We sailed on the Fascination on January 15th, it was our first cruise.

Embarkation:
Getting on the ship was not too bad. We are Canadians living in the USA, so we had to undergo the passport seizure deal. Because we booked guaranteed outside cabin, we didn't know what cabin we were in, so when they took our passports, they had to go look it up for us. We were assigned to Riveria 51, back some from the front, right by the elevators. We went up to our cabin to change out of our travelling clothes and into relaxation clothes. Luggage arrived in three separate batches, pretty good considering the luggage didn't have a room number on it.

First Impressions:
Well, the room was.... Orange... not my favorite color, but it was tolerable. As we entered our room, our steward (Pierre) came by and introduced himself. I had him push the beds together (why can't they sheet the beds as a Queen or whatever, grrrr). We went and explored our home for the next week.

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The Fascination is truly impressive when you see the atrium. Pretty dramatic. We wandered around the ship and found the dining rooms, bars, spa, pools, etc. I am still in awe of how many things can be on a ship!

The Journey:
Not being experienced cruisers, we have no idea how much motion is "normal" when the ship is underway. Our first and second nights had serious rocking motions (even crew members admitted to being a bit pale from it). After that, it seemed to settle down somewhat. I found that the more gentle motion in the evening was very soothing, pretty much rocked me to sleep.

Meals:
The dinners in the main dining rooms were surprisingly good! We were assigned to the early seating (despite requesting late) and decided to forgo the battle to get moved. We didn't realize until later in the trip, that the early seating guaranteed that you wouldn't be able to see a sunset. Lesson learned, next time we'll see about getting moved. We were seated at a large table (10 person) which I think is a good thing, much more opportunity to find interesting people at your table. Surprisingly, we were the only people at our table to drink, which was a bit awkward at times. Our waiter and busboy were OK, but not what I would consider really attentive. We did try a breakfast and a lunch in the main dining rooms, but didn't find that the food quality, etc. was much different than the casual grill.

The pizza place on the ship served up surprisingly good pizza, although at times (i.e. after shows), the line ups could be a bit much. The grill served a reasonable breakfast, including made while you wait omelets. I wish that they would have changed the breakfast menu from day to day. Lunches from the grill were surprisingly flavorful. Sweet and sour pork was worth two trips through the line. The salad bar, although quite limited in ingredients, was stocked with perfectly fresh veggies. The ice cream/frozen yogurt machines seemed to operate at all times. We did show up to a couple of midnight buffets, just to view more than anything. The "gala midnight" buffet was a true work of art. Very impressive to see.

The Ports:
This cruise hits five ports in five days. Having a window is a great way to wake up, sun shining a new island in view. In some ways, there is a disadvantage to this many ports in that we never got the chance to really know a place. I didn't realize until late in the trip (I overheard someone else talking) that between most of the ports, the actual travel time is very insignificant and that they ship basically circles out in the ocean for hours so that it arrives in the morning. Makes me wonder why we always departed before sunset if this is indeed true. Maybe one of the quirks of cruising.

San Juan:
We started and ended here. On the way in, we went directly to the ship and never left. When we disembarked, we did manage to have an hour or two to walk through old San Juan. I think that I'd like to go back to Puerto Rico again to explore for an extended period.

St. Thomas:
Yep, the duty free shopping port of the world. Jewelry store after jewelry store. We did end up wandering through the stores, returning to the ship when the stores closed (1:00 PM, it was a Sunday). Unfortunately the sky chose to cloud over and rain a little bit, so we cancelled our planned trip to a beach. I think that we would make a beach stop the higher priority next time.

St. Maarten:
We did the Golden Eagle catamaran trip. It was fabulous, the crew was ultra friendly and focused on serving the passengers. The day was perfect for sailing and it was a fabulous trip. Unfortunately, high winds prevented us visibility in the water. Between the "very open bar" and great service, we arrived back at port in a condition that made walking difficult. God protects drunks and children, so we made it back to our ship OK. Unfortunately this was the first formal night, so we didn't get too much opportunity to sleep it off before we had to get dressed for dinner.

Dominica:
I have no idea why the cruise ships stops here. Having read relatively poor reviews of the tours offered of the island, we chose to walk around the limited town for a while. Not much happening. People that took tours to the Emerald Pool all came back uniformly disappointed.

Martinique:
Having read a lot of criticism of this island (expensive, poor attitudes) we didn't expect much. We were pretty pleasantly surprised. We spent some time touring the fort which was pretty interesting (note, lots of stair climbing, may not be suitable for elderly, etc). We walked around the surprisingly cosmopolitan down town. People in general were friendly (although a group bath wouldn't have hurt), and we spend a lot of time just checking out the sites. I thought was interesting that a lot of the public monuments had bilingual story boards, very nice. Martinique did seem expensive for some things (but when was the last time you rode in a new Mercedes cab), but overall exceeded our, admittedly, low expectations.

Barbados
We weren't too impressed with the city itself. Just another city. We were annoyed by all the cabbies standing at the end of the dock trying to sell you tours. We found them annoying and overbearing. I'm sure that there is a lot of nice island here, just not found in the cruise zone.

Day at Sea:
A full day under power on the ocean. Other than some crowding in the afternoon on the sun decks, it was pretty good. We were pleasantly surprised by the lack of "reserved" chairs on the deck. We spent most of our day on the deck.

The Shows, etc:
Well, to be honest, I was disappointed in the overall quality of the entertainment. I'm sure that it is difficult to stage really complex stuff due to limited space. There were a couple of reasonable comedians. The piano bar was a happening place; "Pete" seems to know the most risque variations of lyrics for most songs. A fun time was had. Several of the bars seemed to be empty almost all the time. We did visit the casino a time or two. I probably would have stayed longer and played more if there were a smoke free section.

Disembarkation:
OK, after a week or so of being pretty mellow and reasonably well taken care of, this is a rude shock to the system. We had to be in the Passage to India lounge at 6:15 to get our passports and clear immigration. For those of you that have never had the pleasure, this was very poorly laid out (they use a door way between bars to thin the line down to one person at a time). I was surprised how many non-Americans were on the ship. After getting our passports, we stopped by the Delta desk to get boarding passes for our flight(very handy). Then off to a lounge to sit for hours until we were allowed to disembark (10:30). I can understand that Carnival needs to clean and prepare the ship for the next group of cruisers, but banishing everybody to lounges to sit just doesn't seem sensible. Once you get off of the ship, its time to root around to find your luggage and then drag it to the other end of the building to go through customs. I don't even think that customs reads the custom form, they just waved everybody through. Once you get outside, you get to walk the length of the building again to get to the airline luggage trucks. A great service, but do we really need to keep moving our luggage up and down the street?

The Flight Home:
Given the early rising in order to get our passports, the endless sitting around in the Palace lounge waiting to disembark and a three hour layover in Atlanta, we were not prepared for a 3 1/2 hour wait for de-icing once we were on the plane and pushed back from the jetway. Delta should be tarred and feathered for the way they treat people in these sorts of situations.

The Good: Overall food quality
Cleanliness
The cabin size was more than adequate, with lots of closet and bathroom space
The towel animals
Always having a fresh bucket of ice in the room
The kids program (just assuming on this one, but the kids on board all seemed happy and well behaved (never heard a screaming or crying child), even in the dining room. More than once we heard a kid pleading to be taken back to the camp instead of staying with their parents).
Reasonably lax enforcement of the liquor brought on board policy
Overall ambiance of the ship (yes, it is Las Vegas glitz, maybe I have no taste).

The Neutral:
Service in general was not overwhelmingly good or bad
Shows and entertainment
Casualness - I chose to wear a tux on formal nights (I happen to own one, so I do wear it when the opportunity presents itself.), unfortunately, some people chose not to even wear jackets. BUT, I tried to keep an open mind and remember that this is everyone's vacation, and if somebody doesn't want to dress up, that's up to them).