Holiday or Fantasy?

[beachbum6264]

Help me decide... (my dh is jealous because I took a spring break cruise with the girls... now he can't wait for our August trip :) )

So.. should we do the Holiday (we had a GREAT time, btw) or drive a little further and do the Fantasy? Which would you do?? (personally, I'm just glad to be able to sneak another cruise in this year!! ;) )

[Yazoo cruiser]

The Fantasy might be a little fancier, but the staff on the Holiday is friendlier to me. We have sailed on the Holiday 5 or 6 times and will have our second cruise on the Fantasy in 3 weeks. The reason we chose the Fantasy over the Holiday this time is that our daughter lives in New Orleans now and this gives us a chance to visit with her before and after we sail. She wins out over the Holiday. If the Holiday were sailing out of New Orleans, I'd choose the Holiday every time. Also, the Port of Mobile is much easier to get to than the Port in New Orleans. However, sailing down the Mississipi River is a wonderful treat if you've never done that. I really enjoy that very much. There's something about seeing all those lights from the little towns along the way that is very enchanting. Hope I helped you decide.

[beachbum6264]

We do have friends in NOLA, and we went there on our honeymoon (30 years ago :eek: ), so that does have a draw. Any thoughts on where to stay that is close to the port?

[Yazoo cruiser]

I can't help you with that problem. We live about 4 hours from both Mobile and New Orleas so we can drive down the same day to either port. I'm sure some of the lovely folks who live in NO can help you there. Hope you and dh enjoy your cruise.

[Magic City Cruiser]

We did a girl's cruise on Holiday in 06, went on Fantasy in 07 and we're back on the Holiday for this year! Both ports are about the same distance from us. We liked both ships but are looking forward to the smaller ship this year. I imagine we'll change it up and do Fantasy next year! I do love New Orleans. Part of our group flew into NO and had about a 1/2 day to spend in NO before flying home. I drove so missed that but I was a bit jealous. If it was me and my husband, I think I'd choose Fantasy just to stay in NO an extra day. In fact, that's what our family did a few years ago on the Sensation (a week before Katrina hit). We spent the night in NO, wandered around, ate dinner, had a nice hotel with cruise parking. Either way, you won't be disappointed!

Donna

[nymets23]

Let me start by saying we knew the boat was very old, however you can always make that up in cleanliness and service. You missed the boat here! Big time.

Stateroom: The stateroom, U153, was actually ok. It . The bedding was excellent. There were comfortable mattresses with premium linens and duvets.

 

Public Areas: The public areas were not laid out very well

Not all the elevators go to all the floors.Because this is an older ship most areas smelled musty and smoky. The casino in particular was very smoky. The bank of non-smoking slot machines was in the back of the casino in a corner and they were higher denominations machines. That just didn't make sense since there were two other areas near entrances that they could have made non-smoking. We ate in both the Seven Seas and the Four Winds dining rooms- Let me say the staffs in both were rude and could have cared less about me or anyone else, A lady at my table for breakfast asked for a croissant and he huffed and puffed that he would have to go upstairs to get it??????????????? The lady hostess for breakfast was as rude as they come!!! My husband and i could not get seated without the other 2 that were meeting us there?? YET, the next day a kind man sat the other couple before we got there?? Interesting! She could not have been any ruder! All staff seemed as if they hated there job and I was inconveincing them...

I was VERY disappointed in the sanitation efforts on the ship. There were NO hand washing stations, no places where anyone was handing out anti-bacterial wipes, and on two occasions the public bathrooms were out of soap. The buffet restaurant was understaffed and they were many tables not cleaned and lots of food on the floor. The buffet line was also a mess. The public bathrooms were gross! As soon as we boarded, we wanted off. The entire time the entire boat was very dirty.

Dining: The food was OK, nothing special. the warm chocolate melting cake was ok, but some nights it was not cooked all the way, or it was harder than cake? not sure which is correct?. .we had the warm chocolate melting cake almost every night. One night it was underdone,! One tip: get two scoops of vanilla ice cream to eat it with if you can handle it. One was not enough! The Wharf Bar and Grill was another story entirely. The bar and grill consisted of a double line buffet, drink station, deli area with fresh carved meats, salad bar, dessert and ice cream station, and a bar in the back. The welcome aboard buffet had to be one of the most disgusting buffets we have ever seen! We both agreed that nothing tasted good, but finally found the deli area where they were serving turkey sandwiches and we settled on that and some salad. The drink station was open 24 hours and had coffee, teas, hot chocolate, and water. No soft drinks! Which were empty some of the times... the ice cream bar was degusting every time I walked by it, or went to it.

We purchased a Fountain Fun card for unlimited soft drinks at any bar or at dinner. I believe this is the way to go if you're a soda drinker. However you could not get a coke, if you tried what a waste. My husband was told at dinner the first night they didnt have any????I would have to say this was laziness.

.

Entertainment: We saw two of the evening shows. The first show was a montage of music through the eras. It was OK. The second show, Xtreme Country, was horrible, please let Heather know she can not sing, some guests were telling us later they left (like we did) because her voice was a headache beginner!!!!. Again, it was not up to par with Princess quality. We enjoyed the "pig" races. The rest of the entertainment in different venues was mediocre. My favorite entertainment was actually the casino. I would have spent more time there except for the smoke. And the killer was when Merither ( a lady black dealer) Decided to call my husband stupid, and for this alone we nor anyone in our group or anyone I know will never sail Carnival, we received no apology from her or anyone else, the boss of the casino, said he would speak to her?? OK well thanks for an apology! My entire group heard her say this,as well as the people at the table, he was called this because he asked a simple question.

Unbelievable!!!! I told the boss, to go play his tapes to see what happened. Who knows if he did. We frequent Foxwoods and Mohegan Sun Casinos, and no one has called; either one of us any name for asking questions.

 

 

Service: the rest of the service on the ship I found to be lacking. I know that Carnival has little control on the age and condition of the ship, but this is one area that they have a lot of control over and it wouldn't cost them a dime. I never got so much as a smile or "hello" from crew members that I passed in hallways. The staff at the purser's desk was very unaccommodating when trying to straighten out charge issues. They will not print out a statement of charges until the last day. They will, however, stand there and read out loud every charge to you while everybody waits in line. I saw them do this with several people. Our cabin steward was friendly enough and our room was always made up nicely and with towel animals, however, when you had a problem it was impossible to reach them either by phone or the indicator light on the outside of the room. Ours didn't work, and I saw other people walking up and down corridors and poking their heads in other staterooms trying to find their steward. Shore Excursions: We didn't book anything through the ship. I had done some research ahead of time and we decided that going on our own would be cheaper. I did not like the aggressive vendors... It reminded me of the straw market in Nassau. We saw the Disney Magic docked there when we arrived. We wondered if we could sneak on board!

 

Summary: This is a very dated ship with mediocre food, children's activities and public areas. The customer service was poor and the sanitary protocol non-existent. If you are a first time cruiser you will probably not notice what is missing, but for a Princess cruiser the ship is VERY disappointing. All in all we had a good time not due to Carnival, but in spite of Carnival. I am so disappointed for trying Carnival, I should have gone with the best- Princess. I felt like I went from the 4 star hotel Renassaince to a motel 6 from cleanliness to service.

The "stupid" comment, put me, as well as many others over the top.

[leedm]

I have been on both, but my last cruise on the Hoilday was very disappointing. I experienced the brown water, the ship was not as clean as in the past and the food was just OK. Ship crew was not as good as in the past. Holiday needs to improve. I will pick the Fantasy over the Holiday

 

Leedm

[MizzCard]

Fantasy!

[jetskier]

Gee, lets see for the OP, Princess is owned by Carnival. You are also forgeting that when the Holiday was built, it was the beginning of what is today's cruising as we now know it.

 

For us both ships were great. We liked the Holiday for the staff and food. The Fantasy for being a bit larger, more venues, and an atrium. Mobile over New Orleans for ease getting into and through the terminal.

[Squidly]

IMHO you can't go wrong either way.I liked them both.Each one has there own charm,and heck its Carnaval you can't go wrong.:D

[nawlinscruiser22]

My vote is for the Fantasy! As you can tell from my signature--we love her!

 

Holiday was my first Carnival cruise so it obviously didnt turn me away from the cruiseline:p In my experiences, the Fantasy just does everything a little better. Honestly, I dont think it is the size of the ship that is the root of most complaints about the Holiday but the lack of an atrium throws people off. As long as those kinds of details dont really matter to you, then you will be just fine on either!

 

Whatever you choose, just go with an open mind. IMO, Any day aboard a FUNship is a heck of alot better than a day on land:D

[skylock]

I have more trips on the fantasy, but I would choose the holiday if they both docked at the same home port..

 

But both are good.

 

Maybe since you have been on the holiday, you would prefer the fantasy. It is a bit bigger, but that equals more people too.

[pascalburns]

holiday:)

[LHP]

We recently sailed both.

 

The Fantasy in August 2007 and the Holiday December 2007.

 

I would have to vote for the Fantasy only because of the size, a little better service and the fact that Carnival simply does not seem to be maintaining the Holiday (since it is soon to be retired).

 

Yes we knew about the brown water on the Holiday before we booked her.

We have sailed her many times and wanted one last sailing before she is retired. The brown water did not bother us....the lack of service, and the food not being up to par, did.

 

August "can have" some bumpy weather and a larger ship may handle that better. And the Holiday has had some stabilization issues lately.

 

The downside to the Fantasy is that by August, she is getting ready to go into drydock for the Evolutions of Fun refit. She was looking tired last August. She takes a lot of abuse from the clientele that sails her, so I would imagine that she is looking even more tired now.

 

If you could put off your cruise until October.....then the Fantasy would win hands down....because she will be fresh out of the drydock with all the new Evolutions of Fun amenities (Adult Serenity Area, etc).

 

So the Fantasy (after September) would be my first recommendation!!

[BrendaB1]

Holiday = once

Fantasy = 3 times

 

New Orleans is my favorite port to cruise from. So much to see & do before & after the cruise. Always lots of great music, food, drinks & fun. :D

[nolaAlive]

Fantasy, but I do like Holiday, too.

 

Fantasy is not run down and is well maintained. My Mother was impressed with the condition of the ship at Christmas '07.