Fascination June17-24 in a nutshell

Just back from our 7 day cruise from San Juan to Southern Carribean. This trip was a graduation trip for our 18 year old daughter and we decided to take her future college roommate who we just met which added some interesting moments.

We arrived in San Juan on Friday night and stayed at the Intercontinental Resort in Isla Verde. This place was a fantastic surprise and we loved it. It's beachfront with gorgeous pools and I highly recommend it. I booked it on Hotwire back in March and it was a bargain. We hung out on the beach and at the pool all day Saturday and ended the day with a great Puerto Rican meal down the street from the hotel. One of the best meals we've ever had. There is also a CVS across from the hotels which was very convenient.

Sunday morning we got up and had breakfast at Casa Del Whopper right across the street then packed up and called an Uber to take us to the ship. We got in line at 10:50 and were on board on the Lido at 11:30. It was a very weird embarkation since the ship doesn't leave until 9 pm, lots of people choose to board later. Also, there were about 230 people who were already onboard who embarked from Barbados. There is open seating at both dining rooms on the first night and I think we ate around 6:30. Muster was around 8 and ours was in the theater. It was the longest muster I've ever experienced as its done in English and Spanish.

We chose an ocean view room Riveria deck, 76 and connecting room R80. This ended up being a great location as this is such a port intensive cruise and we were only 1 flight up from the gangway on port days. Our room steward was Wee and he was great. This was a very comfortable cabin and I slept so well. Just know, there are no refrigerators or blow dryers as this is an older ship.

St. Thomas- We took a cab to Coki beach and snorkels and hung out. It was beautiful and great snorkeling from the beach. The cab ride was $7 per person each way. No entrance fee to beach, chairs and umbrellas were $10 each and there was food for sale.

Barbados- we were originally planning to go to the Boatyard but I had attended the "Fun aboard/Fun ashore" get together the day before and won the raffle for a free excursion for the Jolly Roger Pirate snorkeling trip. This was a pretty good excursion. The pirate ship is really cool and the crew were very sweet. Before boarding you have the option to purchase food, there is $5 hamburger or a plate lunch for $15. We went with the burger. There was also an open bar with lots of rum punch. They took us to the shipwreck and turtle area and hen further down the coast to what they called a swimming area. Basically as soon as we showed up, the boat was swarmed with guys on jet skis and boats pulling tubes trying to up sell . All in all it was ok because it was free, but there were lots of people and I didn't care for the hard sale of all the extras.

St. Lucia- oh my goodness what a beautiful place. We booked with Spencer Ambrose for a snorkeling excursion. It was fantastic. We had Spencer and his daughter and they were so kind. This was a great day and the snorkeling was unbelievable. We ended the day at a very beautiful beach (Sugar beach) and we considered never leaving.

St. Kitts- we have been here before and wanted to go back to Cockleshell beach. We found a great taxi driver named Elvis who drove us there while giving us some great history of the island. We were at the beach about 30 minutes when the skies opened with a terrible storm. We ate lunch at Spice Mill and had them call Elvis to come and get us. We visited a couple shops in port then got back on the ship early and enjoyed the rainy day with a nap.

St. Maarten- also a second time for us. We simply got off the ship, took the ferry to the public beach and had a great beach day. Did some shopping and were back on board by 2.

Post cruise we elected to stay right across the street at the Sheraton. Disembarkation was a mess. They no longer deliver luggage tags but have them on deck 7 for people to pick up. Of course because it want monitored, they were all gone as people took more than they needed. The pick up times for the tags was from 6-9 and by 7 when we finished dinner, they were all gone. We were told basically "sorry your only choice now is self assist".

I was mad at first but it turned out ok for us only because our cabin was so convenient to the gangway. We were off he ship by 8 and walked across the street to the hotel. They stored our crap for us and we began the epic walk around Old San Juan. My daughter told me we walked 9 miles this day!

All in all a fun cruise minus the roommate drama but a few things were off. We had anytime dining which was a first for us. Dinner every night took forever! Never less than 2 hours and although the service was ok, it was not great compared to other cruises. The food was just ok, not great. Even breakfast in the dining room took so long, we ended up at the buffet most days, which we hate but didn't want to spend 2 hours at breakfast. Shows were also just ok. MarQ the CD was pretty good but most if not all enertainment is geared to the Puerto Rican passengers, they mad up about 50%. Announcements were always in Spanish and English. I would definitely do it again because of the itinerary but the Fascination was not my favorite ship.

These were my opinions of course. I hope there is some helpful info in there somewhere.

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Thank you for the review! We will sail her in 73 days. Excited for the ports!

P.S. “Next time” I go to college, I hope my roommate’s parents are as cool as y’all. [emoji6]

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Great review thanks! I want this to be my next cruise. Have you been on any newer Carnival ships? If so, what were the main noticeable differences (obviously overall size, curious what else)? Also, can you elaborate on the catering to the Puerto Rican passengers as far as entertainment?

Glad you had fun. I stayed at the same Intercontinental before my Fascination cruise too. I would definitely stay there again next time!

Great review thanks! I want this to be my next cruise. Have you been on any newer Carnival ships? If so, what were the main noticeable differences (obviously overall size, curious what else)? Also, can you elaborate on the catering to the Puerto Rican passengers as far as entertainment?

The biggest boat I have been on so far is the Liberty. To me, the size doesn't feel THAT much smaller. The comedy lounge actually felt bigger, and was easier to get a seat (a huge plus for me). There is only one pool, but it is larger. Overall, I didn't care for the setup of the lido deck though. It has this big stage. No dive-in movies. No specialty restaurants except for Chef's Table. Big atrium. Waterpark. Plenty of places to lounge.

Great review thanks! I want this to be my next cruise. Have you been on any newer Carnival ships? If so, what were the main noticeable differences (obviously overall size, curious what else)? Also, can you elaborate on the catering to the Puerto Rican passengers as far as entertainment?

Did it in May.

I mean there is definitely more of a Spanish influence. Mainly with dancing events and music, but not too much different than leaving out of Miami.

I personally like the size of this ship for this itinerary. We had no sea days so you figure you wake up, have breakfast, explore the port, come back to the ship and have maybe an hour or 2 to relax before dinner, followed by shows and comedy and its midnightor later. The smaller size of the ship saved plenty of maneuvering time.

I was never bored because just laying out in Serenity or Lido was welcome if there was downtime which really there wasn’t.

I loved coming back early from excursions to relax.

This is not the cruise you want to do for the amenities of the ship, but with the 2.0 upgrades it really was enjoyable.

I enjoyed reading your review of the Fascination, as that is what we are planning on doing in March or April next year.

So you said there were no refrigerators or hair blowers, correct? If a person wanted a hair blower, could you ask the steward to bring one?

I didn't thank about that, until you were talking about St. Kitts. When I was there years ago, there was not much to see, and I understand it is still that way. Your suggestion of having a "native" take you around for a while until the rain storm, sounded like a good suggestion.:)

Thanks for the report.

Sounds like a great trip. We will be leaving next week.

Are you able to get off the ship the first day? We are planning on dropping off our luggage and going to the Forts.

Also, when was the Fun Aboard/ Fun Ashore shows? With islands everyday just wondered when they fit it in and is there only 1 show?

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Thanks so much for your review. We will be on that cruise this Thanksgiving and are also staying at the Intercontinental pre cruise and the Sheraton post cruise. [emoji846]

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Sounds like a great trip. We will be leaving next week.

 

Are you able to get off the ship the first day? We are planning on dropping off our luggage and going to the Forts.

 

Also, when was the Fun Aboard/ Fun Ashore shows? With islands everyday just wondered when they fit it in and is there only 1 show?

 

 

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Yes , after you check in you can come and go as you please until around 7:30.

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Thanks so much for your review. We will be on that cruise this Thanksgiving and are also staying at the Intercontinental pre cruise and the Sheraton post cruise. [emoji846]

 

 

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You will love the Intercontinental . Such a great resort.

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I enjoyed reading your review of the Fascination, as that is what we are planning on doing in March or April next year.

 

 

 

 

 

So you said there were no refrigerators or hair blowers, correct? If a person wanted a hair blower, could you ask the steward to bring one?

 

 

 

 

 

I didn't thank about that, until you were talking about St. Kitts. When I was there years ago, there was not much to see, and I understand it is still that way. Your suggestion of having a "native" take you around for a while until the rain storm, sounded like a good suggestion.:)

It's a great itinerary. You will have a wonderful time.

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Great review thanks! I want this to be my next cruise. Have you been on any newer Carnival ships? If so, what were the main noticeable differences (obviously overall size, curious what else)? Also, can you elaborate on the catering to the Puerto Rican passengers as far as entertainment?

I have been on about 15 cruises, most with Carnival. Lots of Conquest class, Dream class and a few Fantasy class ships. It wasn't the size that bothered me. I'm not sure what made it not my favorite. I didn't dislike it, it just wasn't my favorite. As far as the entertainment, there was mostly Latin music and dancing, including one of the theater shows being Latin music. It was just OK. I did really enjoy the Latin dance lessons in the Atrium from the CD. I would have just preferred a little more variety.

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Sounds like a great trip. We will be leaving next week.

 

Are you able to get off the ship the first day? We are planning on dropping off our luggage and going to the Forts.

 

Also, when was the Fun Aboard/ Fun Ashore shows? With islands everyday just wondered when they fit it in and is there only 1 show?

 

 

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The Fun aboard/fun ashore talk was day 2 our only sea day.

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Roommate drama! Is she still your daughter’s roommate?

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Roommate drama! Is she still your daughter’s roommate?

 

 

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I think so. She didn't drive my daughter as crazy as she drove me!

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I think so. She didn't drive my daughter as crazy as she drove me!

 

 

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Lol what drives the over 40’s crazy is meh to the millennial

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St. Lucia- oh my goodness what a beautiful place. We booked with Spencer Ambrose for a snorkeling excursion. It was fantastic. We had Spencer and his daughter and they were so kind. This was a great day and the snorkeling was unbelievable. We ended the day at a very beautiful beach (Sugar beach) and we considered never leaving.

I've already told my husband that we will be moving there sometime before I die. I loved it so, so much. He will be a banana farmer, and I will make banana ketchup. We did Cosol's tour. :D

The Fun aboard/fun ashore talk was day 2 our only sea day.

 

 

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We don’t have a sea day ☹️

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