The ups and downs of our Fascination cruise...

[aandrseidl]

Hi all,

 

I used this board continually before our cruise and it was so helpful. I wanted to return the favour and share my feedback with you. I doubt I will be able to get it all posted today, but will start it anyways. So 1st a little bit about us. We are a family of 4, me, my husband and our two children ages 9 and 10. We have been on 3 cruises prior - the Victory, Miracle and the Breeze. All were 7 plus day cruises, this was our first short one. We were just looking for a quick getaway. We love cruising and found it to be a perfect family vacation. With that said we loved our time on the Fascination and had a great vacation, but our other cruises were much better. I'm not sure if the differences were due to a shorter cruise, the ship or just some changes Carnival is making.

 

So let's start at the beginning. We drove down and ended up spending the night at the Microtel. It was cheap and really on okay hotel. The rooms was small for 4 of us, but adequate and preparing us for our cabin :). There were some teenagers blaring a boombox with inappropriate music, but we just went somewhere else. Free continental breakfast, which was good. My in-laws who were traveling down as well didn't care for it, but it's a free breakfast and I'm really just trying to hold us over till we get on the ship. Overall I would give the hotel a solid B. It was good and would spend the night there again.

 

On to embarkation. I would give the port authority an A. We got to the port at 10:30, thanks to all the feedback from you. We were let right in, but had to wait because we needed to drop my mother-n-law off by the door. Finally at 1045 we were allowed to go. Dropped off her and our luggage and then parked the car. We were through the lines and on the ship by 11:45. Again it was a great experience and loved how quickly they moved us through. I did hear some complaints from others who got to the terminal later though...

 

The ship.... Okay I need to break this into categories.

 

Cabin - very very small. We have done 4 in a room before, so I was prepared.... This room was smaller and the setup quite frankly sucked. We had two pull downs and our king size bed. One pull down was directly over our heads and we continually bumped our heads. The other was in the walkway so at night the person on the far side had to climb over the other person or try to walk under the bed. Our room Steward was great though and would put the one bed up during the day to give us more room. There were really no shelves in the bathroom and the plug ins were nonexistent. I'm not complaining, just sharing the facts based upon our experience. I did love our balcony. It was small, but fine. The beds were awesome and none of the items I mention would stop me from staying in a room like this again. I would give our room a B-.

 

Overall appearance of the ship - yes, it was dated, but I thought it was in pretty good shape. Every once in awhile I would smell that sewer smell that I have seen others write about, but wasn't bad or frequent. Unlike others we struggled with the navigation around the ship. By the last day it was better, but I was expecting it to be a lot easier. We used the running track and the 1st day was horrible. It was so windy you couldn't walk up there. We have never had that happen on other ships. Not sure if it was the ship design, the day or that the ship was going fast. The other days were better. We also found the lido deck was more closed in than other ships. There didn't seem to be open areas where you could look out. Yes there were windows, but not railings. I did really like how the promenade deck and theatres were set up. Our dining room was also really good. We were able to go to all shows and find a seat. Yes, there has been other cruises where that hasn't happened. Overall I would give the appearance of the ship a B.

 

Okay I have to go for now, but much more to come... Food, islands and debarkation to name a few... If you have any specific questions let me know....

[AmberTeka]

Hi all,

 

I used this board continually before our cruise and it was so helpful. I wanted to return the favour and share my feedback with you. I doubt I will be able to get it all posted today, but will start it anyways. So 1st a little bit about us. We are a family of 4, me, my husband and our two children ages 9 and 10. We have been on 3 cruises prior - the Victory, Miracle and the Breeze. All were 7 plus day cruises, this was our first short one. We were just looking for a quick getaway. We love cruising and found it to be a perfect family vacation. With that said we loved our time on the Fascination and had a great vacation, but our other cruises were much better. I'm not sure if the differences were due to a shorter cruise, the ship or just some changes Carnival is making.

 

So let's start at the beginning. We drove down and ended up spending the night at the Microtel. It was cheap and really on okay hotel. The rooms was small for 4 of us, but adequate and preparing us for our cabin :). There were some teenagers blaring a boombox with inappropriate music, but we just went somewhere else. Free continental breakfast, which was good. My in-laws who were traveling down as well didn't care for it, but it's a free breakfast and I'm really just trying to hold us over till we get on the ship. Overall I would give the hotel a solid B. It was good and would spend the night there again.

 

On to embarkation. I would give the port authority an A. We got to the port at 10:30, thanks to all the feedback from you. We were let right in, but had to wait because we needed to drop my mother-n-law off by the door. Finally at 1045 we were allowed to go. Dropped off her and our luggage and then parked the car. We were through the lines and on the ship by 11:45. Again it was a great experience and loved how quickly they moved us through. I did hear some complaints from others who got to the terminal later though...

 

The ship.... Okay I need to break this into categories.

 

Cabin - very very small. We have done 4 in a room before, so I was prepared.... This room was smaller and the setup quite frankly sucked. We had two pull downs and our king size bed. One pull down was directly over our heads and we continually bumped our heads. The other was in the walkway so at night the person on the far side had to climb over the other person or try to walk under the bed. Our room Steward was great though and would put the one bed up during the day to give us more room. There were really no shelves in the bathroom and the plug ins were nonexistent. I'm not complaining, just sharing the facts based upon our experience. I did love our balcony. It was small, but fine. The beds were awesome and none of the items I mention would stop me from staying in a room like this again. I would give our room a B-.

 

Overall appearance of the ship - yes, it was dated, but I thought it was in pretty good shape. Every once in awhile I would smell that sewer smell that I have seen others write about, but wasn't bad or frequent. Unlike others we struggled with the navigation around the ship. By the last day it was better, but I was expecting it to be a lot easier. We used the running track and the 1st day was horrible. It was so windy you couldn't walk up there. We have never had that happen on other ships. Not sure if it was the ship design, the day or that the ship was going fast. The other days were better. We also found the lido deck was more closed in than other ships. There didn't seem to be open areas where you could look out. Yes there were windows, but not railings. I did really like how the promenade deck and theatres were set up. Our dining room was also really good. We were able to go to all shows and find a seat. Yes, there has been other cruises where that hasn't happened. Overall I would give the appearance of the ship a B.

 

Okay I have to go for now, but much more to come... Food, islands and debarkation to name a few... If you have any specific questions let me know....

 

I always enjoy reading a review of the Fascination. Now that is going from Jax, to be replaced by the Elation, I hope my husband and I will sail it one more time. I loved it.

[aandrseidl]

Back for a little while anyways. So back to the ship overview.

 

Food - for the most part everything was really good and the best part is the lines were not bad at all. On the breeze most days required at least a 30 to 40 minute wait for omelets and the Mongolian walk. No Guys on the ship, but we really didn't miss it. We went to the dining room two nights and the lido deck for the others. All was really good. The one highlight was the Mexican buffet at 1100. It was very good. I would give the food a solid A.

 

service - reviews were mixed so I wasn't sure what to expect... I will say some of it was great, but other times it was just okay. Wait times for drinks was probably the worst. Our room steward was awesome and the pizza guys were awesome. The would see my son coming and get his pizza ready. Overall I would give the service a B+. Just need more consistency.

 

Entertainment - it always seemed something was going on. We did not go to any shows, but found the comedy shows to be very funny. We really enjoyed the comedians and went to a few shows. I'm sure this can be hit or miss depending on the comedians. On previous cruises there were times we couldn't even get into the shows because they were overcrowded. I was glad to see this wasn't an issue on this cruise. There was also quite a bit happening on the lido deck. I would give the entertainment an A.

 

Camp Carnival - glad to say my kids loved it and so did we. Lots of activities and kept them busy so mom and dad could have some adult time. I would give it an A as well.

 

Cheers program - we did this on our last cruise an eight day one and this one. To be honest we loved it and felt we got our money's worth on the longer cruise, but probably wouldn't do it again on a shorter cruise. No rating here as this was our choice knowing the program.

 

I think this covers the ship highlights. When I get some more time I will get to the islands and disembarking.

[Chief Cruiser]

Thanks for the review. Got the Fascination scheduled in November! Looking forward to it again as I have sailed her several times already.

[blessed3]

Great review!!! We will be on the Fascination in August. Do you have a copy of the Fun Time and Camp Carnival schedule? This will be my kids' first cruise, and I'm sure that my girls would love camp carnival.

[SadieN]

A suggestion---

Traveling in a quad on a Fantasy class ship is interesting. We've found it best to keep the lowers apart in the OV and IS cabins.

[linbobky]

thanks for the review!:) we will be on the fascination in October. it will be my wife and me, plus, 2 very special 17 year old grandkids.:) I know it will be close quarters, but we did the same thing on the elation and know what to expect.

thanks again for the review.:)

[sararebekahquinn]

Thanks for the review. We are so excited to take our children for their first cruise in August! So happy to hear your good view of their specific camp carnival.

[JMHAM1]

We have three Ocean View cabins booked side by side on the Empress deck in October. All cabins say they sleep 3. I was wondering if these had a pull down or something else for the third bed. I would have liked a balcony and two insides but there are few balconies and most of them did not have any available insides across the way.

[marshhawk]

Come Back! I get to do my double digit dance tomorrow-99 more days til we cruise on the Fasciantion! So far everything sounds fine! Waiting for more of your review! Please!

[sparks1093]

Thanks for sharing your thoughts. We have to wait a bit for our turn but am really looking forward to it as it will be our first cruise that doesn't include the Bahamas.

[Califmuse]

Thanks for the review. I will be on the Imagination for the first time in November.

[rchart5]

When we sail out of JAX we stay at the Holiday Inn Express & Suites Blount Island. It is 5 minutes from the terminal and has a continental breakfast and you can park and ride also. There is nothing but a Wendy's and two service stations out there so do any sightseeing etc before you arrive.

[justusfour2014]

Our first cruise was on Fascination and we loved the ship, ports not so much. I'd sail her again if the destination was something other than Bahamas.

 

Like rchart5, we booked a cruise, park, then stay with the HIE Blount Island. Beautiful hotel and great staff.

[reerun25]

We have cruised on the Fascination twice.. Enjoyed the cruise both times..