Pro's and Con's
Carnival Fantasy Cruise Review to Caribbean - Eastern
7 Night Eastern Caribbean (Charleston Roundtrip)
Sail date: June 20, 2015
Ship: Carnival Fantasy
Cabin type: Inside
Cabin number: R151
Traveled as: Family (older children)
Reviewed: 9 years ago
Review summary
The cruise was a success, my granddaughter thoroughly enjoyed her first cruise. Kathy Patterson did a fine job at Cruise's Only. The ship and the ports were safe and clean. The staff and crew were all top notch in all categories. The current port terminal at Charleston had a difficult time processing the 2000 passengers aboard the Fantasy. Wish we could have boarded in Norfolk. The coral beach at Grand Turk was tough on the feet, make sure to wear beach shoes. This was a good value, just don't expect extras. Once again, it was a good cruise, and Grampa will repeat it with the grandson in a month. Happy cruising, Tom
Ship experiences
Food and Dining
Onboard Activities
Entertainment
Service and Staff
Ship Quality
Cabin / Stateroom
Ship tip
Drop the redundant and unnecessary from the Life Boat Drill. Spark up the Breakfast buffet.
Ports of call
Half Moon Cay, Bahamas (Private Island)
3 Comments
noname111 9 years ago
Thank you for posting your review. Good that your experience was overall positive. I liked your pro/con approach. We are fairly picky about our destinations now and the Bahamas holds no interest for us but glad your experience was a good one there.
As for sprucing up the evacuation drill, don't hold your breath.
These are required by the International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea (SOLAS). Passenger muster drills must be conducted by the ship within 24 hours of departure but most of those we've cruised opted to do it prior to push off from the dock.
To provide a bit more context, the ship's crew is personally responsible to make sure that every passenger attends the muster drill. They are very serious about these drills as a result.
I've seen one concession in recent years. When we began cruising it seems as if every passenger had to assemble outside on deck. Now, many of these briefings are done in the main inside venues. I think that is about all the progress we'll see for a long while, especially for cruises departing US ports.
JusMe 9 years ago
Glad you had a good time. Lucky grand kids to get to go on a cruise with grandpa. I agree Grand Turk is a rather lack luster port. I did the island tour excursion and it was a nice way to spend a couple hours seeing the island and getting some island history (just don't get kicked by the donkey's). The beach and pool at the port did not interest me so after our tour and T-shirt shopping we got back on the ship. The ship is so nice and peaceful on port days with most people in port.
CrusinTim 9 years ago
Glad you had a mostly positive cruise. The Muster Drill (Life Boat drill) Is MANDATORY and ordered by the U.S. Coast Guard much as is the Flight Safety presentation (ordered by the FAA) aboard airplanes. There's no getting around it I'm afraid. But, it's usually only 15-45 minutes long and only leads to better things. The usual reason some muster drills take longer than others is because some passengers JUST DON'T GET that they are REQUIRED to attend and lollygag going to the drill thus holding up everyone else's sail-away.