This was our second sailing on the Fascination. I was considering the Majesty of the Seas for this weekend getaway but chose the Fascination since she had recently been in dry dock. A little background on the cruisers: I'm 37. This was my fifth cruise on Carnival. I've also sailed on Royal Caribbean twice. My husband is 41 and this was his third cruise on Carnival and he cruised once on Royal Caribbean.

We live in Fort Lauderdale, so we drove to the port. My husband dropped me off by the curb with the luggage and he parked in the lot. It was $45.00, payable in advance, for the three days. The porter took my bag right away. We got there early (11:00AM) and walked right up to the check-in counter. We waited about 45 minutes before we were allowed onboard. Embarkation is on the Empress deck (and we were in E143  outside cabin). They added a piano and bar in the Atrium . We dropped a small bag off in the room and headed up to the lido deck for lunch. I am not a big fan of buffets. Like last time, the food was mediocre. I had a burger and some fries and it was fine. My husband had a little of a few things and said he wasn't impressed. However, like a lot of others, I don't cruise for the food (but I do enjoy good food!!). That said, I think the food on Royal Caribbean is much better. I did not see any hand sanitizing stations near the entrances, but do carry my own. I am not aware that anyone got sick on this sailing.

As far as the room goes, I had pre-ordered birthday decorations for my husband and they were up and I was pleased with them. Our room steward was friendly and did a great job. There was a new flat panel TV. In the bathroom, I noticed that the sink area had been redone. It looked like the doors on the closet had been redone since last time. Gone was the bright orange trim in the room. The desk area was also redone in a marble type of top. Read more