Not as expected!

Cruises: 4-6 cruises

Reviews: 5

Helpful Votes: 92

Review summary

This was our fourth Carnival Cruise. We decided to bring our parents with us. They are both elderly so we knew it was going to be somewhat of a different experience but to be honest this boat definitely left us feeling a little embarrassed. We have done nothing but talk highly of Carnival Cruise. We finally talked our parents into coming on one so we were really excited to show them a great time. We did what most people do and boarded the boat and went straight for the food. Parents tried the buffet and to be quite honest everything was pretty terrible. Decided to stick with the good stuff and went and got burgers fries and tacos and of course that was all good as usual. We went to the rooms and un packed. Rooms were pretty good other than being kind of small but we already knew that going on that this was a smaller ship. The dining room food was pretty good and the service was good as well we actually ate in the dining room almost every night because the buffet every time we went in was really bad. Quite honestly I don't understand why but this was the worst Buffet out of the three other cruises that we did. We went to the shows every night that they had it and to be honest, I know it sounds like I am complaining a lot, but they were pretty bad as well. We did see The Comedians and they were very funny. Our first Port was Progreso. My husband and I have been here before so we kind of knew what to expect. Last time we did a Excursion so we didn't really get to wander around. This time we took the parents and jumped on the free bus and tried to go to town. That was a huge mistake. They took us to a market and dropped us off where the bathrooms had no toilet seats and there was a bunch of people hounding you to buy stuff. We hung around for a bit got back on the bus and went back to Port shopped around that area which again you got hounded to buy stuff. Honestly if I go back to this port I will either stay on the boat or do an Excursion but I don't see myself running around like I did this time. Our second Port was Cozumel we made reservations for Mr. Sancho's so we got off the boat took a taxi and went there. It was a pretty good experience the food was really good and the drinks were good. We swam in the ocean for a while and then we spent most of the day in the pool bar area. It was definitely worth the 60 bucks per person. On both sea days we had we kind of laid around didn't do too much went to the casino one day and did casino slot spins we had organized with a grou. Unfortunately we didn't win much money. We also hid ducks on this cruise and found several which was a nice surprise for my daughter. I will say that this ship is dated and in need of repair I know they do their best to keep it clean but this is the first cruise I was on that I could smell somewhat of a sewer smell probably the third day in. I don't want to be one of those people that sound hard to please because I'm not and maybe I just got spoiled because on our last cruise we were on the Carnival Magic which is a bigger ship and had a lot more food choices and the entertainment was really good. Being my parents first cruise I guess I wanted it to be a really good experience and don't get me wrong they enjoyed their selves for the most part and of course you can't really complain about getting to go to the beautiful oceans of Mexico. I don't think I would ever book a cruise on Carnival fantasy again. I will say that you get what you pay for we did go for the cheapest cruise we could find being that my parents are elderly we were trying to make it budget-friendly as possible. With that being said I guess it was a good starter cruise to kind of break the ice for them.

Embarkation

Ship experiences

Food and Dining

Onboard Activities

Entertainment

Service and Staff

Ship Quality

Cabin / Stateroom

Ports of call

Mobile, Alabama

Disembarkation

Other reviews of this sailing