Just back from my four day cruise on the Fascination. This is my sixth cruise with Carnival and the second on the Fascination. She has gone through a refurbishment since my last cruise with her and she is in great shape. We were traveling with a group of sixteen people and it was the best cruise my wife and I have had to date.

We flew into Ft. Lauderdale, taking advantage of GREAT rates from AirTran, took a shuttle van (Tri County Transportation) to the Port of Miami - about a thirty minute ride and the fee was $17.00 per person for five people. Got to the port, tipped the baggage handlers, got in line, registered and was on the ship by 12:20. We went straight to our cabin, met the steward and tipped him to keep ice in our cabin all week - it worked! We spent the day on the Lido deck - eating and playing. Our luggage arrived by 3:00 pm and we were unpacked and settled by the time we had the Muster drill, which lasted about 25 minutes. We put the life jackets back in the cabin and went to the front of the ship for sail-away! It was a glorious start to a great cruise!

The Cruise Director - Matt - is really good - funny and personable. The entertainment was great and we stayed up until 1:30 each morning, there was so much to do! We went to all the shows, the casino, the Karaoke Bar, Dance lessons, the Not-so-Newlywed Game, ate, ate more, then ate even more! I even won the "Hairy Chest" Contest and the coveted "ship on a stick!" Read more