Carnival Fascination Review
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We planned a family cruise for our 5 adult children, their two spouses and a girlfriend, so their were 10 of us. My wife wanted to make sure our kids had a chance to experience the Southern Caribbean. We booked in November. Frankly, several of the other reviews scared us. Our experience was very different! This was our 9th cruise, 5 on Carnival and 4 on Royal Caribbean. The Fascination is a older, smaller ship. But it's been updated nicely; the interior, the common areas, the water works and the serenity area. With 5 ports and one sea day there was plenty to do. The mega-ships do have a few more amenities (specialty restaurants, more hot tubs, hammocks, etc.) But there we few crowds or lines. The line for the pizza, sandwiches and debarkation were about the one ones we encountered. Embarkation was quick easy and upbeat. Cruise was off to a great start.
We had 6 rooms, all on the Upper Deck. 5 had a window (Fascination has few balconies) and my wife and I had an Aft-Balcony room. We always try for a Aft-Balcony, we like the view. The rooms were nice, bathrooms were a bit tight. The room steward service was quick and neat. Room service was very, very quick. The room service menu is limited and there are a few hot items that cost a bit extra.
The Dining room food was very good, not awesome. A few items were hit and miss, but most were tasty and with an good variety. Some reviews said Carnival doesn't have a lobster night, but they do, a few of our party had more than one. Desserts were very good. We like the late seating. We tried to do breakfast in the dining room when the excursion timing.
Cabin Review
Aft-View Extended Balcony
Nice room, new fixtures. The bed was extra, extra comfortable. The bathroom is a bit tight but functional. An over the door shoe holder is a good idea for keeping all your toiletries and makeup from cluttering up the sink. Shower was warm and a strong stream. When we cruise, we like to be off the grid, so we don't turn on the tv, but if you are a tv-head, the tv might be a bit small. The balcony was an aft balcony, room for 3 chairs and a small table. Nice for early morning breakfast and watching as we sailed away from each island. Our room was consistently cool, which we like.
Port Reviews
San Juan
We came in Saturday, through AirBnB stayed in a nice house near the beach. The host, Levi was attentive and it worked nicely. We used Francisco at Puerto Rico Shuttle Van Services to pick us up at the airport to the house. From the house to the port and again at the port back to SJU. Very reasonable and prompt.
St. Thomas
We do our own thing, taking a taxi to Red Hook ($7pp) and then taking the Ferry to St. John's ($6pp each way) and then a taxi to Trunk Bay or Cinnamon beach. We did Trunk this time, because it has a nice snorkel trail. The taxi came back for us at Red Hook and took us the long way back to the port so we could see some INCREDIBLE sites from high on St. Thomas! Taxi is the Orange Blossom Special lincolnjules@hotmail.com will hook you up.