Having sailed one of the Fascination's sister ships, the Sensation, I could appreciate the excellent job Carnival has done with revamping this ship. I was a little apprehensive about my cabin, a 1A on the Riviera deck that I booked as an inside guarantee. Initially I thought I may be spending 5 days in a cabin the size of a broom closet, but my fears were unfounded. The 1As on this ship are great little cabins, especially for 1 person. The cabin layout is an "L" shape, with ample drawer and closet space. There's a single bed and an upper bunk that can be folded down from the wall for a 2nd passenger, with the ladder stowed in the closet. Since the cabin has a single bed as opposed to a queen, there's a lot of walking around room. I never felt closed in or cramped.

The set of stairs that led one deck down to the gangway where we disembarked at ports was just a few steps from my cabin. This made getting on and off the ship in Key West and Nassau easy and convenient.

The passenger mix ranged from hip hop to hip replacement, with the majority coming from the Southeast. According to the cruise director, there were 300 children onboard. This was kind of surprising, since school is back in session the first week of January in most places. Camp Carnival must have kept them busy, because there never seemed to be that many children in the public areas of the ship. Read more