It was one of the best cruises of my life. Crew were very courteous, friendly, and helpful. Ship was clean and the food was better than the last few cruises. The big problem was with the bathroom. The step up into the bathroom was the problem. The step was too high. I can not do stairs. It hurt every time I stepped up into it. Next time I will bring an extra small step to make it easier. Then when it was time to go home, I was told to be in the theater at 7:15 I The morning as I was group 1. At 8:30 they did not know about wheel chairs to get off the ship. Some people did not make their plane. Finally the wheel chairs showed up. The guy who helped me out, had never pushed any one in a wheelchair. I slipped and fell. No big deal. Finally got off. Beauty and Ruth in the casino were very helpful and friendly. The lady who cleaned our room was exceptional. With out asking she cleaned the room twice a day and refilled the cooler with ice, that I brought. I have 10 more cruises booked with Carnival. This ship was just not handicapped friendly with the friendlyest crew. I really enjoyed my self. Read Less

I chose this cruise because of the itinerary. i was celebrating a milestone birthday. The entertainment was great and the crew was very friendly and willing to help at all times. The cabins were clean and the dining room staff were also excellent 10+ service. The Ports of call were also excellent. We did island tours on all islands except Barbados where I visited family for the day and went to the beach. We had booked my time dining in the Sensation dining room which I enjoyed very much. I was pleasantly surprised when they sang happy birthday to me with a cake. I was not expecting this. This was my second cruise with Carnival and they did not disappoint. Just to mention one more thing you can't beat the price. I will try another cruise line in the near future to compare the differences but for now Carnival is my choice for a cruise line. Read Less

this was our 7th cruise with carnival. we picked this cruise for the ports. get on and off the ship was super fast we had faster to the fun. its a small ship but we been on other small ships before. we where shocked that there where no mini frige in the cabins. room was nice size bathroom had very little shelves space. at night it sounded like some one was vacuuming the floor above us. the buffet food was the worst we ever ate. also the main dining room food was just as bad as the buffet the steak was the worst cooked steak I ever ate.i left most on the plate. I had better food at old country buffet. there was very little entertainment other ships always had games going on this had some trival but that was about it. gym was nice very clean machines worked well. most workers where very pleasant and seemed to enjoy there jobs. I think carnival food is the worst in the industry. Read Less

This cruise was chosen by a friend and a total of 14 us went and had the great time. The Stateroom steward were one of best I have ever seen in doing everything in your room for you and if there is anything extra you needed he was there to help and get for you. Dining was also one of the best that I have encountered. He knew your name when you sat down and was the best services. Everyone on the ship was friendly and very professional, entertainment and activities were well planed out for everyone. Yes I would go again. I would like to give a shout out to my Stateroom Steward Angel. The Best on the ship and with excellence personally and the best in his field Also to our waiter Nonilon, Edgar, Bria. great service, friendly and also knew just what we needed. Thank you Angel Stateroom Steward Waiters & waitress Nonilon, Edgar, Bria Read Less

I cant say enough wonderful things about this ship, and all the staff. The boat is smaller and we enjoyed that. The ports were amazing! The staff was amazing, learned our names and knew what we enjoyed and treated us like family. Marcelo, the cruise director was hilarious best cruise director. Aretha now that lady is hilarious, she is perfect for comedy host! Loved her. Only complaint, was lido food everyday was so dry, thank goodness for guys, blue iguana and the MDR cause lido is very disappointing. Food doesnt stop me from cruising, we r gonna rebook this cruise again. Love it!! I also have to say, the price for pictures could be dropped, down to maybe 10.00...15 is extreme. The shore excursions are wonderful, we really enjoyed them all. We loved the comedy club and tried not to miss a show. Mark Simmons was hilarious. I think yall should do 2 nights or more of the love and marry show, that is by far the funniest show ever! Read Less

I had wanted to visit the Caribbean Islands for the last 30+ years and thought a cruise would be an ideal way as we would have evening entertainment. The holiday included a 3 night stay in Barbados at the Savannah Hotel, where the staff were very accommodating. When I was sold my dream holiday by Virgin Holiday Cruises, it sounded fantastic and I took my 2 sons with me. My dreams were soon crushed. I had been told that the liner had been completely refurbished, it wasn't. They may have improved the main areas, but not a lot of the cabins. We were allocated a restaurant for our evening meal, it had set menu's. I can't eat spicy foods and don't eat foods covered in sauces, so asked for food without the sauce and spice that the staff didn't always understand because of a language barrier. They tried, but 5 out of 7 nights I had raw vegetables that were inedible and had a charred pork chop that was replaced and arrived some 40 minutes later when my sons finished their meals. My sons managed to find things to eat and tried some of the unusual foods on offer that were lukewarm. Entertainment was not what we expected as shows were repeated, what little there was of them to see that we were all disappointed. A short 45 minute musical show on offer most nights nights that was repeated later and again on our return trip wasn't that great. Comedy was a bit hit and miss, like the singers in some sections. The majority of staff were pleasant and tried their best to make our trip enjoyable, but other members of staff were down-right rude and condescending. Trips on offer on the cruise were overpriced by at least a third than on offer outside with alcohol drinks starting at about $11 each, so little alcohol was consumed especially when you had to add an extra 15% as a tip even if you got it from the bar yourself. On the 2nd day of our trip, it was unfortunate that someone died, at least 3 times a medic was called over the speaker system with no mention of it being a emergency. My condolences to the man's family. Over all, it was a very disappointing holiday and I wouldn't recommend. Read Less

We choose this cruise because we like to see new places. We’re not the type to sit on the boat all day! We visited 6 s different islands and that part was awesome! This was our third Carnival cruise and I was a little disappointed this time. It seems the rooms are getting smaller. We had a bunk bed above our head(folded up into the wall and also one at the end of the bed. (My husband is over six foot tall, so if he raised up during the night, he hit his head on the small part (about 8-10 inches) that came out from the wall. Our Steward was awesome though! His name was I Putu! He was so nice, our room was always clean, he just added extra special touches! He’s an awesome person and worker! Almost everyone was really nice! The buffet didn’t impress me. The workers weren’t very friendly and efficient . One time I waited 10 minutes to get ham! Then still didn’t get it! I along with about 20 others waiting we’re disgusted! They weren’t very fast replacing empty food bowls! Now the dining room was very nice and so were our waiters! I wish I could remember their names! Good food, nice selection. Entertainment was pretty good. Jason at the piano bar was great! The cruise director, Marcelo Marshmellow was awesome! Good fun! Read Less

We planned this cruise to celebrate our 30th Anniversary this year but due to work, we had to go in October, about a month late. We flew down 2 days early with Southwest Airlines leaving out of Tampa (Great service as usual!) to PR. We took a taxi from the airport (no Uber allowed) and shared with 2 other couples we met at the baggage pick up to the Sheraton Old San Juan. We loved the location and had a nice room as well! We explored Old San Juan Friday evening and some Saturday until it started raining around 1pm and didn't stop. We dashed from our hotel to Senor' Frogs for dinner and I have to say, I was surprised how good the food was. We had a few drinks and then headed back to the hotel to relax. I got up early and we saw our ship sail in around 6:15am. We were awake so we went ahead and got up, showered and dressed. We had friends getting off the ship and decided to see if we could catch them on their way out, we did too!! It was great to chat before they had to hurry to the airport. We had breakfast at a little cafe near the waterfront with fresh pastries and coffee. We did some walking along the waterfront to the vendor area for a few gifts to take home. We were scheduled to check in at 1pm but both of us are Platinum so we decided to head over around noon (had a late check out too). We literally walked over to the port with our suitcases and the porter took them as we entered the security area. Not pushy for tips, but we did tip! We walked right in and there was not wait at all. We checked in, got our S&S cards then boarded the ship. You do enter on Deck 3 and take the elevator up to the Lido. We dropped our carryon off then grabbed lunch. We decided since we had explored the last two days, we were staying on board. We actually took a nap then got ready for dinner. The 1st night is open seating from 5;30pm to 7:30pm so that everyone is done for the lifeboat drill at 8:30pm. We were in Muster A which was the show lounge. It took a little longer as it was done in English and Spanish but at 9pm we were leaving San Juan. We Went to the Welcome Aboard show and enjoyed it. We played in the casino some and then headed off to bed. Monday was St. Thomas. We didn't plan anything here because we have been there so many times. We had breakfast all mornings in the Dining Room which was great! We got off the ship around 10am and just walked around the shops picking up a few gifts. We decided to have lunch at the BBQ restaurant we remember smelling so much from our last cruise to St. Thomas. It was the Smoking Rooster. The BBQ was GREAT!! We shared a combo plate with two meats and sides and each had a drink and our bill was around $40.00. Well worth it. We went back to the ship and took a nap (see the pattern, lol) then got up for dinner. We went to the Comedy Club with Manny Olivera and laughed so much we had tears rolling down our face. We discovered the Piano bar with one of the best Piano players that could actually sing as well! Jason Moore was FANTASTIC!!! We went there several nights enjoying his playing and had a great time! Tuesday was our sea day and we enjoyed relaxing and playing in the casino too. It was formal night so after we took our nap (lol) we got ready for dinner. We had YTD and will not do that again. We had a wait almost every time we went to dinner. This meal took almost 2 hours and we didn't even get dessert or coffee. After dinner we did a little gambling and caught another comedy show with Jason Andors who was also funny. We went back to the Piano bar and enjoyed more music before calling it an early night since we had a tour planned for the next morning. We didn't go to any of the production shows since we have seen all of them on this cruise before. Wednesday was Barbados. We didn't have a tour booked and when we checked, the ones we were interested in were sold out. We figured we would just hang around the port area. We ended up hiring a Taxi with another couple and did a little sightseeing. We went past Rihanna's house she was born it, St. James Church, some beach then to Highlands for a beautiful view of the area and enjoyed a Banks Beer there. After that we headed back to the port area and did some shopping at the shops there. We had a late lunch so we passed on dinner in the dining room. I was lucky and had my name drawn in the casino and won $450.00!!! This was the night for the Halloween Party. I had gotten us Mr & Mrs. Potato Head clings for shirts that came with hats. They really didn't do much. There was a deck party but we were both exhaused so we went to bed. Thursday - St. Lucia - Hubby woke up sick so we didn't get to do our tour we had planned. He spent the day in bed and I got off and just did a little shopping in the port area. This is one port I really want to see so we will just have to come back again!! Friday - St. Kitts - Hubby felt much better so we got up early and grabbed breakfast before heading off the ship. We booked the Grand Tour with Grey Tours. We were the only two that were booked so we basically had a private tour We went to Romney Manor, Brimstone Fortress, Black Beaches, saw the Volcano and went to Shipwreck Beach too. It was a wonderful tour for $55.00pp Much cheaper than any offered by Carnival! Tonight was the Platinum/DIamond party at 5:15pm so we enjoyed cocktails. We enjoyed seeing one of our favorite comedians, Happy Cole then back to the Piano Bar and Casino for the evening. Saturday - St. Maarten - Our final day! - We booked a tour with Bernards Tours. The weather was terrible but we enjoyed ourselves anyway. We had Action Jackson as our guide and went to what used to be Orient Beach and is now Bikini Beach. It's beautiful and has a really nice bar and restaurant. We got there too early for food but did enjoy a GREAT drink! We left there after about an hour and he stopped at the French Bakery for pastries. They were so good! We stopped in Marigot for shopping (very pushy people with the same crap). While there, it started raining, then pouring. We had made it to the van before it really let loose and headed to Mojo to see if the planes were landing. We decided to stay in the van (still raining) and enjoy some of Bernard's famous punch (still yummy) while the others went in the rain to see a few landings. After about 15 minutes, they came back and we headed back to the ship. We had already packed our bags in the morning so we enjoyed dinner one last time and got our pics, shopping done as well. We have to say that the food on this cruise was really lacking. It was either overdone or not tasty. Breakfast was always good and Guys Burgers/Blue Iguana Cantina were good but dinners need some work. The staff were wonderful! They went above and beyond to make sure you had anything you needed. The casino staff were great! Beauty the Casino host was a doll and worked her butt off! The waitstaff were overworked in the dining room but tried really hard. Sunday - Heading home. We pulled into port around 6:30am. We had an afternoon fight so we took our time eating one last breakfast before leaving the ship at 9am. We took a Taxi to the airport ($26.00) and were there by 9:30am. We had drinks and grabbed a few things at the airport before flying home! The airport food is extremely expensive so eat a good breakfast before leaving the ship!!! FInal Notes - This was a great trip seeing 3 new islands. Would we do this cruise again, absolutely! It would have been nice to have more food options like on the bigger ships but we didn't go hungry. The Fascination is in good shape and is a great little ship! Marcelo Alverado was our Cruise Director and a wonderful man! We had cabin M62 on the port side. It was right by the forward elevators and you could hear people all night long. If you like quiet, avoid this cabin. It was very convenient for getting off the ship or going to shows too! Sorry this is so long but wanted to cover as much as possible for all of you! Any questions, please let us know! Read Less

We chose this cruise because of the ports it visited. We traveled with two other "Senior" couples. We really enjoyed the Fascination. There was never any long waits for anything. The food was great, we dined in the dining room every night and most of the breakfasts. Our dining team of Dennis/Andi/Martinus did an excellent job! Our Cabin Steward, Sherwin, also was very attentive and professional. There was only two negatives that occurred during this cruise. On the second evening when we went to our early dinner sitting at 6:00, we were seated at a table set for 12. (I had emailed a request the week before for a table of 6.) The table should not have been set for more than 10 people (the other tables surrounding us of the same size only had 10). We could barely move in the cramped seating. At the end of the meal, the other group of 6 asked to be relocated because of the uncomfortable seating. The rest of the week, we were the only group at the table, but they continued to set it for 12, so it was still cramped. The last day we finally pulled away a chair ourselves in order to get some space. The other negative was having our excursion for St. Maarten on Saturday cancelled the day before. We didn't find out about the cancellation until we returned to the ship from our tour of St. Kitts. The shore excursion desk was only opened from 5-7 that evening and we didn't get a chance to book another excursion. We did, however, decide to find one of our own on the island and had a great day at half the cost of our cancelled outing! None of us are big on beach days, so we enjoyed land tours on each of the islands: Monday - St. Thomas - We did a tour with Sunny Liston tours. We had a blast! We used Sunny Liston about 12 years ago and decided to use him again with our friends. Tuesday - Dominica - We hired a taxi at the port driven by "Shyman" James for $30 pp. It was for just the 6 of us. He did a great job showing off his island to us. There is still much damage to the island, but James provided a lot of info regarding the island and how far they have come. Wednesday - Barbados - We hired a taxi at the port driven by Raoull (sp?) with green shoes! Again, for about $25 pp, we were given a private tour across Barbados. He did a great job and we paced ourselves as we wanted. Thursday - St. Lucia - We hired Fabian Tours to take just our group on an Island Tour. Fabian was very professional and takes a lot of pride in his island. Again...a great day! Friday - St. Kitts - We took a Carnival tour, Top 10 of St. Kitts. It was a good tour, with the highlight being the Brimstone Fort. Saturday - St. Martin - We hired a taxi at the port for $30 pp to take just the 6 of us on a land tour. Even in the rain, Corbie did a great job showing us the island. It was amazing to see how much damage St. Martin had from the hurricane and how far they have come. Overall, we had a fantastic cruise and would recommend this itinerary to anyone who enjoys seeing a variety of ports! Read Less

We chose this cruise for the great deal we found. The full itinerary didn't disappoint! Check out how we saved money on the San Juan board. San Juan - As we expected, San Juan is back to normal and folks from the US shouldn't hesitate to visit. Taxis from the airport are still expensive as Uber still can't pick you up there (only dropoffs). Embarkation was pretty easy except the escalators weren't working forcing most to check their bags. Room was ready when we got on board about 2:30 pm. Dinner was almost cut short by safety briefing. Debarkation was super easy as we carried off our luggage. Rented a car from Charlies and enjoyed the Isla Verde beach before flying out in the afternoon. St. Thomas - We love Lindqvist beach and it wasn't harmed by the hurricanes. We rented a car from Avis (not for everyone). Barbados - Browne's beach was even more beautiful than I remembered. Swam from shore (with life vests) to snorkel a shipwreck and see turtles. St. Lucia - Rain in the morning brought beautiful rainbows. We walked (not for everyone) to Vigie Beach and enjoyed it. St. Kitts - First time there. We taxied to Carambola and enjoyed the beach. Another beautiful island (the itinerary is full of them). St. Maarten - Did the Big 3 Rainforest Adventures excursion and had a blast! Beautiful views, lots of adrenaline replaced some fears! Spent some time at Great Bay Beach and that area has recovered nicely from the hurricanes. Still rebuilding in many areas. Landfill is burning again (or still burning?). It was not a problem and we didn't experience even a smell at the beach or the excursion. Steward - He was good. He's more of an "I got this" kind of guy than "What can I do for you?". I prefer the latter, but he did a good job. Food - I continue to see cutbacks in the size and quality of proteins. However the main dining room food is still adequate (especially since you can order extra) and tasty. The lobster tail was small but the best we've ever had. The prime rib was just okay both times. The tiramisu is AWESOME, but they only offer it the first night and we almost got there too late as they were closing for the safety briefing. I'm not sure why they call it Nutella Tiramisu as I don't taste Nutella at all, just the best tiramisu ever. I tried to get more on the buffet, but what they have on the buffet is nothing like the main dining room. We tried the buffet one night and decided to stick to the main dining room where the quality and selection is better. We were disappointed by Guy's Burgers. The fries were still great. We tried it 3 times and each time the quality was not the usual Guy's. I did eat at the Blue Iguana for lunch and breakfast and it was better than I remembered on other ships. I wish they offered Guy's BBQ on the Fascination. Service – Main Dining Room service was slow. The worst night was the second formal night. By the time we got in line at 7:30, the line was very long and they gave us a pager. I think the wait was about 25 min. We then spent more than 90 minutes at dinner which is too long. Our waiter seemed flustered and was consistently bringing steak knives around about 5-10 minutes after delivering the entrée. My wife and I shared a knife while I watched another lady struggle with her dinner knife. The “Shooowwwwttttiiimmeeee” is really drawn out as the restaurant manager really gets into it. While it put a smile on our faces, it’s frustrating to pause dinner when you’ve been there for so long already. Personally “Showtime” could be done on the final night only and I would be fine with it. I think the waiters are tired of it as well, but maybe they were just tired. The other thing we noticed was that other than the first night the waiters didn’t introduce themselves and there are no longer cards with their names on the tables. I can only remember 1 waiter’s name “Yan” and that’s because he served us twice and did a professional job. Entertainment – We thought Marcello our Cruise Director was pretty good. Not the best, but professional and an improvement over our last couple Carnival cruises. I think the entertainment singers and dancers were the best we’ve ever seen on a cruise ship. They were talented and seemed to enjoy what they were doing. There were 4 guys and 4 gals and actually the guys were stronger than the ladies. They did a muted performance for the Divas show because of “strong seas”. While we were avoiding Tropical Storm Kirk, there wasn’t a lot of movement and we’ve seen shows continue in stronger seas. We really enjoy the Punchliner Comedy Club and it’s one of the reasons we keep returning to Carnival. This cruise had 5 shows (2 family friendly) per night and then 2 nights back to back with no comedy and had a juggler the one night instead. We enjoyed the juggler, but I liked the old format (1 night off and 4 shows a night). We liked Happy Cole the best (good material, connected with the crowd), followed by Jamie Lissow (clever and quick wit), Lucas Bohn was okay and Jimmy Della Valle was not our favorite. To be honest the comedy club director seems like a good guy but really added nothing to the show. Ship – There’s been a lot made about the age of this ship. I have been avoiding these smaller, old ships on Carnival. However, I found the Fascination to be comparable to the other Carnival ships in the fleet and I liked the shorter lines. We enjoyed the water slide and serenity now deck. We found the 4 ice cream cone dispensers to be completely empty on more than 1 occasion, but overall the service was good and the bar staff didn’t hound us to try the drink specials. If the casino was smoke free, we probably would have tried it. You could also smell smoke in the hallways near the balcony staterooms. Read Less