Review: Carnival Fantasy June 11th, 2010

This review may be a long time coming because I am back to the grind, but I will try to get a little done every day or so. Just be patient with me. I'm still working on the picture thing as well, but I believe I have it figured out.

Anyway here goes: We have been on about 8 cruises with various cruise lines, but we have decided to stick with Carnival because they seem to suit our lifestyle the best. This was our fifth Carnival cruise, our first on the Fantasy. This was also our first time cruising out of Charleston, the new home of the Fantasy, which is our new favorite ship.

Pre-Cruise and Embarkation:

We booked the June 11th through June 16th cruise for me, DW, and DS, who is 4. We used the Bon Voyage department to order a bottle of vodka for the room and a stuffed Funship Freddy for the boy. The toy was ordered through the carnival website, but the vodka had to be ordered over the phone. I called the 800 number and was speaking to a live person in less than a minute. The whole phone order took about five minutes and was very painless. You need to know what brand you want when you call, but they can read them out to you if you need them to. Our bottle of vodka was $40.00. More than at home, but still a decent deal, especially compared to ship prices. They give you an order number as well just in case it doesn't show up in your room.

We drove into town a day early so we wouldn’t be rushed on cruise day. We started doing that a few years ago and it has dramatically reduced the stress of “getting there”. There is no rush to the port or worry over travel delays, car trouble, etc. Whether you drive or fly, I strongly endorse getting to the port city a day early if possible. We wanted to stay downtown, which costs more, but we were right in the heart of the historic district. We selected the Holiday Inn, which is located at the corner of Calhoun and Meeting Street, and is about one mile from the port itself. They offer a “park and cruise” option, where they allow you to spend one night at the hotel and then leave your car there during the cruise. A lot of the area hotels are starting to add this type of option due to the increase in cruise traffic. Holiday Inn had theirs on the website, but others may offer it if you call ahead and ask. When we arrived for check in there was a little bit of confusion concerning the park and cruise deal. The clerk was nice about it though and we got most of it worked out. I am still pretty sure that the deal came with a free breakfast, but I didn’t bring anything documenting it, so I just chalked that up as a loss. (Note to self: Don't forget to bring printouts of any bonuses or deals you have purchased so you can show it to the nice lady at the desk who won't give them to you.)

The hotel itself is very nice. There are several rocking chairs outside of the front entrance for relaxing on. Inside, the lobby was very clean and well appointed. The check in desk is immediately to your left as you enter. To the right is a sitting area with comfortable couches. Beyond that is a bar/dining area where that free breakfast should have been. I bet it would have been tasty too! Also in the lobby are a concierge desk and a small business center, which had two computer terminals and a printer. Just beyond the lobby was the swimming pool. It was nothing fancy, but the area was very clean and well maintained. Towels were provided at the pool on a well stocked cart and there was a hamper to collect them when you were done. It is in a fairly secure courtyard as well which was nice. The room itself was pretty standard, but once again everything was clean and well maintained. Oh, there is also an exercise room on the lobby level. I peaked in, but didn’t use it. Standard equipment, but well maintained. Towels were stocked in there as well. The hotel also has free WI-FI.

After some swimming and shopping we had dinner at Hyman’s seafood on Meeting Street. It was about a ten minute walk from the hotel. Portions were large. The menu was pretty extensive and the food was yummy. We found a coupon in the hotel lobby for free crab dip appetizer. I would skip it myself. It was a rich, cheese based dip that was served cold. More cheese than crab, and not too tasty, but everything else was great. We did a little more shopping and walking around after dinner and then back to the hotel. There is a Shell station across the street from the hotel if you need a cheap snack or drink. We snagged some ice cream from there to enjoy on the rocking chairs. (Note: Cheap ice cream is delicious, but free crab dip seldom is.)

The next morning I still hadn’t gotten that free breakfast, but I was allowed to smell it for free as we walked through the lobby. I give the smell 3 stars. Anyway we had spotted a Dunkin Donuts the night before, also on Meeting Street, and decided it would do. What can I say about Dunkin? YUM! The place was nice too. They had several couches and TV's, one playing Ironman and anther showing the news.

The port didn’t open until around noon and it was still pretty early. DW had spoken with the concierge the night before and he arranged a bus tour for us this morning. The tour bus arrived exactly at 9:30 just as the concierge had arranged and the tour lasted one and a half hours. I believe the tour was about $30 per person, but our son was free. I’m not too big into bus tours because I would rather walk around and spend some time at each spot, but the tour was a nice way to see a large portion of the city in a very short amount of time. Besides, it was HOT, not quite burst into flames hot, but still pretty hot. We stopped at the battery park area and got out for a few minutes to take some photos and hear a little more commentary on the area. (The tour guide gave a running commentary the entire time about the history of the city, but he had no trouble breaking from his talk to answer questions. He seemed to know his stuff.) By the time we got back onto the bus, we were all glad we didn’t do the walking tour!

We got back to the room by about 11:30, did the express checkout on the TV, and were out the door shortly thereafter. This brings me to the only other sticking point of this “Park and Cruise” option: they wanted to charge us extra for a shuttle to the pier. I believe it was going to be $5 or $8 per person. I had asked about it the night before just to see what they had to offer. We had a free ride from some family who was also in Charleston so it was once again not too big of a deal. Still, it soured me a bit on the Holiday Inn experience. I'm pretty sure the package deal I reserved said free shuttle included, hmm. (Note: See note number 1.) The nice lady did let me use her stapler to attach my luggage tags though. You need to do this prior to arriving at the pier as there is nowhere to do it there.

Traffic was not horrible. It was bumper to bumper but it moved steadily. Our ride let us out a couple of buildings up from the pier and we walked across the road to the tent. Yes I said tent, really more of a tarp. It sounds bad, but the Charleston Port Authority knows what it’s doing. We walked up to the tent and there was a rack to throw the luggage onto. A nice guy helped to toss the bags onto the pile. We loaded into a line of waiting buses and had our fun pass/ passports checked. The buses then pulled around the terminal parking lot to the terminal itself. We unloaded and walked inside to check in. We had VIP check-in because we had booked a Veranda Suite. We showed the guy our VIP status which was printed on our fun pass. He guided us to the VIP line which consisted of us and no one else. J The other lines weren’t too long either and they had at least a dozen employees checking people in. The whole process took us about 15 minutes and then we were on the boat! I give Charleston a big thumbs up for how efficiently they ran that small terminal.

Next up Day One...

Most excellent start!! Fantasy is also my all time favorite little gem, and we are on her for the fourth time in September:D Keep it coming!!

We were on the same cruise, I'm looking forward to reading your review, good start!!

OMG you have made me giggle twice in just the first little teaser you've given us. Please continue, I need another laugh for the day. Great start!:D

Thanks for taking us on your trip with you. Can't wait to hear more!

DAY 1

Okay, we got onto the boat at Deck 3, rather than at the lobby level. The elevators were set to go only from deck 3 to the Lido deck, which kept things running smoothly. It was just after noon by this time so the rooms weren't ready. We went to the Lido Buffet and had some lunch. For anyone who has not been on a cruise before, here is the layout....The Lido buffet area is set up in several stations. Outside near the pool is the grill, which serves nachos, chicken fingers, burgers, hot dogs, fries, etc. Beside of that is the Mongolian grill which is essentially a made to order stir fry. Inside, near the back of the ship are the buffet lines. On the port side they usually had a theme going, like "Italian night". On the starboard side they had random things. Then there are two salad bars, two dessert stations, a 24 hours pizza station, a deli station, a frozen yogurt and ice cream station, and my favorite, the bar. Not everything was great, but a lot of it was. There is no way you can walk through these areas and not find something good to eat. Your main dilemma will be avoiding that bloated feeling, which gets even worse when you add a couple of pina coladas to it and then step out into 90 degree heat. (Note: Don't do that. Bloated is ok, hot is ok, tipsy is ok, but don't do all three at once, please!)

Now, I really did intend to walk through the ship and take pictures of every station and every sight worth noting, I really did. However, I ate a lot, I had a drink or two, I was all relaxed, bloated, and sleepy. I pretty much kept that feeling going the entire cruise. Needless to say, I didn't do much of a photo tour this trip. Well it's a good excuse to book the next trip.

After lunch we went to Camp Carnival to sign the boy up for class, as he calls it. There were some first timers in there stressing out over letting their kids use the camp. This is the second time our son has done it and, and he LOVES it. The kids aren't just running free in there. There is a children's version of the Fun Times that breaks down what they will be doing at any particular time. Most activities are limited to around 30 minutes to keep the kids interested. They do art projects, exercises, music lessons, free play, you name it. The camp closes at lunch and before dinner, but it is basically open from 9:00 am to 10:00 pm.

They try to keep a ratio of about one counselor for every 3 or 4 children. The camps are broken down into age groups, 2-5, 6-8, and 9-12 I think. Each age group had their own area, with the younger kids in a totally separate room, which is secured and monitored by video. If you are really worried, they will give you a special cell phone that they can call you on if there is trouble. You can also call them to check on your child, but those guys are professionals and there were no issues to speak of. We only let our son be in there for a few hours each day, but he really would have preferred to stay in there the whole time.

Back to grown up world....by now it was about 1:30 and the rooms should have been ready. We have stayed everywhere you can stay on a ship, from an inside room, to port hole, ocean view, and now a mini-suite on the Veranda Deck. I could have flipped a coin between ocean view and inside room as to which was better, but this Veranda Suite...oh my…and it's not even a full suite, but a glorified balcony room. So we go up to the Veranda Deck and found our room, V42, an obstructed view suite. We went with the obstructed view just to save a few bucks. This particular room was very conveniently located. It is the first room on the port side hallway so you only have one neighbor to worry about. It is toward the center of the ship so motion is minimal and you are not directly under the gym as some of the more forward suites are. V27 is the starboard side room directly across the ship if you prefer that side. Being on the Veranda Deck also means that you just walk outside and you are staring at the swimming pool one deck below you and you are on the same level as the water slides. I loved this deck and this room!

The room itself: I will include some pics right after this description, although my eloquence will preclude the need for them…right. So, as you enter there are several closets and shelves to your left. The bathroom, with shower, sink, and toilet, are on your right. The bathroom seemed slightly larger than a standard bathroom, but the layout was the same. Inside the closets were a room safe, robes, a mini-fridge, ice bucket and several types of bar glasses. Beyond this hallway area is the living area. To the left is a desk with stool. Above the desk there is a flat screen TV with an external AV mount so you can plug in a gaming console or DVD player. The standard two outlets were here as well, along with the phone. My preordered bottle of vodka and the Funship Freddy toy were waiting patiently on the desk to be enjoyed. The boy tore his open before I could get a picture of it, but I got a shot of the vodka for what that’s worth. To the right is a love seat that opens out to a full sized bed, which was very comfortable in both forms. There is also a small coffee table, two night stands with lamps, and the double bed. If one were to stay out all night drinking and gambling, one might come home to learn that the double bed can be separated into two singles. (Note to self: When coming in exceptionally late at night after a raucous gambling session, come home a winner or beat yourself up and say you got mugged.)

Beyond the bed(s) is the window, which is much larger than an ocean view room’s window, and there is a small bench at the base of the window for sitting or storage. A small door lets you out onto the balcony. The balcony is quite small, but very nice. It has two deck chairs and a table to hold frosty drinks, if you like that kind of thing. With the chairs facing out to sea, it’s a hard fit to squeeze by one to get to the other, but if you turn them sideways and slide them to the far ends of the deck, it’s quite roomy out there. One chair will be near the door though preventing it from opening all the way. My point is that it is tight out there, tight, but very pleasant.

We ate in the main dining room, Jubilee, early seating, at a table for three, which we requested when we reserved the room. Table 335. I enjoyed the table for three, although I do enjoy meeting new people as well. Spending the week chatting with the family was great. The wife and son are early to bed types, but I toured around the ship, went for a jog on the jogging track, and visited the casino. The teenagers seemed to take over the ship after dark. They were everywhere, but they were well behaved. Back to the room and I enjoyed a great night sleep in a very comfy bed, still set up as a double I might add.

Entry to the room.

Desk, storage, and living area.

Wet bar, and mini fridge. (That water and the sodas in the fridge cost extra.)

Bathroom. The toilet is behind me, and you know what a toilet looks like!

The outlets, AV terminal, phone, and a glimpse of sweet, sweet vodka.

The "Obstructed View". Nice huh? I had the captain turn the ship for me so I could catch that sunset at just the right angle.

I'm off to work. I'll get some more balcony pics tomorrow and maybe get to day two.

I love the Fantasy! She's one of my favorite ships :)

Day 2 – Day at Sea

Today we got up at around 7:00 am. We went to the Lido buffet for breakfast. I believe they had French toast that day. It was yummy. For new cruisers just remember that they essentially serve the same thing for breakfast everyday: eggs, sausage, bacon, hash, breads, oats, grits, and either pancakes or French toast. The key is to not get everything every day. Mix it up a little each day to keep breakfast interesting. The deli area and the Mongolian grill also serve as made to order omelet stations during breakfast hours. Cold cereal, fruit, cheese, and deli meats fill out the breakfast options in the Lido area. The Main Dining Room also serves a sit down breakfast if you prefer that. Same food just brought to your table.

After breakfast we went to the towel hut at the pool and checked out some putters and golf balls. Just show your sign and sail card and the equipment is free to use. You can also get ping pong equipment, shuffle board, and extra beach towels. This is where you come to trade out used beach towels for fresh ones throughout the day as well. From there we went up to the sports deck which has a jogging track, nine hole putt-putt course, and a netted area for hitting golf balls. If you want to play putt-putt, the morning is the time to do it. There was no line to get the equipment and usually there is no one out there playing before 10:00 am or so.

After a few rounds of putt-putt we returned the equipment and took DS to camp. He stayed from about 9:30 to noon. We got some sun and a drink. Chairs near the pool on sea days are harder to come by unless you get out there early. We just went back to the serenity area for a while and then up to the waterworks area. In both places it was fairly easy to find a couple of chairs. The serenity area is on deck 9 aft, Promenade I think, just below the Lido deck. It is an adults only area for sunning or playing in the hot tub. There is also an outside shower to cool down with. For parents, the serenity section is on the same deck as Camp Carnival and it is just through a couple of doors if you need to check up on the kids, which we did several times. The nearest bar is one deck up at the bar in the back of the buffet area, just next to the deli station. (These things are important!) The servers do come around to all of the sunning areas fairly regularly, but I always like to know where the nearest bar is just in case. On a similar note the nearest restrooms are either one deck down on the port side…follow the signs, or through the doors leading to the lounge. Go through the lounge, past the bar (it’s a different bar), and you should see some bathrooms near the stairs. (Note: If you cannot find a rest room, there is no urine sensing dye in the swimming pool. It’s a myth. Don’t ask me how I know.)

I forgot to mention that when we were at the pool in Charleston, I was wearing my waterproof watch. I was sure it would hold up to the crushing depths of an 8 foot swimming pool. It was advertised as safe for up to 100 meters after all. So I come up from my deepest dive of the day, the full eight feet, and my watch is all wet and steamy inside. It still worked all day, but the steam was ever present. By the morning of our first sea day, I saw a few blips of life through the mist inside my watch, but I knew the end was near. We stopped by the Bijou something or other store where everything is $10. It’s on the same level as Serenity and Camp Carnival, etc, starboard side, aft. They sold watches, purses, scarves, and almost any type of accessory you might need. I bought a decent looking watch and DW bought a very nice looking silver purse to match her formal night shoes. From a distance my new watch looks high tech! It has several fancy dials, and gadgets that look quite functional…but it’s a $10 watch. It tells time, that’s it. The other stuff is all flash that doesn’t do a thing. The second hand does move around though and it seems to keep excellent time.

We had lunch at the Lido buffet, I didn’t write down what I ate, but I remember yumminess and good feelings of bloating. We played at the waterslides for a while then went to the room for a rest. The short waterslide goes quickly so the line isn’t too bad, but the tall slide can have a line taking about a half hour or so at times. We tried both, but mainly stuck with the short slide. Once again, I had big plans to photograph everything, but I was too busy sliding. After rest time, DS went back to camp for a couple of hours. We lazed about in the sun and had a drink.

This was formal night so we all got back to the room early to get ready. Then it was off for photos. Carnival loves to take pictures, dozens of backgrounds, dozens of poses, pictures, pictures, pictures. I am not a fan of posing for pictures. It’s in my bottom 10 of fun things to do on a cruise. But DW asks so nicely, and how could I refuse my sweetheart? I can’t, and so I pose, and pose, and pose like I am in Madonna’s Vogue video. After the torture is over we get to go eat, but first I wanted to take few pictures with my camera of some scenes to post here. What followed is the now infamous “camera incident of 2010”.

My DS saw me taking pictures and asked if he could try. Always yearning to enrich young minds, I immediately said, “sure you can son!” I handed him the camera and placed the wrist strap securely around his wrist. He is 4 after all. He proceeded to take few pics of DW and me. He handed the camera to DW so she could delete a bad shot. Here is where things get sticky…she handed the camera back to him, some fumbling around ensues. Everything suddenly starts to slow down, and I can see what is happening so clearly, but I am frozen. DS tries to bring the camera up to his face to get another shot in. As the camera rises I see the wrist strap dangling with no wrist inside. DS smiles and tells me to say “Funship Fre…”. The camera twists free of his tiny hands. He makes a grab for it as it starts its decent. He manages a second grab that misses just enough to accelerate the camera’s fall as it smashes into the floor, the tile floor. I sweep the camera up like a baby bird that has just fallen from its nest. I still see glimmers of life on its screen. Maybe, just maybe it’s ok. The screen is all white and there is an error message flashing at me. I look to DW. Her face was all white and I could just make out a subtle message flashing across her face, “DANGER” it read.

The camera made a weak effort to turn itself off, but the lens had been knocked off balance. It locked in the half closed position and died. “Well honey, we have been talking about getting a new camera anyway”, I said with a big smile. The danger sign flashes red. “How could you let a 4 year old hold our digital camera?” Well I mentioned to her that I had placed the strap securely on the wrist. Said strap was not replaced when someone handed the camera back to DS just before the incident. Every possible warning signal that a man possess inside his body began to flash brightly inside of me as my dear, dear wife silently stared at me in the crowded hall. I noticed how shiny the floor was and decided I should focus my attention there. Let’s go to dinner.

At dinner I rewarded myself with a double Captain and Ginger, so good. I had the lobster and shrimp entrée with a whole bunch of sides. By the way, you can order as many sides and entrees as you want, but don’t let your eyes get bigger than your stomach. I had the chocolate melting cake for dessert. Every night! It’s so good. It comes with ice cream! I’m ok, let’s move on. Dinner was fairly quiet for the most part other than some gentle sparring about the destruction of our one and only camera. Never one to give up, I slipped the camera from my pocket and examined it. I figured I would spend most of the dinner looking down anyway. The lens looked back up at me with a dead man’s stare, but I could still hear the little motor trying to close it up. It was like a little heart beat. I hit all the buttons and manipulated the camera every way I could. I was gentle at first, but eventually DW said “just hit it”. I hit it as hard as I could without making a scene on the corner opposite if the one that hit the ground. Nothing, but it felt good. So I did it again and again. I looked into the camera’s eye. There was still no life, but it wasn’t skewed off center like it was just before. I mashed the power button and she whirred into life. I looked at the screen as it tried to focus. Slowly the camera seemed to be working things out on its own. The frame came into focus and the readouts started popping back up. It was alive. I snapped a picture of DW and DS and it looked great on the screen. Not wanting to press my luck I switched it off. Sadly, the dead eye looked back up at me as the lens tried to close but failed. I slipped back into my pocket, defeated for now, but this wasn’t over, not by a long shot. At least that’s what I kept telling myself.

After dinner we had some more relaxing time in the room and then the early sleepers went to bed. I went to the casino and lost a bit at the tables. You can use your sign and sail account in the casino or they still take cash at both the tables and the machines. The sign and sail procedure is pretty easy, but takes a little getting used to. There is no service fee charged to your credit card for sign and sail usage in the casino. I believe it is billed to them as “entertainment” rather than a cash advance. There are no free drinks in the casino unless you spend a lot of money. The drinks are strong and tasty though. The slots are pretty tight, but they do pay out if you get lucky. The table games are pretty standard for any casino. They also run slot and black jack tournaments daily. I think the buy-ins are around $20. They have one poker table in the casino and run a tournament or two there as well. The table has a high rake and the tournament is poorly structured, but it’s the only game in town and they know it. (I spent most of my time there.) (Tip: When asked how you are doing at the tables by DW, always respond: “about even” without fail. Then at the end of the cruise you can show her you really are even after you stuff all your winnings into your other pocket or you will at least have had the whole week to embellish that story of how you got mugged on the way back to the room after striking it rich.) ;)

Here are some pics of our obstructed view balcony. The view is really quite good even with the lifeboats on both sides. When you are standing, they really dont get in your way except when looking left. When sitting you only have a clear view straight ahead, but it is still a nice view.

The View to the left. In case of emergency you get first shot at the life boat.

View straight ahead from a sitting position.

View to the right. I think this is their resue boat.

Looking over the rail towards the bow of the ship. The obstructions do block you from people looking up from the deck below.

Here is what I mean about turning the chairs sideways. It allows you to get past one chair to the other and makes room for others to stand on the deck as well. This chair partially blocks the door though, only allowing it to open about halfway.

Can't wait for the next post...I have to know if the camera is really dead...

crewsnews....did you say you were at the poker (hold em) table most nights? Just curious..I was there most nights as well....

Oh yeah! I enjoyed meeting you and your wife. At least I got to meet someone from CC, even if I didn't know it at the time.

great start, awesome photos

The Fantasy was my first Carnival ship, cant wait for the rest of your review and to sail her this September..woohoo

Fantasy was also our first cruise in Nov 2005. We were in V9. We have been in suites ever since and on other classes the OS are larger than on Fantasy class.

Oh yeah! I enjoyed meeting you and your wife. At least I got to meet someone from CC, even if I didn't know it at the time.

I wasn't the guy who's wife played on the table....I played/talked with them quite a bit though, which guy were you?

Today we arrived in Freeport. We settled in to the same routine just about every day. Breakfast in the Lido followed by a game of putt-putt and a walk. People were gettting off of the ship pretty early but we didn't have any plans so there was no rush for us. In Freeport the ship actually docks at the pier so there are no tenders making debarkation pretty quick. The Freeport dock area looks to be an industrial port with cargo loading, mining, and refueling going on pretty much non-stop. There is a faint odor of gas in the air, but it wasn't very distracting thanks to the steady breeze.

DS wanted to go to camp for a while so we dropped him off. You are allowed to leave your child in camp if you want to go on an excursion without them. They asked us about it, but we weren't going on one. The procedure is to let them know if you are on a Carnival excursion or going out on your own. They can reach you if you are wth a Carnival group, if not you can leave a cell number, or just be out of touch.:confused: Either way they want you to come by or call down there when you get back just to check in.

DW and I got off of the ship for about 20 minutes for a quick look around the port shops. It is basically a small version of a straw market with touristy type souveniers. There are one or two convenience stores that have first aid stuff, snacks, drinks, and disposable cameras if you happen to have destroyed yours the night before.... We compared prices with those on the ship and found that the ship's prices are much cheaper. A disposable on the ship w/ flash was $9.95 and in the straw market it was $15.99. There is also a band playing in the market with a small bar selling adult drinks. I saw a snack stand as well, but we had just had breakfast so I can't tell you what they had.

We went back on board, checked on DS by peeking through the window, and then went to the room to change. We stopped off at a temporary camera area set up at the debarkation station on deck 3 and bought the disposable camera. Back in the room, I peeked into my makeshift ICU area at my camera. It would turn on, take a picture just fine, but still couldn't turn itself off completely. The lens motor kept working at retracting all the way, but it just couldn't do it. :( So I made a drink and went to the pool.

I have to say that our decision to stay on the boat was a great one. DW gets the credit for that. I also saw that her rage had subsided considerably since the incident and all was well. Amazing what a little shopping will do. For most of the day we had the whole ship almost to ourselves. We got chairs right next to the pool and there were always plenty to spare. The pool on a sea day is standing room only, but today we could actually swim around without bumping anyone. The wateslides were the same way. Normally the big slide has a long wait, but today we just went up and down as we pleased with little or no waiting. We picked up DS for lunch. If you want something from the Mongolian grille this is the day to do it. That line gets long, but today there was no one around. I made a huge plate of nachos with all the fixings instead. I LOVE Carnival's tortilla chips. If I had those and a chocolate melting cake every day, that would be bliss. After lunch DS and I played on the waterslides and in the pool. We took our afternoon rest and then DS wanted some more camp time.

When we dropped him off they mentioned that the kids could go to camp for dinner as well. We asked the boy if he wanted to eat with us or eat with his camp friends. No contest, camp won. The camp closes at around 4:00 or 4:30. You pick the kids up and then at 6:00 you take them to the Lido buffet. The counselors are there in an area that is sectioned off just for the kids. It's not on lock down, but it is a fairly secure area and there were plenty of counselors on hand. You sign them in and the counselors go through the line to get the children's food. After dinner the counselors escort the kids down to camp and you pick them up there anytime before 10:00. They stay open after 10:00 but you have to pay for the babysitting at that point. We didn't use the babysitting, but it sounds like a good deal.

We were in the Jubilee dining room which is two decks striaght down from the Lido and one deck straight down from Camp Carnival. So we were able to drop him off at 6:00 and be in our seats by 6:05. Topnight I enjoyed a Captain and Coke, which was strong and tasty. I think it came to about 5.75 orr 6.25, not cheap, but not outrageous. That double I had the night before was $11.50 or so. I stuck with the fish entree, tilapia I think, and lots of apps. Carnival's soups are quite good and they usually have three kinds to choose from, or you can get them all. I believe it was pumpkin soup for me this evening. We passed on dessert so we could have it with DS. We picked him up after dinner and took him to the Lido for ice cream. We sat out on the deck and listened to tha band, Music Highlights, play. They are great, and play quite a bit at various places throughout the ship. DW went gambling tonight while I put DS to bed. No luck for her either, but she had a good time. Camera status....critical but stable. No improvement, a few more bashes did not produce any change.

We never went to any shows so if you want a review of those, you will have to look elsewhere. There is no shortage of shows and activities and I have saved the Fun Times if anyone has a specific question about activities.

Will you be scanning and posting the Fun Times? We are doing the same cruise in August and would love to see all the Fun Times for the trip.

I totally agree...we stayed on the ship in Freeport and it was FABULOUS! The kids had the waterslides and pool almost to themselves.....GREAT!!!

I might try that. I can't post much today though sorry. I'll get back to it tomorrow for our day in Nassau. We went to the British Colonial Hilton, which was great.

I found where someone else has already posted the fun times. This should be the link to it:

http://travel.webshots.com/album/578014287qxHDCv

Its also not he "all things Fantasy" thread.

Thanks. I believe those are for the 7 day cruise. I was mostly interested in the 5 day cruise.

Do you have any menus from the dining room?

Thanks

Thank you so much for your review! I can't wait to read the rest of it- I want to book a cruise on the Fantasy right now! If only it weren't for that pesky deposit thing... :D

I got up this morning and check on the camera. The lens was fully retracted and the lens cover had closed. Had little elves snuck into the room overnight and fixed the old Nikon? I powered it up and it came to life. I snapped some shots and they looked fine. Now the tricky part...I switched it off. Buzzzzz, the lens retracted...and the lens cover closed. It was fully repaired! Amazed I tried it again just to be sure and it was like it had never been broken. I guess all that buzzing and whirring I heard all night was the camera actually doing some kind of self diagnostic. Then I had this sick feeling that my camera had somehow become self-aware and was now staring at me through that single glassy lens. Staring and plotting...I took the batteries out just to be safe. Let's move on. (Note: Even if self repairing cameras may be plotting your demise, don't share those thoughts w/DW. She will stare at you more coldly that that camera lens ever could. The floors in my room were not shiny, but my shoes suddenly drew my attention, and I stared at them intently for several minutes.)

Back to the Lido for breakfast. I have to say that their french toast is my favorite. It was cinnamon raisin bread turned into french toast. I'm not a big fan of raisins, but they did not distract from the taste one bit. On other days they also served fruit pancakes. I know I saw banana and blueberry, but there may have been other flavors as well. We went up for some more golf and a walk and then back to the room to get ready for Nassau. We decided to go the British Colonial Hilton for a day at their beach and pool. We were the only ship in port today, which i knew ahead of time, so we didn't book ahead of time. We just didn't want to be locked into doing this if we changed our minds.

The BCH is about a 5 or 10 minute walk from the ship, which docks at the pier in Nassau rather than resorting to tender service. The day pass is valid from 9:00am to 5:00pm. So we planned our arrival time accordingly. Here is a picture from the ship of the general path to the BCH.

You turn right from the pier, cut through the shops they make you walk through to the street. Then go to the right parallel with the ocean along the road. Go past the straw market, the giant white tent on the left side of the picture, until you get to Senor Frogs, the green fronted building in the center. Turn left and walk up the road away from the ocean for about a block. The road will bare right, just follow it for about 100 feet or so and the large tan building on your right is the BCH, its the big tan building with red roof on the right of the photo.

Once at the BCH, go into the main entrance to the lobby. Go up to the check-in desk and just let the receptionist know that you want to book a day pass at the pool and beach. They charged DW and I $55.00 a piece and DS was free. For the $55 you get $30.00 in credit for food, drinks, or purchases at the gift shop. The remaining $25.00 goes toward use of the beach, pool, chairs at either spot, palapas (umbrellas), ocean kayaks, snorkel gear, towels, floating mats, toys, and restrooms. They give you several vouchers that you present as you go. We took the first to the towel hut. She took it and gave us a big pile of towels and explained everything to us. She was super nice! The second voucher was for the food and beverages. You present that to the bar tender whenever you are ready to order. You need to keep track of how much you have spent yourself, but they will cut you a receipt if you want one.

We set up at the palapas and had the whole place pretty much to ourselves, maybe 4 other couples there. The kids toys are next to the pool hut and you just grab what you want. The floating mats were the same, just grab and go. Snorkel and kayak gear was still free, you just had to check that out from the towel hut. The soft, sandy beach is raked and very clean. There were small amounts of glass in the ocean, but nothing sharp or deadly. There were quite a few small fish which attracted a few larger fish. So snorkelling was easy and safe, but still fun. You aren't going to see anything AMAZING, but it was nice.

The pool is very warm, large, and clean with depths from 3 feet to 8 feet. There are floats available for the pool as well. There are plenty of chairs at both locations. The bar/restaurant is right beside the pool. It also has tables and chairs in addition to bar stools at the bar. There is a TV at the bar, and they have Wi-Fi available for $10/day I think. For the $60.00 in credit DW and I had we got 4 bahama mammas ($8.00 each), a large fruit plate ($10.00), and a chicken tenders platter with fries ($15.00). Just remember that everything has a preset 15% surcharge added to the listed price. The drinks were kind of small, but VERY strong and delicious. The fruit platter was awesome. The chicken tenders were chicken tenders. What can I say really? Nothing special, but delicious. I only managed to get one shot of the fruit platter, and that was after we devoured most of it.

Here are some more shots of the area. It rained off and on all day, but we still had a blast. I would recommend this place to everyone who wants a quiet relaxing beach day.

This is a shot from the boat. The towel hut is the tiny building in the center. The bar is the larger hut to the right.

View of the ship from the BCH beach. See it IS close.

This is about half of the pool in the rain. My big head was blocking the rest of the pool so I cropped it out.

Beach chairs and palapas in the soft sand.

We went back to the ship at about 3:30. It poured the whole walk back, but we were wet anyway from swimming. We had a rest and went to dinner. DS went to dinner at camp once again. "Imade" was our head waiter and he was great. He was very attentive without being intrusive. I believe they had lobster bisque that night and I had a fried fish platter for entree. The fried platter was my least favorite entree of the week, although it was still good. A little warm chocolate melting cake for dessert and we went to pick up DS for bedtime. DW went to the casino and made us some dough on the video poker machines.

So the camera was all fixed, but possibly trying to take over the world; we had an awesome beach day; I had melting cake and a drink or two sloshing away in my tummy; DW had recovered our losses for the week; and we still had another whole day at sea ahead of us. This vacation was shaping up to be one of our best....