And Then There Were Two (Fantasy Class Ships Left). Share your POSITIVE memories of the departed FANTASY CLASS VESSELS

[KmomChicago]

On 10/21/2022 at 5:34 PM, matt1 said:

I cut my cruising teeth on the Fantasy-class, beginning with the ECSTASY in 1993. That was followed by IMAGINATION and SENSATION (1995), FANTASY and INSPIRATION (1996), ECSTASY again (1997), and finally PARADISE (1998). That last one was probably the singular, most unique Carnival cruise, since PARADISE was brand new and billed as the world’s first completely No Smoking cruise ship, with the No Smoking symbols painted on her hull and flying the No Smoking sign flag from her bow mast. 
 

After PARADISE my cruising wings sort of sprouted and I went back-and-forth for dozens of cruises between Royal Caribbean, Princess, Holland-America, two or three times back to CCL in the early 2000’s, Cunard, Celebrity, and then finally back to Royal Caribbean. It’s been a wild ride. 

 

Hopefully, I’m looking forward to maybe trying the new CARNIVAL VENEZIA next December out of NYC. 

 

Fun history, literally. I am jealous you sailed 6 of the Fantasy class ships, and all when they were relatively new.  Is RCI your overall favorite now? 

 

It will be interesting to see how the Costa by Carnival concept works out. 

[CarnivalShips480]

Just thinking out loud, I wonder what a Fantasy class with all balconies would look like

 

Anyone have good rendering skills?

[matt1]

12 hours ago, KmomChicago said:

 

Fun history, literally. I am jealous you sailed 6 of the Fantasy class ships, and all when they were relatively new.  Is RCI your overall favorite now? 

 

It will be interesting to see how the Costa by Carnival concept works out. 

RCI and Princess are my go-to cruise lines, but much prefer anything sailing from NYC (Cape Liberty or Manhattan). Would love to try NCL, and have been looking at them for December year as well. I truly enjoy the experiences different cruise lines offer. 

[KmomChicago]

59 minutes ago, matt1 said:

RCI and Princess are my go-to cruise lines, but much prefer anything sailing from NYC (Cape Liberty or Manhattan). Would love to try NCL, and have been looking at them for December year as well. I truly enjoy the experiences different cruise lines offer. 

 

Well this makes the most obvious sense to me. In the Chicago area, we are not in convenient drive distance to any port - I have tried two of the closest, Baltimore and New Orleans; both are one very long exhausting drive day or 1.5 less exhausting days, but then with the added expense of paying for a hotel, adding settle-down-and-get-to-sleep time to the duration of the travel, etc. 

 

If we were within a 4 hour drive of ANY port that would be our chosen port and would guide the rest of the decision process. 

 

 

[dolphinsfan246]

20 hours ago, CarnivalShips480 said:

Just thinking out loud, I wonder what a Fantasy class with all balconies would look like

 

Anyone have good rendering skills?

There is an Instagram account named @good_ship_ that does cool “what if” renderings. He recently did a modern Fantasy class. 

[KmomChicago]

13 minutes ago, dolphinsfan246 said:

There is an Instagram account named @good_ship_ that does cool “what if” renderings. He recently did a modern Fantasy class. 

Aww, it’s beautiful.

[CruizinSusan70]

15 hours ago, matt1 said:

RCI and Princess are my go-to cruise lines, but much prefer anything sailing from NYC (Cape Liberty or Manhattan). Would love to try NCL, and have been looking at them for December year as well. I truly enjoy the experiences different cruise lines offer. 

Since you like different lines out of NYC, look into the MSC Meraviglia, which will be sailing out of Brooklyn next year.

[CruizinSusan70]

14 hours ago, KmomChicago said:

If we were within a 4 hour drive of ANY port that would be our chosen port and would guide the rest of the decision process. 

This seems to be the primary reason for many Carnival cruisers, only embarking from one or two ports that are drivable.  Whether it be Galveston, New Orleans, Tampa, Jacksonville, Charleston or Baltimore.  Of course Galveston would give them the most versatility since various lines embark from there.  

We are within 4 hours of Baltimore, Bayonne and NYC, but the ship takes priority so we only embark from metro NY occasionally.  We do have two booked for next year on the Anthem out of Bayonne and the Meraviglia out of Brooklyn.

[KmomChicago]

4 hours ago, CruizinSusan70 said:

This seems to be the primary reason for many Carnival cruisers, only embarking from one or two ports that are drivable.  Whether it be Galveston, New Orleans, Tampa, Jacksonville, Charleston or Baltimore.  Of course Galveston would give them the most versatility since various lines embark from there.  

We are within 4 hours of Baltimore, Bayonne and NYC, but the ship takes priority so we only embark from metro NY occasionally.  We do have two booked for next year on the Anthem out of Bayonne and the Meraviglia out of Brooklyn.

 

Yes, the difficulty in getting to port has, after doing 4 cruises in a ten-month period, grown to be the primary obstacle for us.  We have nothing booked at the moment but assuming the times comes again it will probably be on a showstopper vessel to make it worth the logistical challenge. 

 

We can't get around, and are tired of tolerating, the added expense - 1-2k to fly, several hundred to drive - and stressful travel time before and after the actual voyage. It takes me a day just to get over it and relax on board and ends the vacation on a rotten note in order to get back home.

[ninjacat123]

On 10/15/2022 at 8:40 AM, KmomChicago said:

 

This is awesome! I did one of the tours of the ship on my first LA vacation, which I believe was in 2001. I was disappointed when I found out the Spruce Goose had already been moved but really enjoyed the comprehensive walking tour of the ship. Didn't stay overnight but I slightly regret it now. I was young and on a tighter budget and I know I looked into it but I think it fell just a bit out of our price range. 

Hee, hee!  The Queen Mary was "stumbling distance" from the party at the Spruce Goose, so that factored into our decision.  Good for a girl in heels😅

[simplelife]

Though we were just on Elation this year, we have another Elation cruise booked in March for our 40th anniversary. We love this ship - the size of it, the over-the-top decor. And this year she will be embarking from Jacksonville, which is such an easy port. We couldn't resist the chance to sail her just one more time. This year we are staying in one of Promenade deck rooms, tucked away between the Alchemy bar and the serenity deck, and just down the hall from the Java Blue for my morning coffee.

Need to do on more run on Paradise while she is still here - Did anyone else sail her when she was smoke-free?

 

Edited November 12, 2022 by simplelife
wanted to add something

[ninjacat123]

3 hours ago, simplelife said:

Though we were just on Elation this year, we have another Elation cruise booked in March for our 40th anniversary. We love this ship - the size of it, the over-the-top decor. And this year she will be embarking from Jacksonville, which is such an easy port. We couldn't resist the chance to sail her just one more time. This year we are staying in one of Promenade deck rooms, tucked away between the Alchemy bar and the serenity deck, and just down the hall from the Java Blue for my morning coffee.

Need to do on more run on Paradise while she is still here - Did anyone else sail her when she was smoke-free?

 

My DH and 2 DDs will be on Elation over Thanksgiving!  We are elated!!😄

[foodsvcmgr]

Here is a shot I took of the then new Ecstasy berthed in Philadelphia in front of the Walt Whitman Bridge.

She was open for tours on her delivery voyage from the shipyard to Miami.

[KmomChicago]

5 hours ago, foodsvcmgr said:

Here is a shot I took of the then new Ecstasy berthed in Philadelphia in front of the Walt Whitman Bridge.

She was open for tours on her delivery voyage from the shipyard to Miami.

Wow what a perfect memory!

[CarnivalShips480]

9 hours ago, foodsvcmgr said:

Here is a shot I took of the then new Ecstasy berthed in Philadelphia in front of the Walt Whitman Bridge.

She was open for tours on her delivery voyage from the shipyard to Miami.

That is so neat! I really like that they did this, maybe one day they will do it again.

[Georgia_Peaches]

My last cruise on the fantasy resulted in my now 27 y/o daughter. Ahh the ice sculpture and midnight buffet days….💁‍♀️

[tweak89]

The Ecstasy was the first cruise together for my wife and I.  We had a great time, we ran into her in port in Progresso.  It was so TINY (we were on the Breeze)!!!  I don't even remember it being that small, lol. 

[matt1]

On 11/12/2022 at 6:25 AM, simplelife said:

Need to do on more run on Paradise while she is still here - Did anyone else sail her when she was smoke-free?

 

This is among the more cherished souvenirs from my cruising days on Carnival…

 

😎

Edited November 14, 2022 by matt1

[sprint180]

Elation was my family's first cruise.  It triggered our love for cruising.   That was 2011, we have gone on several cruises since then.  Hopefully the next will be 2024.

[Gamecock_Cruiser]

I prefer the Fantasy class ships! Less crowds in common areas, and better passenger to crew ratio! And better deals than the mega ships. I will certainly miss the last two when they are gone!

[CruizinSusan70]

On 11/12/2022 at 8:58 PM, Georgia_Peaches said:

My last cruise on the fantasy resulted in my now 27 y/o daughter. Ahh the ice sculpture and midnight buffet days….💁‍♀️

Surprised after enjoying the midnight buffet with all of the extravagant stuff consumed you were able to......

[DarthGrady]

On 10/23/2022 at 5:26 PM, dolphinsfan246 said:

There is an Instagram account named @good_ship_ that does cool “what if” renderings. He recently did a modern Fantasy class. 

 

I would be nice if CCL created a new smaller class like this in the 80-90K GT range to replace the old Holiday and Fantasy classes. I think they would be really popular, especially from ports like Jacksonville, Tampa, Mobile, etc. where you have more frequent/local cruisers who aren't looking for the mega-ship experience. At some point someone is going to have to realize that they can't keep going bigger without losing some of these ports due to bridges and terminal capacity. 

[dolphinsfan246]

1 hour ago, DarthGrady said:

 

I would be nice if CCL created a new smaller class like this in the 80-90K GT range to replace the old Holiday and Fantasy classes. I think they would be really popular, especially from ports like Jacksonville, Tampa, Mobile, etc. where you have more frequent/local cruisers who aren't looking for the mega-ship experience. At some point someone is going to have to realize that they can't keep going bigger without losing some of these ports due to bridges and terminal capacity. 

They are fully putting the pressure on the ports to build terminals outside of their bridges if they want to stay in the cruise game. Eventually the cruise lines will have their way and the ports will cave. They build ships based on cost per berth , the only way to get a cost per berth number that they feel like they can turn a good profit on now days is to build at least 4,000 passengers. That’s how cruising prices have mostly remained the same since the 1980’s. If they were to build a smaller ship , it would be the most expensive one to cruise on in their fleet. 

[CruizinSusan70]

4 hours ago, DarthGrady said:

 

I would be nice if CCL created a new smaller class like this in the 80-90K GT range to replace the old Holiday and Fantasy classes. I think they would be really popular, especially from ports like Jacksonville, Tampa, Mobile, etc. where you have more frequent/local cruisers who aren't looking for the mega-ship experience. At some point someone is going to have to realize that they can't keep going bigger without losing some of these ports due to bridges and terminal capacity. 

All of the ports you mentioned are Carnival third tiered ports that they are the only game in town or maybe have one other line like Royal to compete with.  

They will not come out with a new build in the 80-90 K range, but will refurbish the Spirit Class ships in the future in order to supply the limited demand of the third tiered ports.  With not much competition, Carnival can charge a premium at ports such as Norfolk or Mobile.

[KmomChicago]

On 11/17/2022 at 5:25 PM, CruizinSusan70 said:

All of the ports you mentioned are Carnival third tiered ports that they are the only game in town or maybe have one other line like Royal to compete with.  

They will not come out with a new build in the 80-90 K range, but will refurbish the Spirit Class ships in the future in order to supply the limited demand of the third tiered ports.  With not much competition, Carnival can charge a premium at ports such as Norfolk or Mobile.

I agree with this prediction. Spirit class needs a significant refurbishment nearing the Sunshine treatment. They are not in very good condition and the cosmetics are tired, but the designs are pretty great, they have a low ratio of interior cabins and a very high ratio of balconies.