Carnival Fascination ship questions

[beshears]

I know this will be strange to be asking questions about any ship/cruise right now, but since our cruise was cancelled, and I was pretty sick, but not with the virus, I am feeling better, and WANT to think about cruising again!

 

We were to do a new/large ship, but I have changed my mind completely, and I have a question about the Fascination ship.  Many years ago I fell in love with the port St. Lucia.  I was just checking with some of the 7 people that are to go with me, and they had never been to St. Lucia, and would like to check it out as well.  My question, I know the Corona-virus caused a lot of problems within the past couple months, but if you have cruised the Fascination within the past year, what is YOUR pros/cons of this ship?

[CruzinKristin]

I was on the Fascination for Spring Break 2019.  The itinerary is definitely one I would consider doing again.  My feelings about the Fascination are pretty neutral.  The itinerary was so port intensive, basically all you do is eat, sleep and shower on the ship.  I can’t comment on the entertainment as we were too tired to go to any shows.  I don’t think we ever saw or heard from the cruise director.

 

Pros

Great itinerary

Never felt crowded

Good sized pool

Good service

Good food

Easy to get on/off

 

Cons

Limited balcony rooms

Hard to navigate. — we struggled getting from our aft room to the forward dining room.

No refrigerator in stateroom.

 

[ireashmott]

Completely agree with the previous poster. We love this itinerary, the size of the ship and the aminities, etc. 

 

The balconies are limited and brutal due to the weight of the door. 

[ZoeyVictoria]

We had it booked for May 3, which of course was cancelled, so we rebooked for January 24.  I was reluctant to try the smaller ship, but agree that with all of the ports, it will be just fine.  The May 3 sailing was a rebooking from a Cuba cruise that didn’t happen, so I really hope that we won’t have to transfer that money to a fourth booking.

[squierjosh]

I don't fall into your "recently cruised" timeframe, but I'll add to what Kristin says: You barely have time to enjoy the ship. There's plenty to do, with good shows, comedy, food, etc. But if you're the least bit adventurous, you'll be exhausted after a few days. I've never been on a ship that was this quiet at night. Everyone is sleeping. 

[beshears]

Oh thank you ALL for your responses.  I am planning (was to do the Horizon on the 15th of March, but cancelled out because of the virus, and I really didn't want to do the ship in the first place, but was going along for the ride, as the expression goes) on booking the Fascination for either March or April.  There are 8 of us that will be cruising, so I have a few questions.

Cruzin Kristin, since you were on the ship during spring break time, I gather that was in March? Did you find it hard to navigate the ship, and did it seem real crowded?

Talking about the balcony rooms, it looks like they are heavy to open/close?  If you had a choice, would you still go for the balcony room, or get another room?  I'm not much into balcony's, as I don't use them that much, but just wondered if there is enough room to navigate around, or is some of the room taken by the balcony?

If there is no refrigerator, do they still supply the ice bucket, and also robes, if asking for them?

[so,ton saint]

17 hours ago, beshears said:

I know this will be strange to be asking questions about any ship/cruise right now, but since our cruise was cancelled, and I was pretty sick, but not with the virus, I am feeling better, and WANT to think about cruising again!

 

We were to do a new/large ship, but I have changed my mind completely, and I have a question about the Fascination ship.  Many years ago I fell in love with the port St. Lucia.  I was just checking with some of the 7 people that are to go with me, and they had never been to St. Lucia, and would like to check it out as well.  My question, I know the Corona-virus caused a lot of problems within the past couple months, but if you have cruised the Fascination within the past year, what is YOUR pros/cons of this ship?

 

HI BESHEARS 

my wife and i done the last Fascination cruise from Barbados as we flew the pond and joined in Barbados and picked her up on the 6th march 2020 i normally cruise with Marella cruises and have done many in the Caribbean older ships (IE ex Splendour of the sea  and celebrity Galaxy) similar size to the Fascination we found she had a lovely crew and a very good show team, the food i found very good especially evening meals, guy,s burgers a new one on me but very tasty, going ashore was so easy with 2,000 or less pax on board it was easy going compared to what i have seen when these monsters dock with 5,000 pax start disembarking , she wont have all the bells and whistles like the new ones but a very pleasant ship, come May 2021 there will be more Islands added I.E   Tortola    Grenada     Antigua, enjoy your cruise,   

and keep safe.

Howard

[May1cruiser]

When we sailed, we found the ship and crew were great. We have sailed many fantasy class ships, and know the layout well.

A few observations.

-ship definitely seemed less crowded than others. After a week, we thought perhaps this was due to a slightly different demographic of the cruisers themselves. This could also be that this itin is port intensive and full days at port.

-did more excursions than usual to see more of the new to us ports of call. some ship, some private.

-casino seemed empty.

-San Juan was simple for embark/debark

-wished the day at sea was last day.

-learned the trick to take a picture of fun times each night before turning in to "catalog" which pictures were from what day.

-we were exhausted after cruise from taking in so many new ports and adventures.

 

We would do this ship and itin again, but take additional vacation, 2 days after to rest and recharge. It is was great....

enjoy

 

[ontheweb]

We also do not fit into the recently category as we were on the Fascination before the last refurbishment. What I'd like to add is that the small size contributes to you really get to know other passengers and even get to know some crew members.

 

The only thing I really missed compared to larger ships is that there was no anytime dining available. 

[georgiacat]

We sailed the Fascination a couple of years ago.  We really enjoyed the trip, but our balcony room was the smallest we have ever had.  It was one that had been "added" to the ship on a top deck.  I am not sure that it was worth the balcony price.  I cannot seem to find my notes or pictures from that trip, so I don't know what number.

 

A suggestion:  if you have the time, spend a couple of days pre-cruise and post if possible.  San Juan is a good place to visit.  Airline prices were cheaper, and the airport was definitely easier to navigate than with all the arriving and departing passengers.

 

We stayed at the Holiday Inn Express, but that was before all the hurricane damage.  I believe that prices have gone up significantly since then.

[so,ton saint]

25 minutes ago, ontheweb said:

We also do not fit into the recently category as we were on the Fascination before the last refurbishment. What I'd like to add is that the small size contributes to you really get to know other passengers and even get to know some crew members.

 

The only thing I really missed compared to larger ships is that there was no anytime dining available. 

 

Yep we had anytime dining i think that is a norm now.

 

[CruzinKristin]

9 hours ago, beshears said:

Oh thank you ALL for your responses.  I am planning (was to do the Horizon on the 15th of March, but cancelled out because of the virus, and I really didn't want to do the ship in the first place, but was going along for the ride, as the expression goes) on booking the Fascination for either March or April.  There are 8 of us that will be cruising, so I have a few questions.

Cruzin Kristin, since you were on the ship during spring break time, I gather that was in March? Did you find it hard to navigate the ship, and did it seem real crowded?

Talking about the balcony rooms, it looks like they are heavy to open/close?  If you had a choice, would you still go for the balcony room, or get another room?  I'm not much into balcony's, as I don't use them that much, but just wondered if there is enough room to navigate around, or is some of the room taken by the balcony?

If there is no refrigerator, do they still supply the ice bucket, and also robes, if asking for them?

 

To answer your questions:

Yes, we were on the ship the last week of March.  The ship never felt crowded, we never waited in line for anything.  We struggled getting from our aftish stateroom to the forward dining room.  Some of the decks, you can't walk all the way across.

 

We are typically balcony cruisers, this time, I didn't want to pay the almost doubled rate for one and picked a room with just a window.  However, next time, I would probably just get an interior as you are truly never on the ship.

 

Yes, all you have to do is ask for ice, and robes.

 

Another poster above, mentioned that there isn't "Your Time Dining" - There is, we had YTD

 

I did feel like we could feel the the motion of the ship more.

[ontheweb]

4 hours ago, so,ton saint said:

 

Yep we had anytime dining i think that is a norm now.

 

They did not have it when we were on her a few years back; good to know that it is the norm now.

 

I understand that they did away with the Mongolian Wok.  I really did enjoy that though it may have been about the only place on board with a long line and a wait.

[beshears]

Oh my, thank you ALL for your very informative information about the Fascination ship. Someone mentioned they were disappointed in their balcony room.  I have done most of the type of rooms on the ships.  The main reason I really didn't want a balcony room was that I did NOT spend that much time on the balcony. I did check out the Fascination window room compared to the balcony room, and they both are the same size. I have been BLESSED to cruise on large and smaller ships.  When I found this itinerary with "St. Lucia," I thought, this is the cruise I want my 3 sons/3 d-i-l's and a friend to find out why "I" like St. Lucia so much. 🙂 As for the other ports, with only one sea day, I know that would be rough on us, so I told everyone we don't have to get off the ship, unless they just wanted to. 

Another question I have since the sea day seems to be the last day.  Since this is a 7 day cruise, "when" are the two or maybe it is just one formal night/s?  I'm different from most people, as I don't get to do it much here, I like to "dress up. and take some nice pictures. 🙂 

[bajancruiser24]

There are two formal nights, when I cruised in August 2019 they were Tuesday (St Maarten) and Thursday (St Lucia).

[beshears]

Oh, thank you for the reply about the formal nights.  I was just wondering how they "fit" those nights in with all the ports. I was concerned as there are so many ports, but we have talked of just staying on the ship, because we have been to most of the ports, or we may just get off the ship for a couple hours.  That would still give us plenty of time to get ready for formal night, as we DO like getting dress up and taking pictures! 🙂 

[Cruising_Addict]

In my opinion, the best thing about the Fascination is that it has the best itineraries. We did the St Thomas, Barbados, St Lucia, St Kitts and St Maarten itinerary and with only one sea day, we were never on the ship. Now we are booked on the St Thomas, Antigua, Dominica, Grenada, and Barbados itinerary for next year. The ship has everything we need (Guy’s, etc), and good be able to do these itineraries at such fantastic prices is worth it. 

[beshears]

I have a feeling I know the answer, but thought I would ask.  If you have been on the Carnival Fascination within the past year, did your room have a sofa in it, or just a table and chair?  I have a feeling the only sofas are in the "suite" rooms, but thought I would ask. I have been on ships before that had the sofa, and they were not suite rooms.