Carnival Fascination Review
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So.... I literally just walked in the door and wanted to sit down to write this while everything was fresh in my mind. I sailed out of Jacksonville, FL on February 8th for a 5 day cruise stopping in Nassau and also Half Moon Cay. I went with my fiance'. This was her first cruise and my second.
I was a bit late buying my tickets for this cruise. I made my purchase about 3 weeks before the cruise and there were only a handful of rooms left at the price I was looking for. I also purchased 3 excursions. I purchased the See and Sea tour in Nassau, the Snorkeling by Boat in Half Moon Cay, and the Faster to the Fun pass from Jacksonville (even though it's not an excursion, it is sold as one on the web site). If you can get the Faster to the Fun, absolutely get it. They treat you like a VIP and you get to the front of the line for leaving the boat or getting on the boat. More on that later. I also purchased the Bottomless Bubbles card for my fiance'. She drinks Coca-cola like her life depends on it and soda on the cruise is not free and a bit expensive and this card allows for your sodas free (up to 15 a day) and was well worth the money. The only limitation was that it only worked at a bar or in the main dining rooms, not room service.
I purchased an interior room on the Empress deck (Deck 7). I was happy with that because I originally was looking at an interior room on the Riviera deck (deck 4) but had a free upgrade. A day before the cruise, I was called by the sales office of Carnival and informed that I could upgrade to one of the Grand Suites for about $350 total including taxes and fees. It was a bit more that what I wanted to spend on a room so I asked if they could work on the price for me. I guess I was in the mood to haggle a bit. They said they did have one normal balcony stateroom that they could upgrade me to for about $150. I jumped on it. We spent most of the cruise on our balcony enjoying the sunrises and sunsets and the warm ocean breezes. The extra cost was more than worth it. If you get a chance to get a room with a balcony, do it!