Cruise of Firsts 12/26-30/17 Mobile to Cozumel

[Island Crazed]

This was our first “winter” cruise.

Our first from Mobile, AL

Our first with extended family - 17 members - 4 generations (80-1) 6 married couples, 4 singles and a 1-year old.

First time we left Home on embarkation day and drove to port.

And the oldest ship in Carnival’s fleet!

 

At midnight of the night before the cruise (Christmas night) while we all tried to get a good night’s sleep, our power went out. Stayed off all night. Got ready in the cold and dark. Came back on about noon while we were boarding the ship.

 

We got to Mobile without any complications. Arrived at the port a little before 11 and had to get in line. Next time I would shoot for more like 10:40. We had a 11:00 checkin time didn’t seem to matter.

 

The parking and check in process was no different than you expect being that we got there with a big rush. We were able to walk right on board after checking in and headed up to Guys burgers for lunch. The buffet area was not very crowded as it was about noon. It was very chilly and breezy at the Sail-away most people were dressed in “winter clothing” even at dinner.

 

 

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[easyboy]

Will be following along.

 

 

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[GMRPHRN]

Hope to hear more about the ship. I live within driving distance of this port but have always sailed out of Florida because of the longer cruises and larger ships. Airline flights have just gotten to be too much $$.

[G&TQ]

Following. We sail on the Fantasy in 148 days and I can't wait.

[2Shoes2Go]

Love Fantasy! Great officers and crew. Mikey is a very energetic, positive and fun CD. Enjoy the music duo Take Two very much, as well. Lots of good on this little ship.

Guess we're looking forward to our trip on her next week!:D

Happy New Year, y'all!

[Clarea]

Looking forward to more.:)

[1cruisingal]

We sailed the Fantasy in June and had Mikey as our CD. He was awesome!! We have to say that he is one of our very favorites! Friendly, kind, and personable!!

[Island Crazed]

Mikey was not our CD. I think we may have had a sub due to Christmas week.

 

I have to say that I liked The Legend and The Freedom much better overall.

 

Crew was the best - Cabin Stewart learned all 17 of our names as well as head server. Never had anyone better than these two.

 

Boat is a little worse for wear. Oldest CCL ship still in use. Liked the atrium a lot. Pool area seemed smaller. Loved Guys and Cantina.

 

Holiday so it was run over with kids - as you’d expect it to be.

Odd table of 4 unsupervised children probably 7-10 years old right behind us. Very loud. No parents in sight at dinner. They were seated somewhere else. Very happy when they didn’t show the last night.

 

Winter weather - Tues. cool. Wed. Nice enough to sun. Thurs. on Cozumel was very nice. Sun is very low as it was/is so close to winter solstice. Friday was overcast and rained in the A.M. Too cool and windy to be outside.

More to come.

 

 

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[Keith1010]

I am following along.

Keith

[caryatid]

Was it warm enough to swim in Cozumel? We will be there over Christmas week next year and I'm trying to decide on a excursion or if we should just wing it. I know my kids won't want to get in the water if it is chilly, in that case we'd be better off with a tour-type excursion.

[Elvis1001]

Was it warm enough to swim in Cozumel? We will be there over Christmas week next year and I'm trying to decide on a excursion or if we should just wing it. I know my kids won't want to get in the water if it is chilly, in that case we'd be better off with a tour-type excursion.

 

It depends on your point of reference. The water temp is typically in the upper 70's in late December, which is cold to me but maybe warm to kids, especially if you are from northern climates.

[Island Crazed]

We drove down from the Atlanta area. We left a tad after 6:00 AM and arrived in Mobile before 10:00 Central time. We had to kill 45 mins as they were still emptying the ship. It was cool and overcast but not freezing.

We got parked and checked bags without issue. We checked in fairly easily too. We walked right on and headed to the Lido where we met up with all 17 members of our family. This was a family trip that was my mother's idea. We began planning abut 18 months ago. She wanted everyone to go somewhere together and this worked out best. The Group was - My mother celebrating her 80th Bday. We lost my father in Feb. of 2014. We included myself and husband and 4 daughters, two of which are married; my sister and her husband and two married daughters and one grandchild and my brother. We all got to eat what we wanted and wait for our rooms to be ready. OH - my oldest is a vegan and a niece and her husband are vegetarians. My daughter always looked at the menu for the next day and worked our a vegan meal. The other two were able to order off the menu.

 

Our rooms were very close to one another. All were very good.

 

Sail away was breezy and cold.

 

Most people were dressed in"winter" clothes. Dinner was typical. - Not was good as my two past CCL cruises.

 

The welcome aboard "show" was so so. (LOVED the shows on The Legend back in 2011!!)

[Island Crazed]

Oh. Here are some pictures from that first day.

Ok. I like Caesar salad. Had did every night.

 

Chicken Appetizer very disappointed

Husband’s beef entrée forget which one

Steakhouse fillet very disappointed

 

 

 

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[KmomChicago]

Following. Your ship was groundbreaking in her day but a lot has changed since then! Would love to give Fantasy a try so looking forward to hearing more.

[Island Crazed]

Day 2 Sea Day

First issue. The Hub App said the high would be 54°. So I dressed for the day only to discover this was completely wrong. At 8 o’clock it was already in the 60s headed to the high 70s. We found the weather part of the Carnival HUB app to be wrong most of the time. I was annoyed because I had spent time on my “hair and make-up” thinking that I would be indoors all day. We were able to get a good spot outside. The family that wanted shade found shade the family that wanted sun found sun.

 

We went inside and played some of the games and learned our way around the ship. Naps were had and overall it was a good day.

 

It was the most dressy night and we got ready early to do pictures.

 

Dinner was good and the “Motown Show” was very enjoyable. We’re not a typical family I don’t think when it comes to entertainment. Within our 16 adults are 5 theatre degrees, 1 art degree and 10 music degrees. ( several have 2 or even 3) (All are employed in the area of their education) Some of them are hard to please. 🤪 I thought it was entertaining.

 

They made a announcement at dinner that there was a medical emergency and they requested type A+ blood donors. One nephew-in-law went down but they change their mind about the donations. Instead it was announced that we would increase speed and dock in Cozumel before 5 AM. Needless to say-it was a very rocky night.

 

 

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[Island Crazed]

Mother and her 6 granddaughters.

 

 

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[Island Crazed]

Was it warm enough to swim in Cozumel? We will be there over Christmas week next year and I'm trying to decide on a excursion or if we should just wing it. I know my kids won't want to get in the water if it is chilly, in that case we'd be better off with a tour-type excursion.

 

 

 

Sorry I have not answered. Was thinking I’d do it in my Cozumel Day report. The water was warm enough to swim. We are from near Atlanta and tend to be sissies when it comes to water temps. My thought is that it was warmer than my three spring break cruises in April. 1 was Eastern and 2 were Western. Thinking the temps haven’t yet cooled through the Jan-Feb months as temps continue to be cool. If the air temp is warm, 80s, I think it’s fine. We went to Paradise Beach. The ocean was cool but not overly and the pool was warmer. Again, we don’t like cool water. Kids were swimming on the ship when the air temp was high 50s. [emoji15]

[cruisewithwife]

Nice review so far...we are doing a family cruise this November on the Fantasy

[grumpyjr88]

My very first cruise was on Fantasy back when she was shiny and new. She will always have a special place in my heart.

[Carol Jones]

Mikey was not our CD. I think we may have had a sub due to Christmas week.

 

I have to say that I liked The Legend and The Freedom much better overall.

 

Crew was the best - Cabin Stewart learned all 17 of our names as well as head server. Never had anyone better than these two.

 

Boat is a little worse for wear. Oldest CCL ship still in use. Liked the atrium a lot. Pool area seemed smaller. Loved Guys and Cantina.

 

Holiday so it was run over with kids - as you’d expect it to be.

Odd table of 4 unsupervised children probably 7-10 years old right behind us. Very loud. No parents in sight at dinner. They were seated somewhere else. Very happy when they didn’t show the last night.

 

Winter weather - Tues. cool. Wed. Nice enough to sun. Thurs. on Cozumel was very nice. Sun is very low as it was/is so close to winter solstice. Friday was overcast and rained in the A.M. Too cool and windy to be outside.

More to come.

 

 

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Hmmmm..... we were on the cruise the week before 12-21 to 12-26 and Mickey was our cruise director. He was not out an about the last morning and several announcements were made saying he was sick.

 

 

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[Island Crazed]

Hmmmm..... we were on the cruise the week before 12-21 to 12-26 and Mickey was our cruise director. He was not out an about the last morning and several announcements were made saying he was sick.

 

 

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We had JAMES - my daughter did a tad of investigative work and figured he was a sub based on his social media.

 

 

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[Island Crazed]

DAY 3 Cozumel

 

As I mentioned above, we docked early. We watched theRCCL Harmony of the Sea pull in beside us. We’d ordered room service breakfast to save time and watched The Today Show which broadcast 2 or 3 commercials for HotS LOL.

 

We were ready to leave the ship as soon as it was announced that we could. My husband, youngest daughter, oldest daughter and her husband and my brother were in our group. The rest were just going to shop and eat in walking distance of the ship. We wound our way through the maze of stores to get to the taxis. We were quickly on one headed for Paradise Beach ($5 pp for taxi each way) $3 to get into PB. We didn’t want the play pass. We were early so we got great chairs and umbrellas and it only seemed full after few hours. We headed to the water a few at a time. I felt our stuff was pretty safe. As it turned out one of the 6 of us was always with our chairs. The water was a tad cool but not too much so. I swam and floated around. We were in the water close to an hour.

After sunning awhile we ordered lunch.

 

My brother and I went over to the pool for awhile. There were chairs in the water open. We went back to the beach and dozed. We headed back to the port about 1:00. My brother and youngest headed back to the ship. The rest of us shopped.

 

 

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[Island Crazed]

DAY 3 Cozumel part 2

We made our way back to the ship and watched the sail away. We left 30 minutes later than posted.

 

We went to dinner and hung out in the Cat’s Lounge. Then we went to the Lido and played some games we’d brought.

They gave me a steak knife, thank goodness, toughest lobster ever! Not worth the $20 up-charge. I’ve had lobster on ships when it was on the regular menu that were way better than this. Very disappointed. Didn’t expect it to be like I’d get in Portland, but this was not what you’d expect from the steakhouse!

This is how I do mine - double ice cream and a little Mickey.

My husband ordered the apple pie and we ordered this to share not knowing really what it was. I actually liked it a lot.

 

The forecast for Friday was sunny and 78°. The boat was really rocking as we headed north.

 

 

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Edited January 4, 2018 by Island Crazed

[Island Crazed]

DAY 4 - Sea Day.

6:30AM my youngest (DD#4) woke me to say my DD#3 had a migraine. Short story I believed she had motion sickness and was dehydrated. She threw up the medicine I gave her. Pause....

 

While the Carnival Hub App said it was going to be a sunny warm day, it was not. I dressed for the pool and went for breakfast. The ship was rocking and it started raining hard.

 

I made the decision to take DD#3 to the medical center after talking to a very nice Head Nurse on the phone. We were there less than an hour and $78 later she received a shot for the motion sickness and was fine. I put her to bed as they said it would make her sleepy. ( A few hours later she ordered 2 lunches from RS and was fine).

 

My family won a Ship on a Stick (our 2nd) with a perfect trivia score for Big Bang Theory as I caught up with them and followed it with a 3rd SoaS with a 22/23 score for Harry Potter. My oldest niece could probably complete against anyone. She’s read the books nearly 10 times apiece and went to grad school in London (Guildhall School of Music and Drama)

I headed out to the pool as it looked like the sun was peaking out.

It was very windy. I tried for 30 minuets.

But I finally, sadly, gave up.

 

We played a round of Travail Pursuit. The ship was very crowded as there were not enough activities for everyone with the weather so poor.

 

I did use the extra time to pack earlier in the day. Which made it the easiest pack up in 5 cruises.

 

 

 

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[Island Crazed]

We headed to dinner. They had given us two 8-person tables next to each other and a high chair on the end of one. We mixed up who sat where each night. We had the same service staff.

I really liked these fried shrimp.

DD#3 - the one who was ill earlier in the day tried to stop me from taking a picture of her escargot.

We went to the Family Face Off game in The Cat’s Lounge.

Then we went to the family friendly comedy show with Kim Harrison. We all agreed that she was hysterical. Some headed to bed. And some headed to the Casino.

 

 

LAST MORNING

5 people carried off their luggage and got a head start in the morning. The rest took it very easy. Some headed to the main dining room for a quiet breakfast and some went to the Lido. 5 had a #2 and the rest of us had a #17.!!!!! We found plenty of comfortable seating in the bar area outside the comedy club and basically were about the last folks off the boat. Very low stress. We got home about an hour after the ones who walked off with their luggage!

 

 

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