Let me start by saying that the hardest part of this vacation was trying to figure out which cruise to select. I had cruised several times with various cruise lines, however, this time, I was trying to keep our cost down as much as possible without compromising our vacation. I was traveling with my extended family, and with various budgets (husband, mother and father in law, sister in law, her husband, and their 6 year old daughter). My guidelines were 4 nights, affordable, NOT to the Bahamas, and something that would appeal to everybody in the group.

At the time, I believed that the logical thing to do was to head to the travel agency to make the decision. I have to say that I was disappointed because the travel agent kept trying to, not only force me to take a longer cruise than what we had planned, but also to upgrade to a more expensive cabin. We preliminarily selected a 5 night cruise form Ft. Lauderdale aboard another ship/cruise line. I had already been on that ship, and the experience had been OK, plus I didn't want to question my travel agents expertise. However, I decided to do a little bit of research on my own, and checked out Carnival's website. Surprisingly, I received a phone call at home the next morning from one of their planners which steered me to the Fascination. Not only was this cruise the length of time that I wanted, to the ports of call that I wanted, but we were looking at about $200 less per guest (and with that many of us traveling it made a lot of sense to go with this option). We also found out that the cheaper cabins on this ship were exactly like the more expensive ones, except for the window, and we also learned that the cabins were bigger than what we had experienced before. I was a little apprehensive about dealing with someone who works exclusively for one cruise line, but he was VERY knowledgeable about his product, which made me feel confident. So based on this information, we booked 3 cabins at the lowest rate possible, and before long, we were on our way to the Western Caribbean aboard the Fascination!

Check in wasn't quick, but fairly efficient. Our first pleasant surprise came when we arrived at the port. All 3 of our cabins had been upgraded for FREE to cabins with windows! We walked into the ship and I will agree with other readers when they say that this ship is flashy. Don't expect sober and refined surroundings, since I don't think that this is what Carnival had in mind when they decorated the ship. The Fun Ship theme can be felt everywhere you go. However it's nice. You'll be greeted by an atrium with glass elevators, lots of bronze, neon lights, and......Carnival's very own mascot, Funship Freddy. Within 10 seconds of boarding you start to understand what this vacation is going to be like! I was worried about my in-law's reactions since I knew that if anybody was going to have something negative to say, it would be then. I was relieved as I saw them walk in and stop in the atrium, look up and smile. Read more