I’ve cruised several times before, but this was my first time on the Fascination. Also my first time on Carnival (previously sailed with NCL and Royal Caribbean.) Work has had me in Jacksonville for a few years now, so I thought I would finally take the opportunity to cruise out of our port. Embarkation was a breeze. Early boarding was at 11AM EST, and normal boarding started at 12:30PM EST. I got to the terminal around 1:30PM and the line was pretty long but it was moving. I had all of our docs in hand and ready to go. We made it through security in probably twenty minutes. I’m not sure if the girlfriend and I were just particularly nice looking, but once we got through security someone asked if we would like to check-in in the captains lounge. Score! That shaved some serious time, and we were on the boat with our room keys within about half an hour from arriving at port.

Our bags got to the room around 6-6:30PM the first night, but we already had swimsuits and sunscreen in the carry on as well as our bottles of wine. I would highly recommend getting to one of the top decks for embarkation. The cruise port is fairly far inland on the St. Johns River, which means you get to see a lot of big homes on the way out of Jacksonville. I brought a cheap pair of binoculars ($12 on amazon) to look out and I’m glad that I did. Really cool to see everything going by. That night we went to the opening night show, which I highly recommend. It introduces you to all of the performers for the cruise, as well as various services aboard.

Second day was at sea. Started out with a nice brunch in the main dining room and moved out to the Serenity (21+) deck to relax in the hot tubs and lay out in the sun. We were there before 11AM, and were fortunate enough to find two seats. They filled up pretty quickly after that. Hit the casinos later on, and dinner in the main dining room again. Day two was formal night. The dress code is more of a suggestion than a requirement, but it’s a nice chance to take pictures. Read more