We knew going in the Fascination is an old boat, but it has a great itinerary and only one day at sea so we went ahead and booked. Overall we were more impressed than we expected. We were a party of 5, two parents and teenagers aged 19, 18, and 14.

The cabins are very clean and look updated, no wear and tear to be seen (and we were on the Riviera, so bottom deck). Beds and pillows are comfortable. Bathrooms were also very clean. There is a hair dryer in all of the rooms (online information said there was not). Plenty of closet space, but the safe is not large enough for a laptop. We had no issues with anything missing from our room. There's only one standard outlet in the room and one in the bathroom (the kids struggled for charge time!). Our room steward was attentive and friendly.

Around the ship you could see a little more wear here and there, but overall not much. The public bathrooms were all clean and look recently updated. The decor is a bit out of date, but didn't detract from a good cruise experience. The ship was full, but we had no trouble finding a pool chair on the sea day (or in the late afternoons) and other than the buffet you didn't really feel too crowded. Getting on and off the ship at the ports was very easy and organized. The ports are great. We did the social WiFi for the kids and the basic WiFi for my husband and they worked fine with the exception of one day. Read more