What's the Fascination like?

[CarnivalCreed]

Hello all,

 

This will be my first time aboard the Fascination and I have cruised exclusively through Carnival previously. From what I understand, this is a smaller and older ship so can anyone explain how much different it is...say from the bigger or newer ships? What was the cruise like for you? Was it your first time on a smaller ship? My girlfriend and her parents will be accompanying me on this vacation in March. Understandably, we are primarily going for the ports but it does concern me a little as my girlfriend's parents have cruised other lines on bigger ships. I want their first Carnival experience to be a great one and I think it will but I don't want the ship to be reflective of Carnival as a whole.

 

 

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[joeyancho]

If they have cruised other lines, they will notice the difference. Probably not in a positive way. The ship is 22 years old with Farcus decor. It doesn't have most of the 2.0 upgrades. No Guy's, no steakhouse etc. I'm sure others will say how they had a great time on her and how they love older, smaller ships and I'm sure it is true. But she is not my cup of tea. Sorry.

[RockNCntry]

Hi there! I have only been about 5 cruise. I have been on the Fascination twice! My very first cruise was on her! I have been on 3 other Carnival Ships, As previous poster said,she does not have the 2.0 upgrade like Guy's Burgers, but still love this ship! Will sail on her again if given the chance from a close port. Our first cruse was to Cozumel, leaving from Miami, Fla.across the Gulf of Mexico this was a smooth trip.We enjoyed it enough to keep going on Carnival. Being our first cruise, I believe, most any cruise ship would have impressed us! We sailed on her again 3 cruises later out of Jacksonville, Florida. This cruise was as good as the first! We did feel the motion a bit more this time around! I am not sure why. Maybe because we were in the Atlantic Ocean, going to the Bahama's. Maybe the Sea was a bit rougher. It did not look rough though! Beautiful weather on both cruises! Basically, at one point we felt like we took two steps forward and one step to the side to keep our balance! Great Cruise's on this ship! The other Ships we have been on are the Destiny (before the remake to the Sunshine), The Freedom. and soon to come the Glory! :) WE have not been on any other cruise lines or any of the real new ship! Some people love the smaller ships better & some prefer the bigger ships.The Destiny and the Freedom are bigger and we enjoyed them just as much! But enjoyed both our cruises on the Fascination, really well! Hope to sail her again someday!

[skyeman27]

It is a nice small ship that has some age. The food and service is no better or worse than other Carnival ships that I have sailed. I really like the PT cabins...

[RuthlessBoss]

Hello all,

 

This will be my first time aboard the Fascination and I have cruised exclusively through Carnival previously. From what I understand, this is a smaller and older ship so can anyone explain how much different it is...say from the bigger or newer ships? What was the cruise like for you? Was it your first time on a smaller ship? My girlfriend and her parents will be accompanying me on this vacation in March. Understandably, we are primarily going for the ports but it does concern me a little as my girlfriend's parents have cruised other lines on bigger ships. I want their first Carnival experience to be a great one and I think it will but I don't want the ship to be reflective of Carnival as a whole.

 

 

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I see you've been on Ecstasy, so you can compare to that. Whether they have a good time or not is up to them. Don't beat yourself up worrying over something you can't control.

[CarnivalCreed]

If they have cruised other lines, they will notice the difference. Probably not in a positive way. The ship is 22 years old with Farcus decor. It doesn't have most of the 2.0 upgrades. No Guy's, no steakhouse etc. I'm sure others will say how they had a great time on her and how they love older, smaller ships and I'm sure it is true. But she is not my cup of tea. Sorry.

 

 

Hey well I definitely appreciate the honesty. It will have been the smallest ship that I've been on for sure

 

 

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[CarnivalCreed]

Thanks for the post RockNCntry! Very encouraging!

 

 

 

 

 

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Edited August 16, 2016 by CarnivalCreed

[CarnivalCreed]

It is a nice small ship that has some age. The food and service is no better or worse than other Carnival ships that I have sailed. I really like the PT cabins...

 

 

Yeah we have a Jr. Suite set up for our cruise

 

 

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[CarnivalCreed]

I see you've been on Ecstasy, so you can compare to that. Whether they have a good time or not is up to them. Don't beat yourself up worrying over something you can't control.

 

 

Touché. Yeah, the Ecstasy was definitely an experience. It was a newer ship though and wasn't bad...just different. I'm sure I'm just overreacting

 

 

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Edited August 16, 2016 by CarnivalCreed

[SMSACE6]

I would love to do this itinerary. Yes, I would prefer a ship larger than Fascination. But the itinerary keep crying out to me!. want to do this cruise, and have been to San Juan Puerto Rico a few times now, and love Old San Juan. Maybe some day, it is on my bucket list, not necessarily the ship, but the itinerary, and that it leaves from San Juan, which I love.:)

[TheTravelista]

The Fascination was the second Carnival ship I sailed as a kid in the late 90s. I thought it was amazing then.

 

I'm honestly not sure how a first timer now would view the ship. Maybe try to find some reviews from first-timers? But I do very strongly agree that anyone who has sailed a newer, bigger ship will notice the differences. How it affects the vacation depends on the individual. The itinerary is so port intensive that there really won't be much time to fret about the things you miss.

 

For me personally, I won't sail a ship of that class as I sail for both the ships and the ports. I've gotten used to new amenities and food options and would not be happy going backwards.

Edited August 16, 2016 by TheTravelista

[CarnivalCreed]

@SMSACE6 Exactly! It will be our first time there and we will be leaving that Thursday morning even though the ship departs that Sunday to get some extra mileage out of our trip. Staying at the Hyatt in San Juan Center

 

 

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[CarnivalCreed]

@TheTravelista yeah, we really wanted to go to those ports. I wish some of the bigger ships had more attractive ports and more in number.

 

 

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[lolavix]

The Fascination was the second Carnival ship I sailed as a kid in the late 90s. I thought it was amazing then.

 

I'm honestly not sure how a first timer now would view the ship. Maybe try to find some reviews from first-timers? But I do very strongly agree that anyone who has sailed a newer, bigger ship will notice the differences. How it affects the vacation depends on the individual. The itinerary is so port intensive that there really won't be much time to fret about the things you miss.

 

For me personally, I won't sail a ship of that class as I sail for both the ships and the ports. I've gotten used to new amenities and food options and would not be happy going backwards.

 

We sail her on Sunday. It's only my family's second cruise ever and our first with Carnival. Our other cruise was two years ago on NCL Dawn, which, from what I read on these boards, gets comparable love/hate opinions from people. ;)

 

I am planning on doing a fairly extensive review when I return. I will mention that right now we are sailing for the ports and not the ship. Our Dawn cruise was to Bermuda and we chose it because of our proximity to the port (no airfare) and the fact that we wanted to visit Bermuda and a cruise was cheaper than a land-based vacation and cheaper than the Breakaway out of NY. Obviously we enjoyed our cruising experience enough on that smaller ship, though, to book a second cruise.

 

Keep your eyes out for my review when I get back on 8/28. It might not be started until a few days after we return, since my children go back to school the day after we return. :eek:

Edited August 16, 2016 by lolavix

[ontheweb]

We sail her on Sunday. It's only my family's second cruise ever and our first with Carnival. Our other cruise was two years ago on NCL Dawn, which, from what I read on these boards, gets comparable love/hate opinions from people. ;)

 

I am planning on doing a fairly extensive review when I return. I will mention that right now we are sailing for the ports and not the ship. Our Dawn cruise was to Bermuda and we chose it because of our proximity to the port (no airfare) and the fact that we wanted to visit Bermuda and a cruise was cheaper than a land-based vacation and cheaper than the Breakaway out of NY. Obviously we enjoyed our cruising experience enough on that smaller ship, though, to book a second cruise.

 

Keep your eyes out for my review when I get back on 8/28. It might not be started until a few days after we return, since my children go back to school the day after we return. :eek:

 

I will definitely look forward to your review. I also hope to meet you guys onboard.

 

We have been on one much smaller ship, the former Ocean Princess with under 700 passengers. It was a wonderful cruise at least partially because everyone, passengers and crew, were so friendly. You ran into the same people all the time.

[sparks1093]

We'll be on the Fascination in a couple of months and I will also be doing a review. Second time on CCL. I prefer smaller ships so don't anticipate any issues in that regard. (As I understand it she is about the same size passenger capacity-wise as the NCL Sky and we loved the Sky.)

Edited August 16, 2016 by sparks1093

[suzycruiser2]

We have sailed on the Fascination twice and enjoyed both cruises. Yes, it is smaller and older than other ships, but the crew we had was awesome. We sailed on her after we had sailed on the Dream and I can honestly say that I enjoyed it much more. Yes, the Dream is a bigger ship and offers more options, but you also have a lot more people. We encountered longer lines in the buffet, harder to get a seat for the shows and comedy club, etc. on the Dream and we didn't have these problems on the Fascination.

 

Also, I'm not sure of the parents' age and mobility, but there is also a greater distance to travel from place to place on those larger/newer ships. It's not too bad when you are just strolling about, but really noticed when trying to get from the theater to the comedy club quickly.

[Jdfireman]

Its White Red with some Blue ... Floats in the water..

[trvlgirlmq]

If they have cruised other lines, they will notice the difference. Probably not in a positive way. The ship is 22 years old with Farcus decor. It doesn't have most of the 2.0 upgrades. No Guy's, no steakhouse etc. I'm sure others will say how they had a great time on her and how they love older, smaller ships and I'm sure it is true. But she is not my cup of tea. Sorry.

 

Couldn't agree more. The Fantasy class ships (sailed Fascination and Elation) are just old, tired, and frankly I was bored to tears on sea days.

[Albums in the Attic]

My opinion... we've been on the Fascination once and we will be on her again in 2.5 weeks.

 

We've been on the big ships, medium ships and small. I don't know that we have a preference but I will say the size to passenger ratio feels right to us on the Spirit class.

 

As for the Fascination compared to other ships... it was our least favorite cruise (of 15, all on Carnival). It wasn't only the ship. It was itinerary (Nassau, Freeport +1 missed port due to weather), the service was efficient, just not over the top, and the missing bells and whistles. That said... it was certainly not enough to keep us from booking again. A cruise is what you make of it. Can I find something to make me miserable? Yes, probably on any ship. The ship itself usually does weigh heavily on our booking decision. The southern itinerary definitely won out this time around. And my approach... I am not overly excited about going on the Fascination but I know I'm not going for the ship. I'm not expecting to be blown away by the ship. The food was actually quite good. Will I miss Guys, Cucina, 3 levels of Serenity? Sure. But the lines aren't as long. So as funny as it sounds... a day on our "worst" ship is still more than enjoyable!

 

Oh... and to sweeten the pot, we booked our first aft view balcony for this cruise. LOL. Regardless... have fun. We didn't have any ship issue that came close to ruining our vacation.

[CarnivalCreed]

 

 

@Jdfireman So do turds. Enjoy your swims on your future vacations

 

 

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Edited August 16, 2016 by CarnivalCreed

[CarnivalCreed]

@Albums in the Attic Thanks for sharing your experience! Very encouraging as well

 

 

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[carol TC]

We just got off on Sunday. We had a blast. Yes the ship is small but we were so busy in Ports it didn't really bother us. The food was good and service was excellent. I must say one of my best cruises and I've done 18. Its what you make it so have a good time

[riclop]

Hello all,

 

This will be my first time aboard the Fascination and I have cruised exclusively through Carnival previously. From what I understand, this is a smaller and older ship so can anyone explain how much different it is...say from the bigger or newer ships? What was the cruise like for you? Was it your first time on a smaller ship? My girlfriend and her parents will be accompanying me on this vacation in March. Understandably, we are primarily going for the ports but it does concern me a little as my girlfriend's parents have cruised other lines on bigger ships. I want their first Carnival experience to be a great one and I think it will but I don't want the ship to be reflective of Carnival as a whole.

 

 

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It's an old clunker, try a nicer ship.

[ohitssunshine]

I've sailed her 3 times, and she's actually my favorite ship. That being said, we've only been on the smaller ones...but we love it. Perfect for a 5 day, not sure beyond that if there's enough to keep you busy. I have a couple reviews in my signature that have a lot of pics too. Enjoy!