Super Weird Fascination Schedule.... Thoughts??

I will apologize in advance if this is hard to follow... but ive been told by Carnival this is a rarity... So i would like opinions.

The Carnival Fascination leaves on a 7 day cruise out of Barbados on Dec 21... It stops in San Juan on Dec 26..and picks up a new cruise of people beginning a 6 day (while cruisers from the 21st are still aboard). It then returns to Barbados on Dec 28 to drop off the cruisers on the 21st, and pick up yet another group of cruisers beginning a cruise on 28th. The cruisers that left from San Juan would then be dropped off again in San Juan.

Has anyone ever done a cruise like this? Is it weird to join a cruise, as its ending for other cruisers? I just wonder about the logisitics of it. When they drop people back off in Barbados, will everything (Pool, Bars, Lido etc) be shut down while they clean for the cruisers on the 28th?

It has a great itinerary... I just want to hear from people who have done this.. Thanks!

I will apologize in advance if this is hard to follow... but ive been told by Carnival this is a rarity... So i would like opinions.

 

The Carnival Fascination leaves on a 7 day cruise out of Barbados on Dec 21... It stops in San Juan on Dec 26..and picks up a new cruise of people beginning a 6 day (while cruisers from the 21st are still aboard). It then returns to Barbados on Dec 28 to drop off the cruisers on the 21st, and pick up yet another group of cruisers beginning a cruise on 28th. The cruisers that left from San Juan would then be dropped off again in San Juan.

 

Has anyone ever done a cruise like this? Is it weird to join a cruise, as its ending for other cruisers? I just wonder about the logisitics of it. When they drop people back off in Barbados, will everything (Pool, Bars, Lido etc) be shut down while they clean for the cruisers on the 28th?

 

 

It has a great itinerary... I just want to hear from people who have done this.. Thanks!

This is normal for this cruise. Usually the passengers boarding in Barbados are from the UK. If you check the Fascination dates on Fare viewer you will see they do this all the time. Most people from the US get on in Puerto Rico. We like this itinerary. We have done a similar one on Celebrity last year.

We love this itinerary out of San Juan. This November we will be doing the cruise for the second time. I can honestly say that we would not of known that we were dropping/picking people up in this port if we did not see the suitcases leaving. There is no disruption to the ship at all.

Quite a few locals sail from Barbados as well. It has been like this for quite a while now.

If all goes well we are hoping RCI will be doing this as well too.

Yes, I did it on the Liberty in March 2015. Not many board in Barbados, however the number has since then increased because they just recently started allowing Americans to board in Barbados (previously it wasn't allowed for some reason, you had to book through a weird travel agent who lived in europe or something).

The sailaway party will be at 10PM on the night you leave San Juan. I believe Barbados have muster drill in the theater before sailing away, but don't hold me to that since it's a new ship.

You will not notice anything different really, all will be good! i want to board from Barbados sometime soon!

Thanks to all who have posted. Looked at same cruise and had been confused slightly. This has cleared things for me.

I will apologize in advance if this is hard to follow... but ive been told by Carnival this is a rarity... So i would like opinions.

 

The Carnival Fascination leaves on a 7 day cruise out of Barbados on Dec 21... It stops in San Juan on Dec 26..and picks up a new cruise of people beginning a 6 day (while cruisers from the 21st are still aboard). It then returns to Barbados on Dec 28 to drop off the cruisers on the 21st, and pick up yet another group of cruisers beginning a cruise on 28th. The cruisers that left from San Juan would then be dropped off again in San Juan.

 

Has anyone ever done a cruise like this? Is it weird to join a cruise, as its ending for other cruisers? I just wonder about the logisitics of it. When they drop people back off in Barbados, will everything (Pool, Bars, Lido etc) be shut down while they clean for the cruisers on the 28th?

 

 

It has a great itinerary... I just want to hear from people who have done this.. Thanks!

Carnival's Southern Caribbean itineraries out of San Juan usually allow pax to board at Barbados too.

have done this cruise before and doing it again in September... Just agreeing with others that you will not notice the leaving or arrival of new guests in Barbados unless your dinner mates are from Barbados.... Great cruse you should book it

Quite a few locals sail from Barbados as well. It has been like this for quite a while now.

 

If all goes well we are hoping RCI will be doing this as well too.

RCI was actually doing this for a while, with passengers boarding in Martinique or Guadaloupe (can't remember which one). Don't know if they do it anymore.

I haven't done this itinerary, but a long time ago Carnival used to do an itinerary that picked people up in both Tampa and New Orleans. It was a little different, having two different embarkation days. I guess it was more like a land vacation where people are coming and going all the time.

NCL had a Trans Atlantic leaving tomorrow, I think, from Houston, with a stop in Miami to pick up more passengers then on the VI and then on to Barcelona

I just booked the Dec 27th 2017, out of Barbados. We chose this embarkation as the dates work the best for us. We wouldn't be able to join on dec. 24th, due to our blended family. And we love doing nye onboard. The others will join on the 24th and depart on the 30th, and we will go from the 27th-Jan 3rd. Which is perfect dates. Only downfall is the best rooms we could get is ocean view. As they reserve the other rooms for the earlier sailing. Other than that, we're exited!

How does that kind of itinerary work for the muster drills? The guests embarking on the 24th have a drill, but then the guests who embark on the 27th also have a muster drill... but do the bars stay open? How can the crew know if the guests wandering about are the new ones or the ones who embarked several days earlier and thus already attended a muster drill??:confused:

How does that kind of itinerary work for the muster drills? The guests embarking on the 24th have a drill, but then the guests who embark on the 27th also have a muster drill... but do the bars stay open? How can the crew know if the guests wandering about are the new ones or the ones who embarked several days earlier and thus already attended a muster drill??:confused:

Those who board in Barbados have their own mini-drill. There are only a handful, so it's not hard for the crew to track them down.

I will apologize in advance if this is hard to follow... but ive been told by Carnival this is a rarity... So i would like opinions.

 

It has a great itinerary... I just want to hear from people who have done this.. Thanks!

My mom and I did this a few years ago I forgot which ship but it was a great itinerary and we had a blast but yes it did seem weird to do this type of cruise where people are getting off and on in different ports but it was a great deal and lots of fun. :D

Yes, I did it on the Liberty in March 2015. Not many board in Barbados, however the number has since then increased because they just recently started allowing Americans to board in Barbados (previously it wasn't allowed for some reason, you had to book through a weird travel agent who lived in europe or something).

 

 

 

We did this itinerary back in 2009 on the victory and we are Americans and we booked thru Carnival with our pvp . But you are right we had about 10 people board and muster drill was very short and sweet .

 

I would do this again in a heart beat we had 1 1/2 days in Barbados and relaxed and di a little bit of sightseeing. Hope if you book it you enjoy it as much as we did.

Seems more expensive to board in Barbados vs San Juan. I'm boarding the Fascination on 11/6 in San Juan. If I were to board in Barbados on 11/9 instead, I would have to pay $700 more for the exact same type of room. Not worth it for the same exact itinerary, in my opinion. Unless you are looking to spend some additional days in Barbados before or after the cruise.

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We did something similar in Europe on the NCL Epic. We, and most passengers, boarded in Barcelona. Some boarded in Rome, and I think there was a third port at which some boarded.

The only time we noticed was at the Cirque de Soliel dinner theater. We were on our second night and learned that our tablemates were on their last night.

We've done 2 southern caribbean cruises on carnival from puerto rico where some passengers got on and off in barbados. Both times it was only a few families from what we saw.

Side note: these cruises were some four favorite, enjoy!

We are boarding this one in San Juan next year. the ship doesn't depart until 10PM. What time can we start boarding, or at least drop our bags off at the ship?

We are boarding this one in San Juan next year. the ship doesn't depart until 10PM. What time can we start boarding, or at least drop our bags off at the ship?

hen we boarded in PR we got onboard about 11:00 AM:eek: We pretty much relaxed the whole date until we sailed @ 10:00 pm.:)

I know others got on and then got back off as well to enjoy old san juan.

I will apologize in advance if this is hard to follow... but ive been told by Carnival this is a rarity... So i would like opinions.

 

The Carnival Fascination leaves on a 7 day cruise out of Barbados on Dec 21... It stops in San Juan on Dec 26..and picks up a new cruise of people beginning a 6 day (while cruisers from the 21st are still aboard). It then returns to Barbados on Dec 28 to drop off the cruisers on the 21st, and pick up yet another group of cruisers beginning a cruise on 28th. The cruisers that left from San Juan would then be dropped off again in San Juan.

What makes this set of itineraries "rare" isn't the Barbados-embarkation option.

I can think of two "rare" aspects.

One, from a San Juan perspective, the December 26, 2016 cruise from San Juan is only six days versus the usual seven-day length.

The San Juan departure immediately prior to that one is an eight-day itinerary, departing December 18. That particular 8-day (from a San Juan perspective) then stops in Barbados on December 21. The 8-day followed by a 6-day puts the Fascination back on her 7-day San Juan rotation after two weeks.

Royal Caribbean's Jewel of the Seas is making a similar adjustment for Christmas. The cruise that would normally be a 7-day departing San Juan on December 18, 2016 was extended to an 8-day so that it returns to San Juan on December 26, rather than December 25 (Christmas Day). However, the Jewel's December 26 cruise is a 7-day, and the 6-day itinerary needed to bring the schedules back into line departs Monday, January 2, 2017.

So, Carnival is doing an 8-6 to account for Christmas and then return to its regular schedule.

Royal is doing an 8-7-6 to account for Christmas and then return to its regular schedule.

Both the Fascination and the Jewel run Sunday-to-Sunday San Juan itineraries.

I presume the cruise lines are purposely avoiding Christmas Day embarkation and debarkation in San Juan, perhaps due to (lack of?) holiday staffing at the port, or local regulations. I'm not sure, perhaps someone more familiar with the two San Juan ports can chime in. Hence, the extra day for those who would normally disembark on December 25 on a standard 7-day itinerary.

The second rare thing is that the Barbados-to-Barbados itinerary is slightly different for the December 21 sailing due to the 8-6 shift from San Juan. The December 21 Barbados sailing stops at St. Croix instead of St. Thomas, because St. Croix was added for December 25 and St. Thomas removed from the subsequent 6 day out of San Juan. Actual cruise length from Barbados to Barbados remains at 7 days.

For a Barbados cruiser, the December 21 cruise does seem to be unique due to the swap-out of St. Croix instead of St. Thomas.

We did a similar cruise like this in Northern Europe on the Royal Princess several years ago. We embarked and disembarked in Copenhagen, Denmark. The other starting and stopping points for people to get on and off were as follows:

Warmenunde, Germany - you have to fly into Berlin and take a 2hr train ride to get to the ship (don't know why anyone would do that)

St Petersburg, Russia

The cool thing about this type of cruise with people getting on and off the ship was that when we showed up for embarkation in Copenhagen, we basically walked right on the ship...no lines or anything like that.

We did a similar cruise like this in Northern Europe on the Royal Princess several years ago. We embarked and disembarked in Copenhagen, Denmark. The other starting and stopping points for people to get on and off were as follows:

 

Warmenunde, Germany - you have to fly into Berlin and take a 2hr train ride to get to the ship (don't know why anyone would do that)

 

St Petersburg, Russia

 

The cool thing about this type of cruise with people getting on and off the ship was that when we showed up for embarkation in Copenhagen, we basically walked right on the ship...no lines or anything like that.

I would imagine that the reason that some start their cruise in that port for Berlin is they live in Germany, and it is easier and less expensive to get there and back than to fly round trip to Copenhagen.

I had posted earlier that we did something similar with the embarkation ports Barcelona, Rome, and one other that I could not remember. I now remember that the 3rd possible embarkation port was Marseilles, France. For those that lived in Italy or France, it would make more sense to start in their own country rather than fly to Spain for a cruise that had stops in their native land.

We did not have that same advantage that you had as a great majority of those on board were starting at the same place as us, Barcelona. And with the Epic being such a large ship, that entailed a lot of passengers.

Seems more expensive to board in Barbados vs San Juan. I'm boarding the Fascination on 11/6 in San Juan. If I were to board in Barbados on 11/9 instead, I would have to pay $700 more for the exact same type of room. Not worth it for the same exact itinerary, in my opinion. Unless you are looking to spend some additional days in Barbados before or after the cruise.

 

 

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Yes it is more expensive to book from Barbados, unfortunately for those of us who live in Barbados where or currency is $2BDS to $1US. So that extra $700 is actually $1400 for us. I guess it works itself out for guest flying from the UK and Canada if its cheaper to fly here than to PR.