I've read so many reviews and board posts about the Fascination for the last 2 months, I thought it was my duty to give my review to return the favor for those others that did the same before me. I sailed on her about 8 years ago, so I was excited to see how she looks after the renovations.EMBARKATION: We live 20 minutes from the port so our experience was seamless and pain-free. We were whisked away upon arrival curbside by a Carnival representative,skipped all the lines and got to wait in a private lounge until boarding. But, to those who can't get this VIP treatment, I can tell you that Jacksonville was ranked #1 in customer satisfaction out of all of Carnival's ports so it should be an easy process for everyone.MUSTER DRILL: This is the first time we have sailed that we did not have to have our life jackets on at the drill. At 3:30 pm we were at our station (F) at the pool and the staff demonstrated the life jacket. That was basically it. The ship blew it's horn and we were done. It was also mentioned that there were 2390 passengers on board and 930 of those where kids under the age of 18! I was not thrilled when I heard that, but the kids that I saw, were pretty well-behaved. I did not think it took anything away from our enjoyment at all.STAFF: All the staff we encountered were friendly and efficient. Out of all of the cruises I have been on, I was most impressed by the Captain of the Fascination. Capt. Carmelo Marino was all over the ship. I saw him walking around just checking on things every single day. He would pop in the casino or peek into the Coconut Grill (buffet on Lido deck). I have never seen a ship's captain on any other cruise except for maybe the Captain's Dinner or Welcome Reception.I did learn that the captain is required to be on the bridge whenever entering or leaving a port. About 80% of the time it's on auto pilot when out to sea. Trevor, our CD, was also very friendly and widely available. He remembered us after seeing us at one of the trivia games and made it a point to speak to us each time he saw us around the ship. One night Carnival had a past guest reception in the Palace Theatre. The waiters came around with hors devours and lots of free drinks. The reception lasted for 3 hours so that's lots of free drinks! Free drinks did not stop there however. On the last sea day, there was a farewell party. Again, loads of free drinks but no food. This party was only an hour. I felt like Carnival really wants it's guests to feel welcome and wants to show it's appreciation for your business.FOOD: Don't believe everything you hear or read about the food being bad. I can honestly say that the food in the dining room was better than that on Royal Caribbean. It was very well-presented and gourmet-like. The Lasagna Bolognese on Day 1 was divine! My favorite meal was the Chile Rellenos on Day 3. I also had Rack of Lamb, Chateaubriand, Veal Parmigiana, and Prime Rib. My husband did order the Lobster and Prime Rib on Day 2 and said both were excellent. Having said all of that, RCCI does have Carnival beat when it comes to the buffet. There weren't as many choices at the Coconut Grill but I don't prefer to eat at the buffet unless I have to. I like the service aspect of dining on a cruise. On both of the sea days, I chose the offerings at the Mongolian BBQ by the pool. The lines were long but worth it.PORTS-OF-CALL: Half Moon Cay is by far the most gorgeous place on earth. I cannot stress this enough. The water is more blue and more clear than my pool. The sand is soft and mostly without shells. It is like powder! Nassau is alright. We did the Atlantis Aquaventure through Majestic Tours. It was $240 for 2 people. Thank goodness we got to the resort before 9 am because it took us almost an hour to find our way from the lobby to the pool area. We were told 5 different ways by as many employees. The Atlantis staff is a little vague and we found that they operate on Bahama time meaning it's whenever, Mon.The slides were fun and the Lazy River is a blast!CABINS: We had a cheapo interior room on the Main deck (deck 5). I liked it because it was down low and in the aft section. We felt very little movement and were away from the noise of elevators, lounges, pools, etc. One pointer: There is no need to bring a fan as some other reviewers suggested. There is an a/c vent above the bed that when turned on, not only blows cold air, but it sounds like you are in a wind tunnel. I loved it! You can't hear any outside noises when it's on full-blast.ENTERTAINMENT: Super! The shows were awesome and the costumes were phenomenal! Again, I think Carnival has RCCI beat on this too. Carnival is the only ship to have a 5-piece band to accompany the shows. Very little of the music is recorded. It mostly played live by the band. DO NOT miss karaoke with Jay! He is a small guy from the Philippines but with BIG personality. Two words: ABSOLUTELEY BRILLIANT!!!!!!! LOL!! There were lots of trivia games (we won a Ship on a stick) and a Thriller (Michael Jackson) Dance class. I also took a towel animal folding class.DEBARKATION: I cannot go into a lot of detail here for security reasons, but we were downstairs at the gangway at 6:30 am. I was literally the 3rd person off of the boat even before any of the crew was allowed to leave. There was another official waiting for us on the other side of the gangway who greeted us by name. We were in our car driving home by 7:15 am. I don't think this is normal procedure for most people, but it did enhance our debarkation process.To sum it up, I loved this trip and loved the ship! I would never hesitate to sail on her again for a 5 or 7 day itinerary.