Mary Lee Booth  

Age: 41
Occupation: psychologist
Number of Cruises: First Cruise
Cruise Line: Carnival Cruise Lines
Ship: Fantasy
Sailing Date: December 2nd, 2001
Itinerary: Bahamas

This was the first cruise for my family (myself, my husband, and my three teenaged children). We all got a bit seasick the first day and the last day, which did affect our enjoyment. However, here are the highlights:

The Positives:

(1) We enjoyed the entertainment. The Vegas type shows were awesome and the game shows were very funny. We were very impressed with the Cruise Director, Marashell, and his ability to remember people by their first names. He was very friendly and entertaining. There were a lot of different activities on the ship for adults but unfortunately for my teenaged children, there weren't a lot of things (other than eating) that they offered for 14-18 year olds.

(2) We enjoyed the food. We were thrilled to have had the chance to try out different fine dining selections in the dining room and not have to worry about the price! The Gala buffet at midnight was unbelievably a treat for all senses! My middle son really appreciated the all you can eat, 24 hour pizzeria and the room service sandwiches. I would suggest going to the dining room for breakfast and supper. It seemed like the buffet breakfast on the Lido deck was very greasy.

(3) Most of the service employees were very friendly and accommodating. We had a wonderful assistant waiter, Peter from Slovakia, with whom we became friendly. We also had very good service from the two young men from the Snorkel Rental kiosk. They gave us some great hints on places to snorkel in Nassau. We had only one unpleasant encounter with an employee--the woman who was operating the internet cafe. On the first night of the cruise, we found her to be rude and condescending to our teenagers. Most of the crew were very personable and sociable, but this particular person may have needed a holiday herself.

What could be improved:

(1) The ship was not very clean. The carpets looked that they hadn't been steam-cleaned since the ship was built in 1990. The upholstery, especially in the Universe Lounge, was very filthy. My daughter ruined a pair of shorts by sitting on some gum that was stuck to one of the couches. It's unfortunate that a grand ship like this couldn't be cleaner. The ship had a musty smell throughout. We were glad that there was no smoking in the dining rooms or the Universe Lounge but people were smoking inside the public areas and around the elevators, so along with the musty smell was the smell of stale smoke as well. I don't know how Carnival will solve the problem of dirty carpets and upholstery because they don't leave time between cruises for the ship to have a thorough cleaning. We debarked at 8:00 am and they were preparing to load on another 2400 passengers by 12 noon that day!

(2) I wonder if there is anything that can be done that would make it easier for the passengers to get to destinations in Nassau and Freeport? There seemed to be no choice but to take a taxi (at $5 USD per person) to get to the beach. These two Ports of Call were a tourist trap--you can't walk two feet without someone jumping in front of you asking if you want your hair braided or if you want a taxi ride, or if you want to buy something from them at the straw market.

On the morning of debarking, there will be all sorts of announcements to tell people to clear out of their cabins and go to certain areas. Our suggestion: Just take your time. Debarking takes a couple of hours. Have a leisurely breakfast and relax--they have 2400 people to get off the ship, so unless you have an early flight home or an appointment, just sit and cool your heels. We sat in the Universe Lounge for over an hour waiting for debarkation (we had rushed though our breakfast to get to the Universe Lounge at the directed time).

Feel free to email me if you were on the same sailing dates or if you have any questions about our experience.

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