This was our 3rd time in 4 years on the Fascination out of Jacksonville and our 5 cruise out of Jacksonville. This was my 26th cruise and my wife's 19th cruise. To us, it is the perfect size ship - not too big and not too small. The food is very good (We think Carnival has the best food of all the lines we've taken.). Based on the size of the ship, there are no specialty dining restaurants, which is fine with us, but we do miss the new 2.0 bars. I can't see paying $35-60/pp to eat in a specialty dining room when the main dining room serves such a good variety. We love the Mongolian Wok, by the pool. great for an afternoon snack, but expect a long wait at lunch. If you're hungry in between meals or late night, the Paninni's at the Deli (which serves mid-morning to late night) and the 24-hour pizza station are great! The pool area is large enough to accommodate. We never feel cramped. While Serenity, the adult-only deck on the back of the ship, is small, it also never seems to be at over-capacity. The new 2.0 shows are very good and the comedians in the Comedy Club are entertaining. Carnival re-runs the shows and comedians on other days, in case you missed it when it premiered. Recommendation: Don't try to make all the shows and comedians on the 2nd night, or you will end up with nothing but repeats to watch on the 4th night.

I have a few gripes, though. We are Platinum Guests on Carnival, so there are supposed to be additional "perks" for the number of times we've cruised with Carnival.

1. We get Priority Embarkation which used to get on the ship in 5-10 minutes, priority debarkation and priority tender access. Now that they offer "Faster to the Fun", for $49.95 per cabin, anyone can get these priority privileges. These are supposed to be in limited; however they must sell a large number because it took us longer to get on the ship than the people in the regular line! Read more