Fantasy April 18-23 Review

[fightingokra]

This is my review of our family vacation on the Carnival Fantasy. We did the five day cruise to Progreso and Cozumel that departed last Saturday, April 18. This was the first cruise for our family of four…..Mom, Dad and two sons (6 & 7).

 

Embarkation

 

It was pretty easy and painless. The lines moved fairly quickly once we got the car parked. Nothing really to report here other than to say that it was well organized.

 

The Fantasy

 

I thought the Fantasy was great. Being a first-timer, I have nothing to compare it to. I didn’t think the décor was too gaudy, it was “fun.” The water slides were nice and the kids really enjoyed them on our days at sea. Everything was neat and clean. I have no complaints about the condition of the ship.

 

The First Night

 

We didn’t get on the ship until after one thirty so we went straight to grab a bite to eat. The food at the Windows buffet was good and it kind of became our eating spot for the remainder of the cruise.

 

After we finished eating, we decided to check out our room. We had an aft inside on the Riviera deck with two of those pull down beds. It worked out fine but it was cramped at times. Our luggage was already outside the room so we put it inside and quickly unpacked. When we finished, it was time to head to the Muster drill.

 

Our Muster station was in the Disco. It didn’t last long at all and the kids did well in my opinion. I’d say it lasted about twenty minutes. After the drill, I gathered up the life jackets to take back to the room and my wife took the kids up on the Lido deck by the pool for sail away.

 

After I stowed the life jackets, I met up with the rest of the family by the pool. A fun time was being had by all. We ordered a couple of cocktails and the kids jumped in the hot tub. My wife joined in on the line dancing as well. After about an hour, it was time to head down and get ready for an early dinner.

 

This first night, we took the kids with us to the Jubilee dining room. It would be the only night they would join us in the main dining room. Our tablemates were another family of four and they were a fun group. They had been on the Fantasy numerous times and could answer just about any question you had about the ship. Their daughter and my oldest hit it off right away.

 

The food was good and the service was also very good. The warm chocolate melting cake was as good as it has been described here. We really enjoyed the dinners at Jubilee the entire cruise.

 

After dinner, we headed over to the Camp Carnival registration. We got the kids signed up and then headed out to explore more of the ship. The Fantasy is really easy to get around and in no time we had figured out how to get from A to B. My kids were in awe at the size of the ship and all the fun stuff they had on board.

 

The only other thing we did that first night was attend the Camp Carnival party in the disco. It was a blast. They had some goofy dancing games that the kids really enjoyed and they handed out some prizes. My youngest son won one of those air brush tattoos at the party. After the party we wondered about a bit and then headed off for bed to call it a day.

 

Our towel animal was a walrus. The kids got a kick out of the towel animals and the chocolates every night.

 

Fun Day at Sea

 

This is a day that we just chilled out by the pool and water slides. In the morning, we hung out by the pool and that afternoon we switched to the water slides. I didn’t have any problems finding chairs in either location. We ate breakfast out on the Lido deck by the pool but I found that it was easier for us to eat in the Windows buffet from there on out.

 

At about 3 o’clock, we all went and took a nap until five. We decided that the boys would need a nap if we wanted to stay out late that night. After naptime, we got dressed for the formal night and then took the kids to Camp Carnival for dinner with their friends. The kids wanted to eat at camp the rest of the cruise and that was great because it allowed mom and dad some alone time.

 

Our tablemates also sent their kids to camp for dinner so it was just adults in the main dining room. I had the lobster and the prime rib. Both were good. I ordered the Bitter and Blanc for desert and it was excellent. Service was good once again and they had my wife’s bottle of wine waiting for her when we arrived.

 

The kids had a pajama party later that night at camp carnival. The boys loved camp carnival and wanted to be there every night of our cruise. Several times throughout the cruise they would take the kids to the disco and have dance parties.

 

Mom and Dad finished dinner and then headed over to the captains reception. We missed ours so we went to the one for late seating. We had a few drinks with our tablemates at the reception. We stayed out until midnight dancing and drinking in the disco. Much fun was had by all.

 

When we got back to the room we had a rabbit towel animal and the steward had left cookies for the boys.

 

Progreso

 

We overslept a bit this morning but that was okay. After getting up and dressed, we headed up to the Windows buffet for breakfast. I found that few passengers knew that there was an omelet station every morning where the 24 hr pizza is located. That made it much easier to get an eggs made to order in Windows than out on the Lido.

 

By 9:30, we were off the ship and in Progreso. There is a nice market right on the dock but we didn’t buy anything there. We had decided to take the tour to Dizbilutchan Ruins offered by autoprogreso. We took the shuttle into Progreso and they were booking the tours right where you get off the shuttle. I paid $77.00 for all of us and then we looked around the market while we waited for the tour to start.

 

The tour didn’t start until 10:15 so I picked up a couple of bottles of water there (2 for $1) and my wife went right across the street to an internet café that charged $1 for an hour of internet. She said the internet worked great and was fast. We decided not to purchase anything until after the tour to avoid having to carry the stuff around all day.

 

The tour bus started loading on time like they had said. It was a nice bus with good air conditioning. My boys grabbed the first sets of seats on each side so we had a great view for the ride. There were two tour guides and a driver on this tour. The tour guides did a good job telling us about the area on the short ride to the ruins (about 25 min.).

 

The ruins were nice. The boys really enjoyed climbing all over them. I would not recommend this tour for younger children (under 5) or for elderly couples. There is a bit of walking and to really enjoy the site requires some climbing. However, it was perfect for my kid’s ages. The bus ride was not too long and they could climb all over the different ruins. After a little over an hour of touring the ruins, we were given the opportunity to swim in the cenote (sink hole).

 

Those that didn’t want to swim could look around at the ruins some more or go to the museum on site. We opted for the swimming because it was hot and the boys love to swim. The water was cool and refreshing. It was also crystal clear.

 

Before we headed back to Progreso, we grabbed a snack at the gift shop and changed into dry clothes. We arrived back at the market in Progreso where the shuttle to the ship drops off before 2pm. After an hour or so of shopping at the market for souvenirs, we caught a shuttle to the ship

 

It was a very good excursion and I was pleased with the entire day. I saved over a hundred dollars by booking it direct once we got into town instead of booking through the ship.

 

That night, the kids went to camp for dinner and my wife and I had dinner once again in the dining room. Once again, everything was good. After dinner, we partied around the ship and in the disco until about midnight when we picked up the kids from camp. The ship really had a great group of passengers on board. I mean, the clubs were kicking until late every night. All of the clubs and the casino were really rocking each night….it was fun.

 

That night we had a towel Eskimo who was holding our chocolates…..nice.

 

Cozumel

 

This day started like the day before with us running a little behind. We got up and ate breakfast at Windows again. It was about 9:30 or so by the time we got off the ship. We headed into the port area and caught a cab to Nachi Cocom Beach Club.

 

Today was to be our beach day on the trip. I had learned of Nachi Cocom through this website and the excellent reviews it has received on the the Cozumel board. Total cost was $122.00 for entrance into Nachi plus $30.00 total in cab fare ($15 each way). Compared to the ship excursions, it was a great deal.

 

Nachi is all inclusive so your food and drinks are included. The beach at Nachi Cocom is absolutely beautiful. They have a big pool there and a large adults only hot tub. This is not the place for kids who need to be entertained. It is a relaxing, quiet place where you can kick back and listen to the waves come in.

 

My boys loved it at Nachi. They pretty much kept to themselves playing in the sand and waves. There were 3 other kids there that day and my kids knew two of them from camp carnival. They all played together and had a blast. My kids loved the strawberry “smoothies.”

 

We ate in the open restaurant and the food was good. Watch out for the salsa, it is HOT. My wife and I both drank beer all day. I guess I tried about 5 different Mexican beers. My favorite was Sol. I also tried the ceviche and it was excellent.

 

My wife wanted a massage so I went and spoke to the ladies offering them and got them to give us both 30 minute massages for $75. The massages lasted about 45 minutes and they were great. I thoroughly enjoyed mine and will book a full hour if I’m ever at Nachi again.

 

My wife and oldest son said that Nachi Cocom was the highlight of the trip and I concur.

 

When we got back to the ship, we went out by the pool for the big sail away party. Boy, folks were have a great time including us. My youngest had learned line dancing at camp carnival so he danced with his Mom to the Cupid Shuffle. They had a blast.

 

That night was very similar to the previous night. The kids went to camp carnival from 6pm until midnight while we ate in the dining room and had a good time dancing and talking with friends we had made on our two excursions.

 

That night we had a cobra towel animal. I will also mention that we brought two bottles of wine onboard. The first night, I got an empty bucket from the pool bar (the kind for buckets of beer) and our room steward kept our wine iced down the entire cruise. Yes, I did tip him extra. This worked out great so if you have wine that you want to keep cold then I recommend getting a bucket from the bar and talking to your steward.

 

Fun Day at Sea

 

The last day was really fun too. We started with breakfast in Windows and then headed up to the water slide area. I found two lounge chairs right up front where the waterslides ended. The kids started sliding and we started lounging. We pretty much camped out there all morning and into the early afternoon.

 

At 2:30, the kids wanted to go to camp carnival to paint t-shirts and watch them blow up the volcano the kids had made. My kids didn’t actually build any of the volcano because we had only sent them to camp at night until now. We had planned to keep them all day again but they wanted to go so we dropped them off. We had to pick them up about an hour later because camp was closing for family activities.

 

The family activities were a cookie decorating contest and ice cream eating contest held in the Windows buffet. We did participate in this activity and it was really fun. I had been told by our tablemates that they never have the ice cream eating contest because nobody enters but once again the passengers on this sailing came through. We had a great turnout for the contests and I had fun getting ice cream all over my face.

 

We asked the kids if they wanted to have dinner with us but they wanted to eat with their friends so Mom and Dad got another dinner alone on the trip…..nice. Once again, we stayed out late having a good time with our fellow passengers while the kids played with their new friends.

 

This night we had an elephant towel animal. My kids really loved these towel animals.

 

The End

 

Getting off the ship was easy. Our tablemates gave us their #1 tags because they were doing the self assist thing since he had to be at work that morning (they live in N.O.). We got up and ate breakfast at a leisurely pace. By the time we finished, they were calling the 3rd group of passengers. We headed to the atrium and got in line to get off the ship. When we got to the luggage area our luggage was easy to find since nearly all of the people with #1-#5 tags had already picked up their bags and gone.

 

The line moved kind of slow for a while but it eventually picked up and before we knew it we were getting our bags. I grabbed a porter (highly recommend) and he got us right through customs. No wait at all in line at customs…..kudos to the porter and I tipped him extra.

 

Overall, this was a GREAT family vacation. We have Disney next up but after that I plan on booking another cruise out of New Orleans on either the Triumph or the Norwegian Spririt.

 

Thank all of you for your help and information.

 

Happy Cruising to all.

[beach410]

Isnt that great, the kids were so entertained that the adults had alone time, good for you! Glad you enjoyed your first cruise, thanks for sharing. We really enjoyed the Fantasy as well, wish NO was closer to home!

[Rowan555]

I'll just second everything you said and skip a review of my own!

 

We had a fabulous time and the best tablemates thus far on any of our cruises ;)

 

No complaints, except that after 8 cruises with Big Tex, Risa is a HUGE letdown. The ship was great, food was great, and service was spectacular. I'm already hoping to sneak in one more 5 day cruise on the Fantasy before she heads to Mobile. We'll have to see about that. I'm already deep into post-cruise depression after 4 days - that can't be good!

[poobears]

That is great, we are sailing on her in June, so I was excited to see a recent review. Never knew I could grab a porter to get through customs. Customs takes forever, those lines move slow! LOL Maybe we'll do that this time.

[nawlinscruiser22]

I'll just second everything you said and skip a review of my own!

 

We had a fabulous time and the best tablemates thus far on any of our cruises ;)

 

No complaints, except that after 8 cruises with Big Tex, Risa is a HUGE letdown. The ship was great, food was great, and service was spectacular. I'm already hoping to sneak in one more 5 day cruise on the Fantasy before she heads to Mobile. We'll have to see about that. I'm already deep into post-cruise depression after 4 days - that can't be good!

 

 

I second the cruise director thoughts! We are just off the Fantasy this morning--after 7 trips with Big Tex, Risa was, well, I'll go with very different. We just were not impressed! We kept mentioning to each other how much we missed Tex!

 

To the OP- glad you had a good time! Thanks for the review.

[W5KAP]

I'll just second everything you said and skip a review of my own!

 

We had a fabulous time and the best tablemates thus far on any of our cruises ;)

 

No complaints, except that after 8 cruises with Big Tex, Risa is a HUGE letdown. The ship was great, food was great, and service was spectacular. I'm already hoping to sneak in one more 5 day cruise on the Fantasy before she heads to Mobile. We'll have to see about that. I'm already deep into post-cruise depression after 4 days - that can't be good!

 

Where did Big Tex go!!! How horrible, her was a lot of fun. We did this cruise last December and he was a highlight. Maybe he moved up to a bigger ship!!

 

Cheers, Kenn

[AFsouth]

Great review. We enjoyed Fantasy also. Thanks:)

[ShannonP]

Thanks so much for the detailed review. I couldn't agree more that a Carnival cruise is the perfect trip for families with children...together time...alone time....couldn't ask for anything more.

 

I'm counting the days!!!:D

[Rowan555]

I believe Tex is on the Valor now - he is sorely missed. Risa is a dud - might as well have a robot serve as cruise director. She had her assistant Brandon doing her job so often that I'm going to write to Carnival and suggest HE get her job. She can deliver room service, or clean toilets, or something more suited to her personality and charisma.

[fightingokra]

I believe Tex is on the Valor now - he is sorely missed. Risa is a dud - might as well have a robot serve as cruise director. She had her assistant Brandon doing her job so often that I'm going to write to Carnival and suggest HE get her job. She can deliver room service, or clean toilets, or something more suited to her personality and charisma.

 

I have to agree with Rowan here.....Risa is a dud. Brandon did do a good job though. He let my wife smack his..........

[tiggerman101]

Glad you had a good time. Thank you for the review. I can't wait for the Fantasy to come to Mobile. We live in Atlanta so that is only a 5 hour drive for us. The Fantasy was the first ship I went on (right after it came out). I am sure a lot had changed since then!

[Jabee]

I believe Tex is on the Valor now - he is sorely missed. Risa is a dud - might as well have a robot serve as cruise director. She had her assistant Brandon doing her job so often that I'm going to write to Carnival and suggest HE get her job. She can deliver room service, or clean toilets, or something more suited to her personality and charisma.

 

I have sailed with Risa twice and Tex 3 1/2 times...

You see, the first time I sailed with Tex, he was in traiing as an assistant CD...and I guess his trainer did a good job..since it was Risa.

 

Risa has worked very had to help others move up, as she did start as a bar hop and moved up the ladder. She has a better understanding of the job of CD then most do because she has done almost every job you can do on the ship. (and yes, she is not training Brandon.)

 

Since you seem to cruise the Fantasy a lot, I hope you will get another opportunity to cruise with her. If you do not like her, that is ok...we all have different likes and dislikes...but I hope you will see a different view next time.

[djacobson]

I believe Tex is on the Valor now - he is sorely missed. Risa is a dud - might as well have a robot serve as cruise director. She had her assistant Brandon doing her job so often that I'm going to write to Carnival and suggest HE get her job. She can deliver room service, or clean toilets, or something more suited to her personality and charisma.

 

I'm going on the Fantasy in two weeks. Tex is a good representive of CCL and he is great as a cruise director. I was wondering about the current cruise director, as I had heard good things about her when she was on the Inspiration.

 

Tex told me that Jorge Solano is supposed to be the cruise director on the Triumph when the ship comes to New Orleans in November. I was on the Imagination with him a couple of years ago and he was great.

[djacobson]

I have sailed with Risa twice and Tex 3 1/2 times...

You see, the first time I sailed with Tex, he was in traiing as an assistant CD...and I guess his trainer did a good job..since it was Risa.

 

Risa has worked very had to help others move up, as she did start as a bar hop and moved up the ladder. She has a better understanding of the job of CD then most do because she has done almost every job you can do on the ship. (and yes, she is not training Brandon.)

 

Since you seem to cruise the Fantasy a lot, I hope you will get another opportunity to cruise with her. If you do not like her, that is ok...we all have different likes and dislikes...but I hope you will see a different view next time.

 

 

I agree with you and I am looking forward to meeting her. She has worked hard to get to where she is with the company.

[MasonsMom]

Thanks for the great, thorough and detailed review. I am still 5 months out but am so excited.

After reading your review, I am seriously reconsidering adding my 6 yr old to our reservation since I see your boys had a good time.

Glad you had a great time.

p.s. we are going to do the Dz ruins thru Autoprogresso and have already booked Nachi as well.

Michele

[Rowan555]

I'm going on the Fantasy in two weeks. Tex is a good representive of CCL and he is great as a cruise director. I was wondering about the current cruise director, as I had heard good things about her when she was on the Inspiration.

 

Tex told me that Jorge Solano is supposed to be the cruise director on the Triumph when the ship comes to New Orleans in November. I was on the Imagination with him a couple of years ago and he was great.

 

That's good to hear!

 

And to the other poster - Risa was CD on my Holiday cruise 7 or so years ago and I didn't like her then either. I find her to be lackluster on every level, and her announcements over the loudspeaker are more annoying than any CD we've ever experienced. Not only does she drone on in a monotonous way, but she also messed up one or more words in every sentence, and it's extremely irritating. At the Captain's Cocktail party and the Past Guest Party, she let Brandon do all the "heavy lifting" and then breezed onto the stage near the end - I don't even think she introduced herself. Big Tex was out there singing, making jokes, and otherwise entertaining the crowd the whole time. We've experienced maybe 5 different CD's with Carnival, and she is by far at the bottom of our list.

[C&K678]

Thanks for that great review, we will be sailing out in 40 days and I'm excited.

[gagirl2006]

Great review! I can't wait to cruise on the Fantasy next year after it moves to Mobile!