All Things Fantasy

[NCTribeFan]

I'm to the age that going down the stairs hurts my knees. Going up just makes me think I'm going to pass out. :p

 

Guess I should've included the fact that I hadn't yet told DD I had booked this Fantasy cruise. But she knows that I'm addicted so wasn't surprised that I'd managed to sneak another cruise into my schedule.

 

Seriously, if I lived closer to a port, and could get the time off, I think I'd probably cruise once a quarter. At least. But if I ate cruise-ship food that often, I'd have to start using the jogging track on the ship! And that's not what I want to do with my free time. I like just being lazy and finding somewhere semi-quiet to read and relax.

[MomPic]

Well, we are booked on Fantasy for October, 2014!!!!! Finally picked an inside cabin on the Verandah Deck :) DH likes to be closer to the pool and food :). We will be close to elevators too as he has difficulty walking long distances. Only 416 days LOL!!

 

 

Sent using the Cruise Critic forums app

[bobsfamily]

Well, we are booked on Fantasy for October, 2014!!!!! Finally picked an inside cabin on the Verandah Deck :) DH likes to be closer to the pool and food :). We will be close to elevators too as he has difficulty walking long distances. Only 416 days LOL!!

At least not as long as that person posted a while back.... it was something like 8 million years... a glitch for sure...

[redryanc22]

I just read this whole thread. It has ignited the "I can't wait excitement". I'm totally with NCTribeFan in that I would cruise once a quarter as well. If only that Powerball would come in for the Coca Cola group I would be set. Thanks for all the helpful posts on here. It is appreciated.

[NCTribeFan]

Glad you enjoyed it.

 

I have a few more nights on her since I started the thread. ;)

 

Starting to get to the "how am I going to get everything done before I sail again?" feeling! And what happened to my plan to drop 5 pounds? Definitely running out of time for that to happen! :eek:

[bobsfamily]

Glad you enjoyed it.

 

I have a few more nights on her since I started the thread. ;)

 

Starting to get to the "how am I going to get everything done before I sail again?" feeling! And what happened to my plan to drop 5 pounds? Definitely running out of time for that to happen! :eek:

LOL... Wishing the pounds away is what I am down to!:D

[NCTribeFan]

Someone started a thread with this link to the Fantasy web cams...

 

http://ships.carnivalentertainment.com/ships/view-ship/id/34

[vernb13]

I'm so glad I found this thread! My husband and I are looking at the Feb 1 Bahamas sailing of the Fantasy. It will be our first cruise and our 10 year anniversary. Should we "splurge" for a suite or just get an interior room and go cheap?

[bobsfamily]

I'm so glad I found this thread! My husband and I are looking at the Feb 1 Bahamas sailing of the Fantasy. It will be our first cruise and our 10 year anniversary. Should we "splurge" for a suite or just get an interior room and go cheap?

Suites on Carnival ships are not what you might expect on other cruiselines. About the only real "perk" other than the balcony(the only way to get one on the Fantasy) is VIP embarkation/disembarkation. If available on the cruise I would get the FTTF "excursion". Faster To The Fun, check it out on CC and at the Carnival website. If doing interior look for the porthole option, still considered an interior but has a true porthole to see out of. Again plenty of threads here about porthole cabins.

Have a wonderful cruise!

[echo]

I love the "silent" disembarkation. Although I get #1 tags, I'm usually not in THAT much of a hurry to leave! It goes very smoothly.

 

Given the limitations at the port, I think they do a great job with both embarkation and disembarkation.

 

What I don't care for, when taking a shuttle or taxi, is the rather long walk from the terminal down to the street. Now THAT feels like a long walk! :p

 

I thought my arm was going to drop off when I was about 2/3 of the way down, and I was following a couple of women who were barely moving. I finally had to ask that they keep right so I could pass or I just wasn't going to make!

 

Since they shuttle us from that area TO the terminal (usually with "just" a carryon), it would be sort of nice if they would also shuttle us back. But then they'd have to have various shuttles with luggage trailers - some heading to the parking and some going only to the street, and that probably would just be too much confusion.

 

Tell me more about this. I understand they shuttle you to the port. But when you disembark where is your luggage and are you saying we have to carry all our luggage and walk to the parking garage? If we self disembark I assume you'd have all your luggage, but do they have a shuttle back to the parking area? I have elderly folks going with us.

[SmudgeCat]

Well, we are booked on Fantasy for October, 2014!!!!! Finally picked an inside cabin on the Verandah Deck :)

 

Yea!!!!! DH and I are trying an inside Verandah in December- it will be our first inside cabin (V8, which makes me always think "I could've had a V8" from those commercials). We're so excited!!!! I'm booked in my first Oceanview for Dec 2014 on the Fantasy for a group cruise. It's midship which I'm not thrilled about (don't ask me why, no clue why I tend to prefer aft or forward over midship), but it's where the TA stuck me and it's for a group cruise I'm sponsoring, so probably just as well that I am near everyone. :). (We're troublemakers, lol! )

 

 

 

 

Sent using the Cruise Critic forums app

[bobsfamily]

Tell me more about this. I understand they shuttle you to the port. But when you disembark where is your luggage and are you saying we have to carry all our luggage and walk to the parking garage? If we self disembark I assume you'd have all your luggage, but do they have a shuttle back to the parking area? I have elderly folks going with us.

The shuttles to the parking area have trailers for all the luggage. What NC was talking about is when you are catching a HOTEL shuttle back to your car. You have to walk on a sidewalk about 500-1000 ft to where the taxi's and hotel shuttles are staged. Or if like us and you are being picked up by a relative you have to walk a bit further to the road. Some cruisers that have packed light will just "hoof" it over to where the cars are parked. If you have one individual that does not mind the walk in the group they can get a head-start on getting the car ready if you are in a long line for shuttles.

Edited August 15, 2013 by bobsfamily

[echo]

Thanks Bobsfamily. So basically whether we are self assist or put our luggage out, we will load it on to shuttle trailers and take the shuttle back to the parking warehouse. We usually self assist, since we always have to drive so far but being only 2-3 hours from Charleston. I might actually get to eat breakfast first.

[bobsfamily]

Thanks Bobsfamily. So basically whether we are self assist or put our luggage out, we will load it on to shuttle trailers and take the shuttle back to the parking warehouse. We usually self assist, since we always have to drive so far but being only 2-3 hours from Charleston. I might actually get to eat breakfast first.

You are getting it... being a short ride away I would put the luggage out and go from there. A very good option if not Platinum or Diamond is to purchase the FTTF pass and get early on/off plus a few other benefits that are normally for P/D.

[Terre]

We love the Fantasy for a quick get away. It's an easy drive for us from Charlotte. She was our third cruise way back before the Serenity Deck and the water slide. In fact, there was a nice large pool where the slide is now.

 

Yes, you can take a 7 day cruise for the price of the Fantasy's five day, but if you do your research, you can get a low fare. My husband looks at Travelocity and Crucon constantly and when he finds a cabin he wants at the fare he wants, we book it. Trust me, we don't pay an arm and leg for our cruises.

[bobsfamily]

Happy to be near her!

Edited August 16, 2013 by bobsfamily

[NCTribeFan]

Back in post #744, I put a link to my B2B review from October. When we disembarked that time, we took the shuttle to the parking, so there's a description about that near the end. It was fairly painless.

[rdh rules]

NCTribeFan (Joan), thanks for starting this board and sharing your reviews. I found this board about 2 weeks ago and have it read it (including all the reviews) from start to finish on my lunch breaks and before bed. Finally caught up. I'm about 1.5 hrs from you. We're booked on the 9/11 voyage. We did Fantasy's sister Fascination out of Jacksonville this past Thanksgiving. This will be our 4th cruise-3rd carnival. We've looked at Charleston many times and it's so much more expensive. But we booked this in July and it was a great deal 4A U180. My friends are going with us and they booked a Grand suite(never cruised before and is claustraphobic). I told them once they go big, it will be hard to go smaller ;) I'm perfectly content with an interior room. I love the dark to sleep. But my husband wants to try an oceanview sometime. We haven't decided on a hotel yet. We've never visited Charleston, but we're are only taking off our cruise days so maybe can spend 4 hrs before embarkation and 4hrs after disembarkation.

 

All4fun (Nancy), Thanks for your input and your reviews. Sounds like great fun!

 

Bobsfamily, Thanks for all your input too!

 

Glad to be a part of the CC family, Joanne

[NCTribeFan]

Joanne - glad you enjoyed the reading! I can sit for hours and read reviews and look at pics.

 

I'm not a balcony snob, and, personally, would never spend the money for a suite on a Fantasy-class ship. But then, I'd probably never spend the money for a suite on any cruise. My feeling is just that, being on a budget, I'd rather cruise more fequently than blow my entire annual vacation budget on my stateroom.

 

I love my dark inside cabins! I figure there's plenty of "free" deck space elsewhere on the ship. I actually prefer them to an OV cabin.

 

With Carnival having no competition in Charleston, they can charge more. But it seems the prices from Charleston have come down this summer and are more in line with Jacksonville and only a little more than other FL ports. I've also driven to Jacksonville (twice) to sail Fascination because you can get to HMC on a 5-night cruise. I'm just getting to the age that driving all day doesn't appeal to me too much. Pre-cruise isn't so bad, but the drive home is never any fun.

 

Still, being able to drive to a port is great. But to get more interesting itineraries, it's either drive many hours or cough up the money to fly. But it's OK. I used to drive to Port Canaveral to "just" go to the Bahamas!

[NCTribeFan]

Oh, and if you haven't checked out the East Coast Departures Board, there's a great thread there discussing hotels, parking, etc., in which Bob and Nancy (and others) have provided a ton of info.

 

Downtown hotels are very expensive, and the problem I was finding was that a lot of hotels that offer a cruise parking package don't provide transportation.

 

I'm staying precruise at the Hampton Inn West Ashley. Nice enough hotel (has a happy hour every afternoon with free beer, wine and snacks). Easy drive into downtown if you want to have dinner there or just do what I do - park along the waterfront park and wander (or go to Fleet's Landing for shrimp & grits). They do offer the shuttle. Grocery and drug store across the street; great sushi next door.

 

I'd just rather spend the extra money for the hotel and get there the night before than drive down in the morning, worrying about getting a flat tire or something worse, and paying to park at the port.

[redryanc22]

I read on John Heald' s Facebook today that they have extended the Cheers Bar Program to the Fantasy. If anyone on here drink a lot of alcohol on their cruises then you might want to look into this.

[dwightnwynonia]

I read on John Heald' s Facebook today that they have extended the Cheers Bar Program to the Fantasy. If anyone on here drink a lot of alcohol on their cruises then you might want to look into this.

 

Awesome we're on the Fantasy sept 16 and will have it

 

Sent from my SPH-L710 using Forums mobile app

[redryanc22]

On our last cruise we ran up an over $500 on our S&S (mostly alcohol) so we will definitely be purchasing the Cheers program in January.

[dwightnwynonia]

On our last cruise we ran up an over $500 on our S&S (mostly alcohol) so we will definitely be purchasing the Cheers program in January.

 

Ours was worse then that a real case of sticker shock

 

Sent from my SPH-L710 using Forums mobile app

[rdh rules]

Oh, and if you haven't checked out the East Coast Departures Board, there's a great thread there discussing hotels, parking, etc., in which Bob and Nancy (and others) have provided a ton of info.

 

Joan, Yes I've read all those posts too:) I preliminary booked quality inn & suites mt. pleasant w/ shuttle, hot breakfast $129. My 21 yr old niece surprised me and may come w/ her boyfriend. I said they could stay with us-in the hotel! not our stateroom:eek: So I may find a better deal. Hotel said it would $190 for 2 more adults. We'll see if they really book it 1st.