Well, I have decided to write a review about our recent cruise on the Fantasy, this is our 2nd cruise on the Fantasy. First things first - about us, we are your average family of four (oldest is out on her own) So, we have dad, mom and a 15 yr. old son for this trip.

So, let us begin with what we call .... Zero Day - this is the day we leave home headed to the port. We can be worry warts so we always leave the day before sailing and spend the night - this way we aren't stressed and are well rested for the vacay to start. We live outside of Knoxville TN, so the drive to Charleston is only about 6 hours or so. This trip we opted to stay in the Mt. Pleasant area just north of downtown. We stayed at the Best Western Mt. Pleasant and found it to be just what we needed - the room was clean and the staff friendly. Although we did not use the service, I understand if you stay here you can leave your car here for the duration of the cruise for free - they have a shuttle that will take you to the ship. Since I was in my new car, we opted for the indoor parking at the port.

Since we arrived midafternoon, we were able to get checked in and had the rest of the day to ourselves. It is a short drive across a bridge to downtown - we found a parking garage and then commenced to walking around downtown. We have been to Charleston several times and simple love this city. There is always something to see and if you have never been here I would recommend you come a day or two ahead of your cruise and enjoy the history. We had a great meal at the Crab House next to the open air market and then walked around to burn a few calories, since we knew we would be taking in more calories than we were planning on burning the next few days. After a wonderful walk and some picture taking we headed back across the bridge to the hotel to call it a night. Read more