Fascination Cruise-Review 10/28-11/2

[marshhawk]

For those of you who are reading this review-say Hi to willow and her Sid, a huge rubber cockroach that goes everywhere with her.

I did join my roll call and luckily met some of my buddies on the cruise (including Sid) but this cruise was to introduce a newbie to cruising, so I missed our meet and greet(but saw the Hairy chest contest).:eek::D

I enjoy roll calls, once you meet and connect, you have instant friends with most of the same likes that you do, ie cruising., food, and good times:).

[marshhawk]

The night of Nassau, we ended up dining on the Lido. It was fried shrimp night. Those shrimp that have no curve to them (the ****** shrimp). They were tasty, and the tarter sauce that Carnival uses is the best I have ever had. I just hate waiting in line.:( And during the dinner time between 6:30 and 7:30 there is a long line, which does not move quickly, so we were all eating in shifts. Didn't feel like a real family dinner, but the food was good, and we enjoyed our one dinner on the Lido.

 

We alternated breakfasts between the Lido and the MDR, and we got to have the most unusual breakfast food on the Lido-a deep fried hard boiled egg. These are so yummy. I have never seen them any where else but Carnival. I made everyone get one, and they all agreed, quite tasty.

We ended the evening back at Sallies balcony listening to the sea, and looking at all the stars. Except for Catmando's fall, our day in Nassau was perfect.

[marshhawk]

A few more pictures of the Sheritain-our day room-great to get out of the sun-Frances had a long afternoon nap

 

The room's patio-Catmando waving "hey"

The view from the room-

 

another pool picture-

 

[marshhawk]

And now, Little Stirrup Cay. Remember that FTTF that we had? Well, when you have FTTF and a tender port (taking a small ferry into the port) you get treated like royalty. We went to the Guest Services Desk (yup, FTTF get treated the same as Platinum and Diamond here) and the staff takes you to an elevator that is being held just for you, and you ride down to level 3. To your right you will see a long line of people wanting to get off the ship. But, FTTF, simply bypass them, "ding" their card and get on the boat. There is no special perference when coming back to the ship, you simply board the boat when you want to return to the ship.

Little Stirrup Cay is the name of the island when a Carnival ship docks. Coco Cay is when other lines dock. So if you have been to CocoCay, and think LSC will be a new port for you, it will look really familiar.;)

It is a small island in a series of 5-6 other rocky islands. There is a long beach with lots of sand and shallow water that goes out forever (this is to the right when you dock) and a series of coves, the first being the snorkeling area. There are life guards here, and while everything I had read said that you had to have a vest on to snorkel (which of course would cost money) we found that not to be true. Since DH's ankle was still hurting, we chose not to walk along the long open beach-

 

but chose instead, the coved areas

[marshhawk]

The weather alternated between sunny and then it would rain (mind you it was still sunny over us when it rained) and the the clouds and wind would pass by, and then tada! it was sunny and warm again. In other words, a typical tropical day.

 

The island provides a lunch, burgers, hot dogs, jerk chicken (which was yummy). I learned this on a tour of the Fascination several years ago- On the ship, there is no cooking with an open flame. Those burgers you get on the grill on the lido are cooked with steam. So the only true grilled burgers you get would be on the island. Ask for one that might be medium, dont think those guys know how to cook with fire.:p

 

Here are some random shots of the island-

 

 

 

[marshhawk]

Over your heads in the dining area on the island, you will notice wire. This is to keep you from being dive bombed and having your lunch stolen by birds.

I love birds, and was especially happy to see a frigate flying over the island when we first got off the boat.

 

Here we have the "MINE" group- think Finding Nemo

And these fellows did an excellent job cleaning the beach after the lunch.

[marshhawk]

We dined again this evening in the MDR. It was Halloween, so many people came to dinner in costume and the actors frame of mind-being in character.

We had a great dinner, but left the cameras in the cabins.

Halloween on the ship was a lot of fun. The photographers had spooky back drops. There was a costume contest, at first everyone paraded their outfits on the Promenade by the Stars Bar, then by 10 the judges (staff) narrowed it down to 10? 20? not sure, as most of them came on the main stage as a group. The audience then voted to keep them going through the contest, and our favorite came in second. A family won the contest, they came as "fast food" and each family member was the fast food's mascot, Wendy, Ronald, Burger King, etc. But our fave was a very cherub looking gentleman in a spring green sparking tu tu, who when asked who he was, he said-Formal Night. LOL.

[marshhawk]

On Halloween they had a mexican midnight buffet, which I did stay up for. It was quite the set up, but I didn't want to fall asleep with a full belly of spicy food. Will say this much, the flan was not so good.:(

[Tapi]

Hey Marshhawk. I always remember that we were on the Fascination together in 2010, although we never met in person. :o

 

Did I ever tell you that I showed my wife your picture review of that cruise and she remembered meeting you?

[marshhawk]

Frances who is now Cookie Monster went off to sing karaoke- and we didn't know this, so the three of us were having our fun photos taken and we finally found her, because I was walking towards the back of the ship, and saw Cookie Monster on stage,

 

a better look at the monster-

 

Sallie has an adorable kid. When we were driving down from Atlanta, after every "pit" stop she would fasten me back into my seat belt and treat me like a kid. I loved it. (having been a nursery school teacher in one of my previous lives, this was a great treat):)

[marshhawk]

Hey Marshhawk. I always remember that we were on the Fascination together in 2010, although we never met in person. :o

 

Did I ever tell you that I showed my wife your picture review of that cruise and she remembered meeting you?

 

I hope it was a good remembering. I am goofy at times.:) Thanks for catching up with me again.

[marshhawk]

Well, we are finally down to our last day at sea. Every cruise I make a list of things I havent done before, so now is my big chance.

After breakfast we all kind of wandered off. There was a new theatre production that I wanted to see-Towel Animal Theatre. What does your towel animal do when you leave the cabin? It is puppet theatre at it's best-bring all the little ones and seat them on stage, and then let the adult humor wash over them into the audience.

I was late for the trivia, but tried to get into the thinking process-I'm glad I didn't play for real. I thought I knew about music. Nope. At least not that kind of music. The 70's and 80's mean nothing to me. Did they happen? I dont remember them at all!:rolleyes:

After lunch in the MDR, and dessert (oh the chocolate buffet) on the lido, it was time to face my fears. I told everyone to put on their bathing suits, we were going to go play on the slides. (it was on my list)

I never made it down the real tall one, but I did do the racer slides in the back to the right. I really just wanted to do the baby slides, but Frances wouldn't let me.

Sallie had no problem going down the scary slide-

 

and Frances had no problem going down the big scary slide-

Catmando had no problem either, but since he took their pictures and he had the camera, I have no picture of the Catman doing the slide.

After the slide adventure, we hit the pool, another first on the Fascination, and then we went to the Serenity deck, got in the hot tubs, and just relaxed. It was quiet. And finally Serene.

Edited November 12, 2013 by marshhawk

[tracier66]

Did you see the cabanas on LSC? We are renting one for our upcoming cruise but have seen some negative info on them. I tend to burn very easily even with sun screen and since there are more than 2 of us in our group going we did not want a clam shell.

[marshhawk]

Did you see the cabanas on LSC? We are renting one for our upcoming cruise but have seen some negative info on them. I tend to burn very easily even with sun screen and since there are more than 2 of us in our group going we did not want a clam shell.

 

The cabanas that I saw were set apart from the rest of the beach area. They are to the left once you get off the ship. They had their own cove. They were small, perhaps two or three could sit in them, only 1/3 of of the cabana has a roof over it, the rest was porch like. There were plenty of trees on this island, and lots of hammocks in the shade. Have a great time! I know you will.

[marshhawk]

Random Thoughts and Pics.

Our steward took good care of us until the last night, no ice, and didn't see him at all on that last night, but we are easy to please. Some stewards recreate the towel animals, some just get new towels. We had a recreator, and none of our towel animals had eyes. Very sad. Blind towel animals.

For some reason I find that very disturbing.

I dont drink, but thought I would let you know the bars are well stocked.:D

The chair hogs were in full form. But they left these out early in the morning, and it began to rain, and then pour, and all I could do was smile.:)

We had rain, and we had sun, and that makes for rainbows

 

 

[willow028]

Would love it if you do. Hugs to you and Sid!

 

Crashing here I come!

 

For those of you who are reading this review-say Hi to willow and her Sid, a huge rubber cockroach that goes everywhere with her.

I did join my roll call and luckily met some of my buddies on the cruise (including Sid) but this cruise was to introduce a newbie to cruising, so I missed our meet and greet(but saw the Hairy chest contest).

I enjoy roll calls, once you meet and connect, you have instant friends with most of the same likes that you do, ie cruising., food, and good times:).

 

We missed you at the gathering but were very glad to hear all was well and you didn't make it because you were having fun elsewhere!

 

Sid sends hugs back - he loved meeting you!

 

 

However... he was not as fond of Chuck!

 

 

To answer one of the questions someone asked, we did go in on a Cabana with another couple and really enjoyed it - but there was plenty of shade without one.

 

 

Small group shot from Halloween!

 

 

Thanks for a GREAT review and Sid and I hope to see you on the high seas on the future!

[cookiejarvis]

WONDERFUL REVIEW. Glad you had a marvelous time. Sorry about the fall. Said a little prayer for your losses. We are cruising Fascination for the first time over New Year's Eve and this was a great surprise to get us in the mood. This will be our third cruise this year....we cannot get enough. How was the live music? What day did they do Mixology contest if you recall? How were the shows? What night was formal night? Sorry for the number of questions....getting real excited.

[Crusin Karen]

This could be a postcard! :)

[Bostonjetset]

Because Catmando's foot was paining him, we decided to take a cab back to the port, and we had a wonderful cab driver. He explained that he loved the bus, but he had hurt himself, and she not only charged us just 20.00 (for the 4 of us), she literally drove him to the fence for the boarding area.

Sallie and Francis decided they were going to go do that shopping for free stuff, and DH and I waited for a shuttle back to the ship. Yes, there were that many ships in port. We got on the shuttle and most everyone was heading back to the Fascination, except for one couple who were getting back on the NCL ship. They were about to pull up the gang way, and these two were hussling, the officer on board told a man who had a golf cart, they were still missing 4, and he took off to find them. Not 5 minutes later the ship pulled out. I hope they got on board!:D[/size]

 

[Well Sallie and Frances found out that all that free stuff, came with a price, something about a coupon book that they were supposed to have when they went in the shops, but Frances didn't know that and after visiting two stores, with no coupons, they just came back to the ship. I think that there are two things that people get misdirected to when they cruise, one is shopping, and one is the art. If you cant afford the painting, dont go to the auction.SIZE]

 

 

Before we pulled out at 8 p.m. the Norwegian Breakaway was pulling in. That is one BIG ship!. The Fascination was half her length, and about 6 decks shorter. The Breakaway looked like a monster!

I do think that everyone on board the Fascination looked just like- :eek:

 

Thanks for taking the time to write a review! I enjoyed reading it :D

 

My very first cruise was on the Fascination back when she was still sailing from Miami [and back when you could still smoke in the staterooms!! haha] so she will always hold that place in my heart even if she is not the newest and most beautiful ship out there.

 

As a side note, I sailed on the Breakaway last Sept and whilst she definitely IS quite huge, she is a beautiful ship and has SO much to offer on board. I highly recommend you give her try [to Bermuda of course, as the winter itinerary is blah at best].

[maureencruiser]

It's Nassau! And we are the fifth ship in Nassau:cool:.??? Last in port, and at the far far, far dock. I just want you all to know the set up. If you have been to Nassau, we are so close to Paradise island at this dock, we could watch their TV's. You got the idea.

 

I stole this pic from Mpoole's Oasis review so others could see what you mean.

 

 

[marshhawk]

WONDERFUL REVIEW. Glad you had a marvelous time. Sorry about the fall. Said a little prayer for your losses. We are cruising Fascination for the first time over New Year's Eve and this was a great surprise to get us in the mood. This will be our third cruise this year....we cannot get enough. How was the live music? What day did they do Mixology contest if you recall? How were the shows? What night was formal night? Sorry for the number of questions....getting real excited.

 

There was a guitarist /singer named Rob Roy who did some great 60's and early 70's music. He sounded just like Willie Nelson when he sang the Highwayman. Everytime he played that I had to stop and listen. This was the only live music I heard on this cruise. If there was more, I wasn't there, where ever there was.

The Mixology was the first day at sea, on the Lido, we met a runner-up who said, they choose you (he felt) on the name of the drink you are about to create.

Formal night was the first day at sea. Have a great cruise!

[marshhawk]

willow, thanks so much for posting the pictures! Yes those spiders on our heads were our outfits. When people asked about them Catmando said they were brain eating spiders. And then he would ask the person next to him-"do you know what they are doing?"??? "Well, they are starving to death" LOL

I have a few more pictures to post later, but thanks and hugs to all who have added to this review, makes it all more real for the readers!

[marshhawk]

I know the next picture is blurry, but I love th lights and the blues-this was taken on the first night, when we were heading up to see the ISS-

 

One our second time on the Fascination I noticed that the neon lights that light the atrium changed color. It was in a moment of my not moving, of my being still. On this trip in a moment of stillness, I noticed that the lights in the pool also change color, green, blue, lavender, purple, etc. So, take time to "smell the roses" on a cruise, you will notice things that you may have missed before.

This is the front of the Passage to India lounge. I love the details on the cruise ships, they create a different setting in each of the public areas.

On our final day at sea, our roll call was to do a putt putt tournament, problem was only three of us showed up.:( You know it's a great cruise when plans get changed, because you are more in the now, than the plan. All4Fun&Fun4All showed up, and Catmando and myself. Now here is where it gets weird, and kind of disappointing. The balls and putters are up by the golf course, but no pencils or paper to keep score. Where are they? On all previous cruises, the balls, putters, and score cards were picked up by the pool. but not on this cruise, so we had to keep track of our own score, and putting on a moving ship is a challenge. So if you plan on playing on this ship, bring our own score card. I won, but not by much:)

[marshhawk]

Our last night on the cruise was not as sad as our normal "last nights" because we knew we had another cruise coming up. Carnival and their staff, spoil, entertain, feed and care for you. They make 5 days seem to be the shortest 5 days ever. In fact after this next cruise (which is 5 days too) I dont think I will book anything less than 7 days. Unless I need a cruise.;)

Our ports were fun, the weather was perfect, the seas were calm.

 

The cabin was clean, the food was good. Some foods were great,-Sallie highly recommends the Indian dinner that is served every night-we actually ordered less beef than in the past, but that is because we have been dieting.

If you are a non drinker, order your drinks directly from the bartender, not the servers.

 

There was a past guest party-the invitation was in the cabin on Wednesday, the party was on Friday early evening-we didn't make it, we were in the Serenity hot tubs (this was another first for me).

 

OK, now here come the last of the pictures-

 

You always have to do the sunset picture-

Edited November 13, 2013 by marshhawk

[marshhawk]

This is the little harbor where the tenders bring you in to Little Stirrup Cay-