Garth2

I once saw a passenger wearing a bottle of Tabasco on his belt in a leather pouch. Apparently he couldn't take a chance on being able to survive 7 days without it. By the way, it is available on board.

It could be a way to check if it's something other than wine, since you're not allowed to bring other types of alcohol on board.

We have done several B2Bs & everyone has always been escorted off to customs & then back on.

Enjoy the free cocktail, watching the long faces of departing guests & watching the first-timers board.

When it's ready.

EMBARKATION: We arrived early (8 am) to the terminal so Hubby could take car over to Hotel Galvez to park and get shuttle back to terminal. Parking is free at that hotel if you stay at the Harbor House. He arrived back at terminal about 9am and we got in line for Platinum/Diamond and faster to the fun. They do not let you wait inside anymore and check paperwork for your arrival time. We were taken to our room and on board the ship by 11:30 am.

If you were staying locally & you had the earliest check in time of 11:00 & Carnival tells you not to arrive early & you can't wait inside, why would you arrive 3 hours early?

Embarkation will probably be on Empress deck 7. All of the ships we have been on have boarded on to the deck where the atrium begins & guest services is located. That's always the deck from which debarkation takes place, too.

We recommend you also bring clothes you might want to change into for dinner, especially if you dine early or don't want to change, because sometimes luggage doesn't arrive until after sailing.

I think the ropes course is open. My better half surprised me by doing it & I know the ship wasn't moving, so it was probably before we sailed. They won't let you on the course in flip flops or bare feet.

The deck plan picture shows a pole or column behind the bed. Is this accurate?

Enjoyed your well-written review. We have enjoyed all of our Carnival cruises, each for a different reason, including our recent voyage on the Conquest. We learned the lesson about flying in the day before, especially in the winter, many years ago. We flew in early to visit a cousin & as we were driving to the port we found out it was snowing back home & the airport was closed. So now we always go a day early & stay at a hotel with an airport shuttle.

Loved the Seafood Shack on Conquest. Loved no lines & cooked to order. Loved the fish & chips as well as the fried clams. At $5 or $6 it was a good value for the amount of food and could easily be shared with someone.

Carnival is accepting bookings on the Fantasy from Mobile through April 2019. I will bet $1 that the contract runs at least this long & that they don't pull out before the contract ends. That being said, we were booked back-to-back on the last 2 7-night sailings of the Pride when Carnival pulled out of Baltimore several years ago. They cancelled both legs of our cruise to send the ship to dry dock early. So they gave us a full refund, and also offered us 2 more 7 night cruises for the same price we paid on the Pride. We happily took them up on the offer because we had gotten such a good deal.

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I sure hope they have solved the embarkation & debarkation problems they had in December. We've heard they regularly have a hard time clearing the ship, which delays boarding. Debarkation was completely out of control, with people cutting in line and gangways not working.

Yes, I know where the cabins are located. My question regards the interior & is for anyone who has stayed in one of these cabins on the Fantasy.

They will put a nice sign on your cabin door & raffle off some pretty nice prizes.

Thanks for the quick reply. I'm referring specifically to the Fantasy, the first ship built of the fantasy class.

If you have stayed in one of these cabins, please share your thoughts on anything you didn't like about them. They are category 4D on Upper deck. Thanks