Carnival Fascination Review

Fascinated by Fascination

Review for the Bahamas Cruise on Carnival Fascination
User Avatar
Native Floridian 26
10+ Cruises • Age 60s

Rating by category

Value for Money
Embarkation
Dining
Public Rooms
Entertainment
Fitness & Recreation
Service
Cabin

Additional details

Sail Date: May 2011
Cabin: Interior

Background information: I have been on 16 cruises beginning at childhood and am in late 40s now. I had not sailed on Carnival for 20 years, but decided to give them a try again. It was my husband, me and our 20 year old college daughter.Parking: We drove from Lake Mary, Florida on embarkation day which is about 2-3 hours from the port. Based on CC information we had booked parking online at Jax Cruise Park for $8 a day. It was a little hard to find, but we did and they were running a $5 per day special. Without even mentioning it, the lady working there said we would receive a $15 refund when we returned on Thursday. We waited 20 minutes or so for a shuttle, and were on our way to the port.Embarkation: Arrived at Jaxport around noon and had some lines to get through but everything moved very quickly. We got checked in and sat for a few minutes then were on our way to the ship. Had the boarding pictures taken but at this time a storm blew in and they halted boarding due to potentially dangerous conditions on the gangplank. We we went back to the seating area and waiting another 30 minutes until they started boarding again. Even with the weather delays we left the port on time.Dining: We had been waitlisted for Your Time dining since we had just booked the cruise about a month prior. When we checked in our waitlist had cleared and we had Your Time Dining. Generally when we cruise we take Early Dining, but Your Time is awesome as you are not bound by set times to arrive at dinner. We ate around 8 every night and never had to wait. We found a wait staff we liked on the 3rd night and requested them for all the remaining nights. The hostess called us each by name every night and so did the waiter that we had for 3 nights. It's amazing how they remember so many names even if they serve you just once.Oh, I cannot forget about Joseph The Supercharged Maitre D. We was so fun and welcoming to talk to. My daughter loved him and wants to pick her next cruises based on the ship he'll be on.Food: Thanks to reading CC and people's favorite foods on Carnival, we knew what to select and were never disappointed. I remember not being impressed by the food on Carnival on our last sailing but that has certainly changed. My husband was disappointed that the only salmon (lox) at breakfast was in the dining room and not on the buffet, so we ended up in the MDR for 3 mornings. We ate all dinners in the MDR, and lunches at the buffet. The salad bar was wonderful as was the Mongolian BBQ. Everything was close together so you could get food from the different venues and still sit in one place. There was always plenty of seating too. No hovering around waiting for a table which we experienced on NCL back in December. The Sushi Bar was also a regular treat before dinner. The BBQ on HMC was great too.Entertainment: We took in all the production shows and always found plenty of seating available. They were good and the live orchestra and lead singers were great. There were 2 comedians that had shows practically every night. We went to Karaoke a few times, but were not impressed by anything there other than the host Jay who was a hoot to watch.Sea days we spent on the Serenity Deck which was so comfortable and it was nice to be away from all the activity. I must say there so many lounge chairs on several decks I can't see how anyone can say there weren't enough. Even then you would see stacks of chairs around for additional seating.Ports: Half Moon Cay was as beautiful as everyone said. We walked down to a more secluded section and pulled our lounge chairs close to the water and had a wonderful day in the sunshine and beautiful crystal clear ocean. We did not do any shore excursions.In Nassau we walked over the PI bridge to Atlantis and just spent a few hours walking the property and walked back to Bay Street for some shopping. Disembarkation: We did self assist and got off around 9:30. Customs didn't look at anything although they picked random people and searched their bags.Overall Review: We thoroughly enjoyed our cruise and would not hesitate to go on Carnival and will probably lean toward them for our future cruises.If you have any questions, don't hesitate to email me.

Cabin Review

Interior

Cabin 4D

Spacious cabin, very comfy bed. Walls did not squeak at all like we experienced on Celebrity Century. Cabin was in very back of ship on the end. Great access to Serenity Deck and Dining buffets.

previous reviewnext review

Find a cruise

Any Month

Get special cruise deals, expert advice, insider tips and more.By proceeding, you agree to our Privacy Policy and Terms of Use.

© 1995—2024, The Independent Traveler, Inc.