Carnival Fantasy Review
Editor's Note: All eight of Carnival's Fantasy-class ships will receive extensive upgrades as part of Carnival's $250 million "Evolutions of Fun" program. Expansive children's water parks, a new design style and features for the pool areas, and the creation of the Serenity adults-only deck area will be part of the changes to the open decks of Carnival Cruise Lines' eight Fantasy-class ships.
The expanded outdoor recreation areas will be initially incorporated onto the 2,052-passenger Inspiration and Imagination during month-long dry docks in fall of 2007 and added to other Fantasy-class ships in 2008 and 2009 during scheduled dry-dock periods.
Being familiar with the layout of Carnival's Fantasy-class ships, which include Elation, Paradise, Inspiration, Imagination, Ecstasy and Fascination, and pretty knowledgeable about the work of Joe Farcus, Carnival's long-time designer, I figured that sailing on Fantasy would offer a similar experience. Not so!
As soon as I boarded Fantasy, I noticed a marked difference between this ship and the others in its class that I had sailed: this one's design was relatively calm and sedate, without the weird and extreme decor of most of its sister ships.
Fantasy has, it should be noted, recently undergone a major overhaul during which miles of neon lighting had been torn out and more elegant elements added, making the ship look nearly new and adding a patina of elegance that had not been evident before.
I don't mind being wrong about this, because the ship is great. The original design, with or without the red and blue neon, was well before its time, with grey melamine cubes covering the walls and plum-colored wood-veneered posts anchoring the elevator lobbies and other spots. It looks so ... today ... that it's hard to imagine that this ship is actually 16 years old.
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