Great port stops!
Carnival Fascination Cruise Review to Caribbean - Southern
Contributor Level:
Purser
Cruises: 2-3 cruises
Review: 1
Helpful Votes: 25
7 Night Southern Caribbean (San Juan Roundtrip)
Sail date: February 10, 2019
Ship: Carnival Fascination
Cabin type: Inside
Traveled as: Couple
Reviewed: 5 years ago
Review summary
We really enjoyed this cruise! We went on this cruise just for the stops they offered. Before leaving we were a little nervous on the bad reviews we had read. The boat is an older ship and a smaller ship. It was very clean and nice. The only negative thing I have to say is we did feel lots of movement on this ship. I’m not sure if it was due to the ocean being choppy or it being a smaller ship. Overall I highly recommend this ship for the stops. I understand everyone has different opinions which is what makes the world go around (:Embarkation
This was very easy and quick.
Ship experiences
Food and Dining
We did the main dining room and buffet.
All of the staff was extremely nice and helpful. Everything was always kept clean. Anytime someone would get up to leave someone was right there to clean up.
Food wise, I think this just depends if you are a picky eater, where you are from and what you are use to eating.
Onboard Activities
We only used the pool once on sea day.
Entertainment
We did comedy shows PG and R.
Some we enjoyed and some where ok. There were at least two days where they did not have any comedy shows going on and not too much to do at night.
We also did the love and marriage show which we highly recommend!
Service and Staff
Everyone was always extremely nice! Our steward was Kartolo and he was great! He knew our name from the first day and anytime in the hall he would pass us he always asked if we were ok and needed anything.
Waiters were great as well. I think this ship has a great team on board.
Ship Quality
For this to be an older ship it looks great. We were a little nervous about this ship from previous reviews.
Cabin / Stateroom
Ports of call
This was our ships home. We flew down the day of the cruise and did not do any exploring then. There is a wal greens within walking distance we went to to grab can drinks for cruise ( if you did not know you can bring on a half case each person on ). Which we highly recommend! After the cruise we spent one night at the Sheraton which is walking distance from port and all shopping. This hotel was very convenient. We left our luggage here soon as we got off the ship. We just walked around old San Juan went to some stores, had lunch, and went to el morrow $7 a person for this. For dinner we went to San Juan smokehouse (not walking distance) it was amazing! We used an Uber around San Juan which I highly recommend as well. So much cheaper! Our Uber driver told us if you did not visit where the smokehouse was you really did not come to Puerto Rico. It was a huge block party (Music, dancing, drinks, food).
We also used Uber from our hotel to airport which was only $10 for me and my husband plus luggage.
Thumbs Up
6
We love St. Thomas before this cruise we got married here and spent a week exploring the island. This time we just took the ferry over to St. John and went to trunk bay. You will need a taxi from the port to the ferry. The ferry is $8 and some change a person one way. Which then you will need a taxi from the ferry to wherever you are visiting in St. John. Then repeat coming back. I will say this adds up in $$ fast. Trunk Bay is beautiful and long beaches! Great snorkeling here as well. If you hace not ever been to St. Thomas before I recommend staying on this island. You have coki beach which is free to visit and beautiful! Really
clear water here. There is a coral world next to this that we did as well on our first visit. Another beach we have visited was Magens Bay this is not a free beach and I can not remember price to get in. There is a local ride you can catch for $3. It’s like an open air trolly which all locals take. It takes you all over St. Thomas you can get on and off at its local stops. There is also a sky ride to paradise point soon as you walk out of the port. If your looking for somewhere to just hangout with a view eat some lunch this is a great place. The peanut butter bushwacker is to die for!
Great stop! We did the boatyard and highly highly recommend this. Soon as we got off the boat we paid $5 a person for taxi ride here. Once you get there It is $25 a person which includes a welcome drink, beach chair, umbrella, turtle snorkel tour, and a
Ship wreck snorkel, water trampolines, and taxi ride back. For the snorkel tour you can bring your own gear or use what they have. No additional cost. This is a short boat ride maybe 5min. You spend roughly a hour doing both tours and the boat ride. They have a restaurant here as well and we had the coconut chicken strips which was AMAZING! We did some shopping within the port as well.
Loved it here!! We did Spencer’s Abrose land and sea tour. We booked this outside of ship. We enjoyed this soo much! It is a little pricey but worth every dollar.
Once you get off the boat you have plenty of places to shop. They do have the monkeys here and will try to get you to hold for $$. They initially asked for $10 a person to hold, but we told them no and he said ok $5. We went to Cockleshell beach/ Reggae beach bar. This was one of our least favorite beaches. You can pay $20 for umbrella and chairs here.
Loved loved and loved this port! We have talked about going back here just to visit the island for longer than a day. We had a busy day here. We took a 3 hour tour of the French and Dutch side. You can still a lot of damage from hurricane but it is still a lovely place. We visited Orient beach on the French side, Maho beach ( airplane beach) on the Dutch side. On our tour they did take us by the nude beach(French side) in which if you have young kids you may want to ask to skip this stop. Our guide told us after the hurricane it is not what it use to be. You can tell they are still recovering from damage here. We took a taxi from Maho Beach to boardwalk. Here they have a beach, shopping, and restaurants. We ate at Lazy Lizard and loved it!! This is walking distance from the cruise ship or you can take a $3 taxi or the water taxi back to ship.
Disembarkation
Very easy and quick!