This was the maiden voyage for the Fantasy out of Mobile, AL, first time since 2011. They have a lot to learn about organization at the terminal, getting people checked in. I'm going again in January 2017 on the same trip, unfortunately, so I'll see how or if they've improved. My fingers are crossed. I did try to change to a ship going out of New Orleans at the same time, but I would have had to pay $429 in penalties.

1) If you're not a smoker, prepare to be one on this ship. They don't enforce the smoking areas. People smoke on all sides of the ship outside, and even in the hallways. I could smell smoke in my room sometimes, so somebody close by must have been smoking. Trivia is held in a lounge area right outside the casino and they even have a section at the bar there for smokers, but plenty of smokers walked around with their cigarettes and nobody told them otherwise. That whole back side of the ship wreaks of cigarette smoke. There was even a guy down at the pool smoking a cigar.

2) They have Coney Island hard root beer offered on all the bar menus, but nobody has it. One bartender told me that they don't have it because the expiration date is always so close, and they can't sell enough of it, and end up throwing it away. What? Not sure where that story came from, because they carry it on the Triumph and the Dream. Read more