Carnival Fantasy Jan. 27, 2018 My Review

My wife and cruised on the January 27 sailing of theCarnival Fantasy. I would consider us seasoned cruisers, this was our 8thcruise, and 7th with Carnival. We really enjoy the Fantasy classships, due to their size and layout, plus with children and pets, a 5 nightcruise really fits our life style right now. We’ve done the same itinerary,Progresso and Cozumel, twice out of New Orleans, but this time we decided to gofrom Mobile. We live a few miles North of Chattanooga, so Mobile is a prettyreasonable days drive, and we have some favorite stops along the way down I-65.

We’re headed to Alaska this fall, so this was kind of lastminute (at least for us), but when I remarked on a nasty rainy day that seeinga co-workers pictures from her anniversary cruise to Cozumel was really makingme jealous, my wife replied “why don’t I get an anniversary cruise?” Puttingaside the fact that we have cruised twice over our anniversary (more due toconvenient school breaks), I quickly countered with the offer of a birthdaycruise, as the dates worked better, and the prices were lower. A little to mysurprise, she decided we could swing it and away I went to book the cruise.

We know pretty much what we were getting with the Fantasy.I know the ships are older and smaller, but we find the service better as thecrew seem to have more time and fewer guest to help, while covering lessdistance. I’ve been flamed for that opinion before but that’s been ourexperience. I booked a porthole room on the main deck, we’ve generally not hadtrouble with motion and it encourages us to climb a few stairs as the publicdecks are 8 and above on the Fantasy class.

I won a gift card for a bed and breakfast site, so I madereservations at the Berney/Fly Bed and Breakfast. http://www.berneyflybedandbreakfast.com/It’s just a little west of downtown and should be 10 minutes from the port. Imanaged to snag a couple discounted gift cards from Verizon, although they’vechanged their rewards program since. My wonderful SIL sent us another GC forChristmas. With some reduced price and gifted credit, we decided to splurge onCheers. Mobile seems to lack alternative parking options, although I understandthat some hotels offer park and cruise packages, so I made reservations to parkat the port (for the first time in any of my cruises). My birthday was a weekbefore we left, so I celebrated by printing our documents.

We left later than we planned, but we usually do. We had errands to run and a few things that came up at the last minute, but fortunately, Mobile is an hour behind Chattanooga. We made sure to make quick stops at some of our favorite spots along the way, the Giant Peach in Clanton and bates House of Turkey in Greenville, but mostly we tried to make good time.

We arrived at our B&B, the Berney/Fly shortly before 6. We had planned to check out a little of the parade and then go to a restaurant on the causeway over the bay, but our very knowledgeable host let us know that we could probably do one or the other but not both. I had no idea of the scale of the parade, but we chose do check that out and were not disappointed.

After the parade, we walked down to Wintzell's Oyster house and enjoyed some grilled oysters, redfish, and cider.

After a fun night, we walked back to the Berney/Fly house and tried to sleep before the cruise.

We were up pretty early, but the other guests at the B&B had been in the parade the night before and then went to a ball, so breakfast was late and subdued. After we ate we fixed our bags, ran by the dollar store, and headed to the port. I had prepaid parking, so we dropped our bags with a porter, parked the car, walked down the stairs and headed in to the terminal.

Embarkation was relatively painless. No one asked to see our check-in time, but we were pretty close to the time (11:30) anyway. The security scanners were pretty diligent, but once we were past them, we received our S & S cards quickly, had our photo taken and were placed in zone 8. As they were already on zone 6, we did not have a very long wait to board.

We walked up to the Lido deck, and I got our first drinks, while my wife checked out the buffet. I forgot to mention earlier, but we picked up a friend at the parade. My wife named him Cav (after the parading society, the Conde Cavaliers) and he's in many of our pictures.

We had lunch from the buffet and the deli. I wish the MDR was open, but there were plenty of options. The lines at Guys and BlueIguana were probably the longest that I saw them all week. It looked like people were moving through the pizza line pretty well, and the deli line moved right along.

After lunch we explored a little until our rooms were ready. Interestingly, there were some restrictions as to what could be served until we hit international waters. I couldn't get a Manhattan or spiked coffee and only certain wines were available at dinner. Not a deal breaker, just an interesting fact. We got in-spiked lattes at the coffee bar and by then we were able to go to our room.

The promenade:

Non-spiked latte:

We were in M11, a porthole room. We knew what to expect as I think, except for suites, all the rooms on the Fantasy class ships are basically the same. We were glad to see that the box in the corner was gone, and the televisions had been updated. There was plenty of storage for 2 people on a 5 day cruise. We met Rossi, our Steward and selected to have both morning and evening service. He was very nice and very busy, but seemed happy to see us and helped us track down some laundry that was late coming back.

M11:

Nice start, good photos.:)

Following along :)

Nice start, good photos.:)

Thank you!!

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Following along :)

Thanks!

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We took a little rest then made our way to muster drill. Our muster station was in the main show lounge, but after the main drill, we had to go stand outside near the lifeboats in the cool misty weather.

Following the drill, we met some people from a Facebook group and enjoyed some beverages from the “not in International waters yet” menu and enjoyed talking to some nice folks. We ended up going to dinner with some of the people that we met. I had some really good mahi-mahi and my wife enjoyed the brisket, her first night favorite. We finished with chocolate melting cake (which was served with peanut butter automatically) and cappuccino cake.

(I’m having trouble uploading pictures on my phone)

After dinner, the day caught up with us and we headed to bed.

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Thanks for the review.

Looking forward to following along as we go on Fantasy in November

Thanks for the review.

You’re welcome!!

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Thanks for reviewing. Looking forward to more as we sail on Fantasy in less than two weeks and reviews of her are few.

If you don't mind me asking, can you elaborate more on the issue with ordering drinks at embarkation? You said no Manhattan or spiked coffees; what kind of drinks could they serve before international waters? Were they still serving the funship special when you boarded?

Thanks.

Thanks for reviewing. Looking forward to more as we sail on Fantasy in less than two weeks and reviews of her are few.

 

If you don't mind me asking, can you elaborate more on the issue with ordering drinks at embarkation? You said no Manhattan or spiked coffees; what kind of drinks could they serve before international waters? Were they still serving the funship special when you boarded?

 

Thanks.

I didn’t press for too many details, but was told at the coffee bar that they couldn’t make an Irish coffee until we reached international waters, and again at the Majestic bar that they couldn’t serve me a Manhattan. We had funship specials, I had jack and coke, my wife had vodka and cranberry. There was a special drink menu out that day, and we had to order our wine at dinner from that. I’ve not encountered this before, do I assumed that it was due to Alabama laws. Everything liquor-wise was back to normal by day 2.

(I’ve tried to attach a Funship special pic)

Enjoy your trip! Ours was a little rocky, I hope your trip has smoother sailing.

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Looking forward to following along as we go on Fantasy in November

I hope you have a great cruise.

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I woke up early on the first morning. I tend to be an early riser anyway and I was still adjusting to Central time. I made my way up to the Promenade deck to get our morning coffee. One unplanned bonus from Cheers was that specialty coffee was included.

Pinky was working at the coffee bar, she was very nice and we got to know each other quite well during the trip. I took the coffee back to the room, and then ventured back out for breakfast. We enjoy the breakfast burritos from BlueIguana but, alas, they don’t deliver, so I bring them back so my wife can sleep in. When I headed out across the Lido deck I could definitely feel the ship rocking. There were several times over the course of the cruise that the Captain warned us about rough sailing. I didn’t feel sick, but there were a couple occasions, like that first morning, when walking was an adventure.

After I ate, my wife was still sleeping, so I attended the morning show. It was goofy, but Mikey ( the CD) and his Fun Squad co-hosts, Natalie and Adele had good chemistry, so I had fun. 2 screwdrivers may have helped it along, bar service in the main show lounge was pretty good all trip long. After that, I attended the fun ashore talk and my wife joined me. We knew what we were going to do in both ports, but it was still nice to see other options.

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I didn’t press for too many details, but was told at the coffee bar that they couldn’t make an Irish coffee until we reached international waters, and again at the Majestic bar that they couldn’t serve me a Manhattan. We had funship specials, I had jack and coke, my wife had vodka and cranberry. There was a special drink menu out that day, and we had to order our wine at dinner from that. I’ve not encountered this before, do I assumed that it was due to Alabama laws. Everything liquor-wise was back to normal by day 2. [ATTACH]414130[/ATTACH]

(I’ve tried to attach a Funship special pic)

 

Enjoy your trip! Ours was a little rocky, I hope your trip has smoother sailing.

 

 

 

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Did you notice if the beer offerings were limited also? We are going on the 19th out of mobile and have cheers and one of friends only drinks beer.. thanks

Did you notice if the beer offerings were limited also? We are going on the 19th out of mobile and have cheers and one of friends only drinks beer.. thanks

Sorry, I wasn’t looking for beer. I’m sure some was available, just look for the drink menus that say “Alabama” and you should see what’s available.

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I don't remember the black cloth covering the ceiling on the Promenade when I was on the Fantasy when she was still in Charleston. Wonder what that's about?

Did you notice if the beer offerings were limited also? We are going on the 19th out of mobile and have cheers and one of friends only drinks beer.. thanks

Yes, the beer choices are limited to the "Alabama Bar Menu" until international waters are reached. Bud, Bud Light, Coors Light, Corona, Heineken, Miller Lite, and Thirsty Frog Red.

We didn’t score any free excursions or gifts at the Fun Ashore talk, so we decided to move on with our day, plus the Universe Lounge was chilly unless it was full for a show. We hung out on the Promenade deck, as it was still breezy outside, and my wife was a fan of the lounging couches. Eventually we decided that it was time to check out the Sea Day Brunch. We checked our photos from Embarkation Day, but they were nothing special.

We enjoy the brunch menu. I had Caesar salad and steak and eggs, my wife had Caesar salad and salmon. The salads were kind of warm, like they’d been sitting a little while, but the entrees were delicious, and the steak was a nice medium rare. In my opinion, the brunch steak is probably the best piece of beef you can get without paying an additional fee.

After lunch, I played trivia and a three-way tie was good enough to get a ship on a stick. We spent a lot of time this cruise on the Promenade. We clicked with the staff at the Casino bar and the coffee shop and the musicians that played across from the casino bar were generally good.

We went upstairs, figuring that if we could get outside out of the wind anywhere, it would be the back of the Lido Deck. It was very nice and we ended up playing card with some guys from a nearby table and had a really fun afternoon.

Steak and Eggs

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My hairdresser is on the Fantasy now in a group of 27. I hope they don't run into rough seas.

I was wondering which night was formal night? We are on this ship in March and was wondering if it was the 1st sea day or last sea day? Our itinerary is mobile, sea day, Progreso, Cozumel, sea day. Also I belive the American table menu is on board, correct? You didn't happen to get any pictures of the MDR menu did you? thanks so much!!

I was wondering which night was formal night? We are on this ship in March and was wondering if it was the 1st sea day or last sea day? Our itinerary is mobile, sea day, Progreso, Cozumel, sea day. Also I belive the American table menu is on board, correct? You didn't happen to get any pictures of the MDR menu did you? thanks so much!!

Formal night will be the first sea day. I’d say that it was probably the least formal of our Carnival cruises in terms of guests dressing up. The menu was definitely American Table/American Feast. I didn’t take menu pics, but we both had prime rib on the formal night, and shared some shrimp. I think I had a scallop appetizer and my wife had cream of asparagus soup. I haven’t got to a port day yet but the new breakfast menu is pretty good.

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My hairdresser is on the Fantasy now in a group of 27. I hope they don't run into rough seas.

We’ve done the same itinerary twice from New Orleans and could barely feel the ship move. I expect (and hope) it was just freak weather. It never really rained more than a few drops any of the days but it was very windy.

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Yes, the beer choices are limited to the "Alabama Bar Menu" until international waters are reached. Bud, Bud Light, Coors Light, Corona, Heineken, Miller Lite, and Thirsty Frog Red.

Thank you!

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