Carnival Fascination - March 3rd - 10th

[michiganredrose]

I am going to do a review of our cruise on the Fascination from March 3rd - 10th, I need to gather my pictures and start putting my thoughts together, but just as a teaser... we had a phenomenal trip. Probably one of my favorite cruises I have taken. The staff was remarkable, my travel companions were amazing and the ports were fabulous! I have done this cruise before on a different ship but this time was even better. Hopefully I'll get started later today on the review. I just got home last night and I'm dealing with some drama from when I was gone, but I'll sit down and get started tonight. 

[soonernstlouis]

I appreciate any uncommon tips & unique journeys.  6 months away for us!

[LittleYiaYia]

We were on the sailing before you, so I am anxious to read your opinions.  I'm so glad you had such a great time.  This is our favorite itinerary and we loved the Fascination and her wonderful crew.  Waiting patiently.............................................

[mkcurran]

I am interested as well. This is hopefully my next cruise.

[Sagittarius traveler]

I sail on the ship in July looking forward to your post.

[JaniceB]

Looking forward to your review.

[pghsteelerfan]

I am really looking forward to your review as this is our favorite itinerary and I'm doing some arm twisting to do it again.  🙂

 

[michiganredrose]

Ok, quick introduction... there were 9 of us on this trip. 

The 40’s group: me (Rose), my friends Dana & Holly, my brother Ron & his wife Cristine

The rest: Twila (first time cruiser & Dana’s Aunt), Pam (Dana’s step-mom), Ruthie & Debbie (we met on a cruise on the Triumph in 2007 when we were assigned as tablemates and we finally made it back together on a cruise). 

 

Dana and I started planning this cruise 2 years ago when we got back from our last girls trip and then people just kept joining in along the way. I was a little worried about how the group would get along with so many people that didn’t know each other, but somehow it was like magic. Instant chemistry. Couldn’t have asked for anything better. 

 

Most of us are from Michigan with Ruthie being from Virginia and Debbie from Kentucky. We were all anxious to escape the cold and work and the stress of life and just enjoy and that we did. 

[michiganredrose]

After 2 years of planning, Friday, March 1st finally rolled around. It was vacation day!

 

Holly, Dana and I headed out at 3:00 am to pick up Ron & Cristine for our flight from Grand Rapids to Orlando and then on to San Juan. The flight was pretty uneventful (or I just didn’t care because Xanax helps me fly). We got to San Juan around 3, grabbed a taxi from the airport to Old San Juan ($32 total for taxi fare plus bags).  We dropped our bags at our Airbnb (we found an Airbnb for 8 people, the 5 of us and then Ruthie & Debbie were staying on Saturday night). It was perfect, a great location, anything you put in the map was .2 miles and a 5 minute walk away. After we dropped our bags we headed to the Punta de Vista rooftop bar & restaurant. It was fantastic, the food was excellent and they had buy one get one free mojitos (plain, coconut, mango, strawberry & pineapple). After partaking in a few too many mojitos & having a very long day we meandered back to the Airbnb, where we hung out and chatted and relaxed before our big day exploring Old San Juan the next day. 

[michiganredrose]

Saturday we walked, and walked, and walked some more. According to my Apple Watch we walked 17,709 steps and climbed 24 flights but it felt like so many more. 

 

We started with breakfast at the Carthage Express, it was a very cool little diner with a fantastic breakfast burrito. 

 

After that we really just started meandering. We went in and out of little stores, we explored parks and saw statues. 

 

Eventually we ended up at the San Cristobal fort. More exploring and wandering and enjoying. Old San Juan is beautiful and fun. Around 5 we went back to Airbnb to wait for Ruthie & Debbie. Once they got there and settled in we headed out to dinner. We found some cool little restaurant that hosts pop ups and had dinner there. I don’t remember the name of it but I know it was on Calle de San Jose near the corner of Calle de San Sebastián next to an incredible ice cream place. The restaurant food was very different but amazing. For dessert we went to the ice cream shop where they had boozy ice cream. I got Nutella with rum chata. It was wonderful!

[Joebucks]

One of my favorite vacations ever. You can try all you want to tell me how much better sea days are, but you can't go wrong visiting a different, beautiful island each day.

[Upinthehills]

Awesome!  We were on this trip with you and I think I remember seeing some of your group.  I'm going to put a review together too, but have to gather and sort photos first.  We also stayed in an AirBNB in Old San Juan, it was perfect. I'll be following along!

[Aplmac]

6 minutes ago, Joebucks said:

You can try all you want to tell me how much better sea days are,

but you can't go wrong visiting a different, beautiful island each day.

.

Sea days suck! - lol

 

Luckily for me

I've only ever had one sea day between destinations, but they get boring

(unless you're on board with your little affair -or your new wife on honeymoon)

..you get the sordid picture.

 

Can't imagine what a North Atlantic crossing must be like

when 4-5 sea days are just routine.

 

This sprang into sharp focus one morning

when I was down at the Bridgetown Port taking pics of the ships coming in.

One particular ship -Ocean Village- had its top rails kinda busy

with more folks than usual staring at the island,

and I thought.. What's up with them??

 

Then I realized - this was a re-positioning cruise -Mediterranean to Caribbean-

and Barbados was the first dry land they'd see in quite awhile

the poor things - look at them!

.

[Upinthehills]

16 minutes ago, Aplmac said:

Can't imagine what a North Atlantic crossing must be like

when 4-5 sea days are just routine.

 

This sprang into sharp focus one morning

when I was down at the Bridgetown Port taking pics of the ships coming in.

One particular ship -Ocean Village- had its top rails kinda busy

with more folks than usual staring at the island,

and I thought.. What's up with them??

 

While in St Martin we sat and had a drink with an English couple on a four week cruise roundtrip from Southampton.  Their first two stops, Bermuda and the Bahamas, had been cancelled because of weather.  St Martin was the first time in two weeks they had been able to get off of their ship!  

[LittleYiaYia]

I think my husband would be jumping overboard with that many sea days.  This is why we love this itinerary. You might come home tired but you are never bored.  Our friends just took a two week Hawaii cruise and they had 5 sea days at the beginning.  The weather was so bad with high winds, rough seas and low temps, they could not get outside on deck until they almost reached Hawaii. 

 

Enough from me.....................Continue michiganredrose.

[michiganredrose]

1 hour ago, Upinthehills said:

Awesome!  We were on this trip with you and I think I remember seeing some of your group.  I'm going to put a review together too, but have to gather and sort photos first.  We also stayed in an AirBNB in Old San Juan, it was perfect. I'll be following along!

I’m pretty sure you couldn’t miss us 😂

[michiganredrose]

On to Sunday... we got up and went back to Carthage Express for breakfast because it was so cute. Fingers crossed that the video showing our breakfast delivery posts. 

 

We had to check out of our Airbnb by 11, and our check in to the ship was 12:30-1:00. We grabbed a few Uber’s (too much luggage and people for 1 so we split up and met down at the port). We dropped our luggage to the porters, and hung out for a while. Around noon we decided to see if we would check in early. Walked right in, no lines, easy peasy, we were on the ship by 12:20. 

 

First stop... shrimp tacos at the Blue Iguana, yummy as always! Grabbed some drinks and relaxed by the pool until 1:30. At 1:30 we headed to our cabin U159. When we showed up the door was open and the floor was still dirty. We saw the assistant room steward said he just needed to vacuum real quick. No problem, we headed to one of the other rooms in our group and spend about 20 minutes there. By the time we came back the door was closed. We head in and... it’s dirty. Crumbs all over the desk, dust all over the sills, and the drawers in the desk were off their track. We head out to look for the room stewards... nowhere to be found. Tried calling... nope. We head to guest services because I had a weird charge on my card and I mentioned the dirty room too. 

 

We then spent an hour or so exploring and relaxing, by the time we got back to the room it was spotless. So, it was time to unpack and get ready for dinner. Our room steward Jerny stopped by to apologize and present the room menu. We chose to have the room serviced twice a day. Then it was off to dinner. Our whole group had finally arrived so it was time to really start enjoying each other’s company, and we definitely did. I don’t remember what we ate that night but dinner was good, the service was good, everyone was happy, no complaints at all. 

 

After dinner we stopped back in the room and the housekeeping staff had left us presents (completely unnecessary) but it was a nice gesture. 

 

We we had our muster drill, our muster station was on the Lido deck, it wasn’t bad. Off to the sail away, it was fun, we went up to deck 12, in front of the mini golf course. It was amazing... right up until they blew the ship horn which was right above our heads. After that we headed to the Welcome Aboard show. It was entertaining, we really liked Brittney and thought she was a fantastic. After the show it was back to the cabin to get our beach bags all packed for our day in St. Thomas. 

[michiganredrose]

Monday was beautiful day in St Thomas. We decided to sleep in a little (no reason to get up and rush). Met up with everyone for breakfast in the dining room. It was good for the most part. A few hits and misses but I didn’t have to cook it, so I was happy. 

 

My brother and Cristine were doing their own thing this day. They ended up getting an island tour for $25. They had a wonderful time. 

 

The rest of us grabbed a taxi to Sapphire Beach. The taxi was $10 each way and when he dropped us off he asked what time we wanted to head back. We decided on 2:00 so we could get back and do some shopping when we got back. 

 

The beach was beautiful. It was relaxing and peaceful. Everyone used the day to play in the water, practice using their snorkel masks and generally just enjoy being away from the cold winter in Michigan. 

 

The taxi showed up at 2:00 as planned, and we headed back for some shopping. Back on the ship we all took some time to relax, shower and get ready for dinner. We agreed to meet for dinner at 6:00. Dinner was good, the only issue was the warm

chocolate melting cake. Basically it was warm pudding on this cruise, but that’s ok because that just meant more room for the cheese plate. 

 

Thats the the night we met Adi, the dining room shot guy. He was so fun and became one of our favorite people on the cruise. Twi & Pam ordered a shot from him that night and decided it would become their nightly ritual. After that night it became a nightly ritual for all of us. 

 

After dinner we decided to head to the martini tasting at Alchemy which was going from 5-8. That’s where we met Luby, our other favorite bartender. She was amazing and helpful!

 

***Side note - we did not buy cheers, and on this cruise, for us, it would not have been worth it. There were just so many ports and we were off the ship so much. 

[Upinthehills]

1 hour ago, michiganredrose said:

Thats the the night we met Adi, the dining room shot guy. He was so fun and became one of our favorite people on the cruise. Twi & Pam ordered a shot from him that night and decided it would become their nightly ritual. After that night it became a nightly ritual for all of us. 

 

 

Ok, I know we saw your group getting your shots at dinner one night.  We commented that you were having fun with the shot guy!  

 

Great review so far!

[michiganredrose]

11 minutes ago, Upinthehills said:

Ok, I know we saw your group getting your shots at dinner one night.  We commented that you were having fun with the shot guy!  

 

Great review so far!

We definitely had a great time with Adi! We only missed him one night when he was off getting his employee of the month award. 

[louanne93]

This is GREAT!! You all look like you are having a fantastic time!

[mlshum]

Following along!  I did this cruise in January and I’m enjoying reliving it!  Thanks very much for your review!