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Carnival Cruise Line

MS Fantasy

Your Rating:
Reviewed by:Chris Kail
# previous cruises: 4
Date of Trip: December 4, 2000
Itinerary: Bahamas

Having not sailed in 10 years, this cruise brought back to me just how much I love being on a ship. I had a wonderful time, but like anything else, there are qualifiers. May I also say that I highly recommend cruising during Christmas week. Santa even managed to find the ship and leave me a stocking.

Cleopatra's Bar looks inviting in the brochure, but beware. First, there is no bar, and second, it is inhabited by a piano player doing a bad Billy Joel impression. The Universe Lounge was laid out well...accessible from 2 decks and most seats had a good view. The new Century Boulevard provided a nice place to stroll, and it led to the disco, which I rather liked. Good DJ, although the 18-21 set hung out there a lot. Christmas night was fun...most of the off-duty purser's staff and entertainers seemed to be there. The shops were crammed together, but had a lot of nice logo wear for souvenirs. Also enjoyed my facial in the spa. What a treat, and not that expensive compared to what you would pay on-shore.

Okay, here we go. The food was terrible. Really. The best thing I had all week was a hamburger on the lido deck. I suspect part of the problem was that instead of catering to 2000 passengers, the staff (and they were terrific) had to deal with 2618 (from the mouth of the head waiter himself), so maybe the galleys were a bit pushed. But I never had a hot meal in the dining room. Even for breakfast on deck, the scrambled eggs were just warm. I might also add that the bartenders could use a refresher. A cosmopolitan is not that hard. Again, the waiters and staff were just great, but the food left me wanting. I couldn't even be enticed to the midnight buffet. Of course, how much can, or should, one person eat?

I had a verandah suite this time, and it was delightful to have your own outside space. Not a pre-requisite for me, but still. Carnival's cabins continue to have plenty of room, but a little decor upgrade would be nice. For a ship that went into service in '90, it had a very mid-80s look, both in the cabins and public areas. The exterior of the ship was spotless, no doubt due to the fact that it just been in dry-dock at Newport News.

The shows were cheesy, but that's part of the fun. I do wish the cruise director could have kept his mouth shut more than he did. Constantly on the PA. Give some guys a mike.

Freeport and Nassau were the ports of call. Except for the ship-watching in both, I prefer a day at sea (our last). I spent that on the aft verandah deck at the pool, watching the big stack "fly". It was a little crowded, what with our passenger load, but not awful.

Most people were in their 30s and 40s. Lots of families, as you can imagine over Christmas.