Carnival Fascination Review
Mediocre ship, but great Southern Caribbean itinerary
Rating by category
Additional details
we booked this cruise at the last minute, about 2 and a half weeks before sailing, and booked a Veranda junior suite with obstructed view. The balcony is much smaller than the newer balconies that were added on lower decks. The obstructed view was not a problem, the view was still great! The ship itself is an early 90s ship, and as such does not have the amenities on board that newer ships have. The ship also just came out of its several month renovation a week before our cruise - and thus there were still a lot of workers on board working to finish renovations. There were also plumbing problems - a plumber spent 45 minutes one evening replacing parts that broke behind our toilet. And the AC in V27 was not good. The first day an engineer was up in our air conditioner for at least an hour, but never got it working quite right (the cabin gets VERY humid, and has a hard time keeping it cool). One afternoon we had to prop open the balcony door to suck cool air from the hallway into the room to cool it off. And the so called "suites" on the veranda deck are small. I was expecting it to be larger (really an outside cabin size with a balcony).
The only restaurants really are the buffet and the main dining rooms. The food started off repetitive for the first three days, but then I think the new head chef finally started making changes and by the end of the cruise the selections on the buffet were much better. There is no steakhouse, but for an extra fee you can select some "high quality" steakhouse items off the dinner menu. We had a voucher from the casino so we tried it one night at no charge. I was, however, not impressed. The New York strip steak was tough, and the surf and turf was exactly the same as the surf and turf that was available at no charge on the regular dinner menu the night before. There is a "sushi bar", but it is really a small stand, with only 4 types of very common rolls, nothing outstanding here. No bar to sit at, but some tables nearby. If you dine in the Sensation dining room, ask for Donche to be your waiter (yes, you can ask for a specific waiter) - he is fantastic! Other waiters were not as good.
The shows in the theater were good, although sometimes hard to see if you are sitting off to either side. The comedians in the comedy club were really good!
Cabin Review
Junior Suite (obstructed views)
The balcony is much smaller than the newer balconies that were added on lower decks. The obstructed view was not a problem, the view was still great! There were plumbing problems - a plumber spent 45 minutes one evening replacing parts that broke behind our toilet. And the AC in V27 was not good. The first day an engineer was up in our air conditioner for at least an hour, but never got it working quite right (the cabin gets VERY humid, and has a hard time keeping it cool). One afternoon we had to prop open the balcony door to suck cool air from the hallway into the room to cool it off. And the so called "suites" on the veranda deck are small. I was expecting it to be larger (really an outside cabin size with a balcony). It was actually cramped quarters for the 3 people we had in the cabin.
Port Reviews
San Juan
We didn't do an excursion, but came in a day early and stayed at Ciqala luxury suites that night. Fantastic rooftop bar and restaurant, and the rooms are huge! Not on the beach, but close to shopping and restaurants 2 blocks away. Newly renovated after the hurricane, I really recommend it.
St. Thomas
We have been here several times before, so we just went shopping.
Barbados
Caught a cab to downtown, wandered for 20 minutes or so. Not very exciting. Took a cab to Mt. Gay rum factory and did the rum tasting! I recommend doing that.