NCL Cruiser gets a Fascinating perspective: 11/29 with pics

[tomsuelaw]

My Carnival Fascination review 11/29: Freeport and Nassau

 

Who we are: Tom (DH) and Susan (me). We are a married couple in our 30's with 2 kids, we left them home for this cruise (thank you DGM and DGF). We are former NCL cruisers. This was our 4th cruise, but 1st with Carnival.

 

 

Overview: This was a very nice cruise and I found Carnival to be very comparable to NCL with a few pros and cons to each line. I will try to highlight these throughout my review but here is the general tally.

 

Check in: Carnival by a land slide. Quick and easy. NCL always gets this wrong for us.

Service:Slight edge to CCL cause they always made an effort to learn our name even with anytime dining. Overall staff seemed to enjoy thier jobs more or are better pretenders ;)

Entertainment: Hands down this goes to NCL, we really prefer their comedians and shows much more. Plus, they offer a main show every night while this cruise only had 2 out 4 nights.

MDR Food: Carnival...excellent! NCL just ok.

Lido Food: NCL has a better set up for buffets although food quality is similar. Way more lines and waiting on CCL then with NCL.

Ship fun: CCL gets this for the waterworks!

Ship Decor: NCL gets this by a long shot. We are not a fan of Joe Farcus' circus of neon although it bothered DH much more then me it started to grow on him towards the end of cruise. NCL is more muted and mature looking.

Overall atmophere and culture: NCL is slightly more our thing. Some may call it boring but I would say subdued. CCL definately puts the F-U in FUN! :D

Disembark: Again CCL quick and painless!

 

Pre-Cruise: we decided to save $ and drive from Ohio to JAX. We left on 11/28 and drove 11hrs to Pooler, GA (by the Savannah airport). We stayed at the La Quinta Inn Pooler. It was a very nice hotel, well appointed, very friendly staff, clean and comfortable. My only complaint was our room was on the 1st floor by the side entrance and there was constant ppl coming and going all night. We heard alot of noise from the hallway that not even my ear plugs could muffle :( Other then the noise it was a great place with a nice complimentary breakfast.

 

Embarkation Day: We left the hotel at 8am and started the 2 hour drive to JAX. We arrived at our parking lot at 10am. We had made a reservation to park with Cruise Parking Jacksonville located at the entrance of the port access road. It was $35 total and the owner and staff were very nice and welcoming. When we arrived at 10am they told us that they would not be taking people over to the ship until about 10:30 so we had a seat to wait. By 10:35 we were on a shuttle and headed to the port.

 

Security and check in took 10minutes tops :D Before we knew we were sitting in Zone 2 waiting to board! If my memory serves me correctly we were on board by 11:30 and enjoyed lunch in an almost empty lido buffet.

 

 

More to come...gotta put some kiddos to bed. BRB!

[rongo31]

Good start to your review... always like to see an overall summary before getting the details. Please include lots of ship pics as we'll be sailing on her in January right after the dry dock enhancements (Red Frog Pub, Blue Iguana Grill, and 2 new shows - Motor City and Divas)... that will give a "before" look for comparison after the refurb. Waiting for more... :cool:

[tomsuelaw]

Day 1

After a typical, but yummy, Lido lunch we were off to explore the ship. We happened to stumble onto the entrance of the spa where they were giving out free massage demo's. This was a nice little treat as long as you don't mind listening to a sales pitch while you are massaged...which I don't cause its free :p

 

We walked around the ship snapping pics of the scenery and of course took the obligatory whale-tail shot :o

 

Oh a side note: the weather. As you can see by the photos it was a beautiful day not cold but breezy and not real warm either. I believe it was around 70. Even coming from cold Ohio weather we still needed sweatshirts in the shade. We found this to be a running theme on the cruise. The ship was so windy it usually made for some "chilly" warm weather...if that makes any sense.

[tomsuelaw]

By 1:45 our room was ready. We happen to just walk by and our room steward, Tomas was out and told us it was ready and we could go in. Tomas was awesome. One of the best stewards I have ever had!

 

We were in U10, a porthole room all the way forward. It was roomier then NCL by far. The porthole bay was really cool.

 

Overall the room was great. There was a faint sewer like smell in the bathroom. It seemed to help if we kept the toilet lid shut. I chalked this up to it being an old ship but IDK. Do not remember having that problem on NCL.

 

I found the bed to be ok but not great. The linens were soft and clean but the bed itself seemed worn. NCL beds are more comfy IMO.

 

After checking out the room we headed to the Lido for a drink and then to the Spa for a raffle.

 

Before we knew it, it was Muster time. Now, I am sure this is because CCL's sister line just sunk a ship last year ;) but this was the most intense and extensive muster I have ever experienced. We were muster A, so we started in the palace theater and after a long time of waiting in silence after initial instruction we were marched out to the lifeboat decks, crammed in like sardines and waited again for more instruction. No big deal but different then NCL last time.

 

After muster we went up on deck for my favorite part...side thruster action and sail away. I am a cruise dork, I love the engineering side of things. I was especially excited because when you leave from JAX you get to go under the Dames Point Bridge. I was so excited!!!

[tomsuelaw]

Before I knew it, we were on the other side of the bridge and the sun was setting. Gorgeous evening and the perfect start to the cruise.

 

After this we went to unpack our stuff. While unpacking the boat started rocking fairly well. This brought on the queasiness. I was hoping some MDR food would make it all better but by the time were done with dinner we were heading down the Atlantic Coast and we were rocking and rolling. Despite the mild nausea, dinner was great. I will apologize ahead of time for the lack of food porn. I had every intension of taking lots of pics but then I got into vaca mode and it just didn't happen. Sorry :o

 

Anywho, I had the Beef Brisket and DH had the Lasagna. We both liked it. For dessert I had the WCMC and lime sherbet...I love lime sherbet. They were both great. On vaca, I always have 2 desserts, but I also excursive to even things out. :D

 

We had Anytime Dining and since it was just the 2 of us, we never had to wait. The 1st night we were sat at a group table with a fun gang. Other nights we were at a private table but close enough to neighboring tables to strike up conversation with some "single serving friends" (Fight Club reference).

 

The MDR service was excellent! The dancing waiters took a lil getting used to coming from subdued NCL but I think in the end it grew on me :D

[AmberTeka]

I am enjoying your review. We were on the Fascination last May, and we really had a good time. We live in Jax..and had never sailed on the ship..even though we sail quite a bit...NOW I read that it is to be refurbished....Great. We hope to sail it again next may.

 

One poster said that the FAscination would get the Blue Iguana Grill....does that mean just the bar...or the dining facilities too? I just read a slew of reviews about the Breeze..and the Blue Iguana Grill..offered tacos as well as burritos..nachos and such. Hope so.

 

the Grilled ham and cheese sandwich from the Deli on the FAsination..is one of the best sandwiches I have had in years. I had it every day for lunch after the first one.

[bonnys]

Nice start to your review. I also like that you started with pros/cons and then went into detail. Looking forward to reading the rest because it brings back our Fascination memories.

[bonnys]

I am enjoying your review. We were on the Fascination last May, and we really had a good time. We live in Jax..and had never sailed on the ship..even though we sail quite a bit...NOW I read that it is to be refurbished....Great. We hope to sail it again next may.

 

One poster said that the FAscination would get the Blue Iguana Grill....does that mean just the bar...or the dining facilities too? I just read a slew of reviews about the Breeze..and the Blue Iguana Grill..offered tacos as well as burritos..nachos and such. Hope so.

 

the Grilled ham and cheese sandwich from the Deli on the FAsination..is one of the best sandwiches I have had in years. I had it every day for lunch after the first one.

 

From what I have read it will be the bar only.

[Cinedan]

By 1:45 our room was ready. We happen to just walk by and our room steward, Tomas was out and told us it was ready and we could go in. Tomas was awesome. One of the best stewards I have ever had!

 

We were in U10, a porthole room all the way forward. It was roomier then NCL by far. The porthole bay was really cool.

 

Overall the room was great. There was a faint sewer like smell in the bathroom. It seemed to help if we kept the toilet lid shut. I chalked this up to it being an old ship but IDK. Do not remember having that problem on NCL.

 

I found the bed to be ok but not great. The linens were soft and clean but the bed itself seemed worn. NCL beds are more comfy IMO.

 

After checking out the room we headed to the Lido for a drink and then to the Spa for a raffle.

 

Before we knew it, it was Muster time. Now, I am sure this is because CCL's sister line just sunk a ship last year ;) but this was the most intense and extensive muster I have ever experienced. We were muster A, so we started in the palace theater and after a long time of waiting in silence after initial instruction we were marched out to the lifeboat decks, crammed in like sardines and waited again for more instruction. No big deal but different then NCL last time.

 

After muster we went up on deck for my favorite part...side thruster action and sail away. I am a cruise dork, I love the engineering side of things. I was especially excited because when you leave from JAX you get to go under the Dames Point Bridge. I was so excited!!!

 

Great review so far! Keep the pictures coming! My first Carnival cruise was also on the Fascination. We also had a porthole cabin (E8). I like seeing pictures of all the changes to the ship since 2005.

[tomsuelaw]

Ok, before I go any farther I must address 2 things.

 

1st, I promised DH that I would mention that the windows on the ship that looked out were always dirty and grimy on the outside. We have never had this problem on NCL. They must take better strides to keep the windows clean cause you could see out of them. On the Fascination, no matter where you went, the windows were all glazed over with water and salt marks that significantly marred the view. We like to sit in lounges and window seats and watch the wake go by, but not so easy on this ship. We had to go outside for this privilege and since sometimes it was chilly in the wind, we would have preferred a view from inside.

 

2nd, the drinking water on this ship tasted nasty. It has a ever so faint smell to it but the taste left much to be desired. On NCL we have always had water that tasted bottled from the tap. We were glad they offered free lemonade though. Score one for NCL for water and one for CCL for free lemonade.

 

Freeport

 

Since we had a 12n arrival time we got to have a leisurely morning. We went for a run on the sports deck (crazy windy but a good work out). And then we got ready and headed to breakfast in MDR...Oh breakfast in the MDR, my favorite meal. I hate the madness of the lido scene so the MDR at breakfast is welcomed haven where I can quietly sit calmly and just be served while I sip my coffee and relax. Its like going to IHOP but way nicer and you can order whatever you want! Strawberry pancakes, yummy bacon (ask for double order), hash browns, yummy omlettes. I was in love. Oh and the MDR had the best coffee, better then room service and the lido.

 

Remember how I said the boat was rocking the night before?Well, apparently the winds were blowing hard enough that it delayed us by an hour. Instead of our noon arrival we arrived at 1pm.

 

When we arrived, we were greeted by this view and another fun ship.

 

Freeport was a bit of a bummer, but only because of poor weather. The weather was cool and cloudy so our plan for a resort beach day failed. We were planning to spend the day at the Grand Lucayan Resort so we disembarked the ship and hopped into a jitney(ghetto taxi van that they pack you into like sardines). I must admit I expected this and for the price $5pp/each way, who can complain? I chalk it up to local culture and we head to Lucaya.

 

Lucaya is a small strip of town (across from the beach) with lots of shops, restaurants, and resorts. I truly believe if the weather had been nice, we would have had a great time. When we arrived at the Grand Lucayan we decided it wasn't worth paying the $10pp for a day pass since it was too cold to swim. Instead, we relaxed on the beach (free) for a while until we got bored and then headed to the shops. We are so not shoppers but we picked up a "nice" cigar and some gifts while here.

 

After a couple hours we headed back to the ship.

We ended up going to the gym for a "Fab Abs" class that was printed in the Fun Times. However, when we got their the trainer told us they only offer that class in the AM...must have been a misprint but he was nice enough to do a 15min version. Our abs were hurting the next couple of days...glad we only did 15min!

 

After our private class we got ready for dinner. It was elegant night. DH had steak and lobster. I had the prime rib. Lobster was not DH's sup of tea. Flat Iron Steak was great...tender, juicy, and flavorful. Prime Rib was ok. DH fell in love with Bitter and Blanc that night. I liked it but prefer WCMC...I again had both:D

 

We went and saw a comedian that night named Mark Hawkins. To our misjudgment, we went to the adult show. Now, I just have to say, we are not offended easily. In fact DH and I both used to be ER nurses so we have rolled with crude crowds before. But this guy truly did put the "F-U" in FUN except he wasn't funny, he just really liked the F word. He was just vulgar and made most of his jokes at the expense of marriage. It was the worst I have ever been to on a cruise. We did see the other guy's (Jim McCue's) adult show on another night and it was much cleaner but not very funny either.

[sjn911]

So nice to share your vacation and love to hear folks comparing..the different lines happily..the pros and cons..thanks so much you are a darling couple..sarah

[Yankeegirl]

Thanks for taking the time to post a review, enjoying hearing the comparisons.:)

[bucket_O_beer4john]

Love your review! I'm sailing on her tomorrow.:D

[ScootsMom]

Great review!

[KirkNC]

Thanks for the review!

[tomsuelaw]

So nice to share your vacation and love to hear folks comparing..the different lines happily..the pros and cons..thanks so much you are a darling couple..sarah

 

Thanks Sarah, you're sweet.

[tomsuelaw]

Thanks everyone for the positive feedback so far. I will keep it coming then :)

[fergusonvt]

Great review! Looking forward to my first CCL cruise after two on NCL.

[tomsuelaw]

Day 3 Nassau:

 

Nassau was a good day. The weather was a bit warmer which worked out well since we had scuba trip booked. We had booked a 2 tank dive with Explore Scuba Bahamas. They were great. DH and I are both certified but do not get to dive as much since we had the kids. Explore scuba is a smaller operation that takes smaller groups. There was 4 total in our group so our dive master gave us lots of attention and help when needed. They can be and are more hands off with experienced divers so they really are a great set up no matter where you are at.

 

Since we had an early morning, we ordered room service the night before and ate breakfast in our room as we got ready. It was the typical continental room service fare...not even close to the magic of the MDR at breakfast ;). But it is quick and easy on a port day so no complaints.

 

Since it was an 8am arrival, much of the ship was still dead when they called the all clear for disembarking. Unlike in Freeport, there was not line to leave the ship, we just walked down to deck 3 and exited the ship. It was great.

 

Once off the ship we walked down the pier into the port's plaza and towards the exit to find this sign....just in case you walk of the ship saying "point me to the nearest hair braider"

[tomsuelaw]

Once thru the exit it was a quick walk to the pier to meet the scuba boat. We turned Left on Bay St and met the boat at the docks behind a restaurant called BLU. We arrived early so we sat on the dock and soaked in the local scenery. Had a great view of the ship from there.

 

After this, we must have went into vaca mode again because we forgot to take any pics while diving. We had a great time and dove with another couple who made great "single serving" friends for the day. After 2 dives at local reefs we were back at the boat by 1:30. We hit the lido to grab some lunch and then walked to Junkanoo Beach.

 

Again, I apologize for the lack of pics...I will try to do better on our Dream cruise next months :rolleyes: Anyway, Junkanoo Beach s nice for one reason...it is an easy walk from port. You just head to your right once out the port. Follow Bay St and the signs that say Junkanoo Beach (obviously :)) and within 20-25min of walking you are there. The locals right outside the port are very aggressive...a polite but firm "no thank you" seems to be the trick but you will have to use this strategy about 20 or more time before you get to the Beach area. Once there, the locals seemed a bit more chill. Soft drinks are $3 a bottle and beers were $4 at the stand on the beach. There is also a fun looking bar that serves food and fancy drinks.

 

Since we were both a little hypothermic from our earlier dives, swimming did not sound fun but we sat in the warm sun and people watched. There were a few ppl snorkeling at the beach and others jumping off a pier into the water. You could see the ships at port on one side and then industrial port stuff on the other so depending where you looked it was either pretty or ugly. The area around the beach was a little run down but not too bad. If you are looking for a cheap walking distance activity...Junkanoo Beach delivers. If you want a well-manicured resort style beach, look elsewhere.

 

After 1.5hrs we were bored again and decided to head back to the ship to enjoy and empty ship. By 4 we were back on board and I went down the watersides a few times. It was cold but the slides were fun and the tube slide was so fast. DH was too cold and wimped out ;) After that I headed to the Lido pool which felt warm. I think they may warm the water...seriously, it felt warmer and warmer as the cruise went on and with the cool nights we were having the pool should have been freezing.

[tomsuelaw]

We went to the Serenity Deck to lounge and wait for sail away. So glad we did, we had a great view and got lots of great picks. Watching the sun go down and then sailing away was almost magical.

Obligatory Atlantis shot

 

Costa Medetereania (sp?) was our neighboring ship.

[tomsuelaw]

That night we enjoyed another great dinner. I know I had the steak again that night and it was really good. BTY, we are steak snobs. The flat iron steaks we had on this cruise were as good as some filets we have had at main stream steak houses. Considering this was offered in the MDR every night, it was impressive. NCL offers a sirloin every night I believe...it may be a NY strip but it pales in comparison to the flat iron of CCL...or at least in our experience and opinion.

 

I can't remember dessert real well but I know I had 2 ;) WCMC and something else...

 

After dinner we hung out in the Karaoke Bar for a little while then went to another comedy show that was a little better but not very funny. We have liked every comedian we have seen on NCL so this was a disappointment for us. I heard others on the ship also say they did not think the comics were very funny so I do not think it was just us but you never...subjective is as subjective goes.

 

At bedtime we found this little fellow waiting for us. The rest of the animals we got looked like they could double as private parts which made us laugh everytime we saw them but this lil guys was G rated for sure.

[StephD]

So excited for the review, thanks so much. We still have a long wait before we're on her, but this keeps us going. I don't see very many reviews on the Fasination, but this is the 2nd one this week. This is Awesome!:D

[tomsuelaw]

Here were the other questionable critters I mentioned :p;)

 

 

 

:D Sorry DH specifically took these pics for my CC friends so I had to share.

[tomsuelaw]

Day 4: Sea Day

 

Pretty laid back day that did not go very fast (but not in a bad day). We grabbed breakfast in the MDR, hung out reading by the Lido which I discovered something on this cruise. Just like I can not read in the car, I too cannot read on a moving rocking ship.

 

We did the pool and water slides. Funny thing with the watersides. IDK what was going on, if the ship was listing to much or if there was a drainage/pump problem but the slides only had water running on and off. SO you had to stand at the top and wait for a gush of water and then you could go. Otherwise you were sliding down an almost dry slide. It was weird and if you hit a dry section it was a lil painful cause it would give you like a rug burn (well, a fiberglass burn??). We still had fun and it did not stop me, although DH threw in the towel a lil earlier then me due to the occasional slide chaffing :p

 

Since we were in no sort of hurry, at lunch I braved the long line for the Mongolian grill and it was sure worth the wait. Be sure to ask for double meat cause you wait in a long line then they skimp on the meat. Also, I got double sauce so mine had lots of flavor but DH did not and his was lacking. I had chicken with the black bean sauce it was SOOOOO GOOOD! Best Lido food I have ever eaten except for NCL's french fries.

 

After an afternoon of lounging and trivia games it started to rain and get real windy. We headed to the cabin for a nap and then to start packing :( While we were napping, the boat got so rocky again. By this time we were again heading back up the Atlantic Coast...it was rough waters. While we were packing both DH and I both started feeling ill. We finished packing and headed to the Lido for some air. After feeling a little better we headed to the MDR which was just the fix.

 

DH had the Veal Parm...it was outstanding!!!!!! I had the Mahi Mahi. I do not like fish but I do like Mahi and this was no exception. Very good. Not fishy at all. Baked Alaska and sherbet for dessert was the perfect end.

 

After dinner we hit up the 2nd and final show of the cruise. It was 80's themed and fantastic! DH is not a cruise showgirl kind of guys but he even thought this was tolerable and I thought it was very good. Only entertainment all week I can say I really enjoyed.

 

After the show, we headed to Karaoke where I gave my best shot at the Fugees "Killing Me Softly". The crowd really seemed to enjoy it, even though I am not sure I was on the right key. This was my 1st time doing karaoke. I enjoyed it. DH snapped a pic.

 

 

After that we headed to the Lido deck to snap some pics. It is gorgeous at night.