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Carnival Fantasy Cruise Review to Caribbean - Western
Contributor Level:
Purser
Cruises: 2-3 cruises
Review: 1
Helpful Votes: 24
5 Night Western Caribbean (Mobile Roundtrip)
Sail date: January 21, 2019
Ship: Carnival Fantasy
Cabin type: Inside
Cabin number: E162
Traveled as: Family (older children)
Reviewed: 5 years ago
Review summary
I chose Carnival because we have always had a great time, but this time with was Horrible! Words cannot express how bad this was. To start we left 2 days before the cruise was to set sail because we were driving 16+ hours and wanted to make sure that if we had car trouble we would be able to make the ship on time. We had to drive through a snowstorm to get there as well. The evening before our cruise was to set sail ( and we were now an hour away from Mobile) we got a call that due to a mechanical issue with the max speed they were not able to get the ship back to port on time from dry dock. Due to them being a day late they were going to cancel the stop in Progreso ( the port we wanted to go to to see the ruins) and then leave a day late. For this inconvenience we could cancel the trip with a full refund or if you wanted to still go you would get a day credit back and $50 on board credit. Well after driving for 16+ hours we decided to still go on the cruise. Big mistake! The first day the waves were so bad that the entire ship was sick including the crew. Come to find out from the crew the ship was late because of weather as well not just because of the max speed. Then we were late getting into Cozumel so our shore excursion time was bumped back to 12 instead of 10:30. We checked in at 11:45 and did not get to our destination until 12:30. The excursion was a 5 hour duration. We were told to be back at the taxi station at 3:45, but the facility closed at 3. So we came back to the ship when the facility closed. There was no reason for us to sit at the taxi station and stare at each other for 45 minutes. The pool and the higher decks were not open until Thursday (port day) and then Friday due to high winds. The night entertainment was supposed to be a sing and dance routine but because of the weather it was 4 people sitting on stage singing. On our other cruise we couldn't get the kids out of camp they were having so much fun. This time we couldn't get them to go to camp because they would get sick on the back of the boat or when they were feeling up to going all they were doing was watching movies. The food was ok. My melting cake was over cooked. The servers were there to take your order, leave your food and then they were never seen again. So you were not able to complain about the food order or get a different thing. We purchased the drink package and was not able to use it the first 2 days from being sick and when we did try to get a drink it took 20+ minutes to either wait to place your order or for the drink to be made. Staff would tell you wrong information or contradictory information to different people in our party. Times we printed wrong in the fun times. I could go on and on. When I got back home and called to voice my concerns all they told me was that they were going to look into the shore excursion and the rest they were going to keep for their records for future cruises. The took my number to call me back about the shore excursion. I called back 6 hours later to find out that the ships excursion director did email them back and said that the excursion went as planned pick up at 12 back to the ship at 5:30. I said that was not the way it happened and that I have a picture of the itinerary and the hours of the facility and they do not match. The gentleman I spoke with home the phone refused to transfer me to his supervisor and that his word was final. I will never recommend or go on another Carnival Cruise.Embarkation
Because our ship was delayed we did not have staggered check in we all had to check in between 10:30 and 1. It was slow going getting on
Ship experiences
Food and Dining
Food at the buffet was cool, there It just seemed like they were left overs from the night before just doctored up. There was always a long line for the other restaurants. All the food I had except the buffet was good. At the main dinning hall once the servers took your order and dropped you food you didn't see them again. My melting cake was overcooked.
Onboard Activities
The pool was closed and all the upper deck due to high winds.
Entertainment
Due to the wind and waves the entertainment was 4 people sitting on bar stools singing. Comedian was good. We (and just about everyone on board) were too sick to really do much the first 2 days on board.
Children's Programs
There was nothing that really struck my kids into wanting to go to camp. On previous cruises I could not get them out of camp. They were to sick to go the first couple of days and when they went to go they were not doing the activity that was planed they were watching movies.
Service and Staff
The room steward was good. As for the bar it took 20 minutes to get our drinks ordered or served. The restaurant staff took our order brought the food and we never saw them again. The line for guest service was always a 45 min wait and if right where there was a live performer so it was very hard to hear each other.
Ship Quality
I could never find a trash can. guest services and the shore excursion desk were right by a bar and live entertainment so you could never hear each other
Cabin / Stateroom
We had preteens with us so you never knew when they would go back to the room to rest so we decided to keep the beds down. so the one pull down bed is above the king bed and the other is on the opposite side of the room covering the bottom corner of the bed as well so to get to the far side of the king bed you needed to crouch down to get around. I was always afraid to sit up in bed as to fear I would bump it. In the other cabins we have been in the extra beds have been the couch that folded down into a bed and then the extra bed folded from the ceiling on top of the couch
Ship tip
Don't go on it.
Thumbs up
0
Ports of call
Not really much to do. We did visit the USS Alabama and did an escape room, We were not planning on doing anything here, but because our ship was delayed a day we had to find something for the kids to do.
Progreso (Merida), Mexico Did not visit port
They took this port away when the ship was delayed. This port was the reason we booked the cruise
The park was ok. Because we were late getting in to the port our excursion time was bumped back from a departure time of 10:30 to now leaving at 12:00. It was a 5 min. drive from check in. we arrived at check in at 11:45. By the time we go to the facility it was 12:30. Our schedule was to snorkel as soon as we got there then the sea lion show was at 1:30 tequila tasking was at 2. then we had free time until we had to be back at the taxi station at 3:45. Because we had not eaten since breakfast and it was an all inclusive and the kids had not been able to swim on the whole vacation yet we opted to not do the snorkeling. So we ate and then went swimming. By this time the sea lion show had already started so we had just started swimming so we missed that. My husband and I decided to do the tequila tasting while the rest of our group went swimming. The tequila tasting was great. When we got done the rest of our group was packing up because the park closed at 3. Instead of sitting at the taxi station looking at each other we decided to go back to the trip. When I called Carnival when we got home to complain about the excursion they said they would contact the ship to see what happened. The ship emailed back and said everything went as planned and nothing was wrong. It was supposed to be a 5 hour duration so because our pick up time was scheduled for 12 and we did not have to be back on the ship until 5:30 then it fulfilled even though we could only use the facility we went to from 12:30-3. Even with travel time that does not equal 5 hours.
Disembarkation
We got off the ship way faster than it took to get on.