Carnival Fascination 1-15-09 -1-19-09

[steven41782]

Carnival Fascination Review

Day One

Check-in at Jacksonville went flawlessly. We arrived around noon. They really kept the lines moving and we were so glad. The lady who checked us in was really great. Everything was smooth, smooth, smooth. I think the whole process probably took 15 to 20 minutes.

This was our first cruise on Carnival so we were so excited to see how they did things, what activities would be onboard, etc. When we got on, we grabbed a bite to eat on the lido deck (hamburgers and fries). Then we toured the ship. For the price we paid we thought the ship was in great shape. There were some pretty foul smells around the ship, but we didn’t get sick or anything. Our room was to be ready at 1:30, but we found it ready before then. We were on the Verandah Deck in an inside stateroom. It was plenty of space for the two of us. We unloaded our stuff, tipped (bribed) the steward and sent our elegant night things off to be dry-cleaned. Then we went to tour the spa areas and up to the sports deck for sail-away. The biggest highlight of the sail-away was passing under a bridge. It was neat to see how close the ship came to the bridge! We walked around for a while to become acquainted with the ship and before long it was dinnertime. We were seated in a booth with four people who were there with a larger group. They were supposed to be seated together, but something got messed up and they were split all across the dining room. The M’atre D came by to inform my wife and me that we would be moved for the next night’s dining to another table so they could accommodate the group. We didn’t mind… an opportunity to meet even more people. After dinner we went to the “Welcome Aboard” show. It was okay. At the beginning they pan around the audience and put things up on the screen. They zoomed in on an overweight guy and the screen said “I’m ready for the Midnight Buffet”… or something to that effect. I thought that was distasteful. I don’t know the right adjective to describe the show… not really cheesy or over-the-top… but just not really polished I guess. There was a comedian up after the dancers were done and he was a riot. After the show we turned in for the night to get ready for Freeport.

Day Two

We got up and ate breakfast. It was eggs, grits, bacon, sausage, ham, continental selections, etc. It was pretty good. We went back to our room and got ready for the day. We went out and watched the boat dock at Freeport. The port was very industrial looking and kind of underwhelming. Our tablemates advised us to just look in Freeport and that the real bargains, etc would be in Nassau. We took their advice, except I bought a Conch Shell that was already made to be able to blow into like a trumpet. We sat around in Freeport and listened to the band and shopped at the little stores. We considered taking a taxi to shopping and beaches, but the weather wasn’t really beach appropriate so we decided to re-board the ship. We looked at pictures, people watched, and read our books for a while before it was time for dinner again. Our new tablemates were another good cast. For dinner this night, I had sweet & sour shrimp which was okay followed by some pineapple ice cream… it was yummy. After dinner we went the 80’s show, it was better than the first show. We knew most of the songs and enjoyed the show. We strolled down Hollywood Blvd. and checked out the nightlife and then headed to bed. In the middle of the night boisterous women came down the hall and one yelled out “I’m the biggest sl_t on the seven seas”. We died laughing about that the next morning.

Day Three

This was Nassau day so we were up around 8 to get a bath and head out to see what this place was all about. We took a tour with Otis as recommended on the excursion board. It was $22 per person and he did a thorough job of telling us all about the Bahamas and answering whatever questions we had. We were taken through upperclass, middleclass, and lowerclass neighborhoods. We were shown where locals ate and hung out. We went to Atlantis and experienced the “free to the public” areas. Wow! What a nice resort. Otis was a great tour guide and I highly recommend him if you want a good tour of the island. After the tour we went back aboard to eat and then off to the straw market to buy some souvenirs for home. It is a tight fit getting through that market. The women all wanted us to ask about their “specials”. It was a good experience. Then we went down the main drag for shopping and sight-seeing. We went back onboard and were considering skipping formal night since it was such a long day in Nassau, but since we brought the clothes and had them dry-cleaned we figured we better go for it. I was glad we did because we had a great meal. I loved my pumpkin soup and lobster and the bitter and blanc dessert is AWESOME. We had some pictures made, but they turned out bad (or maybe I’m just ugly J). One photo of my wife was good, but it was going to be $22 and we decided that was more than we wanted to pay. This night there was a show starring a singer named Tia and a comedian… I forget his name. Neither of these were must sees. The comedian was not as good as the one from the first night. After the show it was getting late and it was a long day, so we went to bed.

Day Four

This was our day at sea and we were hoping for warm weather. We got our wish! It was nice and warm and we lounged around in the pool chairs. My plan was to read a book, but I ended up sleeping most of the afternoon away. For dinner I had a great tasting steak with baked potato. I haven’t mentioned our waitress yet, but her name was Tatyana. She was really good. She called us by name each night and was honest with her recommendations. I talked about how fabulous she was on the comment card, so I hope she gets some kind of recognition for that. I sincerely meant to give her an extra tip on the final night, but it slipped my mind. She deserved it. Tonight was a show called “Hey Mambo” We came in late and left early to get packing, but it seemed to be the same quality as the other shows. We packed up and decided to do the self debarkation the next morning. The debarkation process was not too bad. There were very frustrated people in line at the gangway, we figured they must have had a late night, because we weren’t too upset. Although it did take longer than they told us during the debarkation talk to get off the vessel. The elevators were jammed with people. We were on the Verandah deck which was last called for self debark. It wasn’t long before we were headed back home.

[cruz.n.carebear]

Not sure how this one slipped by me without seeing it, but thanks for the great review! We leave tomorrow to head to Jax....sailing out on Saturday. I can't wait!