Great First Family Cruise Experience!
Carnival Fascination Cruise Review to Caribbean - Bahamas
5 Night Bahamas (Jacksonville Roundtrip)
Sail date: March 30, 2013
Ship: Carnival Fascination
Cabin type: Oceanview
Traveled as: Family (older children)
Reviewed: 11 years ago
Review summary
For Spring Break this year our family of 5 took our first ever cruise! It was awesome for us all! The attendants were all great! The boat was clean! The food was awesome! Our rooms were spacious enough! I was most impressed with the kids clubs. It was wonderful to have our children roam the ship in a safe environment where they could check themselves in and out of their age appropriate clubs. We had a 15 year old in the teen club, a 14 year old in the middle school club, and a 9 year old in the kids club. Our youngest loved her independence. Our teen loved staying out late each night. I loved that they could eat whenever they wanted so no one ever went hungry. My husband and I felt we got a lot of alone time even though our kids were there! They were all sad to leave! THe only suggestion I would like to make would be to think about changing the ages of the kids clubs? My 14 year old did not want to mingle with 12 year olds. Our friend who had a 19 year old found her lost on the boat with the other 19 and 20 year olds who did not have an appropriate club for them. They can not go to the 21 and older night clubs and are to old for the high school one. I would like to come next year, if possible, with both my high schoolers so they can be in the same club. However, if nothing is done for the 19 and 20 year olds, I will be sure to skip those years with my family and find another vacation option. My suggestion...12-14, and 14-18. Let the 14 year olds choose to hang with middle schoolers of high schoolers. High school starts at age 14. And another club for 18-21. Let the seniors/college ages choose the high school club or a college club. 21 year olds can choose a 21 and up environment or a non drinking under 21 environment. The key is the middle ages to be given a choice to the club they would like to go to. Thanks again Carnival!Ship experiences
Food and Dining
Onboard Activities
Entertainment
Children's Programs
Service and Staff
Ship Quality
Cabin / Stateroom
Ship tip
See my comments from earlier about changing the kids club ages. This was a clean ship. I would recommend it to anyone! Spring Break was a great time to go with families. Not to many crowds. 50% kids on board so not to many partying adults to deal with. I felt kids were safe and supervised even when I wasn't around. I would like to suggest bringing or having Carnival provide walkie talkies the next time we go. The only thing I didn't like was not being able to communicate with my kids when I wanted to. I will brind post--it notes for the doors next time too! We were in a separate room from our kids. I would also like to suggest having guest services create a key for mom and dad to have for their kids room to be able to check on them. I didn't to this, but I will next time for sure. I couldn't locate my daughter one evening because she was sleeping in her room the whole time and I did not have a key to get in.