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Bethany and Craig's Family cruise on Fascination w/ pics!


momonthego17
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We started our 6 hour drive to Jacksonville the night before the cruise. Craig (my DH), my two DDs Cat (13) and Sky (11) and I, Bethany bundled up into our SUV hoping for warm weather on our five day cruise. The weather report was saying high of 77 degrees for Nassau so we were keeping our fingers crossed that it wouldn’t get any colder. We spent the night at JaxPort Inn, clean but dingy, front desk pleasant but for $51 per night it was fine.

 

In the morning, we grabbed some McMuffins (no bfast provided) and drove to the port. Jacksonville Port is small and convenient. Craig dropped us off with the luggage, parked the car then joined us to check in at the Captain’s VIP room. We had this extra perk because we had been offered an upgrade from our balcony to a Grand Suite and we took it! Because we had that cabin, we got all the perks of Faster To The Fun, so we cancelled FTTF saving $50. Our upgrade total was $270 and well worth it. In the Captain’s VIP room was water with lemon slices (spa like) and we were seated on a couch to wait for check in. Our name was called and we sat at a desk as a pleasant woman checked us in. Very civilized! We were told that we could board right away, but that our room wouldn’t be ready till 12:30.

 

Fascination is a smaller ship than our previous cruises with Carnival, but we thought it was pretty and easy to navigate around. We went up to Lido to secure a table and grab some lunch. The line at the Mongolian Wok wasn’t too bad. I love the fresh veggies with a little chicken, beef and shrimp. Yum! A waiter brought us DODs as we settled in to life onboard. The air was a bit crisp but we had blue skies.

Finally, 12:30 arrived and we went to check out our stateroom. We were very happy that we upgraded! The room was practically twice the size of a regular balcony room. A king size bed was on one side and the sofa was pulled out for the girls and made up as a bed. There was a curtain that could be drawn in between the two sleeping areas, which was helpful if we wanted to read at night and the girls were sleeping. A long counter ran the length of the room with oodles of drawers. A walk in closet was great, especially for Craig to use as his own changing room. Our bathroom had extra storage space and the cherry on top was the whirlpool tub! Skylar loved taking baths in it so much, she sometimes took two a day! Our balcony was also twice the size of a regular balcony. All in all, we loved our Grand Suite and it will be hard to go back to a standard balcony stateroom, but I’m sure Carnival knew that would happen.

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Our Grand Suite!

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We checked out our table in the Sensation MDR. We didn’t want to be seated at a table for eight so we were moved to a table for four. The MDR was smaller than the other MDRs we had experienced, but still glittery and festive. Our waitstaff, Henry our head waiter, and his assistants Renatta and Alturo (I apologize in advance for spelling errors) made sure our dining experience was top notch. The menu hadn’t been changed to the “American Feast” but the crème brulee had been taken off. Henry was able to order us one and we enjoyed it on our last night.

The entertainment in the theatre was enjoyable. We saw “Motor City” and “Divas”. “Divas” was shown twice during the cruise. I didn’t know shows were repeated, since this hasn’t happened on any of our prior cruises. “Divas” was a very entertaining show with a catwalk coming into the audience. This kept the show “in your face” so to speak!

Now, back to our first day on board. We attended muster, grabbed cocktails from our room (had our usual vodka and rum from Bon Voyage) and headed up to the Verandah Aft for our Cruise Critic Meet and Greet.

Edited by momonthego17
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Meet and Greet

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Craig and Cat ready for sail away

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Bethany and her girls at sail away

We had a lovely time chatting with everyone and watching the whale tail slip under the Jacksonville port bridge. Skylar was determined to go down the slides, which she did a number of times, then wrapped herself up in towels to stay warm. Sky and Cat were hoping to meet a couple of girls that were supposed to be part of the meet and greet, but their family didn’t show.

 

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Whale tail going under the bridge

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Oh well, we decided to hit the room and order room service. I thought the Rueben sandwiches seemed a bit skimpy so Craig and I went to the Taste Bar for a bite. Our family checked out Jimmy at the piano bar Club 88, then we had dinner at the MDR. We were happy to see that escargot was on the menu, so we each ordered one. The rest of dinner was yummy and of course, WCMC topped it off!

 

We arrived late to the Welcome Aboard show which got us seats up in the balcony. The comedians each had a turn on stage and one was very funny, the other two okay. The show was fine with lots of singing and dancing. We made our way back to our suite and collapsed.

Our first day at sea, I woke up at 6:45am to get ready for a workout. Room service breakfast arrived late, I grabbed some coffee then hit the gym. I hoped the clouds would dissipate, but hey, I am on a cruise so there you go. I came back to my stateroom and my family was ready for more breakfast so we went to the MDR. I love the corned beef hash, so I ordered the hash with two poached eggs and a side of hollandaise sauce. That was my MDR breakfast every morning. Yum! We had our past guest coupons for free drinks, so I had a Long Island Ice Tea and Craig had a bloody mary.

The girls decided to play some games in the arcade and Craig and I went to secure some seats on the Lido deck. I saw a few empty loungers near the pool and set up camp. Lo and behold, who was seated next to me but the mom of the two girls we had hoped to see at the meet and greet! I chatted with Carla while Cat and her daughter Allison spent some time in the game room. Talk about small world!

Later in the afternoon, I went to the art auction with Cat. We checked out the art and then Craig joined me for some champagne as the auction began. We picked up two pieces of art to be shipped to our house. That will be a fun souvenir!

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Tonight was elegant night, so we gussied ourselves up, had pictures taken and settled down at the MDR for a delicious dinner of lobster and shrimp. Our head waiter Henry asked how many lobster we wanted and we all decided on double portions. Oink! We waddled to the “Divas” show, had great seats right by the catwalk and waddled back to our stateroom to sleep off our food coma.

 

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Elegant Night

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Ready for the Diva show!

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Thanks Kim. As you know, South Carolina is snowed in, so it's a good day to finish up my review! Hope you have clear roads in Apex!

 

 

Nope, we are snowed in too! In fact, it's snowing again now. Suppose to be an additional 3". I hate it so much!! But your review is a nice refreshing read on a day like this!

 

 

Kim

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Love Fascination reviews. :)

 

Divas is my favorite on-board show. Love the female lead on Fascination!

 

Hi Robert,

 

We loved Divas as well! You can tell that the cast enjoys performing this show by their energy and attitudes. Having the catwalk out into the audience made the experience "up close and personal".

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Love your review so far. But I understood that having a suite did not get you the FTTF perks.

Just early on and off. Has this changed.

 

We have a suite next month on the Liberty and we also bought FTTF so we could get all

the perks with it. Thanks for any info.

Dawn

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Nope, we are snowed in too! In fact, it's snowing again now. Suppose to be an additional 3". I hate it so much!! But your review is a nice refreshing read on a day like this!

 

 

Kim

 

Let's just say, my DDs are happy with the snow! My DH Craig and I went for a winter walk and I pooped out near the end. Cruises are much more my speed:D.

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Love your review so far. But I understood that having a suite did not get you the FTTF perks.

Just early on and off. Has this changed.

 

We have a suite next month on the Liberty and we also bought FTTF so we could get all

the perks with it. Thanks for any info.

Dawn

Hi Dawn,

The way the Carnival rep explained it when she was offering the upgrade was that we didn't need FTTF since we got all the perks by having a suite. We did get priority boarding, and when I went to Guest Services I was helped in the VIP line. Now, I noticed that my FTTF red badge was still on my card so did that make a difference? I don't know. When we were ready to get on a tender for LSC, the woman at the theatre (meet spot) first said "you need to get a sticker, 2 floors up" I said "we have an excursion booked" and she said"oh, go on down and get on". No one asked to see my tender number or my excursion voucher. Can I answer your question? Not completely, it just seemed to work out for us.

I hope you have a wonderful cruise!

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Tonight was elegant night, so we gussied ourselves up, had pictures taken and settled down at the MDR for a delicious dinner of lobster and shrimp. Our head waiter Henry asked how many lobster we wanted and we all decided on double portions. Oink! We waddled to the “Divas” show, had great seats right by the catwalk and waddled back to our stateroom to sleep off our food coma.

 

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Elegant Night

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Ready for the Diva show!

 

 

 

 

Great start to the review, very nice family photos as usual.

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Our morning in Nassau started off with fluffy clouds in a blue sky. The air temp was warm, but I was hoping it would be hotter. I hit the gym, then enjoyed some continental breakfast while the ship came into port. I had booked a sailing snorkeling excursion. Craig and I did this excursion in September 2010 so we hoped the girls would enjoy it as well. The minivan picked us up and we boarded the sail boat at the marina. The total number of snorkelers was twelve which made for a more private experience. The sail out was crisp with blue skies but surprisingly the water was comfortable.

 

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Cat and Sky on sailboat

 

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Cat the headless mermaid

 

There was not as many fish this time, but we had a good time. We changed into dry clothes for the sail back and had the minivan shuttle drop us off at the Marina Village on Paradise Island. We strolled and shopped till we made our way to the Atlantis Hotel.

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Marina Village

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Cat and Sky with a pirate (statue!)

We found our way to the turtle pond and near by was a cave. We accessed the cave and found the glass walls of the aquarium. Small sharks, sting rays, and schools of fish passed right in front of us which made for a nice finish to our day. We took a cab back to the port and purchased a coconut for Skylar. The coconut milk inside was surprisingly good.

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Bridge to Paradise Island

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