My Carnival Fantasy Review - March 15-20, 2014

[Mymomsgirl]

Let me start by saying that I’ve never done a review before, so I hope this is not too long and drawn out. Actually, I don’t think I’ve ever posted here before, but I’ve lurked here for years. We’ve been on 6 cruises – 5 on Carnival, 1 on Royal Caribbean. We prefer Carnival, but have not sailed with Carnival since 2010. (My husband and I also LOVE Las Vegas, and decided on Vegas over the cruise for the last few years).

 

Anyway, we did not intend on taking a vacation this year at all because our oldest daughter started college in the fall. Not only because our vacation budget is going towards tuition, but because with one in high school, and one in college, their spring breaks don’t coincide.

 

Low and behold, in mid December, I received a free cabin offer from Carnival in the mail. At first, I thought it was a scam, but it came directly from Carnival. I contacted my PVP and she said it was legit and it was from Carnival Players Club. How could we pass up a free cruise? There were numerous cruises to choose from, and I really wanted to try the Sunshine, but because of my 18 year old daughter’s college/work schedule, we decided that we would do a 5 day on the Fantasy on the 3/15 sailing from Charleston. We booked an inside cabin on the upper deck for my daughter and I, and paid taxes and port charges (I believe around $180 total). A month went by, and my husband and younger daughter really, really, really wanted to go, so we decided that my daughter would only miss 4 school days, not so bad, so I called my PVP and booked a second cabin. We moved down to the Main deck so we could have adjoining cabins - M-99 and M-103.

 

We headed toward the Port of Charleston from our home in Upstate New York the day before and stopped overnight in Virginia. It was a 14 hour drive total, and we arrived at the port at around 12:30pm and got in the long line of cars. We noticed that a lot of the cars were filled with what appeared to be college kids on spring break. We were a little nervous hoping that we didn’t end up on a spring break booze cruise. By the time we got through the line to show ID, drop off luggage, park, get on the bus to the terminal, get through security and get sign and sail cards it was 2:30. It took approximately 2 hours to get through all the lines. We each brought a 6 pack of soda in bottles, and bottled water. My husband and I also each brought a bottle of wine. They thoroughly inspected each bottle that my husband and I carried on, which we expected.

 

Finally on board, we went to put our carry on bags in our cabin. Our bottle of Malibu coconut rum that I’d pre-ordered was in our cabin, and the hoodies that I’d ordered for the girls were in their cabin. From there, we went to grab lunch and a drink. The Mongolian Wok was open and not too busy, so we ate there. It was very good.

 

I’m not going to go through a day by day review. As I said earlier, there were tons of college kids on the ship. There were a couple of large groups of kids and a lot of smaller groups. More girls than guys. Some of them behaved, others drank too much and were loud and obnoxious. We never got a full night sleep because of noise in the hallways and slamming doors. A few times we saw kids who were so drunk they could hardly walk. Returning from Freeport, there were a group of kids who were staggering drunk and a couple of them were brought back on the ship in wheel chairs, because they were too drunk to walk. The Lido deck was hopping all day long along with the hot tubs were jam packed from open til close. We were able to find chairs up by the waterslides, and later in the day on the Serenity deck, so that was not a problem for us.

 

I thought I had read on here that you could not cruise unless you were 25, or someone aged 25 or older was in your cabin. I found out on this cruise, that if you are under 21, you must be traveling with someone 25 or older, if you are 21 or older, there are no restrictions. I guess that was a misunderstanding on my part. Not that it would have changed my mind, because we still had a great time, and the few obnoxious intoxicated kids were just a minor annoyance.

 

We had any time dining which we found to be convenient. We tend to eat later, so we only waited for a table on two nights. Service was hit and miss. A couple nights we were waited on promptly and the courses came quickly, other nights we waited 10-15 minutes after we were seated before we even got a bread basket, and there was a long wait between courses. The food was fine. We are not picky eaters. (Although we went to Seaday brunch and the eggs benedict was horrible)! Drink service was poor in the dining room. We found that there were numerous bar servers walking around selling shots, but very few bar servers taking drink orders which I found odd. During dinner the first night we were able to order drinks, the second night we went without, the 3rd and 4th night we went to a bar on our way to the dining room and brought drinks with us, and on the 5th night, my daughter and I left to go to the piano bar to get drinks after ordering our dinner. We ordered room service frequently, and service was very quick and efficient. We ordered coffee/tea every morning, and late lunches a few days. My youngest ordered a tuna sandwich and chocolate cake every night when she returned from Circle C.

 

My 14 year old loved, loved, loved Circle C, and met a bunch of kids that she’s been communicating with since we got home. We typically take 2 vacations each year and have since the girls were born, and she said this was her best vacation ever. We bought her Bottomless Bubbles and I don’t think it was worth it – she was too busy with Circle C and only ordered sodas with dinner, so it would have been wiser to pay out of pocket for the 5 sodas at around $2.25/each.

 

In Nassau, we booked the British Colonial Hilton day pass. ($60 per person, with each person getting $40 bar/food credit). It was beautiful and quiet. It was a nice, sunny, warm, perfect day. We lounged around the pool most of the day, and then moved to the beach where the girls used the kayaks. We ordered a couple daiquiris each, lunch, and bottled water and soda and still had $15 left and were able to use it for additional gratuity. We went to the straw market for an hour before getting back on board around 4:30pm. The girls bought a couple souvenirs, but I’m not a fan of the straw market and I was glad to get out of there.

 

In Freeport, we’d planned on going to Deadman’s Reef and were supposed to meet at 8:30am, but it was raining and there was thunder and lightning in the forecast, so we decided not to go. Instead, we slept in, had breakfast on the Lido deck, and then the rain stopped, so we got off the ship around noon and went to Senor Frogs for a couple drinks, and went to the little shops around the port. We found the locals in Freeport to be much friendlier than they are in Nassau.

 

We saw Cowboy Comedian’s late show twice, and enjoyed both. We also saw The Britt’s on the first night, and we liked it. The live music on Promenade deck was entertaining, and was mobbed every night with people dancing and having a ball.

 

We went to the casino every night, and on the 3rd night I got the ‘Drinks on Us’ card. I’ve read a lot of conflicting information on this. When you get to 1000 points, you get the card. I wasn’t sure how it worked, so prior to ordering a drink, after I had 1000 points, I asked the server, who got a casino host for me. The casino host gave me the card, and told me to present it to the server when ordering drinks in the casino for the remainder of the cruise. My gambling budget is $100/day. (Obviously, that doesn’t mean that you have to spend $300 to get complimentary drinks, because it also depends if you win, and whether or not you’re putting your winnings back in).

 

I think that’s about all. I hope that this review is helpful to those of you who are interested in the Fantasy. If you have any specific questions, please don’t hesitate to ask.

 

By the way, shortly after booking the second cabin on the Fantasy in mid January, I received another free cabin offer in the mail from Carnival. I thought it was a duplicate of the free cabin that I already booked, so I contacted my PVP, and low and behold, it was a new offer. Again, there were a lot of choices, including 3, 4, 5, 7, and 8 day cruises, but because we are limited on time, we are doing the 4 night Splendor cruise in July.

 

Thank you for reading and happy sailing! :D

[jsbellisle]

Thank you for your review!

[Jamman54]

Thanks for posting your review!! Lucky you, getting two free cabin offers!! Enjoy your cruise on the Splendor. She is a great ship!!

[Julia1969]

We are leaving next year at the very beginning of spring break (March 2) and was wondering how obnoxious the crowds would be. It doesn't sound too bad :) Thanks again.

[gelo7]

Thank you, for sharing your thoughts.

[Happyteacher99]

Thank you for this wonderful review! We are first time cruisers, with three children and we are going on the fantasy in August. We are also from upstate NY! We are excited but nervous about what to do with three kids (10, 8, 3) in each port. How much water did you carry on? Is there a limit per person? How much is there to do near the port in freeport? We went to Nassau on our honeymoon so that is a bit more familiar.

 

Thank you!

[Lovingsandandwaves]

Thank you for this wonderful review! We are first time cruisers, with three children and we are going on the fantasy in August. We are also from upstate NY! We are excited but nervous about what to do with three kids (10, 8, 3) in each port. How much water did you carry on? Is there a limit per person? How much is there to do near the port in freeport? We went to Nassau on our honeymoon so that is a bit more familiar.

 

 

 

Thank you!

 

 

When in august are you going? We are going on august 13 and have 3 kids ages 7,9, and 11.

 

 

 

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[Mymomsgirl]

Happyteacher99,

We each brought on a 6 pack of soda, and my husband and I each carried on a 6 pack of bottled water. I believe you are allowed 12 bottles/cans per person. Adults are also allowed to carry on 1 bottle of wine.

 

There is really nothing at the port in Freeport other than a few shops, a Senor Frogs and a Fat Tuesday. You'd have to take a cab to Port Lucaya or go on an excursion.

 

Let me know if you have any more questions.

 

Have a wonderful time!