Fascination- which deck is best to get the room on

[cruise_mojo]

we get a verandah suite

 

but, main and upper are fine, like many say, the lower and more centrally located the less motion you feel

 

I always recommend if someone thinks they will have a problem, go inside, midship and main or upper

 

empress deck near the atrium can have a LOT of ambient noise in cabins near there with those large hallways on the fascination, and fore and aft underneath the show lounge and dining can be loud too

 

we usually try and get near the aft elevator, sometimes in between aft and midship ( we always do fixed early dining and from empress, just a tic away from the dining room ) and straight up to the buffett, serenity, and comedy!!!:)

[MCFTJCH2V]

I just booked a 5 day cruise out of Jacksonville on the fascination ship. This is the first time I will be on the smaller cruise ship. I am in the middle of a ship with my room and I also got decks number 5 which is the main deck. Let me know your thoughts and opinions on if deck 5 is good or if I should get deck 4 or 6 or 7. I am decent at motion sea sickness but it is a smaller ship so I'm not sure if even being on a low deck will even help me

 

Personally I like the Empress deck near the atrium best, as it gives me the most choices of elevators.

[ccleveland]

Ya I'm glad I chose midshio on the main deck (5th deck on the fascination) my friend on facebook got back from cruise on the fascination and I'm so jealous. I want to be on it now. I would love to have a job on a ship

[cruise_mojo]

Cleveland

 

we've crusied out of Jacksonville and Charleston a dozen times, and for sure, that first day out in the Atlantic is or can be a bit rough

 

I noted a few cruises back that we were doing 16 knots and heading into a quartering wind of about 20-30 knots! So if you were out on deck, the gusts were getting up there! We were in a Verandah suite, and the door didn't latch well and every once and a while during the night there'd be big bang! The door would swing open, and slam shut, finally about 3 am the wind sucked the curtain out the door and when it slammed the fabric got wedged in between the door and the jamb effectively jamming it shut!

 

slept like a baby, being rocked in our cradle

 

HOWEVER, I noted on that cruise the first couple days, lots of wobbly peeps and tons of bonine and patches all round. Anyway, to make a short story longer, take the good advice offered. Get a patch from the doc, Dramamine if you can tolerate it, or bonine and start taking it a couple days before the cruise. If you are flying or driving, the evening before leaving. Get the meds in your system always helps. I used to do a fair amount of deep sea fishing and was always concerned so we too Dramamine. IF you cruise late spring or summer the ship ought not to rock much at all. Of course keeping an eye on the weather conditions a few days out can help clue you in on what you'll run into. Cruising in the fall and early spring can be sketchy but we do spring every year. Hurrican season is what we usually avoid. Though we have cruised in OCT several times and august a couple.

 

anyway, midship and low are the best for little sensation of rocking, the fascination is well stabilized ;)

[elainmir]

We were Deck 6 aft ext. balcony and normally hubby and I do ok, I'm more prone to motion sickness than he is but this is a small ship and the last day we were on was Easter Sunday and that boat was literally like a seesaw due to the high seas. We ended up taking FOUR motion sickness pills each and hubby is hardly ever motion sick. So I'll say location may play a part but so does the sea conditions. Take your meds with you and have a great cruise!

[CruizCuz]

I am VERY prone to motion sickness. I either book cabins aft or midship. I have read that it's calmer on the lower decks, but I prefer the Empress or Upper decks for proximity to everything. That said, I always start taking Bonine the evening before we sail. I take it every night at 8 pm. That way, if it does make me a little drowsy, no worries. I can not take the scopolamine patches or Dramamine, as they put me out like a light. The Scope patch makes my mouth dry and I am dizzy. I have never gotten sick on a cruise, although when we encountered huge waves one night, I was a little queazy. But that night at least 75% of the ship stayed in their cabins. That has only happened on one cruise out of dozens.

[crusinpsychRN]

I like Empress deck--it's where you board and exit making self debarkation easier. No need to get an elevator or drag luggage on stairs.

[ccleveland]

Cleveland

 

we've crusied out of Jacksonville and Charleston a dozen times, and for sure, that first day out in the Atlantic is or can be a bit rough

 

I noted a few cruises back that we were doing 16 knots and heading into a quartering wind of about 20-30 knots! So if you were out on deck, the gusts were getting up there! We were in a Verandah suite, and the door didn't latch well and every once and a while during the night there'd be big bang! The door would swing open, and slam shut, finally about 3 am the wind sucked the curtain out the door and when it slammed the fabric got wedged in between the door and the jamb effectively jamming it shut!

 

slept like a baby, being rocked in our cradle

 

HOWEVER, I noted on that cruise the first couple days, lots of wobbly peeps and tons of bonine and patches all round. Anyway, to make a short story longer, take the good advice offered. Get a patch from the doc, Dramamine if you can tolerate it, or bonine and start taking it a couple days before the cruise. If you are flying or driving, the evening before leaving. Get the meds in your system always helps. I used to do a fair amount of deep sea fishing and was always concerned so we too Dramamine. IF you cruise late spring or summer the ship ought not to rock much at all. Of course keeping an eye on the weather conditions a few days out can help clue you in on what you'll run into. Cruising in the fall and early spring can be sketchy but we do spring every year. Hurrican season is what we usually avoid. Though we have cruised in OCT several times and august a couple.

 

anyway, midship and low are the best for little sensation of rocking, the fascination is well stabilized ;)

Thank you cruise_mojo!

 

I have taken bonine thr night before in port Canaveral leaving on the dream on a western cruise but thr next day I felt so blah like so I never took it again and I kept chewing on ginger gum ay times. I still felt funny but never got sick. After the first 2 days of thsg cruise and even my 2nd cruise I felt perfectly find. I'm just worried about this being a smaller ship. I will buy some bonine with me for this cruise. My cruise leaves on Monday Sept 21 so should I take some of the bonine on saturdsy night and sundsy night so that's 2 days before my cruise? Maybe I could take some on and off from now till Sept to get my body to be ok with bonine haha

[NCTribeFan]

I've been on Fantasy-class ships for many of my cruises and have had cabins all over.

 

Didn't care for being in the bow although it was on Empress and very convenient to the Atrium area and theatre.

 

Last time, I was in E183, one of the 1A cabins aft. Great cabin for a solo and easy access up the "semi-secret" rear stairs to the Serenity Deck and on up to Lido.

 

Usually, I'm midship. Only cabin I hated was U99 on Fascination due to some weird air-pressure whumping/throbbing the entire cruise. Made my ears hurt!

 

I always take the stairs on every cruise, regardless of where my cabin is located. I get more exercise when I cruise than any other time and rarely gain any weight despite consuming many times more calories compared to my normal eating/drinking days.

 

I've suffered from motion sickness my entire life, and my first few cruises had some pretty uncomfortable sea days. Never actually hurled but was pretty green. Used to avoid sea days because of it.

 

Then, I discovered Cruise Critic and read about Ginger Root Capsules. They have pretty much cured me. You can Google them and read plenty about it. I start a couple of days before sailing (1 am and pm with plenty of water). I take 1/2 Bonine before sailaway, just in case. On port-intensive itineraries, I sometimes forget to continue taking the ginger root, but I try to remember and continue taking it twice a day. I even take it for a couple of days after because I now have more problems with "mal de debarquement" issues than I have with movement on the ship. And I also now have more problems in port doing excursions in minivans on winding, mountainous island roads than I do while sailing!

 

Anyway, when I can, I still book midship and lower down, but I'm fine on Riviera, Main or Empress. I make sure I have plenty of ginger root capsules and "fresh" bonine (I buy the chewable so I can break it and only take 1/2 as needed; although it's "less drowsy" I prefer to not take a lot because I'm also consuming more alcohol than usual).

[cruise_mojo]

hah there's pun a minute here on CC:)

 

we saw that staircase every day on the fasc. in dec, the entrance was right in front of our room

 

we had the aft ext balcony cabin e244!

[tandemcruzr]

 

I wonder if there are secret decks or areas on the fascination.

 

I like to go up to the Veranda deck and go forward in the Port (left) side hall way. All the way forward there are 2 doors that take you the very front of the ship. Warning -- the ship's horn is just above this area and you will get 'blast' if it goes off while you're up there -- like at sail away. :D

[Boris-n-Natasha]

On Fantasy Class ships we like deck 6 (Upper) mid ship. Here is our logic and order:

 

Deck 6 - Cabins above and below, lower noise levels

Deck 5 - same as above, but we like a little higher ride

Deck 7 - Cabins below, but stuff above - look at deck plans and choose based on what is above on deck 8

Deck 4 - Cabins above, but noisy ship stuff below especially forward and aft.

 

Main thing is ..... wait for it ..... it is on a ship leaving - that is the most important thing. BTW - closer to water line equals less movement so does closer to center of ship

[fhmoore]

Are the "secret" pathways/stairways on the Fantasy too since they are sister ships? If so explain again where they are and where they go? Thanks!

[saltybones]

We are on the September 12th sailing of the Fascination. This will be our third cruise on her. We are on the Main deck also, M126, which is a midship balcony.

Don't think you will have any movement issues. We swear by ginger pills also, you can get them at Wally World most of the time.

I think you will love the Fascination, we do. Hate to see her go next year.

[swstaing]

My first cruise was on the fascination. We stayed on the Verandah deck. I didn't have any problems with motion sickness but the last night at sea was a little rocky. We were in a suite at the front of the ship.

We sailed on Conquest last month. I enjoyed that cruise as well, but I think I like the smaller ship better. It was easier to get around and had less people. I definitely want to sail fascination again.

Edited May 21, 2015 by swstaing

[cruise_mojo]

check out the two messages

 

he was in E183 we were in E244

 

Id suggest that anyone looking for a FAST website to research ship deck plans check out vacations to go. This is NOT an endorsement of the company or their services. BUT, I use that website on almost a daily basis to check out ships, deck plans, public space layouts and yes, prices. I have never booked with them or even called them to check on a booking. They have the fastest loading and pretty easy to navigate set of ship info I have found anywhere though.

 

anyhoo, what ever website you go to to check out the deckplans on the fantasy and fascination, check out those cabin locations, right in front of E244 on both ships is a tiny alcove that is the lower landing for a set of stairs

 

follow this up on your ship deckplans to atlantic and you'll see this takes you to the port side and behind the aft dining room on both ships, one more flight of stairs up and you come up thru the floor of SERENITY on the port side! woo woo!

 

normally to get to serenity you go thru puttin on the ritz or the forum, OR you have to come down from outside aft of coconut grove\windows on the sea a deck above

 

note these stairs DO NOT go down to upper deck

 

so, a kind of sneaky set of stairs but if there was a problem in the dining room requiring an exit from the rear then these are the stairs that would get everybody out and up or down - kind of a ship thang....;)

[undercat]

check out the two messages

 

he was in E183 we were in E244

 

Id suggest that anyone looking for a FAST website to research ship deck plans check out vacations to go. This is NOT an endorsement of the company or their services. BUT, I use that website on almost a daily basis to check out ships, deck plans, public space layouts and yes, prices. I have never booked with them or even called them to check on a booking. They have the fastest loading and pretty easy to navigate set of ship info I have found anywhere though.

 

anyhoo, what ever website you go to to check out the deckplans on the fantasy and fascination, check out those cabin locations, right in front of E244 on both ships is a tiny alcove that is the lower landing for a set of stairs

 

follow this up on your ship deckplans to atlantic and you'll see this takes you to the port side and behind the aft dining room on both ships, one more flight of stairs up and you come up thru the floor of SERENITY on the port side! woo woo!

 

normally to get to serenity you go thru puttin on the ritz or the forum, OR you have to come down from outside aft of coconut grove\windows on the sea a deck above

 

note these stairs DO NOT go down to upper deck

 

so, a kind of sneaky set of stairs but if there was a problem in the dining room requiring an exit from the rear then these are the stairs that would get everybody out and up or down - kind of a ship thang....;)

 

*bumping* this thread from 2015....

 

cruise_mojo, how did you like E244 on Fascination? I'm having a tough time gauging the cabin size from photos on a certain cruise rooms website. It looks roomy-ish, smaller than a balcony cabin on a Conquest-class but roomy enough to stretch out a bit. The balcony looks AWESOME, but DH and I spend more time in the cabin than on the balcony (although I do love a good balcony nap!) The balcony cabin interior on the Glory was a good size for a weeklong cruise. I'm trying to gauge if we should step up to a Verandah Junior suite for the Glory-sized interior space, but THAT AFT BALCONY would be tough to give up.

Now, for a GS or EGS upsell at the right price, sayonara aft balcony...

 

Another poster put up photos of U230, but it's laid out differently with the pullman bed and the head of the bed on the same side of the cabin as the door. The layout difference can impact roominess, or at least perceived roominess. Judging by the photos it seems doubtful that these aft cabins are actually 185sq feet like Carnival's website claims, unless that square shower basin is taking up more room than I thought! :cool:

 

ETA: I found a few more E244 pics in this thread - http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showpost.php?p=36127657&postcount=13 - but as I'm not always the best judge of depth of field in photos taken from various cameras, I'd still like your opinion of this cabin.

Edited March 17, 2016 by undercat