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Trip Report on the 4 night Fascination


bhardy1

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Ok, I am not impressed with this ship! Not very big, and it was on Thanksgiving week, but if I ever felt like an ant in an ant colony it was at this time on this ship! Never again, will I cruise on a 4 night ship. The food was not very good, IMO, and our waiter was not very friendly and when he was, he was faking it. He would get a frustrated look on his face, if we ordered the pumkin pie instead of the chocolate cake that were both available on Thanksgiving dinner???? The buffet lines were LONG!! To many strollers with babies, and toddlers. The kids were not out of control, just to many of them. The casino was small, and all I kept saying is "excuse me, excuse me, can I get by you" on the whole ship. Key West was nice, but to short of a stop. Cozumel was great, once you got out of the pier area, that looked like a tourist trap. Bars playing Rock and Roll, and no authentic music. We did head down to Palano (sp?) Beach, which was awesome, but didn't get there until 4:30, because you had to get #'s assigned to you to take a vendor to the island. Very long wait! Sea day was ok, but was actually looking to get my feet planted on solid soil by this time. We got the Penthouse suite which was great, but the balcony was always wet from the mist coming from the ship. I did think the beds were great, so comfy!!

 

I don't mean to be snobbish, but the people on this ship looked a little ragged, a couple of people looked like homeless people, missing teeth, one woman had to be 500 pounds, and one mother would allow her little 2 year old to hit the "Cash out" on slot machines, where one woman was playing and all her coins came out.

 

Nope, no more 4 nighter! The next cruise will be on a 7 to 10 day cruise on a BIG A__ ship.

 

I did do RCCL last year at the same time and it wasn't as bad as this year, but still will not go again!

 

Mind you this is just my opinion. There were some highlights, like Louie, the trolley driver from the port to Key West. He was hilarious and so funny! But, other than that - They are not going to see my money anymore!

 

Any questions, please feel free to ask.

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2 Questions:

 

1 -- Would skipping a cruise on the Fascination be better than doing one? For me, this would be the only cruise I would be able to swing this year (would be going in March) because of scheduling.

 

2 -- Is Louie with Old Town Trolley? I work for them here in DC. If they have a comment card (your ticket/reboarding pass) send it in because the company really appreciates hearing from satisfied riders.

 

Tom

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We had a group of 20 on the same cruise. It was not our favorite of all 18 cruises we have been on but I don't have as negative of an opinion as the other poster.

Our cabin attendant Sunny was excellent... the beds in our rivera deck outside cabin king size with nice down type comforter on was very comfortable. Carpets on Rivera deck need cleaning or replacement, rest of ship ok. Food average, disappointed esp with Thanksgiving, seemed to be very cafeteria like with smashed potatoes and dressing under a thin layer of turkey. Our waiter Miguel from Columbia was adequate but nothing special. The asst. waiter seemed overwhemed at times and it was sometimes difficult to get any coffee with dessert and water refills. Missed not having a good dance band,, the one in the Passage to India lounge was bad, the one guy on the promenade by casino was ok, the disco only played some line dance rap stuff and the piano player maybe could play piano ok but his voice was not one you wanted to listen to. Activities during day very routine. Didn't like how they did the newleywed show..just gave pads of paper to the couples on stage and went down the list of questions instead of separating the men and women for a more entertaining experience. Hot tubs on deck were overflowing with kids, we did go in the 2 in the spa several times. Pizza was excellent and the staff there very kind to my son who visited about 10 times a day. Cruise Director Matt was goofy but we liked him overall. Entertainment fair..wish they had more comedians during the week.

Biggest drag was having to tender in to Cozumel. The Fascination has to tender in every other week according to the one staff member we asked. They began to give out tender tickets at 12 noon..we waited in line there for tickets for about 1/2 hr and got #17-- they started calling numbers about 12:30 for people NOT on ship tours..and we got off about 2:30 after a long wait in gangway and on tender for the trip to Cozumel. Wasted a lot of the day in aggravation there. Later in afternoon space opens up at the pier and you luckily don't have to tender back on but just walk up to the ship from the dock. We had one wheelchair passenger in our group that was not able to get off until we had the dock there as the tenders are not stable enough to transfer easily with a wheelchair. Carnival did not want to refund the $$ they had already paid for a shore excursion when we didn't know about the tender situation in Cozumel..I am not sure if that ever got resolved or not. Thanksgiving week is one we enjoy cruising because it limits the days our boys miss from school, there were tons of kids on the ship. I didn't have any big problems with them besides a couple ones who thought pushing all the buttons in the elevators was something fun to do. Elevators worked fairly well for the most part. Embarkation we did early around 11am to port and we were on ship by 12:30.. we did a tour in Miami last day and were off ship at 9am. Overall a good experience, not great but for us it was a relaxing week, we had good weather and had been to both ports before so we had no big expectations. The 4 night experience just can't compare to the week long cruises... but for us it was a nice getaway. One disappointment was that somehow from Fri when I called Carnival to verify our group dining assignment til Monday when we boarded ..we got switched from early 5:45 to late 8PM dining. I tried to get the matre'd to change our family of 4 to an earlier time since we were the only ones with kids that are used to eating early..and he was polite when we spoke to him but we didn't get any response about a changed time to eat...since we had booked this cruise back in Jan 2004 I think Carnival should have honored our dining request... we managed with the other seating time and enjoyed having 2 nice round tables of 10 for our group but it did make the evening time different than we had wanted.

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2 Questions:

 

1 -- Would skipping a cruise on the Fascination be better than doing one? For me, this would be the only cruise I would be able to swing this year (would be going in March) because of scheduling.

 

2 -- Is Louie with Old Town Trolley? I work for them here in DC. If they have a comment card (your ticket/reboarding pass) send it in because the company really appreciates hearing from satisfied riders.

 

Tom

 

1 -- I have a hard time telling you to skip a cruise based on my experience, but I think I would rather stayed in Miami (South Beach) for 4 nights then get on that cruise again. I did enjoy last year at Thanksgiving week on the RCCL 4 night cruise out of Miami to Nassau (didn't get off the boat), to Cocoa Cay to Key West - back to Miami (it was a lot less kids and babies). IMO, the RCCL was so much more relaxing and also more to do.

 

2 -- I am not sure what Trolly Louie was from, I wish I could remember. We tipped him real good, because it was such a pleasure and highlight for us to be able to have him make us laugh! The whole bus was enjoying him so very much!! I think he should be on the cruise entertaining!

We didn't have to pay anything to get on the trolly (shuttle), we just got on, and tipped him when we got off.

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We had a group of 20 on the same cruise. It was not our favorite of all 18 cruises we have been on but I don't have as negative of an opinion as the other poster.

Our cabin attendant Sunny was excellent... the beds in our rivera deck outside cabin king size with nice down type comforter on was very comfortable. Carpets on Rivera deck need cleaning or replacement, rest of ship ok. Food average, disappointed esp with Thanksgiving, seemed to be very cafeteria like with smashed potatoes and dressing under a thin layer of turkey. Our waiter Miguel from Columbia was adequate but nothing special. The asst. waiter seemed overwhemed at times and it was sometimes difficult to get any coffee with dessert and water refills. Missed not having a good dance band,, the one in the Passage to India lounge was bad, the one guy on the promenade by casino was ok, the disco only played some line dance rap stuff and the piano player maybe could play piano ok but his voice was not one you wanted to listen to. Activities during day very routine. Didn't like how they did the newleywed show..just gave pads of paper to the couples on stage and went down the list of questions instead of separating the men and women for a more entertaining experience. Hot tubs on deck were overflowing with kids, we did go in the 2 in the spa several times. Pizza was excellent and the staff there very kind to my son who visited about 10 times a day. Cruise Director Matt was goofy but we liked him overall. Entertainment fair..wish they had more comedians during the week.

Biggest drag was having to tender in to Cozumel. The Fascination has to tender in every other week according to the one staff member we asked. They began to give out tender tickets at 12 noon..we waited in line there for tickets for about 1/2 hr and got #17-- they started calling numbers about 12:30 for people NOT on ship tours..and we got off about 2:30 after a long wait in gangway and on tender for the trip to Cozumel. Wasted a lot of the day in aggravation there. Later in afternoon space opens up at the pier and you luckily don't have to tender back on but just walk up to the ship from the dock. We had one wheelchair passenger in our group that was not able to get off until we had the dock there as the tenders are not stable enough to transfer easily with a wheelchair. Carnival did not want to refund the $$ they had already paid for a shore excursion when we didn't know about the tender situation in Cozumel..I am not sure if that ever got resolved or not. Thanksgiving week is one we enjoy cruising because it limits the days our boys miss from school, there were tons of kids on the ship. I didn't have any big problems with them besides a couple ones who thought pushing all the buttons in the elevators was something fun to do. Elevators worked fairly well for the most part. Embarkation we did early around 11am to port and we were on ship by 12:30.. we did a tour in Miami last day and were off ship at 9am. Overall a good experience, not great but for us it was a relaxing week, we had good weather and had been to both ports before so we had no big expectations. The 4 night experience just can't compare to the week long cruises... but for us it was a nice getaway. One disappointment was that somehow from Fri when I called Carnival to verify our group dining assignment til Monday when we boarded ..we got switched from early 5:45 to late 8PM dining. I tried to get the matre'd to change our family of 4 to an earlier time since we were the only ones with kids that are used to eating early..and he was polite when we spoke to him but we didn't get any response about a changed time to eat...since we had booked this cruise back in Jan 2004 I think Carnival should have honored our dining request... we managed with the other seating time and enjoyed having 2 nice round tables of 10 for our group but it did make the evening time different than we had wanted.

 

I agree, with you about the food, the waiter, our room steward was good, He made towel animals, which were cool! We didn't see much of him, but when we did he would say hi. Kids all over and in the hot tubs, and pool for that matter. Didn't see pushing of elevators, but pushing of slot machines that are on outside of the casino, and kids dipping their hands into to see if they can get left over money, coming up while you playing a slot machine and just staring at you to wait until you leave, so they can check if you left any nichols, quarters, ect....behind. The Vender into Cozumel was the worst. We were # 33 and I thought it was just because we were the last people off (28-33) all went onto the vender at the same time and we had probably 300 or more people on the one vender, the fumes were overtaking us and the up and down of the boat would make anyone weak in the stomach, well you know....

 

I am not a complainer at all, really. But if I had know this cruise would have been so busy with a lot of kids, the wait staff not very friendly, the food just ok, and the layout wasn't user friendly. I would have gone to an island somewhere or went on RCCL again for a 4 nighter. IMO of course.

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2 Questions:

 

1 -- Would skipping a cruise on the Fascination be better than doing one? For me, this would be the only cruise I would be able to swing this year (would be going in March) because of scheduling.

 

2 -- Is Louie with Old Town Trolley? I work for them here in DC. If they have a comment card (your ticket/reboarding pass) send it in because the company really appreciates hearing from satisfied riders.

 

Tom

 

I just found out that it was Key West Trolly. If you ever go down to Key West, wait for his trolly, it is well worth it!!

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we are going to 3 weeks and we plan on booking our own shore excursion.

Do they take that into consideration when getting numbers for the tender?

 

Since its the first week of Xmas break, I assume we will also have tons of

kids. We are actually leaving ours behind though.

 

for the poster who asked if it would be worth it in march... not sure.. depends

on if its spring break for anyone. I would think that with less crowds and kids

it would be a nicer experience.

 

sandy

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we are going to 3 weeks and we plan on booking our own shore excursion.

Do they take that into consideration when getting numbers for the tender?

 

Since its the first week of Xmas break, I assume we will also have tons of

kids. We are actually leaving ours behind though.

 

for the poster who asked if it would be worth it in march... not sure.. depends

on if its spring break for anyone. I would think that with less crowds and kids

it would be a nicer experience.

 

sandy

 

If you do a tour, it will be better for you on the tenders, since you don't have to stand in line to get a #. The people that didn't have a tour had to get a # to get on a tender (that was us).

 

I just think the layout of the ship was not as nice as the RCCL last Thanksgiving. I think it was Soverign of the Seas (4 night) last November. I just had more of a relaxing and fun time on that ship rather than the Fascination. Hey, but you make your own fun - just kick the kids out of the hot tub, if it you want to get in!! Have fun!

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The fascination only has to tender in to Cozumel every other week. We were on the 11/22 sailing so you can check the calendar and see if your cruise will be affected. My husband and son had booked independently a dive trip at 1:30 cozumel time (1 hr earlier than ship time) and had tender #4 and barely made it to the dive shop in time. They said they had to wait on the loaded tender for an hour for some reason. Carnival does not have the tender process very well organized. They call groups of numbers and then you wait in the hallways for everyone to get on. If you book your tour with Carnival you don't have to wait for a tender number and you get off first so that is a big plus if you want to max out your time in Cozumel.

 

Have a great cruise!!

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  • 2 months later...

You went on Thanksgiving and wonder why there were so many kids?

Ok, I am not impressed with this ship! Not very big, and it was on Thanksgiving week, but if I ever felt like an ant in an ant colony it was at this time on this ship! Never again, will I cruise on a 4 night ship. The food was not very good, IMO, and our waiter was not very friendly and when he was, he was faking it. He would get a frustrated look on his face, if we ordered the pumkin pie instead of the chocolate cake that were both available on Thanksgiving dinner???? The buffet lines were LONG!! To many strollers with babies, and toddlers. The kids were not out of control, just to many of them. The casino was small, and all I kept saying is "excuse me, excuse me, can I get by you" on the whole ship. Key West was nice, but to short of a stop. Cozumel was great, once you got out of the pier area, that looked like a tourist trap. Bars playing Rock and Roll, and no authentic music. We did head down to Palano (sp?) Beach, which was awesome, but didn't get there until 4:30, because you had to get #'s assigned to you to take a vendor to the island. Very long wait! Sea day was ok, but was actually looking to get my feet planted on solid soil by this time. We got the Penthouse suite which was great, but the balcony was always wet from the mist coming from the ship. I did think the beds were great, so comfy!!

 

I don't mean to be snobbish, but the people on this ship looked a little ragged, a couple of people looked like homeless people, missing teeth, one woman had to be 500 pounds, and one mother would allow her little 2 year old to hit the "Cash out" on slot machines, where one woman was playing and all her coins came out.

 

Nope, no more 4 nighter! The next cruise will be on a 7 to 10 day cruise on a BIG A__ ship.

 

I did do RCCL last year at the same time and it wasn't as bad as this year, but still will not go again!

 

Mind you this is just my opinion. There were some highlights, like Louie, the trolley driver from the port to Key West. He was hilarious and so funny! But, other than that - They are not going to see my money anymore!

 

Any questions, please feel free to ask.

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