6/2/2006

By GottaCruz

• February 8, 2007

Review of Fascination, 3 day cruise to Bahamas on June 2, 2006

We?ve been on the Fascination many times but I haven?t written a review since last year. We arrived at the port about 11:30. This was the first time that we couldn?t board immediately. Customs hadn?t cleared the ship for some reason but we only had to wait for about 10 minutes. Lunch was great as usual with so many choices. For dinner we went to the dining room for the shrimp and lobster. We had a table for 6 but the other 3 didn?t show up. In fact, the dining room was pretty empty. Our service was the best ever. I actually received the red cocktail sauce with the shrimp as I requested , which was very uuusual. The lobster tails were excellent .

The service was very quick, the servers were very friendly and we enjoyed a wonderful meal. The show was called Hollywood. We?ve seen it many times but they improved it with some new costumes and some different songs. Excellent show- amazing dancers. We went to do some dancing after the show but we were very disappointed.

The music in the disco was blasting- much too loud for our old ears. We went to the Passage to India lounge, where we usually do our dancing, but the trio there was playing rock music which was not our cup of tea. So, we hung out on the Lido deck , just enjoying the fresh air. On Saturday, my daughter and I got off the ship to do some shopping. We went to the Straw Market, where DD likes to pick up a necklace but it was stifling hot there and I just couldn?t bear it. So, we walked in and out of the shops but didn?t find anything we wante to buy. When we had left the ship, they were giving out coupons to get a free charm bracelet from Diamonds International, so we did get that. After a couple of hours, we went back to the ship and decided to get off again after dinner to go on a horse and buggy ride with Wayne.

So, we relaxed on the deck, then had dinner at the buffet. Great fish and delicious chicken. We left the ship to go to the horse and buggies but the streets were deserted . We were very surprised that with 3 cruise ships in port, the city was basically shut down. We had assumed that at 7:00 PM , the horse and buggies would still be there. Oh well, guess everyone has to go home sometime. Next time, we?ll go earlier in the day, although we had purposely waited to go when the sun had gone down and it wasn?t so hot. Got to time it better next time. Again, we tried to do some dancing but it didn?t work out with the music. Saturday night was the Mexican deck party. It had just poured so they had to serve the food indoors. We feasted on all different kinds of tacos and other Mexican food. The buffet was great and , of course, we ate too much. One thing I must say, is that on this cruise, we noticesd that tables were not cleared as they should have been.

In fact, someone had spilled something on the floor. We noticed the maitre?d put a chair over the mess so nobody will step in it but it took quite a while for someone to come and clean it up. We were very surprised. Sunday was our last day, a sea day. We had a couple of showers, which cooled things down. Then it turned out to be a beautiful day. The show, called Broadway, was excellent as usual, with songs from West Side Story, Tommy, Carousel, Chorus Line, Phantom, and many others. We never get tired of this show.

Saurday night we hadn?t been to the show because we?ve seen Zuniga , the juggler , so many times and practically know his routine by heart. He does put on a great show. Since it was our last night, we had some of the delicious pizza before we went to bed. One huge change since our last cruise- the midnight buffets have been changed. They used to have Friday night, a bit of all kinds of food , the Mexican buffet on Saturday night and again the varied buffet on Sunday night. This cruise, on Friday and Sunday nights, at the midnight buffet, they had hotdogs, hamburgers , fires, garden burgers. We never saw them serve that on any of our cruises. I guess they have to cut corners to make up for the price of gasoline. There is still so much food and so many choices that it was no big deal for us.

However, first time cruisers, might be disappointed since there was no grand gala buffet like they used to have, with the ice sculptures and all. Although we had a very relaxing weekend , got to meet gymbrat and her mom plus Eva and her family, we were a bit disappointed that we couldn?t do any dancing. O h well, we?ll just have to make up for that on our next cruise. This cruise, did, though, accomplish our purpose, which was to unwind and relax. A great way to spend the weekend. I?m going to post, here and in a new topic, the perks you now get, for being a member of the Carnival Concierge Club, which is after you take 10 cruises with Carnival. Here goes:The complimentary amenities are :

A few sheets of beautiful silver stationery with your name engraved, along with matching envelopes.

A special Carnival logo item- we got canvas tote bags last time and even nicer ones, styled a bit differently, this time.

Petit fours delivered to cabin one day.

Behind the scenes galley tour which you can schedule.

Priority booking for spa services.

Complimentary wash and fold service.

Complimentary $20 dollar entrance to Blackjack or Slot Tournament

Priority tender boarding

Priority debarkation

I hear the ship is going into drydock after the summer. She needs a bit of spiffing up , but just minor things. I hope they add a recumbent bike in the gym. Without that, I had a good excuse not to exercise and that is not a good thing.

Would do this cruise again in a heartbeat, anytime the price is right. The only thing missing from this cruise was Jason. Hopefully, he'll be able to cruise with us next time.