Fascination Review 11/21-26: Pics (and power outage)

Alright, so welcome to my review of the Carnival Fascination from 11/21 to 11/26.

This cruise was quite eventful (atleast for me). We had a power outage on the Fascination, rough seas, and a security issue at the port (?!?).

We were going with friends as a gigantic group. Our cabin was U90, and our friends had booked U94, U98, U114, U115, and U206.

Day 1: Atlanta - Jacksonville

We live in Atlanta which is a good 6-7 hours away from Jacksonville. We decided to leave home at about 11AM and so we arrived at about 5ish. We stayed at the Hyatt Regency in Downtown Jacksonville - the hotel was absolutely beautiful.

The view from our room on the 16th floor

My favorite: The rooftop pool

Saying goodbye to the room the day of the cruise!

Oh hi!

We arrived at the port at around 12.

At the port we were taken to a special car waiting area. A security guard told us that the coast guard had shut down the port due to security issues and had to clear the ship before they allowed boarding. We waited for about an hour in our car until we were directed to the parking lot and finally into the terminal. We were VIP because of our suite and I have to saw I really enjoyed the VIP experience in Jacksonville. The line was really fast and the VIP room really beautiful.

Got a quick picture of the VIP line thingy.

Ok! Got onto the ship kinda late so we went straight to our room, U90, an extended balcony grand suite.

Dinner was amazing. Our co-waiteress (is that what it’s called?) Kembar was absolutely AMAZING.

Blah blah blah….

Then we got to Key West. The weather was amazing.

Now time for the power outage…

We got back on to the ship and headed for Nassau. A couple of hours (I think) after leaving Key West suddenly the TV and the air conditioning in our room turned off. My friends and I were talking so I really didn’t notice it – until Jen Baxter, our cruise director, came on the emergency PA about twenty minutes after our tv and air condition turned off and stated that the ship doesn’t have any power and that the engines weren’t working and that the engineers would *hopefully* get everything working. In the hallways the emergency lights were on (which looked pretty cool, I have to admit). There was a crew member in our hallway talking to other passengers and I overheard him saying that he wasn’t sure we would be able to finish our cruise. I walked up to Lido deck and saw that the pool was almost empty and there were several officers walking around talking on their walkie-talkies. After about 30 minutes, Jen came back saying that they had restored power to the ship (but everywhere I went the ship was without power… the atrium, my cabin, the promenade). A little while after that Jen came back apologizing and saying that only a few areas of the ship have power. 15 minutes after that, the ship was moving and the whole ship got power. We were on our way to Nassau.

While stuck in the water, I got this picture of jellyfish from my balcony

The power-less atrium (this is a screenshot from a video I took – maybe I will upload that somewhere soon).

Now we’re in Nassau. Here is a view of the Carnival Pride, the NCL Gem, the Carnival Magic, and the Disney Dream.

Docking right infront of the Pride

The Pride (im not sure what happened to this picture. I think it has something to do with the iPhone’s HDR)

It was quite windy in Nassau. We got a tour…. It was… interesting. Definitely not as good as Cozumel, but I was ok with it.

The Disney Dream at night

Ok, last day! The seas were rough (but not as bad as when I went on the Inspiration). Nothing too special happened on this day, so I’m not going to write much, other than I tried that Szechwan Mongolian Wok thing and it was spiccceeeyyyyyyy.

And im going to finish off with some pictures

The End!

Good review and nice suite!

Did they ever say what caused the power outage?

I will be sailing on the Fascination in 9 days! Did you see any shows or movies?

~Helen~

Good review & pics. Glad to hear the food was good. Will be on Fascination in 5 days. :D

What did you think of Jen?

Very nice review and pictures. Thanks for sharing.

Good review and nice suite!

 

Did they ever say what caused the power outage?

 

I will be sailing on the Fascination in 9 days! Did you see any shows or movies?

 

~Helen~

I dont recall them announcing what caused the power outage but another passenger told me it was caused by a tripped wire. I saw part of the 80s show but I had to leave for dinner! Have a great trip!

Good review & pics. Glad to hear the food was good. Will be on Fascination in 5 days. :D

 

What did you think of Jen?

I liked Jen, but most some don't. They think her voice is annoying (I can see where they are coming from), but I think she was a great CD.

Have a great cruise!

We were on her this summer and saw all the production shows. The Welcome Aboard show was ok. The 80's Far From Over show was great. The Hey Mambo Show (the last night) was good too but Far From Over is the best. Get there early for a good seat - min 30 min but 45 min is best if you can.

I didn't see any of the comedy shows but my sons (ages 18 & 21) liked them. They also loved the Kareoke. There isn't a big screen on the Fascination (or any Fantasy class ship) for movies. Didn't watch any on the cabin tv either.

We had a different cruise director so can't comment on Jen. Don't forget to attend the Fun Farewell party around 5 pm the last night. Free drinks and music. We had 6 pm dining and was feeling pretty good by dinnertime that night.

Nice pictures-am I missing something, besides Nassau where did youg o-maybe had a brain blip.....d

What did you do in Key West? There's not a whole lot of time to do a lot. Did the ship tie up by the Navy base or in town at Mallory Square? That would make a big difference.

I'm glad they got the power back up for you, but at least it wasn't August!