Fantasy Cruise Review 5/22-5/27. Kinda Long

[edrobjr]

My wife and I just cruised on the Fantasy from 5/22 - 5/27 celebrating our wedding anniversary. This was our 3rd cruise together, and was our favorite one. We were a little worried about the Fantasy since it was an older ship, and we have sailed on the Victory and the Glory before, but to our surprise the Fantasy was just as clean and nice as the other two.

 

We flew in Orlando a day early and stayed one night in Orlando. I was able to rent a car from Thrifty for 12.60 a day. This worked out perfect, the morning of the cruise we got up, had breakfast and drove to cape canaveral, we dropped the car off at the Thrifty there and they have a complimentary shuttle that drops you off right at the pier for your ship. Embarkation was a breeze. The shuttle dropped us off around 12:45, and by 1:30 we had our sail and sign cards in our hands. Contrary to what Carnival tells you they willl let you on the ship early, but they handed us a sheet of paper when in line that said we couldn't get into our rooms until 1:30, but we were welcome to still come onto the ship early.

 

Since this was our wedding anniversary we wanted a private table for 2, and we had requested early seating, but they gave us late seating instead. On those same sheets of paper that they passed out in line, it said we could see the Maitre 'D at 2pm in the Celebration dining room for any dinner seating changes. From past experience, this usually ends up being a long line, so we headed straight there, and ended up being the 2nd couple in line. And was definitly glad we went right away because within 20 minutes there was a very very long line behind us. We spoke with the Maitre 'D, who was very nice, he told us he couldn't give us a private table for 2 in early seating but could in the late seating, so we accepted that, and left happy.

 

We then went and found our room, we were room on the Riviera Deck room R3, all the way at the front of the ship, with 2 port hole windows. We had booked an inside room to save money, but we really wanted to have a room with light shining in, so we were excited to have been upgraded to oceanview room. I must say the room was spotless and very very roomy. The bed and pillows were actually very comfortable. I was worried since we were on the low floor, that it would be noisy, it was actually very quiet. The only time it was loud was when the ship first left dock, and when arriving at the dock. Our cabin stewardess was great the entire cruise. It seemed that everytime we left and came back our room had been cleaned!

 

We headed over to Universal Lounge for the drill. They had us put on our life jackets (mine was broke, but we just told the cabin stewardess and she got us a new one), the weird thing was we were waiting for the announcement to head to our muster stations, but then they made an announcement that we didnt' have to go to the muster stations and that we could leave. A little weird, but no biggie.

 

I must say the food was great on the ship. We ordered room service every morning for breakfast. Dinner was great! Our waiter (Milo) and assistant waiter were great. After the first day they remembered what type of bread we liked, what type of dressing, if you wanted coffee or tea before or after dinner. It's amazing how they remember all of that. There was one night where there wasn't really anything on the menu that I had a taste for, so they were able to make me filet mignon with baked potatoe and vegetables. I was really happy about that. Also I never had any problems ordering 2 dinner portions at one sitting.

 

Formal night was on the 2nd night, and it was great. There was the normaly captain's reception before hand with free drinks. My wife and I went to this and had a good time. One word of caution though, try to get there early and get end seats on the main floor, if you cant get that, be sure not to get any of the seats in the back corners, by the time the bar staff comes by with drinks, everyone else has usually snatched them up off his tray.

 

We only went to 2 of the main shows. The opening day show was pretty good. The cruise director marashell was pretty funny the entire cruise. And we went to the "las vegas style" broadway show. This show was also really good.

 

The port of calls were awesome!!! My wife and I were mainly looking for chance to relax on or near the beach with a drink and good book to read, and that's exactly what we got. The only downside to the port of calls was that you aren't in each island very long.

 

Grand Turk was wonderful. We sat out on the beach for a while there, then decided to move over to Jimmy Buffets Margaritaville's pool. it was really nice, they had lounge chairs with umbrellas, a huge fresh water pool, with a swim-up bar. They had a DJ that played music, and they had some fun activities to watch like a dance contest, trivia questions, beer drinking contest, etc. You can tell this is definitly a new port, for instance the cabannas weren't finished yet, and really isn't much to do outsie of the beach and/or Jimmy Buffet's unless you were doing an excursion through Carnival.

 

Half Moon Cay was also wonderful. You have to catch a tender to get there, but it was done pretty orderly. Once you came into the Universal lounge you are given a tender number, and then they call your number. At that point you get to go get on the tender and head to the island. The water was beautiful, it was so crystal clear that you could look right through the water and see the fish swimming with you. The white sand beach was also great. The day we were there was extremely hot. I was told it was 112 degrees. My wife can't take direct sun, so we were trying to find a clamshell to rent to provide shade from the sun over the lounge chairs. We walked the beach and couldn't find an open one. I was told by others who had one that they were all gone. My wife was disappointed, she found a worker to ask, and we found out you had to rent them at the activities building. It was 15 dollars for the day. You then had to take your receipt and find a worker on the island to set it up for you. It was definitly worth the 15 dollars! We pretty much just drank some mixed drinks and got in and out the water and sat out on the beach reading. Since this was a private island of Carnivals, the workers from the boat were on the island working as well, they BBQ'd burgers, served you the drinks, etc. Even the reggae band from the boat played on the island.

 

Nassau was also nice, although mainly an area to shop. My wife and I caught a water taxi for 6 dollars round trip to Paradise Island so that we could see Atlantis. We walked around in Atlantis, and then purchased for 29 dollars a person a tour called "The Digs". It's about an hour and half tour of renditions of the ancient artifacts from the mythical city of Atlantis, as well as a huge aquarium. I must say it was definitly worth the 29bucks! Very informative and interesting.

 

As I mentioned earlier the ship was very clean, i was amazed at how much cleaning they do. I actually watched them wash the walls in the hallways outside the rooms. The entire staff was extremely nice. The photographers were great, we spent about $100 on pictures, but they were definitly worth it.

 

I really dont have any major complaints. I got tired of the reggae band by the 3rd or 4th day because they played the same songs over and over again. And when they weren't playing they had the same cd on with about 12 songs that played over and over again, and it would skip on the same songs each day. But I consider those things only minor annoyances. Getting off the ship was a little difficult. They just let everyone off at the same time now. It's like opening up two small chutes and telling everyone to go for it! We just decided to go up on the lido deck and sit back and relax until the rush died down. Once it did, we had no problems getting off of the ship.

 

All in all, this was probably our favorite cruise of all, even though we were on a smaller, older ship, and a shorter cruise than we normally do. But the wonderful islands more than made up for that.

 

Sorry this was so long but it was a great cruise to talk about. If anyone has any questions I will definitly try to answer them!!

[beaming90]

I love reading reviews of the Fantasy. It was my first cruise. Thanks and glad you had a great time!!! :D

[krisj]

Thank you for your review! We are all really excited.

When you get off at Nassau or any other port for that matter, do they call you by excursion time? We booked an non-carnival excursion for Nassau and we need to be off pretty soon after docking (well, about an hour). I wonder how soon after docking we can actually get off. Is Nassau at a dock?

[luvmy2kids]

great review edrobjr! it was a wonderful cruise, wasn't it??

[sallywallygal]

Thanks for the detailed review! We're going on the Fantasy June 10 and can't wait! Hope we have nice weather like you had.

[rhcruzer]

Thanks for the great review. Leaving out of Pt. Canaveral on the 15th of June on the Fantasy for our 1st cruise. Reading everyones reviews sure has helped get us more exited about going. Can't wait.

[letsgocruz1]

Thank you for your review! We are all really excited.

When you get off at Nassau or any other port for that matter, do they call you by excursion time? We booked an non-carnival excursion for Nassau and we need to be off pretty soon after docking (well, about an hour). I wonder how soon after docking we can actually get off. Is Nassau at a dock?

 

Hi, yes Nassau is at dock. You can leave as soon as the ship is cleared, which when we were there in May was pretty early.

[Caribbean Buckeye]

Fantastic Review. I appreciated the fact that you detailed how to get a clam shell on HMC. Nobody else has mentioned where to rent these or that you need to find someone to set it up.

 

A few questions if you don't mind...

 

Are there wave runners on HMC?

 

Do you think snorkeling from shore would be any good on HMC? I've heard they do the snorkel tours on the other side of the island b/c that's where the good snorkeling is. We didn't book a snorkel excursion in HMC but may still be interested in doing some from the shore.

 

Also, how far in advance should you get to the Universal Lounge to get an early tender ticket? We want to be among the first on shore.

 

Thanks for the info. Again, a great review.

[1timecruiser]

Thanks for such a thorough review! I'm really looking forward to going on my GIRLS cruise in July now. And thanks for the helpful tips on the clamshells in HMC and shopping in Nassau (this, we're looking forward to). :)

 

We're only doing a 4-day cruise (this being my 2 best friends first ever cruise, and my second), so we're hoping to have a great time. How was the nightlife on the ship outside of the usual shows?? I see mention of the piano bar and Karaoke on many posts, did you happen to get a glimpse of any of these?

 

Thanks for your response.

[Top-Cat]

Great review. Glad you had a great time. We were on the Fantasy three weeks ago and loved it. We were also worried having sailed the Conquest and the Victory. Got some of the best sleep ever.

 

Welcome home and welcome to post cruise emotions. We are already thinking about booking another. It somehow calms the mind :rolleyes: ...... especially when you are addicted like we are, LOL.

[edrobjr]

Thank you for your review! We are all really excited.

When you get off at Nassau or any other port for that matter, do they call you by excursion time? We booked an non-carnival excursion for Nassau and we need to be off pretty soon after docking (well, about an hour). I wonder how soon after docking we can actually get off. Is Nassau at a dock?

Hello, yes as mentioned Nassau does have a dock. On our cruise it took about 45 minutes from the time we docked, until they made the announcement that we were allowed off.

[edrobjr]

Fantastic Review. I appreciated the fact that you detailed how to get a clam shell on HMC. Nobody else has mentioned where to rent these or that you need to find someone to set it up.

 

A few questions if you don't mind...

 

Are there wave runners on HMC?

 

Do you think snorkeling from shore would be any good on HMC? I've heard they do the snorkel tours on the other side of the island b/c that's where the good snorkeling is. We didn't book a snorkel excursion in HMC but may still be interested in doing some from the shore.

 

Also, how far in advance should you get to the Universal Lounge to get an early tender ticket? We want to be among the first on shore.

 

Thanks for the info. Again, a great review.

Hi Carribean Buckeye! I have no problems answering any questions at all. Yea it was a journey to figure out how to get the clamshells, but we were glad we figured it out. When you get down to the beach there will be, i think it was a yellow and blue building (might've been yellow and green), and that's where you can rent snorkelling equipment, floating mats, and the clamshells! Then they give you a sail and sign receipt and you find a local guy (most had a t-shirt on that said STAFF on the back) and they set it up for you. Word of caution though you might want to bring a few dollars to tip them for setting it up. Because carnival said you only needed sail and sign card on that island that was all we brought, and the guy seemed a little upset that we didnt' tip him. I felt bad, but i had absolutly no cash on me at all. He wasn't rude, but i could just sense from his look that he wasn't too happy.

 

As far as wave runners, yes, i'm pretty sure half moon cay had them.

 

There were ALOT of people snorkeling right off shore and just from talking to people and overhearing conversations, they all seemed very pleased, so I'd say you should be ok without doign the excursion on the other side of the island.

 

If you want to get an early tender, I would suggest going down as soon as you notice that you are at the island. You will have to wait a while, (usually 45 minutes to an hour) before they start letting everyone onto the tenders, but at least you will already be there. They pass out stickers with numbers, so if you get your sticker for tender number 1, you will be all set. They do not want you coming and getting your tender sticker and leaving the room though. But the boats they have for tendering are HUGE. They have 2 levels, and each boat can probably hold a couple hundred people.

 

Hope this helps and hope you have as much fun as we did! if you have any other questions just let me know!

[edrobjr]

Thanks for such a thorough review! I'm really looking forward to going on my GIRLS cruise in July now. And thanks for the helpful tips on the clamshells in HMC and shopping in Nassau (this, we're looking forward to). :)

 

We're only doing a 4-day cruise (this being my 2 best friends first ever cruise, and my second), so we're hoping to have a great time. How was the nightlife on the ship outside of the usual shows?? I see mention of the piano bar and Karaoke on many posts, did you happen to get a glimpse of any of these?

 

Thanks for your response.

Hi 1TimeCruiser! The nightlife in the 2 dance clubs seemed to be pretty popular. We just kind of peeked in a couple of the nights and they were always really crowded. We never made it to the piano bar, there was an area with a piano in the hallway and there was a bar across from it, right past the casino, and that was a popular barspot. I'm not sure if that's what they considered the "piano bar" or if there was another one. We stopped at the karaoke room on 2 nights, but there wasn't very many people in there at those times.

 

Hope this helps. And hope you and your friends all have a really fun time!!

[Caribbean Buckeye]

Hi Carribean Buckeye! I have no problems answering any questions at all... Hope this helps and hope you have as much fun as we did! if you have any other questions just let me know!

 

Thanks again Edrobjr. That's all really helpful stuff. I'll be sure to bring a few bucks with me everywhere we go. It seems that American Currency still has its place, even on these all-inclusive trips. I usually keep a bunch of ones with me on the ship too. Once I find a good bartender, I feed him a dollar a drink to ensure a strong drink and quick service.

 

If I think of anything else as we get closer to our cruise (6/15), I'll ask again if you don't mind. It sounds as though were in the same situation we're going to be in. Just the wife and me, no kids. I may inquire about a table for two at the late seating as well.

 

Thanks again!