Olivia Williamson

Age: 24
Occupation: supervisor
Number of Cruises: 1
Cruise Line: Carnival
Ship: Fantasy
Sailing Date: January 25th, 2004
Itinerary: Freeport/Nassau

This cruise was actually a Christmas present from my boyfriends parents. It was a first time for the both of us.

We had a cabin on the Riviera deck without a window. The room was small, but very clean. It had two single beds, so we asked the cabin steward to push them together for us and he said that wouldn't be a problem. By the time that we came back from dinner, the beds were together with chocolates on our pillows.The size of the room didn't really bother us, although I wouldn't suggest getting a room without a window unless you absolutely can't afford it. It made it difficult for us to get up, not to mention it felt like a cave. Plus, it just would've been nice to be able to see the water when we woke up.

The food left a lot to be desired. Even in the main dining areas, it was only mediocre, but still much better than the buffets. If you can manage to stay away from them, do it. The only buffets that were o.k. were the Tropical buffet and the buffet they had on the last night of the cruise. My boyfriend and I are very much into food and enjoy going to fine restaurants, but we both agreed that even Denny's would have been better. Even the desserts were not good.

Service also left a lot to be desired. The people serving drinks on the deck were friendly, but anyone who served food seemed they would rather be somewhere else. I heard other people complaining of this also. For example, my boyfriend was getting two coffees and chocolate covered strawberries from the Bistro,and was having difficulty carring it all. So he asked for a plate to put it all on. Up until this point, the server had been nice asked how he was doing, then all the sudden her smile fell from her face, gave a look of annoyance and gave it to him. Our server in the Celebration dining room was o.k., although when I asked for dessert on the second night when we had been 10 minutes late getting to our table, he seemed to get aggrevated (seating for us was 8:30-9:00, we got there at 8:40).

At our stop in Freeport, we got up late so we ended up not doing what we wanted which was Lucaya National Park. Instead we just went to the beach and relaxed and rode jet ski's. Our driver took our money for a round trip ($10 per person) and almost ended up leaving us because one couple snuck on the bus. Thankfully one of the other couples realized this and they waited for us. I realize this probably wasn't the smartest thing to do, but just be warned to not do this.

At our stop in Nassau, we went to Atlantis and looked at the aquariums and wandered the hotel. It's a very beautiful resort. We took the advice of the reviews online and didn't buy the $45 excursion to Atlantis, and instead paid the $25 to get a wristband. We wanted to go kayaking or something of the like, but couldn't find any, so we ended up renting jet ski's again. It's so much fun!! I found out that Blue Lagoon is a resort in it's self and has watersports equiptment. We would've gone there except it was getting to be late. You don't have to take the ship excursion there either. Can go yourself and just hangout and use the equiptment.

The entertainment was pretty good. We only managed to see the Nite club express show, which was very entertaining. It had music and dancing from the 30's to the 90's. I heard that the Broadway show on the last night was also very good. I would also recommend the Cat's Lounge. The band in there does covers and the singer makes it fun. There was always people in there dancing and singing with her. She is quite a character.

Overall, we had a good time. It really is what you make it. We don't really drink a lot, or gamble but still managed to relax. Because of the service and food we would definitely not go on the Fantasy again, but save to just fly and stay at a resort so we can spend more time on the islands. Although I would suggest to people on a budget to take a cruise to the Bahamas, I just wouldn't recommend this one.

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