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Fascination B2B Picture Review January 12 & 17 2015

PC Cruisin

By PC Cruisin,
in Carnival Cruise Lines

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PC Cruisin

PC Cruisin

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Hello! I just got off the Fascination today. In this review I will have lots of photos plus tell you how a B2B cruise went in Jacksonville, FL. It will take me a few days to upload my photos once I get back home from the cruise. Please give me some time to get this review started. I will try to answer any questions along the way!

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Princess_K

Princess_K

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I have been LIVING for someone like you! I am on the fascination May 9th and I can't wait... have been living through reviews on other ships so now I can live through MY ship.... I'm following along... 😆

 

Carnival Fantasy January 2010

Carnival Conquest April 2011

Carnival Fascination May 2015

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PC Cruisin

PC Cruisin

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Hello fellow cruisers! We finally made it back home after a 17 hour drive from Jacksonville. I have over 800 pictures. I will try to start this review tonight or tomorrow. Thank you for following me on my lastest adventure on the Fascination.

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jbhcw

jbhcw

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another poster looking forward to your review...even though we leave tomorrow for Jacksonville and the Fascination on Monday:)

 

this will be our third trip on her...love the older Fantasy class ships....also looking forward to Little Stirrup Cay...we have not been there since it was called Coco Cay and that was on a RCI ship!!

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Princess_K

Princess_K

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Wonderful. We are on the Feb. 28th sailing, and considering Feb. 23 if I can get a DEAL, lol.

 

17 days & counting for my fascination cruise

Looking forward to your review

 

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G870A using Forums mobile app

 

Looking forward to it. I am doing my first B2B in April on the Valor!!

 

another poster looking forward to your review...even though we leave tomorrow for Jacksonville and the Fascination on Monday:)

 

this will be our third trip on her...love the older Fantasy class ships....also looking forward to Little Stirrup Cay...we have not been there since it was called Coco Cay and that was on a RCI ship!!

I know all of you wonderful people will have a great time on your cruises. .... I hope you will indulge the rest of us, who have longer to go, with a review of your own when you return!!

 

Carnival Fantasy January 2010

Carnival Conquest April 2011

Carnival Fascination May 2015

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PC Cruisin

PC Cruisin

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Review Begins :D

 

This will be me and my husbands 2 and 3rd time on the Fascination and our first B2B cruise!



 

This time we are doing a B2B with my Dad (his second cruise overall on Carnival) and his wife.

 

We are in our upper 40's and my Dad and his wife is in their later 60's.

 

Me and my husband will be traveling from Missouri by car. It took us 2 days to get to Jacksonville, FL. My dad and his wife flew the night before the cruise.

 

We work in a hotel back home and get great team member rates when we book with our brand in hotels. We stayed at a Hampton Inn next to the airport that had a free shuttle to the airport to pick up my Dad and his wife. Our rooms were only $29 per night plus tax and it comes with a free breakfast and wifi. Down fall, no shuttle to the cruise port. We did get a good deal to leave our car in their parking lot for the whole 10 days we were on the cruise, even if they don't offer a rate for park/cruise.

 

We called a taxi to pick us up at the hotel Monday, January 12th to get us to the cruise port. It was $25 with tip for all four of us. If you haven't cruised out of this port here is a tip for you *make sure you have your passports and cruise documents in hand before you arrive to the port- they will check all passengers before they let you in the gate to drop off your luggage with the porters!

 

Let's talk about the weather on this day. It was cloudy and we had rain off and on getting on the cruise. It didn't put a damper on our spirits. We were happy we were going on a cruise!

 

Once we tipped our porter for taking our luggage we were on our way inside. Once we entered the building we had to again show our passports and cruise documents before going threw the scanners. When we got to the scanner each couple was bringing on 4 bottles of wine since we were doing a B2B. I never told the person we are doing a B2B and they never questions "Why I had this many bottles in my bag?" I did print out my second leg of the trip just in case they did questions why, but it never became an issue. I also had water and a 12 pack of soda in my bag with the 4 bottles of wine and no one blinked in eye to check my bag when it went threw the scanner.

After the scanner- we went to pick up our sign and sail keys in the front. It was easy and no issues but when it was time to take a seat to wait to be called onto the ship in "Zones" we never did get a Zone number and they had us stand in line for 25 minutes and never offered us to sit down. They told everyone that was checking in at this point to stand still and wait. My Dad's wife had trouble standing and after awhile she asked if she could sit down and they let her do so.

 

We didn't get on board until 12:15pm after we watched the whole building get boarded first. We finally made it on board and went up to the lido deck for some lunch with some of our carry on bags.

 

Photos

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Fascination%202015%20032_zpsvslgdvoq.jpg

 

Fascination%202015%20043_zpsf7spxiwl.jpg

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PC Cruisin

PC Cruisin

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Let's talk about the cabin :)

 

We booked our cruise back in August 2014 our B2B cruise because we wanted to stay in the same room and not have to move on our second leg of the trip. We booked under Early Saver. When we booked we booked it with a bunk bed cabin so we could get the lowest rate. We are not cheap but we don't spend that much time in our rooms so why pay for something we really don't use. We did get the cabin in the same room number which was great plus we like to be on the Riviera deck when is easy access to get on and off the ship during ports. We did have a mid-ship cabin on the time of booking.

Then came the "Halloween" special. We talked about calling Carnival to get the price drop plus it will take us out of the cabin number on our first leg of the trip. We booked it at $199 back in August but with this special it dropped to $175 with a $20 on board credit but loose our cabin. We said "what the hell" let's do it!" We were already in bunk beds what worse could happen- we might have to pack up and move on the second leg of the trip.

3 weeks before the cruise we had our cabin assignment- Carnival was very nice to upgrade our first and second cruise to a port hole plus keep us on the same deck we originally booked. Only problem ... we are now sitting in the front of the ship. We never had a cabin up front and was kind of worried about the noise plus my husband can get sea sick (mostly caused by the alcohol lol) but why worry we are on a cruise!

 

Photos of the room

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Fascination%202015%20036_zpsll62qgiz.jpg

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PC Cruisin

PC Cruisin

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My Dad booked their cruise 3 weeks before it sailed. He did get his B2B cabin in the same room and just a few doors down from us! He booked a window view.

 

After lunch we went to see if our cabins were ready. My dad's cabin was and ours wasn't. So, we just dropped our stuff off in his room and went back upstairs to enjoy the ship and get ready for the muster drill.

Sail away was cloudy,cold and rainy...

Sail away photos:

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Fascination%202015%20045_zpsmyanw9jh.jpg

 

 

 

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PC Cruisin

PC Cruisin

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Before dinner we went to the taste bar to see what they had to offer. The taste bar is only open on sea days!

 

Fascination%202015%20053_zpsxix9fpvg.jpg

 

Dining

 

When we first booked this cruise it was just my husband and I so we picked late dining. My Dad picked the same time so we could link our bookings together to sit at the same table. *We had some issues on the second leg of the trip trying to change the time to early- I will talk about this later.

 

It was time for our dinner on our cruise and we had a table that was kind of in a bad place. It was in the center of 5 large tables around us and it was hard to sit down and not have the waiters hit your chair or rub your side when they tried to get to to the other guest. It felt like they threw this table in the middle at the last minute.

 

Food Porn

 

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Fascination%202015%20057_zpswb9ww1wn.jpg

 

Fascination%202015%20058_zps62oilr15.jpg

 

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PC Cruisin

PC Cruisin

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Hi again,

Quick question. Did you have to attend the muster drill on the 2nd half of your cruise? I have heard some people say they did and some people say they didn't. We will be in the same room for both legs.

 

Yes, we had to do both muster drills on the B2B :rolleyes:

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