Had Higher Expectations

Carnival Fascination Cruise Review to Caribbean - Eastern

Cruises: 7+ cruises
Reviews: 2
Helpful Votes: 57

Overall rating:

4 out of 5
Verified Review
Carnival Fascination

6 Night Eastern Caribbean (Jacksonville To San Juan)

Sail date: April 18, 2016

Ship: Carnival Fascination

Cabin type: Inside

Cabin number: 208

Traveled as: Couple

Reviewed: 8 years ago

Review summary

This is our seventh cruise. Our last was an 11 day on Carnival Triumph in October 2015. That was such an outstanding trip we may have had higher expectations for the Fascination and her crew.

 

The Fascination is smaller and is showing her age. Our room was an interior on Deck 6 (Upper) and rear quarter of the boat. We could count on being rocked to sleep and could tell if we were in port or moving. Not terrible but noticeable. 

 

The decor was dated. The ship was clean but did not have the wow factor. Getting around was easy enough but not as easy as on larger ships. A little more of the going up to go down kind of thing.

 

Food was good but not as many choices for alternate dining. Missed the Chinese Wok station. 

 

Crew was friendly and service was good but wait staff service was exceptional on the Triumph. Our sit down dinners on Fascination always ran over 1 1/2 hours. Got the feeling there were a lot of new people waiting tables in the dining rooms. 

 

Evening shows were entertaining and enough to keep us busy. 

 

Overall it was a very good cruise. This was the last trip for the ship out of Jacksonville as it's new home port will be San Juan for the next 2 years. So if you are looking for a Southern Caribbean cruise you will likely only have this ship unless you do 8 or more nights. 

 

Ship experiences

Food and Dining

5 out of 5

Onboard Activities

5 out of 5

Entertainment

5 out of 5

Children's Programs

We did not bring kids with us.

Service and Staff

5 out of 5

Ship Quality

3 out of 5
Ship was very clean. Older design and decor.

Cabin / Stateroom

5 out of 5
Cabin was clean and well maintained.

Ports of call

Jacksonville, Florida

5 out of 5

Charlotte Amalie, St. Thomas

5 out of 5
Self excursion to Honeymoon Beach on Water Island is worth the effort.

Basseterre, St. Kitts

5 out of 5

Philipsburg, St. Maarten

5 out of 5
One of my newest favorite places to cruise.

San Juan, Puerto Rico

5 out of 5
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4 Comments

ctav    7 years ago

Thanks for the review.

us32489    8 years ago

thank you for the review- we are going on her Sept 25!

shayrayjay11722    8 years ago

Thx for the info - cruising on the Fascination in 59 days!!!

dolores63    8 years ago

Thanks for infomation going in Oct 16

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