Carnival Fascination Review 11/24/12: Toddling through the Bahamas

[Mrs CruisinCritter]

I only remembered to get pictures of the towel animals on 4 different nights. The first night was the standard walrus, but looks like a.. well you know.. Here are the rest of them. The last one wasn't very creative since Win only had a short amount of time to take care of our room since little man was ready for bed when it was our normal dinner time. We left the room for about 30 min to give him a chance to get in and take care of everything.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here are just a few photos from around the ship. This is the Palace Theatre

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This is a panoramic shot of the Port of Jacksonville off of the bow of the ship.

 

 

 

 

[Mrs CruisinCritter]

Whale tail lit up at night.

 

 

 

 

Lido deck at night.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Mrs CruisinCritter]

Here is the atrium at night. I don't care for neon lights, but the atrium on this ship wasn't as bright as the one on the Inspiration when we sailed her so I thought it looked pretty in comparison.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We returned from dinner one night to find this in our room. It was a very nice surprise because we hadn't participated in any of the events around the ship so we could only assume it was for our anniversary.

 

 

 

 

My hubby was able to add it to his personal stash so the grand total for our S&S bill was $126 and that includes $60 for the Appleton and $20 for two t-shirts for little man. We spent about $46 on DODs and fruity drinks for me.

 

 

[Mrs CruisinCritter]

This is for anyone wondering what comes in the mini bar in the stateroom. We just put the drinks in the drawer next to the fridge so we could grab some juice from the Lido at breakfast to use a mixers throughout the day. They offered OJ, apple, and guava juice during breakfast hours every day, but promptly at noon they would switch it out to make it 3 dispensers with lemonade and one with tea.

 

 

 

 

Our balcony was the last one in front of the extension.

 

 

 

 

Whale tail during the day.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

On our last cruise on a Fantasy Class ship, they had loungers on the deck in front of the Owner's Suites, but they had some padded chairs on this ship.

 

 

[Mrs CruisinCritter]

The last few pictures are of the Lido and Veranda decks around 2-3pm on the last sea day. It was partly cloudy and it started to get windy around 1 so the decks were pretty empty.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The seas were around 4-6ft and got a little bigger that night so it was a bumpy afternoon and got a little worse as the evening progressed. We were rocking and rolling a bit by bed time. This was the only time I needed to take sea sickness meds other than embarkation day where I took it as a just in case thing. I am glad that I did though because it was rocking and rolling that night as well as we cut through the cold water out of the bay and down the coast to warmer waters. That night I actually had a dream that I was holding onto a bed as it was going around a roller coaster track. lol The sea sickness strips really caused me to have strange dreams.

 

Chair hogs were not a problem on this cruise. I never saw any seat saving and there were plenty of empty loungers all over the Lido, Veranda and Sun decks. Unfortunately I forgot to get pictures of the Serenity deck when we had lunch above it on the last sea day, but there weren't a lot of people out on that deck either after the wind started picking up.

[Mrs CruisinCritter]

This really was a great cruise. It was nothing like I had imagined it being, but that's probably because I was fearing the worst since we were taking our little guy with us. He started cutting a molar right before Thanksgiving and he was in pain until the first sea day when it seemed to ease up, but he was a trooper and didn't cry a bit other than the two times I mentioned at the beginning. He had a few fussy moments when he would whine a bit, but that was usually around meal time so it quickly stopped after we pulled out some of the graham cracker snacks we brought along for such an emergency. He is a very laid back toddler so we were able to relax quite a bit throughout the cruise. Of course he wanted to play and get into stuff and we let him do what he wanted within reason so he was content all week. If he wanted to walk up to and look at something, we walked with him and let him check things out. If he tried to go up to other people we would stop him and tell him no.

I would cruise with him again in a heartbeat. He seemed to enjoy it as much as we did. Cruising with a young child is fun if you go into it knowing that you won't be able to do hardly any of the activities or see any of the shows. We probably could have went to a show because he loves music and people are singing and dancing, but the volume was just too loud. Our room was located midship, two floors below the theater and halfway down the hallway from the elevators. The stairs and elevators took you straight to the atrium and the theater. We could actually hear the show Hey Mambo down our hallway and through our cabin door if the TV was turned off. The stairwell/elevator area was a miserable place to be during a stage show.

The Fascination is a great ship for a short cruise and Jaxport is small and easy to navigate. We are thinking about booking another cruise on this ship for next fall since she's getting a dry dock and they are adding the Blue Iguana Tequila Bar and Red Frog Rum Bar.

We are going to scan the Fun Times tonight and I will get them posted either tonight or tomorrow morning. We got a new printer an we haven't used this scanner before so we have to figure it out first. Normally they are easy to use, but this printer has been nothing but problems since we hooked it up.

If you have any questions about the ship or ports please ask. We may not have been able to take part in a lot of things, but we saw everything from afar. I hope you all enjoyed the review!

 

[Santa Rosa Beach Realtor]

Going out Dec. 8th on Fascination. Was the water temp in Nassau comfortable for swimming? Did you need long sleeves in the dining room at night? The weather forcasts look like it should be in the 70's so sunning and bathing suits seem appropriate for packing. Any suggestions as to what we won't need to pack? There will be six of us including husband, daughters and their husbands. Our daughters have never cruised before so we are all getting very excited:D

[barbatkins]

really enjoyed your review.......I am also going out on Fascination on Dec. 8 so I really enjoyed your take on things....

 

does your son have a name......or is his name actually "little man"? lol..... He is really an adorable little boy......

 

Barb

[AmberTeka]

i took almost all of the pictures with my iphone and they are huge when i try to post them from photobucket. Can anybody tell me how to scale it down? If not then i will post them as is.

 

 

totally love the size. Best and most easy review i have read in a while. Enjoying it. I live in jax. Good to know about the hyatt. Surprised at the parking lot. Usually they get good marks. I forget how lovely Key West is...those pics..make me long to return. We did the Trolley Tour this past May..and it was stop get on and stop get off at the historical sites. Historical narration was included..and our driver..a resident of the Keys for over forty years..had a very dry, droll sense of humor. He would say something funny..and then five minutes later.I would get the point..laughing a inappropriate times. He was funny.

[iloverags2]

The trees in Key West are banyan trees. Very cool looking trees, and quite plentiful in South Florida.

 

Thanks for your review!

[Mrs CruisinCritter]

Going out Dec. 8th on Fascination. Was the water temp in Nassau comfortable for swimming? Did you need long sleeves in the dining room at night? The weather forcasts look like it should be in the 70's so sunning and bathing suits seem appropriate for packing. Any suggestions as to what we won't need to pack? There will be six of us including husband, daughters and their husbands. Our daughters have never cruised before so we are all getting very excited:D

 

 

 

Bathing suits are a must. The temps for Key West and Nassau were around 75-80 when we were there and it was comfortable. Both of the sea days were a little cool, but it was still warm compared to our weather this time of year. By the time we woke up on the first sea day we were off of the coast between Port Canaveral and Miami and we were just south of Miami by nightfall so check the temps for that area for an estimate on your weather for the first sea day. On the last sea day we were around the Port Canaveral area so the weather forecast for that area would be close to the temps you see that day. You will need a jacket or sweatshirt in the evening because the wind is going to be cool.

The water in Nassau was cool. I think it was close to 70 degrees, but once you got into it, it was easy to adjust to after a few minutes. It wasn't much cooler than the air because we didn't freeze when we got out and walked back up the beach. When we walked around Key West we all wore short sleeve shirts, shorts and sandals and we were comfortable. In Nassau I just wore my bathing suit under a dress type cover-up and flip flops and I was very comfortable all day. I'm more prone to being cold so I needed a sweatshirt and sometimes a blanket when we sat on our balcony at night, but my hubby was comfy in shorts and a sweatshirt. It just depends on how well you tolerate cool air.

I don't remember it being cool in the dining room at night, but I was more focused on making sure our son was happy and doing well so I probably wouldn't have noticed if someone caught on fire next to me. lol

I hope this helps you. I'm still trying to figure out how to scan the Fun Times. My printer have been giving me trouble all day and it won't communicate with my computer so I have to find a cable to hard wire it. I will try to have them posted in the next day or two.

[Mrs CruisinCritter]

really enjoyed your review.......I am also going out on Fascination on Dec. 8 so I really enjoyed your take on things....

 

does your son have a name......or is his name actually "little man"? lol..... He is really an adorable little boy......

 

Barb

 

 

Thank you! His name is Aiden and he's really full of himself so this cruise and all of the attention didn't help. lol He heard his name several times from each person that approached him so he learned to say it. Now he runs around the house saying "Here's Aiden" because that's all he heard last week.

[Santa Rosa Beach Realtor]

thank you so much for your review. So glad that ya'll enjoyed your trip and were willing to take your time to share.

[Mrs CruisinCritter]

totally love the size. Best and most easy review i have read in a while. Enjoying it. I live in jax. Good to know about the hyatt. Surprised at the parking lot. Usually they get good marks. I forget how lovely Key West is...those pics..make me long to return. We did the Trolley Tour this past May..and it was stop get on and stop get off at the historical sites. Historical narration was included..and our driver..a resident of the Keys for over forty years..had a very dry, droll sense of humor. He would say something funny..and then five minutes later.I would get the point..laughing a inappropriate times. He was funny.

 

 

Thank you. I tried to write the review just like I would tell it if I were talking to someone in person so it's easier to follow along. As for the lot, I think I'm more protective of our car than most people are. It didn't look like a place I would park my car for a day so I definitely didn't want to do it for 5 days, but that's just me. It looked like they try to put too many cars on a tiny lot.

It may be a coincidence, but I think we had the same driver on our ride into town in Key West. I forgot to mention that we docked at Outer Mole so we had to take the trolley to Mallory Square before we could walk around. He was very polite and did have a dry sense of humor, but he was funny. My hubby always tells me that I have a dry sense of humor though so that explains why I laughed before anybody else when he would say something funny. :)

[Mrs CruisinCritter]

The trees in Key West are banyan trees. Very cool looking trees, and quite plentiful in South Florida.

 

Thanks for your review!

 

 

 

Thank you! I couldn't remember the name to save my life. I tried to consult my best friend Mr. Google, but I just couldn't come up with the right description to get the correct answer. They really are cool trees!

[Mrs CruisinCritter]

thank you so much for your review. So glad that ya'll enjoyed your trip and were willing to take your time to share.

 

 

Not a problem at all! It's rare to come across a review on the Fascination so I wanted to get another one out there. I also wanted to give another perspective on sailing with a toddler to get another point of view out on that as well.

[gweedo]

Thank you for the time and effort it took to post this. I really enjoyed it. We are looking forward to being on the Fascination in Fed.--same itinerary. I also appreciate the info on the parking-I had some things about the parking there. Thanks again.:)

[eoconnor]

Good Review, we were getting off as you were getting on. Thnaksgiving week was a little cool and high seas. But over all a good vacation. Second time on this ship and second time from JAX. We used Official Cruise Parking Alex and crew were great.

[Cruise Envy]

Thank you so much! You are right, there aren't many Fascination reviews.

 

Question about the BCH -- did they have wifi?

 

Any tips on getting through the JAX port terminal? I know they don't allow pictures, but I am just curious.

[gracie65]

Thanks for the awesome review!! We will be on The Fascination two weeks from tonight. Hope the weather stays as you have described!!

You will have to do another cruise with Aiden when he is 2. Camp carnival is amazing. Our son is now 13 so this will be his first sailing to be in Circle C. We have 10 cabins going with lots of kids so everyone should have plenty to do.

[barbatkins]

Thank you! His name is Aiden and he's really full of himself so this cruise and all of the attention didn't help. lol He heard his name several times from each person that approached him so he learned to say it. Now he runs around the house saying "Here's Aiden" because that's all he heard last week.

 

well he is an adorable "little man" and I loved your review....... thanks again

[Mrs CruisinCritter]

Thank you so much! You are right, there aren't many Fascination reviews.

 

Question about the BCH -- did they have wifi?

 

Any tips on getting through the JAX port terminal? I know they don't allow pictures, but I am just curious.

 

 

I honestly don't know if they had wifi. I'm sure they do for their regular guests, but I didn't even think to ask if it was offered for day pass guests since the only wifi enabled device we took with us was my iPhone.

Don't worry one bit about navigating the terminal in JAX. I worried myself sick for at least two weeks before we left because I knew we would have to carry on two duffle bags, a rolling carry on, a diaper bag and two back packs not to mention pushing little man in his stroller. As soon as we stepped through the front doors I quickly realized I worried for nothing. Imagine an oversized garage with lines roped off that has security scanners at one end and a very long desk with computer terminals at the other end. That is JAXport. They have chairs sitting in the middle of the terminal for people who arrive early and have to wait with a zone number. The only difference with this ship is that you board at ground level so instead of entering the atrium or the Lido deck when you head up the gangway you enter on deck 3 where you debark at the ports of call. You will have to take the elevators all the way to the Lido on deck 10, but they stagger the people heading to board the ship so there's really not a line to wait for an elevator.

[Mrs CruisinCritter]

Thanks for the awesome review!! We will be on The Fascination two weeks from tonight. Hope the weather stays as you have described!!

You will have to do another cruise with Aiden when he is 2. Camp carnival is amazing. Our son is now 13 so this will be his first sailing to be in Circle C. We have 10 cabins going with lots of kids so everyone should have plenty to do.

 

 

I hope you all have a warm and fun cruise! We had quite a few teens on our cruise, but I don't remember ever seeing anyone in the room for Circle C. They were constantly shutting down different public spaces for Circle C activities so he should have plenty to do. I hope I can figure out how to get my scanner to communicate with my computer soon so I can get the Fun Times added to the review. They listed a few of the Circle C activites in it so it may help him decide what he may like to do before you go.

[tncap]

There was a blonde haired girl on the entertainment staff and her voice absolutely terrified my son.

 

She terrified me, too!

 

We were supposed to have Paul Santley as our CD. We had him on our last cruise and he was very charismatic and funny, but he had to attend the CD conference so we had a younger guy named Brendan Lewis who went by Lewis.

 

I loved Paul. Didn't much care for the ACD.

[dosherpack]

Nice review. Love your perspective on travel with a toddler. I will be in that same room next week! How annoying is the balcony sticking out past yours? I took this cruise two years ago with my son. Weather was so bad we missed KW. I usually don't even get off the ship in Nassau. Thanks for the review.