This is a mini-review of our Fantasy cruise. We stayed one night pre-cruise at the Drury Inn (good choice) and ate dinner at Mother's Restaurant (disappointing). We spent some time in the French Quarter before embarking on our cruise. Overall we had a good time despite the bad weather throughout the cruise. It was overcast and rainy every day and parts of the outside decks were closed off. The ship was moving a lot and it appeared a number of people were sick.

The upgrades to the ship were noticeable and an enhancement. The lounge chairs, resort-style Lido deck, and outside tables were all nice. However, some parts of the ship stood out as old and dated. The Waterworks looked great but we didn't get to use it due to the weather. We enjoyed all of our meals and thought the food was very good. The band in the Cats Lounge was great. Tom at the Piano Bar was pretty good, but we did not like how the Piano Bar was situated away from the other music lounges. Debarkation was easy and CBP did not even ask for proof of citizenship.

On the down side, there were more negatives to this cruise than our past cruises. Embarkation was a bit of a hassle - it seemed like a lot of people were having issues at check-in. Wait times between courses in the dining room were longer than normal for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. We also had some service issues with our room steward. None of this was major, but it was a noticeable difference from past cruises. My wife thought the ship was too smoky in the public areas. The blackjack dealers did not have much personality. Read more