FASCINATION: Theme nights? Formal Nights? Restaurant Suggestions?

[triciann1]

We will be going on our first cruise out of San Juan, PR on the Fascination. We booked it for all of the port destinations.

 

Forgive my questions, but THANK YOU IN ADVANCE for any feedback!

 

#1 - I cannot find a schedule or information on theme nights or formal nights, etc? Do they offer that on the Fascination? (The only thing I saw was a sign-up for Cat & the Hat breakfast?)

 

#2 - If we don't commit to a specific dining time for evening dinners, will we still eat in The Main Dining Room? Same menu?

 

#3 - Do they serve steak and lobster one night? Does it cost extra?

 

#4 - I am a little confused about the beverages. I know that each passenger can take limited soda and water onboard to the cabin. We do not drink alcohol or much juice - so we didn't think any of the beverage packages were worth the price. Is coffee and juice available every AM and does it cost extra?

 

#5 - My kids love smoothies - are smoothies included in a beverage package? Does anyone know how much they cost?

 

MANY THANKS!

[pghsteelerfan]

We will be going on our first cruise out of San Juan, PR on the Fascination. We booked it for all of the port destinations.

 

Forgive my questions, but THANK YOU IN ADVANCE for any feedback!

 

#1 - I cannot find a schedule or information on theme nights or formal nights, etc? Do they offer that on the Fascination? (The only thing I saw was a sign-up for Cat & the Hat breakfast?)

 

#2 - If we don't commit to a specific dining time for evening dinners, will we still eat in The Main Dining Room? Same menu?

 

#3 - Do they serve steak and lobster one night? Does it cost extra?

 

#4 - I am a little confused about the beverages. I know that each passenger can take limited soda and water onboard to the cabin. We do not drink alcohol or much juice - so we didn't think any of the beverage packages were worth the price. Is coffee and juice available every AM and does it cost extra?

 

#5 - My kids love smoothies - are smoothies included in a beverage package? Does anyone know how much they cost?

 

MANY THANKS!

 

I can try to answer a couple of your questions since we've done this same itinerary twice fairly recently, but not on Fascination (we did it on Valor in May 2013 and again on Liberty in September 2015).

 

 

Formal nights: There will be two formal nights and these are called "Cruise Elegant". For us the first was the evening of our day at sea (Tuesday). The second was actually different on Valor (Thursday, after St. Lucia) and Liberty (Friday, after St. Kitts). For several of our later cruises, we haven't been going to the formal nights and have just eaten on the Lido since we try to watch what we pack to avoid the oversize luggage fees by the airlines. We did attend the first formal night (Tuesday after day at sea) on our most recent (Liberty) cruise out of San Jaun. Both prime rib and lobster were served. I don't know if they are available on BOTH formal nights or whether it's just one of the two. I only know that it was the first formal night on our most recent cruise (again, Liberty). I'm pretty sure that Carnival stopped serving the lobster on formal nights on shorter cruises, but it's still available on 7 night cruises. For additional information on the formal/cruise elegant nights compared to cruise casual (regular), in the link I'm attaching below from Carnival's website, go down to the section titled "What to Wear - Evenings" and there are more details with information.

 

Dining times and not committing...we've always committed to "late seating", which we prefer. I'm not positive, but think Carnival will choose a dining time for you if you don't commit. There are three dining times that you can choose from, early seating, late seating, and "your time" dining. All three are in one of the main dining rooms and all have the same menu. Attaching a link from Carnival's web page with details on the dining:

 

Link to Carnival's website with information on the dining:

https://help.carnival.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/3439/~/dining-room-seating-options---dinner

 

Theme deck parties: I don't know about actual *themes* but on both Valor and Liberty, there were deck parties at sail away from San Juan and the night we left Barbados. I think the themes vary from cruise to cruise. One of the common themes for deck parties seems to be "80's music". These deck parties were not on the formal nights of our cruises out of San Juan.

 

Beverages: Yes, coffee and juice are available. They should be on Lido in the buffet area. The coffee on Lido is available at all times and I also believe hot chocolate is too. I love Carnivals hot chocolate and usually have that several times on a cruise. You can also order coffee/juice through room service. I've never had an issue with the free coffee, but some prefer gourmet type coffees. Those are available too, but there is a charge. As for smoothies, I'm not sure about those since we don't drink those. We do drink the adult only beverages but we've never gotten the beverage package. With a port heavy itinerary, we just don't think it's worth it.

 

I hope this information will at least be of some help to you. If not, it will at least bump your post up with hopes that someone who has cruised on Fascination recently can give you better/more definite answers specific to Fascination. I will say one thing, you sure picked a great itinerary...the southern out of San Juan is our favorite and we've done eastern, western, and even a Mexican Riviera. We love the lush, green, mountainous islands of the southern Caribbean...beautiful scenery.

[triciann1]

Thank you so much for your help!!!!!!!!!:):):)

[frayedend]

No smoothies on bottomless bubbles package. Just soda and juice. No coffee either (premium coffee I mean).

[kathleen21]

We went on the Fascination in May. The first Formal night was Tuesday, the sea day. Both lobster and steak were served. The second was Thursday, St Lucia. No lobster. Steak, lamb chops.. that's all I remember. I thought the free coffee was fine. It was available all day. I brought my own herbal tea. My guess is a smoothie type drink is about $5. At least that was the cost of a virgin pina colada, and that seems like much the same thing.

I'm hoping to make time to write a full review next week. Writing about this is bringing back great memories!

[kathleen21]

Oh, and there are two dining rooms. One for the my time dining and one for the early/ late seating dining.

We brought on a case of sparkling water and I barely finished it. You are just off the ship so much eating and drinking in port!

[SkyPiglet]

...

#1 - I cannot find a schedule or information on theme nights or formal nights, etc? Do they offer that on the Fascination? (The only thing I saw was a sign-up for Cat & the Hat breakfast?)

#2 - If we don't commit to a specific dining time for evening dinners, will we still eat in The Main Dining Room? Same menu?

#3 - Do they serve steak and lobster one night? Does it cost extra?

#4 - I am a little confused about the beverages. I know that each passenger can take limited soda and water onboard to the cabin. We do not drink alcohol or much juice - so we didn't think any of the beverage packages were worth the price. Is coffee and juice available every AM and does it cost extra?

#5 - My kids love smoothies - are smoothies included in a beverage package? Does anyone know how much they cost?

 

I have not been on Fascination, but I am assuming many of the same answers would apply from other Carnival ships.

1) I think the elegant nights go with 1st and last sea-days, but don't quote me on that. I don't think here are any real "themes" though.

2) Yes. Double check your booking, you probably defaulted to one of the three options, but can change it. My wife and I ALWAYS choose "your Time Dining" because we prefer not to commit. You might have a 10-15 minute wait on occasion, but it is more flexible if you don't like committing to a set time. The dining room will probably be different, but the menus are the same.

3) Yes, typically they do prime rib and lobster one night at no extra cost. Also, every night there is flat-iron steak at no cost, but it is not the finest steak. I am not sure about Fascination, but on many of the ships you CAN get a steakhouse steak or better lobster on ANY night for $20.

4) At breakfast time, the Lido Buffet and room service offers orange juice, apple juice, and a guava-passion fruit juice at no cost. Standard coffee, milk, ice tea, lemonade is always available. DW and I have been served cappucinos free of charge after dinner in the MDR, but I am not sure if that is "official" or not. If you don't really drink alcohol or pop (soda), you are right that the beverage packages are not worth it. If you want to get creative with the "free drinks," I often mixed equal portions of ice tea and lemonade and have heard of others putting ice cream in coffee or making milkshakes with free ice cream.

5) I have no idea about smoothies. I know virgin frozen drinks are covered in Cheers, but that is a lot of money to pay for some smoothies.

 

If your cruise out of San Juan goes to St. Maarten, St. Thomas, Barbados, St. Lucia, and St. Kitts, then that was my honeymoon and first cruise, except for us, it was on Victory. Those are some beautiful ports and you will love it! I really want to go back to St. Lucia. San Juan has its perks too! If it wasn't for the cost of airfare to PR, DW and I would do it again in a heartbeat! :cool:

[jackparts]

Since we are talking Fascination, are there refrigerators in the suites? How are the sodas and beer kept cold?

[kathleen21]

No refrigerators. We asked our room steward to keep the ice bucket full and always had a couple of cans on ice.

[BTHodgeman]

Looks like most of your questions are answered. Here's some more info on theme nights/deck parties, and elegant nights in the MDR.

 

1.) Depending what you mean by "theme nights," Fascination seems to be programmed a bit differently. There was no White Party, etc. Also, during my trip in April/May, I thought that Fascination was a bit 'sleepier' than most Carnival ships. There were deck parties, including Sail Away, Rock N Glow, and Mega Deck Party, but they didn't tend to be well attended. The Sail Away Deck Party seemed to last about 15-20 minutes, then the Fun Staff were gone, and the DJ continued on for just a little longer. The Rock N Glow and Mega Deck Party were so hardly attended that I just went to the casino instead.

2.) Flat iron steak is available every night. It's not the "best" cut of meat, but does tend to be my go-to option if nothing else sounds good. The first elegant night lobster will be on the menu. The second elegant night has prime rib and a few others. On Fascination, although there is no steakhouse, they do offer "Steakhouse Selections" in the MDR for an up-charge of $20. If I recall, there was steak and lobster on that menu each night.

 

One of the dining rooms is reserved for early/late seating, and the other is Your Time Dining (YTD). We always do YTD, and on Fascination never had a wait. Menus are the same between the two dining rooms. The key difference (downfall, for some) with YTD is that your wait staff and tablemates may change. You can request specific wait staff when you check in, and if you like your tablemates, just agree to meet at the same time for dinner.

 

Have fun!

[cruisekitty22]

This was very informative as we are sailing on the Fascination October 1, 2017. It answered a lot of questions for us too!