Recently cruised the fascination out of jacksonville. Ship is old and outdated, food is horrid, and the crowd is hard core, can be best described as "ghetto meets trailer park", which is not a judgement, just a factual observation, so dont get your political correct panties in a wad. Others in my group privately said the same thing, no one dared say it out loud. I only came back here to post this so others may at least be forwarned in case it matters to them. Unlike the other 2 cruises Ive been on where I had a absolutely GREAT time, I really felt I had absolutely nothing in common with most of the crowd on this cruise so it was a huge bummer. 

I felt obligated to report my experience as I wish others had done the same for me before I became a victim to this horror show. I think the crowd is as it was due to it sailing out of jacksonville and of course, also because it is such a budget cruise. Over half of the cruisers seemed to be from Jacksonville. Perhaps the crowd sailing out of Miami (where this ship ws sailing out of till just last week) is different. Just be prepared and dont say no one warned you.

No need to  leave me nasty remarks about my political incorrectness, I wont be checking nor returning to this board. Ive done my part to warn others who may be falsely  expecting a "normal" cruise type crowd. Ive been on cruises before, this was no normal cruise crowd.     

Doesn't it amaze you that these complainers on all of these threads have ONE post?? haha

john21:

Ship is old and outdated, food is horrid, and the crowd is hard core, can be best described as "ghetto meets trailer park", which is not a judgement, just a factual observation

Excuse me people....please ignore that post.  We just cruised on the Fascination and I posted my review under Comments and Suggestions..perhaps not the best place to post it but I also posted one under the Carnival Site for Cruise Reviews.  This ship is absolutely gorgeous.  The comments made about the passengers was outragous.  Also the food is excellent in the dining room and on ther Lido Deck.  The service was beyond our expectations again. We left from Miami and it was nothing like this person described!!  In fact, it was exactly the opposite. 

So glad he said he was not returning to this board....what an idiot.  geesh...      

john21:

Others in my group privately said the same thing, no one dared say it out loud.

So you knew what they said ... because you're psychic?

Quick! what am I saying now?

Wow...well thanks for the "warning"! Dont know what I would have done without it (whew!) especially since I prefer to only cruise with "normal" people. Too bad you wont be coming back to post here on this board. We'll miss you!

 Well, that is it. I am off to convince my whole family to cancel the Christmas cruise that all 12 of us have paid for (thanks Mom and Dad).

 I love the fact that this ship is in Jacksonville now. I live in Atlanta and it is a really viable alternative since we can easily drive there. I really hope it does well here. If it does then maybe it will inspire Carnival to run some 7 day cruises out of this port.

I've seen these type of posts for every cruise I've been on.  I think I'll continue to take my half full glass on my cruise in November.  I'm looking forward to hanging out with whoever is on the boat.  We're all in the same place so we've at least got one thing in common -  we be crusin!

I will miss the words of wisdom from the original poster.  I hope he comes back soon to steer us all in the right direction. 

We were on the 9-20 sailing.  Although there were major problems with embark/disembark process, I have learned patience in my years.

 It is true there were some suspect looking individuals on the ship, but that can be expected anywhere.  Ever been to Wal Mart late at night? 

We found the food better than on the Celebration which was previously used in Jacksonville.  Service was great.  Room was always clean.

A trip is what you make it and I chose to make it fun.

Shirley

I've been on Fascination many many many times out of Miami, and did the last one before it moved to Jax.  We left it in good shape.  Is it NEW, no, but i've never not had a bad time.  It is what you make it to be.   WE miss our Fascination here.

By "getto meets trailer park" does that count my single wide that is sitting next to the projects?

 Some people are just negative in everything they say, see, or do!  My glass is always half full We are going to have a blast next week!  I am soooo excited!

Sandy,

You WILL have a great time and I am sure you will love this ship.  She has a great crew and staff and honestly after her makeover the Fascination is a beauty.  I don't get the negative comments either as none of them are true.  You will see for yourself as I did the 1st time we cruised on the Fascination.  I really think that this crew and staff love working on this ship...    

Sit back and enjoy the ride!!   

I don't believe the OP.  I have heard nothing but good thinks about the  Fascination.

We just got back from our Girls Cruise and had a wonderful time!!

Yes, the boat is smaller than I was on before and yes the rooms were a bit smaller too but who cares! I knew it was an older boat and didn't worry about it. We were on vacation!

The food was good for the most part, we would try different dinners between us and share. We ate in the dining room every night and had breakfast there too.

The scavenger hunt was a blast! We got lots of great pictures & scrapbooking stuff.

Key West - the Blonde Giraffe key lime pie on a stick was great!

Bahamas - Booked the Blue Lagoon Dolphin Encounter (booked through their website, not through Carnival) and it was wonderful - and this was my 2nd time there! The only bummer was Nassau didn't have us on their list so the shops closed early. By the time we got back from our excursion and into town to shop we were out of luck.

The 80's Revue show was GREAT! Had some fun in the casino & at karaoke.

I could probably find things to complain about but won't bother - I was on vacation! :)

Can't wait to book my next Carnival Cruise!

 Two years ago my partner and I spent 5 days in Key West. I got completely addicted to the key lime pie on a stick. I even tried to think of a way to get them back to Georgia via our car. It was a near obsession. We will return to Key West on Christmas Eve during our Fascination cruise. Grabbing one of those pies will be the first thing I do when I get in port.