Heather and Tabitha Williams

Age: 25 & 22
Occupation:
Number of Cruises:
Cruise Line: Carnival
Ship: Fascination
Sailing Date: January 21st, 2002
Itinerary: Western Caribbean

O.K. This was our first cruise so we decided to arrive the night before the cruise and decided to stay at the Best Western Marina Park Hotel in Miami, which is a short taxi ride to the port of Miami. The hotel is in a kind of bad part of town, but they had a nice nighttime shopping mall/entertainment and we sat and watched the ships on the water at night. It was beautiful.

The next morning, we took the hotel-provided shuttle to the Port of Miami. We arrived to the port and were directed towards our ship. Embarkation was quick for us because we had all of our forms filled out and our identification with us. The people at the desks were very pleasant and we had good conversation with the other cruisers. We had to leave our luggage outside - the areas were color-coded and tags were placed on the luggage that was to be placed outside of our cabins. We were lead through the hallways according to our decks, where we were given our Sail & Sign Cards and had the most unflattering ID pictures of ourselves taken (why they take the pictures of you when you first get to the port and are a little gross is beyond me - so make sure you look fresh).

>From there, we were able to board our ship. Embarking the ship was quick - the decks on the ship were clearly labeled so we could find our way. We shared a cabin with another girlfriend. The cabin had two twin beds and room service had already placed the rollaway in the room when we arrived. We got to our rather small inside cabin (#U127) and tried to relax the best we could without our luggage. We spent a good while sitting around waiting for our luggage to arrive. To pass the time, we had to go through the required life vest drill, which was little long - but by the time it was over; our luggage had arrived outside our cabin. Our Steward, Roel was awesome and earned much more the suggested gratuity. Everything else was pretty smooth sailing.

The next day, we woke up refreshed and went to our meeting with Cruise Director Simon. We were told about what was offered as far as shore excursions, how the Sail and Sign Cards worked. Simon was fantastic - he had been doing his job for a number of years and had some really good hints and tricks about what to expect when we got to our destinations.

We walked around the ship and had a blast from the past with The Fascinations’ “Do-You-Really-Wanna-Hurt-Me“-80’s pink and black decor. The ship was strewn on the main deck with mannequins of people were supposed to be Movie Idols with bad wigs and bad wardrobe. The main deck smelled a bit musty. The one cool thing was the clear elevator that took you to the decks.

O.K., now to the food: We chose the late seating for dinner and were seated with some really nice people. The food was outstanding - everything was really gourmet. They gave you enough of it. The wait staff was phenomenal - our waiter Kamng from Bali was awesome, he made everything perfect. And at the end of the final dinner the wait staff all have a nice surprise for everyone, but we won’t tell. The first night, we couldn’t find a midnight buffet for anything - so we went to the lounge for late night pizza and ice cream from the machine. We found the buffet later, but people were grumbling that they ran out of food or something. We actually all lost weight while on this cruise - after everyone told us we would be eating non-stop!

The ship’s activities were ok; you could sunbathe on the lido deck, go to the library, the ship talent show was so-so and the “Broadway Review” was kind of lackluster. But there was plenty of liquor flowing so everything was bearable (our cruise beat the record for liquor consumed that was set on New Years Eve!). Our first stop was Key West, which was a lot of fun. We did the Glass Bottom Boat excursion - a warning if you get seasick. When we docked in Cozumel, Mexico, we took a short but kind of dangerous taxi ride (make sure your taxi driver speaks some English!) into town where we went shopping! There are a lot of beautiful shops- especially if you like silver, this is a real nice spot. Check our Los Cincos Soles - they have a little of everything.

So, all in all, this was a great first cruise. We recommend it for a first cruise. Have fun!!!

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