This was my 6th cruise, 4th time with Carnival. 1-27/2-1-2007 The Fantasy is a good size ship, not to small not to big. Good Value. My room mate and I flew into New Orleans from Atlanta, GA.Saturday the morning of our sailing. Is was not hard to find a taxi to port, and cost is normal for this city. We were to meet up with friends from our roll call at 2:30 pm on the veranda deck at the rear pool bar, back up plan was casino bar area at the same time...we did the back up plan due to rain. Many of us wearing flowered lei's met up. More than 20 of us who had chatted over the weeks prior to our sail date. These boards are great. Kerri was the unofficial roll call keeper for our bunch and did a great job. She had made little door mags for all of us with the ship's name and sail dates on them. Cute. Embarkation was easy. Got our sign and sail cards and cabin keys.We arrived at port approx. 1pm and we were on the ship in less than 45 min. We found our cabin with no problems as it was on the deck we boarded E. OV Cabin was set up just right, plenty of room for 2. Carnival had decorated the cabin. Nice touch. We dropped off the bags and went for food. There is a good buffet on the lido deck for a quick lunch. It was raining so not a lot of people on the lido deck at this time. Now it was time to meet up with our new friends. The ship is easy to navigate, getting around with no major problems. Our muster drill(life vest drill) was at 3:30 this afternoon. Everyone should attend this as it is for your safety. After the drill is when we set sail down the mighty Mississippi River. The rain made it hard to see so we opted to stay inside and out of the chilly rain.

Our Dining time was 5:45, we had asked for 6:15. We were in the Jubilee dining room rear of the ship. The Celebration dining room was much closer for us, one flight up, but since we had 5:45 it was the rear one. Same food in all dining rooms so it was not a real big deal. Our wait staff was great to say the least. Donald was fantastic and asst. waiter Juanna was a hoot. Dinner was as good as it always has been, I was not disappointed. The dessert...chocolate melting cake is offered every night. This one is a big hit. Our table mates the 1st night never even sat down, they had a problem with a booth. It was a table for 6. They wanted chairs and not a booth so we dined alone. No problem...more elbow room for us. The next night we had new table mates. A nice couple from AR. Terry and Syndi. They were very nice and smokers just like us which was nice to know. After dinner every night we would go up stairs above the dining room for an after dinner smoke and have great conversation in the Majestic Lounge. Nice quite area. Later in the evenings we would attend the shows, all were very good. The dancers and singers are above average and they are doing this on a moving ship. WOW. After the shows We headed for the Casino. Plenty to keep you hopping in here. The dealers were tops and wait staff here is always around for your needs. You were not left waiting very long at all. Our first day out was a day at sea, what I call a lazy day. There is so much to do on this ship that in order to do everything they have to offer, would take 2 cruises back to back. No kidding. Day 2 at sea. Breakfast in the dinning room this morning. There is no assigned seating at Breakfast or Lunch...Only at dinner. We had Eggs Benedict(great) with home fries(tater tots). The rest of the week we had lido deck breakfast.

Formal Night was our 2nd night on the ship. Everyone was dressed nice, even the teenagers. Long gowns, cocktail dresses and nice pant suits for the ladies and most men wore suits or sports jackets with slacks. It was lobster tail night. Yummy. Most people wore their formals till bed time. Day 3. The next morning we were in Costa Maya. This is a place the cruise lines built for a new port of call. Plenty to do right off the ship. Lot's of shopping, bars and pools for swimming. We went on a shore excursion we bought through the ship to some Mayan Ruins...Wonderful place to see. Ruins dated back to 600bc. Our tour got back a little late so no time to check out the small town just south of this port which is highly recommended. It started to rain again. Just enough time to change for dinner. It was the talent show night so we hit the casino instead. Went to the disco after and partied to the sound of 80's music till around 1:30am. Midnight buffet was fantastic this night also. Bay shrimp salad is always good and the many cakes to choose form is just sinful. We got back to our cabin to discover that our shore excursion had been cancelled for Cozumel, bummer. It was more mayan ruins...Tulum. Day 4 Cozumel. Tendered off the ship. The docks here are still not repaired from past hurricanes. Got into a taxi and headed to main town area and did a little shopping. This was my 5th time here so I didn't need anything at all but it was my room mates 1st time here so we shopped. Day 5. Last day at sea. Lazy day #2. It was to be our mexican buffet on the lido deck. Had a blast dancing and singing. This is what a sail away party should be like if it is not raining. Glad we got it squeezed in. Back in New Orleans...More rain and foggy. We did self disembark and had no problems getting off the ship at all, was a breeze. All in all I would sail this ship again and again. We found no major problems with the ship, cabins or staff. We had a great time and so will you. Highly recommended to all looking for a short escape to paradise.