Carnival Fantasy November 17-22, 2018 Review

[cruisewithwife]

This cruise was a 5 day out of Mobile, Alabama on the Carnival Fantasy traveling to Progreso and Cozumel Mexico.  We had this cruise booked for quite some time and were anxiously waiting since it had been about a year since our last one.  We live in the Houston area so this was our first time not traveling out of Galveston.  With that being said there was a little more pre-planning of hotels and stuff which I will get into later.  DW and I are both in education so cruising over Thanksgiving has become our new tradition.  Our girls ages 8 and 5 were super excited as this was the oldest 3rd cruise (so she is practically a pro at this in her mind) and our youngest 2nd so now she got upgraded to the "Red" card.  The girls were also excited because Grandma and Grandpa were coming on this cruise with us.  Hopefully you enjoy the review as I go along and I will post plenty of pictures.  If you have any questions feel free to ask along the ride.  

[cruisewithwife]

The week leading up to the cruise was crazy busy between work and the girls were finishing up their softball season which I am also the head coach for.  Since the cruise was leaving out of Mobile on Saturday we were driving over from Houston on Friday afternoon.  Grandma and Grandpa live in North Dakota so they were flying into Houston and then riding with us in the car.  So Friday morning came and the amazing race started, off to school for everyone and Grandma and Grandpa were on their first leg of the flight headed to Houston.  DW and I were both working a half a day so I finished up at 11:00 which meant drive home load up the dogs to take them to the vet for boarding, then off to get the girls from school and then load the suitcases in the car.  DW went to the airport to pick up GP and GM then met us at home.  As I was finishing packing the car they pulled in and the girls got to see GP and GM.  We finalized packing and on the road well almost...we don't even get down our road and find out the girls didn't wear the shoes they were supposed to so back to the house to grab their shoes.  Alright headed to Whataburger and then we are on the road to complete this 7 hour drive.  We are doing good it is a little after 1:00 at this point.  Through the drive through get our food pull out and they forgot the girls drinks so turnaround and back to Whataburger.  Needless to say got it fixed and we are officially on the road headed to Alabama about 1:30.  Overall the ride was fairly smooth however there was a few accidents on I-10 which delayed traffic so it turned into about a 9 hour drive.  We stopped for some food on the way and made it to our hotel about 10 o'clock.  

[cruisewithwife]

I don't know why but I didn't take any pictures at the hotel but it was amazing.  We stayed at the Wingate by Wyndham in Mobile.  We did the Park and Cruise Package.  I paid a $145 with tax and had a King Size Suite room which was two rooms that had a pullout couch for the kiddos, a chair and table with chairs and a kitchenette.  Then in the other room had the king size bed and full bathroom.  With this I was able to park my car their the whole time and they shuttled us to the cruise ship and picked us up.  They also served a very nice breakfast in the morning.  Might I add just to park at the parking garage was $90 at port so I thought this was an amazing deal. 

So the morning finally came and we were very excited had to make a quick trip to walmart for a few items that were forgotten.  With staying there you reserve a time that you want the shuttle to take you.  We had FTTF for the cruise so I had called earlier in the week to get put down for the first shuttle which was 10:15.  The driver loaded up our bags and off we went.  With the shuttle package they have a separate entrance so he pulled us right up to the front doors to drop our bags and walk right in.  

I will say going through security at Mobile seemed very relaxed.  I had a cooler with my soda and wine and when I walked by the security she asked what's in there I said soda and wine and she said ok didn't even look in it.  We made it through I would say in about 5 minutes and over to the FTTF section to wait to board the ship.  By this time it was about 10:45.  They started calling for boarding a little before 11:00 there was one wedding party.  John Heald actual posted about our cruise that morning and here was his little info about it.

[cruisewithwife]

We were ready to get on so here was the family pic before boarding the ship

We got on and headed straight to our room to drop off our things.  One of the big bonuses of having FTTF.  After dropping off our things it was time to do a little exploring and get some food. I loved the design look of the Fantasy

We made our way up to the lido deck and now it was divide and conquer who wants what for food

[cruisewithwife]

I headed to Guy's with the oldest while DW and the youngest headed to the deli.  There was people everywhere already think you could notice the ship was a bit smaller from this perspective.

We got our variety of food and found a table to sit down at.  The hot dogs are very good at the deli if you have never had one I suggest you try it on your next cruise.

[cruisewithwife]

I got myself a Guy's burger

The oldest had to get pizza this girl will eat more pizza on the cruise than anything else and it has to be just cheese

We also picked up a pastrami from the deli

[cruisewithwife]

After lunch it was time to do some exploring....first up was going to Camp Ocean to finalize registration.  Always do this early as there is no lines and it makes the first time they go much smoother.

They had computers and activities for the Sting Rays and Sharks

[JaniceB]

Nice start to your review!  Love your pictures, your girls are so cute!

[crazycatlady82]

Yay for grandma and grandpa from North Dakota! Waving from Fargo 🙂 

 

thanks for the review-this is one I want to do, as it’s semi doable driving from up north. 

[Cruiser_1977]

I'm on the Fantasy in 21 days! It's a quick one with 2 sea days and one stop in Cozumel. Excited to follow along.

[cruisewithwife]

7 hours ago, JaniceB said:

Nice start to your review!  Love your pictures, your girls are so cute!

Thanks hoping to add some more later tonight.

[cruisewithwife]

4 hours ago, crazycatlady82 said:

Yay for grandma and grandpa from North Dakota! Waving from Fargo 🙂 

 

thanks for the review-this is one I want to do, as it’s semi doable driving from up north. 

That is awesome they are actually in West Fargo.  Hope you enjoy the rest of the review.  

[cruisewithwife]

3 hours ago, JennyB1977 said:

I'm on the Fantasy in 21 days! It's a quick one with 2 sea days and one stop in Cozumel. Excited to follow along.

You should have fun....we definitely prefer the 7 day over the short ones.

[cruisewithwife]

After checking out Camp Ocean we continued on.  The one cool thing on this ship was Camp Ocean was at the back and right outside it there was a bar and a bunch of chairs with tvs to lounge around.  To me this was the closest thing to a sports bar on the ship

The comedy club was also right next to this area

This is the part we found odd the quote main door to the serenity deck was through the comedy club...its the door in the back left

Right down the hall a bit is the ships showcase area

One of the guys from our Facebook group actually designed this coin for when the Fantasy started sailing out of Mobile

[cruisewithwife]

The girls looking out the windows checking out all the battleships

This was heading down the main hallway which had very nice lounger chairs to sit on.  

Here was the coffee shop/bakery and we actually tried some of that this time which I will talk about later in the review

The Cat's Lounge was cool it had lots of little booths and then tables to hang out at.  They had live music in here pretty much every night

[cruisewithwife]

Next had to do a quick walk through the casino to see which games were going to be lucky

They had more replicas of the ship on this ship then I have noticed on others

Next up was to walk through the Universal Lounge

The upstairs had like booths which were nice but you had to get there early to get one

Looking down from up above

The girls decided to go try out the stage

[cruisewithwife]

Here was a replica of the ship made out of legos which was very cool

Again I thought the Fantasy had cool artwork and the style overall was nice

Next we headed over to the library so the girls, DW, and GM could play a game.

I ran upstairs to check out the gym quick...not that I was going to use it I'm on vacation.  I will say I thought it was very nice overall

 

[cruisewithwife]

Here is a few photos taken just around the atrium area and off the front of the ship

Like I said there was lots of replicas of the ship

Here is Cleopatra's Piano Bar

I thought everywhere the decor was very detailed.

[cruisewithwife]

We had setup a Facebook meet and greet so was getting ready to head over to that but needed a drink first.  Here was a glimpse of the Alabama Bar Menu

Got a Miami Vice which is my drink of choice on the cruise ship

The little one had her cup of lemonade so she was happy

 

I didn't take any pics of the meet and greet but it was amazing most times when we have done something there is a few people.  This one there had to have been 25+ people which is great.  It is always fun to talk to people and then you recognize some faces throughout the week.  I always like talking to people to hear about what ships and destinations they have been on and what is their favorite.

[KmomChicago]

Great introduction to the ship and I love that you made the most of every minute - the ship is a resort whether it's actually started sailing or not!  Looks like a wonderful getaway.

[cruisewithwife]

On 12/14/2018 at 3:55 AM, KmomChicago said:

Great introduction to the ship and I love that you made the most of every minute - the ship is a resort whether it's actually started sailing or not!  Looks like a wonderful getaway.

Thanks...totally agree we always like to get on early and enjoy every second

[cruisewithwife]

After the meet and greet we headed back to our room which our luggage was there already.  So we unpacked our things and then waited for the muster drill.  Our muster station was in the Universal Lounge which was nice as we just sat in a booth while they talked.  Normally we have had to go stand outside.  I will say they did not seem to take this as seriously on this ship as others as there was people talking the entire time and not really paying attention.  We headed up top to watch sail away.

 

Cruising out of the port of Mobile is very beautiful especially since the sun was setting

We headed to the top front where the golf course was to get a few more views in

[cruisewithwife]

This photo I took I was pretty impressed with myself thought it turned out really cool overlooking Lido deck

On our way to dinner taking a picture of another piece of wall artwork

[cruisewithwife]

It was time to head to dinner.  We ended up at a table for 10 so it was us 4, GM and GP and then its always the mystery of who the other people are.  Turned out to be a group of ladies cruising together and they had a girl with about oldest age so it was a nice group.  We always enjoy the food on Carnival so be prepared for many food pictures to come.  Here is the menu from the first night.

[cruisewithwife]

The little one basically loves cruising for strawberry soup so of course she got that.

I had the quesadilla which is usually pretty good and i also had the fried calamari which is delicious