New ports of call for Fascination.

[purplephenom]

53 minutes ago, dltvermont said:

 

We sailed on her and had a great time. I actually prefer smaller ships. It is arguably one of their most liked itineraries. Cant believe they would drop it. 

 

Were going back and forth. We did the fascination last year and the horizon this year. Next year we’re back to the fascination and 2022 may be the horizon again. I was all prepared to hate the fascination and then I loved it so much we booked again for different ports

[Joebucks]

12 hours ago, dltvermont said:

 

We sailed on her and had a great time. I actually prefer smaller ships. It is arguably one of their most liked itineraries. Cant believe they would drop it. 

 

What people will post on a forum vs what they purchase are two different things. I agree, I loved it. It seems like they could never get enough people and/or command a high enough price. May have something to do with the flight to PR.

[dltvermont]

31 minutes ago, Joebucks said:

 

What people will post on a forum vs what they purchase are two different things. I agree, I loved it. It seems like they could never get enough people and/or command a high enough price. May have something to do with the flight to PR.

 

True. I loved it as PR seemed just like another part of the vacation to us. We went in a day early and stayed a couple days after so added an island! I thought the smaller ship was always full, didnt realize they had trouble. NCL has one of their larger ships there and seem to do ok.

[soonernstlouis]

16 minutes ago, dltvermont said:

 

True. I loved it as PR seemed just like another part of the vacation to us. We went in a day early and stayed a couple days after so added an island! I thought the smaller ship was always full, didnt realize they had trouble. NCL has one of their larger ships there and seem to do ok.

I remember seeing this cheap route 10+ years ago....still had kids in school & never could swing a cruise x 4 in our budget.  When kids graduated college this is the route I wanted.  Fascination was much cheaper than Freedom.  Found great airfare by looking far in advance & planning.  Was really a no brainer and we had a great time despite the typical Fall weather re-routes (probably better since I over-plan & was duh when St Thomas became a stop in Dominica).  

Food was meh (as expected without current dining options on Fantasy class), entertainment & cruise director was meh (they could really help out in this area), room & ship conditions were actually good.  Port stops were amazing!  If you find better 5 ports in 7 days within the Caribbean, book now!

[NCTribeFan]

As I say in every thread where people are complaining about Fantasy-class ships, I probably have about 75 nights on the various ships (5 out of 8, I think) and it's been my personal feelings that the food and service are actually better on these ships.  I just think that you get more personalized service, which is why I prefer smaller ships.

 

I recently sailed 3 consecutive MSC cruises - Divina, then Armonia and Armonia a 2nd time.  Divina is a large, beautiful ship, but i actually preferred Armonia (old and small).  I love when you see the same people (well, usually love it!), and the same crew members.  My last HAL sailing was on Koningsdam when she first came to the Caribbean.  Again, a beautiful ship and large by HAL's standards.  But I'm sailing again in April on Zaandam (again, old and small), which was my first on HAL (14 nights round-trip to Hawaii).  I loved the ship and the service was fantastic.

 

There are plenty of cruisers who don't feel they need the biggest, newest, most-bells-and-whistles ships.  I don't need to pay extra for specialty restaurants.  I've certainly never gone hungry on a Fantasy-class ship!  And, again, with port-intensive cruises, you don't have the time (or energy) do spend running around a large ship trying to do it all, imho.

 

Anyway, to those wanting tours in Dominica, I can highly recommend Levi Baron.  Go to the Dominica port-of-call board and read about the tours.  You most definitely don't need ship tours in any of the ports.

[dltvermont]

13 hours ago, NCTribeFan said:

As I say in every thread where people are complaining about Fantasy-class ships, I probably have about 75 nights on the various ships (5 out of 8, I think) and it's been my personal feelings that the food and service are actually better on these ships.  I just think that you get more personalized service, which is why I prefer smaller ships.

 

I recently sailed 3 consecutive MSC cruises - Divina, then Armonia and Armonia a 2nd time.  Divina is a large, beautiful ship, but i actually preferred Armonia (old and small).  I love when you see the same people (well, usually love it!), and the same crew members.  My last HAL sailing was on Koningsdam when she first came to the Caribbean.  Again, a beautiful ship and large by HAL's standards.  But I'm sailing again in April on Zaandam (again, old and small), which was my first on HAL (14 nights round-trip to Hawaii).  I loved the ship and the service was fantastic.

 

There are plenty of cruisers who don't feel they need the biggest, newest, most-bells-and-whistles ships.  I don't need to pay extra for specialty restaurants.  I've certainly never gone hungry on a Fantasy-class ship!  And, again, with port-intensive cruises, you don't have the time (or energy) do spend running around a large ship trying to do it all, imho.

 

Anyway, to those wanting tours in Dominica, I can highly recommend Levi Baron.  Go to the Dominica port-of-call board and read about the tours.  You most definitely don't need ship tours in any of the ports.

 

As I said above, We prefer small to mid sized ships overall. In fact, as you say the personalized service seems better on the smaller ships. When we sailed the Fascination with our kids (teens to 20s) and grandson, our waiter in the dining room was fantastic. As they always do, he remembered everyones name and preferences at dinner and had my grandson's mac n cheese and drink waiting when he arrived so he didnt have to wait. When we got off the ship we were walking the very crowded streets of Old San Juan and heard someone yelling my sons name. Turned around to see our waiter, King, in plain clothes coming up behind us. He stopped and chatted for awhile then went about his way on his shore leave. We thought that was amazing first to recognize and remember names then to make contact like that

[Joebucks]

13 hours ago, NCTribeFan said:

As I say in every thread where people are complaining about Fantasy-class ships, I probably have about 75 nights on the various ships (5 out of 8, I think) and it's been my personal feelings that the food and service are actually better on these ships.  I just think that you get more personalized service, which is why I prefer smaller ships.

 

I recently sailed 3 consecutive MSC cruises - Divina, then Armonia and Armonia a 2nd time.  Divina is a large, beautiful ship, but i actually preferred Armonia (old and small).  I love when you see the same people (well, usually love it!), and the same crew members.  My last HAL sailing was on Koningsdam when she first came to the Caribbean.  Again, a beautiful ship and large by HAL's standards.  But I'm sailing again in April on Zaandam (again, old and small), which was my first on HAL (14 nights round-trip to Hawaii).  I loved the ship and the service was fantastic.

 

There are plenty of cruisers who don't feel they need the biggest, newest, most-bells-and-whistles ships.  I don't need to pay extra for specialty restaurants.  I've certainly never gone hungry on a Fantasy-class ship!  And, again, with port-intensive cruises, you don't have the time (or energy) do spend running around a large ship trying to do it all, imho.

 

Anyway, to those wanting tours in Dominica, I can highly recommend Levi Baron.  Go to the Dominica port-of-call board and read about the tours.  You most definitely don't need ship tours in any of the ports.

 

Remember though, that is your opinion. The masses overwhelmingly want the newest ships with all of the features. That is why those cruises command a price premium. That part is not an opinion.

 

The small ships definitely have their advantages. I love how lots of the things that can be busy or congested on a larger ship, aren't like that on a smaller one. I don't know if I would necessarily agree that the service is better on smaller ships. We can try to draw parallels that having less people on the ship means they have more time to spend with you, but less passengers also means less crew. I have never noticed "better" food or service on a smaller ship. Heck, I would even say one of the poorer qualities of food I've had was on a Fantasy class.

 

If anything, I would say some of the better employees end up getting "promoted" to larger ships. You don't put aces on your smaller and cheaper itineraries and put nobodies on your flagship. See Matt Mitchum.

[so,ton saint]

On 2/18/2020 at 10:53 AM, so,ton saint said:

Looking like new ports of call from May 2021

 

ANTIGUA

TORTOLA

GRENADA

AND DOMINICA. with San juan  and St Thomas

 

HI i know its not a cruise question but as i am boarding Fascination in Barbados my first port of call is san juan, because its a U.S territory am looking to buy Wrangler or Lee jeans in a out let in the town centre would any one have any knowledge of whereabouts of a store or even st thomas thanks in advance.

Howard

 

 

[soonernstlouis]

1 hour ago, so,ton saint said:

 

HI i know its not a cruise question but as i am boarding Fascination in Barbados my first port of call is san juan, because its a U.S territory am looking to buy Wrangler or Lee jeans in a out let in the town centre would any one have any knowledge of whereabouts of a store or even st thomas thanks in advance.

Howard

 

 

Marshall’s would probably have them (not outlet priced if that’s what you mean).  I can’t say for sure since we were not looking at clothes when we were there.  From pier 4, cross the street & turn left.  After CVS, turn right & it’s about 2 blocks uphill.  Lots & lots of luggage there if you need any.  I think clothing is upstairs.

[so,ton saint]

On 2/19/2020 at 12:29 AM, dltvermont said:

 

We sailed on her and had a great time. I actually prefer smaller ships. It is arguably one of their most liked itineraries. Cant believe they would drop it. 

 

just returned from our Fascination cruise from Barbados missed St lucia for Dominica had $200 added to our O.B.C have done the Island,s before but so different, The ship 70,000 t just the right size for the Caribbean no queuing up easy to get around, it would be nice to see a brand new one built  but of the same size do away with  Casino  and new specialist eating venue,s added add a few bells and whistle around the ship,do away with that sweet shop, and have a sport bar added with all sports from M/Racing to soccer with several  large screens, or would you like  the likes of an Oasis class out of P/R