going to see the world Posted October 7, 2013 #1 Share Posted October 7, 2013 This is my first review...so be easy on me, lol. I hope to be able to provide you with some information as well as my opinions on my various experiences this past week. If you have any questions on along the way, please feel free to ask- I will answer them the best that I can. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
going to see the world Posted October 7, 2013 Author #2 Share Posted October 7, 2013 A little bit about ourselves... I'm Jess. I'm 28 years old and I go to school and I currently work in retail YAY-haha. My boyfriend is Brad, and he is 32 years old and owns a restaurant. We had been talking a lot about going on a vacation since we hadn't been on one together since our last Canada cruise. We've both been on various other cruises in the meantime, but not together due to work. We had some money saved for when the time was right and one night we both just had a heck of a time at work and came home and decided that was the night to book. I've never booked a cruise with such short notice-we booked 6 nights before the cruise we chose :eek: There goes the casual hotel hunting, the relaxed packing, the deep brainstorming...everything fun about booking a cruise with a lot of notice, haha. It's definitely something I wouldn't mind doing again in the future, but maybe if I can help it I'd stay away from doing this again. OH THE STRESS. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
All4fun&fun4all Posted October 7, 2013 #3 Share Posted October 7, 2013 Hooray! A Fantasy review! I will be reading it! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
going to see the world Posted October 7, 2013 Author #4 Share Posted October 7, 2013 Hooray! A Fantasy review! I will be reading it! Thank you! If it wasn't for you, I probably would have never considered the Fantasy! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Georgiagolfer Posted October 7, 2013 #5 Share Posted October 7, 2013 Please lighten up on the Font color. So hard on the eyes and too blurry to read. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
peggyo Posted October 7, 2013 #6 Share Posted October 7, 2013 I'm ready to hear all about it! We leave in about 5 weeks for the Fantasy. First time cruisers and very excited Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redryanc22 Posted October 7, 2013 #7 Share Posted October 7, 2013 Awesome. I can't wait to read your review. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
going to see the world Posted October 8, 2013 Author #8 Share Posted October 8, 2013 The first step in the last minute planning madness was to find a hotel for the night before. I REFUSE to go to the port area the day of. It's just not worth the additional stress to me, not to mention my boyfriend and I were both off of work the day before anyway. I wanted to find a hotel that offered parking for the duration of the cruise to try to save some money. Parking at the port is $15.00 a day. We aren't fancy people so we really didn't care too much if we stayed at a Hilton etc., so we found an excellent rate at the North Charleston Inn on Montague Ave. For a one night's stay and parking for the whole cruise we paid $56.10 after taxes and fees-well under what we would have paid for JUST parking. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
going to see the world Posted October 8, 2013 Author #9 Share Posted October 8, 2013 Please lighten up on the Font color. So hard on the eyes and too blurry to read. Hopefully this font is better for you :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
going to see the world Posted October 8, 2013 Author #10 Share Posted October 8, 2013 I'm ready to hear all about it! We leave in about 5 weeks for the Fantasy. First time cruisers and very excited Your first cruise! You must be so excited! Don't worry-the Fantasy is a GREAT choice :D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrBanana1240 Posted October 8, 2013 #11 Share Posted October 8, 2013 We were considering this option. It's too long of a drive for us. About 10 to a families and 2 from there (spend night at families' house). May do it next summer. Still deciding. But for now we have chosen Victory :-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
going to see the world Posted October 8, 2013 Author #12 Share Posted October 8, 2013 I do not fly anywhere at the moment...I'm absolutely terrified. Flying is definitely something I want to work on though since it severely limits the ports we get to sail out of. We drove to Port Canaveral a couple of years ago, pretty sure I won't be able to talk my boyfriend into much further than that :o With that said, we only had to worry about gas for transportation. We were fortunate enough to buy a brand new car a couple of weeks ago (only about 1K on little Sally before we left). It was really nice to not have to worry for once about an oil change and brakes and all of that other good stuff before a long trip. Also, I work for a chain that offers a gas perks discount based on amount spent in store and on gift cards, so we were able to get a NICE deal on gas. We filled the tank for less than $40.00 At this time we still hadn't had ANYTHING confirmed yet. I booked under a resident rate and was waitlisted for late dining (your time and early would have been the same since it was almost sold out at this point). I booked an interior not having any idea where it would be-that made me a little nervous...but I figured hey-I'll be on a ship :D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
going to see the world Posted October 8, 2013 Author #13 Share Posted October 8, 2013 Fast forward to Sunday when we got everything assigned to us. We were confirmed for our choice of late seating dining. Our room was going to be E80...whatever that meant haha. I looked up the deck plans and it looked like it was RIGHT next to the shore excursions desk...which meant it was just a few short steps away from the atrium. :cool: Boy, we were dreading this. I did some last minute shopping and next thing I knew it was midnight. As some of you saw on one of my other threads I was up WAY too late packing. We wanted to leave the house around 4-5 AM so we'd get to Charleston in time to be able to do something. Naturally, we ended up rolling out at 7. With a quick stop at Dunkin Donuts we began our 10 hour trek to Charleston, South Carolina Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cruise_gal21 Posted October 8, 2013 #14 Share Posted October 8, 2013 Thanks for the Fantasy review! We're leaving on her in May for our 2nd cruise, first on Fantasy though. Can't wait to read it all :D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Georgiagolfer Posted October 8, 2013 #15 Share Posted October 8, 2013 Hopefully this font is better for you :) Yes, thanks. Now looking forward to reading your review.:D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NCTribeFan Posted October 8, 2013 #16 Share Posted October 8, 2013 Yay! Another Fantasy review! Best thing about driving to Charleston is the cheapest gas prices in the country in SC. :p I was in E93 once and really liked it there. Very convenient. A little noise from the lobby area, but not bad at night. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
michelle1836 Posted October 8, 2013 #17 Share Posted October 8, 2013 The first step in the last minute planning madness was to find a hotel for the night before. I REFUSE to go to the port area the day of. It's just not worth the additional stress to me, not to mention my boyfriend and I were both off of work the day before anyway. I wanted to find a hotel that offered parking for the duration of the cruise to try to save some money. Parking at the port is $15.00 a day. We aren't fancy people so we really didn't care too much if we stayed at a Hilton etc., so we found an excellent rate at the North Charleston Inn on Montague Ave. For a one night's stay and parking for the whole cruise we paid $56.10 after taxes and fees-well under what we would have paid for JUST parking. How did you get to the port? did the hotel have a shuttle? fi so, what time did it take you to the port. still havent booked the hotel yet for our Fantasy cruise in December We were considering this option. It's too long of a drive for us. About 10 to a families and 2 from there (spend night at families' house). May do it next summer. Still deciding. But for now we have chosen Victory :-) coming from about the same place as you, we thought this was as far as we would drive without spending the additional money in airfare. and we will be driving on christmas day so the roads should be clear Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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