My wife and I are multiple cruisers with many cruise lines, but mostly with Carnival. My wife's brother decided to finally take a cruise and asked us to go along. We signed up immediately and had his travel agent sign us up as well. We sailed on the Fascination out of Jacksonville on a 5 day cruise to Key West and Nassau (2-7 Mar). We drove up from Tampa on the morning of the cruise. This was my first time out of Jacksonville.

EMBARKATION: Since we had VIP status, we were escorted into a private room and checked in - I was very impressed. Probably the most personal and quickest I've had next to our sailing on the Splendor out of Dover England last year.

THE SHIP: Having sailed on the Inspiration, Sensation, and Ecstasy (Fantasy Class) and recently sailed on the third sailing of the Splendor, I kind of figured the ship would have been a little used. Wrong - To my surprise the ship was in excellent condition. We knew it had gone through a refurb, but I was pleasantly pleased. Read more