Considering Southern Caribbean cruise from San Juan on the Carnival Fascination

[ontheweb]

We're considering this cruise. Does anyone have any comments on the ship or itinerary?

 

We are both in our 60s ,and have been on 10 cruises, 3 on Princess, 2 each on Carnival, NCL. and Royal Caribbean, and one on HAL. Half of our cruises have been in Europe; two were in the Western Caribbean including one on Carnival. (The other Carnival cruise was between NY and Canada.)

 

DW is very into beach activities; I am not.

 

All feedback is welcome. Thanks in advance.

[Daonlyone2000]

I went on this Itinerary back in 2013. It probably was my best cruise to date. All of the island are wonderful and the only excursion we did was in St. Lucia (excursion to the Pitons via water). The other islands we went to a beach. We went to PR a day early just to make sure nothing happened with delayed flights and returned home the same day. If you can spend an extra day in PR at the end of the cruise, I would recommend. I have been wanting to redo this cruise, but not so sure about the older Fascination. I would read the reviews on that ship.

[tphitman]

I did this itinerary in July '15. It was fantastic! However that was on the Liberty, not the Fascination. If you take this cruise you have to be going only for the ports not the ship. The Fascination isn't the greatest ship.

[Tapi]

The Southern is by far the best Caribbean itinerary. You'll get to experience what the region is truly about (not like what you find on other Caribbean itineraries with the fake Senor Frog's and Margaritaville experience [emoji849]). It will provide a more authentic experience (which is a big reason why it's so enjoyable for many), although it does catch some cruisers by surprise who don't know about the cultural mix found in the islands and how people truly live there. I chuckle every time I read complaints about "Spanish speaking people listening to Latin music" on cruises out of San Juan. The nerve! [emoji23]

 

About the ship: It's old, it's small. We've sailed on the Fascination 4 times, and although we enjoyed our short 3-5 day cruises on her, she's definitely showing her age not only aesthetically but also because of the limited number of activities and venues onboard. The last time we sailed on her (5 nights), I found myself pacing around the ship out of boredom.

 

As others have mentioned, if you choose this cruise, do so because of the itinerary and not the ship. If the ship is important, I recommend that you look at other cruise lines with nicer ships out of San Juan. Celebrity, NCL, Royal Caribbean, and Disney among others have itineraries out of San Juan, some seasonally and some year round.

Edited April 13, 2016 by Tapi

[ranchette]

We are booked on this ship out of Puerto Rico. I read some good & bad reviews.

We will see for ourselves how it is.

[cmukid87]

I know some people have the ship being the utmost importance and some have the itinerary. For me it was the itinerary for the Southern. I wanted to do it so the ship didn't matter.

 

Now a western/eastern itinerary I would be more picky about the ship I'm on.

[pghsteelerfan]

We've done this itinerary twice rather recently. The first on Valor in May 2013 and most recently on Liberty in September 2015. This is, hands down, our favorite itinerary and the one we think (just personal opinion here) is the most scenic. Even sailing in and sailing out of these islands is just beautiful.

 

The islands offer a lot and there is something for everyone, including beautiful beaches for beach lovers. Some of the islands are small enough that you'd be able to do a tour and still have some beach time. I would recommend an organized tour of some kind in St. Lucia, as most of the hi-lights of the island, including the Pitons, are in the Soufriere area, which would be a long and expensive cab ride. Organized tours, booked through the ship or a local tour company, usually included a stop at Jalousie/Sugar Beach, which is the beach between the Pitons. There are beaches on the northern end that would be a short cab ride away and much closer to Castries where the ship will dock, if you'd prefer to skip the sights. I have no opinion on them since we've booked excursions to the Soufriere area both times we were in St. Lucia.

 

As for the Fascination, I have no input on her, but can honestly say that on this itinerary out of San Juan, the "star" is the itinerary and not the ship.

[evandbob]

I've done 4 Southern cruises: my 1st was the Destiny (before it morphed into Sunshine), the next two were on the Celebrity Summit, and the last was this year on the Glory Journeys cruise.

 

I stopped cruising on Fantasy class ships about 10 years ago and wouldn't consider one today at all.

 

When I cruised the Summit solo, it was for a lower fare than Carnival offered. It pays to shop around.

 

Even though the Summit is an older ship, it is way better condition than the Fascination, which is 5 yrs older. Relaxing in the indoor Thalasso pool is wonderful after a day out exploring the real Caribbean isles that this itinerary offers.

[sparks1093]

We have this booked and we booked on the Fascination for the fare, but I like the smaller, older ships anyway so it's not a drawback to me. As long as there is a place where DW and I may sit and enjoy a drink together we're good to go. I've been reading reviews and looking at pictures and see nothing that is concerning.

[dltvermont]

We are sailing this ship/itinerary in a month. Not really worried about the ship at all. Our first cruise was on an "older", "Smaller" ship and we loved it. If you want to see a few pics of the ship, Jamman is doing a current review of his cruise on the Fascination. Not this itinerary but he does cover the ships well during his reviews.

[janm8144]

We have sailed on Fascination 4 times, not this itinerary. We have enjoyed all trips. We've stayed in the veranda Jr.suites & love the location. The balcony overlooks the lido deck & even tho this might seem like a privacy problem, it's surprising how few people seem to go by. We are both in our 60's and don't feel like the venues are lacking, but we've been on 12 Carnival cruises & enjoy them to relax. Our favorite cruise was on Miracle, was visiting St Lucia, St Kitts & St Martin, but also had 4 sea days(my fav). It was the ports & sea days, not the ship that made it my favorite. I do hope to do that trip sometime when we can stay in San Juan before or after the cruise. I always feel like a cruise is what you make of it!

[can't hardly wait]

I really want to do this itinerary. I've sailed on both Carnival Fantasy and Carnival Ecstasy and think that the Fantasy Class ships would be a good fit for a port intensive itinerary like this.

[ontheweb]

Thanks to everyone for their replies. It gave me a lot to think about and discuss with DW and our travel agent.

 

We are also always more interested in the itinerary than the ship. And I do like smaller ships. One of our best cruises was on the former Ocean Princess with about 700 passengers. The largest ship we were ever on was the huge NCL Epic, and though the cruise was fine, it was the unfriendliest ship we were ever on.

 

I think as long as the ship is seaworthy and not too worn out, we can put up with that as long as there is a pool for DW and trivia contests for me.

[diasmiles]

I went on this cruise September 2015 and it was a great itinerary. I went on this cruise with my parents (both in their 60's) and they still talk about it. We sailed on the Liberty though so I can't comment on the ship but this is a great itinerary, lots to do and a lot of fun!

[ontheweb]

We are sailing this ship/itinerary in a month. Not really worried about the ship at all. Our first cruise was on an "older", "Smaller" ship and we loved it. If you want to see a few pics of the ship, Jamman is doing a current review of his cruise on the Fascination. Not this itinerary but he does cover the ships well during his reviews.

 

Could you please provide a link to the review Janman is doing? Thanks.

:)

[RCBA]

We are doing this cruise in June, I'm excited for the ports but not crazy about an aging ship. We just sailed the Disney Dream in March and it was wonderful :)

 

We have plans for St Lucia but would appreciate feedback on private or ship sponsored excursions for the other ports.

[LaFrimaire]

I really like this itinerary but don't think I'd want a Carnival ship smaller than Spirit class unless they do a major design overhaul. Been to some of these islands on Clipper ships and they are truly unique.

[kelib]

Doing the cruise May 8th and looking forward to it.

I did most of these islands On Windjammer Barefoot, so being on the Fascination is a huge ship for me

RCCL had a ship for the same time frame that had more people on it and much more expensive. The bigger ship had no appeal to me. I don't care about an Ice Skating rink in the Caribbean.

It is about the Islands.

[pghsteelerfan]

I went on this cruise September 2015 and it was a great itinerary. I went on this cruise with my parents (both in their 60's) and they still talk about it. We sailed on the Liberty though so I can't comment on the ship but this is a great itinerary, lots to do and a lot of fun!

 

You wouldn't have happened to have been on the September 20, 2015 sailing on Liberty, would you? Reason I ask? We were on that sailing. :)

 

Could you please provide a link to the review Janman is doing? Thanks.

:)

 

Not dltvermont, but since I just hijacked your thread, I got the link to Jamman's Fascination review. He just updated recently and I'm getting ready to read the next installment. Here's the link:

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2337784&highlight=fascination

[luv2trvlnow]

I've done 4 Southern cruises: my 1st was the Destiny (before it morphed into Sunshine), the next two were on the Celebrity Summit, and the last was this year on the Glory Journeys cruise.

 

I stopped cruising on Fantasy class ships about 10 years ago and wouldn't consider one today at all.

 

When I cruised the Summit solo, it was for a lower fare than Carnival offered. It pays to shop around.

 

Even though the Summit is an older ship, it is way better condition than the Fascination, which is 5 yrs older. Relaxing in the indoor Thalasso pool is wonderful after a day out exploring the real Caribbean isles that this itinerary offers.

 

We also went on the Celebrity Summit. And it was the same price as Carnival for the 2 of us. It was nice for a change and I agree that the Thalasso pool is wonderful!!! I think the itinerary is fantastic.

[squierjosh]

Wow, I just booked this exact cruise last night (leaving 1/29/16). We did a similar cruise for our honeymoon, and all the ports are great. I don't have any experience with Fascination, but I've never been on a bad cruiseship. They're all fun and are what you make of them.

 

We're considering this cruise. Does anyone have any comments on the ship or itinerary?

 

We are both in our 60s ,and have been on 10 cruises, 3 on Princess, 2 each on Carnival, NCL. and Royal Caribbean, and one on HAL. Half of our cruises have been in Europe; two were in the Western Caribbean including one on Carnival. (The other Carnival cruise was between NY and Canada.)

 

DW is very into beach activities; I am not.

 

All feedback is welcome. Thanks in advance.

[ontheweb]

You wouldn't have happened to have been on the September 20, 2015 sailing on Liberty, would you? Reason I ask? We were on that sailing. :)

 

 

 

Not dltvermont, but since I just hijacked your thread, I got the link to Jamman's Fascination review. He just updated recently and I'm getting ready to read the next installment. Here's the link:

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2337784&highlight=fascination

 

Thanks for the link; lots of interesting stuff there.

[WhyIsTheRumGone23]

As others have said, go for the itinerary! Fascination is a clean ship but is smaller and older and doesn't have the latest 2.0 upgrades. That said, I never had trouble finding a lounge chair by the pool or on the upper deck and the service was always great. Easy to navigate layout and seems to have plenty of room for everyone, sometimes it's nice not having 4000 of your closest friends onboard! One other mention, Fantasy class ships have limited balconies! If you are wanting one, book early as they often sell out quick!

[evandbob]

Just for giggles, I priced the Fascination and the Celebrity Summit for San Juan departures in early December.

 

Celebrity was $20 higher for an inside, which is what I book when I sail solo.

 

That's a no brainer, Celebrity by a landslide.

[FireEater]

I like the Southern routes too, but I leave out of Port Canaveral. Only 1.5 drive and no flying hassle and transfer problems. A little longer cruise and a tad higher in price, but again no hassle with airport or transfer issues.