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Comments on the Fantasy 10-4 Post Drydock Cruise

Rowan555

By Rowan555,
in Carnival Cruise Lines

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Rowan555

Rowan555

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Okay, guys. I don't do "trip reports" any more, but I thought I'd just post my observations of this cruise, as many people were curious about how things would be after the LONG drydock period. I'll post my standard disclaimer - we had a GREAT CRUISE, as we do every single time we board a Carnival ship. That being said, I have a particularly long list of "issues" the ship had during this sailing - I am posting this list not to whine or complain, but to INFORM people of what happened, what to expect on the Fantasy if you're cruising very soon, and what to expect if you're on a first sailing after a ship has been in drydock. I will post some photos later.

 

First, I'll start with the good things we appreciated about the ship being refurbished:

 

- The Lido Deck dining area looks a MILLION times better. The garish colors and giant "umbrellas" are gone, replaced by white, beige, and wood finishes. It's very serene, relaxing, and upscale compared to before.

 

- The main dining rooms were also completely overhauled - again, a HUGE improvement. The colors are more subdued, and the carpet and chairs are sooooo pretty. It feels a great deal more "open" now, whereas before I felt like the ceiling was coming down on me when I was in there.

 

- The Electricity Disco received a much needed facelift. It was so tacky before, but the new look is very appealing, and the new seating is much more comfortable.

 

- The public restrooms were all completely renovated and look much nicer, with marble countertops, very nice Kohler faucets, and those super powered hand dryers that nearly blow your top off, lol. The new bathroom doors are nice, but I predicted on the first night they'd break within a month - and 2 were broken as of last night. They're pretty, but not durable at all, given the heavy use they receive.

 

- The hallways on the stateroom decks were also updated - the weird LSD inspired artwork is gone and now it's woodgrain and bright orange graphics of a cruise ship. I'd have gone with plain walls, but it's still an improvement.

 

- Large flat panel televisions have been added on the lido deck, at the bistro on promenade, and are being installed in the lido dining area. This is a mixed blessing - great during a football game everyone wants to watch, NOT SO GREAT when you're trying to enjoy your cruise and walking by just in time to learn you lost $3000 on some stocks you just purchased before the cruise - OOPS! I could do without the tv's, but I know a lot of people like them. I am NOT looking forward to cruising on election day, though, because I just won't be able to escape it.

 

- Lido Deck dining options have improved, with the addition of the Mongolian Stir Fry and a rotisserie chicken station.

 

 

Okay, now here were the BAD things, mostly related to being the first cruise out of dry dock, and hopefully these will not be ongoing issues.

 

- Embarkation was delayed about 2 hours for us, but I imagine it was more like 4 or 5 hours for some people, as the terminal was completely packed with people when we finally boarded. The ship wasn't ready for passengers, and the computer systems kept going down. They were about to begin manually checking people in when they finally went back up. We checked in, proceeded to the sail and sign checkpoint, and the system went down again. It was a nightmare, and so many people were yelling and saying they'd never cruise out of New Orleans again. I was trying to do damage control and let them know it wasn't the port. Most people had no clue about the drydock situation and didn't understand what was happening.

 

- Luggage was not even brought onto the ship until after 4 PM, and many people received their luggage in the middle of the night or the next morning. Furniture and other items were being loaded onto the ship for hours, and the luggage just sat in huge piles on the ground.

 

- Sailaway was delayed by 7 hours - while we didn't personally care about this, many people were FURIOUS because the casino was closed, and because a big poker tournament was supposed to begin at 5 PM, but ended up not starting until 1 PM the following day. In addition, usual "first night" activities such as the liquor tasting were delayed until the next morning. Yes, the liquor tasting took place at 9 AM.

 

- The Lido Deck was completely out of ice about 1/4 of the time, and at least half the time 1 of the 2 stations inside and outside were out of ice. In addition, fruit punch is no longer available ANYWHERE, and apple juice is now available only at breakfast.

 

- There were razor blades just sitting around all over the cruise ship - we found them on the lido deck, promenade, and in the disco. We disposed of them, but who knows how many others were lying around.

 

- The Water Works area was closed the first 2 days. The slides opened on day 3, but the spray park portion never did open up. On day 4 the blue slides had what looked and smelled like sewer water pooling up in the bottom. When the staff was told the water was dirty, they said no, it's just the orange bits from the flooring of the waterworks area. They finally realized that was NOT why the water was DARK BROWN, so they shut it down to clean it.

 

- The Serenity Area hot tubs were never filled or working the entire cruise. One of the two hot tubs on Lido was broken the first 2 days, and the other was full of kids. IMO, if there is only ONE working hot tub, it should be made adults only during that time. We were really looking forward to the Serenity area's kid-free hot tubs, and I was quite disappointed we didn't get to enjoy them.

 

- This is not a drydock issue, but it WAS an issue for us. There was a final round of a large poker tournament on board, and it took over the forum lounge for the duration of the cruise. As a result, karaoke hours were shortened, and karaoke took place in the Cat's Lounge - instead of the nice monitor and screen showing the lyrics, there was a 13 inch tv on a chair - many people had a hard time seeing it while singing, and there was no way for the audience to view the lyrics. Because the karaoke took place in the same lounge as Music Manilla plays, the band didn't perform as often as they normally would. On Monday night, there was a 2 hour private party in the Cat's Lounge from 7:30 to 9:30 PM, and Camp Carnival was using the disco, so there was literally NOTHING happening anywhere on the ship, other than the football game. I have never felt bored on a Carnival cruise until that night. I don't gamble, so I just sat and people watched until 9:30 when karaoke began.

 

- The card room was converted to the Circle C area for 12 to 14 year olds - this area was not completed for the first few days of the cruise.

 

- We were told there would be new stage shows, but it's still Nightclub Express and Ticket to Ride. They're nice shows, but after 5 times, you just have no reason to see them again.

 

- This is also not a dry dock issue - but somebody PLEASE ban Tim from performing on cruise ships! He is the WORST excuse for a comedian I have ever witnessed. He wasn't funny when he was just a comedian, and now that he fancies himself a ventriloquist he's even worse.

 

- Cabins were supposed to be remodeled with new bathroom vanities and some other upgrades. All that was done in the cabins was new flat screen televisions.

 

- Carpet was being replaced in the public areas throughout the cruise. They were about 60% done by the last sea day. Stairwells were closed at times so the carpet could be replaced.

 

- It was HOT throughout the ship. I always bring a sweater on a cruise, and I certainly did NOT need it this time around. It was uncomfortable in some areas, and our stateroom was miserably hot. We've had problems with this on the Fantasy before and I was hoping it would be remedied with the drydock, but it was worse than ever before.

 

- Water pressure was low throughout the cruise. Drinks on the Lido Deck came out at a trickle, and in the shower you had to stand directly under the shower head because the water just fell straight down. It got better at one point, then got bad again and stayed that way.

 

 

Okay, those are my comments for now. If anyone has any questions, feel free to ask away. I'll try to post the photos later on. Again, for the record, we had a FABULOUS TIME. I just want people to know what to expect - I think we had high hopes for this cruise, and they just weren't realized. If you go in knowing it's not going to be everything you may have expected, you'll probably have a much better time!

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pzerba

pzerba

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Thanks for your detailed information - those of us with upcoming sailings were nervous, especially after noticing your extremely delayed departure.

 

It appears from your writings that the vast majority of the "issues" were addressed during your curise and things will improve; I feel for you having to deal with them, especially the Serenity area - but it appears you still had a great time.

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EastTex

EastTex

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Thanks for an honest, well thought out critique. My wife and and will be sailing on the Fantasy in 2 weeks and your review of the ship is, in my opinion, very helpful toward knowing what to expect.

 

What do you suppose the razor blades were all about?

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Kat128

Kat128

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Thanks for all the great info. I've been waiting to hear about the post dry dock details. I sail in about 2 weeks so your post is really helpful. I hope the Serenity Area is all completed. I've been looking forward to this too.

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Rowan555

Rowan555

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Thanks, Susan, for taking the time to post such detailed comments.

There was a report of a fire aboard the ship the day you were in Cozumel. Can you tell us anything about that?

 

 

There wasn't a fire, there was a smoke emmission when a pipe was inadvertently cut - I have the letter somewhere, when I unpack I will post the complete details. We had put the kids in Camp Carnival and gone to the room to take a nap when an announcement came on advising all guests to evacuate their staterooms and go to an open deck. We went up to Lido and ate - because, well, what else were we to do, lol! We waited an hour or so and no updates were given, so we went back to our cabin. 10 minutes later an announcement was made that the issue had been resolved but to remain on the open decks until further notice. We ignored that one, and about 15 minutes later they "allowed" everyone to return to their cabins. During that time, passengers were not allowed to board the ship.

 

Thanks for the reminder about the incident - on any other cruise this would have made it into my report, but with all the other excitement, I totally forgot about this one!

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Rowan555

Rowan555

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All this just confirms my policy of NEVER booking a ship immediately out of drydock/refurb!!!! ken

 

Well, when I booked it was the 4th sailing out of drydock, and I didn't realize that had changed until 2 days before we sailed. Lesson learned!

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jetskier

jetskier

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I am trying to post photos but apparently I'm too stupid to figure it out...

 

 

Susan,

The easiest way is to upload them to Photobucket or Walmart and then link to the individual photo. To post a photo on here, you have to make it smaller before it will let you upload it. Usually it is too small to make out any details.

 

Dave

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Rowan555

Rowan555

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I failed to mention one last observation. There were 6 customs stations open upon disembarking, and 4 of those stations were TRAINING PEOPLE. I counted 5 groups go through the line next to us in the time it took us to get through with the trainee and his helper. After an embarkation from hell, this is the LAST thing the passengers of the Fantasy needed. I'm waiting for reports of how long people waited to get off the ship. Fortunately my Platinum status came in handy and we were able to get off the ship pretty quickly - we were in the car on the way home by 7:30 AM - most people were certainly not so lucky.

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Rowan555

Rowan555

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I just checked Carnival's site, and it still mentions several things having "been done" which have NOT BEEN DONE. It says Camp Carnival has been moved to a brand new facility on Veranda Deck, and it says all staterooms have an entirely new decor and renovated bathrooms - even shows the "new" staterooms in the photos - but our room was not renovated at all. It sounds, from another post, like they're replacing the carpet in some of the staterooms during the cruises, so maybe they're doing the other renovations over time as well. Just seems awfully unfair to ME that some people end up in newly decorated staterooms while others get the same "old" rooms the Fantasy has had for years. Considering the number of times we've been on the Fantasy, we were really looking forward to the "new" rooms.

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Jabee

Jabee

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But, I expect things will be a lot better when we leave out on Oct. 27.

 

I am sure they will have embarkation and debarkation improved as they get used to things...remember, they just went for three months without a cruise out of NOLA with the oil spill and the refit...they will get things back to normal very quickly...

 

I have heard things never go right after a refit...guess this is just typical...

 

But, hey, you will get a great chance to see it better when you cruise again on the Fantasy in November...and again next year....five Fantasy cruises in one year...we got to get you to another port!!

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Relli1231

Relli1231

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Just adding my Thanks, as well, for your superb and thorough info about the current ship conditions.

Turns out it was a bit more ready than Inspiration. . . . but not much.

 

do you know how long it took the Inspiration to be ready and running smoothly?

We will be on The Fantasy on Oct 22 and wondering how far along it will be.

I do intend to go with the same open mind as rowan555 and enjoy my cruise no matter what!

 

Relli:)

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