There seems to be little or no ventilation on the Promenade deck where the casino and nightclub are located. The haze in the air was so bad it made my eyes burn. Our clothes reeked after spending an hour or so in the casino. The ship seemed to be understaffed as well. Long waits at all the food and drink bars -- pizza bar, coffee bar (bistro) and all the liquor/drink bars. Had to wait up to 25+ minutes for a drink sometimes. Usually only one person staffing each bar, occasionally two. And often, some of the bars on the pool deck were closed leaving only one bar open staffed by one bartender. Food was mediocre at best. Served a cold baked potato in the dining room. The food at the buffet was the same menu for the most part. Desserts were awful. They looked delicious, but looks were definitely deceiving. Cabin was nice. Our room steward was awesome. Ben, the cruise director, was great. Ports were good. Water slides were fun, and the Serenity deck for adults was nice and quiet. Overall, we had a good time but I won't sail on the Fantasy again. I just can't handle the smoke and stench from the cigarettes. They should have better ventilation and air-filtering. I feel for the casino staff. Read Less

My partner and I just returned from our cruise and had such a great time! At the end of the trip, he asked that we go ahead and book another one :D Our cruise experience was really about relaxing and enjoying time together, so we didn't have grand expectations for dining and entertainment. We knew we would make the best out of anything thrown our way. We spent most of the time laying out, drinking and eating, and sleeping. Ship First things first - the ship. Yes, it's outdated, but very typical of what I think of when I think about going on a cruise. The ship is easy to find your way around and there is plenty going on to keep you busy for four days. There is a pretty nice gym on board. Steam Room. Sauna. Upgraded equipment. Cabin We were in an interior room and the empress deck. It did the trick for us and we loved being close to everything. We were even offered a suite upgrade a couple of days before for $300 and were happy with our choice to stay in our selected room. We went for the drink package and so we often needed a mid-day nap. The darkness that comes with an interior room was perfect. All that sad, I'm really glad I had low expectations for the room. There was lots of age marks throughout the room. The air conditioner above the bed had some sort of mystery substance - we decided it was dust and didn't touch. Carnival now makes you chose if you want turn down service or morning service. We chose evening service. We frequented our room so I feel like it made it difficult for our steward to catch a good time to clean. However, Johan always made sure we had clean towels. Dining I can be a bit of a food snob, so I had low expectations that the food would blow me away. And it met my expectations. We at dinner every night in the dining room. I think the chef does his best to give guest a fine dining experience on low cost, high volume environment. If you can get a table with Joseph, he's awesome. For the Lido Deck options, my boyfriend was obsessed with the Blue Cantina. I really enjoyed the Guy's Burgers. We didn't touch the regular buffet. The pizza situation was odd. They were really great about making sure everyone had a fresh pizza, which made the lines long all the time. Entertainment & Activities Meh. The first night the show just seemed to be the cruise director utilizing the audience for fun. Second night...very show choir-esque..I know these ppl work hard and I dont want to pick them apart...but the talent wasn't our cup of tea. The next two nights we didn't bother. We did, however, love the atrium parties with the cruise director. Also, the talent at the atrium bar and the 21st century bar were great! We went to the night club most nights. The DJ played lots of hits that anyone would know. When we requested more recent hits the DJ would tell me it's too early...even though it was 1 AM...I'm 26 and not sure how long he was expecting to go...when we left soon after to grab pizza most of the night club attendees were on deck with us. Service Excellent! Again, we had the drink package, so by the end of the trip all of my favorite bartenders knew my sail and sign # and my name :) We spent a lot of time on the Serenity Deck and were happy with the frequency of the bartender. A couple of notes on the Serenity Deck - the first sea day...it was packed and no one was getting up. On the last Sea Day...the chairs rolled over often. One night one of the hostesses selected us for a behind the scenes tour of the kitchen. We were able to meet the chef and try everything on the menu. IT WAS AWESOME. Ports and Shore Excursions We booked the jeep excursion with cozumelcruiseexcursions.com. We enjoyed the trip, but I don't think we would do it again. I've done the Jeep Adventure and Snorke; at Punta Sur with Carnival and loved it. I was hoping this tour would replicate the journey for a lower cost. With Carnival, you drive around just enough to say you saw the island and enjoy quite a bit of time at the lighthouse and snorkeling. With the excursion we chose this time, we drove A LOT. My boyfriend loved it though and felt good about seeing the local parts of town along with the beautiful beaches. With only an hour left in the tour, we were only just arriving to the snorkel portion. We chose to skip this part b/c my partner didn't really care to snorkel and we didn't want to be late to the ship. If snorkeling is a priority for you, this wouldn't be a great pick. Our priority was sightseeing so it did the trick. Read Less

Traveled to Progresso & Cazumel This was a surprise gift from my Daughter in Law & Son. We all went as a family. 6 adults & 4 kids. This was my first cruise & I was very skeptical about going. So glad my Husband & I went! It was great from the start. We had an inside cabin that was very Clean with King bed, Luxury bedding, lots of Towels, TV & good Closet. Our family were all on the same floor. Room service included free! The embarkation & disembarkation was on time & smooth. The whole Ship looked new, beautiful & very clean. The Entertainment was fun! Except very Loud! Dining was wonderful. During the day we ate on the 10th floor with a Lot to choose from. At night we had fine dining in the Ambassador Room. The Service was Excellent!!!! Everyone working on the ship was so pleasant and they were ready to serve you in any way. The excursions were so much fun. We had them all planned before we left. The only smoking areas were at the Casino & the Casino Bar as expected. No smoking anywhere else. The only negative was the Pool. It was way too small for all the people. The children took it over because of Spring Break. However, there was an Adult area with Hot Tub & nice sun bathing area that was quite & peaceful. I read reviews before I left & so many were negative. Don't believe all of them. Some people are just unhappy no matter what. Believe me this Ship was great! YES! I WOULD GO AGAIN !!!! Read Less

I Got talked into it, cruises never appealed to me but my spouse has wanted to go for years so I gave in. There were way too many rude brat kids, not being controlled by their parents.. Couldn't visit the casino due to cigarette smoke. Pool and hot tubs always filled with kids. Lido deck in general was always packed with people and blasting music, had to avoid it whenever possible. DON'T WASTE YOUR MONEY AND PAY FOR Wi-Fi SERVICE. I paid for four days worth of their 'Premium Wi-Fi. It was a lousy Wi-Fi connection and within an hour or two of leaving the port of Mobile, there was no connection at all for the rest of the trip. Paid for the 'bottomless bubbles', what a joke, you have to go to a bar and wait till they're finished serving customers ordering alcohol. Speaking of alcohol, what a scam that is, you can't bring it on the ship and they charge $8 to $11 for a mixed drink and $24 for a 4 pack of beer. Needless to say, it will be awhile before we consider going on another cruise, it would definitely not be a 'family friendly' cruise. Read Less

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This is my 4th time on the Fantasy, the other 3 times were out of Charleston. This is my 9th cruise and I have never been disappointed. I read reviews and some do not like food, temperature, or weather...to them I say "Take a Happy Pill", if you do not enjoy a cruise it is your own fault, even in a bad circumstance on a cruise you can make the best of it. All the staff, from the room attendant, waiters, bartenders, entertainment, hostesses, etc. were all very friendly and family oriented. They worked very hard to serve and satisfy all the cruisers. This was a spring break cruise which entailed many college students. Available chairs on lido was scarce so I made best of it and sat at on the pool deck and enjoyed. Some of our highlights on board included food, Dr. Seuss Breakfast (definitely do if you have not) Piano Bar (was alot of fun), Dinners, Pizza, morning omelettes, group scavenger hunt, nightly entertainment and trivia with the cruise director, group line dances (my fav), and of course hot tubs. We have a great time and loved everything. Dislikes, yes there were some but isn't there always, nothing worth mentioning. Did not like Progresso, we did city tour and it made me feel grateful for what I have. We also went to beach and wanted to shop but everyone begged us to buy and would not let us shop so it was a let down, but we all (5 of us) make the best of it. We did Mr. Sanchos in Cozumel and loved it. Our second time here and we all had a wonderful fulfilling day. My 2018 Cruise was wonderful and made many memories. Laughed alot and enjoyed. I would go again without hesitation. Make the most of every vacation, enjoy everything and don't be critical. Read Less

We chose this cruise because we like the routing, and it is only an hour drive to the port. The previous cruise came in late, so our getting into the parking structure was delayed. Once we were parked, it was an easy fast embarkation. The Fantasy is the oldest in the fleet; refurbished in 2016. The cabin was fine; the steward cheerfully addressed our requests. We enjoyed most of our meals in the Lido or MDR. If you don't like something, ask for something else. If you want 3 of the same appetizer, say so. The sea day brunch is always fun; beware the portions are larger then. I ordered bagel and lox, and think I had a whole sliced/rolled fillet! It is definitely where you go for eggs Benedict. And cheese cake for breakfast :-) We noticed small changes. The waiter use to put your napkin in your lap. Now it is just wrapped around your fork and knife. You use to be able to order pasta as an appitizer; not any more. Unfortunately, the dancing/singing waiter routine is still there to spoil the atmosphere. (If we wanted flashing lights and off key singing, we'd go to the neighborhood bar, not dinner in the MDR. This from a person who hates "formal night.") No, we do not want to drop our fork and go dancing around the room! Blaring music and our food getting cold is not fun. We did discover that if you find a waiter/waitress you like, you can request their table area. We did! The only entertainment we took in were the atrium musicians. The 2 string players (violin and viola) were excellent. The piano/singer duet in the evening at the atrium was also enjoyable and popular with all ages. The library is finally open 24 hours a day! Books and games to borrow and return. We do wish they would show movies on a big screen in any theater area. We did not do any shore excursions this trip because of a knee problem. In the past, we have done enjoyable bus trips into Merida. We like local history and culture choices. The excursion titled something like food and photography was good too. There is one in Cozumel that visits an orphanage - "Give Back?" Quite interesting! Enjoy your trip, and say something if need be. Most things can be fixed. Or just say thank you to your service staff. :-) Read Less

We chose the cruise for a short getaway with a port closer to our home. The Fantasy Carnival cruise ship fit our schedule, and we had a very good time. The ship's staff was excellent. The ship was older and does not have all the things to do that bigger ships have (for instance, only one pool and no fitness room), but it was fine for the 4 days. The food was good and plentiful, although not excellent. It was relaxing. The one thing we all agreed on was the smoke smell from the casino floor was unpleasant. We tried to avoid that area as much as possible, but it was the floor that had so many shops and things to do. We thought it was going to be a wild party ship, and that was not the case. The people on the ship were all so nice, down-to-earth and friendly. I would recommend this cruise for adults wanting to relax. Read Less

We had not cruised in a while and having previously been on about nine cruises in the past, including Fantasy, we decided to board her again. The boarding was almost uneventful; we could not park in the terminal but was sent three blocks away at the enormous costs of right at $100. We enjoyed the cruise as far as the food (was not as good as other cruises on Carnival) and just resting. Everything else was priced way too high. We did learn that the casino is designed to take every dollar... it has always been a bust for us. Will not be visiting the Carnival Casinos in the future. The worst thing we encountered was advertising a $5000 Bingo game. Sadly, once the tickets were purchased to play, they informed us that the prize would not be given unless someone filled up their card within 49 numbers. Using a computer program to determine the balls was met with great skepticism and concern (knowing that the program could be rigged). Sure enough, no one won the $5000 prize as advertised, and only awarded the winner with $170! If Carnival is going to operate like this, without integrity and honesty, we will be more hesitant in cruising with them in the future. Lastly, the Lido deck area with the pool was impossible to enjoy as all the lounge chairs were taken and children were allowed to run and over-take the pool. We attempted to visit the adult area (which had NO POOL) and all the lounge chairs were taken (did not have enough to accommodate adult passengers). Overall, the cruise on the Fantasy out of Mobile, Alabama was an expensive time to just relax. We enjoyed the food most of the time and trying to get a little sun... but that is all we were able to do. We left a bit disappointed. Read Less

This was a girl friend getaway. We wanted to go to Cozumel and we had experienced cruisers with 4-5 cruises under their belt, I had cruised once before and we had a newbie. We were all totally disappointed. This ship is old, dated, small, creaky and ready for the scrap metal yard or for a total overhaul. The water was rough, we experienced sea sickness. Our hallway always smelled of sewage as well as several other places on the ship. Our room creaked so much with the rocking of the ship we couldn't sleep. It sounded like a rat was scratching inside the wall above our heads. A sound like a woodpecker would happen each time the ship tilted a certain direction. I finally determined after three nights of no, to very little sleep, it was the TV beating against the metal stand. I stuffed a folded up daily Fun paper between the TV and the stand. Georgia was having a winter break, unbeknown to us. The ship was over run with children. We assumed that buy going in February, most children would be in school. We couldn't get in the swimming pool. The kids were in the hot tubs, splashing and acting like they were tiny pools. Kids are not suppose to be in hot tubs due to health reasons but no one was enforcing that. There were not enough lounge chairs for everyone. People would though a towel on a chair early in the morning. Claiming it all day long even though they only used it an hour or two during the entire day. They closed the upper deck due to waves and high wind so all those empty chairs sat up there unused and unreachable. The same thing was true for the adult only area. Every chair had a yellow towel across it being claimed by someone, sleeping in their cabin or eating at the buffet but not using the chair! The walls in our cabin were dirty. The knob on the closet door was broken. The ceiling tile had been half heartedly replaced. The staff were great as always, as well as the shows and the food. I reported our room problem and the seasickness issue to customer service and was told that was normal this time of year. The worst part was the drinks. Even though they cost about $10-11 each, there is very little alcohol in them. I would expect that at an all inclusive joint but not when your have to buy them at that price. The biggest shock was the all inclusive beach excursion offered on the day we ported at Progreso. The beach wasn't as big as my back yard, lounge chairs were already taken and again the drinks were diluted, I had 6 mixed drinks and a beer didn't even get a buzz. I couldn't believe Carnival offered this as an excursion, shame on them. In the future I will look for other cruise lines, check the age on the ship and do my own excursions. This trip was certainly a learning experience. I was embarrassed for our first time cruiser to experience such a mess. Read Less