Fascination Review (Feb 27-March 3rd)

[Terab85]

I had been going back and forth trying to decide if I should do this review since I've never done one with pictures, but with a little encouragement from ohitssunshine, I figured I'd give it a try (no judging please ;) ).

 

 

Little background on our group. Myself (49), DH (47), DD (23 & 21) and (soon-to-be SIL 26). We live in northern GA and DD & SIL flew in from Denver a few days before we drove down. We are celebrating our youngest DD 21st birthday and our 26th wedding anniversary, both which were a week before the cruise.

 

 

Drove down early Saturday morning, February 27th. We stayed at the Marriott Springhill Suites at the airport. Had two rooms with two double (queen) beds. I did not take any pictures of this hotel but was very nice, especially since we stayed for free using points. There is a Longhorn Steakhouse, Zaxby's, and Ruby Tuesday within walking distance of the hotel. More shops (including Walmart) and restaurants about a mile down the road. Everyone was in bed early since we had been up since 4:00am.

 

Next... Cruise Day!

[Clarea]

Following.

[Terab85]

Everyone was up early and able to have breakfast at the hotel, which included the usual waffles, cereal, eggs, fruit. After loading everything back into the car, we left the hotel about 9:40 to get gas on way to port. Wasn’t sure if they would let us park since the website says that the port parking doesn’t open until 10:30 but drove past just after 10:00 and we were able to get into the parking lot.

 

 

 

[Terab85]

Parking lot attendant checked our boarding passes and driver’s license and then we proceeded into the parking lot. Barely got out of our car before the porters came by and picked up all our check in luggage.

 

 

Here's my family as we're heading to the terminal.

 

 

We were directly inside the terminal and through another check point where they looked at boarding passes and passports (need to keep those two things handy). Since we were priority, we were then directed to a lounge area where they took our photos and gave us our sail and sign cards. By this time, it was maybe 10:25-10:30 when we sat down to wait. They had two wedding parties (HUGE) and had to wait for all of them to board, then it was our turn. Took our onboard photo with the family and walked on the gangway towards the ship. The Jacksonville terminal isn’t as nice as the Port Canaveral but not as bad as I had thought. We came onto the ship on deck level 2 or 3 and I immediately ran up the stairs to 7 so I could book our cabana for HMC.

[Terab85]

Parking lot attendant checked our boarding passes and driver’s license and then we proceeded into the parking lot. Barely got out of our car before the porters came by and picked up all our check in luggage.

 

 

Here's my family as we're heading to the terminal.

 

 

We were directed inside the terminal and through another check point where they looked at boarding passes and passports (need to keep those two things handy). You are NOT allowed to take any pictures from this point until you are on the ship. Since we were priority, we were then directed to a lounge area where they took our photos and gave us our sail and sign cards. By this time, it was maybe 10:25-10:30 when we sat down to wait. They had two wedding parties (HUGE) and had to wait for all of them to board, then it was our turn. Took our onboard photo with the family and walked on the gangway towards the ship. The Jacksonville terminal isn’t as nice as the Port Canaveral but not as bad as I had thought.

[Terab85]

We came onto the ship on deck level 2 or 3 and I ditched my family and immediately ran up the stairs to 7 so I could book our cabana for HMC.

 

Reached the Shores Excursion desk at about 11:27 and had one person in front of me (waves to ohitssunshine). We were told someone would be there at 11:30 but it was well after 12:00 before someone showed up. There were several people in line already at this point. I, unlike someone who will not be named (cough ohitssunshine cough) didn't really have a list of cabanas I wanted. Figured I'd start at 9/10 and work my way higher. I was able to book the one I wanted (#10). When you pick your cabana at the excursion desk, you need to tell them what size snorkel equipment you need (shoes size) and what sodas you wanted (Coke, diet, sprite and orange). You get 8 drinks for 4 people. We actually had 5 people use the cabana and they will charge you for any over 4 but I never told them and they never asked :p

 

We headed with my family to our stateroom (V14) to check it out before heading to Lido for lunch. Now we upgraded from a oceanview room to a junior suite since there were 3 of us sharing this stateroom. The extra room was nice.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Terab85]

 

 

[riclop]

Thanks for the review.

[Keith1010]

Following your review.

 

Keith

[ladybird73]

Looks fun already. Beautiful family!

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums mobile app

[Jamman54]

GREAT start to your review! We'll be back on the Fascination for the 4th time next Saturday!

Edited March 19, 2016 by Jamman54

[reerun25]

Looking forward to the rest of your review!! We have sailed on the Fascination twice, really enjoy that ship..

[TomAceEsq]

We actually had 5 people use the cabana and they will charge you for any over 4 but I never told them and they never asked :p

 

 

Interesting.

 

Looking forward to the rest of the review.

[Terab85]

The only downsize to having the balcony on the veranda deck is that you have a walk way just below you. Not very private.

 

This is us waving at my DH as he walked by on the deck below on the Lido deck.

 

 

[Terab85]

After we stopped at our room (not sure I mentioned that we had FTTF, so we were able to get to our room early), we headed down to the Lido deck for lunch. Since I had to wait so long at Shore Excursions, the Lido deck was pretty packed. We found a table for the five of us in the back by the deli.

 

 

After lunch, we walked around and checked out our room again to see if our luggage had arrived which finally came around 2:00. We were able to get everything unpacked and put away before we headed back upstairs around 3:00ish to get ready for the muster drill.

 

 

[Terab85]

 

[Terab85]

View of the parking lot. Looks pretty full.

 

[Terab85]

Now backing up just a bit. When we upgraded to the veranda deck, we originally were assigned V2 but after looking at pictures of the stairs that are RIGHT off your balcony, we moved further back. These are the stairs:

 

 

 

 

 

If you like sitting on your balcony or having your curtains open, this is NOT the room for you.

[Terab85]

Now I’ve heard stories about the muster drill on the Fascination which turned out to be true in our case. It was SO long. They made announcements and I think people started going to their muster stations about 3:45ish. We were F which was to meet on the Lido deck by the pool. I'm not sure how long it lasted but felt close to an hour which was horrible since we had to stand the whole time. Once that nightmare was done, it was time to party :D We got our bucket of beer and headed up to the deck 12 by the tail. Had a couple of people show up for a meet & greet but it was super cold up there. Stayed until about 5:30 and headed back to our room to clean up for dinner which was at 6:00.

 

[molme]

Keep it coming. We will be there next Sat.

[jtdlmc]

Awesome review so far! I am thinking of cruising on Fascination when she moves to San Juan and was looking at Veranda balconies. So glad you included the information about the stairs - definitely won't book that room :) Looking at your pics of the upper decks it doesn't look like there is anywhere to lay on a lounge chair and look out at the water except for the area on the forward sports deck? Are there any other spots?

[Terab85]

At this point, we knew we were leaving late and wouldn’t be able to see our departure under the Dames Point Bridge. They had a problem with the boiler, so no hot water.

 

We had 6:00 seating in the Imagination dining room, which had a huge line when we got there but they got us through pretty quickly. We were assigned to table #339 and our severs were Eka and Nemamia (Nemo) who were awesome. Our last cruise on the Liberty last February, our servers never introduced themselves and just never had a good experience (including the food). This experience was much better. I did not take any pictures of the menus or food but we all agree that the egg rolls were our favorite.

[Terab85]

After dinner, we walked around, but since we were still in port, nothing was open. Came back to the room for awhile and trying to decide if we wanted to turn in at that point. Went back to Lido deck about 8:45 and had a snack. Finally about 9:45, the ship was finally heading out. We went up to the front deck (balcony on 11) to watch the ship turn around. Was pretty cold, so came back inside our room and watched from the balcony as we went under the bridge. It was actually really nice to lay in bed with the curtains open as we went down the St John’s River out to sea.

 

 

 

[Terab85]

GREAT start to your review! We'll be back on the Fascination for the 4th time next Saturday!

 

 

Thanks! I actually loved the Fascination. Much easier to get around and just didn't feel like it was packed with people. Enjoy your trip!! :D

[Terab85]

Awesome review so far! I am thinking of cruising on Fascination when she moves to San Juan and was looking at Veranda balconies. So glad you included the information about the stairs - definitely won't book that room :) Looking at your pics of the upper decks it doesn't look like there is anywhere to lay on a lounge chair and look out at the water except for the area on the forward sports deck? Are there any other spots?

 

 

Yes! There are plenty of places around the ship to lay out around the ship. The back of the ship, there is the serenity deck and then right above that, there is the waterpark with tons of chairs. I will go through my pictures and try and post what I have.