We LOVED it! My second cruise, my partners first. We had an ocean view room which was perfect for just the two of us. We loved waking up the sunrise every morning. My only complaint would be the food. It wasn’t nasty, but it wasn’t the best in my personal opinion. The comedy show was hilarious. They have one tiny pool which the kids mostly took over. We went to the adult only retreat one night and just sat in the hot tub enjoying the view. The ship is a little dated sure, but it was extra clean so who cares! There was always an employee cleaning something. The employee were exceptional and our cruise directo, MarQ, was the best! Honestly, my boyfriend was a little skeptical going on a cruise but now he is a cruise addict like the rest of us. LOL Overall, we had a great time and can not wait to go on another carnival cruise!! Read Less

Cruise was good for the price. Embarkation and Disembarkation was good, friendly people in security which always makes me feel better. Too bad you're not allowed to take pics, I would love to get a pic of all the food they were loading on board! lol Didn't take too long to get through but I don't know why they don't have air conditioning in that building! I was able to skip some of the embarkation pics they usually make people get, which was good because after traveling and being sweaty and tired I don't feel like pictures right away. As mentioned rooms aren't ready until 1330 so it's good to bring a change of clothes if you want to wear a swimsuit or something. I was able to find a quiet bathroom and freshen up then lay in the sun. Heads up about laying on the chairs under the funnel of the ship while it is in port; I was there and noticed a few black things on me and flying around, also a few drops of water. I couldn't figure out what was going on. I realized after the black things weren't bugs but bits of soot from the stack and I guess drops of water. I suppose that's why nobody else was in that area? Lesson learned. Mandatory safety information session was inside the lounge which was better than having to stand in the hallway like before. There was only one pool and 4 hot tubs. Somewhat disappointing because every single day the hot tubs were packed full and, I could be mistaken, but it seemed like the same groups all the time. Evenings were difficult to get a spot too until it was getting late. I found the pool a bit chilly to get in. Was also a bit different that the life boats were outside the top rail behind the deck loungers. I only went on one Carnival ship before so I don't know if many are like it but the other ship had the lifeboats down lower. These blocked some of the view and I thought kind of ruined the atmosphere. I could smell a little odor of fuel in that area I think. Also, kind of disappointed that there were none of the sun loungers with the little roof over them like on other ships. Work gets done around the ship even throughout the cruise, which is understandable I guess, especially when we're in port. However, at times the smell of paint or turpentine was very strong and parts of the deck were barred off. I worried when they were cleaning they deck and started taking up the loungers, I thought they were closing them all for the night even though it wasn't very late, but in short time they were done and all chairs were back. One thing that totally baffles me is on one of the top decks, possible the Sun Deck (not sure) there is a huge open space where the sun shines and it's so nice but there are no chairs to be found! Unless they're only there at certain times and I kept missing them. It seems like a lovely spot to sunbathe, maybe there's a reason behind it? It needs chairs or something to lay on. I was going one day with just a towel but the deck seems kind of hard to lie on, however one other person had the same idea and was there doing just that. The evening shows and dancers were AMAZING, especially the Epic Rock show! Activities around the ship were good too though it seemed to emphasize a lot on selling the jewelry from the shops and annoying when the sales people try to snag you into buying. They had a lot of raffles but beware you have to be attending to win and sometimes it seems like the talking goes on forever. I thought the Creativity at Sea with the little cross stitch kits was a nice touch, loved it. I'd like more things like this (not sure if anyone else would) but in my opinion it NEEDS to be outside instead of the dimly lit atrium. That would be so much better. Even the trivia sessions would be nice outside in the shade or something. Caviar playing the steel drums (I think they're called) was great, LOVE those tunes. The new APP is convenient but I wonder how does one keep track of those account summaries (other than the sail and sign machine) if no cell phone was brought along! I didn't see it on the t.v. and nothing was delivered to the room this time. Also it would be great if you could adjust the tips from the APP. I, for some reason, received a $50 spa gift card! Not sure if they choose people in random or not, but it was greatly appreciated, thanks! Of course then I spent extra money there along with tips and all! They know how to get ya! I bought one of the funnel cups they sell at the bar. They're flimsy overpriced plastic and mine cracked in couple days, thankfully they replaced it with no hassle. There is no seal around the lid so it leaks but I wanted one for a souvenir anyway. Food was awesome of course. Pizza was much better than the stuff I had on Carnival Valor. Guy's Burger Joint was super, the deli as well but line was long at times. I love the buffet and the chocolate buffet...OMG. Wow. They need to have it earlier in the cruise though so I can make it last and put some in the fridge for later haha. I only went to the dining room once for about 45 min. Was good but I rushed because I went at the last minute before they closed. It seemed like they were in a hurry too, but still provided calm, respectable service and told me to take my time. Kudos. Once I went thinking it was ok to get something to go for breakfast and one girl said it was no problem but the other girl did not seem impressed. She reminded me that I could get breakfast on the Lido Deck even though they were about to close in 4 minutes. The dining room breakfast was open for another hour and I just wanted some Eggs Benedict to take outside to eat in the sun. I ordered room service one morning, just a simple bagel, yogurt, juice and coffee. Doubles of everything arrived, I guess they thought more than just myself wanted it! Was great and not long coming, especially for a busy port morning. Overall it was great, some minor improvements could be made. Five days seemed too short, but all in all it was a nice getaway. Read Less

My first cruise out of Jacksonville and they were very organized and embarkation was very easy and fast. The Fascination was strange after being used to the other ships, life boats blocked the view of the water from many places. Small serenity area and it was crowded, seemed like fewer staff to offer bar service and needed more workers at the buffet. Had to wait while the carver went to refill baked potatoes. Usually only one line was open which created a backup. Food seemed to of lower quality than what I am used to on Carnival. Had inside room and it was clean and steward did a good job. Lots of kids running and horseplay in the buffet without shoes and shirts and no one from Carnival enforced their policy on this. Had good weather which is 90% of the success of any cruise and it was good to get back to HMC and Nassau is always enjoyable for me. The crew was good and I only wish they had more help, easy to get off in Jacksonville and I would be willing to do another cruise out of Jacksonville if the price was right. Read Less

I went on this cruise with 2 of my friends. We did not really know what to expect as we all were first time cruisers. Boarding the ship was very easy. We got to the port by 10am. By the time we went through customs and then checked-in it was 11am. We had to sit and wait to bored the ship until noon. It was very organized and there was no problem boarding. We did have to wait till 2pm to get into our room which was not a problem. There was plenty of food to eat for lunch as well as a DJ playing music. During the cruise we had amazing servers for dinner. The food was AMAZING! Our rooms were kept very clean. The service was beyond what we could have asked for. The servers at dinner remembered our names and so did the cleaning staff. I was very impressed. The ship was older but it was kept very clean. The shows where pretty good, I thought the girls could have dressed a little better but the shows where great. Ports where awesome as well. We went to Atlantis which is a MUST for families. It was worth all that we spent even though it was a cold day it was the best experience and for sure a memory of a lifetime. The slides where great, the free lunch was amazing (we had the pizza) the staff there was very friendly. The tour was short and sweet and our lady took us back to see them fed the fish. Half moon kay was a great stop as well. Lunch on the beach was very good. The ocean was really warm. I would say get off early to get a chair. We left and went back to ship after about an hour which was great. The ship was empty and we enjoyed the quietness! The way back we hit rough seas so we stayed in our room a lot, I would recommend taking meds along as well wearing a band. Thats what we did and we were fine. Once we docked and got of the ship we decided to go on another cruise! Mexico here we come! Read Less