Family Fantasy Cruise 8-10

[ccamp]

I will break this into parts but it will probably be long--I talk a lot! There will be good things and bad things I will say these are the experiences of my group and may or may not be similar to others--

 

Our group of 10 from Ohio Mom and Dad (me and Hubby 46 and 41) 5 daughters (26-14 )2 sons (13 and 16) and one snotty boyfriend in 4 cabins inside. We got a great military rate but no upgrade this time. First time with an inside cabin and first time with kids probably won't do either again.

 

Embarkation was fine at Port Canaveral, first time for us to drive to a port and it was fine getting in and out with Valet parking. Not to long and we have the drink of the day in hand drop off our luggage and await the life boat drill. We told the kids this was our favorite part of the cruise beforehand. They felt pretty duped!

 

We were surprised to see the shows that we had seen on the Fascination last year were the same shows that were to be on this cruise as well. Most of our group had not been before but 4 of us had and that was disappointing because everyone else wanted to go.

 

Dining room was very enjoyable and our children had made up their minds to hate it before we even got on the ship. Our waiter told jokes and did magic tricks and made this a highlight for the family. The waiter even had our finicky boys trying unusual entrees. Great fun for this group and most of the dishes we tried were very good. We are not normally 5 star diners so I can only say that from our point of view the meals were well prepared, the right temperature for what they were and brought in a timely fashion.

 

We did lunch daily on the Lido deck and had continental breakfast from room service daily. The children loved room service and we stocked them with tip dollars daily.

 

We purchased soda cards for the minor children and we had great bar service each evening for them so we had no problems that I have read others had in regards to the soda card. We bought one for each child that drank soda and I put it on an curly elastic bracelet with their sign and sail card.

 

Lowlights for us this trip--(our opinion only)

Interior cabins too dark for us but the party crowd in our group liked them alot!

 

H2O club big thumbs down--lost their license for PS2 and had nothing else to do for this group and told the kids to touch nothing when they aren't in the room which is most of the time. (younger groups seemed really happy though)

 

Welcome aboard show and two regular shows repeats from Fascination last year.

 

Casino no fun to play at all I expect to lose but I like to play a little and this time no play and poor bar service which was a first for me on a Carnival cruise.

 

Photo Staff rude and not helpful

 

Highlights

Dining Room Service and Room Steward did a great job although I did not get to see him as I have others on past cruises.

 

Bedding AWESOME so comfortable.

 

Crew was friendly in all groups except Photo which is the norm last few times for us anyway

 

Kids enjoyed the shows we have seen quite a bit but were new for them

 

Ports

HMC

We looked forward to HMC and I will say it was very beautiful, white sand cool to the touch and the bluest clear water I have ever seen. It was also way overcrowded with no chairs mats floats or snorkle gear available at 11 AM. I have never read that this was a problem but it was this time! My daughter got heat exhaustion and I could not even buy a bottle of water for her anywhere the bar had run out and it was only 4 PM. Watch the sun too. We had 50 spf for the kids and reapplied frequently and still had one with sun poisoning on this trip. I really looked forward to this port and was not thrilled at the cattle call feel and rude employees on this island.

 

Nassau

 

I took a tip from this board and did a day pass to the Hilton for 15.00 per person. We walked to this hotel and had a lovely day. We used their floats and non motorized toys. You could go to the beach or use the pool. (Warning though drinks, water,food very pricy at this hotel and very slow) This was a very nice day for us. We did do a bit of shopping in the Straw market but not really thrilled with bartering so left that rather quickly.

 

We did not have great experience with the Photo folks. They sold a wrong disk card to my daughter and would not take it back even though I wanted to purchase a much more expensive card. Buyer beware--if you open it you own it-

 

We have done a couple of 4 day cruises for family and work groups over the last few years and we have decided that we prefer the 7 day or longer to get the full cruise experience. We prefer a balcony and will stick with that in the future. Our children enjoyed the cruise for the most part but I think that it had dull moments for our 13-16 year olds. I think that is a tough age anyway but seemed to be that age group that I saw clustered in the stairwells and riding the elevators.

 

If you have any questions feel free to email me @

integracareers@adelphia.net

[ccamp]

Thanks for the advice

I don't think that any problem we encountered would be interesting enough for a Carnival response. Some of these things are subjective.

 

I did fill out the survey and let them know that the people working on HMC on Carnival's behalf were rude and less than helpful. I really believe there should be a better system for floats and chairs and umbrellas for shade. I got there at 11 and had no idea these things would not be available for rent. They say the policy is not to rent these items again because they are rented for the day. They also had snorkle gear come back but said that it has to soak in sanitizer for 4 hours which had not been my experience in the past with snorkle gear. When you can't buy a bottle of water 2 1/2 hours before the tour is over that is a problem as well. They need to have less people there at a time or add some cool off areas and at the very least have enough chairs for all the people that will be going to the Island; there were a number of tenders after ours so I have to believe that we were not the only people with a problem.

[Caribbean Buckeye]

Thanks for your review. I really can't believe how many Buckeyes cruise the Fantasy and then review it on CC afterward. I think something like 6 out of the last 8 Fantasy reviews have been written by people from Ohio.

 

I've gotta tell you I'm absolutely baffled by your experiences in Half Moon Cay. It was such a stark contrast to the time we had that I just simply can't understand how conditions diminished in less than two months.

 

The only problem we had with the HMC staff was our wave runner tour operator who acted like he didn't even want to be conducting the tour.

 

We weren't on one of the first tenders over b/c we really took out time having breakfast in the morning so we wouldn't have to wait in the lines or go to the Universal Lounge for a tender ticket. When we got there, there were still plenty of floats left. We had packed our own water bottles so we didn't need to buy any, but I'm sure you saw Carnival employees selling them as you got off the ship and onto the tender. Also, we brought our own snorkeling equipment so we wouldn't have to rent their stuff. Perhaps bringing our own water and snorkel equipment helped us not to experience those problems you had.

 

As for the crowd, we really didn't think the island was too packed. Right in front of the place where you rent equipment, it was really crowded but if you moved down the beach, things really loosened up. I guess a lot of people didn't want to walk down that far b/c it was kind of far away from the hub of activity.

 

The bars were always well equipped with beverages but they could absolutely have added another bartender or two. When the rain hit, everyone packed into the covered bar area and the bartenders were overhwhelmed. It was a little tough to get a drink before the crowd arrived and you can imagine how much worse it was later.

 

The sun is pretty brutal in HMC, especially if you have fair skin. I'm Greek descent so I didn't wear sun screen in HMC and didn't have a problem. My wife is German/Irish descent so she loaded on the SPF 50 and I think she did still get burned. Take a hat and try to get a base tan before you get there. Best advice I can offer on this topic.

 

Anyway, welcome back to Ohio. I wish you would have told us more about the snotty boyfriend. It seems like there might be an untold story there but we'll leave it to you to determine whether you'd like to elaborate. I'm guessing he's the boyfriend of your 26 year-old.

[cruisy-suzy]

Ccamp,

Thank you for the review. It sounds like you had a great overall experience! I have read that HMC runs out of snorkel gear and clamshells (umbrella things) so we plan to get there early when we are at this port next week.

 

I am really glad to hear you went over to the Colonial Hilton and liked it. We were going to do that next week, but their pool is going to be closed for repairs.

 

Thanks again,

Suzy

[Caribbean Buckeye]

Ccamp,

Thank you for the review. It sounds like you had a great overall experience! I have read that HMC runs out of snorkel gear and clamshells (umbrella things) so we plan to get there early when we are at this port next week. Thanks again, Suzy

 

Here's something that might help. You can rent the clam shells on the ship before you even get to HMC. They'll charge your S&S card and hold a clam shell for you. That way you don't have to worry about being on one of the first tenders over.

[tahitidreamz]

Hi CCamp and welcome back...

 

I am sorry about those things you mentioned in your post.. And I am happy that all in all things went well for you and your crew.... Know what you have to do now though? In a few days you will get :

 

YesPleaseItus..:confused: ... "Yes please, eggs this way or that... Yes please, a glass of wine will be nice...Yes please, another towel or that Dove shampoo would be lovely!"....:rolleyes:

 

See what I mean? Then...you will have to cure it and book another cruise...*laughs*:D

 

Cruise some more!Start planning!

 

tahiti:D

[pacerzfan]

Thank you for the review, Ccamp.

[ccamp]

Thanks for the comments. The kids are already asking where are we going next. I was surprised by that because I think the age group 13-16 is not entertained as well as the younger set. I think that age group is difficult anyway.

 

As far as HMC as I said this was our experience and may not be of others and I had the drama of a child fainting from the heat and the mist station was not working and I could not buy a bottle of water so my opinion becomes a little jaded. She was fine after we put a wet tshirt on her and gave her some water. The other child got sun poisoning even after 50 SPF waterproof sunblock reapplying religiously. (No one's fault just a word of caution to the fairer pax out there)

 

I did hear later that virtually everyone got off the ship for HMC. Maybe that is unusual as well. The Island is beautiful no doubt and the water was nice so I am only letting people know that if you go later in the day you will not be able to rent the items that you want so better to bring them if you heart is set on it.

 

As far as British Colonial Hilton--we decided on that because the children wanted the ocean and the pool and they ended up not even going in the pool. The beach area is not large so it is not good if you are a beach walker but to loll in the ocean and listen to the party as Sr Frogs and watch the cruise ships it is a great little stop.

[ccamp]

in response to Caribbean Buckeye

 

I think you are right, lots of folks from Ohio on the Fantasy lately. I was surprised by the problems we encountered on HMC as well. I also have to say that we still thought that is was beautiful and the water was amazing. Our group had a very enjoyable day there even though we could not get chairs or floats, they does not ruin a day. We even picked up a couple of floats at the end that people had turned in.

 

We enjoy cruising and will do so again. I will just bring my own things if I don't plan to be off with the first tender. I also need to say that there were 10 in our group and that makes a difference as well. My husband and I usually cruise just the two of us!

[bahama daydreamer]

We will be going on this same cruise in Oct. We've been to Nassau before so we are familiar with it. We are looking forward to Half Moon Cay. Sorry you didn't have a good experience there. Thanks for the warning about the risk of sunburn. My husband and I usually wear an SPF 15 but he burns easily and I get sun poisening. I may have to get some stronger sunscreen. Also, thanks for the information about what we'll need to bring. We have our own snorkel gear but we'll be sure to take extra water with us. We are also going to Turks and Caicos. Did you go there? If so, what was your experience with that port?