Fascination Review for 3-day cruise on Dec 2-5th

[LisaFlyer]

I just got off the Fascination after a 3-day cruise. Yes, this was a short cruise, but it was still a cruise and others may be interested in a “quicky”, so I am writing this up for all to see.

Did I have a great time? YES!

Will I go again? YES- in a heartbeat!

Will I go on the Fascination again- ABSOLUTELY!

Did we have any complaints? What cruiser doesn’t, but they were MINOR nuances

Booking: Went through a travel agent and booked my Dec 2-5, 2005 cruise in August. Paid $545 for an inside cabin in category 4c. Got airfare online by doing a search through Travelocity/travelzoo/orbits to see who was cheapest, then booked directly with the American Airlines webpage for $173/person after taxes. Another couple decided to join us at the last minute, paid $655 for an inside 4c cabin, and used FF miles for Southwest. I believe the cruise was not that full.

Preparations: made my list from comments on several boards. Packing was perfect- took everything we needed, and didn’t pack anything we didn’t use. List will be posted in later follow up. Posted on Roll Call and found other folks on our cruise and made arrangements to hook up. We psyched each other out, and couldn’t wait to get down to Miami.

Embarkation: Our flight was that morning at 6am out of Washington’s IAD airport. Way too early! Had to get up at 3am to make it to the airport on time. There were 3 couples in our party. We did early check in online, so all we had to do was check our luggage using the AA self assist and off to the gate we went. Security line at 5am was about 15 minutes long. We got to the gate and opened up a few baby bottles of champagne and OJ and we each got a small glass of celebratory pre-vacation mimosas. We cheered, wished for a good vacation and got on a full flight. After sleeping most of the way, we landed, grabbed a taxi and were on our way. We asked our driver to take us to a store, so we stopped around the corner from the airport at the Winn Dixie for sodas and Red Bulls. The cabbie didn’t charge us for stopping, but we tipped him extra for taking care of us and not charging us.

We got to the port about 10am, dropped our bags to a porter- he double checked our rooms and made sure we had all our bags properly tagged and we headed off to the embarkation area. We walked into an empty lobby, grabbed our docs, walked up to the counter and checked in. Effortless. We then sat back down, found our Roll Call friends, and got acquainted. Around 11am, they lined us up and we went through security. Again, effortless- at this point, there were about 100 or so people in line- there was only one boat in port at the time, so it was not crowded at all. After we got through security, we stood waiting in another line to go to customs. About 11:12, we were released into the terminal and went through customs. After customs, we got our picture taken in front of the sign and walked through the gangplank. They took our picture for the S&S card and we were officially on the boat at 11:32.

Day 1:

After we dropped our bags off in our rooms (the rooms were ready when we got there), we went up to the Lido deck for foofy drinks and lunch. Marvin is THE MAN!!!! He hooked us up the whole cruise with nice strong drinks, and was quick and prompt. His timing is impeccable! And, we got a couple free drinks from him later in the cruise. We didn’t order from anyone except for Marvin! Lunch was excellent- had carved roast beef, salad, stuff tomatoes with garlic chips on top (these were fabulous!), cheesecake, fruit, etc. Everything was warm and excellent. Didn’t really see any lines the whole trip except for the last day at breakfast for the omelets line and at the midnight buffet.

After we settled in, we explored until the Muster Drill. That was a little long- you had to meet in an area, and then were taken to the muster station. The last cruise we did, we just went directly to the muster station and it went quicker. Afterwards, we watched the boat depart dock and off we went. We went and got ready for dinner and had a few pre-dinner drinks. We brought our own wine each night to the dining room, and were not charged a corkage fee. We had two waiters (the head waiter, and a “helper in training”). Service was a little slow, but we were enjoying each other’s company, so we really didn’t mind. We had prime rib and mushroom soup- both were exceptional. The Prime Rib was cooked perfectly, was warm, and was served au jus- tasty! After dinner, we went to the casino, took in the Broadway show, and headed off to bed after a very long day around 1:30am.

Day 2:

The vibrations of docking in Nassau awakened us. After about ½ hour, we were docked and announcements came that the boat was ready to let people assure. Inner staterooms are great- I can never sleep in after the sun comes up at 6am at home, but found myself sleeping peacefully until 9am on the boat. The beds were uber comfy and the duvets and pillows were fluffy and soft. We made it up to the lido deck for breakfast of nice hot, handmade omelets. The cook was from Croatia, and was very cute and very friendly. He remembered what I had on the third day and asked if I wanted the same as before! After a nice breakfast, we went ashore to Nassau and grabbed a cab to Atlantis. I lost $40, but hubby won $317 and his brother won $400. Cab over there was $4/person +tip. It took about 10 minutes to get over there, and there was a $1 toll across the bridge. Admission was free to Atlantis for the casino, shops, and the aquarium that is in the lobby. The main aquarium is part of a $25 tour we opted not to see. After Atlantis, we went back to the boat, had lunch up on the lido deck (restaurant is only open for dinner on port days, but on days at sea, the restaurant is open for breakfast and lunch as well). Lunch was a French theme and was excellent! After lunch, we went back to Nassau, walked around and did some duty free shopping and went over to Senor Frogs for a drink. Aftewards, we went back to the ship for drinks and get ready for dinner. We had requested late seating, but got early seating, hence, we missed the captain’s cocktail party (it is the same time as our dinner, so it was either miss dinner or the cocktail party- we opted for going to dinner). Dinner was Filet, pumpkin soup (loff it!), and cherries jubilee (no flames though). Everything was excellent. Then the crew sang an Italian song the captain taught them, and then we had a surprise- we were asked to stand and they played the chicken dance and everyone started dancing with the crew and each other! It was a blast!!!! I just love the chicken dance, but some people opted to sit and watch, which was fine too. It was our favorite “dinner crew entertainment” of all time!

After dinner, we hung out, did a comedy show, and went over to Senor Frogs. I ended up going alone because no one wanted to go out, but still had a great time and hooked up with a two couples that were on the ship. After stumbling back at 2am, we headed to the Diamonds lounge and kept dancing until they kicked us out at 3am. What a fun night!!!!

Day 3:

With a slight hangover, we were awakened at 8am to the vibrations of the ship leaving port. 45 minutes later, I finally got up and we called for room service for OJ and wine glasses to make mimosas to get rid of the hangover. We went to breakfast in the dining room, and I got grapefruit half (fresh and juicy) and eggs benedict. The eggs were perfectly cooked, the sauce was tasty, and everything was hot. We met a lovely couple on their honeymoon, and a couple who used to work with Holland America as on-board florists. They shared some wonderful stories with us, and their granddaughter was a perfect angel and was very polite and friendly. After breakfast, we went up on deck and I met up with the two couples I met the night before. After a few more mimosa’s thanks to Marvin, we went up to the topless deck and laid out. Very nice and quiet up there, and the aft pool was adults only- very refreshing. No problem finding deck chairs or room, but again, I don’t think it was a full sailing. After lunch, we played in the pool and tested the water slide. The little girl we had breakfast with was in front of us, and we said hellos and shared the excitement of the waterslide. After a few slides and lots of salt water up the nose, we layed back down again and watched the ice sculpting. After the ice sculpting, they announced the “Fear Factor” contest and my friend grabbed my hand and we went up there. Five teams competed, and we came in second. Details later. Aftewards, the alcohol and lack of food caught up with me and after two showers, I racked out until 11pm when I got up and took a third shower to try to get more of the mustard smell off of me (details later). The Midnight buffet was beautiful!!!!! Cheese, salads, mini filets, shrimp, and tons and tons of deserts. It was delicious!!!! After gouging on chocolate, all was good in the world once again and we went to the casino to lose more money. Afterwards, it was off to bed to prepare for the long day ahead.

Day 4:

We were awakened again by vibrations- I slept through ½ of it, so I guess I was getting used to it. What woke me up were the announcements about debarkation. Time to go L

We packed some things, grabbed a shower, and then went up for breakfast. I had my “usual” omelets and some fresh fruit- very tasty and filling. After breakfast, we continued to pack (we did self assist- we were to discombobulated to get the luggage out the night before). We got off the ship about 9:30am and used a porter to avoid the line. Disembarkation was easy- simply get off the ship and go through customs. There were two boats disembarking- Imagination, and us. Lines were sort of long, but we used a porter and went to the front of the line. There were 3 people in our line, but the customs agent was having an issue with the card reader, and by the time we got through, the people that were behind us in line that didn’t use a porter, were already through. So, will we use a porter again- probably not? Total time in line- 20 minutes.

Since our plane wasn’t leaving until 8pm, we rented a car for the 6 of us. The porter took us over to where the car rental companies stop, and I negotiated a $59 rate for a big minivan for the day from Enterprise. All others were going for $69, so it was a good deal. Enterprise took us to town, we checked into our car, and to South Beach we went. We parked on 7th street in the public lot and waked up the beach and hung out and shopped. We asked a local about where to eat and he guided us to Puerto Sagua restaurant where we had the best sandwiches and beef stew around. Cheap and good! Rachel Ray would have been proud of us! After lunch, we visited a few hotels to scope out for our next cruise in Nov 06 and found The Hotel. Slam Dunk it’s the place to go! We setup our reservation and we headed for a beer. After a while, we headed to the airport, dropped the car and got to the airport. After learning that Virginia was having a blizzard, we started to worry about getting home. We checked in, and then went to the airport hotel lobby and had some drinks- best mudslides we had in a while. After watching the weather channel and deciding that we would be ok getting home, we grabbed a nap in the comfy overstuffed chairs and then went to the gate and boarded. Flight was full, but we left right on time.

After we landed, it took us a while to get the luggage, the car, and get out of the airport. Virginia was spared a bad storm, but we didn’t walk in the door until 1:48am. Ugggg. Work would come early at 8am…

Summary:

Pros: We had a blast!

• Ship was clean, in great shape, and the crew was awesome. If you let them, they will pamper you and take care of you. Marvin our drink waiter at the main pool was the TOPS, as was our cabin stewards, the porters, the Omelets guy from Croatia (not to mention he was GQ cute)!
  
• Everyone was there to have a good time.
  
• Food was good and plentiful. Pizza was good and hot, fries were great, and omelets were made to order
  
• Room steward made cool towel animals. We didn’t see him much, but he kept our cooler topped off with ice and our room was kept spotless. I think they make it a game to do their job without being seen- we gave them a $50 spot for the great service- they truly can make your cruise go well.

Cons: Not many- all were very petty

• Every so often, you would catch a wiff of sewage. Normal for older boats, but it still wasn’t that bad, but thought I would mention it.
  
• Food was mediocre at times. Had to send back my filet when it was really really overcooked when I ordered rare. The waiter took it back with apologies and I had a fresh hot rare replacement steak within 4 minutes.
  
• Only one captains cocktail party that the early seating missed
  
• No return cruisers party
  
• The best show on the ship- the Adult comedy show, was during the midnight buffet
  
• Midnight buffet was too short- needed more time to gouge myself ;-)

Questions (besides details on the Mustard)?

Lisa

[Vanessa L]

Thank you Lisa. It sounds like you had a great time. Hubby and I are headed out to the Fascination for the 1/20/06 sailing. I'll look for the omelet guy, lol :D ! Your post just reiterated what I think I already knew--your cruise will be as fun or as miserable as you make it. I plan on having a GREAT time!!

 

Glad you had a good time!

 

Vanessa

[kristikae]

Did the inside cabins have refrigerators? I haven't been on a Fantasy class ship in a long time and I can't remember if refurbishment includes adding them or not? We cruise on Sunday and I can't wait!

 

Will Marvin remember you? If so I'll tell him you said hi!

[LisaFlyer]

There is no fridge in the inside cabins. I brought a collapsable cooler and our cabin steward kept it filled up to keep everything iced down. No problem on liquor on the counter- they could care less. We ended up keeping the cooler in the shower because it leaked. By the way- the shower was huge for cruise ship standards- it easily fit two people ;-)

 

Tell Marvin the crazy group that kept calling him Issac said hi and we miss him! We can't wait to do another "quickie" and buy more drinks from him!!! You will find him on the port side by the snack bar at the main pool between the snack bar and the towel sales booth. If you are coming from the atrium, look to your right and ask around for Marvin.

 

Cruises are what you make it-I'm a "glass half full" person, so I always have a great time no matter where I am or what I am doing. I am sure there are plenty of "glass half empty" people out there that would bitch about every single thing and have a miserable time. I feel very sorry for them- Carnival really tries hard to make sure everyone has a good time- if you let them...

 

Lisa

(as I let out a long sigh thinking about Mr. GQ omolet guy- wow he was sexy- and he had the bluest softest eyes- aaahhhhhhh! He is on the port side omolet station diagonal from the pizza station)

[my3kids]

Mustard details please............................:D !

 

Glad you had a great time! We did also in April.

What cabin were you in?

 

Also - great review - thanks for taking the time to do so!

[CruiseFever]

Good for you!

[BlueHerons]

Great report!

 

Did you make it to the rooftop of The Hotel? They have the coolest pool in South Beach and the view is fantastic. The rooftop bar is also excellent and Wish is one of my favorite restaurants anywhere.

 

You also lucked out with great Cuban!

[drkleen]

Also going on the Monday cruise, can't wait. Going Solo, and was just told by Carnival that I have been given an outside cabin. Can't wait to go and have a good time. No timetable and no plans, just plan to wing it. The last time I went solo in December they had an awesome kids xmas talent show, kinda made me miss my kids, but hey you only get a few times to go alone, so I enjoyed it.

 

jeff d :)

[LisaFlyer]

Ok- you asked for it...

It all started out at Senor Frogs. Hubby and friends wanted to go to the comedy show, I wanted to go out dancing. I hooked up with my CC friends and they were going out SFs too, so we decided to meet at there at 10. They never showed. Some creep tried picking me up, so I found a group of people and started dancing with them pretending they were my friends. By the end of the night and many many dances and tons of drinks later, we were friends... We partied the rest of the night, went back to the boat and after getting kicked out of the last disco at 3am, called it a night. The next day after mimosa's and breakfast, I ran into them again. We all laid out and more mimosa's were ordered from Marvin and we found some chairs out at the top deck. After a few hours, we went back down to the pool and played on the water slide. Afterwards, they started the contests. One of them grabbed my arm and we went up on stage, having NO idea what the heck was going on- it was the "fear factor" game... oh lord- what the hell did I get myself into??? How did I end up on stage in front of the entire ship??? In a bathing suit no less???? Ok- I was a tad tipsy, but what was I thinking????

 

Oh well, just have fun with it- I'm here and they won't put us in danger-relax and go with it...

 

First Stage-

We were both selected to play, and we were paired up with unknown men. First task- get on our hands and knees and eat something that looked like it was puked up with our hands. Ok- that was me- I ate it, it was actually pretty good- it was a bunch of salads put together with some green ambrosia mixed in- wasn't too bad and we came in second. That eliminated two teams out of 6. I'm thinking- ok, this isn't toooo bad. Everyone on deck is cheering us on- we're doing ok. High 5s all the way around.

 

Second stage-

This was a little trickier of a task- especially under the influence… I had to take a lemon, put it between my knees, bunny hop across the stage, squeeze the lemon into a glass of milk- do that twice. Partner had to drink the concoction. We came in a close first. Two more teams eliminated. Now it’s us vs them. Partner was doing ok- had a major milk mustache going (lemon in milk causes it to foam) that covered his face almost, but he was being a good sport about it. We were ready for the finals…

 

Finals

Us vs Them (I don’t know anyone’s names and can’t remember!) Now my alcohol buzz is really coming in handy. Third stage. Partner pours an entire container of ketchup and an entire container of Mustard on my body. Then “mummifies” me with Toilet Paper. Ohhhhkaaaayy…. By this time, all the kids were sitting on the end of the stage, all headed up with my little friend from breakfast that morning. She had all the kids from Camp Carnival cheering for me, which in turn had everyone else cheering. So, on went the condiments and on went the TP. Unfortunately, they finished their TP before we did, but theirs was globbed on and I was actually “mummified” from head to toe- they won- neatness didn’t count L. But we came in second, got a Carnival medal on a ribbon and they hung it around my neck- overall it was fun- I showered off the condiments in the pool shower, then went over and had a drink with the winners- my partner must have not had such a good time- he disappeared so quick- I turned around on stage after I got my medal and he was gone! Anyway, afterwards, I went up to the room to shower- took two showers and I still could smell the mustard. Came out, and crashed on the bed and slept until 11 that night- guess I was a little drunker than I thought I was. The whole time, hubby was nowhere to be found and had no idea that I did the contest until people started going up to him telling him about it- he was like “only my wife…”

 

Anyway,,, it was a lot of fun- it’s all what you make it- some people look at the contests and think they are stupid, some people are mortified that people would go up on stage and make fools out of themselves. Me- I have fun- I try everything. The last thing I want to do when I get to those pearly gates is say “I wish I did that” or “I wish I got to go to…”. No regrets baby- savor it all!!!! Experience all you can!!!! Go and do everything.

The mustard smell finally came out after the fourth shower before going to the midnight buffet. I was famished after drinking my lunch… At least mimosa’s have OJ in them….

Lisa

 

Pictures posted soon...as well as the scanned capers[/size]

[traveling queen]

What a great review!!!!!!!!! I would love to travel with you, you are so correct on everything. Vacation is what you make it and we try to make it the best ever each and every time we travel. You are a blast.

[LisaFlyer]

I just can't wait to go on our next cruise in November on the Valor for the Western Caribean! If I get a bonus, I may have to suprise hubby with another "quicki" cruise on Fascination- we had that great of a time on it...

 

Life is what you make it- and I distance myself from the people who radiate "negative vibes". I don't ever want to become one of them...

Lisa

[my3kids]

I love it!!! Thanks for the 'mustard' story!!!!!

 

You are too funny!:D

 

Happy sailings!!!!

[hill6]

Sounds like you had a fun trip.

[candigirl41]

I can't believe they only had one captains party. That truly sucks. Every cruise I have been on there are always two. Sorry you missed it.

 

Candi

[LisaFlyer]

Couple more things:

 

Were there a lot of kids on the cruise? No- we only counted 12 kids at the pool- they all cheered for me during the Fear Factor game!

 

What room were you in and did you like it? I was in U11, U19, U23. All rooms were normal sized, and we loved the front- it was nice and quiet (although we didn't drop anchor so I can't vouch for the anchor noise we heard complaints about). U deck was only a couple decks down from the main action and it was nice and close when we got back from the muster drill to drop off our vests and watch the boat pull out.

 

Shopping: any? No- didn't do any- looked, but didn't purchase. Several pieces caught my eye- one being a nice necklace 14k gold chain with a multicolor semi precious stone (can't remember the name, but it was a good size stone- 4 karots maybe) for $288. If I had the money, I wouldn't have hesitated to buy it.

 

Wine- any problem bringing it aboard? No- brought 2 bottles of wine, 2 bottles of champagne- all came aboard with no questions. Liquor was in checked bag- all made it on ok.

 

Lines- how bad? Don't think we were on a full ship because we really didn't see any lines.

 

Rental Car- how did you get one at the port? We went to the south end of the parking lot and thrifty and enterprise had their shuttles waiting. I bargained for a vehicle and they took me to their store where it awaited me. I dropped it off at the airport at no additional charge and we all got a ride to the airport in their shuttle- complete with a bottle of cold water for the trip. (lasted a whole 2 minutes). Total cost for a large minivan- $71 after taxes. Split 6 ways- came to about $12/person for a ride around Miami, a place to plop our luggage for 10 hours, and a quick dropoff to the airport.

 

Lisa