Carnival Fascination – 3 Night Bahamas Cruise

Sadly, this is not going to be a review full of compliments. Carnival has legions of dedicated fans, and we are not among them. We thought we’d try a small, inexpensive cruise and make the best of it no matter what. We are pretty easy-going, and before we left we thought ‘How bad can it be? We’ll just have a few drinks and have a great time!’ yet even on the first day we were regretting the whole thing. This is just opinion, of course, but it is our fair review and reflects the experience we had.

Bahamas Cruising

All the ships that do the Bahamas run from southern Florida are the older, smaller vessels in their respective companies’ fleets, and the Carnival Fascination is no exception. Along with the Imagination, the Fascination has, for several years, done both Bahamas cruises and smaller Caribbean cruises, usually featuring Key West, Florida and Cozumel, Mexico. Of late, Carnival has added other ships to this area, including the Destiny, Sensation and Pride. These were not options when we went for our 3 night Bahamas cruise, and the price seemed ‘right,’ so off we went! How bad can it be, right?…

At first glance (embarkation), this ship doesn’t seem all bad. Although small, it seemed like a fun little ship for a weekend cruise, and we happily settled into the main buffet restaurant for our first lunch, as we waited for our room to be ready. Any cruiser will be familiar with this scene. Our disappointment began when we started noticing little things, such as how poorly the staff treated the guests, not even offering a welcome and wiping tables haphazardly so that food and God knows what was left smeared over them, almost without exception. The table we sat at still had bits of egg left over from someone’s morning breakfast, and a ship is usually at its cleanest when welcoming new guests. Yikes! Then, and throughout the cruise, we noticed flies all over the café, landing on food, and while we would expect this in an outdoor market, we have never before nor since seen this on a cruise. Since the flies were everywhere, we thought we might as well go outside and enjoy the fresh air.

Below is a picture of me at that first meal, excited about our cruise.

As far as food quality and selection goes, it varied greatly and was never spectacular. We didn’t expect 5 star dining from this line, especially given the price we paid, but many times there was nothing but hamburgers and hotdogs to eat, and we are vegetarians. The menus seemed to be geared towards overweight, really hungry people who like salt and fat, and indeed there were always line-ups for the fattening, nutritionally-void offerings. Most of the people on board, sad to say, actually were overweight.

The ship itself is dated, with lots of gray and pink, brass and mirrors; something you would see in the 80′s lounge era. This was especially evident in the dining room, which was gaudy beyond belief. In fairness, we heard people remarking about how fabulous it all was, so your opinion may depend upon your tastes, as well as what you are accustomed to. For us, we felt the lack of class and taste throughout the ship and were very disappointed and out of our element. The pool deck was very spare, with bare light bulbs hanging as the only real decor items, and almost always full of rowdy people. The exception was an evening we went out to find a place to sit and found a disheveled mass of tables cluttered with beer cans, drink glasses, ashtrays and plates of half-eaten food, all from many hours earlier. What’s going on here, Carnival? We actually spent the last day in our cabin we disliked the rest of the ship so much.

Our room, an outside, oceanview room, was quite spacious, and luckily the bed was comfortable. Right outside in the hall, the smell of cabin bathrooms pervades at all times, and we kept a towel at our door bottom most times. Without a balcony we had no escape from it. The television had only a few channels and we would up watching the same bad movie (Fool’s Gold) quite a few times.

Here is a picture of me dreading going back on the Fascination after our day in Nassau. A picture tells a thousand words! We were saying ‘Nooooo!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!’ all the way along the pier.

Nassau, Bahamas

Nassau was the only stop on this cruise, followed by an ‘at sea’ day on the Sunday. Nassau is perhaps the most famous of Bahamian cities, and certainly offers much to do for cruise passengers. You can visit any number of hotels – eg. the Colonial Hilton – and pay a small fee to enjoy their beach and facilities for the day. Below is a shot of the cruise pier from the Hilton’s beach.

Paradise Island, accessible by taxi, water taxi or very long walk, offers shopping, restaruants and the fantastic Atlantis hotel. Unfortunately, the hotel grounds are not open to the public, save for a few tours you can take which allow you limited access. One used to be able to book a room for the day at the adjacent Comfort Inn and receive complimentary Atlantis access, however this has stopped and bookings are a minimum two nights’ stay. If you are willing to book for this time period, you will enjoy unlimited access to all of Atlantis’ incredible properties during your visit. Note that all food and drink expenses will be extra, and at a premium. Atlantis is full of fun things to do, however and you will definitely fill a day with fun. The picture below is a view of Atlantis from the deck of the Fascination.

Almost everyone speaks English in Nassau, and virtually all the local stores accept US dollars. There are plenty of shops, bars and restaurants within walking distance of the ship, and many cruisers look for deals on jewelry while cruising. For more tips on shopping in cruise ports, see Jewelry and Souvenir Shopping While Cruising. We enjoyed a Kalik, the delicious island beer, at a local bar (pictured below).

The lovely lady at check-in back in Miami (see Port of Miami) said to us ‘You won’t need your passport in the Bahamas, so just leave it in your safe. All you’ll need is your card (the card the ship gives you which identifies you as a current sailing passenger).’ We did just that, and upon returning to the port were told we could not get back to our ship without passports. Funny enough, we would rather have stayed in Nassau!

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