Our Family Fascination Fall Break Cruise review with pics Oct 5 - 10, 2015

[JMHAM1]

Hi All! I wanted to write a Fascination review because there were so few of them in the time leading up to our cruise. The newer ships get all the love I guess.

Before I get too far into this I wanted to do a little disclaimer, the observations and opinions are mine. I am not saying that others didn’t have different experiences or may have a counter opinion. I also have been around here long enough to know that some folks just LOVE to be right and argue. If you must gripe, feel free but I prefer positive feedback….now on with the review.

This was our family vacation for this year done during the kids’ Fall Break. My husband and I plus our Brady Bunch of six kids all went. This was kind of a do-over. We took everyone on their first cruise on NCL, the Christmas before last and let’s just say…..we needed a vacation from that vacation. Hubby came back from that trip with a “never again” attitude regarding cruising with the kids. He felt it really wasn’t a vacation. I tended to agree but I am also an overall optimistic person and thought it was a good time to try again.

I had it narrowed down to three possibilities but the Oct 5th, 5 day to the Bahamas out of Jacksonville, FL on the Fascination came out on top in terms of the sail date and price.

 

 

 

 

We picked Jacksonville because it was an easy drive from our home in Chattanooga. I would love to go out of Miami or FLL, but paying airfare for 8 would be more expensive than the cruise so driving ports are it if we are taking everyone.

We drove in the day before. It would have been crazy to try to drive the day of the cruise. I have a large SUV that seats 8 but since we have 5 teens, it is TIGHT in there with luggage so we decided to take two cars this time. That gave us room to spread out. I travel quite a bit with my job so I wanted to use my Marriott points to stay in Jacksonville pre-cruise.

I did a little research and decided on two rooms at the Residence Inn Jacksonville Baymeadows. The rooms I booked had two queens and a pull out couch. They are very large rooms with a full kitchen. Both also had a wood burning fireplace which we did not use but I thought was really neat. The grounds were lovely. There was an outdoor pool, sports court and a full breakfast.

 

 

 

The hotel looked like a little apartment complex. There were individual buildings in groups with little courtyards and walkways in between. I don't know if they do this with everyone, but I got a goodie bag for each room when I checked in. The bag had bottled water and snacks. The check in process was very smooth. I used their app to check in online and everything was ready for us. Not bad for two free rooms!

 

 

 

 

 

Edited October 18, 2015 by JMHAM1
The last pic did not add the first time

[JMHAM1]

 

The kids begged to swim but we didn't get there until nearly 6PM and we needed to eat dinner. I also didn't want to deal with wet bathing suits either. It was overcast and not warm enough really in my opinion so they made due with the sports court to play some basketball and blow off steam.

 

 

 

While hubby and the kids were playing basketball, I noticed they started drawing quite a crowd. A man sat down next to me and was really enjoying watching them play. After about 20 minutes he said he was sticking around until someone made a basket. :p I had to laugh because while we have a couple of goals outside our house and the kids play all the time, no one was hitting anything that evening. The spectators agreed that it was the saddest display of basketball skills they had ever seen! Glad we could bring some enjoyment into the lives of others. HA!

 

After basketball, we went to the nearby Denny's thinking it would be inexpensive and everyone could get whatever they wanted. The Denny's was not busy and we soon found out why. The service was SLOW. By SLOW I mean, I could have hopped back there and made the food myself slow. We didn't have anywhere to be and were just enjoying talking but there were probably 6 other tables that walked out before being either seated or served. If you stay in that area, you may want to skip the Denny's.

 

After dinner we went back to the hotel to get some rest. I checked and double checked our tickets, documents, camera, phone (I lost my iphone at the hotel the night before our last cruise), etc. Everyone enjoyed the free internet and slept well. Hubby took the kids to breakfast while I got ready. I didn't eat anything. I figured I would get plenty on the ship.

 

 

We took a few minutes to go over the expectations of the kids and the rules for conduct and behavior before we headed out to the ship. For the record we have a 17 y/o boy, 14 y/o girl, two 13 y/o boys, a 12 y/o girl and a 5 y/o boy.

 

The drive from the hotel to the port was about 25 minutes and went by quickly.

 

 

We crossed this cool bridge on the way and I was wondering if it was the same one we would be passing under on the way out of port. I'm not 100% sure but it sure looked the same! Maybe someone more familiar with Jacksonville can confirm. I have some more pics of us sailing under the bridge a little later on.

 

 

 

 

Is that a whale tail I see there???? Notice how overcast it was? The hurricane Joaquin passed through the Bahamas around this time. I was concerned we would have rough seas or bad weather for our trip. More to come!

[redstapler7]

Can't wait to see the rest of your vacation!

[shipwatcher]

The Dames Point Bridge is the one Fascination sails under. Looking forward to your review. We sailed on her for the fifth time in September.

[Vigorosity]

So excited for you to finish this! I'll be going on the Fascination in January.

 

I hope you had a great time!

[bafinegan]

Glad to see there are other responsible parents who go over rules and expectations PRIOR. to boarding. Am betting ya'll had a great time too. We are booked on our 7th cruise on the Fascination for NYE. We LOVE that ship and are sad to see her leave Jacksonville.

[cshellz]

Great start.

[Buckimion]

Lovin' it.

 

Hoping for some good pictures of the boarding inside the terminal. I'm dyin' to see what we may be in for for our first cruise next year.

[JMHAM1]

I must mention that Jaxport has the drop off/pick up portion of the check in process on LOCK. I don't have any pics of it because it was TOO FAST!!

 

When you pull into the port there is a checkpoint. VERY IMPORTANT.....they will ask to see your ticket AND the ID for everyone in your party. We took two vehicles this time. I was following hubby but I had all the documents. When we saw the sign, I just pulled up and let her know we were together. She could not have been nicer. She just did a roll call and we rolled the windows down and when she called someone's name they raised their hand. All the luggage was in hubby's truck. We pulled up to the terminal. There is one lane for dropping off your luggage with the porter and one lane for people who are debarking.

 

We pulled up, unloaded the truck, dropped the bags off with the porter then circled around to the parking area. We had heard that they did not open Jaxport until 10:30 for Embarkation so we arrived there around 10:45. There were people still Debarking when we arrived. We DID pay for parking ahead of time. I know it has a bit of a service charge but they told us when we showed them the tickets that the pre-paid, reserved spots were right up front next to the handicapped area. We drove in, grabbed literally the first two spots in the lot and headed to the check in area with our carry ons. So far so good with Jaxport!

 

 

This is what the line looked like when we got up to the building. Did I mention the port was not supposed to let people in until 10:30?? I thought, this line looks ok. You have to show your documentation 2 times before you are actually in the line to the scanner. I looked at my watch because I wanted to see just how long it took. to get from this line on the ship. It was 11:00 at this point.

 

 

Sadly, this was the last picture I took. They were all over me like a bad date about not taking pics. There were signs and everything. Since I had all the kids with me and wanted to set a good example, I put up my camera. Basically, I'm a rule follower.

 

When we got through the scanner we had to wait before we could even go into the queue to wait for the actual check in. EVERY WAITING AREA SEAT WAS FULL so they were not checking anyone in unless you were platinum, diamond, a wedding or FTTF!

 

The lady at the front told us everyone decided to come right at 10:30 and once they started boarding folks, they would start the check in again. UGH! Hubby HATES lines, he hates to wait for a table anywhere, he hates standing in any sort of line and basically he was grumpy! I was happy to people watch and a little girl in front of us was flirting with my youngest. We kept running into her all over the ship and she was like Hello There Cutie!! It starts so very early. He is cute tho. You can see for yourself later in the review.

 

Finally the line started moving. We have passport cards for the teens, passports for us and we used our 5 y/o's birth certificate to check in. I wanted to mention again that we have a yours, mine and ours situation. From time to time there is a discussion on here regarding traveling with minors without both parents. We only have one together so we ALWAYS get a form signed and notarized from the other parent just in case. This was no exception. My two from my first marriage have a different last name than the rest of us. I'm not sure if the passport cards make a difference, but we were not asked any questions and we did not have to show any other documentation other than the passport cards.

 

At 12:20 we walked on the ship. YAY!

 

 

 

I still like the ships that have the large central atrium with the glass elevators and the big staircase.

 

[Dtread]

the reason the lines were so long so fast is they let people in before 1030.. we went in about 1035 or so and people were still coming out of the parking lot.. we dropped our bags went through check in (we had FTTF) and still had to stand because all the seats were taken. We had to stand for a good 35 minutes or so before they even started letting us on. I noticed when we left, it was 10 till 10am, and they were already letting people into the parking lot.

[JMHAM1]

the reason the lines were so long so fast is they let people in before 1030.. we went in about 1035 or so and people were still coming out of the parking lot.. we dropped our bags went through check in (we had FTTF) and still had to stand because all the seats were taken. We had to stand for a good 35 minutes or so before they even started letting us on. I noticed when we left, it was 10 till 10am, and they were already letting people into the parking lot.

 

Well that explains that! I had heard from folks who go out of Jaxport all the time to NOT get there any earlier than 10:30 because you would be standing around. I know there are always those that want to get there early so they are first! Did you think FTTF was worth it? We didn't get it because we had 3 cabins and would have needed it for all three and there were no tender ports.

[Dtread]

I read alot of people on forums saying both ways.... not worth it, worth it.... but after standing in that line for over 30 minutes waiting for all the platinum and weddings to get on, I was tired. We went straight on the boat, to our rooms..dropped off our carry ons (3 of us) along with the other room we booked... and went on to the lido deck for lunch. We were sitting on the deck watching some woman having to deal with her childs carry on and hers... at the pool chairs.. i said at that point, id never go without it. To ME, it was worth the option of going right to our room, getting to the front of that VERY full buidling of people waiting to get on and then getting off with zone1... so it was worth it to us. Also, we had a wonderful time on this cruise. There were a few things that bothered me but that wasnt carnivals faults, it was poor parenting with people just using the boat to babysit their 10-11yr old kids and letting them just run and do whatever they want. The other issue was when we went to balmoral island to swim with the dolphins, they sold the pictures on a CD for 75$ and told everyone that they couldnt just buy 1 picture, they had to buy the whole cd... then when we got back on the boat they had individual pictures there for sale.. that was very poor taste in my book, it was obvious they tried to fleece everyone they could on the island, but thats my opinion of it. Im ready to plan my next cruise and it will be with FTTF...lol

[sparks1093]

We will be on the Fascination next year so I am glad you are writing a review with pics. Great job so far!

[Buckimion]

I read alot of people on forums saying both ways.... not worth it, worth it.... but after standing in that line for over 30 minutes waiting for all the platinum and weddings to get on, I was tired....Im ready to plan my next cruise and it will be with FTTF...lol

 

I realize you weren't there later on, but does anyone think we might be better off having a nice lunch somewhere, skipping the Lido feeding frenzy, and boarding around 1:30-2ish (4pm scheduled departure) or does it only get worse?

[lelder1]

Can't wait to read the rest of your review and see the pics! You have already helped me by letting me know about prepaying for port parking!

[Mistyhon]

Thanks for posting this, may take our first little ship cruise in Jan!

[Drumbum675]

You got on the day we got off. We sailed during the hurricane but they did a great job of keeping us out of it and in the sunshine most of the trip.

[Dtread]

I realize you weren't there later on, but does anyone think we might be better off having a nice lunch somewhere, skipping the Lido feeding frenzy, and boarding around 1:30-2ish (4pm scheduled departure) or does it only get worse?

 

 

It got more crowded the later the day went. Most of the people start gathering on the deck there in the chairs waiting on the muster drill. The issue with that is, your standing there with a plate of food, somebody is staring at you from a table thinking, "im not getting up and loosing my chair".. so you have to search for a place to sit and eat.

[Buckimion]

your standing there with a plate of food, somebody is staring at you from a table thinking, "im not getting up and loosing my chair".. so you have to search for a place to sit and eat.

 

lol, thanks. While my idea was to eat before getting on board and not having a plate to drag around, I can't say what DW may do. Every time we watch a video to give us an idea what to expect for our first cruise, she has a mental checklist going of things she wants to try. :rolleyes:

[Terab85]

Cruising on the Fascination in February and can't wait. Looking forward to reading more of your trip report.

[mommytotwins]

The other issue was when we went to balmoral island to swim with the dolphins, they sold the pictures on a CD for 75$ and told everyone that they couldnt just buy 1 picture, they had to buy the whole cd... then when we got back on the boat they had individual pictures there for sale.. that was very poor taste in my book, it was obvious they tried to fleece everyone they could on the island, but thats my opinion of it. Im ready to plan my next cruise and it will be with FTTF...lol

Not to hijack your thread, but how was Balmoral Island other than that? I'm torn between there and Blue Lagoon!

 

JMHAM1- THANK YOU for this review! We will be cruising with our 9 y/o daughters and 3 other families on the Fascination in January!

[mommytotwins]

ou have already helped me by letting me know about prepaying for port parking!

 

Me too!

[sparks1093]

I am hoping that everything is okay and that you'll be back soon to finish the review.

[APDMOM]

Hope to see more of your review soon!

 

We were at the river and captured your sailaway on October 5th!

 

Here are a few pictures... I have quite a few. If you would like to have the originals to add to your cruise memories, let me know at APDMOM@live.com

 

 

 

 

 

 

[mfisher59]

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