Fascination ???

[WiddyTwo]

 

 

I also am eager to hear about the condition of the islands, particularly Dominica.

 

I was just doing a mock booking and the trip at the end of April has Antigua now instead of Dominica. I think the first trip to Dominica is now in July. Hopefully the island is ready by then so they can get the benefit of the tourism dollars.

[jkneern]

Sounds like there is plenty of time to get the kinks out for my sailing in a few months.

 

I don't complain a lot, but no refrigerators irks me

 

This ship never had refrigerators unless you are in a suite.

Just request an ice bucket.

[soccer2010]

Looking to hear other reviews and opinions of the refurbished Fascination. Usually when its as bad as described here, there are tons of negative reviews by now.

[A&Jfamily]

I am on her now - boarded today and have walked most of the public areas. The carpets appear new in our balcony stateroom and on most if not all of the ship. The balcony dividers appear new and there appears to be lots of fresh paint. Alchemy bar looks great - and the bartenders advise so far it has been slow. Part of that may be due to the nature of the 5 ports of call. DH had a ringer from Guys and was up to par. DS had pizza and was good as normal. I had Blue iguana shrimp taco salad and it was great.

 

There was a line at customer service but that is to be expected day 1 - and I have seen WAY worse in much larger ships.

 

Looks to me like the did a great job on the update and we continue to like the Fantasy class of ships. I would rather sail with 2000 than 4500 any day.

 

 

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[carnivaladdix120]

I am on her now - boarded today and have walked most of the public areas. The carpets appear new in our balcony stateroom and on most if not all of the ship. The balcony dividers appear new and there appears to be lots of fresh paint. Alchemy bar looks great - and the bartenders advise so far it has been slow. Part of that may be due to the nature of the 5 ports of call. DH had a ringer from Guys and was up to par. DS had pizza and was good as normal. I had Blue iguana shrimp taco salad and it was great.

 

There was a line at customer service but that is to be expected day 1 - and I have seen WAY worse in much larger ships.

 

Looks to me like the did a great job on the update and we continue to like the Fantasy class of ships. I would rather sail with 2000 than 4500 any day.

 

 

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Thanks so much for sharing!! This is great news! We sail on her in 2 weeks and definitely can’t wait! Have a wonderful trip!!

 

 

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[Guatiao]

I am on her now - boarded today and have walked most of the public areas. The carpets appear new in our balcony stateroom and on most if not all of the ship. The balcony dividers appear new and there appears to be lots of fresh paint. Alchemy bar looks great - and the bartenders advise so far it has been slow. Part of that may be due to the nature of the 5 ports of call. DH had a ringer from Guys and was up to par. DS had pizza and was good as normal. I had Blue iguana shrimp taco salad and it was great.

 

There was a line at customer service but that is to be expected day 1 - and I have seen WAY worse in much larger ships.

 

Looks to me like the did a great job on the update and we continue to like the Fantasy class of ships. I would rather sail with 2000 than 4500 any day.

 

Thanks for sharing. A coworker was on the ship one week ago, and told me of most of hwta's been mentioned here so far. It was his first CCL cruise, so I tend to think his comparisons to RCCL ships is 100% fair (older refurbished ship vs. way newer, bigger and modern ships). But, he had fun along with his family, which is what counts at the end of the day.

 

Now, I was on the Fascination back in 2001 (first 1-week cruise, first CCL cruise, and first "big ship" cruise), and I have no way of remembering if there were refrigerators in the cabins. I'd have to check my old (print) photos of the voyage to jog my memory. This week I booked an October sailing, and I'm pretty excited to revisit the ship, after having sailed in bigger, far more modern ones like the Valor.

 

Enjoy your vacation!!!

[MeganGC1983]

I am on her now - boarded today and have walked most of the public areas. The carpets appear new in our balcony stateroom and on most if not all of the ship. The balcony dividers appear new and there appears to be lots of fresh paint. Alchemy bar looks great - and the bartenders advise so far it has been slow. Part of that may be due to the nature of the 5 ports of call. DH had a ringer from Guys and was up to par. DS had pizza and was good as normal. I had Blue iguana shrimp taco salad and it was great.

 

There was a line at customer service but that is to be expected day 1 - and I have seen WAY worse in much larger ships.

 

Looks to me like the did a great job on the update and we continue to like the Fantasy class of ships. I would rather sail with 2000 than 4500 any day.

 

 

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Would love to see MDR menus and funtimes if you are so inclined. TIA!!

 

 

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[salty dingo]

I would rather sail with 2000 than 4500 any day.

You got that right! I'll take the smaller crowd over the more "things to do" on the bigger ships. Just park me in a lounger on deck and that's more than enough.

[A&Jfamily]

Would love to see MDR menus and funtimes if you are so inclined. TIA!!

 

 

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I won’t have internet. It’s only because we are in San Juan and still on ATT that I am on here! If you are a frequent Carnival cruiser then the menu is the standard 7 day - tonight was the night with calamari and strawberry bisque.

 

 

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[A&Jfamily]

I will say that some food has been off - the spring rolls were way to hard and my son’s melting cake wasn’t warm or melting. But they happily got him a new one and it was perfect. Three of us had vegetarian Indian and it was delicious!

 

The other thing I will not is that muster is taking forever...we are pretty much an hour in. Several people have disregarded it and they repeat every single thing in Spanish. So while ur muster station is inside and you can relax, it takes longer and you will eventually be taken to the actual station. After a long day of travel it is exhausting.

 

 

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[MeganGC1983]

I won’t have internet. It’s only because we are in San Juan and still on ATT that I am on here! If you are a frequent Carnival cruiser then the menu is the standard 7 day - tonight was the night with calamari and strawberry bisque.

 

 

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Gotcha. I was recently on the Valor, and they changed it up a bit with Baked Alaska and what not. So I wondered if there's was changed up at all.

Hope muster is over soon and the dining room steps it up for you!!

 

 

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[WhiteOptima]

So sorry to hear this. We are going on 6/24/18. How were the islands? Was there a lot of damage and did this keep you from doing certain things?

 

St Maarten still shows a lot of damage near beach area. We didn't tour the island. St Thomas looked fine.

Loved Barbados beaches, Cosol tour in St Lucia is a must and took a taxi around St Kitts and all was well there.

[salty dingo]

..they repeat every single thing in Spanish.

I remember this from past cruises from San Juan. It makes sense since the ship departs from a Spanish speaking region. At least half the guests onboard were locals ( Spanish speaking ) so of course they will make the announcements in two languages.

[OceansOfTravels]

I am on her now - boarded today and have walked most of the public areas. The carpets appear new in our balcony stateroom and on most if not all of the ship. The balcony dividers appear new and there appears to be lots of fresh paint. Alchemy bar looks great - and the bartenders advise so far it has been slow. Part of that may be due to the nature of the 5 ports of call. DH had a ringer from Guys and was up to par. DS had pizza and was good as normal. I had Blue iguana shrimp taco salad and it was great.

 

There was a line at customer service but that is to be expected day 1 - and I have seen WAY worse in much larger ships.

 

Looks to me like the did a great job on the update and we continue to like the Fantasy class of ships. I would rather sail with 2000 than 4500 any day.

 

 

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Glad to hear this, I'm excited for my cruise at Christmas. Have an amazing cruise!

[Stinger-pr]

It's important to not draw a conclusion from a very small sample. If 100 people come on here with the same review, that means a lot, but one person's opinion means little.

 

I am sure the cruise right after drydock would be less than the best example to compare:

 

• Workers may still be on board finishing up what they did not get done in drydock
  
• Pipes which were jostled about during the drydock may have rust shaken loose, resulting in brown water, which will pass (this is actually pretty common on all the older ships after a storm when the rocking ship knocks rust loose.) FYI - rust won't kill you.
  
• Crew is going to be green, getting used to their new accommodation
  

 

I also am eager to hear about the condition of the islands, particularly Dominica.

 

This is usually true. One of the recurring tips I read about cruising on ANY line is to be weary about maiden voyages or the first few after that and the first couple of sailings after a dry dock (specially the first one). Maiden voyages are prone to kinks as are post dry dock ones, which most often than not, I've read there's some kind of work still being done here and there and maybe some closed venues.

 

As an aside, I really feel for those sailing tonight on the Fascination (as well as the Adventure of the Seas from Royal Caribbean) out of San Juan since we are experiencing what experts are calling a "historical event" of VERY rough surf and sea conditions with huge waves over the northern, western and southwest part of the island. Those two ships will be rockin' n rollin' quite a lot tonite on their way to St. Thomas.

[Guatiao]

This is usually true. One of the recurring tips I read about cruising on ANY line is to be weary about maiden voyages or the first few after that and the first couple of sailings after a dry dock (specially the first one). Maiden voyages are prone to kinks as are post dry dock ones, which most often than not, I've read there's some kind of work still being done here and there and maybe some closed venues.

 

As an aside, I really feel for those sailing tonight on the Fascination (as well as the Adventure of the Seas from Royal Caribbean) out of San Juan since we are experiencing what experts are calling a "historical event" of VERY rough surf and sea conditions with huge waves over the northern, western and southwest part of the island. Those two ships will be rockin' n rollin' quite a lot tonite on their way to St. Thomas.

 

Check out the Puertoricogram account in Instagram, they have a video of a cruise ship departing today, taken from El Morro fortress. That ship must have moved like crazy!

[Stinger-pr]

Check out the Puertoricogram account in Instagram, they have a video of a cruise ship departing today, taken from El Morro fortress. That ship must have moved like crazy!

Saw the video. It was insane!! If I'm not mistaken that was the Viking Sky sailing out the bay. The Fascination is smaller and lighter so she must've really rocked. I hope A&Jfamily can update on sea conditions tomorrow while in St. Thomas.

[A&Jfamily]

The ride last night all the way til we rounded st Thomas was 12-81 foot seas - so we slept like babies. It was great! Watching the huge waves roll in and crash at the San Juan old city gate was cool!

 

The only other thing I can add at this point is the MDR is just not as smooth as it should be. In addition to what I reported last night, today they forgot my hot tea, never offered the breakfast breads, are out of bananas (how is this possible -especially since my son had 2 banana splits last night for dessert), forgot my homemade granola (which is very delicious) etc. The head water was about to lose his mind at his staff. But a simply reminder for each thing fixed the problem with a smile so no complaints here.

 

 

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[Morgeuse]

Oh dear Lord, I hope you meant "12-18" ft seas!!!

[eyzwdeshut]

I will say that some food has been off - the spring rolls were way to hard and my son’s melting cake wasn’t warm or melting. But they happily got him a new one and it was perfect. Three of us had vegetarian Indian and it was delicious!

 

The other thing I will not is that muster is taking forever...we are pretty much an hour in. Several people have disregarded it and they repeat every single thing in Spanish. So while ur muster station is inside and you can relax, it takes longer and you will eventually be taken to the actual station. After a long day of travel it is exhausting.

 

 

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Yes, not looking forward to this with my twin 4 year olds. It made the decision to fly in a day early worth it (we would have had to be up at 5am to get into San Juan day of).

[WiddyTwo]

The ride last night all the way til we rounded st Thomas was 12-81 foot seas - so we slept like babies. It was great! Watching the huge waves roll in and crash at the San Juan old city gate was cool!

 

The only other thing I can add at this point is the MDR is just not as smooth as it should be. In addition to what I reported last night, today they forgot my hot tea, never offered the breakfast breads, are out of bananas (how is this possible -especially since my son had 2 banana splits last night for dessert), forgot my homemade granola (which is very delicious) etc. The head water was about to lose his mind at his staff. But a simply reminder for each thing fixed the problem with a smile so no complaints here.

 

 

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Just dumping in to say that I love your attitude about things not being perfect. Some people would have lost their minds. Just over a month left until I’m on board!

[WIFamily]

The ride last night all the way til we rounded st Thomas was 12-81 foot seas - so we slept like babies. It was great! Watching the huge waves roll in and crash at the San Juan old city gate was cool!

 

 

 

I bet that was a fun ride! We were on Disney Magic in Dec 2007 and skirted TS Olga. 30 foot waves, all outer decks closed, shows were closed, bars were closed, staff were getting sea sick. I had a blast and slept so good!

[salty dingo]

Just dumping in to say that I love your attitude about things not being perfect. Some people would have lost their minds.

Yep. Some folks would go to a drive thru fast food, and get a wrong item, and pitch a fit. Others would take it in stride and move on. One sees life as a glass half full, and the other sees life as a never-ending irritatation.

[Joebucks]

The only other thing I can add at this point is the MDR is just not as smooth as it should be. In addition to what I reported last night, today they forgot my hot tea, never offered the breakfast breads, are out of bananas (how is this possible -especially since my son had 2 banana splits last night for dessert), forgot my homemade granola (which is very delicious) etc. The head water was about to lose his mind at his staff. But a simply reminder for each thing fixed the problem with a smile so no complaints here.

 

Simple. He ate all of the bananas yesterday.

[BeantownBeauty]

Was on the 3/11 to 3/18 cruise and it was FABULOUS... and fabulous may even be an understatement!! I had no issues with the guest service line the three time I went (approx wait time less than 2 mins each time)

*New carpets in stateroom.

*beds very comfortable

*food was ok

*room service was excellent, priced fairly cheap and came fast!! I ordered almost every night and don’t think I ever waited more than 20 mins for delivery.

 

*The only issue, if I can even call it that was the internet. I ordered the social media internet package. It worked fine for the first day, had some hiccups and slow connection the next few days, but I was barely on it to care. When I addressed it to guest services they immediately upgraded me to the highest internet package FOR FREE and removed the charge for the original package i purchased! Great customer service. They did mention that the satellite was being upgraded and they were currently running at 60%. Basically it was hit or miss.

DJ Atomic kept the party going at all events, taking request and making sure every guest in attendance had a great time.

 

I had an awesome time on the 2.0 Fascination along with the other 4 guest in my party, I’m sure anyone else going on this cruise will to!

 

 

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