarding cards. They took our boarding picture and then the ID picture. The setup is strange as you go upstairs but then go down a ramp to board The park on James Island--the red dot is where the Fantasy is: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Medtech2 Posted May 16, 2013 Author #3 Share Posted May 16, 2013 The view from the park: The entire downtown with the ship: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Medtech2 Posted May 16, 2013 Author #4 Share Posted May 16, 2013 The view from the James Island Connector: An anti-cruise flag hanging from a house downtown: (please note these people are in the minority here) Almost there!: First this way and that way: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Medtech2 Posted May 16, 2013 Author #5 Share Posted May 16, 2013 I found it interesting that no one asked if we were bringing wine or alcohol on board. Since we were allowed 1 750ml wine per person I had purchased a small 1500ml cube of Pink Moscato from Target for the both of us. Theoretically we could have brought much more but I tend to follow the rules in such matters. Upon entering the ship we were told that the rooms were not ready but that we could drop our luggage off anyway. We took some pictures and met our steward, Mario. Signing his clipboard was about the only interaction I had with him. Since the MDR was not open we headed to the Lido deck buffet. It was disappointing to find that the hamburgers are fried, not grilled. On our Norwegian Sun cruise they grilled not only burgers but chicken out on deck. Each day had a theme and today was Italian. Entering our Ocean View Room: This room could sleep 4, 2 regular beds, a bunk on the wall and a trundle under one of the beds. That would be WAY too crowded! Those few drawers you see are the only ones. Half of one closet was life jackets, none of the small tables had storage and neither did the bathroom. And, of course, you could only stow luggage under one of the beds. Luckily I use a hanging toiletry bag in the bathroom. Otherwise an over the door shoe organizer is the way to go! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Medtech2 Posted May 16, 2013 Author #6 Share Posted May 16, 2013 Here is a view of downtown from the ship. If you can, schedule a side trip to enjoy Charleston before or after your cruise. You will love it! Looking across the harbor, this is the tip of James Island, where I live: From left to right, Fort Moultrie (Lighthouse), a freighter, Fort Sumter off in the distance, and Castle Pinckney nearer the ship: As an aside, the first shot of the Civil War was fired from Fort Johnson on the tip of James Island onto Fort Sumter. The park we were at is right down from Fort Johnson, which is now a Marine Laboratory. It dates from the Revolutionary War... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
klct39lg Posted May 16, 2013 #7 Share Posted May 16, 2013 Reliving my April Fantasy cruise. :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Medtech2 Posted May 16, 2013 Author #8 Share Posted May 16, 2013 It was disappointing that there was no MDR open upon boarding, only the buffet. It is so much nicer to have someone bring food to you after travelling, even if we only travelled 10 minutes! NCL also has a steak on the MDR lunch menu (and not a flank steak but an actual grilled steak) Fried Hamburger: The Lido Pool area: The Serenity Deck is at the back of the ship. It was our favorite place by far. This is where Fantasy beats out the larger ships that block the view with Jumbotrons! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Medtech2 Posted May 16, 2013 Author #9 Share Posted May 16, 2013 We walked around exploring the ship and found that they do not give out playing cards or lanyards at guest services. We did get lanyards at the casino and the nice man punched our cards and put them on the clip. We took the official ship tour which basically covered the Promenade Deck and then went to our Muster Station which was in the Punchliner Lounge. It was standing room only and then we went up to our lifeboats. No crew members spoke and we only knew it was over when the crew member near us promptly left. We did the Spa Tour and got 30 second massages with the sales pitch. The sailaway party was up on the Lido Deck. It seemed very few people danced. The stage was raised and I think people were just too shy or reserved to actually climb up the steps to dance. Music was by a DJ. We asked for the Drink of the Day in a Souvenir Glass but the bartender brought our drinks in regular glasses. When I pointed that out he said I did not need to spend the extra money. I appreciate that I must look poor, lol, and that he was looking out for me but we had wanted a memento. The Atrium: The ship made out of LEGOS: A Random Mural: Outside the Pavilion Library: (only open very limited hour twice a day for books and games--basically not convenient): Outside Cleopatra's Piano Bar. There was an interesting circular piano in here but I never saw anyone in here: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kybluecruiser Posted May 16, 2013 #10 Share Posted May 16, 2013 My favorite ship. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Medtech2 Posted May 16, 2013 Author #11 Share Posted May 16, 2013 Cat's Lounge was very interesting. I loved the decor but only ever saw the teen club in here, Wish Carnival had live bands in these places! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sabalon Posted May 16, 2013 #12 Share Posted May 16, 2013 When we were on the Fantasy back in February, they had a live band that played at the Cat's Lounge. Well...they moved around - there one night, across from the casino bar, at the back lounge. I think the library was open most of the time (only closed during a special meal). My daughter was quite upset -expecting a huge library. Looks like the lego ship is still cracked near the center...you'd think they'd fix that! Looks like your daughter had fun posing. Congrats on her graduating! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Medtech2 Posted May 16, 2013 Author #13 Share Posted May 16, 2013 When we booked the only option left was Your Time Dining in the Celebration Dining Room. Service was very slow and disjointed. My daughter had the cured salmon with candied tomatoes as an appetizer and the braised beef. I had the vegetable spring rolls and the sweet and sour tiger prawns. Those were HUGE and wonderful. I never got the dessert I ordered even though I pointed it out twice. As we left later I saw my dessert sitting by itself on a sideboard....My daughter ordered a piece of cake and after she ate it they brought out yet another piece with a candle on it to sing “Happy Graduation”. The thought was nice but a little more thought would have just put the candle on the first piece and not wasted a second piece. I am assuming the room was named for this ship: The decor was plain: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Medtech2 Posted May 16, 2013 Author #14 Share Posted May 16, 2013 I had never had the Chocolate Melting Cake and wondered about all the Hoopla. Well, I wonder no more!! O M G !! This was the first of many... My daughter got her creme brulee: The second piece of cake, again, a nice idea but... After this meal we always asked to sit on the other side of the dining room, the starboard side, and had the most excellent service from Tucker (from Jamaica) and Dennis (from the Phillipines) The show that night was the Welcome Aboard Show and this was the only time we ever saw the CD, Henney. After that was “Motor City” which was okay but had songs that the singers just could not handle. One guy sang a Jackson Five song and his Michael Jackson was so falsetto it was comical. Indeed many in the audience could not help but laugh. They really need to pick songs to match their performer’s range. The After Party was in the Electricity Dance Club and had beefy security at the door. These security did not wear uniforms consisting of jackets but black T Shirts with SECURITY emblazoned in yellow on the back. It made me feel as if I was traveling with gangs. That was definitely not the case. The passengers on this trip were a delightful mix of young old, straight, gay, and all colors shapes and sizes. The only problem we ever had was the extended family traveling in several cabins across from us who did not use inside voices at 1am to communicate with each other. The Electricity Dance Club proved to be a big disappointment as they allowed smoking in that enclosed space. Our eyes burned so much we could not stay. They should definitely make that a no smoking zone. The casino was also very smoky and what was strange was that on port days when the casino was closed it was a designated Nonsmoking lounge. Our towel animal was a seal (I think) Nighty Night! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sabalon Posted May 16, 2013 #15 Share Posted May 16, 2013 The Electricity lounge made me laugh. The "security" stationed outside, along with a small velvet rope looked like they were just trying way to hard. I understand you want to keep the underage kids out for their own safety, but pretending you're Studio54 or some trendy nightclub doesn't make it so. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neon706 Posted May 16, 2013 #16 Share Posted May 16, 2013 Nice review and pics so far. We were there for the seven day a few weeks ago, Absolutely loved it! These pics are making me miss the ship! Sent from my SGH-S959G using Tapatalk 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Medtech2 Posted May 16, 2013 Author #17 Share Posted May 16, 2013 When we were on the Fantasy back in February, they had a live band that played at the Cat's Lounge. Well...they moved around - there one night, across from the casino bar, at the back lounge. I think the library was open most of the time (only closed during a special meal). My daughter was quite upset -expecting a huge library. Looks like the lego ship is still cracked near the center...you'd think they'd fix that! Looks like your daughter had fun posing. Congrats on her graduating! Thanks for the congrats! The one live band mostly played for the "new and improved" entertainment, "Live Band Karaoke" usually in the Punchliner (Forum) Lounge. The Library Room was open but the glass cases with the books and games were locked 22 out of 24 hours... I never noticed the cracked Legos, still looked pretty cool. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Medtech2 Posted May 16, 2013 Author #18 Share Posted May 16, 2013 The Electricity lounge made me laugh. The "security" stationed outside, along with a small velvet rope looked like they were just trying way to hard. I understand you want to keep the underage kids out for their own safety, but pretending you're Studio54 or some trendy nightclub doesn't make it so. And it was frustrating that it was so smoky in such an enclosed space. It was never crowded or had a full dance floor, probably because of the smoke. People would walk in and then immediately leave. They made a point of not allowing smoking in the Punchliner Comedy Show so it would make sense not to allow it here... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Medtech2 Posted May 16, 2013 Author #19 Share Posted May 16, 2013 Nice review and pics so far. We were there for the seven day a few weeks ago, Absolutely loved it! These pics are making me miss the ship! Sent from my SGH-S959G using Tapatalk 2 Glad you are enjoying the pics! I took tons of food porn this trip. Figuring out how to post them took me an hour, lol. More to follow... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LUVMYGSDOG Posted May 16, 2013 #20 Share Posted May 16, 2013 It was never crowded or had a full dance floor, probably because of the smoke. In April it was acutally very crowed, could hardly move. We got a laugh out of the "security guards" as well. They carded my DS (21) when we went it but not his GF. He didn't like it but I got a good laugh from it! DH and I didn't stay in very long but I think DS and his GF stayed for awhile. Kim Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NCTribeFan Posted May 16, 2013 #21 Share Posted May 16, 2013 Good to see that others take pictures of the ship and not "just" food, like I tend to do! :D When I cruise Conquest in November, I imagine I'll take a lot more ship pics, but after so many times on Fantasy, it just doesn't occur to me. You should've had a turkey & swiss on roll from the Deli. Or a hot dog. Don't know what it is, but Carnival's hot dogs are The Best Ever. If they only had stadium mustard... If I lived in Charleston, I'd cruise at least four times a year! It was a beautiful day when we returned on 5/8,which is evident from your photos. We didn't have such nice weather when we sailed on 5/3. :( To be fair, there aren't THAT many male vocalists who can sing like a young Michael Jackson. I really enjoyed both shows. Keep it coming. I'll have to keep up with your review while I continue to write mine. :p Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
confarotta Posted May 16, 2013 #22 Share Posted May 16, 2013 We drove to a park on James Island where we live to take some pictures of the Fantasy from across the harbor. It was less then 10 minutes to drive to the port. There was no waiting as you joined a convoluted line of cars first to a checkpoint where they compare your ticket and ID. I wondered what would happen if you did not preprint your ticket? The next stop is the luggage drop off tent, if you are so inclined. We only had carry-ons so we continued to the parking warehouse. There you board a bus for the short ride to the terminal. we went through a security scanner and since we had already tied my credit card to the account we just needed to pick up our boarding cards. They took our boarding picture and then the ID picture. The setup is strange as you go upstairs but then go down a ramp to board The park on James Island--the red dot is where the Fantasy is: We love sunrise part. One of our favorite places to go Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
All4fun&fun4all Posted May 16, 2013 #23 Share Posted May 16, 2013 Subscribed. My sister lives in Harbor Woods and my brother lives in a small neighborhood off of Ft. Johnson Road by the way. :) Great review so far. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Medtech2 Posted May 17, 2013 Author #24 Share Posted May 17, 2013 Subscribed. My sister lives in Harbor Woods and my brother lives in a small neighborhood off of Ft. Johnson Road by the way. :) Great review so far. right off Ft. Johnson here... Small world! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Medtech2 Posted May 19, 2013 Author #25 Share Posted May 19, 2013 May 9 was a Sea Day: We awoke to discover that we had no beach towels in our stateroom, I called the steward's number on the phone and got Guest Services. They said Mario was not on duty until 8:30am but they would send some towels down. We went to the buffet for breakfast. They allowed people to serve themselves everything but the bacon. I don't quite understand that and I would have preferred to pick my own piece. What I received was greasy and cold. The eggs benedict was good but also cold. The coffee was just plain horrible. I used to work in a pancake house in college and this tasted like the brewer had not been cleaned in months and the coffee had sat on a burner and was "cooked". We checked our room but still had no towels so went back up to the Lido deck to get towels and vegetate on the Serenity Deck. As past cruisers we had gotten the free drink coupons but usage was limited to lunch, brunch, or breakfast in the MDR so we went to lunch there. It would be really nice if they just let you use your coupon anywhere on the ship. Theoretically the drinks should be the same with the same prices so what does it matter? As it was our waiter seemed perturbed that we asked for drinks and had to call for someone from bar service. She definitely checked our ID’s against the names on our coupons. Again I ask why? If you give a free drink and someone in the room does not want theirs they should be able to just give it to someone else. I had the pan fried swai (fish) and my daughter had the Mongolian steak salad. Both were very good. chilled Avocado Soup Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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