Carnival Fascination Review - June 29, 2013 Sailing

[Cruise Envy]

Hello! This is my first review, so please be gentle!

 

Background: I travelled with my DH (45) and my DS (12), as part of a group of 30. It was my 4th cruise on Carnival, and my family's 3rd. This was our first departure out of Jacksonville.

 

We headed out the day before to pick up the boy from Boy Scout Camp. He was quite excited to leave behind tents, bugs and humidity for the prospect of a cruise!

 

 

We crossed the Florida state line just as the text came through that he had won "Honor Camper" for his troop! YAY! We pulled into the Hilton Garden Inn Jacksonville Airport about 9:30 PM. We checked into our room quickly, and immediately headed to the pool! Ahhh, cool at last! Our room package, arranged by our group, included roundtrip shuttle to the port the next morning, as well as breakfast for two of us. We had to pay an additional $20 for our son to be shuttled. Ourrtravel agent had arranged to have us on the 10:00 AM shuttle since we had FTTF.

 

The room was comfortable and clean with two queen beds, and even a refrigerator. We slept well. The next morning my husband and I went down to enjoy the made to order breakfast. We couldn't wake the tween that early. We finally rousted him from his sleep about 9:15 AM, and he declined breakfast. We headed down to the lobby about 9:30 AM, where much of our group was gathering.

 

Our shuttle arrived just before 10:00 AM, and we loaded our bags up and climbed in (Go Shuttle for the curious). There were 9 of us in the 10 person van. It was a short trip to the port. We caught a glimpse of the ship as we approached, but I failed to get a picture :( Once we exited the van, we handed off our bags to porters, tipped the porter and the driver, and headed into the terminal via the Priority door.

 

It was a very short bit before our documents were checked and we headed to XRay and security. Again, very quick there, and we moved into the empty line to head to check in. We walked right up to a counter to check in. She was very pleasant. I was surprised when she had to walk to get our cards, but it didn't take long. She then directed us to the seating area. Here, the woman pointed us to the back of the room, and told us they would seat us. I politely asked why we weren't supposed to stay up front since we had FTTF. She explained they should have given us a priority card, and immediately seated us in the priority chairs. It was less than 5-7 minutes before they began boarding. We had to wait behind Platinum & Diamond, but I think we were the first FTTF to board. Group picture, Sail & Sign pictures, and outside we went. Down the walkway, and onto the ship! DING! We boarded on level 3.

 

Once boarding the elevator, we went up to the Verandah deck. We had originally booked a 4B on Main, but with the sales after the Triumph problems, we were upgraded at no cost to a 4I. We had to open the fire door, but then went straight to our cabin, V24. I had asked for it to be configured as two twins (due to the trundle bed) but it was made up as a king, which left almost NO walking room. No biggie, we changed into our swim suits, and asked the steward on the way out to switch the beds.

 

FTTF score -- I was THE FIRST PERSON in the pool! 11:25 am! I always feel hot and tired by this point from schlepping luggage.

 

 

This is my husband enjoying our first DoD.

[Cruise Envy]

We hung at the pool until at least 2:00 PM, enjoying our drinks and food. We did enjoy the mass exodus at 1:30 PM when the rooms became available.

 

When we arrived at the room at 2 PM, three of the five bags had arrived, so I unpacked. I also took the time to walk down to guest services to the priority line (FTTF) to get my husband & my S&S cards hole punched. I also walked to the Sensation Dining room to check out our table for early seating.

 

Muster drill started about 3:30 PM. Our muster station was the Lido Deck. Everyone was calm, quiet, and attentive. It was then time for sailaway!! I headed upstairs to the sun deck looking down on the Lido to meet my fellow Cruise Critic folks.

 

Here are my son & I enjoying the view:

[Cruise Envy]

It wasn't long at all before we approached the bridge:

 

 

and under we went!

 

 

After this my son immediately abandoned me for more action. I told him where our group gathering was and when (5:15 PM, Lido deck) and told him I'd see him there).

 

Our group was excited to learn that one of our members, Jodi, had won the spa raffle -- she got a $250 certificate. I was GREEN! Seriously, I was happy for her. About 5:45 pm we stepped back to the room to look for our son prior to dinner.

 

No sign of him in the room, but the other two bags had arrived. I made quick work of them, and then left him a note that we had gone to dinner. When we arrived, everyone but Connor & Jeff's wife Karen were present. Karen had told everyone she might be late due to a spa treatment. We told the the waiter we'd go ahead and start without them. Karen arrived after we had ordered appetizers, and then my sheepish son arrived.

[gambee]

Thanks for doing this, I know how much time and effort these reviews take. Can't wait for the rest :).

[cmecruise1962]

I love the details and the pictures!!

[ata1976]

Looking forward to more!

 

 

Sent using the Cruise Critic forums app

[cruise_gal21]

Loving your review! Hope your trip was fantastic. Leaving on the Fascination myself in 24 days! :D After you finish the review I may have some questions, but will wait to ask since you may cover it in your review. Looking forward to reading more :)

[Cruise Envy]

Continuing on with Day 1 dinner....

 

My son is used to anytime dining, so he didn't realize we had to be there AT 6pm. Ooops. He was quite excited for dinner, as we had been promising him he could try escargot.

 

 

It was a big hit! We had a lovely dinner (I had flat iron steak) and once we finished, the group agreed to meet up in the Coconut Grill later. Our group that we sailed with was a gaming group, so we had brought suitcases full of tabletop games to play.

 

I was amazed after his big dinner that my son could still put away a salad!

 

 

You can see the pizza bar in the background of this picture:

 

 

I contemplated going to the Motor City show, but decided I was too tired. I went back to the cabin, and opened the Deluxe High Seas gift set we had ordered for ourselves from Bon Voyage.

 

 

It was a great deal, but I was disappointed in the towels included; I've washed mine once at home and the seam is already starting to fray.

 

Here is our towel animal for the night.

 

[Cruise Envy]

Random thoughts from Day 1.

 

We really enjoy the Fantasy class ships, having sailed on the Fantasy previously. I don't remember the atrium of the Fantasy having the ceiling lighting but found it very pretty:

 

 

 

 

We found the sound level in the atrium to be a bit loud in the evenings, with the music from the piano bar and the guitar player in the atrium on the Empress deck. Both sounded fine, it was just... loud. In addition, one of the glass elevators in the atrium was out of service the entire cruise.

[Cruise Envy]

Day 2 – Sea Day

We woke about 8am, and headed shortly thereafter to the MDR for breakfast. We like being served. As we were seated, we noticed another Carnival ship out the windows.

 

 

We couldn’t decide which ship it was. It was definitely another Fantasy class, but it had no balconies.

We were also amused by the window washers.

 

 

Sorry, no food porn. I got scrambled eggs, French toast, and bacon. I thought the scrambled eggs were just ok. I ordered cheese omelets going forward, and found it to be much better.

 

After breakfast, we headed to the Passage of India lounge, where our group had four hours of “private function” time from 9am – 1pm. Here is a random shot on the Promenade deck headed there.

 

 

The Passage to India lounge has some over the top décor. Our group referred to the “Elephant Backsides” room (actually, they user a ruder word!)

 

After hanging for a bit, I chose to go hang out at the pool. Lunch time rolls around (yes, we cruise partially for the food!) and my family gathered up our VIFP drink coupons and headed to the MDR again.

Here we ran into some Cruise Critic roll call friends.

 

[Cruise Envy]

Day 2 Continued...

 

We enjoyed our free drinks, thanks Carnival! My son loves smoothies; he is wearing one of the Tshirts that came in our gift set from Bon Voyage.

 

 

My son ordered the Spaghetti, my husband the make your own burger, and I ordered the shrimp & crab sandwich.

 

 

 

Lunch was fine, as was the service. Next up... a stroll down the promenade and a bit of shopping.

[Cruise Envy]

Afternoon of Day 2 continued...

 

As we headed back out from lunch, we saw someone selling watches from the $10 store. They had a table between the glass elevators on the Lido deck. My son had asked for a watch, so we picked out a water resistant one he liked. We headed back to the room to discover the band is totally broken – frustrating. We immediately back down to the table, but were told we had to exchange it at the $10 store on the Promenade deck.

Off we go…

 

 

The lady working the shop was great, and told my son to pick out his replacement. Unfortunately, we couldn't find an identical watch, but he found another one he liked. I still have my $10 watch from our 2010 cruise; I really like this store.

 

More seating on the Promenade.

 

Time for my chair hog story. After our shopping, my husband and I headed out to the pool. No chairs to be seen! I did see a bunch of stickers on chairs though. I walked through until I saw two stickers that were over 2 hours old. I approached the nearest employee and asked him if he could clear them for me. He immediately removed the belongings for me, and we put our stuff down. This lady came running over from the pool area saying "wait, those are my shoes, where is he going?" After she collected her stuff from the employee, she was pretty gracious about it. So there you go, they DO enforce their chair hog policy.

It wasn't the best day weather wise. We had some wind, and some sporadic rain showers. Still, were on a cruise instead of at work!

[cmecruise1962]

and I can't wait for my cruise in 23 days!!

 

Tick, tick, tick....:p

[tm32561]

Please add more! Your TR feels just like I'm there with you! Thank you far sharing. 65 days!

 

 

3013 Sept Carnival Ecstacy

2011 Dec Carnival Fascination

2010 Sept Carnival Elation

Sent from my iPad using Forums mobile app

[heathera212]

We were on this sailing with you! My child is the one who came up when you all were playing a game over by the pizza station one night about 10 or 11 dripping wet from the pool and she was staring like a weirdo lol.

[Cruise Envy]

We were on this sailing with you! My child is the one who came up when you all were playing a game over by the pizza station one night about 10 or 11 dripping wet from the pool and she was staring like a weirdo lol.

 

Heather, everyone in the group enjoyed sharing our games! I didn't game as much as some others, but I did really enjoy our cruise.

[bluejay555]

Enjoying your review so far!!! :)

[Cruise Envy]

Thanks for all the kind comments so far. My photo hosting site is being wonky, so I will continue with formal night tomorrow. I am trying hard to remember to mention all the odd details I always ask about when I read reviews :D but if there is something specific, go ahead and speak up!

 

Oh, and I'm jealous of those of you sailing soon...

[kybluecruiser]

Thanks for sharing! Who was your cruise director and did you enjoy them?

[Buckeye Cruizer]

Thank you for posting a Fascination review!

[cantwait2cruise]

Thanks for the review, we just booked the Fascination!

 

 

Sent using the Cruise Critic forums app

[deedle7544]

We are on in September with teens, love your review!

[Macklovin38]

We are on in September with teens, love your review!

 

We are cruising with teens Sept. 2- you?

 

 

Follow me on Twitter: @SarahELewis38

[Cruise Envy]

Thanks for sharing! Who was your cruise director and did you enjoy them?

 

I believe his name was Paul, and he was a Brit. I didn't attend a huge number of ships activities, so I didn't see him often. I thought he was personable and had a good personality. We had a more personal encounter with him on the last day, which I'll detail as I go on.

[Cruise Envy]

Day 2 - Cruise Elegant Night

 

Our group had made plans to gather for a group picture in the atrium at 5:15 PM. It took a little to get everyone there, but then we climbed the stairs to pose. Jumping ahead a bit, we were pretty frustrated at Carnival over this picture. They printed several copies, but have a policy of not giving a discount of pictures with 8 or more people in them. The pictures were $22 each. Our group leader bought one, and the rest of us declined. They would have sold another 12-15 copies at $10 each. Fail, Carnival!

 

 

Our group had gathered in the library that afternoon for some gaming, so we chose to hang out there until early seating started. What a lovely room! It was probably my favorite space on the ship. And as I looked at the pictures, I realized it was a freighter picture I posted earlier. We saw the Carnival ship from the library.

 

 

Onward to dinner! Tonite's "Didja" appetizer was Spicy Alligator Fritters.

 

Everyone thought it had too much breading.

 

I got the lobster & shrimp

 

while my husband got (& still raves about) the ribs.

 

 

 

This was the first night the wait staff performed. It was "That's Amore". I love how the ceiling light elements would change color to change the mood in the restaurant.