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My family and I are planning on cruising for the first time on the Carnival Fantasy on December 8, 2012. This will be our first cruise. I found this site by googling cruise reviews on the Fantasy.

 

I have a lot of reading to do before the cruise. Is there anything that I need to know right away?

 

Thank you for any help you can offer to us.

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Relax and dont take everything you read as gospel. Different people will have different opinions. Some only like smaller ships, some only want the larger newer ships. Everyone will have different opinions.

 

Try and go down the middle?? And take what you need from both sides of each opinion. Remember its just a opinion in most cases and not facts.

 

You will never go hungry. That was my worry. Pizza window is always open for pizza and salad and calzones and there is 24/7 soft serve. There are always drinks available .. and if nothing appeals room service is free, just give a small tip.

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Relax and dont take everything you read as gospel. Different people will have different opinions. Some only like smaller ships, some only want the larger newer ships. Everyone will have different opinions.

 

Try and go down the middle?? And take what you need from both sides of each opinion. Remember its just a opinion in most cases and not facts.

 

You will never go hungry. That was my worry. Pizza window is always open for pizza and salad and calzones and there is 24/7 soft serve. There are always drinks available .. and if nothing appeals room service is free, just give a small tip.

 

Thank you, firefly333 for the information. I have alot of questions about cruising and Carnival. This is our first cruise and we have alot to learn.

 

Is there a charge for the pizza and ice cream? What are the hours of room service? We have a 12 year old daughter and a 14 year old daughter cruising with us. Will there be activities on the cruise that will appeal to their age?

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I agree with Firefly!

 

Take everything on here with a grain of salt. There is lots of good information but also lots of complainers. You could have two different families on the same sailing and one will love it and the other not be happy at all.

 

My best tip to offer is don't try to do everything. It can be exhausting. Pick what interest you the most but leave yourself time to relax as well. Nothing better than a nap at sea :)

 

Also if you love it buy a future cruise certificate while onboard. It's a great deal and good for two years, you don't have to choose any time or ship when you purchase it.

 

The negative of cruising. . . . it's addicting. You will always dream of being at sea, count down to your next cruise and figure out ways to squeeze in that one more sailing!

 

Welcome to the cruising world and enjoy your sailing!

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The Pizza and Ice Cream are both free. I believe both of your kids will be in the same "group" called Circle C (the kids are separated by age brackets, and I think 12-14 is one of the brackets), and they will have lots of activities. Make sure they go to the Circle C get together orientation thing the first night so that they can meet the other kids in their group and make new friends.

 

I'm sure you and your family will have a FABULOUS time!:)

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Relax and dont take everything you read as gospel. Different people will have different opinions. Some only like smaller ships, some only want the larger newer ships. Everyone will have different opinions.

You will never go hungry. That was my worry. Pizza window is always open for pizza and salad and calzones and there is 24/7 soft serve. There are always drinks available .. and if nothing appeals room service is free, just give a small tip.

 

Amen to both of those.The food is plentiful and ranges from pretty good to great. Don't like something? Just ask for something else.

People cruise for all kinds of reasons. Some people love transatlantic repo cruises where they may have 5 or 6 or more sea days in a row. Some (me) love the wonderful ports and all the adventures you can have there. Look at the info on your ship. What would you like to do on board. Do you want to do early morning excursions? Don't book a cabin over the disco! If you want to dance the night away, that may be the perfect spot & maybe at a bargain. Read the reviews, figure out what will make your family happy, and ask the experienced cruisers here what you should do to make that happen.

 

Your girls should go to the first night doings for circle C. They should get a schedule of activities and can pick & choose what they want to do. They can participate as much or as little as they want, & that age group I believe has sign in sign out privileges.

 

Have a great cruise.

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Thank you, willbecruisin for the information. I have noticed there isn't much information on the Fantasy on here. Is there something wrong with this ship? Did we make a mistake by choosing this ship for our first cruise?

 

there are 13? Fantasy class ships which all have the same lay out.. so if you ask a generic question .. it doesnt matter which particular ship it is. Carnival does a lot of the same thing... like all 5 day menus are the same.. doesnt matter which ship.

 

Like none of the Fantasy class ships provide hair dryers.. so you dont need to ask for each of the 13 ships.. the answer is the same. None have refrigerators, but if you ask they will provide a ice bucket in your cabin. I dont use ice in the cabin usually but if you have kids you might want it. Just ask.

 

Cabins are dropped in the same in ships.. all insides on every single ship are 185 s.f. .. (not counting 1As which are the odd lots as insides), Im talking regular insides.. this is the whole fleet.

 

All regular balconys are 185 s.f. generally inside the cabin.. so much is generic so the ship doesnt matter.

 

They are pretty much all the same in the same class, just different decorating.

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Thank you OceanDreamin. I appreciate the information. I remember seeing something on the Carnival site about clubs for the children. I need to follow up on that to see if it is something they would be interested in attending.

 

Most children love camp carnival and some make lifelong friends they keep in contact with after the cruise. I would encourage them to go.

 

I met a single mom who had her son plastered to her side the whole cruise and thought .. her son missed out on doing kid things. She said, well he likes doing things with me.

 

Encourage them to do things on the ship with the other kids.

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You will have a great time on your 1st cruise and will want to do it again and again lol. make sure your kids register with circle 2 that age group is 12 to 14 and they will make all kind of new friends to hang out with on the ship. my son always did that and he always made friends to hang with on the ship. we just gave him times to meet us somewhere and check in and we use to do the walkie talkies but a lot of times they dont work that well. we always made sure to eat dinner together every night and had a time he had to be back to the room. I set rules with my son and went over them again and again. we had a balcony room and he was not under any circumstances to be on that balcony unless 1 of us was with him.make sure when you do your check in online that you register them for the circle c and go to the orientation meeting for them the first night of the cruise . you will all have so much fun and i hate to tell you but cruising is addicting lol have a great time :D

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The DH (Dear Husband) and I have been cruising with our DS (Dear Son) since he was 5 and now he is 17 so fire away with any questions.

 

I've never been on the Fantasy so I can't help you with questions about that ship but there will be lots of people here who can. Do go and join the Roll Call for your sailing date as there will be tons of info there and you can find out if there are other kids your children's ages in that group. Just remember that the Roll Call is only represents a small amount of the actual number of people that will be on your cruise. By going on the roll call board for our last cruise (which was two weeks ago) we met a lovely couple and became quick friends. As a matter of fact, we have been e-mailing each other back and forth for two weeks now and plan to maybe cruise together again next year.

 

My DS did not like the kid's club until he turned old enough for the teen club CO2. Now he loves it! So your kids should go try it out and see how they feel about it. If they like it great, if they don't...there will be plenty of chances for them to meet kids anyway as there are lots of kids like my DS.

 

Fire away with any questions you have. I will be happy to answer all that I can!:D

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When you first go to your cabin and then every evening thereafter, there will be a copy of Fun Times which shows all the activities going on around the ship. I find it helpful to take a highlighter to mark those things that interest me. If you need more copies, they're available at the Purser's desk and throughout the ship.

 

MaryLou

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Congratulations! Welcome to cruising. My first cruise was on a Fantasy class ship (Ecstasy) and it remains my favorite. Just make sure you take the proper documents (certified birth certificates or passports). Other than that, cruising is all about "No worries, mon".

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Thank you OceanDreamin. I appreciate the information. I remember seeing something on the Carnival site about clubs for the children. I need to follow up on that to see if it is something they would be interested in attending.

 

In your cabin will be a little newsletter thing for the kids, which lists all the activities for their age group for each day, and the times and locations of those activities. What I do with my daughter is have her go over the list, and she picks and chooses what interests her, so she goes to Camp Carnival for part of the day, and hangs out with the family for the rest of the time. It works out well for us.

 

My daughter is a little younger than your youngest, so is still in the Camp Carnival group, but she has had a FABULOUS time on all of her cruises, and I've read good things here on CC from parents of kids in the Circle C group.

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I love the Fantasy, it was the second ship we sailed on with carnival. Great ship. I remember they have the Beatles tribute show one night in the main show room. That is one of the best shows I have seen on a ship, but I also am a big fan of the Beatles.

The Fantasy is one of the ships that has had all of the Evolutions of Fun upgrades, so your kids will enjoy the water slides. They also have the Serenity area for adults.

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My daughter loved Circle C and made lots of friends she still communicates with on facebook. Make sure you register your kids for Circle C and have them go on the first night activities. You will be given the schedule for all circle c activities when you go to the meet and greet.

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Your meals are included in the price of the cruise. You board the ship and are sent to the Lido deck area, and there is a buffet restaurant on the back (aft)of the ship. Around one thirty there will be an annoucement that your cabin is open, head there and dumpa ll the stuff that you are lugging around with you. If your suitcase is there, unpack. If not, the muster drill will be soon, and after that sail away. All your troubles are over.

 

When you booked your cruise you were given a dining time, on your sail and sign (S&S) card there will be a number which is your table number. Unless you chose your time dining YTD or ATD. You will get a FUNTIMES, the daily news letter, it will tell you what is going on everyday for each day of the cruise, so you can figure out what you want to do in your spare time.

 

There is no time you have to go to bed, no time you have to rise(we get up early to see the sunrise), no specific time to eat lunch. If you miss it, there is room service which is free too (just tip). Ask away, we are all here for you.

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Thank you all for your information! I have read the roll call pages and asked the questions I had over there. I have also posted some concerns that I have. My major concern is that my family tends to be more reserved than what appears to be the norm for Carnival. One person on the roll call said the cruise is a drinking event. I'm a little concerned about this because we do not drink and we would prefer to limit our daughters' exposure to drinking as much as possible. I want to ensure we will have plenty to do that will not go against our beliefs.

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Thank you all for your information! I have read the roll call pages and asked the questions I had over there. I have also posted some concerns that I have. My major concern is that my family tends to be more reserved than what appears to be the norm for Carnival. One person on the roll call said the cruise is a drinking event. I'm a little concerned about this because we do not drink and we would prefer to limit our daughters' exposure to drinking as much as possible. I want to ensure we will have plenty to do that will not go against our beliefs.

 

The best info I can give you is board the ship with a positive attitude and that is what type of cruise you will have. Don't waste your time sweating over all of the things that you have read that could go wrong. Will it all be perfect..... good chance no. Deal with those ON BOARD at the time they happen with Guest Services. Don't let them build up and stay on your mind the entire cruise.

 

Will there be drinking ? Sure. Let your daughters see the few out of control (if you can find them) and use that to reinforce your beliefs with your daughters. Visual experiences are some of the best forms of education.

 

Happy Cruising

 

Come back and tell us your experiences and opinions.

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Don't worry about it being "a drinking event." There will be some people drinking, and maybe even a couple obnoxious people--but I think I've noticed fewer on cruise ships than I do when we go out to a concert at the park or other community festival. And we tend to be a bit reserved as well--we will go to the clubs at night for the entertainment, whether it's karaoke or the piano bar, but we don't order anything. I might have one drink on a cruise.

 

Advice? Get there before it says in your documents. You can generally get on board the ship sometime between 11-12 or so and have lunch.

 

If you're new to cruising, I'd recommend to try to do the ship orientation as well. It's usually held mid-afternoon and takes about 30-60 minutes. They give you a brief tour of the promenade deck usually, showing you where everything there is. Yes, you can explore the ship on your own (which we always do when we first board before there are a lot of people around), but they will also give you some little tidbits as to what entertainment you should try to check out when you're on board.

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there are 13? Fantasy class ships which all have the same lay out.. so if you ask a generic question .. it doesnt matter which particular ship it is. Carnival does a lot of the same thing... like all 5 day menus are the same.. doesnt matter which ship.

 

Like none of the Fantasy class ships provide hair dryers.. so you dont need to ask for each of the 13 ships.. the answer is the same. None have refrigerators, but if you ask they will provide a ice bucket in your cabin. I dont use ice in the cabin usually but if you have kids you might want it. Just ask.

 

Cabins are dropped in the same in ships.. all insides on every single ship are 185 s.f. .. (not counting 1As which are the odd lots as insides), Im talking regular insides.. this is the whole fleet.

 

All regular balconys are 185 s.f. generally inside the cabin.. so much is generic so the ship doesnt matter.

 

They are pretty much all the same in the same class, just different decorating.

This is not correct about the 185 s.f thing. It doesn't matter what the deck plan says. I have been in insides and balcony cabins. The inside on panarama deck on Liberty, is definetly much smaller than the balcony cabin. And I am talking the inside of the cabin. The same is true for the Destiny. Last year, I had a balcony, friends had an inside.. much smaller...

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The room service menu will be in the papers when you first get to your cabin. Don't throw it away--use it all 5 days.

 

The drinks are all for sale, not free as a welcome gift!

 

Use lanyards to keep sign and sail cards from getting lost. I take a hole punch and as soon as I get my card punch a hole in the end that doesn't go into the lock and not through the magnetic strip. I hang it on my lanyard right away and it doeesn't get lost. My 12y/o son lost his 3 times in one day on one cruise! Got him a lanyard and solved the problem.

 

Please have rules for the kids about curfew and how often they must check in with you. Can't go into anyone else's cabin is a must.

 

I always had my kids call me by my name rather than shouting "Mom!" when getting my attention. Mom gets every lady turning around...

 

Don't feel like you have to do everything there is to do. Do what you want to do.

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