Mitsugirlys FASCINATION with San Juan-review & pictorial

[SMSACE6]

Also sorry that mitsugirly and family are not going on a cruise in the next months, only because I will not get to live through another wonderful review of hers, but glad to hear that she and family are still going to enjoy some vacation time on a southern destination that works for them all.

 

I also am taking a break from cruising this year and most likely next year too, but will still be vacationing in a warmer climate at some point. ( my reasons being different from mitsugirly), but some times we have to mix things up a bit for a while, and for our own reasons. I will some day go back to cruising, but for now, it is land vacation for me, at least this year and next year will see what happens for me.:)

[blarko]

Unfortunately...I won't be cruising this summer as planned. I have tried and tried to find something that interest me and the only thing I could find was repeating THIS Fascination cruise again. However, I wanted to stay at the same place (El Conquistador) because we absolutely loved it there and wanted to spend more time. However, they are completely booked up. The other places we stayed at (before and after) are doubled in price now. I got so frustrated trying to find something, that I completely decided we just weren't cruising this time around and we are doing a land vacation at the end of the month instead....ARUBA! :D

Will you be doing a review of the land vacation? I'm sure just like me, most of us on here are looking forward to your next fun and exciting vacation review!! Will you be doing an all inclusive Aruba trip? Inquiring minds need to know!!! 😀😀

 

Sent from my KFTHWI using Forums mobile app

[tbmrt]

Enjoy Aruba.

 

I can't tell you how much I enjoy reading your cruise reports. Hope to hear all about your Aruba trip as well!

[SweetPea0517]

Unfortunately...I won't be cruising this summer as planned. I have tried and tried to find something that interest me and the only thing I could find was repeating THIS Fascination cruise again. However, I wanted to stay at the same place (El Conquistador) because we absolutely loved it there and wanted to spend more time. However, they are completely booked up. The other places we stayed at (before and after) are doubled in price now. I got so frustrated trying to find something, that I completely decided we just weren't cruising this time around and we are doing a land vacation at the end of the month instead....ARUBA! :D

 

 

 

Do you do a travel blog for your land vacations? Would you share the link? It would be another valuable tool for us.

[miss tea]

I'm excited to read this one

[dmg1956]

Why, oh why does this review have to be up here again?

[my_crib_too]

Unfortunately...I won't be cruising this summer as planned. I have tried and tried to find something that interest me and the only thing I could find was repeating THIS Fascination cruise again. However, I wanted to stay at the same place (El Conquistador) because we absolutely loved it there and wanted to spend more time. However, they are completely booked up. The other places we stayed at (before and after) are doubled in price now. I got so frustrated trying to find something, that I completely decided we just weren't cruising this time around and we are doing a land vacation at the end of the month instead....ARUBA! :D

 

Will we still get a detailed review here of your land only vacation?

 

bruce...

[mitsugirly]

I'm excited to read this one

 

Thanks

Why, oh why does this review have to be up here again?

 

 

If you have a problem with it, stop clicking on it! My reviews come up for years from people reading them. Get over it and stop commenting on my stuff if you have a problem.

[mitsugirly]

Will we still get a detailed review here of your land only vacation?

 

bruce...

 

I'm not sure how I would do it. Since my reviews are so extensive and picture heavy, I'm not sure if I could do that on the Aruba board section.

[cio541]

Also know that most scuba places (excursions) will make her have a private dive master on all dives (meaning you pay extra) and cannot go as deep at the adults do. She will, however, have a great time

 

Sorry it took me so long to return. After work, I picked up Sakari from her bus stop and we immediately went to our local aquatics store to get information about scuba for her. The place is so amazing there. I can spend hours looking at everything...and actually I did. :p

 

So...I GOT HER SIGNED UP!!! She will do her first 2 classes (both classroom and the pool) starting in October. Then right after that is her "AquaMission" to become a PADI Seal and get her certificate and all that comes with it. Then she will be able to do a different "AquaMission" dive each month:

 

Creature ID Specialist

Environmental Specialist

Inner Space Specialist

Navigation Specialist

Safety Specialist

Search and Recovery Specialist

Skin Diver Specialist

Snapshot Specialist

Wreck Specialist

Night Specialist

 

She will continue to do the monthly missions and if she wants to be certified, she will be able to do that when she turns 10 years old. She is super excited and is super upset that she has to wait until next month to start. :rolleyes: They had a class starting this Friday, but they were full.

 

She has her packet, book and patches and now just needs to get her snorkel and mask. They provide the wet suit and all of the equipment...thank goodness!

 

I hope she likes it and I hope she sticks with it. That crap is E-X-P-E-N-S-I-V-E!!!

 

I was almost excited when they told me after she turns 10 and does the classes, she could actually do her open water certification dives in the Caribbean. :D That almost made me want to do it.

 

Oh, one other thing. They have you fill out a form and answer some questions (health) and I checked the "yes" to having issues with getting her ears to "pop" when coming down on a plane. So...they are making me take her to her doctor to get an exam and they have to sign off on the paperwork for her to be able to do it. :rolleyes: Now I wish I wouldn't have told them. I mean they teach you how to clear your ears. She just hasn't learn how. :(

[mitsugirly]

Also know that most scuba places (excursions) will make her have a private dive master on all dives (meaning you pay extra) and cannot go as deep at the adults do. She will, however, have a great time

 

This is an old post. She is already a certified PADI Seal now and does dives every month and has done 2 shore dives in the Caribbean already. :D Her last dive in Curacao, she dove down to 30' and was with us the entire time and only 1 instructor. (I know, not what should have happened or what PADI allows, but it's what they did with us that day...scared the crap out of me, but she did better than we did). If you are interested in reading that review, it's in my Conquest review. http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2491944

[cio541]

This is an old post. She is already a certified PADI Seal now and does dives every month and has done 2 shore dives in the Caribbean already. :D Her last dive in Curacao, she dove down to 30' and was with us the entire time and only 1 instructor. (I know, not what should have happened or what PADI allows, but it's what they did with us that day...scared the crap out of me, but she did better than we did). If you are interested in reading that review, it's in my Conquest review. http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2491944

 

That is awesome! Curacao is one of my favorite places to dive. We go with Bas Hart. As much as she obviously loves the water, diving will likely be a life long love!

[mitsugirly]

That is awesome! Curacao is one of my favorite places to dive. We go with Bas Hart. As much as she obviously loves the water, diving will likely be a life long love!

 

She definitely has a love for the water and diving. We thought about going with Bas Hart, but my convo with him left a sour taste in my mouth in the end. Maybe next time we'll give him a try. We'll see.

[cocoaloco]

Hey and a big thanks for doing this. I am late to the party (I know this cruise seems like a looong time ago to ya). I am on the Fascination in Sept and am really enjoying the review - a few pages at a time. I am only to page 33 but thought I would say thanks. :cool:

[mitsugirly]

Hey and a big thanks for doing this. I am late to the party (I know this cruise seems like a looong time ago to ya). I am on the Fascination in Sept and am really enjoying the review - a few pages at a time. I am only to page 33 but thought I would say thanks. :cool:

 

Glad you are enjoying it and I hope you have a wonderful cruise on the Fascination in September. It is still one of my favorite cruises to date. I was going to repeat it again in August, but just couldn't bring it all together this time around. Maybe I'll do it again next year.

[EmilyAnn86]

I have a question for you. I have spent hours reading your awesome reviews and showing my husband your pictures to try to convince him to let me book a cruise ;) But what I am wondering is, do you have an all-time favorite port? Like a this MUST be on your bucket list kind of place? For someone who may only go on one or two cruises in their entire life, what is the must-see place? In your opinion of course, I know everyone enjoys different things :)

[seaoats228]

Mitsugirly (Kim), I love your reviews they are some of the best on this forum!!! I wanted to let you know I booked a tour with Spencer Ambrose Tours after reading and looking at your pictures from your review! :) I booked the Jalousie Beach Break and we don't board the Fascination until December 3, 2017!!!

[seaoats228]

mitsugirly or anyone else,

I do have one question since the Spencer Ambrose Tour we chose picks us up at the cruise port at 8:30 am and our ship according the the itinerary says we arrive at St. Lucia at 8 am. Since we booked this privately not with Carnival how to we ensure we are off the ship in time to meet the folks from Spencer Ambrose Tours? Hope no one thinks this is a dumb question...thanks anyone else can chime in too.

[pghsteelerfan]

mitsugirly or anyone else,

I do have one question since the Spencer Ambrose Tour we chose picks us up at the cruise port at 8:30 am and our ship according the the itinerary says we arrive at St. Lucia at 8 am. Since we booked this privately not with Carnival how to we ensure we are off the ship in time to meet the folks from Spencer Ambrose Tours? Hope no one thinks this is a dumb question...thanks anyone else can chime in too.

 

Not Mitsugirly, but we've done tours with Spencer both times we were in St. Lucia, but none of our cruises were on Fascination. We did our first on Valor (May 2013) and again on Liberty (Sept. 2015) and didn't have any issues, either time, getting off the ship and meeting for Spencer's tours on time (we actually got down there around 8:10 both times...I just checked the time on the pictures I have from both cruises). Valor and Liberty are larger ships which can sometimes have longer lines getting off the ship. We just made sure that we had our belongings ready and had breakfast early, so we were ready to get off the ship by 8AM and just headed down and got right off.

[seannyice81]

Mitsugirly, Which camera did you primarily use for the underwater photos? The 630 or 820? Which one's screen was better visible?

 

Thanks!

[mitsugirly]

I have a question for you. I have spent hours reading your awesome reviews and showing my husband your pictures to try to convince him to let me book a cruise ;) But what I am wondering is, do you have an all-time favorite port? Like a this MUST be on your bucket list kind of place? For someone who may only go on one or two cruises in their entire life, what is the must-see place? In your opinion of course, I know everyone enjoys different things :)

 

Oh my! That's a very hard question. I have a lot of favorites. You have to remember that we mostly do snorkeling, beaches (and some scuba lately) and that's usually what I base trips off of. We love St Thomas for the snorkeling/scuba. St Lucia was AMAZING! We also really like the Western route that includes Cozumel, Roatan, Costa Maya and Belize. We've done that route so many times and always go back and find new things to do each time. It's a simple route and a lot of ships go there...plus it's one of the cheaper cruises as well.

 

 

This Fascination cruise still remains my favorite of all cruises and that's because of a combination of the cruise and the time we spent in Puerto Rico before and after the cruise. I would highly suggest this cruise for sure.

 

 

Our last cruise (Conquest in April) went to more new ports and we really liked Aruba (so much that we leave tonight for a 10 day land vaca in Aruba :D).

 

 

If I could suggest a "non-Caribbean" port...that would be Bermuda! AMAZING!!! It's so beautiful there and it's definitely a "must do" as well. It's an added plus that you "park" and stay for a few days and get to explore the entire island on your own time. The beaches are absolutely beautiful there!

 

 

 

 

Mitsugirly (Kim), I love your reviews they are some of the best on this forum!!! I wanted to let you know I booked a tour with Spencer Ambrose Tours after reading and looking at your pictures from your review! :) I booked the Jalousie Beach Break and we don't board the Fascination until December 3, 2017!!!

 

Thanks so much and I hope you have a WONDERFUL cruise on the Fascination in December. I was going to do this cruise again at the end of August, but I just couldn't make the hotel situation line up with what I was wanting to do. So, it's on my to-do list again for next year hopefully. You just can't beat this cruise!

[mitsugirly]

mitsugirly or anyone else,

I do have one question since the Spencer Ambrose Tour we chose picks us up at the cruise port at 8:30 am and our ship according the the itinerary says we arrive at St. Lucia at 8 am. Since we booked this privately not with Carnival how to we ensure we are off the ship in time to meet the folks from Spencer Ambrose Tours? Hope no one thinks this is a dumb question...thanks anyone else can chime in too.

 

Yea, you won't have a problem at all. You get off the ship and Spencer is basically docked right there and not much walking. Super easy and quick to get to with no worries. They know you are coming and usually wait for people I'm sure. The Fascination is a small ship and not as crowded getting on/off as the bigger ships.

 

 

Have a great time.

 

 

Mitsugirly, Which camera did you primarily use for the underwater photos? The 630 or 820? Which one's screen was better visible?

 

Thanks!

 

For THIS review, I "think" I used the 830 the most because it was newer. They both do the same thing and the screens are the same. However, I purchased a TG4 after this cruise and absolutely LOVE LOVE LOVE it more. It's my favorite camera and the one I use 99.9% of the time now and carry the 620 and 830 as back ups now. The TG4 is a little bigger and it has a way to add lens to the camera. I have a fish eye that I put on it and it is just amazing! There's a lot more settings on the TG4 as well and I use them a lot. If you are going to buy a camera, I would suggest you get the tough. :)

[seannyice81]

For THIS review, I "think" I used the 830 the most because it was newer. They both do the same thing and the screens are the same. However, I purchased a TG4 after this cruise and absolutely LOVE LOVE LOVE it more. It's my favorite camera and the one I use 99.9% of the time now and carry the 620 and 830 as back ups now. The TG4 is a little bigger and it has a way to add lens to the camera. I have a fish eye that I put on it and it is just amazing! There's a lot more settings on the TG4 as well and I use them a lot. If you are going to buy a camera, I would suggest you get the tough. :)

 

Thanks! I have a waterproof Fujifilm camera, but it has the most frustrating screen.

[sonicbuffalo]

mitsugirly....who do you host your pictures with....photocrap (bucket) is trying to gouge me $400 to host mine and has ruined my previous reviews. Thanks! Love your reviews!

[mitsugirly]

mitsugirly....who do you host your pictures with....photocrap (bucket) is trying to gouge me $400 to host mine and has ruined my previous reviews. Thanks! Love your reviews!

 

 

I have always used Smugmug (I have only used photobucket for little things when asking questions or answering and didn't need to host it on my website). I have the power account (which is awesome) and I think it's only $60/year. :)