Fantasy Review 7/12/14 - 7/19/14

[Cruise, J.D.]

Brief Fantasy Review

 

Here is a brief review of our recent cruise on the Fantasy, hitting the highlights and the lowlights of the cruise. Overall, we had an excellent time. It was me, my wife, and our son. This was our ninth cruise overall and second time to do this itinerary on the Fantasy. Our ports were Grand Turk, Half Moon Cay, and Nassau. We booked this cruise last minute on a pack-n-go special. It was an easy choice because we love Charleston and Half Moon Cay! We stayed at the Hampton Inn Patriots Point two nights pre-cruise and used their park-n-cruise package. For the ports, we simply went to the beach and in Nassau we went to the Pirate Museum and shopped. If you have any questions, I’ll try to answer them.

 

Highlights

 

- The Live Music

I was pleasantly surprised at the quality of the live music on the Fantasy. A new band, “Dat Band”, has recently begun playing on the ship. They are very good, and with both a male and female lead they can play a variety of music. They did a 70’s night, 80’s night, and Motown night, and a “best of” night the last night. Except for the last night, they played across from the 21st Century Bar. On the last night they played in the Cat’s Lounge. They were very entertaining.

 

Another great surprise was Peter in the piano bar. Most of my experiences with piano bar entertainers on Carnival have been less than good. However, Peter is awesome! He can play and sing and does a great job of getting the crowd into the music and keeping the energy up. He is from the Netherlands and already has a pretty good playlist, but is looking to add to it. We went to the piano bar three nights and there was a good crowd each night. The Fantasy is really lucky to have this guy.

 

- The Crew

The crew on the Fantasy was great. There were lots of friendly smiles and excellent service. I have no complaints about the crew. The drinks were flowing at the past guest party! I tipped our server and made a special request for Coke Zero for our son and he took great care of us and brought us drinks to take back to the cabin.

 

- The Food

I thought the food was really good. We tried the brunch for the first time and I thought the Steak and eggs dish was excellent. The Mongolian Wok was good and so were the Lido burgers even though they weren't Guy's burgers. We dined in the MDR every night and enjoyed our dinners. Some dishes of course were a miss, but overall the food was a hit.

 

 

- Comedy and variety shows

We enjoyed all of the comedians, including one who did a variety show in the theater. Carnival has really found a good thing with the comedy club, but you better get there early. We got there at least 30 minutes early to ensure getting a seat.

 

- Camp Carnival

Our son enjoyed Camp Carnival. He said the counselors were fun and he enjoyed the activities. We always consider it a great bonus when he is willing to go to Camp Carnival and give us some adult time.

 

- Half Moon Cay

Awesome beach port, enough said. They do need to expand the drink menu. I was disappointed I couldn’t get Sierra Nevada. Minor nitpick though.

 

Lowlights

 

- Embarkation

Embarkation at Charleston simply sucks. Having to stand outside in the heat waiting for a shuttle bus is not a good way to begin your cruise! I did however meet a nice fellow cruiser and his wife who were going on their 23rd Carnival Cruise. I thought it was funny that they had never heard of Cruise Critic.

 

- The Ship

The Fantasy is starting to show its age a bit, especially in the staterooms. Our stateroom showed quite a bit of wear and there were some minor maintenance issues. None of this detracted from our cruise, but if you are looking for bright and shiny, you may be disappointed in the Fantasy.

 

- Half Moon Cay Tendering

We had a long delay with the tenders at Half Moon Cay. I hope it was an isolated incident. When we got to the lounge to get tender tickets the host said they were still waiting for the provisions to be delivered to the island. This was at 9. We sat awhile before the first tender was even called. We got tender ticket 7 and finally got to the island near 10:30. We met some of the cabana renters and they were very disappointed with how late they got to the island.

 

- Match Play Coupons

I like to drink the Classic Cocktails and use the receipt to get a match play coupon for the casino. Well, I took my receipts to the cashier and to my surprise she rejected them because they said “Reprint”. I never even noticed it. I told her these were simply the receipts the servers brought me. After arguing with her for a bit about how ridiculous this was, she relented and gave me the coupons. It sounds like there may be some internal wires crossed, but it needs to get straightened out. From my perspective, I bought the drink and had the receipt.

 

- Your Time Dining

This is not really a lowlight, but an observation. Most nights there was a huge line that started forming around 5:00 for the 5:45 opening of the dining room for Your Time Dining. The line would wrap completely around the atrium circle and double on itself. I’ve never seen this happen before. On past cruises we have usually walked right in at 5:45. We like to eat early, so this meant we had to stand in line. We might have been better served with just having 6:00 set early dining.

 

Like I said, overall we had an excellent time and we would sail the Fantasy again. I hope you enjoyed the review.

 

Edited July 21, 2014 by Cruise, J.D.

[KirkNC]

Thanks for the report!

[TennesseeTater]

Thanks for the review. We did the Fantasy last January and we also noticed that a huge line would form every night for your time. We have never seem this on any other ship. I don't know if it's just the demographic of people who may sail from Charleston or not. We are looking forward to sailing again in April next year.

[lauraezzell]

Every time we sail on the Fantasy, we have noticed the same thing about the line for ATD. However, once the doors opened, the line moved rather quickly, especially for those people (like us) that requested the same table and wait staff each night. We got up to the door, told them our cabin numbers and what table we wanted. Easy peasy...

[saltwaterfixes]

What time did you get to the port? Did you park or take a taxi?

[cruzeluver]

Thank you so much for your report. Great to hear that overall you had a good cruise. We are doing this same itinerary on Fantasy next month and we can hardly wait!!

[Cruise, J.D.]

What time did you get to the port? Did you park or take a taxi?

 

The hotel booked us with a local shuttle service. I had them pick us up at 10:30 and we probably got to the port by 10:40. We were one of the first groups in line for the shuttle bus to the terminal and we were on the ship around 11:30. Once we got into the terminal things moved fast.

[Cruise, J.D.]

Thank you so much for your report. Great to hear that overall you had a good cruise. We are doing this same itinerary on Fantasy next month and we can hardly wait!!

 

You're welcome! Hope you have a great cruise. Wish I was going back to HMC with you! :)

[velmasue]

We are taking our 16 year-old grandson with us on the 7-day in August. It will be our first time on Fantasy and we have an OV room booked. I've seen some pictures online of the room, but am still a little confused. Some pictures show the king size bed close to the window with the head of the bed to the side wall and the Pullman bed down over the foot of the bed. Is the Pullman directly over the bed?

 

We recently had an ocean view on another ship and the beds were arranged with the window between the two beds and we liked that---more floor space and you could see out the window easier.

 

It is usually just the two of us cruising. What bed configuration have you found to work best with the third person in the room?

[Cruise, J.D.]

We are taking our 16 year-old grandson with us on the 7-day in August. It will be our first time on Fantasy and we have an OV room booked. I've seen some pictures online of the room, but am still a little confused. Some pictures show the king size bed close to the window with the head of the bed to the side wall and the Pullman bed down over the foot of the bed. Is the Pullman directly over the bed?

 

We recently had an ocean view on another ship and the beds were arranged with the window between the two beds and we liked that---more floor space and you could see out the window easier.

 

It is usually just the two of us cruising. What bed configuration have you found to work best with the third person in the room?

 

Our set up was like you described with the king bed close to the window and the Pullman bed at the foot. The cabin steward would put the Pullman up during the day and set it up again at night. This pic is a little dark but shows the king bed and the Pullman to the right.

 

[velmasue]

Thanks! The room looks fairly roomy (at least with Pullman still up). One other question concerning this configuration---can the person next to the window get around the bed (duck under maybe?) when the Pullman is extended? At 16, our grandson will probably sleep in a little while we will be anxious for that first cup of coffee!

[Terre]

Thanks for your review. I love the Fantasy and I can't wait to be on it again!

[Cruise, J.D.]

Thanks! The room looks fairly roomy (at least with Pullman still up). One other question concerning this configuration---can the person next to the window get around the bed (duck under maybe?) when the Pullman is extended? At 16, our grandson will probably sleep in a little while we will be anxious for that first cup of coffee!

 

Yeah, if you duck or crouch down you can get by it. :)

[velmasue]

Thanks for taking the time to answer my questions. We have cruised quite a bit---usually just the 2 of us. Our grandson has gone with us twice before, but he was younger and we had a balcony cabin both times so we could spread out a little. I'm a little worried about having enough room---I'm sure we will work it out.

 

BTW, I really enjoyed your review--very to the point and easy to read.

[Cruise, J.D.]

Thanks for taking the time to answer my questions. We have cruised quite a bit---usually just the 2 of us. Our grandson has gone with us twice before, but he was younger and we had a balcony cabin both times so we could spread out a little. I'm a little worried about having enough room---I'm sure we will work it out.

 

BTW, I really enjoyed your review--very to the point and easy to read.

 

Thank you. I won't lie, with the Pullman down the cabin is tight. It felt a lot roomier when it was up. We don't spend a lot of time in the cabin so it didn't bother us too much. In any event, you can't complain too much when you are on a cruise! I hope you have a good one. :)

[Seago2]

Thanks so much for your review. This pretty much mirrors other reviews I have read. Not looking forward to embarkation in Charleston, even with FTTF. I've done it before, on the Norwegian Majesty, but it wasn't baking sun when we did it.

 

Glad you had fun!