Good Itinerary, Nice Ship, Poor food

Item: Carnival Fascination
Rating: 3.3
Author: RELs

Carnival Fascination Cruise Review to Caribbean - Southern

RELs

Contributor Level: Purser

Cruises: 4-6 cruises

Review: 1

Helpful Votes: 17

Overall rating:

3.3 out of 5

7 Night Southern Caribbean (San Juan Roundtrip)

Sail date: March 24, 2019

Ship: Carnival Fascination

Cabin type: Inside

Cabin number: E6

Traveled as: Family (older children)

Reviewed: 5 years ago

Review summary

This was a decent cruise, but not one I would go on again. The ports of call were good, but not stellar, and the ship is long in the tooth. I had been told this was because a smaller ship was needed in some of the ports because of the depth of the Port, however there was a much larger "of the seas" ship that was on the same itinerary as us at the same time. Carnival should look at replacing this ship soon, and definitely look at fixing the food and staff apathy.

Embarkation

3 out of 5

We had faster to the fun. The embarkation at this port was not nearly as organized as Port Canaveral. In fact, we felt lost until we were almost to the check in desk. The terminal itself is partly to blame, but also the staff was not nearly as actively interested inaling sure you knew where to go as the Port Canaveral staff were. Port Canaveral got you to your ship from the moment you got out of your vehicle. Here, you had to ask often where the next place to go was.

Ship experiences

Food and Dining

2 out of 5

Aside from the main dining room, Guy Fieri, and Blue Iguana, the food was not good at all. In fact the food in the main dining room was only average, however our service team was superb. We had an extremely unfortunate experience at breakfast one morning with some plastic as well (so if the ships Sensations dining room maitre'd reads this, you will know who is reviewing this).

Onboard Activities

3 out of 5

There is no seaside theatre. That was the only activity we generally take in outside of the entertainment.

Entertainment

4 out of 5

The shows were excellent! The best we have seen on Carnival so far. However, being that this is one of the oldest ships, the views in the theatre are very poor in many spots (pillars blocking views, and the upper level extends so far back, if you aren't tall enough, you would not be able to see the stage). Also, the ship does not have a seaside theatre, being that it is too old I guess.

Children's Programs

No children

Service and Staff

3 out of 5

Our room steward and our main dining room team were incredibly good. However, there is a distinct problem on this ship that needs to be corrected (which is noticed from anyone not part of your team). Here is an example: upon entering the dining room, you should expect all wait staff to be welcoming and excited to see you. You should not see the staff leaning against walls with their arms crossed staring off into space or chatting with other wait staff. The staff is either over worked on this ship or poorly managed.

Ship Quality

4 out of 5

The ship was clean, and the design of the ship is similar to other ships, though smaller.

Cabin / Stateroom

4 out of 5

The size of our cabin was a welcome surprise. It was larger than the ones we have had in the past. It was also quite well maintained, even though it is an older ship. The only negative to the cabin is that it (and apparently all cabins on the ship) has no fridge, so all of the cans of pop and water we purchased couldn't be kept cold, and we had to keep getting ice from our steward instead.