Carnival Fascination

[beshears]

We are thinking of doing the Carnival Fascination next year. I know this ship is one of Carnival's older ships. If you have been on this ship within the past year, would you give me (I know this is YOUR opinion) pros/cons of this ship?

 

I want to go back to St. Lucia, but I don't want to be gone more than 7 days, and as far as I know, the Fascination is the only one that goes for that term in the Carnival fleet line.

[Pyrate13]

Just got off it a couple of weeks ago. Great itinerary but we did not care for the ship or the food at all. Since these things are subjective I won't get into specifics other than to say we did not like the ships layout and we found the food to be less than enticing. I will say we found the crew to be wonderful.

[A&Jfamily]

There are some cons to sailing the smaller ships - like few or no balconies, and if you book one, there is no couch. Also, you don't have other dining options like the steakhouse for dinner. But to us, it is a trade off because the ship never felt crowded. We knew going into the cruise that we were making a trade off to visit these new ports of call. The thing we noticed the MOST was how tired we were when we came home with only one sea day; it was not nearly as relaxing as other cruises with more sea days. For us, because we were sailing for the itinerary, we were more than happy to have the small ship and because we were so busy with the port days that we didn't miss the bells and whistles of other ships. I actually think it is a great choice of ship for this itinerary for this very reason.

[salty dingo]

... we did not care for the ship or the food at all.

Isn't the menu the same fleetwide?

[Naomi John]

Sailed on her in 2013 and did a review. Not the same ports, but maybe an idea of the ship.

[Pyrate13]

Isn't the menu the same fleetwide?

 

I don't know, I'm not on every ship. Is there one chef and kitchen staff fleet wide? The food is prepped and cooked by a different staff on each ship, some may be better at it than others.

[salty dingo]

I don't know, I'm not on every ship. Is there one chef and kitchen staff fleet wide? The food is prepped and cooked by a different staff on each ship, some may be better at it than others.

Staff moves around from ship to shore, and ship to ship, so staff when you sailed is unlikely to match staff when I will sail.

 

I suppose two chefs can take the same ingredients and follow the same recipe and come up with two different results... but the chefs on a cruise line are pros, not people plucked off a shrimp boat somewhere.

 

If there was a lot of inconsistency in the food between sister ships on CCL, you can be assured folks here would be debating it.

[mrsv41605]

We just got off the Fascination this past Sunday, and we had an absolutely fantastic time. I loved being on a smaller ship! We thought the ship was pretty, kept very clean, and we had an aft balcony. We ate in the MDR every night, and found it very good. We did eat breakfast from room service, buffet, and main dining, and also found those all very good. We had room service lunch several times, including the $$ pizza and wings, again very very good and not expensive at all. The ports are awesome, although St. Maarten is not recovering from last hurricane season as quickly as the other ports.

 

Any questions, just ask!

[salty dingo]

Any questions, just ask!

What did you do in the ports? Any recommendations?

[Carpenter17]

I was on the ship at Easter. I was a bit skeptical at first since it would be the oldest and smallest ship I've been on. However it had everything I personally wanted. The really annoying part was the 9pm Muster drill that lasts 1 hour. That night the food closed @ 8pm sharp consider youself warned. The food was consistent with other ships I've been on. I can't say I was ever bored but I spent a lot of time at the casino.

[attran99]

We went last year for Spring Break. While the ship is older and smaller, we were so tired from the itinerary that we didn't have time to notice it. The crew is fantastic and for mass-produced hotel-style banquets, the food was surprisingly good. Our lobsters and prime rib for the first formal night were excellently prepared...the other nights fared just as well. Carpenter17 is correct with dining the first night...it's actually open dining the first night because muster drill and departure are so late...so make sure you get to dinner early and you can go to any dining room you wish. Sailaway at night is lovely...the lit up forts in old San Juan are quite a sight...especially if you catch it on the upper FWD decks of the ship. It will be a little crowded, but totally worth the effort.

We went before the 2.0 upgrades, so I imagine any sailings after would be better with more options for food and drinks. Here's my review, if you are so inclined.

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2494918

[beshears]

As I mentioned, my friend who is 15 years younger than I just got off the Magic a couple weeks ago. I may be an "older" woman, but i can just about outdo anyone in some areas, especially walking. In fact, Judy kept calling me the Energizer bunny!:) She kept telling me to "slow down." We climbed up/down 266 steps of a light house (this was my choice of wanting to do), and she kept asking me, "Are we at the top yet?"

 

Yes, this type of itinerary can keep a person on their toes, or possibly worn out, but I never seem to have that type of problem, thank God! I always try to find an itinerary that has "less" sea days then other itineraries. I am used to being on the go, and it is hard for me to slow down.:) I retired a little over a year ago from a large corporate office, working 40 hours a week. As many have told me, not very many people work (I was the receptionist for 300 people) this late in life, but I ENJOYED my job, and if they had not moved to another state, I would still be with them!:)

[Pyrate13]

Staff moves around from ship to shore, and ship to ship, so staff when you sailed is unlikely to match staff when I will sail.

 

I suppose two chefs can take the same ingredients and follow the same recipe and come up with two different results... but the chefs on a cruise line are pros, not people plucked off a shrimp boat somewhere.

 

If there was a lot of inconsistency in the food between sister ships on CCL, you can be assured folks here would be debating it.

 

Like I said in my original post, food opinions are subjective. We've sailed on at least 9 CCL cruises and found food quality to be different many times, for our tastes. Of course the chefs are supposed to be pros but I have worked with supposed pro chefs that weren't worth a darn so that doesn't mean a thing to me.

Perhaps you haven't noticed, folks here do debate the food quality from time to time. I'm not going to debate it, just gave our opinion which the OP asked for. Whether you agree with me or not is your opinion.

[csj092809]

Check out this review. It shows you all you could ever want to know (in pictures) about the Fascination. Keep in mind, this was before she went into drydock and received the 2.0 upgrades (Guys, Cantina, Alchemy, etc).

 

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2396178&highlight=fascination

[LittleYiaYia]

We sailed the Fascination on the 2/25/18 sailing. We would not hesitate to sail this ship and itinerary again. We sail for the ports, not the ship, so all the bells and whistles of the larger, newer ships are not important to us. I know we are in the minority of cruisers that actually do not care for sea days, I think 6 ports on a 7 day sailing is perfect.

 

One advantage of the Fascination being a small ship is that we never saw or waited in any lines. We had anytime dining and walked right in every night between 6-6:30. We never stood in a line at Guy's, Blue Iguana Cantina, or any bar. We do not eat at the buffets, I really can't remember if I saw a line there or not. We walked into the theatre 5 minutes before show time and did not have any problems securing a good seat. Same for the comedy club. There were chairs available poolside on the one sea day.

 

We enjoyed the food in the MDR, we ate breakfast there most every morning and ate dinner there every night. Was it gourmet dining? No, but we always found something to our liking and the wait staff was always willing to make things right. We used room service for coffee each morning.

 

We had an ocean view on Empress deck, right off of the atrium. We had new carpeting and new mattress and bedding in our cabin. I did not think the ship looked old or dirty. Everything was kept very clean. Honestly, this itinerary kept us so busy that after dinner and a show we were ready for bed, other than exploring each venue on embarkation day, we didn't really take advantage of any night life.

 

I think the Fascination is a perfect ship for this port intensive cruise.

[mrsv41605]

What did you do in the ports? Any recommendations?

 

 

For St. Thomas, which we have been to several times, this time we chose the St. John Trunk Bay Snorkel excursion through Carnival ($79 pp). We chose to go through Carnival because it is a bit of a distance and we wanted to be sure to make it back to the ship by 4:30! The trip was not crowded at all, the boat ride over and back was fun and informative. Once on St. John, they take you directly to Trunk Bay. Snorkel gear is included, although we had our own. Trunk Bay does have restrooms and showers, but the food concession facilities are not rebuilt yet. The ferry boat was pretty big and did have all kinds of drinks (including booze), hot dogs, and snacks for sale. It was a great day, the snorkeling was really good, and Trunk Bay is just gorgeous.

 

On Barbados we took a taxi to the Boatyard ($4 pp), and once you get there they give you a wristband for the day which gets you two lounge chairs, one shared umbrella, one shared table, one rum drink each, and a boat ride out to the shipwreck to snorkel and maybe see turtles. Also includes your ride back to the port, with taxis leaving the Boatyard every 15 minutes or so. Wristbands were $20 pp. We snorkeled but did not see any turtles. The facility does have a dock with a rope swing and some other climbing and trampoline type toys out in the water. There are lockers on site if you are nervous about leaving your stuff while you go out to the shipwreck. Also, there is a full service bar and kitchen, and the food and drinks were pretty good and reasonable prices. We had a lot of fun here!

 

On St. Lucia we had pre-booked with Cosol Tours to do the full day tour, which included a visit to a banana plantation, locally prepared breakfast, scenic stops, a boat ride over to Jalousie Beach between the Pitons where there is great snorkeling, then back on the boat back to our van, up to the volcano, a dip in the mud bath (very cool, but HOT water!), over to a waterfall (cold water!), back through the rain forest for a lunch of warm bread and cheese, and then back to the port. Lots of driving on hairpin curves! The tour was $75 per person and included breakfast, lunch, and soda/water/beer/ rum punch. Was well worth it.

 

On St. Kitts, we booked a private excursion through shore excursion group dot com for $69 per person (Google the Costco coupon). The day included a catamaran ride over to Nevis, a tour of the island, and then to the beach where lunch was included and we had almost 2 hours to swim. Lunch was jerk chicken, fish, or a veggie wrap, and more rum punch. The beach did have lounge chairs and umbrellas included as well. The boat ride over and back also included plenty of free drinks. The boat ride was a little wild, with lots of sea spray and I loved it!

 

St. Maarten, we decided to do an island tour since we knew it had been badly devastated by Hurricane Irma. We fell in with 6 other cruise passengers and got in a taxi. We circled the island, did scenic stops, Maho Beach, Marigot market area, and Orient Beach. The damage is very sad to see. The Dutch side is recovering more quickly than the French side. All in all, the tour was supposed to be 3 hours but was actually 4 1/2 hours, and was $25 per person. Not a great adventure, but we wanted to see our favorite island and buy things here and there to do our little part for the economy.

[lbosarge]

...

On St. Kitts, we booked a private excursion through shore excursion group dot com for $69 per person (Google the Costco coupon). ...

 

Do you remember what the code was? The one I found only brings it down to $81.00. TIA

[Johnny60]

We sailed the Fascination on the 2/25/18 sailing. We would not hesitate to sail this ship and itinerary again. We sail for the ports, not the ship, so all the bells and whistles of the larger, newer ships are not important to us. I know we are in the minority of cruisers that actually do not care for sea days, I think 6 ports on a 7 day sailing is perfect.

 

 

 

One advantage of the Fascination being a small ship is that we never saw or waited in any lines. We had anytime dining and walked right in every night between 6-6:30. We never stood in a line at Guy's, Blue Iguana Cantina, or any bar. We do not eat at the buffets, I really can't remember if I saw a line there or not. We walked into the theatre 5 minutes before show time and did not have any problems securing a good seat. Same for the comedy club. There were chairs available poolside on the one sea day.

 

 

 

We enjoyed the food in the MDR, we ate breakfast there most every morning and ate dinner there every night. Was it gourmet dining? No, but we always found something to our liking and the wait staff was always willing to make things right. We used room service for coffee each morning.

 

 

 

We had an ocean view on Empress deck, right off of the atrium. We had new carpeting and new mattress and bedding in our cabin. I did not think the ship looked old or dirty. Everything was kept very clean. Honestly, this itinerary kept us so busy that after dinner and a show we were ready for bed, other than exploring each venue on embarkation day, we didn't really take advantage of any night life.

 

 

 

I think the Fascination is a perfect ship for this port intensive cruise.

 

 

 

Thank you. Sounds ideal to us. We are looking at I think E80 cabin right off the atrium. We are wondering about noise. Did this bother you at all? Otherwise for location it would suit us well. I would welcome your opinion.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums

[mrsv41605]

Do you remember what the code was? The one I found only brings it down to $81.00. TIA

 

Jeez, I don't remember exactly--I know it was something like costco20, and it was for 20% off the cost of each ticket. This was in January or February, so it might have changed since then. Sorry, I even looked on my confirmation email and it's not listed there.

[LittleYiaYia]

Johnny60, we were in E64. Second room on the left if you are looking straight at the bar. The only time we ever heard any noise in the cabin was on the nights they had a post-show party in the atrium. They did close the doors to the hallways (to keep out the most of the noise) but you could still hear the music and people having fun. This was all over by 10:PM and the guitar player in the atrium quit about 10:PM every other night, and I really don't remember hearing any other noise at all. We had the kids club above us and did not have any noise from there. Be sure to see what is above and below E80. Our friends were in E186 and they said they did not hear any noise either. We really liked this location, so convenient to the bar, guest services and the Sensation dining room.

 

Enjoy your cruise.

[Johnny60]

Johnny60, we were in E64. Second room on the left if you are looking straight at the bar. The only time we ever heard any noise in the cabin was on the nights they had a post-show party in the atrium. They did close the doors to the hallways (to keep out the most of the noise) but you could still hear the music and people having fun. This was all over by 10:PM and the guitar player in the atrium quit about 10:PM every other night, and I really don't remember hearing any other noise at all. We had the kids club above us and did not have any noise from there. Be sure to see what is above and below E80. Our friends were in E186 and they said they did not hear any noise either. We really liked this location, so convenient to the bar, guest services and the Sensation dining room.

 

Enjoy your cruise.

 

Thank you that helps a lot. It was the noise from the bar etc I was worried about. We are never in bed before midnight anyway so sounds good to me. Thanks.

[JohnSpo]

I disembarked the Fascination this past Sunday. I have been on 13 other Carnival cruises and I really enjoyed this one. I enjoyed going to some southern ports that I have not been to before. I did beach excursions in Barbados, St Lucia and St Kitts. I did not use Carnival excursions for the beaches and they were enjoyable. In St Thomas I purchased the Skyride from Carnival Excursions. At the top of Paradise Point, the view, banana daiquiri and the grouper fish lunch were all great. Look out for the iguanas in the trees at the top. of Paradise Point. I stayed on board at the last port of St Maarten to make it more like a sea day and it was great being on a quiet ship. The new bars: Alchemy; Blue Iguana and the Red Frog pub were all good. I thought the $3.00 upcharge for making your drink a double was a great deal. It was nice to have the new Guys Burger Joint on Fascination and the lines were minimal I really enjoyed the fresh sushi at the new Bonsai Sushi. It was worth the upcharge. I did not try the new Blue Iguana Cantina. The MDR food for breakfast, brunch and dinners was all very good. I liked the new healthier options for breakfast. I especially liked the homemade granola. For dinner I did try the $20 steakhouse filet mignon. I ordered it medium and it came out more like medium rare which is how I like it anyway. It was cooked very good. I did think the meals did take longer to be served in the MDR then on other Carnival ships but they were served at the right temperature. Besides minimal lines at Guys, there were no lines for embarkation/debarkation and no lines on port days. The only other lines I experienced were at the Pizza Pirate and the deli. Carnival never seems to have proper staffing at these 2 eateries. I thought the overall service onboard was great and I thought the ship was very clean. I chose the night time cabin service which worked out good for me. The decor of Fascination is very nice, not as glitzy as other Carnival ships. The live music entertainment around the ship was great.. I liked the Caribbean music, Latin group, rock group and the atrium musician were excellent. They all did a great job. The Play list shows and talent were very good. I did enjoy the Hasbro show, love and marriage show and the Clue show (based on the board game). They had 4 different comedians for the week and they all were very good.

 

For a smaller ship, Fascination had most of the bells and whistles of Carnival's larger ships. I did miss the steakhouse but the upcharge steaks in the MDR made up for that. It is a great ship especially for a port intensive itinerary for getting on/off the ship quickly. I plan on doing this itinerary again and I hope it is on Fascination. I hope Carnival keeps the Fantasy class of ships in their fleet for a long time.

[beshears]

Just booked the Fascination for March/April of next year.:)

 

 

I had ask this question elsewhere, but thought perhaps anyone that sees this, might be able to answer as well.

 

 

We have always done late dining in the MDR, as we don't have to rush and can rest/shower, etc. before dinner. My question, does the Fascination do two shows like we have always known other Carnival ships have done? If so, do they still do the Love and Marriage show? What other shows do they do that would be good to see/hear?

[JohnSpo]

Just booked the Fascination for March/April of next year.:)

 

 

I had ask this question elsewhere, but thought perhaps anyone that sees this, might be able to answer as well.

 

 

We have always done late dining in the MDR, as we don't have to rush and can rest/shower, etc. before dinner. My question, does the Fascination do two shows like we have always known other Carnival ships have done? If so, do they still do the Love and Marriage show? What other shows do they do that would be good to see/hear?

 

When I was on Fascination in April, the nights when they did the Playlist Production show, there was always an early and late show. They also did the Hasbro Game Show and the Carnival version of the Clue game.

[beshears]

Thanks for your reply. Do you know or remember if they did the Love and Marriage show?