I'll break this review into two parts, (1) the good, and (2) the criticism: The good: - Service. The service and staff were amazing. Friendly, engaging, great with our children, and overall professionals. - Camp Ocean. The camp ocean children servoces were great. We feel bad about placing our children in these types of settings; however, after their first visit -- they wanted to go back. The staff were friendly, professional, and great with our 5 and 9 year old daughters. - Food. The food in the Main dining areas was incredible. We all tried exotic foods we'd never order in a restaurant (e.g., rabbit, escargot). The food was well prepared and the presentation was high end. - Disembarking. The Disembarking process was organized and speedy. - Cruise director and selling. The cruise director, Marty, was great. Unlike some of our other cruise experiences, there was little selling pressure. We enjoyed the freedom from pressure to buy or provide extra tips during the trip. Now for the criticism. To be clear, I'm trying to be fair given the age of the ship and factors in and out of the crew's control. - The ship. This is a nearly 30 year old ship, which obviously has undergone some upgrades over the years. Nevertheless, she's pretty worn. The dining areas are out of the late 1980s. There are areas of weather wear and corrosion. The outside areas are small and offer limited water space (e.g., spa, pool) given the passenger load. The port. This ships sails out of Mobile, AL. Embarkation was a nightmare. The parking area is at the end of a traffic funnel, situated on the far side of active railroad tracks. This made for wild traffic (nearly 2 hours). Entertainment. The venues on this ship are akin to a holiday inn meeting room. They're just not modern. The acts offered were well done, however. I'd like more variety, but it wasn't enough to really complain about. Smoking. This was the worst aspect of this ship. The casino and adjoining bar are mid ship, near the mid ship stairway and elevator bank. The ventilation is poor or non exisitant, making the entirety of the center of the ship a smelly, smoke-filled space (from deck 4 through to deck 9. For a family friendly ship, this was a major drawback. There was no escape from the smoke. Here are a few more obtuse items that the crew really couldn't control... But big carnaval could have done better. The arriving passengers were delayed a few hours due to fog. This delayed our boarding from 12pm to 6pm. The fog also delayed our embarkation ~24 hours. Interestingly, during the warmest and clearest part of the following day... we did not embark. Fantasy embarked closer to 3pm.... after the fog rolled back in heavy (heavier than the previous day and night). It was interesting we could leave the port in this heavy fog... but we did. In the end, our boarding was delayed half a day and we lost a port of call. Carnival refunded shore excursions and port fees. This was an unfortunate and frustrating experience. The passengers. Cruises tend to yield a good cross section of America and, inevitably, some drunks and jokers. For those more conservative parents, these aren't attractive attributes in close quarters. This was certainly true of this cruise. There were a fair share of drunks exposing a bit too much, dancing in what I believe they percieved as sexy, and throwing their children in the one pool everyone shared. Some of this was driven by games hosted by the cruise (e.g., hair chest competition... Where contestants had their chest hair pulled, naked torso smelled, and butt slapped by three lady strangers on stage). I'd sail Carnaval again... But not from Mobile or on Fantasy. Read Less

I deliberately chose Progreso/Cozumel so I could see Chichen Itza outside of Progreso. The ship's name proved appropriate because seeing the city on this cruise, as on my last scheduled one, remained a fantasy; Progreso was cancelled because of fog that kept us in Mobile's port the first evening and the entire next day. Carnival may not responsible for weather, but I remain very disappointed to miss the Mayan pyramid. More than once food served on the Lido deck was tepid at best. Food from the dining rooms was hot but nothing much past average. What was served could be unusual fare, but preparation often fell flat, though I concede that desserts were delicious. Despite my disillusionment with some of the food, Zoe, Yan, and Alit took excellent care of table # 380. They were so friendly and polite, taking care of our every need, and called each of us by name. Our steward Artawa on 6 was equally so and impressed me as he greeted my cabin mate and me by name in the hall more than once. He always had our room ready by the time we returned to it. Beds were comfortable, but overall, the room looked "tired" and in need of a makeover. (I'll settle for its current state rather than pay an increased fare, however). Most frustrating was just the one outlet to accommodate two cell phones and an outlet in the bathroom that did not work. I attended two seminars on 12 with Sebastian and a second excellent instructor. Though this cruise had some issues, I give the entire staff kudos for being topnotch, and I hope to try again to finally get to Progreso! Read Less

First let me say that we had bad weather almost the entire time which was not Carnivals fault but the whole boat smelling of sewer, the elevators not working half of the time, and people throwing up on the stairs and It getting left there were all very gross and off-putting. Our itinerary stated that we had an extra fee associated with the dining room we were assigned to and this being our first cruise, we spent every meal in the Lido buffet where the fool was golden corral quality at best. Cozumel was overpriced and the sales people were very aggressive and we had to pay a "fee" to enter a free beach. Every onboard activity was laced with a sales agenda and we were stuck on the boat an additional 9 hours due to "weather conditions". we paid over 150 in tips to people we never even met. I will say that our room steward was excellent, thoughtful, and friendly. I guess cruising is not for everyone. We drank a lot of overpriced alcohol and gambled in the casino where ashtrays were as esteemed as gold bricks but other than that, there did not seem like there was much else to do. I will never get on a boat the rest of my life but experienced cruisers told me that the cruise we were on was not typical of most cruises. I still feel traumatized from the fact that we couldnt just walk away when the going got rough and that is my opinion of this particular boat. Read Less

I chose this cruise because of the high ratings the ship received for families. I have cruised with Carnival on different ships 2 other times as well as sailing with RCL and DCL. I booked the cruise as a gift to my husband for his 40th birthday. The ship had a scheduled dry dock which ended prior to this sailing. I thought that meant maintenance would be completed and the ship would be in top condition. Boy, was I mistaken. The first day of our cruise was cancelled as well as one of our 2 stops. We were notified of this while traveling from Michigan. We were offered the opportunity to cancel with a full refund which I thought was nice, however, I was just arriving into New Orleans and thought we could make the most of the trip. We planned on renting a car anyway to get from New Orleans to Mobile and had a hotel booked in Biloxi. We were compensated with $50 per person on board credit and one day of our cruise fare credited to the on board account. I was completely satisfied with this. We decided to book a room in Mobile for the night that we would have been on the ship. Choices were limited because of a football event happening in Mobile, but we stayed within walking distance to the terminal and the price was not too bad. The weather was cold and windy the day of embarkation, but my spirits were high because I knew it would get warmer as we headed to Mexico. Embarkation was extremely smooth. The best I have ever experienced. Everyone was helpful and friendly. We got right onto the ship with no wait and we carried our own luggage to our cabin. Some crew members even offered assistance to myself and my 8 year old daughter on the stairs which I thought was really great. Things started to go downhill as soon as we opened the door to our oceanview cabin. It was tiny. There was nowhere to sit. The bed took up most of the space. The one outlet available was positioned so that I could not use the adapter I brought to add outlets. The bathroom door would not latch nor would one closet door close. One closet had a bad odor. The window was so dirty with paint and caulk, it was depressing to look out. Plus the curtains and walls were stained. When the bed that folded out of the wall was put down, it overlapped the king size bed. A small cot was placed under that bed making it impossible to ever walk around the bed. Also making it so that one must be careful while crawling over the bed to get to the window so as to not hit the upper bed. The television was more like a small computer monitor. The bathroom and shower were good size, but the curtain would not stay attached and the water temperature was difficult to control. There is no counter space at all and very little bathroom storage. The hooks that are on the door are only about half inch so hanging items was also a challenge. The ship looked worn and numerous bathrooms on the lido deck and around the ship were not functioning. They were frequently found to be dirty and the toilets would not flush. Leaks from pipes were happening in several places. Painting was in progress throughout the cruise and the odor of paint thinner would sometimes be present in our cabin, which coupled with nausea from sea sickness, is even more unpleasant. The dining, however, really did impress me. I loved Guy's burgers and the buffet and deli were open so many hours with excellent food choices. We had anytime dining which worked out very well for us. The food was wonderful and the service was really great from a few servers. My kids used Camp Ocean and they really loved it. The camp counselors do a fantastic job and made it a point to make us feel special. Acitivities on the ship were pretty good. I wish there were more scheduled family activities and that the children's activity schedule was available on the Hub. I never made it to any shows, but I heard some were cancelled because of the amount of movement from the high swells we were experiencing for the majority of this cruise. Our cabin was cleaned one time throughout our entire trip. The beds for the children were left out throughout our sailing. I saw our steward one time on our first day. She welcomed us by telling us about the strict smoking policy. I explained that we do not smoke and hate the smell of smoke which I could smell strongly in the hallway. We were located across from a door that said "Crew Only" on it and that door was never fully closed. I believe the smoke smell was coming from there. During the night as the ship rocked significantly, the closet door would creak and the bathroom door had to be left open or it would swing open and closed. The weather was poor for most of the time which I know cannot be controlled. It probably impacted my perception of this cruise, but the ship was really in need of more refurbishment. We have decided that we will not sail with Carnival again based on this cruise. There were other things that were not great on this sailing, but I have listed the main problems. I know others on the ship were also disappointed. I consider myself pretty easy going and I don't like to complain, but this was really a bad cruise experience. Read Less

We usually go with a different cruise line but went with this trip because it was a family trip. Ship was dry docked for 2 weeks before this scheduled trip (Jan. 21st). They suffered a propulsion issue that canceled our first day be wise they couldn't get up to speed. We will be given credit for that day and were given an onboard $50 credit. They also took away Progreso port and gave us credit for port fees. Embarkation was relatively smooth despite all passengers being told to show up at the same time. Here comes my major problem with the trip. If it was dry docked and suffered this propulsion issue on the way back to Mobile, there is no way it was fixed properly because we had one of the roughest trips overnight. I had a room that looked out the back of the ship. The amount of vibrating was not normal. It could be felt all the way up to lido deck. Most passengers including my family were super sick. Vomit in hallways and on elevators. Beds sliding across the room. My kids and myself falling out of bed. Seriously scary. Water coming through the ceiling in the hallway draining into state rooms. Musty/mildew smell throughout the entire ship. The winds delayed us so much we got to our only stop late. No pools until the last day. No mini golf, waterslide only open a few hours. Ship did not feel stable despite sea being relatively calm for trip back. Maintenance crew was out and about doing things that should have been done in dry dock like painting and replacing stateroom carpet. No one ever did clean the carpet in the hallway under the leaking ceiling . After second day crew did not really care about trying to solve any problems while we were onboard. They spent their time preparing things for the next trip. This is fragmented and sort of out of order as I just got off ship this morning. The ship needs to be retired. It's not safe to be out if it's going to be tossed around like that. It obviously does not have the power or stamina to make it through a storm. Pick another ship!! Read Less

I chose Carnival because we have always had a great time, but this time with was Horrible! Words can not express how bad this was. To start we left 2 days before the cruise was to set sail because we were driving 16+ hours and wanted to make sure that if we had car trouble we would be able to make the ship on time. We had to drive though a snow storm to get there as well. The evening before our cruise was to set sail ( and we were now an hour away from Mobile) we got a call that due to a mechanical issue with the max speed they were not able to get the ship back to port on time from dry dock. Due to them being a day late they were going to cancel the stop in Progreso ( the port we wanted to go to to see the ruins) and then leave a day late. For this inconvenience we could cancel the trip with a full refund or if you wanted to still go you would get a day credit back and $50 on board credit. Well after driving for 16+ hours we decided to still go on the cruise. Big mistake! The first day the waves were so bad that the entire ship was sick including the crew. Come to find out from the crew the ship was late because of weather as well not just because of the max speed. Then we were late getting into Cozumel so our shore excursion time was bumped back to 12 instead of 10:30. We checked in at 11:45 and did not get to our destination until 12:30. The excursion was a 5 hour duration. We were told to be back at the taxi station at 3:45, but the facility closed at 3. So we came back to the ship when the facility closed. There was no reason for us to sit at the taxi station and stare at each other for 45 minutes. The pool and the higher decks were not open until Thursday (port day) and then Friday due to high winds. The night entertainment was supposed to be a sing and dance routine but because of the weather it was 4 people sitting on stage singing. On our other cruise we couldn't get the kids out of camp they were having so much fun. This time we couldn't get them to go to camp because they would get sick on the back of the boat or when they were feeling up to going all they were doing was watching movies. The food was ok. My melting cake was over cooked. The servers were there to take your order, leave your food and then they were never seen again. So you were not able to complain about the food order or get a different thing. We purchased the drink package and was not able to use it the first 2 days from being sick and when we did try to get a drink it took 20+ minutes to either wait to place your order or for the drink to be made. Staff would tell you wrong information or contradictory information to different people in our party. Times we printed wrong in the fun times. I could go on and on. When I got back home and called to voice my concerns all they told me was that they were going to look into the shore excursion and the rest they were going to keep for their records for future cruises. The took my number to call me back about the shore excursion. I called back 6 hours later to find out that the ships excursion director did email them back and said that the excursion went as planed pick up at 12 back to the ship at 5:30. I said that was not the way it happened and that I have a picture of the itinerary and the hours of the facility and they do not match. The gentleman I spoke with home the phone refused to transfer me to his supervisor and that his word was final. I will never recommend or go on another Carnival Cruise. Read Less

Pre-Cruise: Flew in the morning of embarkation. IAD to MOB (layover in Houston) Transfer to the Port. No issues. The transfer service was fantastic. The driver was fun and helpful. While I had turned on notifications because I was on a plane I didn’t see the messages about being delayed (fog) until I landed in MOB. They asked everyone to show up about 2 hours later than assigned. It worked out well because we had to sit for about 30 minutes on the runway at IAH. Embarkation: I had the boarding pass pulled up on my phone and was told no you need the paper copy. Luckily I print out everything! I had priority boarding as a suite perk. It took roughly 20 minutes from drop-off to stepping onto the ship. I set up my sail & sign account as “CASH”. I had $50 in OBC and added $0 to it. She seemed reluctant but I told her I didn’t plan to buy anything. My room was ready as soon as I boarded. However, luggage didn’t arrive until after sail away. I think that was due to the fog delay. Stateroom: Loved my cabin and there will pics and details in the Cabin thread. Junior Suite - V1. Service: Wonderful service from our stewards and wait staff. I didn’t see my steward often but the room was always tidy and my towels always replenished. I LOVED my dinner servers. Jorge, Sedana and Matilda were A+. Bartenders and bar servers were also pleasant and fun. Cozumel - It rained our whole first day. I was excited to see sun! Up and off early. I spent most of the day at Nachi Cocom Beach Club. I booked this outside of Carnival. They handed me a glass of prosecco and showed me to a lounger under a palapa. I laid there for about 45 minutes. I then headed to the pool/spa area. It was fun. The one thing I’d mention is that the food is not all you can eat as it would appear on the website. Adults receive one appetizer, one soup/salad, one entrée and one dessert. Children get 3 items. I don’t eat that much and didn’t care. Others seemed very upset by this. I got a chicken quesadilla that was very good. Drinks were good. Wait staff was not around much. Had to go to the bar to get most of my beverages. Food: I like GOOOOD food. I consider Ruth Chris a good steak not a great steak. I was expecting a solid three based on reviews (scale 1-5). That is what I got. I am not unhappy with the buffet or the MDR. I ordered Flat Iron steak the first night. It wasn’t seasoned and was very chewy. I didn’t eat but two bites. The canneloni and the Beef Tenderloin from the last evening were amazing! One night they had a meatball appetizer. There was a veal parmesan entrée. I asked for the meatballs on the pasta instead of the veal. That was yummy. The service was always good! Drink selection (mostly red wine and Bourbon) I found to be fantastic. I drank a lot of Woodford and Layer Cake Pinot Noir. I never got a burger at Guys (the line was always long). The Blue Iguana is good! Of Note: There are things that I have always considered common courtesy, if not rules. I saw people eating the cheese cubes off the salad bar with their fingers (GROSS). I also saw people refilling plates and cups at the buffet. The two hot tubs on the Lido deck were mostly overrun with children. At one point there were 15 kids in the covered one and they couldn’t even move it was so crowded. WHY? I did not get in the pool or hot tubs because RARELY did I see these children, or the adults, get out to use the restroom. I saw people going into the restrooms on the pool deck WITHOUT SHOES ON! While almost everyone dressed up on elegant night, they allowed men in jeans (not nice fancy ones or “church jeans” but old ratty blue jeans) and ball hats into the Jubilee Dining Room (I had late seating and ate there each night). They also allowed a young woman in black tight athletic pants, a t-shirt that was printed like an athletic jersey and a fanny pack into dinner on elegant night. Disembarkation: I was up at 6:45am. I did walk-off. I had priority debarkation, went to the Universal Lounge, got an elevator to the gangway deck and was on the shuttle by 7:30. I had a credit of $4.72 (left for St. Jude's) on my final bill the rest of the $50 was used for tips to bartenders. I tip my room steward in cash and in person. Final Thoughts: The woman in the piano bar, Laura, was amazing. Unfortunately, she was leaving the ship after this trip. The cruise director, Marty, was great! The ship is headed to dry dock. I think a spiffing up is needed but I loved the Fantasy and the size of the ship. Read Less

We had a great time traveling to Cozumel on the Fantasy. It rained the first day out but boarding was quick and well organized. The ship is older but well maintained. The staff was amazing and how they all remember everyone's name I will never understand. There were nearly 3000 people on-board but we never felt crowded. Cozumel was fun. We did the snorkel and Aztec ruins tour. The lunch was excellent. I Kadek was our stateroom steward and our rooms were always in perfect shape when we returned. The meals were amazing. Served in courses that didn't seem all that big but when we were done we were full. The waiters at dinner were very attentive and entertaining. Yuri, Suku and Sudarmanto kept us laughing. They performed and danced while we ate on 2 occasions. We had a great time and will be back again to check out some of the islands I hope. Read Less

We chose the carnival fantasy simply because we saw good reviews on how it was a family style ship. To be honest, it was my first cruise but not my husband or daughters first cruise. Going off their previous experience, food was honestly mediocre. Very similar to Golden Coral, (if you like that kind of food then you’ll be satisfied. There wasn’t a big variety of things to have, such as for dinner it was the same food almost every night. We were expecting great food, we were hoping to at least have good quality food. The crew members were top notch, very friendly, kind and informative! The ship was very out of date, and not kept up well. The tube where the water comes out on the drink dispensers were brown/moldy. Not sure if there is even such thing as a health inspector on this cruise line. The ceiling was leaking in the food area and so there were buckets out catching the water while we all ate, not to mention the water dripping on my neck behind me that started. Next disappointment was when docking in new locations, the process is easy getting on and off, it just sucks that we don’t have much time doing the activity we paid so much money for. I hate to leave a semi “bad review” but I want people to be aware of the small things that matter when boarding a cruise ship with their families. This was more on the less expensive side when we booked, so I guess you get what you pay for. For the rest of my family, this was their first cruise and this cruise kind of let them down and possibly wouldn’t cruise again because of this “bad” experience. Unfortunately I can’t upload pics using my cellphone but trust me I have them all! Read Less

This was most definitely not our first cruise, in fact, I turned platinum on this cruise, and DH will turn platinum in April. But last year after a great cruise in December to the Bahamas, I said to my DH, I really miss true Mexican food, so when we got home from dinner, we went on line and booked the Fantasy. We had cruised to Mexico from New Orleans, but we wanted to try sailing from Mobile, as we had never been to Mobile. We drove from Atlanta to Saraland, where we had booked the Microtel. A small hotel chain owned by Wyndom (sp) hotels. We had the park and cruise option, which was fantastic, our room was a mini suite, with a partition between the bedroom (a queen) and a living room, and the window actually opened, and we listened to the rain that night. We had dinner at the Oyster restaurant right next door. The next morning, we got up, went downstairs to our breakfast, repacked, and were on the van at 11:30 to our cruise! The Fantasy is not new, in fact right now it is the oldest ship in the fleet, but our cabin- R4, a porthole cabin, was huge. Considering all that there was to do on the cruise, we didn't spend much time there. But if you are looking for space, for the least amount of money, the front Riviera porthole cabins are spacious. Embarking, really, was a long line, with a long walk up to the Empress deck of the ship. Platinum or not, it really made no difference. Your sail and sign cards are at your cabin, so while DH was having some health issues, I went down, dropped off our bit of carry on, picked up the cards, went back up, got him and went to the Casino bar, where you can smoke even if the ship is refueling. The rest of the time, smoking is at the bar, which gets crowded or up on the Verandah deck. What made this cruise special is that we booked some easy excursions that I thought DH could do (his health is not good) and Carnival really got the excursions right! In Progresso we did the Discover the Mayan World, and we saw all that we wanted plus more. A nice bus, a great driver and tour guide (Arturo) and we saw the salt flats with the pink water, the flamingoes that winter there, the Xcambo ruins-pronounced eshcampo- a church in a truly Mayan town, and a great lunch spot on the beach. In Cozumel, we did Discover Mexico, which is basically an art and history museum, and saw the Paplanta (sp) flyers. Trust me, you will not witness this just every day of your life. So, the excursions were great, the dining room staff for ATD that we had, Divina and crew were great, the food was good, and in fact, we never even ate pizza this time, we actually enjoyed all that we tried. DH's highlight was winning the Ugly Christmas Sweater Contest ( I have no idea why I even compete against him) and my highlight was being able to share information about the arts in Atlanta to the group at the Veteran's program meeting. (DH was Air Force). Cruising is what you make it, yes I can tell you it's an old ship, and there is rust. But who cares, if floats, it provides entertainment, and it a fun time or quiet time depending on what you need. The only downside was disembarking-here I was thinking, well I am platinum (serves me right) and we got the wrong memo, we were in the wrong place, and we almost didn't get any special service until I went down stairs and figured out what was wrong. There was a lot of lack of communication on this cruise, but we had a good time, we got off OK and we got picked up by the very sweet group at Microtel, drove back to Atlanta, and got home, by 5. p.m.. Would I do it again, you betcha-going in April. Oh, one thing I forgot to mention, and it's a ladies room thing-they changed the locks on all the public stalls in the ladies room, to cheap breakable plastic locks, that are impossible to use, if it ain't broke why fix it? Well they changed it, and most people had terrible times trying to get out of the stalls. Just a heads up. Read Less