cuted126 Posted September 25, 2009 #1 Share Posted September 25, 2009 Background~ This is was my fifth cruise,dhs' second. We were celebrating our 4th anniversary. We sailed from Jacksonville 4 years ago,on the same exact dates for our honeymoon. We are from Virginia and drove down. We left on the 18th,around 9am and got to Jacksonville about 4:55pm. I cannot tell you guys how much I annoyed DH checking to make sure we (still) had our IDs,passports and birth certificates,LOL. I am compulsive. I was SOOOOOOOOOOOOOO happy to see this sign after that drive!!! So was DH:p Oh how I love Palm trees! I also loved the different bridges Jacksonville has! I know,i'm a weirdo! We checked into the Howard Johnson,which has the cruise & park package. It is kinda hidden away,very much off the beaten path. It wasn't a dump,but it wasn't great either. We did feel safe leaving our car there. It was decent and the beds were COMFORTABLE!!! That evening, we found a mall and did some shopping. Went to the beach and also to the Jacksonville Landing. I think the Landing is beautiful,especially the bridge. All in all,I had a great time in Jacksonville,but I was aching to get on the boat! I could not get a good picture of this bridge to save my life. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cuted126 Posted September 25, 2009 Author #2 Share Posted September 25, 2009 Anyway,we headed back to the hotel to get some much needed rest. I woke up 7-8 times from excitement!! Finally, it was daylight YAY! We got up,showered and went down to the shuttle about 10:30. Off we go! I almost died from excitement and it seemed this ride was taking forever argh! Right as I asked our driver how long we had to go,there it was THE WHALE TAIL (insert scream here)!!! Finally,we are almost there. I checked for IDs and passports again;) Everything was still there. We arrived at the port. Dh was impressed at how big the Fascination is,as his last ship was the Celebration. He noticed the size difference. Embarkation was a breeze,the whole thing took about 30 min! Eventhough the documents said arrive at 12:30 or something like that,there were right many people inside the terminal. We were on Lido deck eating at 11:32am! I had been dreaming about those burgers and a funship special!!! Me,with cheesy, excited, why did u take this while i'm eating, funship smile LOL After lunch we exploredthe ship. I wanted to get good pics of everything while they were empty. Promenade Passage to India I never saw too much going on in here,except for the last day and the first day. The first day I think a cpule got married in there. There were alot of weddings that first day. I think 3 or 4. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeafl Posted September 25, 2009 #3 Share Posted September 25, 2009 Great review so far, I love the pics! I'm not even sailing on the Fascination, but I am really enjoying your review anyway! By the way, I am also OCD about checking for docs and passports over and over again! LOL Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gypsyrose Posted September 25, 2009 #4 Share Posted September 25, 2009 Great start, lovin the pics and HAPPY ANNIVERSARY!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cuted126 Posted September 25, 2009 Author #5 Share Posted September 25, 2009 Diamonds are Forever Disco One of the entrances to the Casino The bar right outside the casino One of the door "knobs" on The Palace doors Puttin on the Ritz Lounge (this is where karaoke and late night comedy was) Ok,so I won't bore you with anymore around the ship pics,lol. We were in room U-230 which is an aft oceanview. Bigger then last years inside,but the bathroom was smaller. Our Room Steward was Yusef. He was excellent. I think we kinda got in the way of him cleaning the room a couple of times cause we hardly ever go to the dining room. He forgave us though,LOL Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cuted126 Posted September 25, 2009 Author #6 Share Posted September 25, 2009 The doors were open around 12:40 and we went to our room. I loved being at the back! It was mostly quiet besides the crew door across the hall that was slamming off and on the entire first night. Anyway,here's the room! Little bathroom,but cute sink,lol! Shower immediately to the right and toilet to the left. I sat in the window and took this pic. I love it,we were finally on vacation. After we checked out our room, dh got his first funship special and I got my second :D and we waited for Muster drill. I used to think that it was so cheesy to extend your arm out and take a pic. I used to almost puke when I saw couples doing this. Well,whatta you know,i've become one half of one of those cheesy couples,lol I love doing this now!!! Funny muster drill story up next,lol Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TnTnFlorida Posted September 25, 2009 #7 Share Posted September 25, 2009 Thank you for what you have so far! We sail on the Fascination in just a few days! :eek: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
missdebi Posted September 25, 2009 #8 Share Posted September 25, 2009 Is that a cupcake I saw on DH plate? Yummo!!! We are sailing the Fascination on Halloween cannot wait-thanks for the pics-keep the review coming I am enjoying your enthusiasm! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cuted126 Posted September 25, 2009 Author #9 Share Posted September 25, 2009 Now I don't love or dislike Muster drills. For me,it kinda signals "The you are finally on a cruise" start of my vacation. Now,anytime me and dh go on a cruise,something funny happens at Muster drill. Last time on the Celebration, the drill took a looooonnnnggg time to start for whatever reason. We were on lido deck so we had chairs to sit in. Well,after awhile me and dh both ended up dozing off and slept through the ENTIRE thing in the front row,nontheless. I ended up waking up by the sound of my dh snoring:eek: Then I woke him up. we looked around and people were leaving the drill. So there we were wearing big bright orange life vests,just sleeping away! I am so glad that hadn't broke out the funship video crew yet,LOL. Up next,muster drill and fun day at sea. Duty calls here at home.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
navybaby1113 Posted September 25, 2009 #10 Share Posted September 25, 2009 Enjoying the review so far. I can't wait until we get a chance to sell on the Fascination. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jetskier Posted September 25, 2009 #11 Share Posted September 25, 2009 Great review so far. They are suppose to start muster drills where you dont have to bring your life jackets anymore. That will be great as you wont have to do a mad rush back to the cabin to get rid of the thing. Dave Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kimcruiser Posted September 25, 2009 #12 Share Posted September 25, 2009 I love the pictures and your story you have shared. keep it coming and thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bguppies Posted September 26, 2009 #13 Share Posted September 26, 2009 We were on this cruise also and we thought this might be our first cruise (out of 5) that we did not have to traipse out on deck to the lifeboats in the heat. We got almost through the entire drill in the rear lounge, when they decided at the last minute that everyone had to go upstairs to the lifeboats. Oh well.... Great review so far. Bill Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JAXCRUISER Posted September 26, 2009 #14 Share Posted September 26, 2009 Great review--we're going on the Fascination again in December and I'm counting the days! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jerseygirl79 Posted September 26, 2009 #15 Share Posted September 26, 2009 Is that a cupcake I saw on DH plate? Yummo!!! We are sailing the Fascination on Halloween cannot wait-thanks for the pics-keep the review coming I am enjoying your enthusiasm! I was eyeing the cupcake too Deb, hahahaha. I must need a midnight snack....*sigh* no midnight buffet here at home. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
whendoweleave? Posted September 26, 2009 #16 Share Posted September 26, 2009 Where's the rest! (I know, impatient! :rolleyes: ) We've only gotten through muster! Let's have the rest of this awesome review, young lady! :) Happy Anniversary, btw! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cuted126 Posted September 26, 2009 Author #17 Share Posted September 26, 2009 Ok,I'm back! So Finally it was time for the muster drill. We go to our room to get our jackets. We joked about how this time we were not gonna go to sleep. We went upstairs to lido deck. Wow,same place we had before! I say the same thing "At least we can sit down;)". Strange enough we were in the front row again as they had lined tthe chairs up in a big square. Okay,they tell us to put on our jackets. We are sitting there proud of ourselves for being on time,awake, and alert. Dh looks at me and says "Um,why does your jacket say E? Everybody else seems to have an F." I look around, and yup everybody has a F on their jacket. I shake my head and cover the big E on my jacket,dh laughs. They tell us we can take off the jackets cause the drill wasn't quit ready to start. We sit there wondering what in the world made us think we had F,when we had already talked about going to section E. I say come on,lets find the right section. So we dash up and go inside towards the atrium and what happens the drill starts. :::SIGH:::: I kid you not,we walk through almost EVERY muster station trying to get to E. I can feel everybody staring at us,as we walk through station after station. Finally after walking the entire promenade,we get to our station all the way AFT in the Puttin On The Ritz Lounge. Muster station E,finally! There were almost no seats and everybody was staring at us cause we were the last ones in. Nope,actually the next to last couple in.:rolleyes: At least we got there before them,lol. By the time,we got to our station they were ready to walk us outside to the lifeboats. We just can't get right with Muster Drills. Either way,our vacation would soon be underway. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cuted126 Posted September 26, 2009 Author #18 Share Posted September 26, 2009 Soon it was almost time to sailaway. We went all the way forward On Verandah deck and watch the guys unrope us or what ever it's called:p Nothing is more exciting to me then when you sailaway on Embarkation day!! WOO! Dh doing his cool man pose. Like he didn't just sit for 15 min at the wrong muster station,lol We complete the big U-turn(or should I say O-turn) and we start towards the Dames Point Bridge. We went up on Lido to watch us go under the bridge. As we are getting closer to the bridge,one couple tells us we are having high tides so they wanna see if we make it:eek: Um ok. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mkluvs2cruise Posted September 26, 2009 #19 Share Posted September 26, 2009 We were on the Fascination in April and LOVED it!!! Last June we sailed on it when it was in Miami and loved it then too. We are getting ready to go to Miami tonight to sail on the Imagination and cant wait! Love your review so far! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cuted126 Posted September 26, 2009 Author #20 Share Posted September 26, 2009 The front makes it under And so does the back!!! YAY!!! Goodbye Florida! We were officially underway. Pass on of those Funship specials please and start the line dances! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ohitssunshine Posted September 26, 2009 #21 Share Posted September 26, 2009 Aww, your review is making me miss the ship even more! We just got off on Sept 10th! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cuted126 Posted September 26, 2009 Author #22 Share Posted September 26, 2009 Cheesy pic alert:D So we stand on Lido for awhile watching the water. Their are smaller boats riding past and waving. I LOVE to wave at people from the cruise boats. I waved so much my arms were tired. There were some houses along the water and they were beautiful. Anyway,some kids saw the boat and ran towards the side to wave to us. They both looked about 9 or 10. They were waving and all of sudden one of them turns around and moons us:eek: I almost died laughing! Me and just about everybody else who saw it. After we watched the water for awhile we walked around a little more and then went to The Palace. Me and dh did the ballroom dance class,which was so fun. We watched Game Show Mania which was fun too. The Welcome Aboard Show was Excellent. The cruise director was great. I think he was one of the funniest i've had,with #1 being Malcolm Burn. The comedian for that night was pretty funny. I really enjoyed myself. That night we went to the disco and it was crowded. This was a partying crowd,alot of the crew were there each night as well. I think it was pretty late by the time we went to bed. This was the night of the door slamming ,omg it was awful. I didn't feel like the aft room had more rocking then any other part of the boat that i've stayed on. I love the swaying it rocks me to sleep! BUT when the ship docks,you will know it in the aft cabins!LOL. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cuted126 Posted September 26, 2009 Author #23 Share Posted September 26, 2009 Great review so far, I love the pics! I'm not even sailing on the Fascination, but I am really enjoying your review anyway! By the way, I am also OCD about checking for docs and passports over and over again! LOL Glad i'm not the only one. I swear I looked for our documents over 100 times,lol! Glad you are enjoying the review. Great start, lovin the pics and HAPPY ANNIVERSARY!!Thanks so much! Thank you for what you have so far! We sail on the Fascination in just a few days! :eek: I'm jealous!! You will have a great time! Miss Debi~ Yes,that was a YUMMY cupcake! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cuted126 Posted September 26, 2009 Author #24 Share Posted September 26, 2009 Great review--we're going on the Fascination again in December and I'm counting the days!Can you take me with you?:p I was eyeing the cupcake too Deb, hahahaha. I must need a midnight snack....*sigh* no midnight buffet here at home.Nothing like a midnight snack! I am slowly getting use to not having a lido deck or room service! Where's the rest! (I know, impatient! :rolleyes: ) We've only gotten through muster! Let's have the rest of this awesome review, young lady! :) Happy Anniversary, btw! I am here and at your service:D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cuted126 Posted September 26, 2009 Author #25 Share Posted September 26, 2009 Aww, your review is making me miss the ship even more! We just got off on Sept 10th! I know how you feel! I missed it the moment I walked off of it! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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