Fascination 8/24-8/29...

[rmandmm]

I haven't abandoned your review thread! :)

 

Love hearing and seeing all things Fascination as we sail in December. Thank you!

[daniella1279]

Thanks for your review! We will be on her in November...can't wait!!

[SkyMewg]

Great review, keep it coming! We are cruising on the Fascination next month. :)

[code_d]

Did the Tea time with my DDs. They had it on both Sea Days. I do not know why I only got this one pic as the cart was full of amazing stuff! The teas were good and was relaxing.

 

[RWA Cruisers]

We leave on the Fascination two weeks from today. I'm really enjoying your review and the pictures. Looking forward to more!

[skye02]

I'm enjoying your review! We've been on the Fascination twice and loved her both times. I look forward to your next installment.

[Union98]

thank you for taking the time to post!

[saltybones]

Loving your review! Can't wait for more!

 

We are sailing "her" in November for the second time. Love this ship!

[code_d]

So Elegant Night is upon us. After waiting for DD's to finally get ready we headed to the Cafe area to meet the Captain and crew by 5:30 pm after getting our pictures taken on the steps of the lobby. Only problem is that we can not find them. We look everywhere only to find that by 5:30 all were gone! Very unlike what we had done before in the theater with drinks and appetizers. Turns out they all left like 2 min before we got there. Now instead of a big production with dancing on the stage and free snacks and drinks, they just give you $1 off your drinks in the Casino bar and Cafe. Oh well- took advantage of some of the Cafe Drinks. Then to dinner. Had to order multiple lobster tails. they were good, not great, but good ( I think mine were a little under cooked).

 

[code_d]

Desert for my wife, the cherries jubilee and sherbet (egg allergy and she got something each night from kitchen)

 

Banana cake- did not care for.

 

Lobster and shrimp

 

Stuffed mushroom- very good!

 

Cold Strawberry Soup

 

Calamari I believe

[code_d]

After dinner the younger boys ended up in their cabin ordering room service and watching TV. They fell asleep early, and this became the norm for them every night. Guess all the water sliding wore them out. Plus today they did the scavenger hunt with Camp Carnival.

 

Yes that is the remote in his hand...

 

 

 

The older kids headed off to the Club O2 for the night. Guess they liked it as they were always with their group. DW and I went to the Passage to India for Karaoke. There were some very good singers in there. Also good crowd. We had to do our rendition of Love Shack. It was a different version than we are used to and messed some of it up, but had our first 'groupie' come up and start drunk dancing in front of the stage. I then of course had to comment on our first groupie and DW and the crowd couldn't stop laughing :D. It was fun, and our older kids stayed with their group and saw us, and of course had to do the parent shout out to them!

 

We then did a little Casino until the late Adult Comedy again. This night there were 2 headliners, one from the night before but new stuff. My side hurt from laughing so hard. A night cap then we headed to bed for the big day coming at Half Moon Cay!

[bookwerm1980]

Quote:

"Also during the whole cruise I noticed less to do compared to our 2009 trip on her. I even went through the old Carnival Capers to be sure it wasn't just me. There were less shows, no live band only a DJ (last time there was live Caribbean music and a DJ), and no piano bar music (Club88 where it was only was used for Tea and a private function). The dance club was very 'ghetto' , and last time you could go to the Elephant lounge for late party or dancing in Diamonds, or Karaoke in the Ritz. The late party was removed. Was the usual solo singers in a couple places and the Casino Bar had a trio perform that was very good."

 

 

I am not sure what you mean by "ghetto", would you care to elaborate?

[deetrayn]

Thanks for posting your review and pics. I always enjoy Fascination reviews. This was the first ship I sailed on, and started my cruise addiction. :D

 

- Dee

[code_d]

Quote:

I am not sure what you mean by "ghetto", would you care to elaborate?

 

 

The music was just a loud thumping where you could not understand any of the other music in it, and was the same over and over with nothing main stream current or old being played. None of the line dance type stuff either. It appealed to the ones that have the least respect to anyone else around them. Security was very high there as well. Not like our other experiences with other late night dancing with all ages and all types of music.

[code_d]

Next morning we had breakfast in the dinning room. I had the Hash, Eggs Benedict, Hash browns, bacon, and cheese danish. I had to send the eggs Benedict back as it was WAY over cooked and dry. The Hash was good, and the Hash Browns were much better than the Lido (they are the little round ones). OJ and Cheese Danish were good. Bacon was smoky and decent size. Thought I had taken pictures of breakfast but can not find any. My DW had 5 orders of bacon(one order is 2 pieces), 3 orders of hash browns(one order is 2 pieces), Wheat Toast with jelly every morning in the dinning room- not much else she can do with an allergy to eggs that can kill her. The bacon police were out though as she would order a lot but they would bring like 4 pieces and she would have to flag them down for more. Finally last 2 days we got out dinning room attendant I Ghusti and WOW what a difference in service (each day before would have averaged a B- till then). I also had 4 cups of coffee which is very drinkable compared to the Lido.

 

We then met at Guest Services with about 15 others for our FTTF escort ahead of everyone to the first tender to the Island! Just that was worth getting ahead of that LONG line! Was a quick ride over on open air boats. What a beautiful morning and scene! Definitely like everyone has said and more!

 

[code_d]

I found a couple breakfast :).

 

 

My eggs over easy and someone's french toast.

[ata1976]

Looking forward to more review. :)

[code_d]

You arrive in Half Moon Cay in a small village like area. It has a fountain, restrooms, small bar with very loud Caribbean music playing, a few local stands of items, first aid station, a towel station, information/excursion booth, and a small shop you use sale and sign card in. You can go from there to different paths to areas of the island.

 

 

We got our towels and headed towards the beach...

 

 

We found that FTTF got us there for the pick of the beach! We choose 5 chairs down near the Pirate bar.

 

 

It was right in front of 2 Cabanas and had nice shade. I was very surprised how small the Cabanas were and how close to the rest of the beach and chairs. Looking at them and where we were I do not believe they would have been worth the money.

 

[code_d]

The beach was simply Amazing! We were only ship at port and when there were 2 then the beach would be a bit crowded. Silky soft sand and crystal clear water. We did not do any activities, rather we spent the day snorkeling(brought own stuff) along the rocks on the far end, swimming , and eating/drinking. Drink Service was very plentiful, at least every 5 min they were asking.

 

[code_d]

After some snorkeling with the older kids my DDs and I went to the little village part and checked out the store. Not much there, and the stuff from the locals was just like the straw market in Nassau but only like 4 little booths with one spot for hair braiding. They bought 2 t-shirts that were Half Moon Cay for $20. Better off waiting till back on the ship as they will have them there too for same price and no tax. Sorry did not explore any other part of the Island. We snorkeled much longer than I thought.

 

We went to the pavilion that had the lunch which was only a short walk away as it was behind the Pirate Ship. A bit crowded in there and had to wait some. They do it pretty quick between 11:30 and 1:00 pm. It was as everyone has mentioned- Jerk Chicken (very good), burgers (not very good)regular and veggie, hot dogs (didn't have), a German type potato salad (really good), basic tossed salad, fresh fruit, with brownies and cookies for dessert (the chocolate chip cookies were outstanding). We ate there at the picnic tables, and my DDs had brought back plates to eat at the beach.

 

We then went back to nap and digest the food. It then started to storm nearby, again everyday had some form of rain.

 

Turns out the only thing we had to worry about were the other passengers of the boat. When we reached the ship it was raining and one of the passengers had a seizure. We waited until they got her off safely, then you would have thought everyone lost their mind and was a free for all to get off. No respect for others around you. My kids were literally pushed out of the way to even at one point our DS was almost pushed over. I finally had to force my way to the line and hold people back so my family could get off and stay as a unit. Pretty sad to see such behavior, but thus was more the norm on this cruise than I had ever seen before.

 

We managed to not have any over us yet and decided to pack up and go back about 2 pm. Good decision as when we got to the dock there was a line and lightning was hitting very near us! I am thinking 'great we are on a metal open boat out on the water while it is lightning out here'!

[code_d]

Well we managed to get back to get cleaned up, rest, and get ready for dinner. Our servers did crazy things with the napkins to entertain our kids. One of the younger boys especially enjoyed the attention. It is amazing what they do with towels, napkins, and linens of all sorts! Of course we had the after dinner dance to do with the servers. It was fun and lots of people did it.

 

[alabamaprincess]

Thank you for sharing your cruise. We love the Fascination and are cruising on her again in Late December.

[code_d]

Another great dinner!

 

Smoked Salmon app, Flank Steak, ...can not remember except it was good..., Jerk Pork with plantain (awesome!), the cheese dessert, and a rice pudding with fresh berries for my DW because of her egg allergy.

 

[code_d]

The younger boys ended up in room watching TV and falling asleep again. The older 3 found their friends with O2 and hung out with them for the night. We did more of the Casino and the Comedy again. Never did make it to any of the shows. Checked out our photos ad didn't really see anything that stood out to us, plus is pretty expensive for just a few photos. Checked out the shops for any deals and saw the Half Moon Cay shirts, along with a bunch of other cheaper stuff that was marked 'everything $10 and buy 4 get 5th free'. Ended up in bed earlier as was tired and Nassau coming in the morning. Never even ordered room service like we usually do from eating so much all day. One down side of all the kids/teens on this cruise was all the running down the halls and yelling. While the cabins are very quiet room to room you can hear out in the halls.

[code_d]

Let everyone sleep in since we could just walk off and it's just Nassau with no planned excursions. Did our dinning room breakfast and asked for I Ghusti and was pretty awesome having even better service. DW didn't even have to ask for more bacon. We then walked off with out a crowd and headed to the port entrance. We of course got bombarded with requests for hair braiding, taxi, bus, tour, jewelry, water, cigars........... I forgot how relentless they are. Most of the time they would move on, but would have to be firm in your 'no' and keep walking because if they even thought you were interested they would hound you. Wasn't so much that telling them 'no' was enough, it was the fact it was you had to do it 1000 times. One lady even walked right up to me and my son and put a necklace righ on me and said I have something free for you- a gift. Then she said 'please just a small donation for the children. I was impressed that she had the fortitude to do this and gave her $5 bucks. Funny thing is my son still wears it everyday to school.

 

We walked to the Dunkin Donuts a few blocks away. It was a place that had a/c and could sit down to get our bearings. They have security to keep others out not paying. We ordered some coffees and got on the free wifi. We then walked to the Govt. bldg. and Greycliff hotel with the chocolate/cigar factory. Would have liked to go into the factory but was $10/person and with 7 of us thought a little steep. Would have bought some chocolate as it looked really good, but would need a cooler with ice to get it back. It was VERY humid and about 90. Walked by some really old churches. then decided to go to the beach.

 

We walked down to the Junkanoo Beach. It is near the port and free. Not silky smooth like Half Moon Cay, but nice. We walked down to one end where there were some palm trees and grabbed some shade and I got a chair for my DW for $8 bucks. The kids got some coconut waters and hit the water.