Fantasy -- 4 day Bahamas Review 10/5 - 10/9

[martind42]

My somewhat rambling review of the Fantasy. Myself (business owner), wife, and two young daughters embarked on 10/5. But, in advance, it is not a glowing review of the whole experience. While we had a nice time as a family, and the beach times were fun, I had expected more out of the Carnival experience based upon my other cruises. This was number 6 for me, and number 7 for my wife, with 2 each on Carnival. This was our first cruise less than 7 days out of Florida.

 

From Orlanda Airport to Port Canaveral, we reserved a town car. For 4 people, it is cheaper than the Carnival buses are. If you have a bigger group, look into a limo as they are cheaper per person if you have 6-10 people. As luck would have it, we got a limo instead -- for the same price as a town car -- because all the town cars were in service elsewhere.

 

Embarkation -- VIP Club. Very friendly and very fast. Escort to ship bypassed the line waiting for embarkation photos. We were on the ship in less than 15 minutes after we arrived.

 

Cabin -- U102. Category 12 suite. Balcony was large. Everything was in working order. No way to partition the second bed area from the main bed area -- a feature available on other ships. Interesting tidbit -- part of the closet is double racked (upper and lower), yet unless your clothes were really short, they would not fit either place. Safe worked great and had easy instructions. Jacuzzi tub took a long time to fill, but worked well. Bathroom had Lever liquid soap and Dove shampoo in the dispensers. Water pressure was good. Room was well furnished, and bed was as comfortable as advertised. We used the balcony a great deal. Our room steward did an outstanding job.

 

Celebration Dining Room -- We had the early dinner seating at 6:15. We were seated at a table for 6, but it ended up to be just our family. Diana from Romania was our headwaiter, and Edmundo from the Phillipines was our assistant. Both did a great job. I did not see or hear of any real problems with any of the dining room staff. All the dinners were fine, though not close to 5 star. Soups were generally excellent. Deserts were good. Wine was about 20% more expensive than land based restaurants, but there were a few pretty good deals if you knew what you were looking for. They charged for sodas in the dining room, even for children.

 

Windows of the Sea -- food was just okay. I'm used to food prepared in smaller quantities though, and that is just part of the buffet experience. Pizza was fine, as were sandwiches. Ice cream was available 24/7, and was good soft serve ice cream. They also had frozen yogurt available.

 

Lido Grill -- Food was not very good. My oldest daughter ordered a hamburger that was horribly overcooked. I went back and asked for another and the second one was just as overdone. I had a hotdog that must have cooked for 3 or 4 hours. I was not impressed.

 

Camp Carnival -- Both daughters participated in the Camp Carnival Activities -- at least something every day. I think they spent much less time there than most children. Many times, 2 counselors had almost 20 kids -- way too many for 2 counselors in my opinion. The children generally enjoyed the activities they participated in. We did not let them participate in any of the screen time (TV and computer games). Late night babysitting consists mostly of screen time, so we elected not to do that. The things they enjoyed the most were the farewell party, the "Make-A-Bear" ($16.99 per bear), the make your own T-shirt, and the Find Freddy Hunt.

 

Shows. Smooth sailing always makes the shows seem better because the dancers have fewer problems with balance. I thought the shows we saw were actually pretty good compared to the other Carnival shows we had experienced. Male singer had a stronger voice than the female, but all in all they were pretty good for a cruise ship.

 

Nassau -- Dirty little city -- at least by the pier. Reminded me of walking across the border into Mexico with everyone hounding you for cabs/hair braids/horse and buggy rides/scooter rental/ etc. We did not go to Atlantis, so I cannot comment on that part of Nassau. But, the rest of what we saw in Nassau itself was pretty cheap and touristy.

 

We did the Deluxe Blackbeard's Beach Break -- included snorkeling with and feeding the stingrays as well as lunch. If you don't care to do the snorkeling with the stingrays, just get the "regular" Blackbeard's and pay for lunch once you get to the island. It is cheaper that way. Food was hamburger/hotdog/chicken sandwich, and a bag of chips. Drink choices with lunch were coke, diet coke, sprite, and water. The bar had many different drinks to choose from for an additional cost. They had hair braiding ladies as well as some jewelry tables set up. It takes about 30 minutes to get from the pier to the beach, and another 30 minutes to get back. So, for a 3 hour excursion, you will have 2 hours about on the island. The ride to the island is nothing special.

 

Oldest daughter and I did the snorkeling with the stingrays. It was pretty cool. Wife and younger daughter skipped it though. Beach was clean, and we were not really hassled by any vendors other than the wave runner rental guys. Water was clean and area was safe for swimming with children. There is a small boat sunken in the swimming area about 2/3 of the way out where we saw a few small fish. When we were done, they took us back and dropped us off outside the Straw Market. It was hot, nasty, and crowded, and all they had for sale was a bunch of tourist crap. We headed straight back to the ship and ran the gauntlet of people hounding you to take a cab, get your hair braided, etc. The little shops on the pier were pretty pricey as well compared to the Straw Market. But, they were much less crowded and it was comfortable in there. We looked around and headed back to the ship.

 

Half Moon Cay -- Beautiful beach. I was surprised by how large the island was. From reading the reviews, people made it sound like it was a resort sized beach. It was MUCH bigger than I expected.

 

We rented a cabana ($219), which came with 8 sodas, 2 bottles of water, tray of fruit (melon and pineapple), basket of fruit (apples, pears and bananas), vegetable tray with ranch dressing, 2 floats, and snorkeling gear for 4. The cabana has a deck, then a cabin that is enclosed on 3 sides, with a tarp that you can pull down to cover the fourth side. It has a/c and a table with 4 chairs. You also have an outside fresh water shower and 2 lounge chairs. When we arrived, we were driven to our cabana -- it was a long walk from the pier.

 

The beach in front of the cabana was absolutely perfect for kids. Gently sloping into the water, and the water was crystal clear. You could see what some people were calling "glass fish" swiming in the swimming area. We also saw a "wild" stingray, though one person said the barb had been clipped on that one.

 

The water park was fairly far away from all of the cabanas. The water park consisted of two water slides on the beach, some of the anchored floats in the water, and a slide into the ocean. They was little parental supervision on the slide, and some of the children were behaving in a manner I thought was unacceptable. I also saw many parents who got drunk on HMC -- and I am no teatotaller.

 

The snorkeling area (not the snorkelling excursion) was even further away. We went over there once, but my youngest decided she needed the rest room so we did not stay there very long. But, I could tell that if people would stop splashing around we could have seen some fish.

 

Food served from noon until 2:00 consisted of hamburgers, hotdogs, and jerk chicken. Various side orders. Drinks other than tea and water were extra. I thought the food on HMC was just okay. If you want to have any drinks throughout the day, make sure you get a bar server to know that you will reward them for the trouble in checking with you. Many people opted to walk to the "I could Stay Here Forever Bar" in order to get something because they got tired of waiting for a bar server to pass by.

 

Overall, HMC was a great day at the beach. Having the cabana provided the privacy, shade, and a/c that were needed. Most people left early to go back to the ship because it got pretty hot in the afternoon. But, we could take a break from the heat in the a/c, so we left on one of the last 3 or 4 tenders.

 

The little "town" area of HMC was nothing more than 4 or 5 little shops, a bar, and a courtyard area for sitting and listening to the music. The information booth attendants were not very helpful at all. There was a hair braiding lady there that we used. She was very nice, and it did not cost much at all. But, not much shopping to do there.

 

On the sea day, the deck chairs by the main pool were crowded, but not full at any one time. Sun versus shade, the ones in the sun were less available. Slide was open for most of the time. The band seemed like it was on break for longer than it played. Drink servers were very available. The "family" hot tub was not even luke warm, but it was warmer than the pool. The aft pool area was much less crowded.

 

The mini-golf was nine holes. You use your sail and sign card to check out the putters and golf balls from the towel station by the main pool. Pretty fun with the ship rocking and rolling, and a good use of the space. The jogging track was used pretty heavily by what appeared to be members of the crew, though guests were using it as well.

 

The casino was a typical cruise casino, with horrible odds on nearly everything. I also played Texas Holdem (aka poker) though the tables were not in the casino, they were at the rear of the ship on the Promenade deck. They played $5/$10 limit holdem with $2 and $5 blinds, and a 10% rake (very steep) taken at each $50 increment. Lots of people playing who had little to no idea what they were doing, so there was money to be made there. Dealers were generally pretty good.

 

Debarkation -- My advice, book a later flight and have a leisurely breakfast on the Lido Deck. Hang out for an hour or so on deck, then make your way down to get off the ship. We headed off the ship by 9:30, and by that time the line was almost gone. Customs checked our passports and we were off in less than 20 minutes.

 

I witnessed too many "ugly American tourist" moments on this cruise. Too many people who were simply rude to the Carnival staff with no reason to be rude. Also, one dad dropping off his kids at Camp Carnival was dropping curse words left and right which I thought was VERY innappropriate, yet no one from either Camp Carnival or the Carnival officer that was standing nearby said anything to the man.

 

All in all, I would describe the vacation as "nice." We will probably take another cruise with our kids, and maybe even choose Carnival again. But, at least this time we will have a little more perspective on the types of people that take a 4 day Carnival vacation.

 

I hope you find the review informative.

 

martind42

[Mysticks1]

Thanks for the review. We will be sailing on the Fantasy out of New Orleans 11/18/06. We will also be on the Upper Deck and have 6:15 dining so will probably be in the Celebration dining room also. I have a couple of questions if you wouldn't mind answering them.

Did you find the dining room to be convenient to reach from your room? On our last cruise we had quite a walk to reach our dining room.

Did you have any problems with noise in your cabin?

Thanks in advance for your reply. :)

[martind42]

Thanks for the review. We will be sailing on the Fantasy out of New Orleans 11/18/06. We will also be on the Upper Deck and have 6:15 dining so will probably be in the Celebration dining room also. I have a couple of questions if you wouldn't mind answering them.

 

Did you find the dining room to be convenient to reach from your room? On our last cruise we had quite a walk to reach our dining room.

 

Did you have any problems with noise in your cabin?

 

Thanks in advance for your reply. :)

 

The Celebration Dining Room Entrance is from the Grand Atrium at the Front of the ship. Since I don't know where on the ship your cabin is other than on the Upper Deck, I can't tell you how far or close you are. I did not think of the Fantasy as being a large ship, so it did not seem like very far to walk from one end to the other for me.

 

Noise in the cabin --we had a squeak in the ceiling when the ship was heding back North. I have experienced those types of noises on other cruises. There was certainly noise from other passengers in the hallway -- there always is on every cruise I have been on. The balcony doors slam shut unless you close them gently. So, the slamming of other balcony doors can be pretty loud if you are in a suite and your neighbors don't close them quietly. Also, you can hear the neighbors toilets flush -- but I have found that to be true on every other cruise as well.

 

I hope these answers are helpful.

[Mysticks1]

Thank you, that was helpful. :) My room is very close to where yours was.

[nzdisneymom]

Thank you for posting your review. I was on the same cruise with 21 girlfriends. We were also main seating in the Celebration Dining Room. I would say your review is a fair assessment of what I experienced on the ship as well. I plan to post a review in the next week or so.

[CarribbeanTina271]

Thanks for posting your review...We were on this cruise as well and were in Cabin U90, we experienced the same problem with balcony doors slamming as well as the kid (around 9 or 10) screaming and sounding like he was slamming his body against the wall at all hours of the day and night..other than that we had a great cruise and enjoyed the vip boarding :)

Tina

[martind42]

nzdisneymom,

 

This is too funny. You were at one of the two tables right next to mine. I was the tall dark haired dad with the blond and brunette little girls sitting right next to you. Your waiter was Sasa (I think that was his name) from Romania.

 

martind42

[starchpoodle]

So was all the rocking back and fourth normal? Or was there a problem with the ship? 2 of the 4 days the boat was really rocking..

Just wondering.

[martind42]

So was all the rocking back and fourth normal? Or was there a problem with the ship? 2 of the 4 days the boat was really rocking..

Just wondering.

 

That was very normal for the calm seas we had. In fact, I would not classify the motion as "really rocking." I have been on ships that rocked much more than the Fantasy did this past weekend. I think this was the smoothest sailings I have ever had (except for the Alaskan cruise on the inside passage).

 

martind42

[CarribbeanTina271]

Yea I thought is was pretty smooth too....It was the smoothest I had except for last year right after Katrina when the seas were like glass!

 

Tina

[Cruising89143]

Now this was a very good review. Pointed out both the positive aspects and areas for improvement.

 

Three and four day cruises bring out a whole different breed of folks compared to the longer cruises. They are nice for a quick get away but I always cruise with my expectations in check on the shorter ones.

 

Thanks again for a nice review.

[martind42]

Now this was a very good review. Pointed out both the positive aspects and areas for improvement.

 

Three and four day cruises bring out a whole different breed of folks compared to the longer cruises. They are nice for a quick get away but I always cruise with my expectations in check on the shorter ones.

 

Thanks again for a nice review.

 

Your welcome. I was kind of tired of reading either 100% positive, or 100% negative reviews. So, I tried to discuss both the good and the bad.